TXT* A 62 In Religion, Politics, Commerce, Industry, Learning and Civilization in General. FOURTEENTH CENTURY 63 The East — Rise of the Ottoman Power — Europe — Charles IV — Rienzi — The Stuarts — Great Schism of the West — Inventions — Literature — Mariner's Compass — Linen Papei. XVI CONTPJNTS. FIFTEENTH CENTURY.. 64 Greek Empire and the East — Events in Germany — War in France — Joan of Arc — Religion and Politics in various European States — The Church — Carriages, Printing, etc. — Discovery of America — Literature and Art. MODERN HISTORY. FROM THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIX- TEENTH CENTURY 70 SIXTEENTH CENTURY 72 Britain, Italy, Spain, United Provinces, Germany, Poland, The Scandinavians — The East — Colonies — Pizarro— Virginia Settled — Luther and the Reforma-^ tion — Calvin — Massacre of St. Bartholomew — Inventions — Telescope and Thermometer. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 73, The Stuarts — Cromwell — Habeas Corpus Act — Louis XIV — Moors expelled from Spain — Thirty Years War — William and Mary — Peter the Great — The East — Colonies — East India Company — Boston founded — Maryland, etc., — Quakers — Barometer — Tea, Coffee, Sugar introduced — Newton. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY _. 74 England — Conquest of Canada — Seven Years War — Louis XVI. — European Nations — Maria Theresa — Charles XII — Position of Poland — Frederick the Great — Catherine II — Asia — United States — Revolution — Federal Constitu- tion — Religion — Many Discoveries and Inventions. NINETEENTH CENTURY -- 75' Great Britain — France — The Napoleons — Spain — Portugal — Italy becomes a Nation — Great Political events in Germany — Holland — Denmark- — Sweden — Prussia — Russia — Turkey — India — United States — Brazil — Spanish Colo- nies — The Netherlands — Austria — Greece — Mexico — Central America — Co- lumbia — Peru and Bolivia — La Plata and Chili — The most recent events in- the History of the World — History of the last twenty-five years. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA -. 80 Settlement of Greenland — Colonies lost in the Fifteenth Century — The Scandi. navian Discoverers — Theories of Columbus — Distrust of Portugal and Great: Britain — Assisted by Ferdinand and Isabella — Voyages — Discovery of the New World — Amerigo Vespucci, the Pretender — Oldest Town in America- Oldest Town Settled by English — Taxation of the Provinces — Refusal of the Colonies to submit — Stamp Act Repealed — The Struggle begun. FORMATION OF THE ORIGINAL UNION , 8-? OUR CENTENNIAL HISTORY. THE DISRUPTION WITH ENGLAND 86' First Colonial Congress — The causes which created it — England's oppression — Restriction of home production — English Parliament declares the right to tax America — The Colonists protest — The stamp Act passed — Strong opposition from the Colonies — Franklin called before The House of Com- mons — The stamp Act repealed — A second attempt to tax America — Tea thrown overboard in Boston Harbor — Second Colonial Congress meets at Philadelphia — The Colonists prepare for War. CONTENTS. Xvii THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR ,q[ Lexington and Concord — Ticonderoga and Crown Point — Bunker Hill — The Continental Congress — George Washington appointed Commander in Chief — Raising an Army — Evacuation of Boston by Lord Howe — Independence De- clared. Capture of New York by the British — The Dark Hour of the War — Washing- ton recrosses the Delaware — Trenton — Battle of Brandywine — Surrender of Burgoyne — Coalition with France — Battle of Monmouth — Savannah cap- tured — Disasters of 1779 — The enemy capture Charleston — Benedict Arnold — Discouragement — General Greene in the South — Lafayette's Successes in Virginia — Cornwallis Surrenders at Yorktown— England wearies of the War — Peace and Independence — Articles of Confederation — Congress of 1787 — Constitution adopted. After THE Revolution 94 THF. DECLARATION' OF IXDKPENDENCE - 96 THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTIO^ -- toI Amendments to the Constitution — Fifteen Proposed and Adopted. 1x3 FATHERS OF THE REPUBLIC. ,. I20 PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATIONS. WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION, TWO TERMS 122 Organizing the Government — Judiciary Established — Departments Constituted — United States Bank — Loan Negotiated — Taxes — Whisky Insurrection — Conflict with the Indians in Ohio Valley — Final Overthrow by Gen. Wayne — North Carolina — Vermont — Tennessee — Kentucky admitted to the Union JOHN ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION, ONE TERM 122 (Federalists and Democrats — War with France Imminent — Washington made Commander in Chief — The Directory make Overtures of Peace — Death of Washington — Seat of Government removed from Philadelphia to Washingtoa — Alien and Sedition Laws — Defeat of Federalists. JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION, TWO TERMS - 1 23 ^Internal Revenue System — Ohio admitted — Louisiana Purchased — The Pirates of Barbary — Aaron Burr — English Encroachments on our Commerce — Indians Incited — Country Aroused — War in Prospect. MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION, TWO TERMS -23 iHarrison Destroys the Power of the Western Indians — Policy of Jefferson con- tinued — Efforts to obtain Justice from England — War Declared. THE WAR OF I8T2-1814 I24 Reverses on Land at Mackinaw, Detroit, Queenstown — Glorious successes on the Sea by Hull, Decatur and Bainbridge — Campaign of 1813 — Division of the Forces — Perry's Victory on Lake Erie — Battle of the Thames, Harrison Vic- torious — Tecumseh Slain — Jackson humbles Southern Indians — Lawrence destroys the Peacock — His Ship Captured by the Shannon — Winfield Scott at Fort Erie and Lundy's Lane — Battle of Plattsburg — Depredations on the Atlantic Coast — The Capitol Burned — Gen. Jackson in Florida — Battle of New Orleans — Peace — War Debt — Second National Bank — Tripoli reduced by Decatur. MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION, TWO TERMS I25 Purch?ise of Florida — Slavery — Missouri Compromise — The"Monroe Doctrine.' J. Q. ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION, ONE TERM - - I2'j Remarkable Prosperity — Internal Improvements — First Railroad — Erie Canal — Commerce and Manufactures — President's Policy — Death of John Adams and Thos. Jefferson. XVlll CONTENTS. JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION, TWO TERMS 126-' Opposition Office Holders removed — Calhoun and Nullification — Secession threatened in S. Carolina — Prompt Action of Jackson — Clay's Compromise — End of United States Bank — Black Hawk War — Florida War — Gen. Taylor. VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION, ONE TERM ,. 129- Panic of 1837 — Suspension of Banks — Repudiation — United States Treasury — Treasury Notes — Continued Hard Times — Revolution in Politics. HARRISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATIONS, ONE TERM I29. Death of Harrison— General Bankrupt Act — Tyler's Disappointment of the Whigs — Resignation of the Cabinet — Northwest Boundary — Annexation of Texas. folk's ADMINISTRATION, ONE TERM _-. I29 MEXICAN WAR -. 129 First Skirmish — Gen. Taylor — Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — Volunteers called out — Popular Enthusiasm — Santa Fe — Monterey — Chihuahua — Fre- mont takes Possession of California — Buena Vista — Gen. Scott invests Vera Cruz — Cerro Gordo — Capture of Jalapa and Puebla — Contreras— Cherubusco — Chapultapec — Capture of Mexico — Peace — Results of the War. TAYLOR'S AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION, ONE TERM I30' Political Issue — Slavery — Compromise — Fugitive Slave Law — Universal Dis- satisfaction — Secession — Conventions — Death of Pres. Taylor — Discovery of Gold in California — Emigration. PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION, ONE TERM I3I Missouri Compromise Repealed — Collisions in Kansas — Commercial Treaty with Japan — Dred Scot Decision — The Irrepressible Conflict between Slavery and Freedom — Political Campaign of 1856. BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION, ONE TERM 13I Slavery Agitations — Panic of 1857 — Utah Expedition — John Brown — Presi- dential Canvass of i860 — Candidates — Election of Lincoln — Palmetto Flag hoisted in Charleston — Major Anderson sent to Fort Moultrie — Infamy of Buchanan — South Carolina Secedes — Forts siezed by Southern States — Mis- sissippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, etc., Secede — Southern Confederacy. LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. TWO TERMS I33 THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. THE WAR OF THE REBELLION I33 Secession of States — Beauregard Commands Southern Troops — Bombardment of Fort Sumter — Proclamation to Rebels — Call for 75,000 Volunteers — Mas- sachusetts Troops Attacked in Baltimore — More Troops called out — Gen. Mc- Clellan — Virginia Invaded — West Virginia — Big Bethel — Boonville — First War Loan — Battle of Carthage — Southern Senators expelled — Rich Mountain — Garrick's Ford — Call for 500,000 Men authorized — Bull Run — Wilson Creek — Death of Lyon — Forts Hatteras and Clark captured — Cornifax Ferry — Ball's Bluff— Camp Wild Cat — Romney — Winfield Scott Resigns — Mason and Slidell — Davis elected President of Confederacy. CAMPAIGN OF 1862 I34 Millsprings — Fort Henry — Forts on Roanoke Island — Fort Donelson — Pea Ridge — Merrimac and Monitor — Newburn — Winchester — Pittsburg Landing: CONTENTS. . xix . — Island No. lo — Fair Oaks — Cross Keys — Six Days Battle— Call for 300,- coo Volunteers — Draft Ordered — Cedar Mountain — Second Bull Run — South Mountain — Antietam — Emancipation Proclamation — Fredericksburg — Vicksburg — Murfreesborough. . CAMPAIGN OF 1863 I36 Emancipation — Attack on Charleston — Red River Expedition — Second Defeat at Fredericksburg — Death of Stonewall Jackson — Grant's famous Series of Victories near Vicksburg — Gettysburg — Vicksburg Surrenders — Port Hudson — Chicamauga — Chattanooga — Siege of Knoxville. CAMPAIGN OF 1864 I35 Draft for 500,000 Men — -.Grant made Lieutenant General — Massacre at Fort Pillow — Grant crosses the Rapidan — Battle of the Wilderness — Spottsylvania — Coal Harbor — Richmond Invested — Atlanta Captured — Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley — Politics — Election of Lincoln and Johnson — Sherman's March to the Sea — Nashville — Savannah captured. CAMPAIGN OF 1865 13^ Capture of Fort Fisher — Columbia taken — Charleston occupied — Sheridan cap- tures Early's army — Inauguration of Lincoln and Johnson — Confederate Congress adjourned Sine Die — Richm.ond Captured — Surrender of Lee — Lincoln Assassinated — Sherman captures Johnston — Capture of Jeff. Davis — War ended. Johnson's administration i3g Change of Policy — Dissatisfaction of Republican Party — Articles of Impeach- ment — Wheels of Legislation blocked by Antagonism between President and Senate — Election of Gen. Grant. grant's first administration I3Q Reconstruction — Peace Policy — Finances — New Indian Policy — Alabama Claims — N. W. Boundary — Internal Improvements — Commercial Activity — General Prosperity — Grant re-elected President. grant's second administration 140 West Indies — Trans-continental Railroads — Complications vs^ith Spain — Specu- lation — Panic of 1873 — Restoration of Credit — Specie Payments. history of the great seal of the united states - 141 origin and history of government 146 Parental — Patriarchal — Monarchal — Absolute and Limited Monarchy — Law — Republicanism. birds-eye view of the united states 151 Latitude and Longitude — Boundaries — Area — Political Divisions — Rivers — Lakes— Mountain Ranges — Soil — Climate — Mineral Wealth — The People — Agricultural Products — Commerce — Internal Improvements — Educational System — Religious Liberty — Army and Navy. OUR country 160 Poem, — "Our Country." THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. THE government OF THE UNITED STATES 16I THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT l62 Congress — Senate — House of Representatives — Signal Service. THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 164 XX CONTENTS. THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT I65 Supreme Court — Circuit Courts — District Courts — Court of Admiralty — Court of Claims — Local Governments. THE STATE DEPARTMENT I7I THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT I72 'Secretary of the Treasury — Bureaus — Our Financial System — Internal Revenue — Duties — Coinage — United States Mint. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR I79 Secretary of the Interior — Various Bureaus — Patents — Pensions — Indian Affairs — Bureau of Agriculture. THE WAR DEPARTMENT I7g Secretary of War — Bureaus — The Army — Articles of War. THE NAVY DEPARTMENT 181 Secretary of the Navy — Bureaus — The Navy. THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT 182 Post Master General — Postage — The Attorney General. FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES 183 Ambassadors — Ministers Plenipotentiary— Resident Ministers— Commissioners — Charge d' Affaires — Consuls. THE MILITARY ACADEMY 185 DEPOTS OF WAR MATERIAL 185 MILITARY HOSPITALS 186 NAVY AND MARINE HOSPITALS l8g NAVY YARDS _ I9O THE NAVAL ACADEMY ,. IQO THE NAVAL OBSERVATORY. I9I THE COAST SURVEY - IQI LIGHT HOUSES Ig3 LETTERS OF MARQUE AND REPRISAL _ I92 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS I93 SUFFRAGE AND CITIZENSHIP I94 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS I94 COPY-RIGHTS 1 95 REPORTS - 199 PASSPORTS 199 THE CENSUS 200 THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY - 200 THE PUBLIC PRINTING - 200 IMPEACHMENT 20I DISTRICT ATTORNEYS 20I UNITED STATES MARSHALS 202 GRAND JURY - --- 203 ELECTIONS 204 RATIO OF REPRESENTATION - 204 GOVERNMENT PRISONS -- 20$ PR OCLAMATIONS 206 CONTENTS. Xxi COMMISSIONERS 20Q OFFICIAL REGISTER . 2O9 THE STARS AND STRIPES 2IO THE GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION 211 CHAPLAINS 211 COMPROMISES 212 TREASON - 213 NATIONAL BANKING- 213 THE NATIONAL DEBT 21 5 UNITED STATES BONDS 2l6 STATISTICAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. POPULATION 220 United States — Chinese Empire — British Empire — Russian Empire — German Empire — Increase in our Population — Comparison with other Nations — Causes of Rapid Growth — Annexation — Immigration — Natural Increase — Foreign Population — Value of each Immigrant — Increase in Different States • — Four Races Represented here — Indians — Mongolian Race — Hebrews — Anglo Saxons — Germans — Swedes — Irish — Romanic Nationalities-Sclavonic- Table of their Comparative Numbers. CITIES. 225 Their Growth. OCCUPATIONS AND BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY 227 Number of Persons employed — Males — Females — Agriculture — Professions — Trade and Transportation — Manufactures and Mechanical and Mining Indus- tries AGRICULTURE 228 Department of Agriculture — Methods of Farming — Aggregate Area of Farms — Total Area of Woodland — Cash Value of Farms — Value of Animals Sold-Live Stock — Domestic Animals — Horses — Sheep — Comparative Table — Average Size of Farms — •Irrigation — Great Staples — Corn, Wheat, Rye, Oats, Barley, Potatoes, Rice, Tobacco, Cotton, Wool and Dairy Products — Comparative Tables. MANUFACTURES 239 Ready made Clothing — Boots and Shoes — Cast Iron — Machinery — Sawed Lum- ber Leather Brick Building — Furniture — Glass — Agricultural Imple- ments — Tobacco — Carriages and Wagons — Sugar — Distilleries, &c — Paper- Flour and Meal — Iron. MINING 242 Gold and Silver — Comparative Tables — Quicksilver — Copper — Coal — Petro- leum. COMMERCE 24 5- Exports — Imports — Table — Tonnage of Merchant Fleet — Number of Vessels entering our Port — Vessels on the Great Lakes — Coast Line. DOMESTIC COMMERCE 249. RAIL ROADS, TELEGRAPHS AND CANALS 25O Rail Road System — The Telegraph Service — Canals. XXU CONTENTS. EDUCATION . ._ 251 General System — Common Schools — High Schools — Colleges and Universities — List of Colleges — Agricultural and Scientific Schools — Government Schools — Illiterates. LIBRARIES 256 N umber — Private — Public. THE PRESS --. 259 HISTORY OF THE POSTAI, SYSTEM 260 OUR POSTAL SYSTEM 261 THE HISTORY OF POSTAGE STAMPS 27O MAILABLE MATTER 27I RATES OF POSTAGE 273 SUGGESTIONS TO THE PUBLIC 274 FOREIGN MAILS 283 POSTAL CARDS -- --1. .- 285 FOREIGN MONEY ORDERS -'"- 286 FOREIGN POSTAGE '- 29I REPORT OF POST MASTER GENERAL FOR 1875 292 POETRY — WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE ? 294 MOTTOES OF THE UNITED STATES 295 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF VOTERS 299 PENSION LAWS -- 3O3 NATURALIZATION LAWS 316 PRE-EMPTION LAWS 321 soldier's HOMESTEAD LAW 325 HOW TO ACQUIRE TITLE TO GOVERNMENT LANDS 330 THE LAW OF NATIONS 333 ft THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY 34O HOW GOVERNMENTS ARE SUPPORTED 344 MILITARY RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES 345 THE CENTENNIAL SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. . . -' 345 THE world's PROGRESS IN THIS CENTURY 349 PRESIDENT grant's REVIEW OF THE CENTURY - 35O THE U. S. CENTENNIAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION - . . . 352 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES. Maine 353 West Virginia , 380 New Hampshire _ -. 354 North Carolina.... 382 Vermont 355 South Carolina.. , — 383 Massachusetts. 356 Georgia , 384 Rhode Island 360 Florida 386 Connecticut, _. 361 Alabama...:.... .-- 390 New York 363 Mississippi 391 New Jersey 365 Louisiana 393 Pennsylvania 366 Texas -- 394 Delaware 370 Tennessee .- 399 Maryland 372 Kentucky .- 401 District of Columbia 373 Ohio 4Q2 Virsinia. 375 Indiana 404 CONTENTS. Illinois 405 Michigan 409 Wisconsin - 4" Minnesota 412 Iowa - 413 Missouri — 4^5 Arkansas 4^6 Kansas - - 420 Nebraska.-- 422 Nevada- 423 California . 42 5 'Oregon - - 43^ New Mexico . 434 Utah 435 Washington 439 Colorado - 439 Dakota - 440 Arizona — 441 Idaho 442 Montana 443 Indian 444 Wyoming.- -- 445 Alaska. - 446 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, FINANCIALLY. 449 STATE LAWS ON INTEREST AND USURY --- 451 STATE LAWS ON LIMITATION OF ACTIONS 452 OUR POPULATION AND GROWTH 453 POPULATION OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES 454 NATIVE AND FOREIGN POPULATION 456 POPULATION OF OUR PRINCIPAL CITIES. 459 FACTS RELATING TO THE UNITED STATES 461 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES 46^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 'George Washington 463 John Adams 469 Thomas Jefferson 470 James Madison 471 James Monroe 473 John Quincy Adams 476 Andrew Jackson 478 Martin Van Buren 4S0 William Henry Harrison 482 John Tyler 488 James K. Polk 480 Zachary Taylor 482 Millard Fillmore 496 Franklin Pierce 494 James Buchanan- 494 Abraham Lincoln 496 Andrew Johnson 500 Ulysses S. Grant 503 REPRESENTATIVE MEN. STATESMEN. Louis Napoleon 505 Bismarck - 513 Carl Schurz- 516 Lyman Trumbull 519 Schuyler Colfax 520 Charles Sumner 533 John W. Chandler 525 John A. Logan 526 Reverdy Johnson 528 Simon Cameron 531 James A. Garfield 532 Benjamin F. Wade .- 536 Frederick Sawyer 539 Whitman T. Willey 540 Ju-stin S. Morrill 542 Oliver P. Morton 544 Willard Saulsbury 545 Edwin D. Morgan 546 Charles D. Drake 549 William Pitt Fessenden 552 James Harlan 554 John C. Breckenridge 557 Frederick T. Frelinghuysen 558 William H. Seward . 560 John J. Crittenden 561 Alexander H.Stephens 563 Henry Clay 569 Robert Toombs 577 Thomas A. Hendricks 581 President Thiers 582 George S. Boutwell 5^4 Zachariah Chandler 587 XXIV CONTENTS. GREAT ORATORS. John C. Calhoun 589 Demosthenes 591? William Pitt 593 Edward Everett... 599 Daniel Webster 594 Henry Wilson 602 GREAT PREACHERS. Henry Ward Beecher. 607 C. H, Spurgeon 6i:r Whitfield. 609 John Wesley 616 Personality of Tesus Christ 619 GREAT SOLDIERS. Philip Sheridan 629 Caesar 63S William T.Sherman 623 Stonewall Jackson.. - 64O Robert E. Lee 625 Guiseppe Garibaldi.. 646 Alexander the Great 629 Emperor William, of Germany.. 649 Napoleon I 634 Gen. Von Moltke, of Prussia,-.. 650 GREAT AUTHORS. Disraeli _ 651 Cooper 661 Dickens 656 Whittier 663 Homer.. 657 Washington Irving 667 Shakespeare. 660 Cuvier 670 GREAT FINANCIERS. Wm. B. Astor --- 672 Daniel Drew 687 Commodore Vanderbilt 679 Rothschild .-- 689, A.T.Stewart --- 682 GREAT PHILOSOPHERS. Benjamin Franklin 691 Plato 6gS Isaac Newton 694 Copernicus - 701 Socrates 696 GREAT ARTISTS. Raphael 703 Powers 705 Michael Angelo 704 Thomas Nast 709 NOTED ECCENTRICS. Masaniello 7" Daniel Boone 717 Zerah Colburn 7^4 Grotius 720 GREAT INDIAN CHIEFS. Brant . ^ 7^3 Tecumseh 729. Philip 727 Black Hawk 732 GREAT PHILANTHROPISTS. Stephen Girard 734 John Howard _. 744- Joseph Mazzini - 737 William Wilberforce 746 George Peabody 740 Gen. La Fayette 748 GREAT EXPLORERS. Christopher Columbus 750 Dr. Livingstone 754 Captain Cook 753 GREAT INVENTORS. Samuel F. B. Morse 757 Richard M. Hoe 770 Elias Howe. Jr 762 George Stephenson 773 Robert Fulton 767 Eli Whitney . - 778 CONTENTS. XXV Charles Goodyear 787 French & Shreve 8r2 Cyrus W. Field 796 Richard Trevithick 815 Tames Watt 807 Alfred Vail 817 John Fitch 8og Sir Richard Arkwright 820- HUMORISTS. Josh Billings 823 Mark Twain 827 Dean Swift 824 GREAT MUSICIANS. Beethoven 829 Mozart 831 HORACE GREELEY, THE GREAT NEWSPAPER MAN 83J HUGH MILLER, THE GREAT GEOLOGIST 836 GREAT EVANGELISTS. D wight L. Moody 841 Ira D. Sankey 845 COMMERCE, LABOR, BANKS AND BANKING 846 Moneyed Institutions of the Old World, Past and Present — Solution of our Money Problem. LEGAL AND COMMERCIAL FORMS. NOTES, BILLS, ORDERS, CHECKS, DRAFTS, RECEIPTS, &C 857 PROMISSORY NOTES 858 DUE BILLS — ORDERS 861 RECEIPTS 862 BILLS OF EXCHANGE .. 863 DRAFTS 864 ACCEPTANCE — DAYS OF GRACE — LANDLORD AND TENANT 865 PARTNERSHIP .- 866 FORM OF AGREEMENT, AGREEMENT FOR SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY 87O AGREEMENT FOR SALE OF REAL ESTATE, FORM OF LEASE . , 87I FORM OF DEED — MORTGAGE DEED ._ 872 FORM OF WILL 873 ARTICLES OF CO-PARTNERSHIP 874 POWER OF ATTORNEY — FORM OF SUBMISSION TO ARBITRATION 875 AWARD OF ARBITRATORS ...„.^.. , 876 IMPORTANT TO WORKINGMEN 879 ARE RICH MEN DANGEROUS TO THE REPUBLIC? 881 THE STEAM ENGINE. WHO DEVELOPED STEAM POWER ? 883 INTERESTING FACTS 884 THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAM POWER 886 COAL CONSUMPTION — ITS HISTORY .. 887 " COAL AS A RESERVOIR OF POWER.'' „.. 889- SUN-SHINE AND COAL-BEDS 89O HOW WOOD AND COAL ARE DEVELOPED S92 XXVl CONTENTS. THE FORMATION OF COAL - ^93 THE POWER OF COAL °94 THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE FOR I876 896 THE GRANGE MOVEMENT. THE GRANGERS - - 897 THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY 898 THE NATIONAL GRANGE — THE SECRETARY'S REPORT. -- - QOO INFORMATION FOR EVERYBODY. Statistics of the Globe .- 903 Estimated population of the Old and New World 904 Our imports and their cost 905 Difference of time — Statistics of religion in the United States.. 909 Table showing the number of newspapers and periodicals 910 Table showing average circulation of newspapers and periodicals. 911 United States and foreign gold coins.- 912 United States and foreign silver coins _ .- 913 Population of principal cities of the world 9^4 Population, area, religion, and government of Principal coun- tries 915 Important events, difference of time, number of volumes in the largest public libraries of Europe 916 Remarkable discoveries, inven- tions, etc. — Our public lands.. 917 The longest rivers in the world — Height of mountains, towers, etc. — Origin of plants 918 Oceans, seas, bays, and lakes. — Highest mountains gig The largest rooms in the world. Time required for the digestion of food 920 Table of legal weights and meas- ures — Exports of various coun- tries -i.- 921 Tables of woods, weights, meas- ures, etc -.- -- 922 Tables of heat and cold, paper, etc 923 Tables of me >sures, weights, etc. 924 Rates of Interest— Example g25 Interest tables 926 Table of wages — Riches of the United States =■- 928 Practical rules for farmers, me- chanics, and business men 929 How to keep accounts 931 Great fires of the world 932 Cables — Dead letters — Railroads of India — Suez canal — Gold and silver coinage — Children in public schools — Conversa- tion of men of genius 933 Wonderful mines — History of let- ter-press printing— Whisky traf- fic — Whisky's work in New York 934 Modes of salutation — Pension Bureau — Bible curiosities 935 The women of Europe and Amer- ica 936 Rules of Conduct — Measures 937 Table for ascertaining any person's name or age ... 938 Great battles and sieges of the world. 939 Facts about the earth, men and animals 940 What the nations owe — Rates at which countries borrow money 943 The greatness of London — Eng- land's rulers 944 Important land decisions 946 Consumption of cotton — Ocean Cables 947 The salt trade — Drugging liquor 949 A beer-drinking country — The metals — Strength of substances — Bridges 950 Nicknames 952 Rules of common law — Oldest newspapers 953 Diamonds — Water levels — The Calendar 954 Weights and measures — Religious denominations 955 Tables — Ballooning . . 957 Money 959 FREE TRADE VS. PROTECTION — RIGHTS OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS. 960 CONTENTS. xxvil SUPPLEMENT. THE MOUND BUILDERS pgj. Their Antiquity— Interesting Discoveries— Indications of their civiiization— The Aztecs. THE RED MEN ^^„ Their modes of living and fighting— Location and history'of "the* different tribes— Traits of character, etc— Treatment of women— Religious belief— Their rapid extinction before advancing civilization. THE NORSEMEN IN AMERICA. , q55 Facts relating to their discover of America— Norse remains found at New- port— Settlements planted in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia— The power' of the Sea Kings. THE SPANIARDS IN AMERICA. 067 Honor due Spain for the Discovery of America— Columbus,' liiV 'life" and voyages— The Spanish settlements in the New World— Their mad search for gold— Fernando Cortez— The conquest of Mexico— The di-^covery of the Mississippi River— Death of De Soto— End of Spanish influence in America. THE FRENCH IN AMERICA g^j Their discoveries and settlements— They plan an empire from the St. Law- rence to the Gulf of Mexico— The Jesuit Missionaries among the Indians— They make important discoveries— The French establish 60 military posts — Wars — Devastation of Arcadia. " THE DUTCH IN AMERICA g-e Hudson's voyages and discoveries— He discovers Manhattan Island and founds New York— Friendly relations with the Plymouth settlement— Prosperity of the Colony— Wars— Brought under English rule. THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA qh- Important discoveries, and the men who made them— The firsV 'permanent settlements— The founders of New England— The Puritans land at Plymouth Rock— The Germs of the American Republic— The English possess the continent. INDIAN WARS g^ Their causes and results— The French and English' war's' in'Anierica— Wash- ington becomes a soldier and fights the Indians— Later Indian Wars- Prominent chiefs and their tribes— The Massacre of Custer and his men AMERICAN LIFE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION "984 Colonial statistics in 1774— Manufactures— Society for promoting industry- Imports and exports— Money— The first mint— The first printing press— The first book— Newspapers— The first library— Modes of travel— Post office system— Education in New England— Harvard University— Yale College— Life in the middle colonies— Restrictions upon the press— Colleges established— Morals in New England— How swearers and scolds were pun- ished— Bachelors— Manner ofattending church— Use of tobacco— Politics- Fast days and holidays— Amusements— Manner of building houses— Living —Training day— Dress— Wages— Life in the Southern Colonies— Introduc- tion of slavery— Purchase of wives— Education— Amusements— Pioneer life — A family outfit. THE HISTORY OF OUR NATIONAL TREATIES qqI OUR NATIONAL POLITICS FOR 1876 ' ' qq-. HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE CENTENNIAL EXHIb"[TIo"n' " "looV-luV The World's Fairs-Inception of tHe Centennial Exhibit on-The Centennial Pitv R.i. BIKD'S-EYE VlliW OF EGYPT. FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ANCIENT HISTORY. FORTY-FIRST CENTURY. 4004, Creation of the World. Creation, 4004 b. c. — "In the begmning God created the heaven and the earth," and by the power of his word, gave to a rude chaotic mass the admirable beauty and variety which now every- where salute the eye. Man was formed the last and best of his works, in the image of his Maker, upright and happy, with_ powers of understanding and will. With his companion Eve, miraculously framed out of his own substance, he dwelt in the garden of Eden, where, yielding to the suggestions of the Tempter, he transgressed the divine commands, and incurred all the penalties due to the violation of a positive law. Sin, with its mournful train, entered into the world, and though the Messiah was graciously promised, our first parents, bemg driven from Paradise, were condemned to a life of toil and to the forfeiture of immortality. THIRTY-NINTH CENTURY. 3875, Death of Abel — Posterity of Adam — Seth, born 3874, Abel. — After his fall, Adam had two sons, Cain and Abel ; the one a husbandman, the other a shepherd, and each as different from the other in temper as in occupation. Filled with rage and jealousy at the acceptance of his brother's sacrifice, Cain put forth his hand and murdered him, 3875. Thus our first parent beheld the fruits of his disobedience, not only in the presence of death, till then unknown, but in his first-born becoming the minister of vengeance. The descendants of his third son, Seth, were as dis- tinguished for piety, as those of Cain for irreligion ; the former were in consequence denominated the sons of God, and the latter, the sons of men. 29 30 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. In the new world population rapidly increased ; fields were cultivated, cattle bred, and their skins used for clothing ; Jabal made the first tents ; musical instruments were the invention of Jubal ; and Tubal-Cain (supposed by some to be the Vulcan of Pagan mythology) discovered the art of working in metals. Al- ready the strong began to assume authority over the weak. The offering of expiatory sacrifices and the sanctificatiori of the Sab- bath originated in this early period. TWENTY-FOURTH CENTURY. 2348, Universal Deluge. Deluge. — The death of Adam, 3074, the translation of Enoch,- 3017, the feebleness of the other patriarchs, and the luxuriant abundance of the earth, filled man's heart with presumption and guilt. Impiety made rapid progress, and like a contagious pesti- lence infected all the mass of society. In the midst of the gen- eral depravity one individual alone foimd grace in the eyes of the Lord. In the year of the world 1656, the whole of the human race was destroyed by a deluge, the only survivors being Noah and his family, in all eight persons, who were preserved in an ark built in obedience to the divine command, 2348 B. c. On the subsiding of the waters, this vessel rested on Mount Ararat, in Armenia, whence all the earth was again progressively peopled. The rainbow was then appointed as a covenant between God and man, that there should not be atiy more flood to destroy the earth. One of the most remarkable effects of the Deluge was the rapid decrease of the duration of human life. The ten antediluvian patriarchs lived on an average 850 years each, while their imme- diate successors did not exceed 320. But under a favorable climate and with an increasing population, the arts soon reached a high state of perfection. The longevity of the postdiluvian patriarchs had the effect of maintaining the natural authority of the parent, while it also tended to repress the fickle passions of youth. When God's more immediate protection was removed, the span of life was contracted, and now its very brevity gives vigor to all the efforts of society, and the rapid change of actors inspires each with a hope of excelling in his own brief stage. TWENTY-THIRD CENTURY. Dispersion of Mankind — Formation of Nations — 2247, Babel — Nimrod founds the Chaldean Monarchy, 2234, China — First dynasty: Fohi, 2207. The Dispersion. — The distribution of the world among the children of Noah was not made at random ; for as early as the third generation after the Flood, it was arranged by the patriarch under OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 31 the immediate direction of God. By this division Europe and Northern Asia fell to Japhet ; Central Asia to Shem ; and to Ham were assigned the distant regions of Africa. But violence was early u.ed to derange this partition ; Nimrod, the Eelus of profane writers, expelled Ashur from the land of Shinar, and Canaan, the son of Ham, seized upon Palestine, which belonged to Shem. In the subsequent expulsion of the Canaanites by the Hebrews, we behold the certain though tardy retribution of the Almighty. Babel, 2247. — The decendants of Cush, who had refused to follow the rest of the children of Ham into Africa, seized uoon the fertile plains of Shinar, where under Nimrod they began to- build the tower of Babel, and lay the foundation of a permanent monarchy. But, lest the progress of the infant society of the worldi should be crushed by an oppressive despotism, God confounded their language and scattered them over the face of the earth.. Around that remarkable edifice the magnificent city of Babylon was afterwards raised (32° 25' N. 44° E.) FORMATION OF NATIONS. All the various races that people the earth's surface spring from the three sons of Noah, and are divided into three corresponding branches. I. Japhet may be regarded as the parent of the White or Cau- casian branch, which spread over most part of Europe, S. Asia- and N. Africa. It admits of three subdivisions: — a. — The Arameans, a race dwelling between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean, including the Arabs, Egyptians, and Abys- sinians ; b. — Iiidians, Pelasgians, and Germans, from whom are descended the inhabitants of India, and of great part of Europe ; c. — Scythians and Tartars, or the people bordering on the Cas- pian Sea, among whom are the Turks, Hungarians, and Finns. II. Shem is the parent stock of the Tawny olive or Mongol race, which admits of six divisions : — a. — The Mantchoos in Central Asia; b. — The Chinese in China and Jypan ; c. — The Hyperboreans ^■^\\o peopled the extreme north of Europe,. Asia, and America, such as the Laplanders, Samoeids and Esqui- maux. d. — "WxQ: Malays in Malacca, and those islands comprehended in the term Malasia, the chief of which are Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes. e. — The Oceanians^ differing little from the preceding, inhabit the numerous small islands lying in a S. E. direction between Japan and the equator, with New Zealand, the Sandwich, and the Society Islands. f. Ainericans, or copper colored Indians, who comjDosed the primitive population of the New World. 32 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. III. Ham was the father of the ^/d;r-<[: race which may be sub- divided into, — a. — The Ethiopians in Central Africa ; b. — The Caffres on the South-eastern coast ; c. — The Hottentots of the South of Africa, Both tradition and history point to the remote East as the storehouse of the human race. From the table-land in the vicin- ity of Balkh, in more recent times, issued the Huns, Avars, Mag- yars, Mongols, and Turks ; and modern researches derive the Hindoos from the same locality. Traces of three primeval languages may also be found: — i. T\i& Arabic ox Chal dee yixom. which spring the dialects used by the Assyrians, Arabs, and Jews. — 2. From the ^dt/z^^rrz/, radically different from the Arabic, spring the Greek, Latin, and Celtic dia- lects, the Persian, Armenian, and old Egyptian : — 3. From the Slavonic or Tartarian^ essentially different from the two preced- ing, are formed the various dialects of northern Asia and north- eastern Europe. The Hindoos preserve a tradition that there were originally eighteen languages. Modern naturalists, confining their view to the animal nature of man, and taking no account of language or of the minor and superficial varieties in the exterior, admit at present oi five races, Caucasian, Negro, Tartar, American, Malay. TWENTY-SECOND CENTURY. Egypt. — 2188, Menes — Beginning of Genuine History. Great obscurity covers the early part of Egyptian history ; the account given by Moses has reference merely to his own age ; and the information derived from Herodotus, Manetho, and others, tends rather to confuse than to enlighten us. The sacred island of Meroe, formed by the confluence of the Astaboras and the As- tapus (the Tecazze and the Blue River) with the Nile, appears to have been the centre of commercial and religious resort. Thence the primitive civilizers of mankind, bearing with them the worship of Ammon and Osiris, the arts of life, the habits of trade, and, above all, the science and implements of agriculture, gradually spread their industrious colonies down the Nile. In some parts they found a rude race already settled (probably some pastoral Arab tribes who had come round by the way of the isthmus), and over whom they assumed the ascendant of su- perior civilization, and formed a higher caste. At an early period the mountains which skirt the fertile plains of Thebes, were ex- cavated into dwellings, for themselves and their gods ; whence, gradually spreading over the intervening plain, they laid the foundations of the " hundred-gated city." Sacerdotal colonies, forming separate nomes, gradually fixed themselves in all plac-es OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 33 suited for agriculture or traffic ; the temple, college, and mart, became a new city, and perhaps a kingdom. Almost every an- cient city bore the name of its god, as Diospolis {Thebes), Heli- opolis {On), Hephaistopolis {Me?nphis), and many others. TWENTIETH CENTURY. Sacred History. — 192 1, Call of Abraham — Destruction of Sodom. — 1968, Ninus suppose to reign in Assyria. Abraham, of the race of Shem, was born in Ur of the Chal- dees. Although connected with the idolatrous fire-worship of his native country, he possessed some knowledge of the true God, for he obeyed the divine command without hesitation, and moved westward to Haran^ that Charr?e famous for the defeat and death of Crassus. Passing the Euphrates, he at last, after various wanderings, settled in the Promised Land. The kings of the Pentapolis having revolted against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam (Elymais,) that monarch was obliged to take up arms against them, in order to preserve the fidelity of the adjoining states. He defeated the allied army and captured Lot, the nephew of Abraham, by whom he was shortly after rescued, 1913. Returning from his victory over the Elamites, he was met by Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High, who blessed him and received in return a tithe of the spoil, as an offering to the God who had crowned the undertaking with success. But the piety of the patriarch was unable to avert the destruction of the Cities of the Plain, 1897, Jehovah rained down fire and brimstone from heaven, and the Dead Sea now covers the ruins of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim. On the birth of Isaac (1896), the mother urged Abraham, to drive out Hagar with the child Ishmael, which she had borne him, lest he should share the paternal heritage. The two exiles retired to the desert, where the youth married -an Egyptian woman, and his descend- ants are, to this day, a living witness to the truth of the prophecy of the angel — he will be a wild man, his hand will be against every man, and every mati's hand against him — Persians, Greeks and Romans, Mongols and Tartars, having vainly endeavored to sub- due them. The Hejazite kings of Arabia, to whose dynasty Mo- hammed belonged, reckon the son of Hagar among their an- cestors. NINETEENTH CENTURY. Egypt. — Invasion of the Shepherds. Greece. — 1856, Kingdom of Argos founded by Inachus. Shepherd Kings. — The invasion of the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings is an event of great importance in Egyptian history, but 3 34 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. much uncertainty exists as to the period when it took place. We learn that, in the reign of Timaos (Thammuz), Egypt was in- vaded by a pastoral tribe, who, after subduing the lower country, extended their ravages to the Thebais, which, however, they could' not reduce, and where a native dynasty long continued to reign. They are said to have made Memphis their capital, and to have established a fortified camp at Abaris (Pelusium,) in the Saitic nome, where they stationed 240,000 men. These invaders are represented on the monuments with tattooed limbs and skin garments, and as preserving their wild habits and rudeness until their expulsion. This event took place under the first of the eighteenth dynasty of Thebes, 260 years after the inroad. Amosis or Thoutmosis, raised the country from its prostrate state, and formed one compact kingdom with Thebes for its capital, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Sacred History. — 1837,(5. Esau and Jacob — 1728, Joseph in Egypt — 1706, Israelites settled in Goshen. Egypt. — Foreign Intercourse. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Sacred History. — 1635, Death of Joseph. Greece. — The Pelasgi — Sicyon. The settlement of the Jewish people in Egypt tended in some degree to recall them from their nomad state. The patriarch Jacob lived only seventeen years to enjoy the presence of his son Joseph, and witness the happiness of his family. He died in 1689 B. c, at the age of 147, blessing his children, and foretelling the birth of the Messiah from the race of Judah. His favorite son survived fifty-four years, and saw his descendants in the fourth generation. He expired in 1635, regretted by all Egypt, and with him terminates the history of the book of Genesis, con- taining a period of 2,369 years. In the division of the Promised Land, Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of this patriarch, ranked as heads of tribes, on an equality with the eleven sons of Jacob. GREECE. The first settlers of Greece were lonians, a Pelasgic race, who derived their name from Javan (Heb. lon^ son of Japhet. He is mentioned in Genesis as among those by whom the isles of the Gentiles were divided in their lands-, and Greece is called Javan several times in the sacred Scriptures. The Hellenes, if not an offshoot of the Pelasgians, were also of eastern origin, and by these two were the different states c^f the Archipelago originally formed. There was also a continual influx of the wandering OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 35 hordes of the north. Scythia then, as in latter times, supplied abundant streams of barbarians, who sought a milder climate and a more fertile soil than their own. These nomad tribes, like the Indians of America, subsisted on the produce of the chase or the wild fruits of the woods ; but we are entirely ignorant of their history, manners and religion. SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Sacred History. — 1581, Birth of Moses — Job. Greece. — 1556, Cecrops — Deluge of Deucalion — Amphicty- onic Council. Moses. — After the death of Joseph in 1635, the Israelites in- creased so rapidly in number and in strength as to excite the fears ot the reigning monarch. The ordinary modes of diminish- ing the population proving inefficient, the pharaoh commanded all the male children to be slain as soon as born. The affection of Jochebed preserved her son Moses for three months, when the fear of discovery at last compelled her to expose him on the banks of the Nile, 157 1. Here he was providentially seen and rescued by the king's daughter, Thermutis, who brought him up as her own child, and educated him in all the learning of her country. Having slain an Egyptian who was maltreating a He- brew, he was compelled to flee for refuge into the land of Midian, near the Red Sea, 1531 b. c, where he resided forty years. While tending the flocks of Jethro, his father-in-law, in the desert, he received a summons from the Almighty to return into Egypt, and lead his chosen people from their land of bondage, 1491 b. c. FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Sacred History. — 1491, Exodus — 145 1, Entry into Canaan. Egypt. — 1473, Conquests of Sesostris. Phcenicia. — Foreign Discovery and Trade. Greece. — Theseus — Court of Areopagus. — 1493, Thebes; 1490, Sparta; 1404, Corinth Founded. The Exodus. — Moses, after some hesitation to obey the divine commands, went with his brother Aaron to the court of Pharaoh, to deliver the solemn embassy of the Almighty. The monarch (Amenophis) in return, added to the sufferings of the Israelites; nor did he cease to afflict them until the ten plagues had wearied, though not convinced his haughty spirit. On the 75th Nisan, the Hebrew nation began their joyful march towards the Red Sea, 1491 B. c, each tribe in its proper station, advancing in battle-array. Scarcely had they begun their long journey, when the monarch repented his weakness, and hastily pursuing with a numerous army, overtook them in a narrow defile which opens 36 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. upon the Arabian Gulf. In their extremity, with the sea before them and implacable enemies behind, the people began to mur- mur, saying, ivere there no graves in Egypt, that thou hast taken us awav to die in the wilderness? But Jehovah meditated a signal de- liverance ; the sea divided its waves before them ; they passed through dryshod ; while the returning waters buried Pharaoh's host, so that none remained to tell the dreadful tale. In the space of 215 years, God had so favored the descendants of Abra- ham, that from about 70 persons, the family of Jacob had in- creased to 600,000 fighting men, or a gross population of more than two millions. FOURTEENTH CENTURY, JuD^A. — 1285, Deborah judges Israel — Sisera — 1312, Ruth. Greece. — Minos. JUDAEA, Judges, 1443. -After the death of Joshua, a council ot judges {shophetim,) with nearly the same authority as the consuls at Rome, the kings at Sparta, and the Carthaginian suffetes, was established to govern the people of Israel. Each city had its peculiar magis- trates {shoterim) and ministers of justice to the number of twenty- three. Their place of audience was at the gates of the cities, as being the most frequented spots. On Joshua's death the weak tribes became jealous of the stronger, and, as the high-priests had little political influence, the dread of foreign power alone kept them together. THIRTEENTH CENTURY. JuD^A. — 1249, Gideon Judge. — 1235, Jotham's Parable. Greece. — Pelopidae. — 1263. Argonauts — Theseus. — 1230, Ni- nus founds the Assyrian Empire (Herodotus.) JUDvEA. This country was again under the iron rod of the oppressor, when Gideon, with a chosen band of 300 men, defeated a numerous army of Midianites by a most remarkable stratagem, 1245 b. c. During forty years he judged Israel, and at his death was succeeded by a natural son, Abimelech,who murdered his legitimate brothers, 1235. Jotham alone of seventy escaped, and he indignantly upbraided the ungrateful Shechemites by the beautiful apologue of the trees choosing a king — the most ancient parable extant. Shadoof — Raising water in Egypt. Oriental Women on Camela OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 30 TWELFTH CENTURY. JuD^A.— 1188, Jephtha's Vow.— 1 117, Death of Samson. Greece.— 1 184, Seige of Troy— Grecian Mythology— Greek Colonies. Inventions, &c.— Mariner's Compass in China— Buddhism in- troduced in India. JUD^A, Sampson.— During the period of the seventh servitude, which lasted forty years, a new deliverer appeared in the son of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan. By the command of the angel who foretold his birth, he was specially consecrated to the Lord. As he grew in years, he increased in strength ; and in various encounters he slew an immense number of Philistines, but fell at last by the arti- fices of Delilah. During his sleep, the locks on which his strength depended were shorn, and he awoke weak as another man. He again recovered vigor upon the growth of his hair, and proved his renewed powers by tearing down the two pillars which sup- ported the roof of a temple, and burying 3000 Philistines, with himself, in one undistinguished ruin, 11 17 b. c. The accounts of Hercules, Rustam in Persia, and Antar in Arabia, seem based on that of Samson. Ancient traditions fur- nish us with many curious coincidences witli the history of Sam- son's locks. TENTH CENTURY. JuD^A.— 975, Revolt of the Ten Tribes. Elijah and Elisha — 918, Ahab. Greece.— Homer and Hesiod flourished. Syria. — 940, Benhadad, king of Damascus. JUD^A. Revolt of the Ten Tribes.— The kingdom was divided, ten tribes electing Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had been re- called from Egypt ; Judah and Benjamin alone remained faithful to the hneal heir The former, together with the tributary nations eastward to the Euphrates, formed the kingdom of Israel, of which the capital was Samaria ; while the two remaining tribes, with Philistia and Edon, composed that of Judah, 975 b. c. NINTH CENTURY. 889, Translation of Elijah.— 884, Jehu— Athaliah— Jonah, Hosea and Amos flourished. Greece.— 884, Lycurgus— Iphitus in Elis. Macedonia. — 813, Caranus, First King. Carthage. — 890, Dido emigrates from Phoenicia. 40 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. CARTHAGE. Dido. — 890 b. c. — Carthage on the northern coast of Africa, was founded by Elisa, or Dido, sister of Pygmalion, king of Tyre, though others place its foundation so early as 1223 B c. It would be wrong to take the account transmitted to us in its literal sense. It is probable that political commotions in the mother city induced a party of the disaffected to emigrate, who proceeded to Africa, along whose northern coast Utica and other Phoenician colonies had. already been settled. After the decease of Dido there is a void in the history of more than three centuries. In the time of Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, the republic was formidable by land and sea (550-480). About the same period they defeated a fleet of the Phoceans, then the most powerful maritime state. To the same epoch must be referred their great victories over their African neighbors, and the first treaty with Rome, 509 B. c. MACEDONIA. Towards the end of this century, a Hellenic colony from Argos, under Caranus (813,) settled in Emathia, and laid the feeble foundations of the Macedonian Empire. Its early history, how- ever, is obscure, and little more is known than that its princes gradually extended their territory by subjecting or expelling the neighboring tribes. They were delivered from- the Persian yoke, imposed in 510, by the victories of the Greeks; and their inde- pendence was restored by the battle of Plataea, 479, although it was not distinctly acknowledged by their former masters. It was scarcely considered a Grecian state until the reign of Philip, the father of Alexander. EIGHTH CENTURY. JuD^A. — 721, Captivity of the Ten Tribes — Isaiah, Habak- kuk, Nahum. Greece. — 776, First Olympiad. — 743, First Messenian war. Assyria. — 759, Sardinapalus, d. — 747, ^ra of Nabonassar. — 714, Sennacherib. Rome. — 753, Foundation of Rome — Senate. Lydia. — 727, Gyges. Three empires shared the vast dominions of the successors of Ninus : — i, the Assyrian monarchy of Babylon, founded by Belesis, which, after lasting about 220 years, was conquered by Cyrus, 538 B.C.; — '2, The ancient kingdom of the Ninevite Assyrians, perpetuated by Pal, and which in little more than 130 years, was reunited to Babylon ;— 3, The state of the Medes, indebted for its independence to Arbaces, and which, becoming monarchical under Deioces , continued about 220 years, and was at last united to the vast empire of Persia. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 4 1 ROME. Romulus, 753. — The founder of Rome had been a shepherd in his youth. After having restored his grandfather Numitor to the throne, he settled with some of his early companions, at a little distance from Alba, on the Palatine Hill, and probably on the ruins of a more ancient city. By making the new city an -asylum for murderers and runaway slaves, the population increased. He established laws, divided the people into two classes, Patri- cians and Pelebians, and appointed a senate. At the close of a disastrous war with the Sabines, he was compelled to share his crown with Tatius, their king, though he soon became sole mon- arch again. After a reign of thirty-seven years, he was murdered by the senators, who, fearful of the revenge of the pop- ulace, gave origin to the report that he had been carried up to heaven, and a temple was erected to him on the Quirinal hill. Romulus had the good sense to adopt many Sabine customs. The Romans always imitated this example with respect to the nations they conquered, and it was not the least cause of their renown. No people, indeed, ever rose to pre-eminent greatness with smaller pretensions to originality. They were indebted to the Greeks for everything except their martial and republican spirit ; which many of their laws, customs, and religious ceremonies, together with their system of notation, were borrowed from the Etruscans. SEVENTH CENT*URY. JUD^A.— 698, Manasseh.— 641, Josiah.— 611, Egyptian War, ^06, The Captivity. Assyria.— 667, Nabuchodonosor. — 656, Holofernes slain. — 607, Nebuchadnezzar's Campaigns. Media and Persia. — 733, Deioces.— 655, Phraoetes defeated at Ragau. — 648, Scythian Invasion. Zoroaster. Egypt. — 671, Dodecarchy. — 656, Psammetichus. — 617, Necho Africa circumnavigated. — Greece. — 685, Second MessenianWar. — 624, Dr.ico — Ephori. Rome. — 667, Horatii and Curiatii. — 640, Ancus Martius.— 616, Tarquin the Elder. Literature. — Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. — 680, Tyrtseus. — 600, Archilochus, Alceeus, Sappho, Epimenides. SIXTH CENTURY. JuDyEA. — 536, End of the Captivity. — 5 15, Second Temple built. . r6o4, Nebuchadnezzar. — 570, Loses his reason. 538, ASSYRIA I Belshazzar— End of the kingdom of Babylon. PfT^7a 1 561, Cyrus elected Kmg.— 559," Aids Cyaxares.— 538. • i^ Babylon taken.— 529, Cambyses.— 521, Darius. 42 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Egypt.— 594, Apries. — 569, Amassis. — 525, Psammenitus, last native king. Greece. — 594, Solon, archon. — 560, Pisistratus. — 514, Harmo- dius and Aristogiton. Rome. — 578, Servius TuUius. — 534, Tarquin II. — 509, Con- suls — Constitution of Rome. China. — 550, Confucius born. Literature. — The Seven Wise Men ; Mimnermus, Thespis, ^sop, Theognis, Pythagoras,, Anacreon. Discoveries. — Geographical Maps ; Terrestrial Globes, by Anaximander. — 560, Marble employed (at Athens) for Statues. — 540, Monochord, Terrestrial Revolution, by Pythagoras. — 552, Corinthian Capital, by Callimachus. — 520, Sun-dials, by Anaxi- menes of Miletus. FIFTH CENTURY. JUDiEA — 457,. Ezra. — 445, Nehemiah. — 420, Malachi, ^. Persia. — 499, Sardis burnt. — 401, Retreat of the Ten Thou- sand. Greece. — 490, Marathon. — 480, Salamis. — 471, Themistocles exiled. — 466, Victory at the Eurymedon. — 449, Pericles, — 440, Samian War. — 431, Peloponnesian War. — 429, The Plague; Death of Pericles. — 415, Sicilian Expedition. — 405, Victory at ^gos-Potamos. — 404, Death of Alcibiades. — 403, Thrasybulus. Rome. — 509, Consuls. — 498, Dictator, Titus Lartius. — 493, Tribunes of the People. — 486, Argrarian Law. — 452, Decemvirs — Laws of the Twelve Tables. — Volscian and Veintine Wars. Carthage. — 509, Treaty with Rome. — 480, Defeat at Himera. 410, Sicilian Wars. Literature. — 490, Pindar ; 480, .^schylus and Sophocles ;: 444, Euripides, Herodotus ; 429, Hippocrates, Lysias, Aristoph- anes, Thucydides, Socrates. • Discoveries. — 479, Mnemonics by Simonides ; 441, Catapault, &c.; 437^ Anatomy and Medicine by Hippocrates. Retreat of the Ten Tuousand, 401. — Rapid and violent revolutions, with rebellions in the provinces, particularly in Egypt, 414, under Darius II. Nothus, led to the reign of Arta- xerxes II. Mnemon, 405. He had scarcely ascended the throne when he was compelled to defend it against his brother, Cyrus the younger, governor of Asia Minor, who claimed the thione from being the first born after his father s accession. His army ot 100,000 barbarians under Ariseus was reinforced by 13,000 Gre- cian volunteers, commanded by Clearchus. The hostile armies met at Cunaxa, about twenty leagues from Babylon, where Cyrus, engaging in battle with his brother, who had 120,000 men under his command, lost his life, 401. The Greeks maintained the rep- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 43 utation of their country not only in this fight, but in that memor- able retreat, in which, at the end of fifteen months, after having overcome every obstacle of nature, and triumphed over all the attacks of the nations on their route, they again beheld their native shores. The Anabasis of Xenophon, their general, has immortalized this unexampled march. FOURTH CENTURY. Greece. — 399, Death of Socrates, — 394, Battle of Coronea. — 387, Peace of Antalcidas. — 371, Leuctra. — 362, Mantinea. — 338, Chgeronea. — 331, Arbela. — 323, Alexander^. — 312, -^ra of the Seleucidae. Rome. — 396, Veii taken. — 390, Rome taken by the Gauls. — 366, Plebian Consuls. — 343, Samnite Wars. — 32x,Candine Forks. Literature, &c. — 401, Xenophon ; Ctesias; Isocrates, <^. 436 ; Plato; Demosthenes; Aristotle; Epicurus; Menander. Discoveries. — 360, Analysis, by Plato. — 333, Encaustic Paint- ing. — 306, Sun-dial at Rome, by Parirus Cursor. — 300, Colossus at Rhodes ; Operation for cataract, by Herophilus. THIRD CENTURY. Rome. — 280, Pyrrhus. — 264, First Punic War. — 256, Regulus in Africa. — 218, Second Punic War. — 216, Cannae. — 202, Zama. Greece. — 280, Achjean League. — 279, Gallic Invasion, — 226, Cleomenes. — 206, Philopoemen. Macedon. — 264, Demetrius Poliorcetes. — 286, Lysimachus. — 221, Philip V. Egypt. — 283, Ptolemy Philadelphus. — 270, Septuagint Trans- lation of the Hebrew Scriptures. — 256, Parthia — Arsaces. Inventions, &c. — 269, First silver money coined at Rome. — 264. The Parian Chronicle. — 263, Parchment. — 250, Clepsydra. — 220, Burning-glasses. Literature, &c. — Euclid, Archimedes, Theocritus, Manetho — Plautus, d, 183. SECOND CENTURY. Rome. — 197, Battle of Cynoscephalse. — 190, Defeat of Anti- ochus the Great. — 168, Battle of Pydna. — 146, Corinth and Car- thage burnt. — 133, Fall of Numantia. — 133 and 121, Gracchi. — III, Jugurthine War. — 102, Cimbric War. Jud^a. — 166, Judas Maccabseus. — 130, Independent. — 106, Aristobulus. 44 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Inventions, etc. — 190; Pumps by Hero of Alexandria.— '42, Procession of Equinoxes, Latitude and Longitude, Spherical Trigonometry, by Hipparchus. Literature, — Polybius, Aristarchus, Bion and Moschus, En- nius, Terence. FIRST CENTURY. Rome. — 88, Social War. — Mithridatic War. — Marius and Sylla — 73, Servile War. — 63, Catiline's Conspiracy. — 6oy First Trium- virate. — 48, Pharsalia. — 31, Actium, — 30, Egypt a Roman pro- vince: — 27, Augustus Emperor. — A. m. 4004, Birth of Christ. JuD^A, — 68, Civil War between Hyrcanus XL and Aristobulus 11. — 6^^ Jerusalem taken by Pompey. — 40, Herod, king of Jud^a. — 29, Murder of Mariamne. Inventions, &c. — 63, Shorthand, by Cicero. — 60, Flux and Reflux of the Tides, by Posidonius, who endeavors to measure the circumference of the Earth. — 45, Calendar reformed, by Caesar. — 6, Lunar Cycle or Golden Number. Literature, &c. — Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Cicero, Caesar, Sallust, Livy, Vitruvius, Nepos, Tibullus, Proper- tius, Dionysius orf" Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo. '^<^A CHRISTIAN ERA. FIRST CENTURY. Rome.— 9, Defeat of Varus. — Twelve CiESARS. — 79, First Eruption [recorded] Qf Vesuvius. Britain. — 43, Claudius in Britain. — 85, Agricola, JuD^A — 8, Archelaus banished. — 41, Herod Agrippa. — -Ro- man Procurators. — 70, Jerusalem destroyed. The Church. — 30, Crucifiction of Christ. — 40, Name of Christians. — 64, First Persecution. — 66, Martydom of St. Peter and St. Paul. — 95, Second Persecution. Inventions, &c, — 16, Introduction of Silk Dresses by Tiberius. — 60, Loadstone discovered. Literature, &c. — Phsedrus, Celsus, Q. Curtius, Persius, Plu- tarch, Epictetus, Lucan, Martial, Juvenal, Seneca, Quinctilian, Tacitus, Petronius, the two Plinys, Valerius Flaccus, Josephus, Dioscorides. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. The Messiah. — During a season of profound peace, in the reign of Augustus, when there was a general expectation that some great personage was about to appear, the time arrived for the redemption of the human race — promised at the fall of man, predicted by all the prophets, typified by all the ceremonies of the ancient law, and earnestly desired by all just men. In the " fullness of time " Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem. He escaped from the murderous rage of Herod, and for nearly thirty years lived an obscure life at Nazareth. At length, entering on his public ministry, he began to teach, in the reign of Tiberius, throughout all Judaea, confirming his divine mission by the purity of his life, the sublimity of his doctrines, and his miraculous powers. The Jews, who had looked for an earthly conqueror, refused to listen to the lowly Galilean, and procured his condem- nation and execution as a criminal, 3d April, A. d. 30. After the resurrection and ascension of our Saviour, the Chris- tian religion spread rapidly under the ministry of the apostles and their converts. They preached throughout all the Roman 46 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ■empire the sublime truths revealed to them by their divine Mas- ter, and established churches in three quraters of the world. The name of Christian was first used at Antioch, a. d. 40. The four gospels contain the history of the Redeemer's life and doctrines, and were written in the order in which they stand, between a. d. 37 and 98. SECOND CENTURY. R.OME. — 96, Nerva. — 98, Trajan. — 117, Adrian. — 138-180, The Antonines. — 180, Commodus. — 193, Didius Julianus. The Church. — Third and Fourth Persecutions. Discoveries. — Astronomical System of Ptolemy, Literature, &c. — Lucian; Ptolemy* Justin Martyr ; Apu- leius; Suetonius; Florus; Justin," Symraachus ; The Targum and Mischnah. THIRD CENTURY. Rome. — 193, Septimius Severus. — 211, Caracalla. — 218, Helio- gabalus. — 222, Alexander Severus. — 235, Maximin. — The Thirty Tyrants. — 273, Aurelian defeats Zenobia. — 284, Diocletian. — The Empire invaded by Goths, Franks and Germans. Palmyra. — Odenathus and Zenobia. Persia. — 226, The Sassanides. — 260, Sapor captures Valerian. The Church. — Persecutions. Literature, &c. — Dion Cassius, Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, Longinus. FOURTH CENTURY. Rome. — 306, Constantine. 330, Constantinople. — 361, Julian. — 364, Division of the Empire between Valens and Valentinian. — 378, Battle of Adrianople. — 379, Theodosius the Great. — 391, Eugenius, Emperor. The Church. — Establishment of Christianity. — 318. Arian Heresy. — 325, Nicene Council. — 390, Theodosius prohibits Pa- ganism. Inventions, &c. — 385, Saddles. — 398, Aerometers by Hypatia. — 400, Gothic Architecture (.''). Literature. — Eusebius, Chrysostom, L. Lactantius, Augustin, Claudian. FIFTH CENTURY. foundation of modern states. 'Eastern Empire. — 395, Alaric. — 408, Theodosius II.— 420, Persian War. — 450, Marcian.— 457, Leo, the Great, — 491, Anastasius. IROME Western Empire. — 408, Britain relinquished. — 410. Visigoths at Rome. — Vandals, Alani, and Suevi, — 414, Franks, Burgundian, &c., in Gaul. 452, Attila.— 476, Fall of the Western Empire— Odoacer and Theodoric. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 49 Venice. — 452, Commencement of the Republic. GAUL.-420, Pharamond. — 428, Clodion. — 448, Merovens. — 486, Clovis. The Church. — Monachism — Conversion of the Barbarians. DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE. Each empire was now divided into two prefectures ; these into two dioceses, and subdivided into provinces. The cities with their dependencies formed the lowest division in the political scale. w Pi w H in < East. ^ ■ I. East, 2. Egypt. 3. Asia. 4. Pontus, 5. Thrace J J f I. Macedonia. Illyria -| (Eastern) [^_j5^^.^_ I. Italy {subdi- vided into the I Dioceses of Italy Italy. J and Rome). Prefectures. Dioceses. Provinces. 3 Palestines, Phoenicia., 2 Syrias, Cyrus, Arabia. 2 Cilicias, Mesopotamia, j Egypt Proper, Thebais. \ 2 Lybias, Agustamnica. iPamphilia, Hellespont. Lydia, Lycaonia, 2 Phrygian. Lycia, Caria, the Isles. i 2 Galatias, Bithynia, Pontus. •< 2 Cappadocias, Paphlagonia. ( 2 Armenias, Helenopontus, Polemonium. j Europe, Thrace, Rhodope. \ Hasmus, 2d Moesia, Scythia. Achasa, Macedonia. Crete, Thessaly. Epirus (old and new), j Dacia {Interior and Ripuarian). \ 1st. Moesia, Dardania, Proevalis. f Venice, Liguria, 2 Picentums. I Tuscany and Umbria, Campania, j Sicily, Apulia, Calabria. I Lucania and Bruttium, Cottian Alps. I 2 Rhsetias, Samnium, Valeria, Sardinia, [ Corsica. j 2 Pannonias, Savia. ] Dalmatia, Noricum. j Tripolis, Byzacium. \ Numidia, 2 Mauritanius. fBoetica, Lusitania, Galicia. Tarraconensis, Carthaginiensis. Balearic Isles, Tingitania {Africa). {Narbonnensis (2), Vienne. Alps {Maratime and Petmine). 3 Aquita'nes, 5 Lyonnias. Belgica (2), Germany (2). 3. Britain. f 2 Britains •< Maxima and ) ^ ■ ■ it 1 .- f Flavia \ ^^^sariensis, Valentia. 2. Illyria ( Wester ■>{). 3. Africa. II. Gaul THE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. FROM THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE, A. D. 476, TO THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION, AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. The Roman Empire had recovered under Theodosius its unity and greatness ; but after the death of this prince it began to decline, and finally disappeared in the fall of the capital of Italy. This crisis was brought on as much by accidental circumstances, as by the concurrence and reciprocal action of permanent causes. The despotism of the emperors, a natural consequence of polit- ical anarchy and military power, preserved the characters of its twofold origin, namely, corruption and violence. The Antonines had vainly endeavored to restore national and political virtue : the populace having descended to the lowest degree of abase- ment, while the philosophy of Epicurus had fixed an indelible stain on the higher ranks. Christianity could alone arrest the almost general licentiousness ; but the designs of Providence still exposed it to fiery trials, and its day of triumph had not yet arrived. Diocletian, by his divisions of the sovereignty, and Constantine, by the removal of thb seat of empire to Byzantium, prepared the way for the two separate monarchies of the East and the West, and opened the road into Italy for the barbarians. The appear- ance of the Huns in the north of Europe drove the savage tribes of Germany across the Roman frontiers. These warlike nations braved the power of the emperors under the walls of Rome and Constantinople ; imposed on them burdensome tributes ; entered in whole tribes into the legions ; and finally dismembering half of the empire, broke up the whole social state 'vith its imperfect civilization, to establish on its ruins the foundations of the exist- ing political system. Of the ten centuries embraced in that period of history entitled the Middle Ages, five were occupied by the restless movements of the various barbarians, who were partially checked by the strong hand of Charlemagne. In the sixth age, that is, about A. D. 1000, repose and silence pervaded all Europe ; the decay of literature and civilization extended gradually ; while institutions laws, customs, and languages began to assume their local peculi- arities. Amidst the minute territorial divisions that took place, SO OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 51 there was Still found one bond of unity in the church, whose members kept up a communication with the remotest districts, all preaching the same doctrines, animating with the same spirit the almost innumerable societies throughout which they were scattered, and combining all nations in one common and holy enterprise. It was during the crusades that the representa- tives of every state in Europe, assembling around the tomb of our Saviour, recognized each other as brethren. After the Holy Wars the greater communities began to be remodelled, as their respective sovereigns issued victorious from their contention with feudalism. Then began the rancorous struggle between France and England, the rise of the Spanish monarchies, the destruction of the imperial authority in Germany, the brief splendor and fall of the Italian republics, the revolutions of the Sclavonic and Scandinavian states, and finally, the fall of Constantinople, a. d. 1453' which, by driving the learned Greeks into the centre and west of Europe, contributed in a remarkable degree to 'the Reformation. SIXTH CENTURY. Greek Empire.— 527,Justinian.— 532, A^/^«.— 557, Earthquake m Syria. — 565, Belisarius d. Persia.— 528, First War.— 531, Nushirvan.— 532, Perpetual Treaty.— 540, Second War.— 590, Varanes (Bahram).— 591, Chosroes II. Italy.— 493, Theodoric— 552, End of Gothic Empire.— 569, Lombards. — 584, Autharis. France.— 511, Clovis //.—Salic Law.— 558, Clotaire I. Spain. — 507, Visigoths enter Spain. Britain.— 542, King Arthur ^...586, Heptarchy.— 596, Saxons converted. The Church— 514, Religious War in Constantinople.— 519, Jewish Persecution.— 578, Pelagius. the/«/^///^/^.— 59o,Gregory I. Literature.— 580, Latin ceases to be spoken.— Stob^us; Agathias; Cassiodorus ; Boethius; Priscian ; Journades; Gregory of Tours. SEVENTH CENTURY. Greek Empire.— 602, Phocas.— 610, Heraclius.— 622, Chos- roes defeated.— 672, Constantinople besieged by the Saracens. — 685, Justinian II. Persia. — 6r8, Chosroes, d. Arabia, — 570, Mohammed born. — 622, Hegira. — Koran; Sonna. — 634, Omar. — 640. Alexandrian Library burnt. — 660, Ommiades. 52 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Italy. — 643, Lombard Code. — 697, Venice — First sole Doge, Anafesto. France. — 613, Clotaire, — 678, Pepin. — 688, Sluggard Kings — Mayors of the Palace. Spain. — -600, Christian Religion Introduced. The Church. — 606, Papal Supremacy ; (Ecumenical — Image Worship. Literature. — Fortunatus; Isidore of Seville; Gregory the Great. Inventions. — Quills for writing. — Chess in India. Mohammed, a. d. 570, sprung from the tribe of Koreish and the family ot Hashem, the hereditary guardians of the Caaba, was the only son of Abdallah and the Jewess Amina. In early life he was bereaved of his parents; and after spending many years in the Syrian caravans, at the ag€ of twenty-five he entered the service •'>f the rich widow Cadijah, whom he afterwards married. His person was majestic ; and, with a countenance that charmed all beholders, he possessed no common vein of eloquence. He was not less an enthusiast than an imposter ; and from his early youth had been in the habit ol retiring to solitary caverns for the purpose of meditation, where he formed that mighty scheme of fraud, which, under the name of Islamtsm, he at length pro- claimed to the world, 609. His wife and one or two others of his family were his first converts ; three years elapsed before he had increased their number to fourteen. Twelve years had passed before they were augmented to six score, when the hostil- ity of the Koreish compelled him to leave Mecca. This " flight " to Yatreb, under the name of the Hegira, became the memor- able epoch of Mohammedan nations, dating from Friday, i6th July, a. d. 622. Acclamations of loyalty and devotion hailed the entry of the prophet into the city, which afterwards received the name of Medina, or the City of the Prophet. Here he began to exercise at once the regal and sacerdotal authority, and to be worshipped as a superior being. " I have seen," said an as- tonished ambassador from Mecca, " Chosroes of Persia, and the Caesar of Rome, but never did I behold a king among his subjects like Mohammed among his companions." War was soon de- clared against all infidels, and the doctrine proclaimed that the sins of every one who fell in battle would be forgiven. Blinded by prosperity, he had the audacity to summon the most powerful monarchs of the earth to embrace Islamism ; and we are told that when a Roman magistrate in Syria put to death one of his am- bassadors, he did not hesitate to fall upon an army of 30,000 men with a small body of undisciplined troops. With an incon- siderable force he attacked the Koreish, and defeated them in several battles, 625. Four years afterwards, Mecca submitted to his arms, and the whole peninsula shortly after yielded to the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 53 ''apostle of God." Nor was the ambition of Mohammed con- fined to the narrow limits of Arabia, for he was on the point of entering on a new career, when a languishing disease recalled him from the Syrian frontiers. Perceiving the approach of death he boldly submitted his past life to the scrutiny of his people, saying, " If there be any man whom I have unjustly scourged, I submit my own back to the lash." At the age of sixty-three, the great impostor was removed from the earth, in 632. The caliphs, as his successors were called, in less than one hundred years, spread their conquests and their creed, from India to the Atlan- tic Ocean — over Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa and Spain. The Koran. — The religious doctrines of Mohammed are, con- tained in the Koran. The book, for such is its title, is filled with stories from the Old Testament and parables borrowed from the New. He asserted that it was brought in fragments from heaven by the angel Gabriel, and appealed to the pure classical style of the work as a proof of its divine origin. It comprises a mass of tales, visions, discourses, laws, precepts, and counsels, in which truth and falsehood, the sublime and the ridiculous, meet side by side. Each sure (chapter) bears the superscription — "In the name of the kind and merciful God." The first verse is always preceded by three mystical initial characters, whose meaning the Moslem theologians dare not penetrate. Mistaken in his opin- ions of the Trinitarian doctrine, and deluded by the image-wor- ship of the Eastern Christians, the author declaims often against their polytheism and idolatry. "In what consists Islamism.'" asked an angel in the guise of a Bedouin. " To profess," replied Mohammed, " that there is but one God, and that I am his prophet ; to observe strictly the hours of prayer ; to give alms ; to fast in the month of Ramadan ; and to make the pilgrimage to Mecca." "It is so in truth," said Gabriel, making himself known. EIGHTH CENTURY. Greek Empire.— 717, Leo III.— Saracens at Constantinople. — 726, Iconoclast War. — 797, Empress Irene. Arabia. — 711, Northern Africa and Spain subdued. — 749, Ab- bassides. — 786, Haroun al Raschid. Spain. — 711, Arabians in Spain. — 755, Independent Caliphate. Italy.— 715, Pope Gregory II.— 774, End of Lombard King- dom.— 795, Leo III., first Bishop of the West.— 728, Luitprand takes Ravenna. — 749, Astolphus. France.— 714, Charles Martel.- 732, Victory of Tours.— 752, Carlovingian. Dynasty— Pepin.— 768, Charlemagne. Church. — 720, Dionysian or Vulgar Era introduced. — 769, Worship of Images. 54 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, THE WORLD IN THE TIME OF CHARLEMAGNE. END OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY. WESTERN EMPIRE. France. — Charlemagne possessed nearly all France, a great part of Germany, the half of Italy, part of Spain, and was the arbiter of the remainder of the West. The language of the Franks was still Teutonic, and continued so until the middle ot the ninth century. EASTERN EMPIRE. Irene, stained with the blood of her son, reigned at Constanti- nople, and admmistered justice from the Bosphorus to the Adri- atic. Tottering on a throne never free from the violence of rebellion and fanaticism, pressed on the north by the Bulgarians, attacked in different quarters by the Mohammedans, this cele- brated woman, an extraordinary mixture of great virtues and greater crimes, of talent and weakness, still preserved the empire. EMPIRE OF THE CALIPHS. Haroun al Raschid was master of great part of Asia and all the northern coast of Africa. He was obeyed from the Imaus to Mount Atlas. SECONDARY POWERS. Denmark resisted the ambitious designs of Charlemagne ; and Godfrey, while he closed the entrance to this peninsula against the troops of the Frank conqueror, sent forth from Norway those swarms of warriors which made successive descents upon the Western Empire. Sweden and Russia were as yet insignificant powers ; and Po- land, already become an elective monarchy, was of little impor- tance. Bohemia was the prey of the barbarous Sclavonians, whom the thirst of plunder had attracted in Germany. The Huns, suc- cessors of the ferocious people who had devastated Europe, set- tled at last in Pannonia, from which country they attacked the frontiers of the Western Empire. Under tne name of the Avars they carried terror to the gates of Constantinople. Spain presented a great battle-field for the Moors and Chris- tians. The latter, though inferior to their enemies in number, riches and knowledge, were more warlike and united ; and, by unwearied courage and constancy, gradually enlarged their boundaries. The South of Italy was disputed by the Saracens and Greeks. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 55 Rome, apparently submissive to Charlemagne, favored the popes, who constantly endeavored to extend their influence, temporal and spiritual. Venice, placed between two powerful empires, affected to recognize the sovereignty of the one which was too weak to be feared, and thus avoided the yoke of the other. England was about to begin her glorious career. The nu- merous states into which the country was divided were gradu- ally united to the kingdom of the West Saxons. NINTH CENTURY. Greek Empire. — 813, Leo the Armenian. — 842, Michael III. — 867, Macedonian Dynasty. — 886, Leo VI. Arabia.— 800, The Aglabites. — 813, Almamon. — 841, Turkish Guard. — 870, Motamed — Mohammedan heresies. Spain. — 801, Barcelona captured by the Franks. — 866, Alphonso the Great. — Moorish literary Era. France. — 800, Charlemagne, Emperor. — 814, Louis the Deb- onaire. — 840, Charles the Bald. — 843, Treaty of Verdun. — 887, Charles the Fat, dep. — 888, Eudes. — 842-886. Norman Ravages. Germany. — 817, Louis. — 846-874 Sclavonian Incursions. — 881, Charles the Fat.— 888, Arnulph.— 899, Louis IV, the Child. Italy. — 817, Bernard d. — 844, Louis II. — 893, Berenger of Friuli. — 896, Arnulph, Emperor. Britain. — 800, Egberi. — 832, Danish Invasions. — 872, Alfred the Great. — 871-878, Battles of Wilton and Edindon. — 900, Death of Alfred. — Anglo-Saxon Constitution. Church. — 854, Pope Joan (Benedict II.) — 861, Greek Schism — Saint Worship. — 867, Adrian II. TENTH CENTURY. Greek 'Empire. — 912, Constantine VII. — 919, Romanus I. — 963, Nicephorus 11. — 969, John Zunisces. Italy. — Papal Disorders. — 962. Otho crowned Emperor. — 990, Crescentius. France. — 912, Normans established by Treaty. — 915, Feudal Aristocracy complete. — 987, Hugh Capet. Germany. — 911. Saxon Line. — 919, Henry the Fowler. — 936, Otho I. — 955, Battle of Augsburg. Britain. — 901, Edward the Elder. — 925, Athelstan. — 937, Dunstan. Spain. — 912, Abdalrahman's Conquests — University of Cor- dova. — 932, Madrid taken by the Christians. Arabian Empire. — 936, Mohammed Emir al Omra. — Fatim- ites in Egypt. Church.— 999, Pope Sylvester II. (Gerbert) — Odo of Cluny. — Penance, 56 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Inventions. — Coats of Arms; looo, Arabic Numerals; Watches. Learned Men.— Suidas, philosopher. — Gerbert (Pope Sylves- ter II.) — Olympiodorus. THE WORLD AT THE END OF THE TENTH CENTURY. Greek Empire.— At the end of the eighth century the known world was under the control of three great monarchies, — the East, the West, and the Caliphate. Of these, one only now remained, and the Eastern Empire, lying between the Saracens and Franks, was obliged to have recourse to the assistance of the latter, and was often tributary to the former. It still, however, maintained considerable power, though but a shadow of what it had been, and was a continual prey to civil dissensions and external war. The Caliphate was parcelled out into a number of petty states, leaving scarcely a trace of its existence except in the pomp which still surrounded the rulers as ministers of religion. The Frank Kingdom, at one period the terror of the West, existed in several different sovereignties founded upon its ruins, of which the chief were the kingdoms of France and Germany. These two states at first sight present an equality of force which disappears on a closer examination. France was exhausted by anarchy and tyranny ; each province had its independent sovereign, duke or count, one of whom (Hugh Capet) violently seized the crown. Thus we see a king of Burgundy, a duke of Paris or of France, dukes of Aquitaine, Normandy, and Brittany; counts oi Champagne, Flanders, Toul- ouse, and Anjou, — all of whom reigned as independent princes in their own territories. Under this crowd of masters, muti;ally jealous of each other and continually at war, the people were always suffering and enslaved. They recognized a sort of hered- itary chief, upon whom they conferred the title of king ; but this ruler, without authority, money or arms, was always at the mercy of his powerful vassals. Germany was as extensive as France, and its nobles were scarcely less numerous. The sovereignty was elective, but the electors, while they reserved the honor of choosing the cornmon master, had the good sense to surrender part of their privileges to give him more authority. Hence the king had fiefs at his dis- posal, officers at his command, and armies to execute his orders. Spain was but little changed. The North, occupied by the Christians, was perpetually at war with the Moors of the South. In both the states were numerous and feeble ; but the former always gained ground, while the Saracens, equally brave and enlightened, were weakened by civil dissensions. Shadoof — Raising water iu Egypt. Oriental Women on Camela m„ msip •'"lltil'HilBI OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 59 England was entirely changed. The seven, or rather eight, little kingdoms were now united into a single monarchy; but its powers were still enfeebled by the divisions of the Danish and Saxon inhabitants, who made the island a theatre of revolution and bloodshed. Italy, which presented the spectacle of cities overthrown, was oppressed by tyrants, and ruined by anarchy. Venice alone, separated from all others by its peculiar situation and policy, en- joyed a period of calmness and prosperity. Rome continued a rising and ambitious power, which threat- ened to overthrow the ascendency of the Germans. The papal territories were of small size, but no prince had a more extensive power than the pope ; by his dominion overmen's consciences he completed the great work of a spiritual monarchy. ELEVENTH CENTURY. Greek Empire. — 1028, Romanus III. — Bulgarian Invasion. — 1057, CoMNENi — 108 1, Anna Comnena — Varangian Guards. Italy. — 1046, Norman Kingdom. — 1057, Robert Guiscard — Italian Republics. Germany. — 1024, Conrad II. — Franconian House. — 1073, In- vestitures — Saxon Wars. France. — 103 1, Henry I. — 1060, Philip I. — 1095, Synod of Clermont. Spain. — 1080, New Castile recovered. — 1081, Kingdomof Por- tugal—The Cid. Arabian Empire. — 1038, Togrul-Beg — Seljukians. — 1050, In- vasion of Armenia, — 1063, Alp Arslan, — 1074, Malak Shah — Gelalsean Era. — 1076, Jerusalem taken by the Turks. Britain. — 1002, Massacre of the Danes. — 1017, Danish Dy- nasty. — 1041, Edward the Confessor. — 1066, Norman Conquest. 1080, Domesday Book. — 1087, William Rufus. Church. — 1027, Truce of God. — 1038, Benedict IX. deposed. 1073, Gregory VII. — Investitures — Cistertians and Carthusians — The Holy Lance. — 1096, First Crusade. Celebrated Men. — Ferdousi, ^.1020; Avicenna; Guido of Arezzo. STATE OF THE WORLD AT THE EPOCH OF THE CRUSADES, FROM 1096 TO 1273. Rome and Germany were the dominant powers of the West : both assumed the right of creating kings, to which the former added that of deposing them. The quarrel of investitures, begun by Henry IV. and Gregory VII., set Europe in flames. The 6o FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. nobles took this opportunity of securing their independence ; anarchy reigned in the cities ; and the fields were ravaged by undisciplined bands of armed men. France began to assume a more tranquil position, the number of states being greatly diminished ; but there still remained sev- eral powerful vassals. The Dukes of Normandy, become more formidable since the conquest of England, had subjected the sovereigns of Brittany ; and the Dukes of Aquitaine reigned over the vast territory lying between the Loire and the Pyrenees, the Cevennes and the Ocean. The greater part of Languedoc obeyed the Counts of Toulouse; those of Flanders added to their possession of that fertile country the submission of their neighbors ; and the Counts of Champagne enjoyed that rich part of France which still bears the name. The Dukes of Burgundy, attached to the monarchy by the closest ties of blood, governed from the banks of the Loire to the Straits of Dover. In Spain two kings were the terror of the Moors : Sancho, who united Navarre to Aragon ; and Alphonzo of Castile, who gradually extended his southern frontier. Meanwhile the new Count of Portugal planted the banner of Christianity on the Banks of the Tagus. England, under the resolute conqueror, William, was at once oppressed by his exactions, and strengthened by his prudence. Bohemia increased by the conquest of Poland, became a remark- able power, and sided with the Emperor, who had conferred the regal title on its chiefs. Hungary, in a weaker state, supported the interests of the pope, who liad given its princes a crown. Poland \Nd.% one wide scene of confusion, under dukes without talent and without authority. Siveden, Denmark and Riissia were still in obscurity. Apulia, Calabria and Sicily, reunited under the warlike Normans, were respected in the West, being at once the terror of the Greek Empire, and the protectors of Italy. The Greek Empire, long tending toward its fall, and under- mined by all the evils which can destroy a state, was still pre- served by the extreme prudence and sagacity of Alexius Comnenus. Venice and Genoa were the only maritime powers of the West ; but rivals in navigation and commerce, they began to view each other with jealousy, and to nourish in secret the seeds of those quarrels which eventually proved fatal to both. The Caliphs of Bagdad were deprived of all but their sacredo- tal power; their empire was under the dominion of the Turks. Five thrones in Asia were filled by these warriors : — i, Persia, whose sultan reigned supreme from Armenia to the Indus; — 2, Antioch and Syria ; — 3, Damascus and Palestine ; — 4, Cilicia and the adjacent provinces ; — 5, Nice, the seat of Soliman, governor of Bithynia. — -The Caliphs of Cairo with difficulty maintained them- selves upon the thrones of Egypt ; the Miramolins of Africa OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 6s were subdued by the Kings of Morocco, who protected the Sara- cen power in Spain, and were the greatest obstacle to the Castil- ian monarchs. TWELFTH CENTURY. Greek Empire. — 1118, Armenia recovered. — 1143, Manuel I. — 1 185, House of Angelo. — Mourzoufle. The East. — 1117, Sangiar. — 1118, Knights of St. John of Jerusalem — Knights Templars. — 1 1 27, Attabeks. — 1 171, Saladin. 1 187, Jerusalem Taken by Saladin. — 1191, Crusaders take Acre. — 1 191, Old Man of the Mountain. Italy. — 1144, Arnold of Brescia. — 1158, Diet of Roncaglia. — Podesta. — 1174, Battle of Legnano. — Guelfs and Ghibellines. — 1 1 83, Treaty of Constance. Germany — 1122, Concordat. — 1138, Swabian Line — Guelfs and Ghibellines. — 1152, Barbarossa. — 1194, Conquest of Naples. France. — 1108, Rise of Civil Corporations. — 1113, Wars with England begun. — 1180, Philip Augustus. — Parliament. Spain. — Alphonzo VI. of Castile. — 1139, Alphonzo, first king of Portugal. — 1 150, Commoners in the Cortes. — Aragon. — Mili- tary Orders. Britain. — iioo, Henry Beauclerc — First Charter. — 1135, Stephen. — 1138, Battle of the Standard. — 1154, Plantaganets. — 1 1 64, Constitutions of Clarendon, — 1172, Invasion of Ireland. — 1 189, Richard Coeur de Lion. Church. — 1154, Adrian IV. — Abbey of Fontevraud. — The Carmelites. — 1147, Second Crusade. — 1189, Third Crusade. Literature. — Anna Comnena. — Eustathius. — Chroniclers in England. — Abelard d. — Bernard of Clairvaux, d, — Peter the Lombard. — University of Cambridge. THIRTEENTH CENTURY. Greek Empire. — 1204, Latin Princes. — 1259, Second Greek Empire — Michael Palseologus, — 1274, Union of the Churches, Germany. — 1212, Frederick II. — Papal Disputes. — Crusade. — 1 241, Hanse Towns. — 1273, Rudolph of Hapsburg. _ Italy. — Italian Republics — The Visconti. — 1258, 1293, Vene- tian Wars. — 1282, Sicilian Vespers. France. — 12 14, Battle of Bouvines. — 1226, Louis IX. — Par- liament begun. — 1268, Pragmatic Sanction. — 1285, Philip le Bel, — 1302, States General — Albigenses. — 1302, Rout of Courtray. Britain. — 1199, John. — 12 15, The Great Charter. — 1265, First Parliament. — 1283, Conquest of Wales. — 1297, Wallace. Spain. — 12 12, Battle of Tolosa. — 1252, Alphonzo X. — Siete Partidas. 62 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The East. — 1205, Afifghan Dynasty, India. — Mamelukes. — 1206, Genghis Khan. — 1279, Conquest of China, by Kublai Kahn. — 1300, Ottomans in Bithynia. Church. — Mendicant Friars. — 1209, The Inquisition — The Albigenses. Inventions. — 1270, Glass Mirrors. — 1253, Linen first made in England. — 1299, Spectacles at Pisa. Celebrated Men. — Aquinas. — R. Bacon,— Saadi — Duns, Sco- tus — Marco Polo. RESULTS OF THE CRUSADES. Des Michaels, examining the influences of the Crusades, class- ifies them under the following heads : 1. Immediate Effect. — Europe was saved from Turkish invasion at a period when she would have been ill able to resist it, although she purchased this benefit and short repose at a great price of blood and treasure. 2. Effect on the Church. — The popes augmented their spiritual and temporal power. They brought under their supremacy the patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem, and strengthened the links of the hierarchy. 3. Political Effect. — This was shown, \st, Among the princes, who all, with the exception of the emperors, found means ol enlarging their domains, and increasing their authority ; 2nd Among the nobility, who suffered in power and riches, but were gainers in honorary distinctions. The orders of knight-hood established in the East reflected their splendor over Europe and were imitated in all Christain states. Tournaments, a recent introduction, charmed the West by -representing the exploits of the Holy War; the combatants from beyond the seas came to display, in the various courts, the magnificence of the East ; while coats of arms became necessary as distinctive marks, and family names were adopted and transmitted from sire to son. 4. Effect on Commerce and Industry. — The art of navigation made important progress, owing to the frequent voyages, to the great profits derived from them, and to the practices borrowed from the pilots of the Levant. By opening a wider field to speculation, and by facilitating exchange, commerce derived the same advantages as nautical science. Productions of nature and art, hitherto unknown in the West, brought new enjoyments, and called forth fresh industry. The maritime cities that engrossed the commerce of the East attracted to them most of the wealth of Europe, and several of them became powerful republics. Hence the prosperity of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, of Barcelona and Marseilles. Hence, too, the wealth and activity of the Flemish towns, which served as the medium of exchange between the North and South, between the ports of the Mediterranean and the towns OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 6;^ Of the Hanseatic league. Agriculture was also greatly benefited by the introduction of the mulberry, Turkey-wheat, the sugar- cane, and other plants. 5. Efect o?i Knowledge. — General civilization was advanced by new international relations, and the progress of science and literature. Ideas of honor and courtesy spread from chivalry into society generally, softening the public manners, and ennobling, in some respect, the enfranchised serfs, who were indebted for most of their wealth and liberty to the crusades. New and sublime subjects were laid open to the poetic genius, which, however, rarely employed them with advantage. Still talent was honored, and the warriors, not satisfied with encouraging the versifiers who celebrated their exploits, became their own bards. A peculiar character was impressed on poetry, and thus arose the romance of chivalry and the songs of the troubadours. Hence was breathed the first harmony into the various dialects of modern Europe. The advances made by the sciences of geography, history, and medicine, were important in giving a new impulse to geographical research and adventure. FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Greek Empire.— 1341, Cantacuzene.— 1355, Great Earth- quake. — 1391, Manuel II. The East.— 13 10, Knights of St. John at Rhodes.— 1326, Rise of the Ottoman Power— Janizaries.— 1370, Tamerlane.— 1389, Bajazet. — 1402, Battle of Angora. Germany.— 1315, Battle of Morgarten.— 1338, Union of Reuse.- 1347, Charles IV.— 1356, Golden Bull... 1378, Wences- Icius, Emperor. — 1386, Battle of Sempack. Italian Peninsula.— The Visconti.— 1320, Castruccio Cas- tracani.— 1342, Joan i.— 1347, Rienzi.— 1355, Faliero expelled. 1378, War of Chioggia. France.— 1302, Defeat at Courtray— Papal Quarrels.— 1307, Templars abolished.— Salic Law. — 1346, Battle of Cressy; 1356, of Poitiers.— 1358, The Jacquerie.— \i6 a, Charles V. Britain.— 1314, Battle of Bannockburn.— 1346, The Black Prince.— 137 1, The Stuarts.— 1381, Wat Tyler.— 1399, House of Lancaster — Henry IV. Spanish Peninsula— 1340, Battle of Tarifa : Cannons first used.— 1350, Peter the Cruel.— 1368, Henryof Trastamare.— 1385, John of Portugal. Church.— 1360, John Wickliffe.— 1378, Great Schism of the West — Lollards — Bianchi. Inventions.— 1306, The Mariner's Compass— Linen Paper— Cannons.— T330, Notes of music— 1360, Metal-drawing; Pins. — 1380, Playing Cards — Gun-powder used. 64 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Literature, &c. — 1300, Cimabue; 1336, Ghiotto, Painter — 1321 Dante, Poet; 1343, Occam, Theologian, 1374, Petrarch, Poet; 1375, Boccacio, Novelist; Hafiz, Persian Poet; 1400, Chaucer, Poet; 1452, Gower, Poet, Froissart, Historian, INVENTIONS, ETCo The Mariner's Compass. — In this century many new inven- tions, by seconding the exertions of genius, accelerated the pro- gress of knowledge and civilization. The chief of these were the construction of the mariner's compass, and the manufacture of linen paper. The Chinese were acquainted with the polarity of the magnetic needle so early as 1121 ; and they assign the in- vention of the compass to 1108 b. c. This instrument was prob- ably introduced into Europe by the Saracens ; but only came into general use at the end of this century. The pretentions of Flavio Gioia of Almafi have been long detected. ; indeed it is doubtful if such a person ever existed. A more fearless spirit of maritime adventure soon arose, and its fruits in the next century were the discovery of the New World. Linen Paper. — The revival of learning in the fourteenth cen- tury called for cheaper materials than the parchment in general use. Paper made from cotton appears to have been known as early as iioo. The Arabians assert that cotton paper had been manufactured at Samarcand in the eighth century, the method having been introduced from China, Though linen paper was very little known till the latter part of the fourteenth century, it is an unreasonable scepticism to doubt its use in the West in the middle of the thirteenth. Pace da Fabiano of Treviso is said to have been its inventor; but subsequent researches place him in the same rank of fabulous persons, as Flavio Gioia and the monk Schwartz. FIFTEENTH CENTURY, Greek Empire and the East. — 1402, Invasion of Tamer- lane; Mohammed I, — 1425, John Palaeologus ; Huniades and Scanderbeg. — 1448, Constantine Palaeologus. — 145 1, Mohammed II. — 1453, Constantinople taken by the Turks. — 1480, Siege of Rhodes; Bajazet II. Germany. — 1400, Robert ; 1410, Sigismond. — 1414; Council of Constance; Hussite War. — 1436, Peace of Iglau — 1438, Austrian House. — 1464, Ernestine and Albertine Houses; 1479, Victory at Guinegate. — 1493, Maximilian I.; 1495, Diet of Worms : J^^P^^i^^^ Chamber. — 1500, Six Circles. France. — 1407, Civil War; Burgundians and Armagnacs. — 14 15, Defeat at Agincourt, — 1420 Treaty at Troyes. — 1422, Charles VII. — 1423, Defeat at Verneuil. — 1429, Joan of Arc. — ■©UR 'GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 6^ 5:4.61, Louis XI. — 1477, Charles of Burgundy killed at Nancy. — 1479, Swiss League. — 1483, Charles VIII. — 1495, Naples con- quered ; Victory of Fornovo. Britain. — 1401, Sawtree Burnt for Heresy. — 1413, Henry V. — 1415, Agincourt. — 1422, Henry VI.; Bedford, Regent. — 1444, Truce of Tours; Jack Cade; Wars of the Roses. — 1455, Battle of St. Albans; 1460, of Wakefield Green. — 1461, House of York; Edward IV. — 1471, Battle of Barnett; 1483, of Tewkesbury; Jane Shore, Edward V., Richard III. — 1485, Tudors ; Henry VII. — 1487, Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. Italian Peninsula. — 1400, John de Medici. — 1434, Cosmo I. — 1435, Alphonso V. of Naples. — 1460, Defeat at Sarno. — 1466, Galeazzo Sforza. — 1469, Lorenzo de Medici. — 1485, Revolt of Nobles. Spanish Peninsula. — 1406, John II. of Castile; Alvarez de Luna; Power of Grandmaster of the Three Orders. — 1409, Mar- tin V. of Aragon and Sicily. — 1419, John II. of Navarre. — 1452, Don Carlos defeated at Aibar. — Roussillon and Cerdagne sold to France. — 1454, Henry IV. — Invasion of Granada. — 1465, Deposi- tion of Henry. — 1474, Isabella. — 1479, Union of Castile and Aragon. — 1480, Inquisition. — 1492, Conquest of Granada. Church — 1409, Hussites, — 1414, Sixteenth General Council; Constance. — T429, End of Schism of the West. — 1439, Council of Florence. — 1454, St. Francis de Paulo founds the order of Mmims. Inventions and Discoveries. — 1440, Carriages. — 1449, Felt Hats. — Painting in Oil. — 146 1, Engraving on Copper; First Silk Manufacture. — 1450, Printing. — 1474, First Lithotomic Operation. — 1495, Algebra. — 1486, Cape of Good Hope. — 1492, America discovered. Literature and Art. — Poggio, L. Valla, Pulci, Politian, Pico Mirandola, Manutius Aldus, Ital. — Budaeus, Fr. — Villena, J. de Mena, Sp. — Lydgate, Fortescue, Littleton, Caxton, Eng. — Thomas a Kempis, Reuchlin, Germ. GREEK EMPIRE. Fall of Constantinople. — The destruction of the Greek empire was for a time delayed by the invasions of Tamerlane, so that Manuel, who had visited the west of Eprope in the hope of obtaining succors from the Latin powers, returned to his capital, where he reigned many years in prosperity and peace. In 1425, the crown descended to John Pal^eologus II., who, with a de- sign of healing the schism between the Eastern and Western churches, attended the council of Ferrara, 1438. Had this visit failed in its object, still the revival of Greek literature in Italy by the learned men in the emperor's train would have been ample 66 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. compensation. On his decease, in 1448, the throne was occupied for the last time by one of its native sovereigns, Constantine Pal^ologus. He was soon attacked by the young and ambitious Mohammed II., who laid siege to his capital in the spring of 1453. The emperor, having implored in vain the assistance of the Latin princes of Europe, was left with only 7000 or 8000 men to con- tend against a victorious rival at the head of 260,000. Fourteen batteries, mounting guns of enormous calibre, poured their de- structive fire, night and day, against the ancient walls. The var- ious operations of the siege were conducted with the greatest impetuosity on both sides ; while the failing spirits of the garri- son and citizens were revived by the timely arrival of five heavy laden ships of war, that had broken through the line of the ene- my's fleet, and caused a loss of 12,000 men. Although this was the only attempt made to succor Constantinople, it so discour- aged the sultan that he was about to withdraw his troops, when the devoted city was entirely surrounded by transporting some of the lighter Ottoman vessels over a narrow isthmus into the inner part of the harbor. The terms of capitulation which Mohammed now offered were such as the religion of Constantine forbade him to accept. Preparations were accordingly made for a fierce strug- gle, and while the Greeks dedicated the whole night of the 28th May to prayer, the besieging camp was already filled with the shouts of victory. At daybreak, the city was violently attacked on all sides; the valor of the Christians long rendered the event doubt- ful, and the fortune of that day might have been different, but for the retreat of Justiniani, the Genoese commander, and his auxiliaries. A gigantic jinizary, named Hassan, was the first to climb the shattered rampart, and though precipitated into the ditch, he had shown the practicability of the enterprise. Palso- logus fell by an unknown hand, resisting to the last; and with him the fate of his capital was decided, after a siege of fifty-three days, 29th May 1453. Constantinople was sacked, and its inhab- itants became the prey of the victors. In the destruction of the libraries, posterity has to regret the loss of 120,000 manuscripts. The dissolution of the Greek empire now proceeds step by step. " Every province was in turn subdued ; the limbs were lopped off one by one; and the majesty of the Roman name was ultimitely confined to the walls of Constantinople. Before Mo- hammed II. planted his cannon against them, he had deprived the expiring empire of every hope of succor or delay. It was necessary that Constantinople should fall ; but the magnanimous resignation of her emperor bestows an honor upon her fall, which her prosperity seldom earned. The long deferred but in- evitable moment arrived, and the last of the Caesars folded round him the imperial mantle, and remembered the name which he rep- resented in the dignity of heroic death." ill] ai UF PERSIA. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 6q OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND TURKEY. Invasion of Tamerlane. — In 1402, Tamerlane invaded the Ottoman empire, after provoking Bajazet by menacing letters, in which he was compared to an insect. The sultan was at this time besieging Constantinople, when hastily breaking up his camp before that city, he marched against the Mongols, who were at- tacking Angora, in Asia Minor. Here, on the 28th July, he gave battle on the ground where Pompey defeated the army of Mith- ridates. The combat was prolonged during three days and two nights, and 140,000 men were left dead on that terrible field of slaughter. The Turks were completely routed, and Bajazet fell into the hands of the conqueror, by whom (according to the western historians, whose testimony is not confirmed by the Per- sians) he was carried about enclosed in an iron cage until his death. Fortunately for Europe, the want of ships checked the progress of Tamerlane on the shores of the Hellspoint and Bosporus. The victor now returned to Samarcand, whence his ambition, which the snows of seventy winters had not cooled, hurried him to China, hoping to add that country to his acquisitions ; but he did not live to realize his project, having died at Otrar, ist April, 1405. The fate of his kingdom was similar to that of Alexander, whose place is nearly occupied. From a portion of this immense do- minion his descendant Baber, in the next century formed an em- pire of the Great Mogul in India. BRITAIN. England. — In 1501 and 1502 were concluded two marriages which led to important results in after- times. Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VII., having espoused Catherine of Aragon, fourth daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and dying six months afterwards, his brother, afterwards Henry VIII., accepted the hand of the widow; while Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII., married James IV. of Scotland, thereby transmitting rights to her descendants which at length placed the Stuart family on the English throne. MODERN HISTORY. FROM THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION, AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. The great historical and political events which characterize this last period of Universal History, were brought about by many concurrent circumstances, sufficiently united in respect of 4ate to form a marked difference between the middle ages and the events of modern times. The introduction of the mariner's compass was followed, though at a long interval, by the dis- covery of America, and the circumnavigation of Africa ; while the invention of printing prepared the way for the intellectual and religious changes effected by Luther in the sixteenth century. In considering the actual state of Europe, we must not forget the influence of race and language. The nations of the South, with their Roman habits and dialects, were in almost constant opposition to those of the North, whose language and manners were of Germanic origin. In the West, civilization was rapidly developed, and carried to the most distant countries, whereas in the East, the people, chiefly of Sclavonic lineage, were too much engaged in opposing the barbarians to make any great progress in the arts of peace. Similar causes will also account for the backwardness of the Scandinavian tribes, who were so far re- moved from the influence of refinement. In all the nations of Gothic descent, which alone were strictly under the feudal law, a powerful middle class arose by degrees, and supported the kings against the barons. But the struggle was long and severe ere the people triumphed. In the middle of the fifteenth century, feudalism was dominant in the Empire ; it had humbled the Castilian monarchs, and preserved its suprem- acy in Portugal, England, and Naples ; in Scotland it was at- tacked by the sovereigns ; while in France, Charles VIIL, suc- cessful in recovering those provinces conquered by the English, paved the way for its abolition ; and, before the end of the cen- tury, Ferdinand of Spain, Henry VII. of England, and Louis XL of France, had estabUshed the royal power on its ruins. Sweden which had been united to Denmark during sixty years, broke the union of Calmar ; Russia emancipated herself from the Tartar yoke ; and the Teutonic order of knights became the vassals of Poland. During the time the emperor was busied in founding 70 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. yr the greatness of his house, and Germany in repairing the evils in- flicted by her political and religious wars, all the Eastern states were menaced by the Turks, whom the Hungarians at length arrested in their victorious career. By the middle of the sixteenth century, the Reform doctrines were already spread throughout Europe, particularly in France, England, Scotland and the Low Countries. Spain alone remained closed against them, and be- came their most determined adversary. The Eastern and Northern states did not long remain strangers to the European republics. During the rivalry of Francis I. and Charles VI., Turkey was identified with the European system ; and at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Sweden inter- fered in a resolute manner in the affairs of her southern neigh- bors. It was now that France assumed a high position ; and Louis XIV. dictated to Europe so long as his antagonists were composed of the divided Empire, Holland, and Spain, then al- most ruined; but his influence and power were eclipsed so soon as William III., in 1688, ascended the British throne, and was en- abled to wield the- extensive resources of his new kingdom. In concert with Holland, the English destroyed the pretensions of France to the dominion of the sea, and, in union with Austria, confined her within her proper limits, though they could not pre- vent the establishment of a Bourbon on the Spanish throne. Sweden was the principal northern power; twice she effected considerable conquests, but was too feeble to maintain a lasting supremacy. Her career, too, was checked by Russia, which event- ually attained the superiority she has ever since preserved. The beginning of the eighteenth century was marked by the formation of the kingdoms of Prussia and Sardinia. The colo- nial wars, one of the characteristics of this period, furnished England with an opportunity of destroying the navies of France and Spain, and of asserting her power over the neutral states. The revolution of her American dependencies threatened her in- fluence, and terminated in the loss of these important settlements; but, presenting a determined front to her enemies, she founded in the East an empire of vast wealth and extent. At the close of the eighteenth century, war raged throughout the greater part of Europe ; and the very foundations of society were shaken by the most terrible revolution on record. The political whirlwind spread from France over Europe, leaving in all directions the deepest marks of its progress. But as storms and tempests serve to purify the atmosphere, so good has, in the political world, sprung out of what appeared to be unmingled evil. Constitutional monarchies are everywhere established, or the way is rapidly preparing for them ; and the influence of the middle class is more directly felt in the governments both of England and France. 72 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, SIXTEENTH CENTURY. Britain and Ireland. — 1509, Henry VIII. — 1513, Battle of Flodden; James V. — 1514, Wolsey. — Anne Boleyn. — 1536, First Suppression of Monasteries. — 1542, Mary, Queen of Scotland. — 1547, Edward VI. — 1553, Mary. — 1558, Elizabeth. — 1587, Queen of Scotland beheaded. — 1588, Spanish Armada defeated. Italian Peninsula — 1501, Naples conquered by French. — 1503, Battle of Cerignola ; 1525, of Pavia. — 1537) Cosmo de Medici. — 1547, Fieschi's Conspiracy. — 1580, Charles Emanuel of Savoy. — 1585, Pope Sixtus V. Spanish Peninsula. — 1500, Charles V., born ; Ximenes. — 1539, Las-t Castilian Cortes. — 1555, Philip II. — 1557, Sebastian of Portugal. — 1578, Henry I. of Portugal. — 1696, Cadiz taken by the English. United Provinces. — 1568, Death of Counts Egmont and Horn. — 1579, Union of Utrecht. — 1584, Prince of Orange mur- dered. — 1597, Victory of Turnhout. Germany — 1501, Aulic Council. — 15 17, Luther. — 15 19, Charles v., Emperor. — 1530, Diet of Augsburg. — 1535, Anabaptist War. — 1545? Council of Trent. — 1552, Treaty of Passau. — 1556, Fer- dinand I.; 1564, Maximilian II.; 1576, Rudolph II. Hungary and Bohemia. — 1490, Ladislaus. — 15 16, Louis II. — 1526, Battle of Mohaz ; John Zapoli and Ferdinand. — 15419 John- Sigismund. — 1548, Hereditary Succession of Bohemia. — 1566^ Turkish Invasion. Poland and Russia. — 1506, Sigismund I., king of Poland, — 1519, Polish War against Teutonic Order. — 1533, Ivan IV. — 1550,, New Code. — 1573, Henry of Valois. — 1581, Conquest of Siberia. — 1598, End of Rurik Dynasty. Denmark, Sweden and Norway. — 1448, Christian II. — 1523,. Gustavus Vasa. — 1534, Christian III, — 1560, Eric of Sweden. — 1592, Sigismund of Poland. The East. — 1501, Ismael Sophi, king of Persia. — 1512, Selim I. — I5i5> Mogul Empire in the East Indies. — r52i, Belgrade taken. — 1522, Siege of Rhodes. — 1548, War with Persia. — 1553^ Roxalana. — 157 1, Battle of Lepanto. — 1574, Amurrath III. — 1585, Shah Abbas. Colonies. — 1500, Brazil discovered. — 1503, Portuguese first established in India. — 1508, West Indies. — 15 13, Discovery of the South Sea. — 1526, Pizarro in Peru. — 1584,, Virginia, the first EngHsh Colony.— 1586 Davis' Straits.— Conquest of Mexico bjr Cortiz 1520. The Churc^h. — 1517, Luther. — 1525, Capuchin Order. — 1530,. Confession of Augsburg. — 1533, Calvinists. — 1534,. English Refor- mation. — 1540, Jesuits. — 1545, Council of Trent.— 1546, Socini- ans. — 1552, St. Francis Xavier. — 1568, Bull in Ccena Domini. — 1572, Massacre of St. Bartholomew. — 1580, Chinese Mission. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 73^: Inventions, &c. — 15 17, Gun locks. — 1538, Lotteries. — 1548, Balance Wheel. — 1582, Reformed Calendar; Oil Painting. — 1593? Telescope and Thermometer. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Great Britain. — 1603, The Stuarts: James I. — 1605, Gim-- powder Plot. — 1621, Whigs and Tories. — 1625, Charles I. — 16385,. Solemn Covenant; Long Parliament. — 1641, Irish Rebellion. — 1643, Episcopacy abolished. — Civil War. — 1649, The Common- wealth. — 1653, Cromwell, Protector. — 1660, The Restoration :- Charles II. — 1665, 1666, Plague and Fire of London. — 16795, Habeas Corpus Act. — 1688, Revolution ; House of Orange, — 1694^.- Triennial Act. France. — 1610, Louis XIII. — Richelieu and Mazarin. — 1643,, Louis XIV, — 1659, Peace of Pyrenees. — 1668, Treaty of Aix-la- Chapelle. — 1685, Edict of Nantes revoked. — 1697, Peace o£ Ryswick. Spain and Portugal. — 1610, Moors expelled — 1621, Philip IV. — Decline of Spain. — 1640, Revolution of Portugal. — Brag-- anza Dynasty. — 1668, Independence of Portugal. Italy. — 1647, Massaniello. — 1645, Candian War, Germany. — 1618, Thirty Years' War. — 1648, Treaty of West-- phalia. — 1682, Insurrection of Tekeli. — 1683, Siege of Vienna bjr' the Turks. — 1687, Hungary becomes hereditary in the Aicsiriaiist Family, Holland, — 1609, Truce with Spain, — 1618, Synod of Dort. — 1648, Treaty 0/ Munster. — 1678, Treaty of Nimeguen. — 1689J.- William III., of Ho) land, becomes King of England. Denmark. — 1588, Christian IV. — 1611, Swedish War, — 1648s* Frederick III. Sweden. — 1611, Gustavus Adolphus. — 1632, B;ittle of Lntzen* Christiana Abdicates in 1654. — 1697, Charles XII. Poland. — 1632, Ladislaus IV. — 1647, Cossack War. — 1674,., John Sobiesky ; Raises the Siege of Vienna, 1683. — 1686, Treaty of Leopol. Russia. — 1613, Romanof Dynasty : Michael. — 1645, — Alexis^ 1667, Revolt of the Cossacks. — 1689, Peter the Great; Tyrk^ ish War. Ottoman Empire. — 1645, Candian War. — 1669, Conquest of Candia; Mohammed IV. — 1699, Treaty of Carlowitz. The East. — Shah Abbas. — 1694, Hussein Mirza. — 1644, Tartar" Dynasty in China. — 161 1, Dutch Trade with Japan. — 1659, Ausreg— - zebe; The Mahrattas, Colonies. — 1600, East India Company. — 1623, Dutch Cruelties^- at Amboyna. — 1648, Factories at Madras and Hoogly; 1699, Fort- 74 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. William at Calcutta. — 1674, Colonies on Guinea Coast. — 1625, Bar- ijadoes and St Kitt's. — 1641, Sugar-cane planted in West Indies. — 1655, Conquest of Jamaica. — 1627, Boston founded. — 1630, Rhode Island. — 1632 Maryland. — 1680, Carolina. — 1682 Pennsylvania. — 1664, French West India Company ; Buccaneers. — 1650, Dutch settle at Cape of Good Hope. — 1656. Ceylon. Church. — 1638, Jansenism. — 1709, Port Royal suppressed. — 11650, Quakers. Inventions, &c. — 1602 Decimal Arithmetic. — 16 10, Thermom- ^eter ; Satellites of Jupiter. — 1614, Logarithms. — 1625, Barometer. — 1 628, Circulation of Blood demonstrated ; Tea, Coffee, Chocolate, and Sugar introduced. — 1658, Pocket Watches. — 1686, Newtonian Philosophy. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Great Britain. — 1700, Act of Succession. — 1702, Anne. — 1707, Scottish Union. — 1704, Victory of Blemheim; Gibraltar taken. — 1706, Ramillies ; 1708, Oudenarde ; 1709, Malplaquet. — 1714, House of Brunswick; George I. — 1715, 1745, Scottish ^Rebellions. — 1716, Septennial Act. — 17 18, Quadruple Alliance. — 1720, South Sea Bubble; Walpole. — 1743, Victory at Dettingen. ■ — 1748, Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. — '759, Conquest of Can- ada. — 1763 John Wilkes; American War, ended 1783; Fox and jPitt. — Naval Victories of Howe, 1794; Duncan and Jervis, 1797 : .Nelson, 1798. — 1798, Irish Rebellion. France. — 1700, War of Spanish Succession. — i7i5,The Re- ;gency of Orleans. — 1718, Mississippi Scheme. — 1733, War of Polish Succession. — 1740, War of Austrian Succession. — 1756, ■Seven Years' War. — 1764, Jesuits suppressed. — 1774, Louis XVI. ---—1789, States-General. — Revolution; 1793, King beheaded. — .1794, The Directory. — 1798, Egyptian Expedition. — 1799, Con- wo separate bills chartering a U. S. bank, he was denounced in the strongest terms by the party which had elected him, and his entire cabinet resigned except Daniel Webster, Secretary of State. Nevertheless, the finances of the country rapidly improved. In 1842 a treaty was negotiated with Great Britain, relating to the N. W. boundary of the United States, or the Oregon line. Late in this administration, Texas, a province of Mexico, settled chiefly by emigrants from the United States, which had declared its independence, applied for admission into the Union. This was strongly resisted by the Whig party, but early in 1845 Con- gress authorized the President to negotiate with Texas terms of annexation. folk's ADMINISTRATION (1845 tO 1 849). The contest of 1844 was between Henry Clay, the Whig candi- date, and James K.- Polk, who was elected by the Democrats. The action of Congress with reference to Texas necessarily led to a rupture with Mexico, and that her troops might not move upon that state in an unprepared condition, General Taylor was ordered to lead his forces to the Rio Grande, and a naval squad- dron was dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico to support him. THE MEXICAN WAR. Hostilities began by an attack on a body of United States dragoons, April 27, 1846, on the east bank of the Rio Grande, above Matamoras. On the 8th and 9th of May, General Taylor 130 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. fought the successful battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, which drove the Mexicans beyond the river. When the news of these engagements reached Washington, the President was authorized to call out 50,000 volunteers, and a warlike enthu- siasm was displayed in all the states. The army was not ready for action until the fall of 1846. It was then divided into three columns, the main body under General Taylor to march upon Monterey, while a second division under General Wool was to attack Chihuahua, and the third, under General Kearney, was to direct its course to Santa Fe. These objects were promptly ac- complished, Monterey surrendering on the 24th Sept., Santa Fe shortly p'revious, and Chihuahua on the 28th of Feb., 1847. Mean- while Captain J. C. Fremont, of the typographical engineers, with several other officers, had possessed himself of San Francisco, and gained the entire control of Upper California. As in Feb., 1847, General Taylor's forces had become reduced to less than 5,000 men by detachments sent elsewhere, Mexican General Santa Anna considered this a favorable moment to attack him, and on the 23d of that month assaulted his works on the heights of Buena Vista, three miles south of Saltillo, with an army of 20,000 men. In spite of this numerical superiority he was driven in disorder from the field,with a loss of more than 1,500 men. A few days after this event. General Scott at the head of 12,000 men landed near Vera Cruz (March 9, 1847), and began to invest the city. It yielded after a vigorous resistance on the 29th, and shortly afterward the troops were put in motion for the Mexican capital. Santa Anna resisted them on the heights of Cerro Gordo, but was routed with heavy loss (April 18), The cities of Jalapa and Puebla fell, and on the i8th of August the entire army, num- bering 9,000 men reached a position ten miles from the city of- Mexico. Here they were opposed by over 30,000 Mexicans un- der Santa Anna. With desperate bravery they carried by assault the batteries on the heights of Contreras, the fortified post of Cherubusco, and the fortress of Chapultapec, which had been deemed impregnable. Terrified by these losses, Santa Anna and the civil officers of the government fled from the city by night, the army dissolved, and on the 14th of September the American flag floated over the national palace of Mexico. This ended the war and on February 22, 1848, a treaty of peace was concluded between the two powers. The United States obtained New Mexico and California, and agreed to pay to and for Mexico about $18,- 000,000. TAYLOR AND FILLMORE's ADMINISTRATIONS (1849 tO 1853). The next presidential canvass resulted in the election of Gen- eral Zachary Taylor, the Whig nominee, but of moderate views. The central political question of the day was whether slavery OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 131 should be carried into the new territories. This was strenuously opposed by the majority in the north, and as earnestly advo- cated by the south. The " compromise " measures, finally passed by Congress, which excluded slavery from California, left it optional with the people of Utah and New Mexico, and allowed owners to capture fugitive slaves in free states, were equally dis- liked by each party. Secession conventions were held in South Carolina and Mississippi, and armed resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law advocated in the north. Pending this discussion, President Taylor died, July 9, 1850, and the Vice-president, Millard Fillmore, was installed as acting President. The discovery of the rich gold deposits of California at this time attracted general attention throughout the world, and led to a vast emigration to that territory. PIERCe's ADMINISTRATION (1853 tO 1 85 7). In 1852 Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, Democratic candi- date for President, was elected over General Winfield Scott, the candidate of the Whig party. The Missouri Compromise was abrogated in 1854. Violent collisions occurred in Kansas between the Free-Soil and Pro-Slavery parties. In March of same year a commercial treaty was effected with Japan. The discussions which sought to give new efficacy to the Fugitive Slave Law, and which culminated on March 6th, 1857, in the famous Dred Scott decision, delivered by Chief Justice Taney, greatly increased party excite- ment, and intensified the struggle between the friendj and oppo- nents of slavery. Under such circumstances the campaign of 1856 took place, the Democratic candidate being James Buchanan and the Free-Soil candidate, General John C. Fremont. The former was elected. Buchanan's administration (1857 to 1861). Party lines became more closely drawn upon the right of extend- ing slavery into the territories, and the capture of fugitives on free soil. In Kansas and Nebraska bloody collisions between the ex- ponents of free and slave ideas were not infrequent. Mr. Buchanan had great trouble with his territorial governors, especially of Kansas. August 24, 1857, began the great commercial panic, which, by December 25, of same year, resulted in 5,123 failures, with an aggregate loss of $291,757,000. The Utah expedition was the only army movement of importance during 1857-58. October 17, 1859, occured the affair at Harper's Ferry, which resulted in the hanging of John Brown. The presidential canvass of i860 found the Democratic party divided, one faction claiming that slavery existed by constitutional right in all the territories, the ether that the question of its existence depended on the will of 132 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the people thereof. Of the former, John C. Breckenridge became the candidate for the presidency ; of the latter, Stephen A. Douglas, while Abraham Lincoln became the candidate ot the new Repub- lican party, and John Bell of the conservative or compromise elements of both parties. Mr. Lincoln was chosen (November 6, i860) by a large majority. His election was the signal for n movement on the part of the southern states in favor of a separate government. On November 7, on receipt of the news of the elec- tion, the "Palmetto Flag" was hoisted on the shipping in Charles- ton Harbor. November 10, the Legislature of South Carolina introduced a bill to raise and equip 10,000 men, and one ordering a convention to consider the question of secession. Her Senators both resigned. November 1 8, the Georgia Legislature appropriated ^1,000,000 to arm the slate. Major Anderson was sent to Fort Moultrie to relieve Colonel Gardner. December i, Florida Legis- lature ordered a secession convention. December 3, Congress met, and Mr. Buchanan, in his message, announced the doctrine that while no state had the right to secede, the Federal government was powerless to prevent secession. December 10, Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, and Senator Clay, of Alabaina, resigned. December 13, the President refused to reinforce the forts in Charleston Harbor. December 14, General Cass, Secretary of State, resigned. December 20, South Carolina seceded. Decem- ber 22, the Crittenden compromise voted down in the Senate. December 24, South Carolina members of Congress resigned. December 26, Major Anderson took possession ol Fort Sumter. The President refused to see the South Carolina commissioners. December 28, South Carolina seized the government property in Charleston, includmg Castle Pickney and Fort Moultrie. Decem- ber 29, John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, resigned. January 2, 1861, Governor Ellis, of North Carolina, seized Fort Macon, and Georgia troops seized Forts Pulaski and Jackson and the United States Arsenal at Savannah. January 4, Governor Moore, of Alabama, seized Fort Morgan and the United States Arsenal at Mobile. January 8, Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, resigned. January 9, steamer Star of the West fired en byConfederatesin Charleston Harbor. Mississippi seceded. Jan- uary 10, Florida seceded. The state seized Fort McRae. Jan- uary II, Alabama seceded. January 13, Florida troops seized Pensacola Navy Yard and Fort Barancas. January 18, Virginia appropriated ^1,000, coo for state defense. January 19, Georgia seceded. January 21, Alabama members of Congress resigned January 23, Georgia members of Congress resigned. January 24, Confederates seized United States Arsenal at Augusta. Jan- uary 26, Louisiana seceded. January 30, North Carolina Legis- lature submitted the secession question to the people, and on Feb- ruary I, the Texas Convention passed an ordinance of secession OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. j^, and submitted it to the people. The Mint and Custom House seized in New Orleans. February 4, delegates met at Montgom- ery, Alabama, to form a Confederate Government. Peace Congress met in Washington, and after a stormy session adjourned without results. February 9, Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens elected provisional President and Vice-president of Southern Confederacy. February 19, Confederates seized Fort Kearney in Kansas. February 23, General Twiggs surrendered government property in Texas, valued at $1,200,000. Lincoln's administration — the war of the rebellion. March 4, 1861, Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated. Texas seceded the people having so voted. 5th, Beauregard took command of the Confederate forces. ■ April 12, FortSumpterwasbombarded. 15 th the President issued proclamation commanding all persons in arms against the government to disperse in twenty days, and callin^^ for 75,000 volunteers. i6th, the Governors of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri refused to furnish troops under the President's call. The Confederate government called for 32,000 men. 17th, Virginia seceded and sent troops to take Harper's Ferry and Gosport Navy Yard. Jefferson Davis offered letters of marque and reprisal to privateers. i8th, Colonel Cake, with 400 ofPenna. 25th Regt., arrived in Washington. 19th, Mass 6th Regt. attacked by a mob in Baltimore. The ports of the Southern states declared in a state of blockade. May ist, Mr. Lincoln called for 42,000 three year volunteers- 22,000 troops for the regular army, and 18,000 seamen. May 4th' General McClellan placed in command of Department of Ohio' Indiana and Illinois. May i8th. Department of Virginia created and placed under command of General Butler. 20th, North Car- olina seceded. 2rst, Tennessee seceded. 24th, 13,000 Federal troops crossed the Potomac, occupying Arlington and Alexandria Colonel Ellsworth killed. June loth, battle of Big Bethel, lyth, West Virginia declared indepe^ident of eastern portion by Wheel- ing Convention. Defeat of the Confederates at Boonville, Missouri. 2oth, McClellan assumed command in West Virgnia. July ist ' First war loan of the United States government $250,000,000' 5 th, Battle of Carthage, Missouri ; defeat of Federal troops undet Col. Sigel. 6th, Fremont took charge of Western Department, nth. Expulsion, of southern Senators from United States Senate' 1 2th, Federal victory at Rich Mt. under Rosencrans. 13th, Con- federates, under Gen. Garnett, defeated at Garrick's Ford, Virginia. 1 6th, President Lincoln authorized to call for 500,000 men. i8th,' Gen. Dix took charge of Department of Maryland. 2ot'h, ConI federate Congress met at Richmond. 21st, Gen. McDowell defeated at Bull Run. 22d, McClellan took command of the Army of the Potomac. August loth, Battle of Wilson Creek, Missouri; 134 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. death of Gen. Lyon. i6th, All commercial relations with Con- federate States interdicted. 29th, Forts Hatteras and Clark, North Carolina, captured by Federals. September 6th, Grant took possession of Paducah, Kentucky. loth, Rosencrans defeated Floyd near Carnifax Ferry, Virginia. October 21st, Col. Baker defeated at Ball's Bluff and Gen. Zollicoffer at Camp Wild Cat, Kentucky. 25th, Defeat of Confederates at Romney, Virginia. November ist , Resignation of Gen. Scott and appointment of Gen. McClellan. 2d, Gen. Hunter succeeded Fremont, in the West, nth, Gen. Halleck succeeded Gen. Hunter. 30th, Eng- land demanded the liberation of Mason and Slidell ; Jefferson Davis elected President of the Confederate States. December 17 th, Drawn battle at Munfordsville, Kentucky. i8th, Capture of 1,300 Confederates at Milford, Missouri, by Gen. Pope. 20th, Confed- erate defeat at Drainsville, by Gen. McCall, January 7th, 1862, second Confederate defeat at Romney. nth, Stanton appointed Secretary of War; defeat of Confeder- ate gun-boats at Columbus. 19th, Defeat of Confederates at Mill Springs, Kentucky; Gen. Zollicoffer killed. 29th, French and English troops land at Vera Cruz and march towards Mexico. February 6th, Fort Henry, on Mississippi River surrendered to Federal Fleet under Commodore Foote. 8th, Gen. Burnside cap- tured six forts on Roanoke Island, roth. Destruction of confed- erate gun- boats on Tennessee River. 15th, Fort Donelson attacked by 40,000 Federal troops under Gen. Grant. i6th. Fort Donelson surrendered 15,000 prisoners, 40 cannon, and munitions. 22d, Inauguration of President and Vice-president of Southern Con- federacy. March 8th, Confederates defeated at Pea Ridge ; destruction of Cumberland and Congress at Hampton Roads by confederate iron-clad Merrimac. 9th, Battle between Merri- mac and Monitor; the former compelled to retire. The first contest between iron-clads : reaction against wooden vessels. 13th, Confederates evacuated New Madrid, Missouri. 14th, Fed- eral victory at Newbern, North Carolina, under Burnside. 16th, Com. Foote began attack on Island No. 10; Confederates defeated at Cumberland Mountain, Kentucky. 1 8th, Confederates defeated at Salem, Arkansas. 23d, Battle of Winchester; Confederates defeated. April 6th, 7th, Battle of Pittsburgh Landing or Shiloh ; Grant, assisted by Buell, drove Confederates to their fortifications at Corinth ; Federal loss, 13,100. Confederate Gen. Johnson killed. 8th, Com. Foote captured Island No. 10 with 5,000 prisoners, 100 siege guns, 24 field pieces and 5,000 small arms, nth. Slavery abolished in District of Columbia. 28th, Com. Farragut took pos- session of New Orleans. May 5th, Gens. Hancock and Hooker defeated the Confederates at Williamsburgh, Virginia. 7 th, Battle of West Point, Virginia, in which the Confederates under Lee suffered defeat at the hands of Gens. Franklin and Sedgwick. 9th, OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. I35 Confederates evacuated Pensacola. loth, Federal forces took possession of Norfolk, Virginia, nth, Iron-clad Merrimac blown up to prevent her capture. 12th, Natchez surrendered to Com. Farragut. 1 6th, Union gun-boats repulsed at Fort Darling. May 25th, Defeat of Gen. Banks at Winchester, Virginia. 31st, Union defeat at Fair Oaks. June ist, Battle of Fair Oaks renewed ; Con- federates defeated. 6th, Memphis surrendered to Union troops. 8th, Stonewall Jackson defeated at Cross Keys, Virginia. 26th, Concentration of Federal troops about Richmond and commence- ment of six days' fight. Undecisive battle of Mechanicsville. Pope took command of Army of Virginia. 27th, Bombardment of Vicksburg commenced. Fremont relieved of his command. Federal troops driven back at Richmond. White House evacuated. 28th, Confederates repulsed on the Chickahominy. Retreat of Federal troops at night. 29th, Confederates defeated at Peach Orchard ; Federals defeated at Savage Station and retreated. 30th, Heavy Battle of White Oak Swamp. July ist. Battle of Malvern Hill. Last of the six days' fight. The President called for 300,000 volunteers, nth, Gen. Halleck appointed commander of the United States forces. July 13th, 17th, Emancipation and confiscation acts sanctioned by the President. August 4th, A draft of 300,000 men ordered. 9th Battle of Cedar Mountain. i6th, Gen. McCIellan evacuated Harrison's Landing. 26th, Gen. Ewell drove Union troops from Manassas. 30th, Union troops defeated at Richmond, Kentucky. Confederates defeated at Bolivar, Tennessee. Second battle of Bull Run. Union forces under General Pope defeated. September ist, Union victory at Chantilla, Virginia. 2d, General McCIellan took command of Army of Washington. 5th, Confederate army began to cross the Potomac into Maryland. September 14th, Battle of South Mountain. The Confederates retreated toward the Potomac. 15th, Surrender of Harper's Ferry to Confederates after two days' fighting. 17th, Battle of Antietam; retreat of Confederates with a loss of 14,000 men. 1 8th, Confederates re-crossed the Potomac into Virginia. 19th, Confederate defeat at luka, Mississippi. 2 2d, Emancipation Proclamation by the President. 25th, Suspension of Habeas Corpus. October 4th, Defeat of Confederates at Corinth, Missis- sippi. 8th, Battle of Perryville, Kentucky. Confederates re- treated during the night. 30th, Gen. Rosencrans assumed com- mand of the Army of the Cumberland. November 5th, Gen. McCIellan succeeded in command of the Army of the Potomac by Gen. Burnside. 28th, Defeat of Confederates at Cane Hill, Arkansas. December 13th, Battle of Fredericksburgh, Virginia, and repulse of Union troops under Sumner, Hooker and Frank- lin. 14th, Banks succeeded Butler in command of New Orleans. 28th, Second attack on Vicksburg by army and gun-boats. Fed- 136 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. eral line established within 2% mis. of the city. 31st, Heavy battle of Murfreesborough or Stone River. Federal troops driven back, but were reinforced and repulsed the Confederates. January ist, 1863, Re-publication of the emancipation proclam- ation. 3d, Confederate army retreated from Murfreesborough. Federal army withdrawn from Vicksburgh. loth, Capture of the Arkansas Post with 7,000 prisoners, by Union gun-boats and army. 22d, Third attack on Vicksburgh. 28th, Gen. Hooker succeeded Burnside in command of Army of Potomac. 31st, Repulse of Confederates at Blackwater, Virginia. April 7th, Attack upon Charleston and withdrawal of Federal fleet. 17th, Banks moved on his Red River expedition. May 3d, Second defeat of Federals at Fredericksburgh, and their retreat on the 5th. Stonewall Jack- son mortally wounded. 13th, Defeat of Gen, Johnston at Jack- son, Mississippi, by Grant, and capture of the place. T5th, Grant defeated Pemberton at Baker's Creek, Mississippi. 17th, Second defeat of same by same at Big Black River. i8th, Vicksburgh invested by Federal troops under Grant and Admiral Porter. June 17th, Ram Atlanta captured by Weehawken off South Car- olina coast. 23d, Second defeat of Confederates at Big Black River, Mississippi. 29th, Gen. Meade succeeded Hooker in com- mand of Army of Potomac. July ist, 2d and 3d, Defeat of Con- federates at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, under Lee, by Gen. Meade. 4th, Surrender of Vicksburgh by Pemberton, with 27,000 prison- ers, 132 cannon and 50,000 small arms. 8th, Surrender of Port Hudson to Gen. Banks, 7,000 men, 60 cannon and 10,000 arms 17th, Johnston defeated at Jackson, Mississippi, by Sherman. Natchez captured by Gen. Ransom. Confederate troops driven back from Kentucky and Tennessee ; concentrated at Chicamauga, where, under Bragg, they were attacked. September 19th, Union army repulsed and driven to Chattanooga. October 20th, De- partments of Cumberland and Mississippi consolidated and placed under command of Gen. Grant. Thomas succeeded Rosencrans. November 25th, Confederate army under Bragg badly defeated at Chattanooga 29th, Repulse of Confederates at Knoxville. December 4th, Longstreet compelled to retire from Siege of Knoxviile. February ist, 1864, A draft for 500,000 men ordered. 15th, Gen. Sherman carried his raid to Meridian, Mississippi. March Sth, Gen. Grant commissioned Lieutenant-General. 12th, Assigned to command of United States army. 25th, Capture and destruc- tion of Paducah by Forrest. April 12th, massacre at Fort Pillow by confederate Gen. Forrest. May 6th, Grant crossed the Rapi- dan. Battle of the Wilderness. Retreat of Lee toward Rich- mond. 9th, Further defeat and retreat of Lee's forces. 12th, Union victory at Spottsylvania; capture of 4,000 prisoners and 25 cannon. 13th, Sheridan reached the rear of confederate army at OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. I39 Hanover Junction and destroyed 1,000,000 rations. 15th, Johnston forced to evacuate Resaca. 23d, Confederate army flanked at Spottsylvania Court House and forced to evacuate. June 3d, Rout of Confederates at Coal Harbor. 5 th, Sherman flanked Johnston and captured Ackworth. 28th, Grant's army took pos- session of Weldon Railroad and invested Richmond and Peters- burg. July 22d, Confederate defeat at Atlanta. September 2d, Federal troops took possession of Atlanta. 19th, Victory of Sheridan over Confederates in Shenandoah Valley. November 8th, The presidential election, Lincoln and Johnson received 212 and McClellan aiid Pendleton 21 electoral votes. McClellan re- signed his army command. i6th, Sherman began his march to the Atlantic, December i6th, Thomas Defeated the Confederate forces at Nashville, capturing a large number of guns and prison- ers. 2oth, Breckinridge defeated, in West Virginia. 21st, Savan- nah captured by Sherman. 24th, Union troops and gun-boats make an unsuccessful attack on Fort Fisher. 29th, Hood's army crossed the Tennessee River, ending the campaign in Tennessee. January 8th, 1865, Butler succeeded by Ord in command of Army of the James River. i6th, Fort Fisher captured by Fed- erals. 2oth, Corinth evacuated by Confederates. February 17th, Columbia, South Carolina, taken by Sherman. i8th, Charleston, South Carolina, occupied by Federal forces. 22d, Wilmington. North Carolina, taken by Gen. Schofield. March 2d, Early and forces captured by Sheridan, near Staunton, Virginia. 4th, Inau- guration of Lincoln and Johnson. 17th, Confederate Congress adjourned sine die. April 2d, Lee's Lines at Petersburg, carried. 3d, Richmond captured by Federal forces. 9th, Surrender of Confederate army at Appomattox and end of the war. 14th, President Lincoln shot by J. Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre, Washington. 15th, Death of President Lincoln. Johnson sworn in as President. 26th, Surrender of Confederate Gen. Johnston. May loth. Capture of Jefferson Davis at Irwinville, Georgia. Johnson's administration (1865-1869). President Johnson developed a policy at variance with the wishes of those who had supported him for Vice-president. So unsatisfactory did his administration become to the majority, that proceedings in impeachment were begun, but they failed. His antagonism with Congress and the consequent failure to settle many of the pressing questions of state and finance evolved by the war, paved the way for an easy election of General Grant and Schuyler Colfax, the nominees of the Republican party. grant's first administration (1869 TO 1873). All the departments of the government being now in harmony, this administration became effectual in applying the var-ious laws 140 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. looking to reconstruction, providing for the civil privileges of the colored race, giving fixity to the national currency, credit to the securities and for the reduction of the debt. The President's announcement to secure for the country rest and peace after the excitement and turmoil of war, was received on every hand with approbation. A partially successful attempt was made to convert the higher interest-bearing loans into bonds bearing a lower rate of interest. A new and humanized Indian policy was de- vised and put in practice. The Alabama claims were adjudicated and the vexatious question of the N. W. boundary settled. The country responded to the new condition of affairs and the guar- antees of quiet, by a greatly increased development of natural resources, improved industries, large public improvements, and fresh commercial activity. Repetition of such an administration was deemed desirable by the majority, and President Grant was re-elected, with Henry Wilson for Vice-president, after a bitter and unique canvass against Horace Greely, as the candidate of the opposition. grant's SECOND ADMINISTRATION (1873 TO 1877) This administration, in the main, continues the policy of the former one, except in the particular of a desire to obtain for the government a footing in the West Indies, and for trans- continental and other railroad enterprises, donations of public lands and government credit. The country was threatened for a time with serious complications with Spain, but these were averted by a wise statesmanship. The speculatve idea which grew up under a redundant currency, and the daring activities subsequent to the war, resulted in financial disaster at the close of 1873. In addition to its usual labors, the administration therefore found itself in the midst of problems for the restoration of credit, the adjustment of the currency to the wants of the people and the return of business to an economical and steadfast basis, whose successful solution will be numbered among the most worthy achievements. Vice-President Henry Wilson, died at Washington November 22, 1875, ^^d his place was filled by Senator Ferry, of Michigan. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. I4I GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES. ^TS HISTORY is one of peculiar interest, and therefore we feel warranted in giving more details of its design and history than can be allotted to the Seals of the several States. Soon after the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were appointed a committee to prepare a great seal for the infant republic ; and they employed a French West Indian, named Du Simitiere, not only to furnish dc signs, but also to sketch such devices as were suggested by themselves. In one of his designs, the artist displayed on a shield the armorial ensigns of the several nations from whence America had been peopled — embracing those of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and Holland. On one side was placed Liberty with her cap, and on the other was a rifleman in uniform, with his rifle in one hand and a tomahawk in the other — the dress and weapons being peculiar to America. Franklin proposed, for the device, Moses lifting his wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh and his hosts overwhelmed with the waters. For a motto, the words of Cromwell, " Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Adams proposed the Choice of Hercules ; the hero resting on a club. Virtue pointing to her rugged mountain on one hand, and 142 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. persuading him to ascend-; and Sloth, glancing at her flowery- paths of pleasure, wantonly reclining on the ground, displaying the charms, both of her eloquence and person, to seduce him into vice. Jefferson proposed the Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; and, on the reverse, Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs, from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political princi- ples and form of government we have assumed. Franklin and Adams then requested Jefferson to combine their ideas in a compact description of the proposed great seal, which he did, and that paper, in his handwriting, is now in the office of the Secretary of State at Washington. This design consisted of a shield with six quarterings, parti one, coicpi two, in heraldic phrase. The first gold, and an enameled rose, red and white, for England ; the second white, with a thistle, in its proper colors, for Scotland ; the third green, with a harp of gold, for Ireland ; the fourth blue, with a golden lily-flower, for France ; the fifth gold, with the imperial black eagle, for Germany ; and the sixth gold, with the Belgic crowned red lion, for Holland. These denoted the countries from which America had been peopled. He pro- posed to place the shield within a red border, on which there should be thirteen white escutcheons, linked together by a gold chain, each bearing appropriate initials, in black, of the confederated States. Supporters, the Goddess of Liberty on the right side, in a corslet of armor, in allusion to the then state of war, and hold- ing the spear and cap in her right hand, while her left supported the shield. On the left, the Goddess of Justice, leaning on a sword in her right hand, and in her left a balance. The crest, the eye of Providence in a radiant triangle, whose glory should extend over the shield and beyond the figures. Motto : E Pluribus Unujn — "Many in one." Around the whole, "Seal of the United States of America, MDCCLXXVI." For the reverse, he proposed the device of Pharaoh sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand, passing through the divided waters of the Red Sea in pursuit of the Israelites. Rays from a pillar of fire in a cloud, expressive of the Divine presence and command, beaming on Moses, who stands on the shore, and, extending his hand over the sea, causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. I43 and his followers. Motto : " Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Jefferson's device was highly approved by his coadjutors, and the committee reported on the loth of August, 1776; but, for some unaccountable reason, their report was neglected, not having been even placed on record ; and the affair was allowed to slumber until the 24th of March, 1779, when Messrs. Lovell, of Massachu- setts, Scott, of Virginia, and Houston, of Georgia, were appointed a committee to make another device. On the loth of May following they reported in favor of a seal four inches in diameter, one side of which should be composed of a shield with thirteen diagonal stripes, alternate red and white. Supporters, a warrior, holding a sword, on one side, and on the other the figure of Peace, bearing an olive branch. The crest, a radiant constellation of thirteen stars. Motto : Bello vel Pace — " For War or Peace," and the legend, " Seal of the United States." On the reverse, the figure of Liberty, seated in a chair, holding the staff and cap. Motto : Semper — " Forever" — and underneath, MDCCLXXVI. This report was re-committed, and again sub- mitted with some slight modifications (substituting the figure of an Indian with bow and arrows in his right hand for that of a warrior) just a year afterward; but it was not accepted, and the matter rested until April, 1782, when Henry Middleton, Elias Boudinot, and Edward Rutledge were appointed a third commit- tee to prepare a seal. They reported on the 9th of May following, substantially the same as the committee of 1779 and 1780; but, this not being satisfactory to Congress, on the 13th of June the whole matter was referred to Charles Thomson, its secretary. He in turn procured several devices, among which was one by William Barton, of Philadelphia, consisting of an escutcheon, with a blue border, spangled with thirteen stars, and divided in the centre, perpendicularly, by a gold bar. On each side of this divis- ion, within the blue border, thirteen bars or stripes, alternate red and white, like the American flag adopted on the 14th of June, 1777. Over the gold bar an eye surrounded with a glory, and in the gold bar a Doric column resting on the base of the escutcheon, having a displayed eagle on its summit. The crest, a helmet of burnished gold, damasked, grated with six bars, and surmounted by a red cap of dignity, such as dukes wear, with a black lining. 144 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. and a cock armed with gaffs. Supporters, on one side the Genius of America, with loose Auburn tresses, having on her head a radi- ant crown of gold, encircled with a sky-blue fillet, spangled with silver stars, and clothed in a long, loose, white garment, bordered with green. From the right shoulder to the left side, a blue scarf Avith stars, the cinctures being the same as in the border. Around her waist a purple girdle, fringed with gold, and the word Virtue embroidered in white. Her interior hand rested on the escutch- eon, and the other held the American standard, on the top of which a white dove was perched. The supporter on the other side was a man in complete armor ; his sword-belt blue, fringed with gold ; his helmet encircled with a wreath of laurel, and crested with one white and two blue plumes ; his left hand supporting the escutcheon, and his right holding a lance with a bloody point Upon an unfurled green banner was a golden harp with silver strings, a brilliant star, and two lily-flowers, with two crossed swords below. The two figures stood upon a scroll, on which was the motto Deo Favente — " With God's Favor" — in allusion to the eye of Providence in the arms. On the crest, in a scroll, was the motto Virtus sola Invicta — " Virtue alone is Invincible." After vainly striving to perfect a seal which should meet the approval of Congress, Thomson finally received from John Adams, then in London, an exceedingly simple and appropriate device, suggested by Sir John Prestwitch, a baronet of the West of Eng- land, who was a warm friend of America, and an accomplished antiquarian. It consisted of an escutcheon bearing thirteen per- pendicular stripes, white and red, with the chief blue, and spangled with thirteen stars ; and, to give it greater consequence, he proposed to place it on the breast of an American eagle, dis- played, without supporters, as emblematic of self-reliance. It met with general approbation, in and out of Congress, and was adopted in June, 1782 ; so it is manifest, although the fact is not extensively known, that we are indebted for our national arms to a titled aristocrat of the country with which we were then at war. Eschewing all heraldic technicalities, it may be thus described in plain English : Thirteen perpendicular pieces, white and red ; a blue field ; the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed, proper, holding in his right talon an olive-branch, and in his left a bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 145 beak a scroll, inscribed with the motto JS Pluribus Unum. For the crest, over the head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon, a golden glory breaking through a cloud, proper, and surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation of white stars on a blue field. Reve7-se.—K pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a tri- angle, surrounded with a glory, proper. Over the eye, the words Annuit Cceptts — " God has favored the undertaking." On the base of the pyramid, are the numeral Roman letters MDCCLXXVI ; and underneath the motto, Novus Ordo Sedorum — " A New Series of Ages" — denoting that a new order of things had commenced in the Western hemisphere. Thus, after many fruitless efforts, for nearly six years, a very simple seal was adopted, and yet' remains the arms of the United States. SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES. ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF GOVERNMENX ^^ LEARNED and skillful writer traces the origin of i"^^ political government to parental government, in which, we will agree with him if he will carry that back to our Creator, who, when He placed in the garden of Eden the children whom He had created, instituted a government by laying; down certain laws, and attaching to the non-observance of theni. punishment or penalties. Man sinned, and the penalty was in- flicted upon him, and other laws were added to suit his fallen, nature. It is probable that, when the children of Adam became- old enough to understand right from wrong, looking back over his. own fatal mistake, and forward to the consequences of that rash act, he strove to teach his descendants the Divine law, as given to- him from the lips of God ; and thus became a law giver to, and ruler over them, in a certain sense. The children of men multi- plied and teeming millions covered the earth, and each descending generation gave itself up more and more to the indulgence of every forbidden sin and pleasure, until the world reeked with cor- ruption ; then again the Omnipotent Ruler of the universe inter- posed, and the wrath which they had kindled against themselves was let loose, and all, save righteous Noah and his family, were swept from existence. In turn, Noah became the Parent and the Ruler, and government was established over his descendants, and from time to time God gave such laws as He saw were needed. The most ancient of our modern governments were exceedingly arbitrary, in many cases were simply unlimited power and unre- strained tyranny. During the Old Testament age, usually called the Mosaic dis- pensation, the parent had control of his child, even to the inflic- tion of capital punishment, and in China the same law or custonx 146 TOMB OF COLUMBUS— CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. I49 Still prevails. It was also practiced by the ancient Romans, and by the Grecians ; and was most probably common over all the world, since it was found in all our savage tribes when the Amer- ican Continent was discovered. In ancient times every tribe and every city had its King, and the kingdom was often so small in extent that in order to obtain the necessary territory, war was resorted to, and the weaker fled before, or was destroyed by the stronger party. Observation taught the rulers, at an early period of the world's existence, that certain restraints and laws were necessary for the preservation of order, and though the art of governing was not carried to that perfection which marks it now, yet the Mosaic laws are the foundation of the laws of our own, and indeed of every civilized, christian country. As the population of the world in- creased, and the cares of state pressed too heavily upon him, Moses appointed assistants, or district judges who were to hear all complaints and settle small matters as seemed best to them ; but Moses, still at the head of the tribes of Israel, as temporal and spiritual leader, decided all matters of importance. In order that every family should be provided with certain means of support, it has been the custom from time immemorial to set apart a tract of land for their use, and it was deeded or secured to them in such a way that except by actual sale, or transfer, or by confiscation for crime, it could not be taken from them, and they were required to place stationary landmarks to define their boundaries, and the heaviest penalties were inflicted upon any man who was known to be guilty of altering the position of those marks. Three points of law, always prominent, were established as early in history as there was society to govern, — " the punishment of crime," " the institution of marriage," and "regulations con- cerning property;" and we infer from this that laws of some sort have always governed mankind. As the world advanced from the gloom of barbarism, the laws relaxed somewhat of their severity, and each progressive step adds to our liberty; but entire freedom from all law would plunge society into the most terrible state that ever existed ; and never, until man becomes something better than humanity is capable of, can this be; nay, never, since even in Heaven, he will be subject to law. All just laws are enacted with a view to preserving and defending the rights and liberties of those 150 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. who are subject to them, but often laws that are selfish and unjust impose upon the people wrongs that are too oppressive to be borne. In countries where the Republican form of government exists, this cannot be, or if laws are found to be unwise, and injudicious, it is in the power of the people to repeal or modify them. In olden times the power of the sovereign was unlimited — absolute, but gradually mind asserted its superiority over matter ; the voice of the people began to be heard, and their influence felt, and the low mutterings of discontent from the masses have shaken the firmest thrones to their foundation. To-day there is scarcely a civilized government in existence where, in some way the people do not have representation and a voice in making the laws that govern them. The patriarchial form of government seems to have assumed the monarchial, and to have held sway even down to the present time ; but in latter years, under the influence of Christianity and civilization, it has abated its rigors, and become more limited in its power. With every circle of the whirling years, man's experi- ence teaches him wisdom, and nations learn in the same hard, sad school, and profit by the lesson they conned through years that were clouded by their errors, ignorance or folly. There is no form of government in the world so well adapted to the human race, and so well calculated to develop the noblest sentiments of patriotism and love of country, as the Republican ; no other gov- ernment which calls into being, and stimulates into action so strong a feeling of personal interest and responsibility, and com- pels a man to study its principles. No injustice can be complained of — no arbitrary or cruel oppression — no laws that are an outrage upon his manhood — for the voice of the people enacted these stat- utes, and framed those laws. For the liberty of thought and speech that has blessed us above all other lands — for the freedom from thrall of church that has blessed us above all other nations — for the patriotism that has defended our cherished institutions — for the Republican government which has elevated us into the high- est position held by the nations of the world, we reverently thank God, as we worship him according to the dictates of our own con- science. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES. J^HIS great Republic, truly great and glorious, lies between |v|^^ iat. 24 deg. 30 min. and 49 deg. N., and between long. 66 deg. 50 min. and 124 deg. 30 min. W. Its boundaries, •with the exception of British America west of Lake Superior, are •water; the Atlantic on the east, the Gulf of Mexico on the south, the Pacific on the west ; on the north, from the St. Law- arence River to Lake Superior, lie Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario, a silver chain that encircles our treasure. America has added to her territory the Russian Possessions, lying to the far north. Whether, in adding to her broad acres over half a million of square miles she has added materially to her wealth, is d problem which only a century in advance of ours can solve. Either in a domestic or political sense, it is at present only a Castle in Spain to us. We may dream of its future development — we may fondly imagine that it will some day be a storehouse of countless and boundless wealth — but we shall never see that snow-shrouded desert " blossom as a rose," as at the touch of labor, and industry, and art, and skill, it shall wake from the winter sleep that has held it prisoned forever, and with the blushes sweeping over her still white face, go forth at their command to meet the incoming civilization. With an area of 3,878,245 square miles, three-fourths, or perhaps four-fifths of which is tillable, most of it surpassing rich in vegetable and mineral products, there appear no natural, or possible bounds to £)ur prosperity. Every good thing seems to have been gathered here Our land i5f 152 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. floweth with milk and honey, and its corn and wine make glad the hearts of her children. Standing between the impoverished nations of the East and the West, she opens her arms to the poor and needy, the wronged and oppressed, of all lands and climes ; gives them shelter and refuge in her bosom, and homes and for- tunes in her broad domains. It is not strange, under these circumstances, that the tide of emigration should turn to our shores, and, bringing with them habits of industry and economy,, and obedience to law, should add to our own, as well as their wealth. Neither is it strange that, in the fulness of their gratitude^ they love the land of their adoption, and the Government which has made their interests identical with its own. During the last twenty years nearly five million have arrived at the port of New York alone, who have come under emigrant regulations, solely for the purpose of settling and making homes in the New World. The political divisions are too well understood to need an. explanation, and consist of thirty-seven States and eleven Terri- tories. The Mississippi is our most important river, and, together with the Missouri, the longest in the world. In reality, the upper Mississippi, by the usual rules of measurement, is the branch, and the Missouri is the main stream — being more than a thousand miles longer, from its head to its mouth, or junction with the Mis- sisippi. The total length from its source in Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico, is 2,986 miles, but from the source of the Mis- souri to the Gulf of Mexico, is nearly 5,000 miles. The principal lakes are Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario and Champlain, all of which lie along our northerrt boundary, and the Great Salt Lake, in Utah Territory. This lake, so called, is more properly an inland sea. Lake Superior is a mag- nificent body of water, and the largest body of fresh water in the- world. The bluffy shores on the north side of the lake are grand ; no words perhaps can do them justice, but so desolate — oh, so< wild, and dreary, and desolate. A feeling of sadness comes over you, you cannot tell how or why, as you stand upon the deck of a. steamer and pass mile after mile of unbroken forest, without su sign of civilization, without a sign of life, save where at long inter- vals the blue smoke rises from an Indian s bark hut, or a solitary red man stands on a crag to watch the passing boat, or a group of their beautiful, fleet-footed ponies tells of their proximity. The; OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 153 dense, dark, low evergreens cover the land closely, interspersed with clumps or groves of oak, beech, birch and hickory trees. On the south side of the lake the shore is bold, but less steep and mountainous. The old Fort of Mackinaw still stands in good, order, and the new fort is a fine building. The Pictured Rocks are very beautiful, and well worthy of a visit from the passing tourist. At sunrise they appear more like some fancy painting than anj^ earthly reality. Rising boldly to a height of from three to five hundred feet, covered with trees that are century crowned, perfor- ated with caves, worn and broken into fantastic shapes by the storms of ages, stained with every imaginable shade of coloring from the dripping of the springs in the rock upon mineral sub- stances, it is impossible to fancy any thing more picturesque or sublime. The water at their base is very deep and transparently clear ; at a depth of two or three hundred feet below the surface you can plainly discern the wreck of a steamer lying where it went down one fatal night some years ago. The richest copper mines in the world are those of the Superior. The ore is taken out in immense bodies, often too large to be transported in any manner^ and nearly pure. The region of the upper Superior is but sparsely settled, but since the location of the Northern Pacific Railroad is. rapidly improving. The mountain ranges most worthy of note are the Alleghany in the east, and the Rocky Mountains on the western side of the continent. The length of the Alleghanies is about 1500 miles. The Rocky Mountains are broken ranges, and although running from north to south, cover a district of a thousand miles in width. Between these ranges lie some of the most beautiful! prairies, table lands or plateaus, in the world. The mountain passes, defiles and canons are awfully grand and sublime, and it is. said by those who have visited both — even by Europeans them- selves — that the Alps present nothing more wild and grand than the Sierra Nevadas, with their hoary, snow covered heads^ piercing the clouds. The soil of the United States presents every variety known upon the globe, from the soft, rich mould of the tropics, to the sterile sands of the desert, but with the exception of the dry- plains or desert in the vicinity of Salt Lake, nearly the entire surface of our country is productive, and from the Atlantic U54 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. -shores to the Pacific coast, verdure, beauty and wealth spread out in every direction. The climate is as varied as the soil. Lying, as the Republic ^oes, between such extremes of longitude and latitude, it is impos- sible but that our climate would embrace every variety which it is possible to produce. In the northern of the Middle States the temperature varies from one extreme to the other, and the changes ;are so rapid as to leave one wholly unprepared to meet them. In Ihe East, we have longer winters, and steady cold or heat. In Jlorida the temperature is even, scarcely varying from January to January again ; while in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, "Texas, California and New Mexico, the climate is very like that ^f- Italy. The mineral productions are extensive and varied. There is scarcely a mineral or precious stone known in the world, but is produced in America. Coal and iron are abundant in nearly vested with powers more or less extensive, as the particular Con- stitution prescribes. In some of the States he has authority, with the approval of the Senate, or Executive Council, to appoint- Judges and various minor judicial officers, to grant pardons,^, reprieves, etc. He is commander-in-chief of the militia of the various States, and even in those where the large majority of civil- officers are elective, is the only authority to commission all such, officers. The length of the gubernatorial term varies much in the different States, a few still clinging to the old system of an. annual election, while the larger number have lengthened it to* two or three years. Governors are elected by the people of the several States, except- ing in South Carolina, where the Legislature elects; and, in most of the States there are slight, if any, property qualifications- requisite. Subordinate officers, generally elected by the people, whose' duties are both advisory and executory as to the details of the administration of the government, are to be found in every State,, corresponding in some degree to Heads of Departments under the- United States government. Formerly, all judges were appointed by the Executive, with the' consent of the advising Board. As a general rule, they are now elective, mostly by the people, though in some States by the Leg- islature. Their tenure of office, too, is now, as a general thingy< for a specific term of years, instead, of for life, as formerly. Each State has established a Court for the interpretation o£^ Constitutional Law and the. adjudication of weiglatier matters of- #70 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 4ispitte between its inhabitants, called a Supreme Court, Superior Court, Court of Errors, Court of Appeals, or the like. A few of the States have separate tribunals for disposal of cases in equity. Next below the highest court are courts adapted to the partic- fular wants of ordinary litigants in the various counties or other iSubdivisions. These are called Courts of Common Pleas^ Circuit Courts, District Courts, Police Courts, Recorder's Courts, etc. The lowest class of judicial officers is styled Justices of the Peace, or .Aldermen, having jurisdiction in trivial suits and over petty (Offenses. Besides these Courts there are, in some States, specific tribunals for the trial of criminal cases, as Courts of Quarter Ses- ■sions of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, etc. ; and for settlement ^f estates of deceased persons, as Register's Courts, Probate Courts, Orphans' Courts, etc. Indeed, in no State can the citizens -complain of a lack of opportunity afforded them for gratifying whatever litigious pro^Densities they may possess. From this brief glance at the structure of our governments, both National and State, it will readily be seen with what scrupulous .care and jealous anxiety the illustrious men who have gone before us laid the foundation of our Union in that noble Constitution ■which has served as the model by which the individual States, as a whole, have elaborated their own governments. With the minute details of that Constitution, it is the first duty of every American citizen to familiarize himself. If the intentions of its framers are iruly and faithfully carried out ; if the National Government is iCautious to avoid all infringements upon the reserved rights of the individual States ; if the several States are reciprocally deter- mined to fulfill every obligation imposed upon them by the common compact ; in short, if a spirit of concession, forbearance, .and love for the whole country pervades the bosom of every citi- :zen of every State, then, indeed, we may feel proudly confident that the fond hopes of the most sanguine of the early friends of ihe Federal Union shall be more than realized — then shall each them. The surveyors are stationed at the larger ports only, and superintend the inspectors, weighers, and gaugers, and report to ' the collectors those who fail in the performance of their duties. The United States is divided into a large number of internal revenue districts, in each of which there is a collector, making; assessments and collecting the direct taxes. THE MINT AND COINAGE. The principal mint is at Philadelphia, and branches are at San Francisco and Denver City. In the city of New York there is a.n assay-office, where gold and silver bullion, gold dust, and foreign coins are refined and assayed. The coining of all moneys is per- formed under regulations prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury. Fifteen pounds of silver are declared to be equal to- one pound of gold. In coining, one-tenth of alloy is added to the gold and silver bullion (silver and copper in equal proportions to the former, copper alone to the latter). The Superintendent of the Coast Survey is ex-officio Superin- tendent of Weights and Measures. Avoirdupois weight is used in weighing all articles except gold, silver, and precious stones. The pound of this weight is divided into 16 ounces, and one ounce into 16 drachms. One hundred pounds constitute a hun- dred weight, and 20 hundred-weight, or 2,000 pounds, a ton. Troy weight is used in weighing gold, silver, and precious stones. One pound troy weight is divided into 12 ounces; one ounce into 20* pennyweights, and one pennyweight into 24 grains. The unit of liquid measure is the gallon. One gallon consists of four quarts ; one quart of 2 pints ; and one pint .of 4 gills. The unit of dry measure is the bushel, which is 18^ inches in? diameter by 8 inches deep, and contains 2,150 2-5 cubic inches. One bushel dry measure contains 4 pecks ; one peck, 8 quarts ;■ one quart, 2 pints. A brass scale of 82 inches length, made by Troughton, of Lon- don, and sent to the Coast Survey office in Washington, where it is still preserved, was made the United States standard for I'ong^ measure. This scale, though intended to be identical with the English Imperial standard, was found, upon careful- comparison FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. i75> with eleven carefully made meter-etalons, to differ slightly from the English scale. One meter was found to be equal to 39.- 36850535 United States inches, or 3.28070878 American feet;- while it is, according to comparisons made in England, equal to- 3.2808992 English Imperial feei. This difference is so slight that it becomes perceptible only in measurements of considerable length ; yet it is large enough t^ justify the use of the term American measure, as distinct from English measure. The following tables gives the values adopted in the United' States Coast Survey. American Measure, English Measure. I Foot=o.3048 1 218 meters. 0.304794494 meters^ I Yard=3 feet==o.9i443654 meters. 0.91438348 " I Fathom=6 feet=i. 82887308 meters. 1.82876696 " I Pole, Perch, or Rod=6j^ yards=5.0294055 meters. 5.029109 " I Furlong=220 yards=2oi. 1760388 meters. 201.164366 " I Statute mile^^S furlongs=^i. 760 yards=i6o9.4o83 met. 1609.3 149 " One square mile contains 640 acres, one section of land ; and 26 sections make one township. Since 1865 Congress has authorized the use of the French metric system. THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR was established in 1849. To the secretary of this department is assigned the general supervision and management of the follow- ing bureaus, or branches of the public service : the General Land Office ; the Pension Bureau ; the Indian Office ; the Bureau of Education ; the Patent Office ; and the Department of Agricul- ture. The secretary has besides the supervision of the United States marshals and attorneys, and the clerks of the United States courts. He has also the duty of taking and returning the census of the United States. The General La^id Office is under the management of a Com- missioner, who is charged with the surveys and sale of the public domain. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872, public lands were disposed of as follows: Cash sales 1,370,320 acres. Grants to railroads 3j>:54,887 acres. Located with military land Grants to wagon roads 4^5,347 " warrants. 389,406 " Approved to the states as Taken for homesteads 4,671.332 '^ swamps .1... 714,215 " Located with college scrip, 693,613 " Indian scrip locations 5,760 " Total 11,864,934 This amount is greater by 1,099,270 acres than was disposed of during the preceding year. The cash receipts under the various heads amounted to $3,218,106. There were surveyed during the same period 22,016,608 acres, which, added to the quantity sur- 517^5 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ■ veyed before this year, amounted to 583,664,780 acres ; leaving ansurveyed an area of 1,251,633,620 acres. There are eighty-two land districts in the states and territories, lin which there are still public lands for sale. viz. ; In Ohio, Indi- ana, and Illinois, one in each; in Missouri, three; in Alabama, 'three ; in Mississippi, one ; in Louisiana, two ; in Michigan, five ; .in Arkansas, four; in Florida, one; in Iowa, four; in Montana, , Arizona, and Utah, one in each ; in Wisconsin six ; in California, )nine; in Nevada, four; in Minnesota, seven ; in Oregon, three ; in Kansas, five ; in New Mexico, one ; in Dakota, three ; in Col- ..arado, four ; in Idaho, two ; and in Wyoming, one. The Commissioner of Pensiotis is charged with examination and adjudication of all claims arising under the various laws of .Congress, granting bounty land or pensions for military or naval services in the revolutionary and subsequent wars. There were on the rolls (on June 30, 1872), the names of 95,405 military in- valid pensioners, and of 113,518 widows, orphans, and dependent relatives of soldiers, who receive a total of annual pensions of _^ 5^23, 142,633. On the same day there were on the rolls the names ,:Of 3,179 naval pensioners, and widows, orphans, and relatives, who iieceive annually $405,537. The Commisioner of the Indian Office superintends and directs . all the public business relating to the Indians. He represents the government in the treaties made with them, causes to be dis- ;tributed the annuities and presents, and carries out the policy . adopted towards them by the government. He is aided by iour- teen superintendents stationed in different places in the West. A -number of agents are appointed by the President, who reside .among the Indians and look after their interests and rights. The Patent Office is under the direction of a commissioner, who as charged with the performance of "all acts touching the grant- ing and issuing of letters patent for new inventions, discoveries, .and improvements." He is assisted by a corps of examiners and assistant examiners, who ascertain whether an invention for which ,a patent is applied for, is new and useful or not and report to him their opinion in writing. The Commissioner issues the Pat- ,ent Office Official Gazette, a monthly publication, which contains his decisions, the decisions of the Supreme Court, and the Cir- acuit Courts, in patent cases, all changes in the rules of practice an the Office, notices of all applications for extension of patents, -a brief of the specifications, and a full claim of all patents issued, together with illustrations. The number of applications for pat- -■ents, re-issues and designs for the year ending June 30, 1872, was 119,587; the number of applications for extension of patents was ;284; the number of applications for the registering of trade-marks •was 589. During the same year there were granted 13,626 pat- ients; 233 extensions; 556, certificates of registry for trade-marks; OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 1 79 and there were filed 3,100 caveats. The fees were $700,954.86, and the expenditures $323,556.90. The Department of Agriculture is under the direction of a com- missioner, whose general duties are to obtain and diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture, and to procure, propagate, and dis- tribute new and valuable seeds and plants. He employs bota- nists, entomologists, and other persons to assist him in the perform- ance of his various duties. The Btcreau of Education consists of a commissioner and three clerks. His duties are to collect such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the states and territories, and to diffuse such information respecting the organi- zation and management of schools and respecting school systems and methods of teaching as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise to promote the cause of education through- out the country. THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR was created in 1789, Aug, 7, in order to enable the President to carry out the provision of the Constitution relating to military affairs, and is in charge of the Secretary of War, who issues com- missions, directs the movement of troops, superintends their pay- ment, stores, clothing, arms, equipments, and ordnance, and con- ducts the works of military engineering. The bureaus among which these multifarious duties are distributed are under the di- rection of army officers. The office of the Cotnmanding General is ordinarily called the Headquarters of the Army, and is situated in Washington. The General has claarge of the discipline ot the army, the distribution of troops, and the superintendence of recruiting. In the Office of the Adjutant-General are kept all the 'records relating to the personnel of the army, the muster rolls of the . troops, and the correspondence with the administrative depart- ments. All orders emanating from either the Secretary of War or the Commanding General are transmitted and published through this office, and the annual returns of the army are received by it. The Quartermaster-General'' s Office provides quarters and trans- portation for the troops, storage and transportation for all army supplies, army clothing, cavalry and artillery horses, forage, etc. It has charge of the barracks and the national cemeteries. The Commissary-GeneraV s Office provides subsistance, stores^ constituting the rations for the troops and garrison. r,8o FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The Payviaster-GeneraV s Office has charge of the disbursement of the pay to officers, men, and employees in the army. It re- ceives and examines the accounts of the paymasters connected with the various commands. The Ordnance Bureau has charge of the ordnance stores and the numerous armories and arsenals situated in different parts of the country. The Engineer s Office has charge of the military defences of the country, the forts along the seaboard, the improvements of rivers and harbors, and the care of the Military Academy at West Point. This office is under the direction of the Chief of Engineers, who commands the engineer corps of the army. The Surgeon-Generars Offi.ce has control of all the sanitary affairs of the army, the management of the sick and wounded, and the military hospitals. The surgeons of the army receive their orders and assignments from, and report to, the Surgeon- General. The Bureau of Military Justice was established in 1864, and consists of one judge advocate-general, holding the rank and pay of a brigadier-general, and an assistant judge advocate, with the rank and pay of a colonel of cavalry. The bureau receives, re- vises, and records the proceedings of court-marshals and courts of inquiry. The Signal Office^ under the direction of the commander of the signal corps, receives from the numerous signal stations estab- lished in various localities, reports on the meteoric state of the at- mosphere, as temperature, winds, moisture, and pressure of the atmosphere. From these reports, tri-daily forecasts, or ''proabil- ities," are deduced and telegraphed throughout the country. Over seventy-eight per cent, of the probabilities issued during the last year have been verified, and no great storm has occurred within the United States, or along the seaboard, without due premoni- tion being given to the points thereby threatened. The labors ot this office have been highly successful, and very frequently have been instrumental in the preservation of life and property. Army. — By act of Congress the army of the United States is 30,000 enlisted men. The term of service is three years. The army, as now organized, is composed of 16 regiments of cavalry, each of 12 companies; 25 regiments of infantry, each of 10 com- panies; 5 regiments of artillery, and one engineer battaliouj be- sides the cadets of the Military Academy at West Point. In June, 187 1, the army was commanded by i general, i lieutenant- general, 4 major generals, 16 brigadier-generals, 68 colonels, 83 lieutenant-colonels, 273 majors, 533 captains, and 1,136 first and second-lieutenants. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. i8i THE NAVY DEPARTMENT is in charge of the secretary, whose duties are : to procure naval stores and materials, to direct the construction, arrangement, and equipment of vessels of war, and to execute all orders of the President relating to the naval establishment. The Secretarv issues the orders to commanders of squadrons or vessels, and to the officers of the navy and marine corps. Under his authority are performed the duties of the different bureaus of the department and their orders are considered as emanating from him. He is aided by an Assistant Secretary whose duties are not specified .by statute, but are assigned by the Secretary. The Bureau of Navy Yards and Docks has charge of every- thing connected with the various navy yards, docks, wharves, and naval buildings, and also of the Naval Asylum The Bureau of Navigation has charge of the Astronomical Ob- servatory, situated near Washington, and also of the Hydrographic Office. It furnishes vessels of war with charts, maps, books, and chronometers, and h.-is the general superintendence of the Naval Academy and the publication of the Nautical Almanac. The Bureau of Ordnance has the charge of all ordnance and ordnance stores, the manufacture or purchase of cannon, guns, powder and shot, and everything connected with the armament of ships, _ The Biireau of Equipment and Recruiting is charged with pro- viding vessels of war with sails, anchors, and other articles of equipment, and also with the enlistment of sailors and the recruit- ing service. _ The Bureau of Construction and Repair has charge of the build- ing and repairs of all vessels of war and the purchase of the necessary materials. The Bureau of Steam Engineering is under the direction of the chief engineer, who superintends the construction of the marine steam-engines and decides upon plans of construction. The Bureau of Provisions and Clot/mig contracts for and pur- chases all provisions and clothing used in the naval service. _ The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery directs the purchase and distribution of medical stores, and has charge of the treatment of the sick and wounded and the marine hospitals. In November, 1872, the navy numbered 178 vessels carrying J»378 guns; which included 68 steamers, with 929 guns; 31 sail- ing vessels, with 322 guns; 51 iron-clads, with 127 guns; and 28 tugs. _ There were forty-five vesels in commission for sea service, carrying 462 guns, which were distributed at different cruising stations, as follows : l82 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. North Atlantic Station. — Eleven vessels, 77 guns. South Atlantic Station. — Three vessels, 2>2) guns. European Station. — Six vessels, no guns. Asiatic Station. — Eleven vessels, 116 guns. North Pacific Station. — Five vessels, 65 guns. South Pacific Station. — Five vessels, 5 1 guns. Special Service. — One vessel, with 10 guns, and two store ships, THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT is under the direction of the Postmaster-General, who is aided by three assistant postmasters. The First Assistant Postmaster-General is at the head of the Appointment Offue. He attends to the establishment or discontin- uance of post-offices, the changes of sites and names of such offi- ces, the appointment and removal of postmasters and local agents and to the instructions given to postmasters. This office further provides for the marking and rating stamps and letter balance for postmasters, and blanks and stationery for the use of the depart- ment, and has the supervision of the ocean mail-steamship lines, and the international postal arrangements with foreign govern- ments. There were, in 1872, 31,863 post-offices in the country, 2,452 of which were money-order post-offices, or 1,818 more offices than in the preceding year; and there were issued 655,380,820 letter and newspaper postage stamps, which number may be assumed to be nearly identical with the number of letters and parcels sent through the mails. The handling of this immense amount of mail matter required, besides the 31,863 postmasters, 5,544 contractors, 3,754 clerks, 1,442 carriers, 764 route agents, 642 railway postal clerks, 146 mail route messengers, 95 local agents, and 59 special agents. There were thus m the employ of the Post-office Depart- ment, 44,655 officials, including the Post-master General and his 345 assistants and clerks, in the General Post-Office in Washing- ton. During the same year 12,774,064 letters were sent to for- eign countries, and 11.588,436 letters were received from foreign countries. The Secofid Assistant Postmaster-General is at the head of the Contract Office. It is his duty to arrange the mail service, to en- ter into contracts for carrying the mails, to fix the departures and arrivals on all the routes, the points of distribution, and to make regulations for the government of the domestic mail service. This office reports weekly to the Auditor all contracts executed, and all orders affecting accounts for mail transportation. To the Inspection Division of the Contract Office is assigned the duty of receiving and examining the registers of the arrivals and de- partures of the mails, and reports of mail failures ; of noting the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 183 delinquencies of contractors, and reporting thereon to the Post- master-General; of providing mail bags, and of securing the mail against depredations. During the year 1872 the country had 7,259 mail routes repre- senting a total of 251,398 miles; of which 57,911 miles were by railroad, 18,860 by steamboat, and 174,627 by horse power. The 5,nnual mail transportation passed over 664,984,322 miles, /. e., 3. distance 4,600 times as large as the circumference of the globe. 1^\^Q Third Assistant Postmaster-General x's, at the head of the Finance Office, and supervises the financial business of the de- partment not assigned by law to the Au*ditor, embracing accounts with the draft offices and other depositories of the department, the issuing of warrants and drafts in payment of balances reported ty the Auditor to be due to mail contractors and other persons. He has supervision of the accounts of officers under order to deposit their quarterly returns of postage. He has also charge of the dead-letter office and of the issuing ot postage stamps. The Pos.tmaster-General estimates the total expenditures for the mail service of the year ending June 30, 1873, to be $30,853,167, .and the revenue from the sale of postage stamps, the money order business, etc., to be 124,552,505, leaving a deficit to be supplied by congressional appropriation, of $6,310,592. THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S OFFICE. The duty of the Attorney-General is to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court, in which the United States is a party, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law, when required by the President, or when requested by the head of any department. He is also charged with the general superin- tendence and direction of all United States attorneys and mar- shals, as to the manner of discharging their respective duties. He is aided in the performance of his duties by a solicitor-general and two assistant attorneys-general. He further examines the titles of all land to be purchased by the United States as the sites of arsenals, light-houses, custom-houses, and other public works;, receives all applications for the appointment of judges, district attorneys, and marshals, and prepares statements to the President on applications for pardons, and the remission of imprisonment of public debtors. REPRESENTATIVES IN FOREIGN LANDS. These are Embassadors, Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary, Resident Ministers, Charge dAffaires and Consuls. Some of them are officials sent on special occasions and for special and exceptional services. The three first named l84 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. are of the highest rank and are sent to the Great Powers. Resi- dent Ministers are sent to less important nations, but like those of higher rank are clothed with large powers to represent our interests. Commissioners, Charge d'Affaires, Secretaries of Legation and Consuls are of still lower rank. All these officers are appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The powers and duties of these officers are very different in different cases, and can hardly be stated in general terms. They represent the general interests of our government abroad. Consuls, however, have well defined duties, which are as follows : 1. Whenever a vessel belonging to a citizen of the United States arrives at the port where he is stationed, it is his duty to receive the ship's papers, and to see if they are all correct, 2. It is his duty to provide for sick, disabled, and destitute American seamen, and to send them home by some vessel going to the United States. 3. He must hear the complaints of seamen, and settje disputes between the captain and men ; and for good cause he may dis- charge the whole ship's crew. 4. It is made his duty to receive and take charge of the per- sonal property of any citizen of the United States who has died within his Consulate, and to send any balance which may be left after paying his debts and necessary expenses, to the treasury of the United States, to be held in trust for the legal claimants. He must also give notice to the Secretary of State of the death of such person. 5. For the purpose of carrying out and executing certain treaties made between the United States and China, Japan, Siam, and Turkey, Consuls to those countries have been empowered with judicial functions. They were allowed to act as judges, and to try and punish citizens of the United States who had committed crimes there. These, however, were extraordinary powers in special cases, and by no means common to the consular office. 6. In the absence of a minister or diplomatic agent of the United States, the President may authorize a Consul to perform the duties of such foreign mini*;ter; but these powers are rarely conferred on them. Their ordinary duties relate to commercial affairs, and to such as are before stated. 7. A Vice-Consul, or deputy Consul, is one appointed to act temporarily in case of sickness or absence of the Consul. His- powers, while acting, are the same as those of the Consul, in whose place he acts. Every Consul is required to give bonds for the faithful performance of his duties. 8. Our commerce has been extended to almost every part of the globe, and for this reason we need a great number of these officials. Their services are required at all great seaportS;. and at OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 185' many smaller ones. The compensation varies according to the amount of business to be transacted by them, from $7,500 down to $500. Some do not receive any salary, but are allowed the fees they are authorized to charge for their services. 9. It is his duty to give his government and countrymen all- such information as he possesses in relation to the laws and prac- tices of the country to which he is sent, which it would be impor- tant for them to know; and especially is it his duty to look after the interests and welfare of his countrymen when they are within his Consulate and to see that no wrong or injustice is done to them by the people or government where he resides. THE MILITARY ACADExMY. This institution was established by act of Congress, in 1802,, and is located at West Point, on the Hudson river. It was established and has been continued at a great expense, for the purpose of teaching and training up young men in the science and art of war, that in any emergency the country might have a sufficient number of men, educated and skilled in all such art-s and sciences as appertain to war. Hence, mathematics, engineering, gunnery, drawing, natural and experimental philoso-- phy and military tactics, are among the principal branches taught. Every State and Territory is entitled to send as many cadets as ithas Senators and Representatives in Congress. The District of Columbia is allowed one. To give every part of the country' an equal chance, it was enacted that each Congressional district in each State and Territory should be allowed to send one cadet, to be educated at West Point. These are generally nominated for' appointment by the Congressmen from their respective districts,- and the President appoints. The cadet must be an actual resident of the district for which he is appointed. In addition to these, it is provided by the same act, that ten more cadets may be appointed at large : /. e., without regard to" Congressional districts. In order to be admitted as a cadet, the candidate must be well versed in reading, writing, and arithmetic;, must not be under T4 nor over 21 years of age; and must sign articles, agreeing to serve the United States eight years. After he has finished his studies and has graduated, he is considered as a' candidate for a commission in the army, according to the duties- he may be competent to perform. DEPOTS OF WAR MATERIAL. As early as 1794, Congress enacted that three or four arsenals- and magazines, with an armory attached tn each, should be es- tablished for the safe keeping of military stores. An arsenal is a -j86 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. place where arms and military stores are kept. An armory is a place where arms are made or repaired. The armories where arms are manufactured are at Springfield, in Massachusetts, and at Harpers' Ferry, in Virginia. But there are many others where they are repaired. In 1808, the President was authorized to purchase sites and to •erect as manv more arsenals and manufactories of arms as he might deem expedient. Each of these establishments is placed under the direction of the Ordnance Department. In each .armory there is employed a master armorer, who superintends the workmen. In addition to those already named there are arsenals and armories at Pittsburgh and Bridesburgh, in Pennsylvania; at Washington City; at Watervliet, in New York; Watertown, Mass.; xColumbus, Ohio ; at Indianapolis, Ind., and at Rock Island, 111. MILITARY HOSPITALS AND ASYLUMS. In 1851, Congress passed an act for the establishment of military ■asylums, for the purpose of making the same provision for wounded and disabled soldiers as had already been made for that class of seamen. These institutions are located in different sections of the country where deemed most eligible and convenient for those who need such a place of refuge. They are placed under the government of a board of commissioners, consisting of the general in chief, and eight other military officers of high rank, who submit Iheir acts to the Secretary of War for his approval. The officers of these asylums must be taken from the army, and .consist, of a governor, a deputy governor, and secretary, who is .also treasurer. The funds for their support are raised by a tax of twenty-five cents per month on the soldiers, to which are added ■the fines and penalties adjudged against soldiers by courts martial, with forfeitures for desertion, &c. Persons receiving pensions from the government may be ad- •mitted into these asylums upon condition that they surrender their pensions to the use of the institution while they remain in it. The commissioners are authorized to buy sites and buildings ■for these institutions, and to receive donations of them. They also furnish them with whatever is necessary for the comfort of the in- mates, and make such laws and regulations for their government as they deem proper. Deserters, mutineers, and habitual drunkards, are excluded from ithe benefits of these asylums. INSANE ASYLUM. Among these benevolent institutions provided by a generous government for the support of those who have faithfully served Jtheir country, the insane asylum ought to be noticed. The title I"liliiilliillli:|;lilllilill liililliill F II III I ii i' h: I I 'HI '''''''llllPllllllllill I liili ill' 'i'liiil! »'' ;;iiiiiiiiii h llllillii 11 ^11:11 I! Il siilllilllti i!ii||i|i^ l!ili;lll!':!!l!illllilll!l||l!llilll!lilll!ii!ll OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 1 89 of this establishment is "the government hospital for the insane.'' Its objects are the cure and kind treatment of the insane of the army and navy, and of the District of Columbia. It is under the control of a board of nine visitors, all of whom must be citizens of the said District. They are appointed by the President, and annually report to the Secretary of the Interior the condition of the asylum and its inmates. They serve without compensation. The superintendent must be a physician. There is a farm attached to the asylum, which is under the direction of the super- intendent, who receives patients upon the order of the Secretar}'^ the War or the Navy, and upon the order of the Secretary of the Interior. He may receive indigent insane persons residing in the District of Columbia. If other than indigent persons are ad- mitted, they must pay for the privilege a sum not less than the cost of their support. The military hospitals in time of war are for temporary purposes, and are established wherever the army happens to be, and especi- ally near where the great battles have been fought, that immediate relief may be given to the sick and wounded. These are estab- lished by the commanders of the army, and are under their con- trol. NAVY AND MARINE HOSPITALS. In t8ii an act was passed to establish navy hospitals, for the exclusive use of such seamen as belonged to the navy. This new institution was at first placed under the management of a board of commissioners known as the commissioners of navy hospitals. This commission consisted of the Secretaries of the Navy, Treasury, and War. But in 1832 this was changed, and the Secretary of the Navy was made sole trustee of the navy hospital fund, which was made up of $50,000 a,ppropriated by Congress for that purpose, to- gether with twenty cents per month collected from seamen belonging to the navy, and the fines imposed on navy officers, sea- men, and marines. The commissioners were authorized to purchase or erect suitable buildings for navy hospitals. THE MARINE HOSPITALS are located near important seaports. At these places seamen depart for, and arrive from their voyages, and are found in the greatest numbers ; and here the funds for the support of the marine hospitals are collected, as is the tonnage on ships, viz.: by the col- lectors of the ports. For this purpose the law authorizes the col- lectors of customs to demand and receive the sum of twenty cents per month from the wages of every sailor; and every master of a vessel is obliged to render to the collector an accurate account 1 9© FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. of the number of seamen on board his vessel, and of the time they have been employed by him, since his last entry into any port of the United States. These twenty cents the captain must pay the col- lector, but he is allowed to deduct it from each seaman's wages. In this manner the funds for the building, furnishing, and support of the marine hospitals are raised. The collectors of the ports pay them into the UnitedStates Treasury, and the Treasurer disburses them to the directors of the hospitals as they are needed. The directors are appointed by the President. They appropriate the funds, and have the general direction and management of the institutions. The money thus collected from seamen is called " hospital money," and the fund is denominated " the marine hospital fund." In 1864 there were 24 marine hospitals in the United States. NAVY YARDS. Here are gathered such stores and materials as are required for the construction or repairs of vessels, and hundreds of skilled workmen are constantly employed in rendering the navy effective, replacing vessels that have become unseaworthy, repairing dam- ages, or building such vessels of special construction as the vary- ing demands of the service may require. These are established at different places along the coast, most convenient for the purpose. There is one at Philadelphia, Pa., at Brooklyn, N. Y., at Portsmouth, Va., at Pensacola, Fla. Here vessels are laid up when not in " commission " or active service, or are sent for repairs, or to obtain their stores before departing to their distant stations. All the officers necessary for keeping all these matters in order are stationed at these yards; and the Navy Department, by these means, preserves the same perfect system of organization and efficiency as we have seen to characterize other branches of the executive administration. THE NAVAL ACADEMY. This school is now established at Annapolis, in the State of Maryland, near Washington. The pupils are called midshipmen. They are taught navigation and such other branches of science as are necessary to make them good seamen and naval officers. Each Congressional District in every State and Territory is en- titled to send two students to be educated at the Academy. The District of Columbia is also entitled to send two. Besides which, the President is allowed to appoint ten additional ones at large, and three more from the boys enlisted in the navy. After their graduating examination, if they pass, they are com- missioned as ensigns in the navy, and rank according to merit. Before admission, they are examined according to the regulations OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. TQE made by the Secretary of the Navy, and must be between the ages of fourteen and seventeen years, sound, robust, and of good con- stitution. THE NAVAL OBSERVATORY. Nautical Science and Astronomy have advanced hand in hand --. and to perfect the former as much as possible the United States Government established the Naval Observatory. This institution! is located in Washington, and was originated by act of Congress in 1842, and put in operation in 1844. The observatory was built and furnished with various astronom- ical and philosophical instruments, and a corps of professors were appointed to watch the movements of the heavenly bodies, and to make such observations and experiments as would enable them to determine many unsettled questions which relate to the science of navigation ; and incidentally to another great govern- ment work, having especial reference to the same object ; that isy the coast survey. The professors are assiduous in their labors, and publish the results of their observations and the facts they have determined^. These are not only of use to our own seamen, but to those of all nations who are doingbusiness on the great deep. Here the charts made by the coast survey are deposited, and from hence all our national vessels are furnished with them, and with all the nautical* instruments they require. The charts, instruments and books relating to astronomy and navigation, found here, make it the headquarters and depot of nautical science in the United States. THE COAST SURVEY. The Coast Survey is an organization employed in a thorough and scientific study of the shores of our country for a sufficient distance out from the land to ascertain all the features concealed by the water that may have a bearing on the safety of our navy and commerce. This work, like that relating to light houses, is under the man- agement of a board, consisting of a superintendent, two principal assistants, two naval officers, and four officers of the army. These nine constitute the board. Then there areas many officers of the army and navy employed in the execution of the work as are deemed necessary. And the public vessels, by direction of the President, may be used in order to facilitate the work, for much of it must be done at sea. The survey extends 20 leagues from the shore. The surveyors must make accurate charts of the whole coast, in which are laid down all the islands, shoals, roads or anchorage grounds within twenty leagues of any part of the shore ^92 ^''OO.TPRINTS OF THE AGES. >of the United States. The courses or distances between theprin- cipal capes or headlands must be laid down, together with the soundings (depths of water) and everything else necessary to make a complete and accurate chart of every part of our coasts. An annual report of this work must be made to Congress in Decem- ber of each year, accompanied with charts, showing the progress of -the work, the number of persons employed, the expenses incurred, ■the amount of work finished, and what is unfinished. These re- ports and charts are carefully preserved, and copies of them may be had at Washington for the use of our naval and merchant ships, to which they are of gr^at service, as guides, whenever they are on ,or near the coast LIGHT HOUSES. These, with Buoys, and Beacons, are a necessary practical sup- iplementto the labors of the Coast Survey. Buoys and Beacons indicate the shoals, or dangerous rocks and reefs beneath the sur- face of the water, in the daytime; while lighthouses indicate the same, and show the mariner the bearings of the land, in the night ; and by studying, in connection with these, the charts of the coast supplied by the Coast Survey, he may make his way as securely in the night or day through the concealed dangers of the treacherous waters as a landsman along a beaten highway. Keepers are appointed by the government to keep them in re- pair, and to see that they are properly lighted every night. They are located at prominent points, and at dangerous places, all long the extensive lines of coast and shores. To the end that light houses should be constructed and kept in ^repair, and that competent men might have the whole matter in .charge, a law of 1852 authorized the President to appoint two .officers of the navy, of high rank, one officer of the corps of en- gineers of the army, one officer of the topographical engineers, and two civilians of high scientific attainments, to form a light house BOARD for the United States. This board is attached to the Treasury Department, and the Secretary of the Treasury superin- tends its operations. The board has in charge the building, illumination, and inspection of light houses, light vessels, buoys, beacons, sea marks, and their appendages. Congress has imposed a tax, or laid a duty of 50 cents per ton on all foreign vessels entering any ports of the United States. This is called " light money. " It is collected in the same way as ionnage duties are, z. e., by the collector of the port where the ship arrives. LETTERS OF MARQUE AND REPRISAL. A letter of Marque and Reprisal is a formal commission given |;o the commander of a private armed vessel, called a privateer, POOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. I93 authorizing Tiim to capture the ships and goods of the subjects of a nation with which we are at war. When such letters are issued by the United States they are signed by the President and sealed with the great seal. Without such commission, thus signed and sealed, any capture made by the commander of a private vessel would be piracy. If a capture is made, it must be made according to the laws of war, as recognized by civilized nations, and according to the instructions given by the President. Any conduct on the part of a privateer, contrary to these rules, would vitiate his pro- ceedings, and he would not be entitled to the property he had captured. The captured vessel is called a prize, and must be taken into some port of the United States, or into some port of a country in amity with the United States, where legal proceedings are taken before some court of competent jurisdiction ; and the capture and all the circumstances of it inquired into ; and if all is found to have been done according to the laws of civilized nations, the captured vessel and cargo is condemned as a prize. But if not condemned, the captors lose her. When adjudged to be a lawful prize, the ship and cargo are sold, and the money is divided between the officers and men, according to rank, and according to the laws of Congress on this subject. These laws give the whole to the cap- tors, when the ship taken is of equal or superior force to the ship making the capture ; but if of inferior force, then the United States takes one-half. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS. An Elector, in the sense of the Constitution, is one who has been appointed to choose or elect the President of the United States. The people, by law of Congress, assemble on the first Tues- day after the first Monday in November preceding the close of a presidential term, and vote for the electors. The electors in each State are called its Electoral College. They meet on the first Wednesday in December following their election, in their respec- tive States, and vote by ballot for a President and Vice-President. These cannot both, according to the Constitution, be citizens of the same State. They count, certify, and seal these votes and send the sealed package by a messenger, appointed for that express pur- pose, to the President of the United States Senate. On the second Wednesday in February following, the members of the Senate and House of Representatives assemble together, the packages are opened and the votes counted in their presence, and the result is officially proclaimed. Note. — Each State has as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Con- gress. The person having the greatest number of votes for President is duly elected, if such a number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. If no person has such a majority, then the House of Representatives, from the persons having the highest number not •exceeding three, shall by ballot select the President. 13 194 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. SUFFRAGE AND CITIZENSHIP. The right pertaining to citizenship, to vote for such officers as are elected by the people, is called suffrage. When that right is acquired with respect to one class of officers it always extends to the whole, from petty town or city officials, to high officers of the State or United States government — all, in short, who obtain of- fice directly from the people. The Constitution defines who shall be regarded as citizens of the United States, and all such are declared by it to be also cit- izens of the State in v/hich they reside. It declares "all persons^ born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its juris- diction " to be citizens. Indian tribes are mostly regarded as foreign nations, and have such rights as treaties give them, but are not taxed and do not vote ; therefore they are not regarded as citizens. Suffrage does not belong to all citizens. The special regulatior^ of the voting prerogative was not assumed by the Constitution, nor delegated to Congress, and it is generally conceded that it belongs to the State governments. The regulations in the States are not uniform, but in no state do women or minors vote. (Wo- men vote in Wyoming Territory.) Minors are supposed, however, to be represented, as to their interests, by their guardians, and females by husbands or brothers. Some of the states make minor restrictions as to length of residence in the state, and require a certain amount of property to constitute a voter, and in some naturalization is not required — so that the range of the right of suffrage varies within small limits, in different states. Whatever rule is adopted by the states has been accepted as the basis of suffrage for that state by the general government, when members of Congress and President and Vice-President are voted lor. The 15th amendment to the Constitution gives the colored men the same rights to suffrage and citizenship as white men. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS— CONGRESSMEN. Each state is entitled to a number of Representatives in Con- gress proportioned to its inhabitants ; but, instead of counting the whole number together, and leaving all the people in the state to vote for all the representatives of their state, it is divided into districts, each containing the prescribed number entitled to representation. The voters, then, in each district, select or nom- inate the men they wish to vote for — and thus they find it easy to send men they know and on whom they can rely to secure their iriterests. Each Member of Congress, therefore, is chosen by a single district. The districting of states is done by their State Legislatures. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. I95 Sometimes a state is admitted into theUnion before it has as many- inhabitants as the law requires to one Congressman, in which case the law is relaxed, and they are permitted at least one Represen- tative. Contiguous counties or towns are set apart in this way and numbered as ist, 2d, 3d, &c., Congressional District. In large cities as many wards, lying together, as include the requisite num- ber, are erected into districts. In case the number of Congress- men allotted to a state is larger than the number of districts, those in excess are voted for by the state at large. They are arranged as soon as possible after the census, so that this does not often occur. In the Western States the number continually increases,, and changes must be made after each census. The term Congressman properly applies to the members of both Houses ; it is, by common usage, confined to members of the lower House, those of the upper House being distinguished as Senators ; the abbreviation M. C. Member of Congress, means a Representative. These are the only members of any branch of the government who are chosen and elected directly by the people. Any citizen, whether native or foreign born, may become a Member of Con- gress, if he can obtain the consent of the voters in his district ; but he must have been a citizen during the previous seven years. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years, the members of the Senate for six. The Senate is composed of two persons, chosen by the legislature of each state, to represent it as a whole. The first Congress under the Consti- tution met in New York City, where two sessions were held, when it was removed to Philadelphia. It remained there until 1800, when Washington became the capital. In 1874 there were 37 states and therefore 74 Senators. The number of Representatives was fixed by a law of March, 1873, at 292, at which number it will remain until the next census in 1880. COPYRIGHTS. A Copyright is an exclusive privilege given to any citizen, or resident in the United States, to print, publish, or sell any book, map, chart, engraving, or musical composition of which he or she is the author or proprietor. This right is given by the laws of Congress. A copyright conveys all the rights of ownership, and may be bought and sold like other property. DIRECTIONS FOR SECURING COPYRIGHTS UNDER THE REVISED ACT OF CONGRESS, WHICH TOOK EFFECT JULY 8, 1870. I. A printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dra- matic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, photo- graph, or a description of the painting, drawing, chrome, statue, statuary, or model or design for a work of the fine arts, for which igO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. copyright is desired, must be sent by mail, prepaid, address, '' Li- brarian of Congress, Washington, D. C." This must be done before publication. 2. A fee of 50 cents, for recording the title of each book or other article, must be inclosed, and 50 cents in addition for each certificate of copyright. 3. Within ten days after publication of each book or other article, two complete copies ol the best edition issued must be sent to perfect the copyright, with the address Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. The charges to be prepaid. Without the deposit of copies above required, the copyright is void, and a penalty of $25 is incurred. 4. No copyright hereafter issued is valid unless notice is given by inserting in every copy published, on the title page or the page following, if it be a book ; or, if a map, chart, musical composi- tion, print, cut, engraving, photograph, painting, drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or model or design intended to be perfected as a work of the fine arts, by inscribing upon some portion of the face or front thereof, or on the face of the substance on which the same is mounted, the following words, viz. : Entered according to act of Congress^ in the year , by , in the office of the Librarian of Congress^ at Washington. The law imposes a penalty of $100 upon any person who has not obtained copyright who shall insert the notice ''''Entered ac- cording to act of Congress,'" etc., or words to the same import, in or upon any book or other article. 5. Any author may reserve the right to translate or dramatize his own work. In this case notice should be given by printing the words. Right of translation reserved, or All rights reserved, be- low the notice' of copyright entry, and notifying the Librarian of Congress of such reservation. 6. Each copyright secures the exclusive right of publishing the book or article copyrighted for a term of twenty-eight years. At the end of that time, the author or designer, or his widow or children may secure a renewal for the further term of fourteen years, making forty-two years in all. Applications for renewal must be accompanied by explicit statement of ownership in the case of the author, or of relationship in the case of his heirs, and must state definitely the date and place of entry of the original copyright. 7. Any copyright- is assignable in law by any instrument of writing, but such assignment must be recorded in the office of the Librarian of Congress within sixty days from its date. The fee for this record is fifteen cents for every 100 words, and ten cents for every 100 words for a copy of the record of assignment. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 1 99 8. To secure a copyright for a painting, statue, or model or design intended to be perfected as a work of the fine arts, so as to prevent infringement by copying, engraving, or vending such design, a definite description must accompany the application for copyright, and a photograph of the same, at least as large as " cabinet size," must be mailed to the Librarian of Congress with- in ten days from the completion of the work. 9. Every applicant for a copyright must state distinctly the name and residence of the claimant, and whether the right is claimed as author, designer or proprietor. REPORTS. The President's Messages are of the nature of reports made by the Chief Executive to the legislative body for its information and guidance. So it is enacted that the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, Interior, and Postmaster General, together with the commissioners of the different bureaus and boards attached to these departments, shall annually report to Congress. Heads of de- partments report directly to Congress. So do many of the com- missioners who are at the head of bureaus. Boards report to the heads of departments to which they are attached. The reports not only furnish the law-making power with such information as it needs, but serve as a check of any official mis- conduct. The annual reports of Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and Navy, together with that of the Postmaster General, are state papers which rank in importance next to the annual message ■of the President. After each Congress has convened and organized, the President •of the Senate and the Speaker of the House appoint what are denominated the standing committees of each of these bodies. When bills are presented to be passed into laws, or petitions are sent in, they are always referred to the appropriate committee, which examines them and reports to the body (of the Senate or House) their conclusions upon the merits or demerits, propriety or impropriety, of granting the petition, or of passing the bill under consideration. PASSPORTS. These are documents issued by the Secretary of State, or our representatives abroad, authorized by him, informing whom it may concera that the bearer is a citizen of the United States, that he travels under its protection and that satisfaction will be demanded of any one who does him wrong. Passports sometimes authorize persons to go where those not having them are forbid- den to go. These documents are also issued to foreigners as well 200 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. as our own citizens, who wish to visit the Indian Territory. Ships leaving our ports are required to take papers of the nature of pass- ports. THE CENSUS. The Constitution provides that the census shall be taken, or the people counted, once every ten years. The first census was taken in 1790, and this has been repeated every tenth year since. The work is done by the United States Marshals and their assistants, the result returned to the Department of the Interior. A report of it is laid before Congress by the Secretary of the In- terior and from its facts and figures the number of Representa- tives apportioned to the several states. The census reports are published in book form and contain, in addition to the popular tion, the number of acres of land under cultivation, the number of bushels of grain produced, the number of horses, caUlie,, etc.,, and statistics of every kind. THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY. This library was established in 1800 and contains works sup- posed to be useful to legislation, e. g., all the laws enacted by Congress, the records of its proceedings, the laws of the States. and of many foreign countries, together with many books on-^ miscellaneous subjects relating to government and political economy. No document can be taken out of the library except by the President, Vice-president, and the members of Congress. Judges of the Supreme Court, however, the heads of departments, the Attorney-General, the members of the diploma- tic corps, the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House, the- Chaplain of Congress, all the Ex-Presidents, the Solicitor of the Treasury, and others properly authorized, have access to the: library to consult its books and documents. THE PUBLIC PRINTING. This is done by the government printing office under the direction of a superintendent, who is required to make a report to Congress at the commencement of every session. The public printing includes all the proceedings of both Houses of Congress, all the laws enacted, all the bills proposed, the Presi- dent's Messages, the reports of the heads of departments and the reports and commissions of army and navy officers, of inves- tigating committees, of various superintendents, agents and gov- ernment employes. These and other things are printed, sometime& only for the use of Congress and sometimes for circulation among the people. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HIST^OR^l 20^ IMPEACHMENT. In the second article, section four, of the Constitution, these words are found: " The President, Vice-Presiderit, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on im- peachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other higt crimes and misdemeanors.'' Impeachment is a procedure against office holders only, for the purpose of removing them from office. It inflicts no other pun-- ishment. The House of Representatives alone can present charges look-- ing to the trial of an officer of the government by impeachment. It appoints a committee to conduct the prosecution before th& Senate, to which these charges are presented. The Senate alone has the power to try the accused party.- When trying a case of impeachment it acts as a court, and from its decision there is no appeal. When the President of the United' States is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides^' but in no other case. No person can be convicted ih a trial of' impeachment, unless two-thirds of the Senate concur in finding, the accused guilty of the alleged offense. A bailiff, a clerk, a crier and messenger, all of whom are ap^ pointed by the court, make up the remaining officials. The claimants stand in the relation of plaintiffs, and the gov-- ernment in that of defendant. DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. These offiters are next in rank to the Judges of the Circuit and' District Courts with which their duties are connected. Their re-- lation to the government, in the class of cases that come before- those courts, is the same as that of the Attorney General in the' Supreme Court. They are its official legal counselors in all cases-' involving the interests of the General Government before the" Circuit and District Courts in their several districts. They are appointed in the same manner; that is, nominated by the Presi- dent, and confirmed by the Senate. It is their duty " to prose-- •cute in such district all delinquents for crimes and offences' cognizable under the authority of the United States, and all civil' actions in which the United States shaM be concerned." They are his clients, and he must enforce" their rights, and defend- them, in the same manner that any attothey protects and defends' his client in any of the state courts: Ih case of necessity, he may' appoint a substitute to act in his place". All fees over and above" what he is allowed as compensation for his services, he must re-- port and pay into the United States Treasury. He must defend collectors of the customs and other revenue officers in his district, when suits are brought against them in theiF J202 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. official capacity, and must report to the Solicitor of the Treasury the number of suits determined and pending in his district. And when prize cases have been determined, or are pending in the District Court of his district, he must report the state and condi- jtion of each case to the Secretary of the Navy. District Attorneys are appointed for four years, but may be re- moved at the pleasure of the President. Their compensation depends on the amount of business to be done in their respective districts. When important ports of entry, such as New York or Boston, lie in their districts, their duties are very numerous, and .they receive a corresponding compensation. UNITED STATES MARSHALS. United States Marshals are the ministerial officers of the United States courts. Their duties and responsibilities are very similar, and nearly identical with the duties and responsibilities of sheriffs lin the courts of the several states. They are appointed by the President and Senate, for a term of four years. They appoint (their own deputies, and their compensation consists of fees instead of a salary. There is a Marshal in every Judicial District in the United States, and there are fifty-nine of these districts in all. A District Court is held in every district ; and it is the Marshal's duty to attend the sittings of these courts, and also those of the United States Circuit Courts, when they happen to sit in his dis- trict. The Marshal for the District of Columbia must also attend the sittings of the Supreme Court, and execute its precepts. It is the duty of the Marshals to serve all writs and precepts eman- .ating from them, whether of a civil or criminal character ; and to execute the judgments and decrees of these tribunals ; and for ;this purpose they are authorized by law, (if necessary.) to com- ,mand sucn assistance as they may need in the execution of their duties. They are also held answerable for the delivery to their successors of all prisoners who may be in their custody at the time of their removal, or at the expiration of their term of office. They also have the custody of all vessels and goods seized by ,any officer of the revenue. It is their duty also to summon, and to pay, jurors and witnesses m behalf of any prisoner lo be tried for a capital offense, under the laws of the United States. In the remarks made under the head "Census," we stated that it was the duty of the Marshals to superintend and direct the enumeration of the people ; and to collect such statistical facts as the law requires. This they do through deputies, whom they appoint for that special purpose. The United States Marshal is also required, on the first day of January and July of each year, to make a return of all the fees OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 203 and emoluments of his office to the Secretary of the Interior; and it they amount to more than $6,000 per year, he must pay the •surplus into the Treasury of the United States. *GRAND JURY. The fifth article of the amendments to the Constitution, reads : ■" No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise in- famous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury ; except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger." This constitutional provision makes a Grand Jury a very impor- tant agent or instrumentality in the execution of the laws, and also a safeguard of the liberties and rights of the people. It secures every person from the expense and disgrace of a trial for infamous crimes, unless a Grand Jury of his countymen shall find upon inquiry and investigation, that there are good reasons for believing that the person so charged has committed the alleged offense. A Grand Jury, when called to take cognizance of violations of the laws of the United States, to find indictments against those who are charged with them, is summoned by a judge of a United States court in the circuit or district where the alleged crime has been perpetrated ; and it must take notice of all crimes against the laws of the United States, which may be brought to its knowl- edge, within the circuit or district in which it sits. Hence, if ordered by a Circuit Judge, its powers extend over all those states which lie in that circuit. But when ordered by a District Judge, its powers extend only to that district in which it sits, and a dis- trict never embraces more than one state, and in many cases a state is divided into two or three districts. GRAND AND PETIT JURIES. A Grand Jury never acts but in criminal cases. A Petit Jury acts in both criminal and civil cases. The finding or conclusion arrived at by a Grand Jury is called a presentment, or an indict- ment. The finding of a Petit Jury is called its verdict. A Grand Jury sits alone (not in presence of the court), and deliberates upon such matters of a criminal character as it possesses knowledge of, or which may be brought to its notice by the court or by other persons; and when it finds that great evils €xist, and wrongs have been perpetrated, it presents them to the court, and calls the attention of the law officers to them ; which is equivalent to a recommendation that judicial proceedings should be commenced to abate the evil, or to punish the wrong doer. This is called a presentment of the Grand Jury. 204 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. And when they find, upon such evidence as they have, that a great crime has been perpetrated, or that they have good reason so to believe, and that it has been perpetrated by some person specified, they report their finding or conclusion to the Court. This is called an indictment by the Grandf Jury ; after which the person so charged is arrested, if at large, and can be found, and is either imprisoned or held to bail for his appearance at court ta stand trial. A Grand Jury never tries a case. A Petit Jury sits with the court, hears the pleadings and argu- ments of counsel on both sides, listens to the evidence of wit- nesses ; and then hears the charge of the judge, as to the law ap- plicable to the case; after which they withdraw and deliberate alone upon the case, and if they agree in a criminal case, their verdict is "Guilty," or *'Not Guilty; " if in a civil suit, they say how much one party is indebted (if any), to the other. ELECTIONS. In choosing the President and Vice-President of the United States, the people vote for Electors, who afterward vote for the above named officers. United State Senators are chosen by the State Legislature. All other officers are elected by a direct vote of the people, and all elections are by ballot. RATIO OF EEPRESENTATION. The ratio of representation simply means the ratio between the whole population of the United States, and the whole number of their Representatives in Congress; and this of course-includes the ratio between the people of any individual State, and the Repre- sentatives it is entitled to ; both being estimated upon the same basis, and determined by the same rule. After having determined how many members shall compose the lower House of Congress, the next step is to apporfon these mem- bers among all the States in the ratio of their population. If one State has twice the number of inhabitants that another has, it will be entitled to twice the number of Representatives in Congress, with this one exception, which is, that by a provision in the Con- stitution, every State, without regard to its population, is entitled to one Representative in the lower House. The adjustment of this matter is all provided for in the Consti- tution, that is, in its general features ; but it devolves upon Congress in every tenth year to re-adjust and re-apportion the Representa- tives among the several States, according to the population of each. State as shown by the last census, which is taken every tenth year ; and when the apportionment is once made it remains the same for the next ten years, when the census is taken again, and a new apportionment is made. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 205 Up to the year 1874 this had been done nine times. It was done the first time by the convention which formed the Constitution. That apportionment is found in the Constitution, and is as follows : To New Hamsphire, 3 Delaware, i Massachusetts 8 Maryland, \ 6 Rhode Island, i Virginia, 10 Conneciicut,.. 5 North Carolina, 5 New York, 6 South Carolina, 5 Newjersey, , 4 Georgia, 3 Pennsylvania, . 8 By this it will be see.i that the first Congress consisted of but 65 members. The Constitution also provided that Representatives should not exceed one to every 30,000 people. The next year after the gov- ernment went into operation, (1790,) the first census was taken, and as soon as the result was known, a new apportionment was made. This was done in 1792, and was made upon the ratio of one Re- presentative to every 33,000 of representative population. In 1870 the ninth census was taken, and in 1872 Congress de- cided that after March 3d, 1873, the Representatives should com- prise 292 members, being one Representative for every 135,239 of the population and apportioned them among the several States as follows: Alabama, 8 Missouri,.. i, Arkansas 4 Nebraska, i Cahfornia 4 Nevada, i Connecticut 4 New Hampshire, ".'.'. r. Delaware,.. i NewJ-rsey,.. "7 F'0"da, 2 New York, ,, Georijia,... 9 North Carolina 8 Mississippi, 6 Ohio,... Illinois, 19 Oregon. Indiana, 13 Pennsylvania, 27 Jowa, g Rhode Island 2 Kansas , South Carolina, r Kentucky,.. 10 Tennessee, 10 Lo iisana, 6 Texas 6 Miine... 5 Vermont, , Maryland, 6 Virginia, q Mpsachusetts, 11 West Virginia, . ? Michigin, 9 Wisconsin, 8 Minnesota, , 3 In the apportionment no regard is had to the Territories or to their population. A Territorial member has no right to vote on any question, but has only the right to debate; and for this reason he is not, in the fullest sense, a member, and is not counted in adjusting the number of which the House is made to consist. GOVERNMENT PRISONS. The general government does not own, and has never built, prisons for the confinement of off'enders against its laws. It uses the prisons of the States whenever they will allow it. This arrange- 2o6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ment between the general and State governments has been made in nearly if not all the States; the United States paying for the support of their prisoners. But in case any State should refuse to make such an agreement^ the United States marshal of any district where a prisoner is to be confined, is authorized to procure some building where the prison- ers may be safely confined in the district where they have been tried and convicted, or where they have been arrested and are held for trial. PROCLAMATIONS. A Proclamation is an official notice published by one high in authority, for the purpose of giving reliable and authoritative in- formation to the people that something has been done,or will soon be done, which is important for them to know, that they may act, or refrain from acting, according to the information contained in the proclamation. These proclamations are made known to the country through the most extensive channels of information that can be used for conveying intelligence to everybody in the Repub- lic. In our day, and in our country, the newspapers are the best means that can be used for this purpose. These documents are official acts brought before the people in due form and solemnity. Sometimes they are only recommenda- tions; at others they have all the force of organic law, or the acts of Congress. It has, for some years, been the custom of the Executive to de- signate some day toward the close of the year as a day of thanks- giving, recommending the day to be observed in a religious manner. Important changes in the commercial affairs between us and some foreign country are made known by the same method. A memorable proclamation was made by President Lincoln, in 1862, by which he made known to the country, and especially to the Southern States, that if they continued their war against the United States for one hundred days after its issuance, he would then, in virtue of his authority as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, liberate the'slaves in all the seceded States. At the ex- piration of the time, which was on the first of January, 1863, he issued another proclamation, in and by which he did emancipate all the slaves in every State which warred against the United States government. The blockading of our ports at the commencement of the civil war, and the imposition of an embargo upon our shipping, previous to the last war with England, were both subjects which brought cut proclamations from the President who then filled the Execu- tive chair. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 209 COMMISSIONERS. Persons acting under this title are assigned to a variety of duties sometimes permanent and sometimes temporary. In the first place, they act as heads of bureaus in the various departments. These commissioners are permanent officials of the government, estab- lished and provided for by law; such are the commissioners of the land office, patent office, pension office, &c. Anothei class of commissioners can hardly be considered officers, but rather temporary or special agents. The business to be trans- acted may be a great distance from the capital, even in a foreign country. In these cases commissioners are appointed to do such business. They have been appointed to negotiate a peace, to make treaties of various kinds between us and other powers, and to negotiate with the Indians for the purchase of their lands. The United States courts appoint them to take bail, or to take testi- mony to be used on tria.ls, and do various other things necessary in trials and proceedings before them. Congress frequently appoints commissioners to obtain informa- tion, or to investigate some matter on which they expect to legis- late. In all cases they must report their proceedings, either to Congress, to the President, or to the head of the department under whose instruction they act. Permanent commissioners report once a year, or oftener if required, that Congress may know the condition of affairs in their respective bureaus. Special commis- sioners, after they have performed the work assigned, make their report ; after which their duties cease and their commission comes to an end. The lowest grade of diplomatic agents are called commissioners. We are thus represented at the present time in the Republics of Hayti and Liberia. OFFICIAL REGISTER. Congress, in 1816, passed an act authorizing and requiring the Secretary of State, once in two years, to print and publish a book called " the official register," in which he was ordered to register the name of every officer and agent of the government, in the civil, military and naval departments, including cadets and midshipmen, together with the compensation received by each ; the names of the State and county where born ; and th.e name of the place where employed, whether at home or abroad. To the list of the persons employed in the Navy Department, the Secretary of the Navy is required to subjoin the names, force and condition of all the ships and vessels belonging to the United States, and when and where built. This work has been published and distributed, as the law directs, ever since the passage of the act, and is sometimes denomi- '4 2IO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. nated " the blue book." It can be found in the Congressional library at Washington, where twenty-five copies of each edition are deposited. THE STARS AND STRIPES. A nation's Flag represents its sovereignty. The flag of the United States may well call forth more enthusiastic affection, pride, and hope than any other in the world ; for it symbolizes not only home, country, and associations dear to Americans, but the justice, liberty, and right of self government that are dear to all man- kind. Its history is this ; Soon after the Declaration of Independence the Continental Congress appointed a committee to confer with Gen. Washington and " design a suitable flag for the i-ation." After the painful and depressing defeat on Long Islan''"' the re- treat through the Jerseys and across the Delaware, when r v erything seemed lost for the new government, Washington suddenly struck the vigorous blows at Trenton and Princeton that confounded the enemy and drove him back to Staten Island. Congress and the country were cheered with a hope and a resolution that never afterward failed them ; for in the next campaign occured the cap- ture of Burgoyne, followed by the treaty with France ; and the close of the war in our favor was henceforth only a question of time. In the month of May or early June, 1777, following the stag- gering blow Washington had given the British army in Jersey, the committee referred to above, and Washington, completed the design for a flag. This was accomplished and the first flag made at the house of a Mrs. Ross, in Arch St., Philadelphia. The house is still standing — No. 239. She had a shop where she fol- lowed the " upholder " trade, as it was then called — the same as our upholstering. One day the Commander-in-chief, Hon. Geo. Ross, a relative of hers, and certain members of Congress, called on her, with a design for a flag — thirteen red and white stripes, alternate with thirteen six pointed stars — and requested her to make the flag. She consented, but suggested that the stars would be more symmetrical and more pleasing to the eye if made with five points, and folded a sheet of paper and produced the pattern by a single cut. This was approved and she finished a flag the next day. Mrs. Ross was given the position of manufacturer of flags for the government, which descended to her children. In 1794 this flag was changed, though its chief features were retained. Congress then ordered that the flag should consist of fifteen stripes, alternate red and white, and fifteen stars, white on a blue field. There were then fifteen States. The stars and stripes were equal, and a stripe and star were added with the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 211 advent of each new State. This was changed in 1818, as the States increased and the flag threatened to become too large, by reducing the stripes to thirteen, representing the original Union, and the stars were made equal to the number of States. No change has since been made except to add a star whenever the union increased by the admission of a State. THE GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION. The founders of our government were wise enough to leave the people to arrange religious questions according to their pleasure. They were not unbelievers in religion, but thought, as most of our citizens now think, that entire liberty should be left to all to act in religious matters as they felt able and inclined. All religious sys- tems are equally tolerated — no government support is given special- ly to any. Some people do not approve of religious oaths (an affir- mation in the name of God, or calling God to witness that what is said is true,) and from such persons a solemn affirmation or state- ment, answers the purposes of the law. The Constitution prohibits Congress from making laws respect- ing the establishment of a State religion, or interfering with the free exercise of it, and declares that "no religious test shall ever be required, as a qualification to any office or public trust, under the United States." The President recommends a National thanks- giving to God once a year, for the blessings we enjoy, aiid some- times proclaims a day of fasting and prayer. It shows all due respect to the religious beliefs among the people, but leaves all free to practice any form of it, or to reject them all. CHAPLAINS. From respect to the religious habits of the people, chaplains are appointed to supply such religious instruction and services in the army and navy as might be felt desirable by those concerned. Those in the army receive the same pay and emoluments as a major of the infantry; or this was the compensation allowed by act of Congress in 1812. But by an act of 1862, it was fixed at ^100 per month, and two rations per day, for those in the army or hospitals. By the act of i8i2,one chaplain was allowed to every brigade ; but by an actof 1861 (during thecivil war) one for every regiment was allowed. Navy chaplains, in 1835, received $1,200 per year. . But in i860 this was raised to a lieutenant's pay; and this in 1862 was $1,800 per annum. Chaplains in Congress receive $750 per annum. The United States also employ a chaplain in the military acad- emy at West Point. 212 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. COMPROMISES. Webster defines a compromise to be an agreement between parlies in controversy to settle their difference by mutual concessions. COMPROMISE OF THE CONSTITUTION. This compromise consisted of concessions made by each section. The North conceded the return of fugitives from their Southern masters, when escaped to the north, and an enumeration of three- fifths of the slave population in computing the representation ii^ Congress. The South conceded the final close of the Slave Trade at a given time (iSo8). Outside of the Constitution it, at il.e same time, conceded the "Ordinance of 1787," by which SlaNciy was excluded from territory north of the Ohio river. Thus ihc North and South divided the country between them. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. The arrangement of the Slavery question, so termed, was made in 1820, and took effect as to the State of Missouri in 1821. Mis- souri had included a clause in her Constitution, presented for <-he approval of Congress, prohibiting slavery. This clause the South demanded should be stricken out. It produced great ex- citement and hot discussion throughout the country, and seemed to threaten the stability of the Union. Both sections were resolute in maintaining their principle, but both appreciated the necessity of strength in the government and harmony between the sections, and each made a sacrifice for the sake of these. Missouri was required to admit slavery, and the condition was annexed that no more Slave States should be formed north of its southern line. This was a concession trying to both sides. The North became a party to the extension of Slavery, and the South gave definite limits to her power of expansion. Each, however, gained some- thing • the South a State above the limits before virtually fixed, and the North a definite and final limit to the extension of a hated institution. This was quite generally satisfactory, and for many years set that question at rest. The discovery of gold in California filled it with inhabitants so soon, and these so largely from the free States, that in two years from its definite acquisition it petitioned for admission into the Union with a clause in its Constitution prohibiting Slavery. This was very exasperating to the South, and after a long and violent contest could be carried by the North only by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law — a re-enactment of a part of the Compromise of the Constitution with provisions so vigorous and effective, could they have been enforced, as to be, in the highest degree, offensive to a considerable part of the northern people. Utah was given a Territorial government as a concession to the South, and the Slave Trade was abolished in the District of Columbia as her corres- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 213 ponding concession to the North. These were the four compro- mise measures of 1850, the result of a discussion lasting nearly a year, engendering great bitterness on both sides, and failing to satisfy either. The attempt to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law proved ineffec- tual, in the end ; the rooted aversion of the Northern people to Slavery, kept in abeyance before by less offensive compromises, being fully aroused. This produced in the Southern people a bit- ter indignation as shov/ing a disposition to rebel against a consti- tutional provision in their favor. They procured, in 1854, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in the famous " Kansas and Nebraska Bill," and sought to introduce Slavery into Kansas. A civil war in that Territory followed. TREASON. The Constitution defines treason to be " levying war against the United States, or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort;" so that the highest or capital crime alone may be pur- sued with its penalties. An act of Congress passed April 30th, 1790, orders that the convicted offender shall be hung. By another act passed 17th July, 1862, it was made discretionary with the court trying the case to put the offender to death, or to imprison him for not less than five years, and to fine him for a sum not less than ten thousand dollars. None but a person owing allegiance to the United States can commit treason against them. "Misprison of treason" is the concealment of it by a person who knows it has been committed. This also is a grave offense, and is punishable by a seven years' imprisonment, and a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars. Any person tried for treason, must be indicted by a grand jury, and tried by petit jury in the Circuit Court of the United States within three years after the crime has been committed ; otherwise it is barred by limitation — or, in other words, outlawed. NATIONAL BANKING. The present banking system was established by an act of Con- gress in 1863. These Banks are managed by private parties and corporations, apart from the government, but under a certain de- gree of supervision, and by its authority. By the act referred to any number of persons not less than five may associate themselves together for the purpose of banking, by compliance with the fol- lowing conditions : 2 14 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. First : They must, under their hands and seals, make a certi- ficate which shall specify — The name assumed by such association. The place where its business is to be conducted. The amount of its capital stock (which cannot be less than $50,- 000), and the number of its shares. The names of its shareholders, and the number of shares held by each. The time when such association shall commence business. A declaration that said certificate is made to enable such per- sons to avail themselves of the advantages of this act. This certificate must be properly acknowledged before some competent person, and must be sent to the comptroller of the cur- rency in the Treasury Department, to be recorded and kept by him. When this, and all other acts which the law requires, has been done by the association, the comptroller of the currency gives them a certificate under his hand and official seal, to that effect, and that they are authorized to commence business. This constitutes the association a corporation. They have the right to make and use a common seal, and have all the rights, and are liable to all the responsibilities of ordinary legalized corporations; and may exist not to exceed twenty years from the passage of this act. Every shareholder is made personally liable for the debts of the associa- tion or bank, to the amount of the par value of his stock. In order to secure the holders of bills issued by these banks, they must deposit v/ith the Treasurer of the United States, United States bonds bearing interest to an amount not less than one-third of the capital stock paid in. These bonds are safely kept by the Treasurer. The comptroller of the currency then issues to the bank an amount of bank notes equal to the amount of bonds thus deposited, less ten per cent. In case the bank should fail to re- deem its circulating bills, its bonds are sold, and with the proceeds the comptroller of the currency redeems them, or orders them to be paid at the United States Treasury. The bonds held by the Treasurer as security for the redemption of the bills issued by the association, must be transferred to him in trust ; thus giving him entire control of them in case it becomes necessary to sell them in order to redeem the bills of any association which may have failed to pay them on demand. This act has brought a great number of banks into existence, be- sides organizing most of the banks formerly existing under State laws under this system; so that we have a nearly uniform system of banking all over the United States. The bills of these banks pass in any part of the country, which was not often the case formerly. In case the bank should be mismanaged, or fail to pay for any cause, there is ample security for their redemption deposited in the United States treasury, where they will be paid on presentation. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 215 The bill-holder is also better protected against counterfeits than he was under the old system; for all the bills issued by these as- sociations are engraved by the government, and the plates and dies on which they are printed are kept by the comptroller of the currency in the Treasury Department. The engrav- ing is done in the best possible manner, and it is exceedingly difficult to counterfeit them. Besides this, they all have the im- print of the seal ot the Treasury on their face, and are numbered and countersigned by the treasurer and register. With a;ll these guards and precautions, we have the best paper currency ever used since the establishment of the government. This act necessarily threw upon the Treasury Department a great increase of labor, and in order to provide for it a separate bureau was created, which is denominated the bureau of currency, the chief officer of which is called the comptroller of currency. He acts under the general direction of the Secretary of the Treas- ury. This bureau is charged with the execution of this and all other laws that may be passed by Congress respecting the national currency. The comptroller of the currency is appointed by the President and Senate, has a deputy, receives a salary of $5,000 per year, holds his office five years, has an official seal, gives bonds to the amount of $100,000, and takes and subscribes the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution and the laws. His duties are numerous and very responsible, he having hundreds of millions under his care. The term national banks, given to these institutions, and na- tional currency to the bills they issue, were given from the fact that they were organized by an act of Congress, and that the security for the redemption of their bills consists exclusively of national bonds ; no other securities will be taken. THE NATIONAL DEBT, In Each Year, from 1791 to 1875. 1791 73-463 1792 77i227 1793--- 80,352 1794 78,427 1795- 1796- '797- 1798- 1799. 1800. 1801. .80,747 .83,762 .82,064 .79,228, .78,408 -82,976 1002 00,712 1803 77/^Five-Twenties, dated May ist, 1862. Redeemable after five years, and payable in twenty years from date. Interest six per cent, in gold, payable the first of May and November. Issued under Act February 25th, 1862, $514,771,600. Five-Twenties of 1864. — Dated November ist, 1864. Re- deemable after five, and payable in twenty years. Interest, six per cent, in gold, payable ist of May and November. Issued under Act March 3d, 1864 (principal specified as payable in gold), $3,882,500. Issued under Act June 30th, 1864, $125,561,300. Total issue, $129,443,800. Five-Twenties of 1865. — Dated July ist, 1865. Interest six per cent, in gold, payable January and July. They are redeem- able in five years, and payable in twenty years. Issued under Act March 3d, 1865, in exchange for 7-30 notes converted, and amount, August ist 1868, to $372,346,350. Five-Twenties of 1865. — Dated November ist, 1865. Re- deemable after five, and payable in twenty years. Interest, six per cent, in gold, payable ist of May and November. Issued un- der Act March 3d, 1865, $197,777,250. Five-Twenties of 1867. — Dated July ist, 1867. Redeemable in five, and payable in twenty years. Interest, six per cent, in gold, payable ist of January and July. Issued under Act March 3, 1865, in exchange for 7-30 notes, and amount, August ist, 1868, to $37i»346,3SO- Five-Twenties of 1868. — Dated July ist, 1868. Redeemable in five, and payable in twenty years. Interest, six per cent, in gold, payable ist of January and July. Issued under Act March 3d, 1865, in exchange for 7-30 notes, and amount, August ist, 1868, to $39,000,000. MT. VERNON, THE HOME OF WASHINGTON.. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 219 Ten-Forties. — Dated March ist, 1864. Redeemable in ten and payable in forty years. Interest, five per cent, in gold, pay- able on the ist of March and September on all Registered Bonds, and on all Coupon Bonds of the denomination of $500 and $1,000. On the $50 and $100 Bonds, interest is paid annually, March ist. Issued under Act March 3d, 1863, and Supplement, March 3d, 1864; principal, payable in gold, $194,291,500. Fives of 1870. — Redeemable at the pleasure of the United States, after May i, 1881, in gold. Interest, five per cent, in gold, payable quarterly — February, May, August, and November ist. Exempt from all taxation. Issued under Acts of July 14th, 1870, and January 20th, 187 1. Amount, $200,000,000. U. S. Pacific Railroad Currency Sixes. — Dated January i6th, 1865, and variously thereafter. These Bonds are issued by the Government, under Acts July ist, 1862, and July 2d, 1864, to companies receiving their charter from Congress, which gives them the right to construct railroads to and from the Pacific Coast and on the completion of each twenty miles of track, to receive at the rate of $16,000, $22,000 or $48,000 per mile, according to the difficulty of constructing the same. They are payable thirty years from date of issue, and are registered in Bonds of $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000. Amount issued to September ist, 1870, $64,- 618,832. All of the Bonds are issued*' Coupon " or " Registered." Coupon Bonds can be changed into Registered Bonds, but Regis- tered Bonds cannot be changed Coupons. Coupon Bonds are in denominations of $50, $100, .$500, and $1,000: the Registered Bonds the same, with addition of $5,000 and $10,000. Saleries of U. S.' Offiicers. STATISTICAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. POPULATION. The total population of the United States, according to the ninth census (1870), is 38,853,217, and leaving out the Indian tribes, 38,555,983. There are but four of the great empires of the world exceeding this in number of inhabitants, to-wit : i. The Chinese Empire, 477,500,000 inhabitants. 2. The British Empire, 174,200,000 inhabitants. 3. The Russian Empire, 75,- 500,060 inhabitants. 4. The German Empire, 40,200,000 inhabi- tants. France and Austria have each about 36,000,000 inhabi- tants, and are next to the United States in population. But in rapid increase of population our country surpasses all others, and must hold for many decades the foremost rank, as there is none that approaches it in natural wealth and resources. The follow- ing table is based upon the official reports of the decennial census : Increase in 10 years. Year. Population. per cent. 790 3i929i2i4 800 5,308,483 35.02 8io 7,238,881 36.45 820 9,633,822 33.13 830 . 12,866,020 33-49 840 17,069,453 32. 68 850 - 23,191,876 35.87 860 31,443,321 35-59 870 38.5551983 22.64 According to the tables submitted to the Statistical Congress, at Berlin, in 1863 : The United States increased in 60 years (1800-1860) 593 per cent. England and Wales " 60 " . (1801-1861) 121 " Russia " 45 " (1S16-1861) 79 " France " 60 "' (1801-1861) 37 " The efficient causes of progress of population are annexation, immigration, and natural increase (the excess of births over deaths). The first of these factors has contributed but little. Louisiana, when purchased, had 77,000 inhabitants; Florida, 220 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 221 about 10,000; California and New Mexico, about 60,000; Texas and Oregon mainly brought back into the Union citizens who had emigrated thither but a short time before. Of far greater im- portance has been and will certainly be hereafter, the second factor, Inwiigratioii, which, though partially arrested by the civil war, has expanded to the largest dimensions since the return of peace. Moreover, the character of the immigrants has materially improved, as the intelligent and moneyed classes of Europe have become more interested in our extraordinary resources. America is no longer looked upon in foreign countries as a refuge for op- pressed labor, but rather as a field for commercial and industrial enterprises, promising greater results than the combination of capital and labor can realize elsewhere. Nearly 10,000,000 of our population are foreigners or descend- ants of foreigners. It has been estimated that the population in 1850 would have been about 22,000,000 if all immigration had been arrested at the time of the Declaration of Independence. The population of the colonies at the commencement of the Revolutionary war was probably not far from 3,000,000 ; and the arrival of immigrants, previous to the enactment of the pas- senger act of March 2, 1819, amounted to about 250,000, Since that period the stream of immigration has steadily increased. The total number of immigrants who arrived between Oct. i, 1819, and December 31, 1870, was 7,553,865. Including the 250,000 already here before October, 1819, the total number of aliens permanently added to our population by direct immigration since the establishment of the government will reach 7,803,765. It is obvious that this large influx of labor, partly skilled, part- ly unskilled, adds a large amount to the total wealth of the nation, however difficult it may be to estimate this value in dollars and cents. Mr. Fr. Kapp, member of the German Parliament, as- sumes the average value of each immigrant to be $1,125. ■'^^• Edward Young, the able chief of the Bureau of Statistics, deems $1,000 as somewhat too large. The question is yet unanswered; but if we accept $800 as being about the value of an immigrant, inclusive of the average amount in cash he brings with him, then the addition to the wealth ot the country by immigration to 1871 reaches the stupendous sum of $6,243,092,000. The increase in the different divisions of the country has been very unequal. It has exceeded 100 per cent, in some of the new states and territories — Nevada, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Dakota, Utah and Washington, It has been less than 100 per cent, and more than 50, in Iowa, Michigan, Oregon and the Dis- trict of Columbia, The increase has been still less in those older states which have attained a comparatively high degree of devel- opment, and possess a dense population, /, e., a large number of inhabitants to each square mile of area, as Maryland, New Jersey, 2 22 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and others. The increase in the former slave states has been small, averaging but 17 per cent. Only four of them — Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas — have grown more than 30 per cent., as they offered ex- traordinary inducements to immigrants, in the richness of their natural resources and the sparsity of their populations. The rate of increase of the New England States has been less than that of the United States at large. Maine and New Hampshire have slightly fallen off in population, although they have only eighteen and thirty-five inhabitants, respectively, to the square mile. Mas- sachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are the most densely inhabited portions of the country, having, respectively, 182, 114, and 167 inhabitants to the square mile; but their increase has been small, averaging but 1 8 per cent. Four of the five races into which the human family is ordinarily divided, are represented in the population of the United States— the Indian, the Ethiopian, the Mongolian and the Caucasian races, or classified by color, the red, black and yellow, and the white races. The total number of Indians was, according to the last census, 383,712. Of these 25,731 were living as broken bands in many of the states, sustaining no tribal relations ; 96,366 were upon government reservations and under agencies; and 234,740 roamed as nomads over the thinly settled parts of the West. The Ethiopians or negroes were imported into the colonies as slaves, previous to the Declaration of Independence. In 1790 they numbered 757,343 souls, 56,446 of whom were then free. In 1850 they had increased to 3,638,762, inclusive of the various shades of colored persons, and ten years later, to 4,441,756, of whom 487,996 were free, and 3,953,700 slaves. The last census gives their number as 4,868,387. The rate of increase from 1850 to i860 was 22.35 P^'" cent., but from i860 to 1870, only 9.6 per cent., while the population of the country at large increased dur- ing the same decades, 35.39 and 22.64 P^^ cent, respectively. In 1870 the proportion of the colored to the whole population was 14^ to 100, a ratio by no means alarming in a political point of view. But it greatly varies in the different states; in South Carolina and Mississippi the number of the colored people considerably exceeds that of the whites ; in all others the whites predominate. The Mongolian race is represented by Chinese and a few Japa- nese. The number of the latter is, indeed, so small, that they are not separately enumerated in the census. In i860 there were 35,565 Chinese in California only. At present they are found in twenty-three states. Asiatic immigration, says Mr. Edward Young, has not yet reached such proportions as to excite alarm in the most apprehensive, and falls far short of what has been represented, never having reached in any single year the number OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 223 of 15,000; forming only four per cent, of out total immigration A peculiarity of the Chinese immigration is the small number of females, not exceeding seven per cent, of the whole, a fact which seems to preclude a large increase of the pure race. The bulk of our population is of the Caucasian or white race, numbering 33,580,857, or 86.45 percent, of the grand total of inhabitants, and belongs to that race-branch which ethnologists have called the Aryan, Indo-European, or Indo-Germanic. The Hebrews or Jews constitute the only Semitic element in our population, but their numbers cannot be ascertained, as they are not enumerated in any official count or report. If, however, their number is to the entire population of the country as is the number of seats in the synagogues to the total of church accom- modations in the country, then the Jews may be estimated to ex- ceed 75,000 and to fall below 100,000. Of the Aryan race-branch the Germanic and Celtic nation- alities have almost alone contributed to the making of the Ameri- can nation. The English or A7iglo-Saxon were the first settlers on our shores, and if not now the most numerous, have planted imperishably their language, institutions, and laws upon our soil. The new nation which is being formed out of the various elements will always exhibit the impress 01 their peculiar social and political characteristics. Germans came over and settled in this country at a very early day, and their influx has, with unimportant intermission, (/. e., for instance, during the Napoleonic wars) steadily continued, a large proportion going to the rural districts and developing the agri- cultural resources. In Pennsylvania and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia there are districts whose inhabitants are mainly de- scendants of the early German settlers from the Palatinate, and still speak a German dialect. The Swedes colonized the Western shores of Delaware River, and the Butch or Hollanders the Southern part of the state of New York. The Irish represent the Celtic element in our population. From 1691 to 1745 the influx of this element amounted to 263,000 souls (according to Thomas Newenham's " Statisical and His- torical Inquiry into the Progress and Magnitude of Ireland.") The 165,000 persons who immigrated from 1790 to 1814 were mainly Irish (probably nine-tenths). They settle in large cities and towns or in the manufacturing districts. The majority of laborers in the industrial establishments of New England, and on railroads and canals, are Irish, and not many go into the rural districts. The Romanic nations of Europe have also sent their quota across the Atlantic, although a small one. French Huguenots, persecuted at home for their religion, settled in South Carolina. 224 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Missouri and Louisiana, when ceded to the United States, were mostly inhabited by Frenchmen ; and the annexation of Florida, Texas, California^and New Mexico, added a few thousand Span- iards and Spanish half-breeds to our population. The Slavonic nations have contributed to our increase still less than the Romanic. The few Russians, Poles, and others,who land on our shores are soon lost in the great mass. The question as to the proportion in which the nationalities above mentioned are represented to-day among the American people is one of considerable ethnographic interest. From the nature of the inquiry a rough estimate only can be given. We take as the basis the census for 1820, previous to which the nation- ality of immigrants was not specified. The white population in that year was 7,862,166. Since then the direct white immigration has been about 7,300,000. In 1870, the white population had in- creased to 33,586,989. If the sum of the first two numbers is deducted from the last, the remainder (about 17,930,000,) is that part of the increase which is owing to the excess of births over deaths. If we then distribute the white population of 1820, and the direct white immigration since 1820, among the nationalities above mentioned, and add to each its proportionate share of the increase due to the excess of births over deaths (17,930,000,) we shall obtain approxi- mately the numerical strength of each nationality in the American people. The following results in round numbers are based upon this estimate and calculation, and though not claiming for them a great degree of accuracy, we think that they are not very far from the truth : 1. Anglo-Saxons 8,340,000 inhabitants 2. Germans — including Prussians, Austrians and Swiss 8,930,000 " 3. Other Germanic Nations, as Dutch and Scandinavians 728,000 " Germanic Nations 17,998,000 " 4. Celts — principally Irish.. _. 10,255,000 " 5. Romanic Nations, as French, Spaniards, Portuguese and Italians.. 1,016,000 '' 6. All other nationalities 4,326,000 " Total white inhabitants in 1870 33i595i000 The number of natives descended purely from one or the other stock is still large. Intermarriages between persons of different nationalities are, however, quite common. Were the fusion of these diverse elements complete, then, of loo drops of American blood, 25 would be Anglo-Saxon, 27 German, 2 Dutch or Scandi- navian, 301/ Celtic, 3 Romanic, and 121^ uncertain. OUR governmejnt and history. 225 MARVELOUS GROWTH OF CITIES. The growth of cities in our country is marvelous. It makes the fanciful creations of Aladdin's lamp seem like realities, and almost gives us faith in the thousand-and-one tales of Shahrazad. On the sides of Mount Davidison, in Nevada, appeared a wall of black sulphuret, in 1861. There was a suspicion that it concealed the entrance to a great treasury. And so it did, for in the bosom of that mountain lay the great " Comstock lode " of silver and gold. The treasure-door was opened, and four years from that wonderful revelation, Virginia City stood over it, a town of twenty thousand inhabitants, whose citizens there had picked out ^30,000,000 worth of silver ore from beneath its foundation. But this was an abnormal growth of a great town — the result of a single industry. There are many instances like it in the wonderful mineral regions of our country. But the normal growth of some of our cities is quite as marvelous. This is illustrated by three in the State of New York, namely, Brooklyn, Rochester, and Buffalo. A little more than sixty years ago, Brooklyn was a little village clustered near the old ferry-house at the foot of Fulton street, which was then not named ; now its population is well nigh half a million. Rochester, at about the same time, consisted of a single log hut, from the timber of which was wrought a table, now in possession of Henry O'Reilly, Esq., of New York City ; now Rochester contains more than eighty thousand inhabitants. In 1813 Buffalo was a little village in ashes — laid waste by the torch of British soldiers ; now it con- tains a population of full one hundred and thirty thousand souls. These have had a normal growth. In 1847, San Francisco contained a population of four hundred and fifty-nine persons, it now contains about two hundred and seventy thousand^ and is one of our great commercial cities. But the blossoming in the wilderness of the great city of Chicago, on the western shore of Lake Michigan, is quite as marvelous as any on record. There, forty-five years ago stood a solitary mansion on the northwestern border of a little river that empties into the lake, with a few log houses in its neighborhood, and a military post on the opposite side of the stream, known as Fort Dearborn. That was the whole of Chicago in 1830, when a small area of a few acres was surveyed for a village. " The first white man who settled here was a negro," said the Pottawatomies, in great simplicity, who called the place Chi-Ka- Koti, the name of the pole-cat, in their language. That first set- tler was Jean Baptiste Point au Sable, a mullatto from the West Indies, who found his way to that far-off wilderness in 1796. He built a log hut, but did not remain long. His dwelling and im- provements passed into the possession of John Kinzie, a native "5 226 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. of Quebec, and an enterprising trader with the Indians, and who for a while was the only white inhabitant in northern Illinois, excepting a few soldiers of the United States army. He estab- lished a trading-house at Chicago in 1804, where, two years before, a stockade had been built and named Fort Dearborn in honor of the then Secretary of War. It had a block-house at each of two angles on the southern side, a sally-port and a covered way on the north side that led down to the river, for the double purpose of providing means of escape, and for procuring water in the event of a siege. It stood on the south bank of the Chicago River, about half a mile from its mouth. When Major Whistler built it, his soldiers hauled all the timber, for he had no oxen; and so economically did he work, that the fort cost the government only $50. For awhile the garrison could get no grain, and Whistler and his men subsisted on acorns. Now Chicago is the greatest grain centre in the World. The commerce of the city amounts, annually, to about half a hillion of dollars, and the grain market forms the basis of specula- tion as railway shares do in Wall street. In 1873 there were fifteen grain-elevators there with a storage capacity of 12,800,000 bushels, each receiving and shipping 100,000 bushels a day. At the same time the total value of live stock received there, includ- ing cattle valued at ^41,000,000, hogs at ^33,500,000, sheep at $950,000, and horses at $250,000, or a total of more than $75,000,000. A tnillion and a quarter of hogs were packed there that year. Think of it : only forty years before, a single white family there were afraid their stock of flour and meal might become exhausted before the ice in the lake should break up in the spring, and the Indians were " dying in companies from mere destitution ! " That little germ of a village has grown to a city of about half a millioji inhabitants. There are over 70,000 miles of railroad on the continent, and one-third of them feed Chicago's markets. CITIES. The growth of the cities has been far more ra]nd than that of the open country. Thus the city of New York increased during the last decade 19 per cent.; New Haven, Conn., 29 per cent.; Boston, 41 per cent.; Portland, Me., 19 per cent.; Baltimore, 26 per cent. ; Richmond, Va., 34 per cent. ; ratios which are far in advance of their respective states. Philadelphia with 19 per cent, alone shows a smaller growth than its state with 21 per cent. Jersey City has made a progress (183 per cent.) even more rapid, than the most prosperous cities west of the Alleghanies. Pitts- burgh increased 75 per cent.; Buffalo, 45; Cleveland, 114; Detroit, 74; Chicago, 166 ; Milwaukee, 58; St. Louis, 93; Cincin- nati, 35; Indianapolis, 159; Louisville, 48; and San Francisco, 63. The Southern cities advance less rapidly New Orleans shows OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 227 an increase of 39 per cent, and Mobile of only 9. The most re- markable growth apparently was that of Scranton, Pa., which increased 261 per cent. OCCUPATIONS AND BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY. The total number of persons employed in gainful and reputable occupations, for which they receive compensation in the shape of wages or salary, or from which they derive products of a merch- antable character, was, in 1870, 12,505,923, of which 10,669,635 were males, and 1,836,288 females. In a majority of the states the number of those who had no recognized occupations was quite large; but of the 10,429,150 males between the ages of 16 and 59 inclusive, 9,486,734 were accounted for in the tables of the census, while of 989,516 above the age of 60, 634,837 were accounted for. The difference in the former period {z.e, 16 to 59) is substantially made up, first, by the number of students pursuing courses of instruction ; second, by the number of persons afiflcted with bodily or mental infirmities disqualifying them from participating in the industry of the country ; third, by the members of the pauper and criminal classes. The total number of females above the age of 16, not accounted for in the census, was in the neighborhood of 9,100,000. But of these probably 7,400,000 were occupied in " keeping house," others attended school, and the remainder was made up of various classes, such as grown up daughters living at home, widowed mothers sup- ported by their children, ladies living upon the income of accu- mulated property, as well as paupers, vagrants, and criminals. The cenus report classifies all the various occupations under four heads: I. Agriculture, in which were employed a grand total of 5,922,47 1 persons. Of these 2,977,711 were farmers and planters, 2,885,996 agriculturallaborers, 31,435 gardeners and nursery-men, 6,588 stock raisers, and 5,590 stock herders. 2.'[Jndiex th^hesidoi Professional and Personal Services, the cen- sus enumerates 72 distinct occupations, with 2,684,793 persons. Laborers, not specified, greatly predominated, numbering 1,031,- 666. Of the 975,734 domestic servants, 108,380 were males, and 867,354 females. Thus only i out ot every 8.7 of the 7,579, 863 families enjoyed the assistance of female help. The majority of the servants were natives of the United States, viz : 728,180 ; 145,956 were natives of Ireland; 42,866, of Germany, 14,878, of British America; 12,531, of England ; and5,42o, of China. Barbers and hair dressers numbered 23,935; boarding and lodgmg-house keepers, 12,785 ; hotel-keepers, 26,394; restaurant keepers, 35,185; clerks in hotels and restaurants, 5,245; other employees in these establishments,23,438 ; clerks and employees in government offices, 23,079; launderers and laundresses, 60,906. The learned professions 2 28 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. were thus repsented; authors and lecturers, 458; chemists, 608; metallurgists, 164; clergymen, 43,874; dentists, 7,839; civil en- gineers 4,703; journalists,5,286; land surveyors, 2,671; lawyers, 40,736; naturalists, 287; physicians and surgeons, 62,383; and veterinary surgeons, 1,169. The different branches of the fine arts included 2,017 architects, 934 designers and draftsmen, 775 painters, 250 sculptors, and 2,948 artists not specified. There were 136,570 teachers, 9,491 of whom taught music, 108 drawing and painting, and 149 dancing. 3. The title Trade and Transportation includes the commercial classes, numbering 1,191,238 persons, of whom, 14,362 were bank- ers and brokers, employing 995,598 officials, clerks, and others; the railroads absorbed the activity and services of 163,303 persons; the telegraphs of 8,579 ; and the express companies, of 9,396. The traders and dealers of all classes numbered 1,262,268, who employ- ed 222,504 clerks, 31,177 book-keepers and accountants, 7,262 commercial travelers, and 14,203 salesmen or saleswomen. The sailors numbered 56,663; the boatmen and watermen, 21,332 ; the canalmen, 7,338; steamboatmen and women, 7,975 ; and the ship- pers and freighters, 3,567. 4. In the Manufactures^ and Mechanical and Mining Industries, there were engaged 2,707,42 r persons, of whom 344,596 were carpenters, 171,217 boot and shoemakers, 161,820 tailors and seamstresses, 152,107 miners, 141,774 blacksmiths,i 11,106 cotton- mill operatives, 58,836 woolen-mill operatives, 41,619 mill and factory operatives not specified, 80,710 masons, 85,123 painters and varnishers, 39,860 printers, and 42,877 manufacturers- AGRICULTURE. The great majority of the people of the United States are engaged in agriculture, which here as elsewhere forms the basis of national wealth. With happy peculiarities of climate, extent of territory through so many degrees of latitude or isothermal belts, and an immense area of most fertile soil, we enjoy extraordinary advantages for producing agricultural staples in great variety and abundance. The importance of the agricultural interest is fully recognized OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 229 by the government and the people. In 1872 the Department of Agriculture was established by act of Congress, for the purpose of .collecting statistics, introducing from foreign lands seeds of new plants, testing their adaptability to our soil and climate, and disseminating information to the farmers. Agricultural colleges have been established in many of the states, and agricultural per- iodicals are published in nearly all parts of the country. But farming is, as yet, a business rather than a profession. Too much land is superficially cultivated and soon exhausted. The very perfection of the labor-saving machines and implements, in which this country surpasses all others, promotes the process of wearing out the surface soil. In all the older states there are large tracts which formerly produced twice as much corn or wheat to the acre as they produce now. It has become doubtful whether farming pays in New England ; and the country population there is gradually decreasing. The older tobacco plantations of Maryland and Virginia have been in many instances abandoned, and a large proportion of the southern cotton lands have ceased to yield profitable returns. The yield of wheat fifty years ago in Ohio was 30 bushels to the acre; to-day it is not quite 15. An English traveler was surprised by the extraordinary productive- ness of the wheat fields near Albany, N. Y., in 1775, which yielded from 30 to 40 bushels per acre, with inferior cultivation. In 1855 winter wheat yielded 7J^ bushels and spring wheat but 5. The present method of farming will probably prevail as long as farmers can go West and obtain fresh land for a comparatively low price. But when the vast amount of virgin soil yet awaiting the arrival of the husbandman shall have been all taken up and made to yield its dormant treasures, lands will necessarily increase in value, thoroughly scientific cultivation will become profitable, and agriculture will rise to the dignity of a learned profession. According to the last census report, the aggregate area of the farms of the United States comprised 407, 735.041 acres, or about 21 per cent, of the entire surface. Of this amount 189,000,000, or somewhat over 9 per cent., were " improved " /. e., cleared land, used for grazing, grass, or tillage, or lying fallow. These figures show what an immense amount of land is yet open to the settler. In i860, the improved lands comprised 163,000,000 of acres, and in 1850, 113,000,000. The rate of progress will here- after, probably, not fall short of 4,000,000 of acres per annum. At this rate it will still take about two hundred and fifty years before the cultivable portion of the United States (somewhat more than one-half the entire area) will be improved. The total area in woodland was 159,310,177 acres, or 39 per cent, of the aggregate of acres in farms. The Southern states are remarkably well wooded ; the twelve states from Maryland to Tennessee averaging in woods 52 per cent, of their farm area; 230 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the New England states have 32 per cent, of woods; the Middle states 28 per cent ; and the Central states, from West Virginia to Nebraska, 32 per cent. The territories are not rich in woods, except Washington, which has 44 per cent. California has but 4 percent, of its farm area in woodland; Nebraska, 10; Kansas, 11; Iowa, 16; Illinois, 19; Indiana, 39; Ohio, 31; Kentucky, 48; and West Virginia, 51. The cash value of farms in 1870 was $9,262,803,861 (against $6,645,045,007, in i860); and of farm implements, $336,878,429. The wages paid during the year amounted to $310,286,285, and the value of all farm products, including betterments and increase of stock, reached the large sum of $2,447,538,658; in addition to which the orchards produced $47,335,189, and the market gar- dens, $20,719,229. New York, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indian^, Iowa, and Missouri, rank first in the value of farm products. The value of animals slaughtered or sold was $398,956,376; of home manufactures, $23,423,332; and of forest products, $36,808,277. If these sums are added to those of the farm, orchard, and garden products, the grand total of agricultural ac- tivity amounts to $2,974,781,059, or about $80 for each inhabit- ant of the country. The live stock comprised 7,145,370 horses, 1,125,415 asses and mules, 8,935,332 milch cows, 1,319,271 working oxen, 13,566,605 other cattle, 28,477,951 sheep, and 25,134,569 swine. The total value of all live stock was $1,525,276,475. The census returns of domestic animals include only those on farms. No provision is made for enumeration of horses, cattle, and other animals, kept for work, milk, and fattening, in cities, or those in transitu to the feeder and butcher. The statistician o\ the Department of Agriculture estimates the number of cattle not on farms, in 1870, 4,273,973, or 15 per cent, of the aggregate returned; and the number of horses, 1,547,370, or 18 per cent. Illinois had the largest number of horses, 853,738, or 34 horses to every 100 inhabitants; then follow Ohio with 609,722, or 23 horses to 100 inhabitants ; New York, with 536,861, or 12 horses to 100 inhabitants; and Indiana with 497,883, or 30 horses to 100 inhabitants. Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and Alabama, had the largest number of mules and asses. The Northern states had but few. The principal sheep-raising states are Ohio (about five million sheep), California (two and two-third millions). New York (over two millions), Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (from one to two millions each.) The subjoined table shows to what extent each state and terri- tory participates in the grand sums above given ; OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 2pa STATES AND TERRITORIES, Alabama Arizona... Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Dakota Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois. Indiana Iowa .. Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina Oho Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Tn 1870 there were in the United States 2,659,985 farms, which had an average extent of about 150 acres. Over one-half ol the farms covered from 20 to 100 acres. According to the classihca- tion of the census report, o 3 per cent, of all the farms were be- low 3 acres; 6.4 per cent, had from 3 to 10 acres; ii.i percent., from 10 to 20 acres; 31.9 per cent., from 20 to 50 acres; 28.3 per cent, from 50 to roo acres; 21.2 per cent, from 100 to 500 232 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 0.6 per cent., from 500 to 1,000 acres ; and but 0.2 per cent, more than 1,000 acres. The average size of farms has considerably decreased since i860; except in Wisconsin, where no change has taken place; in Massachusetts, where it has increased from 94 to 103 acres; and in California where it has risen from 466 to 482 acres. In North Carolina it has decreased from 316 to 212 acres; in South Caro- lina, from 488 to 233; in Mississippi, from 370 to 193; in Texas, from 591 to 301. In the central states the decrease is less marked; and was from 146 to 128 in IlUnois; from 114 to in, in Ohio; from 211 to 158, in Kentucky; and from 165 to 134, in Iowa. Irrigation. — That portion of the United States which includes the Cordilleras and the Great Plains, suffers, as has been stated, from either scarcity or absence of moisture. Agriculture there will always be impossible, except in favored spots, which admit of irrigation from the rivers and creeks. But even in the most favored states of the Mississippi valley irrigation would be ex- ceedingly profitable. The yield of meadows v^ould thereby be doubled and trebled, and that of the grain fields at least greatly increased. The great staples of the United States are the cereals — corn wheat, rye, oats, and barley ; potatoes, rice, tobacco, cotton, wool, and dairy products. Indian Corn., or Maize, is the only cereal indigenous to the American continent, and is the most extensively cultivated food- plant of the United States. It requires great summer heat, and hence our climate is peculiarly adapted to its culture. The northern limit maybe represented by the summer isotherm of 65", which excludes northern Maine, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the larger portion of the Pacific coast. Its yield varies from 30 to 80 bushels to the acre. The total product amounted in 1870 to 760,944,549 bushels. Illinois produced over one-sixth of the whole amount; Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio, each a little over one-twelfth ; and then followed Indi- ana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Wheat requires a cooler climate than corn, and its range ex- tends farther north, but not as far south. It is, on the east of the Rocky Mountains, a reliable crop as far as the Saskatchawan valley, in 54° lat., and on the Pacific coast as high as 60° lat. The average yield, with careful cultivation and good soil, is about 30 bushels to the acre. Forty bushels is considered an extraor- dinary crop, but in the irrigated region of Utah and Colorado a yield of 60 bushels is not exceptional. In 1870 there were pro- duced in the United States 112,549,733 bushels of spring wheat, and 175,195,893 of winter wheat; together, about 288,000,000 bushels. Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Illinois OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 233 produced the largest quantities of spring wheat ; Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and New York, of winter wheat. Rye is a much hardier plant than wheat, and is cultivated mostly in the extreme northern or more elevated parts of the country. Its cultivation is much less profitable than that of wheat. The total yield in 1870 was 16,918,795 bushels, of which Pennsyl- vania, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kentucky produced the largest amount. The cereal, Oats, is so well adapted to either cold or warm climates, that it may be cultivated in nearly every portion of our country. It produces from 30 to 80 bushels to the acre. The yield in 1870 was 282,107,157 bushels, which were raised chiefly in the Northern and Middle states, as Illinois, Pennsyl- vania, New York, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota. Barley, also, is a product of the north, and is almost exclusively used for the manufacture of malt beer. It yielded in 1870, 29,- 961,305 bushels, the greater portion of which was produced in California and New York. The product of the cereals, from 1850 to 1870, was as follows: 1850. Corn 592,071,104 Wheat 100,425,944 Rye Barley Oats Buckwheat i860. 1867. 1870. ,792,742 768,520,000 760,944,549 173,104,924 212,441,400 187,745,626 14,iB8,8i3 21,101,380 23,184,000 16,918,795 5,162,015 13,826,098 25,727,000 29,761,305 146.584,179 172,643,185 278,798,000 282,107,157 8,956,912 17,571,818 21,359,000 9,821,721 Aggregates... 867,388,967 11237,040,147 1,330,029,400 1,287,299,153 The money value of the 1,330,029,400 bushels of cereals pro- duced in 1867 is officially stated by the Department of Agricul- ture to be $1,248,037,000. The area of cereals, in acres, is reported by the same depart- ment as follows : 1867. Corn 32,520,249 Wheat 18,321,561 Rye 1,689,275 Barley 1,131,217 Oats 10,746,4 1 6 Buckwheat 1,337,826 1870. Corn .... .. 34,091,137 Wheat . 19,943,893 Rye 1,069,531 Barley 1,177,666 Oats 8,365,809 Buckwheat 413,915 The large crops of 1870 were produced by the farming popula- tion of over thirty-eight miUions inhabitants, being at the rate of 33 bushels a head for the whole population. If it is correct to assume that eight bushels of cereals are sufficient to support one person for one year, the United States had a surplus of 25 bush- els per inhabitant for exportation, or an aggregate of 1,000 mil- lions of bushels. A very large portion of this surplus, however, was fed to swme and other animals, and reappeared in the form 234 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. of animal food, while a not inconsiderable quantity was distilled into whisky and other spirituous liquors, or converted into starch, etc. The total production of cereals is on an average more than twice as large for each inhabitant of the United States, as it is in Europe. This enormous production is in a great measure ow- ing to the numerous machines for sowing, planting, reaping, threshing, and preparing the grain for market, which are the re- sult of the inventive genius of the American people, saving the labor and taking the place of millions of men, and that, too, at seasons of the year when men in sufficient numbers could not be obtained. The number of reaping machines actively employed in 1866 was estimated by Mr. John Stanton Gould at 210,000, a number which since then must have greatly increased. Rice is pre-eminently the grain of the subtropical zone. It re- quires a great deal of moisture, and can be cultivated only on fields which are subjected to inundation, either natural or artifi- cial. Rice culture is described thus : " A sluice is cut through the river banks, and the fields, being first inclosed in a levee, are flooded. The land is plowed and flooded in March, and as soon as the young plants appe.ir, they are submerged in water, so reg- ulated as to keep their heads just above the surface. When the grain has matured, the fields are laid dry, and the crop is gathered. The yield is from 30 to 60 bushels per acre, but under favorable conditions rises as high as 90 bushels." Rice was introduced into Virginia early in the seventeenth century, and fifty years later into the Carolinas. It is also cultivated now along the coasts of Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The total crop in the United States was 80,841,422 pounds, in 1840; 215.312,710, in 1850; 187,167,032, in i860; 73,635,021, in 1870. The great decrease in its production for the last decade is owing to the civil war. During this war labor was entirely disorganized ; flood-gates, drains, canals and barns were destroyed, and when peace returned rice culture had well nigh ceased. In i860 rice to the value of $2,567,399 was exported; in 1870 the export had fallen to $127,- 655- Tobacco is indigenous in America, and was first introduced into Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh. Since then the consumption has enormously increased, so that its culture has extended to every part of the civilized world where the conditions of soil and climate are favorable to its growth. The tobacco crop in the United States for 1840 was 219,163,319 pounds; for 1850, 199,- 752,646 pounds; in i860, 434,209,641 pounds; and for 1870, 262,735,341 pounds. Over forty per cent, of this quantity was raised in Kentucky (viz : 105,305,869 pounds). Virginia, Ten- nessee, Ohio, Maryland, Missouri, and North Carolina produced 44 per cent. ; while the remainder was produced chiefly in Con- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 235 necticut, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum) is a tropical plant, and its cultivation in the United States is almost entirely confined to the Mississippi delta in Louisiana. It is very sensitive to frost, so that, if the juice becomes frozen, the sacharine matter contained therein will not crystalize into sugar. In the West Indies the cane is a perennial plant ; in Louisiana the crops are gathered from one planting. The quantity of sugar produced on an acre varies greatly, according to the quality of soil and care of culti- vation. The crop of i860 in the United states yielded 230,982 hogsheads of sugar, of 1,000 lbs. each, and 14,963,996 gallons of mo- lasses; in 1870, 87,043 hogsheads of sugar and 6,593,323 gallons of molasses. During the latter year sugar and molasses were imported to the amount of nearly <|7 2,000,000, being little less than the total value of exports during the same year, of corn, wheat, and flour. It is not likely that the limited area fit for cane culture will ever produce more than a small portion of the amount annually consumed in our country, and hence the intro- duction of the beet-sugar industry would be of great advantage to our prosperity. That this can be done is shown by actual ex- periments successfully made in various places. Sorghum (Sorghum saccharatum) is raised in the Mississippi valley, and yielded in 1870, 16,050,059 gallons of molasses; but only twenty four hogsheads of sugar. The product of maple trees was 28,443,645 pounds of sugar, and 921,057 gallons of mo- lasses. Cotton is the great staple of the Southern states. Two varie- ties are cultivated — the lipland and the sea-island cotton. The former grows under favorable conditions as far north as the 40th parallel, but as a commercial crop it is limited by a line which coincides with the northern boundary of Mississippi, sweeps around the base of the Appalachians through Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, and then turns north to Raleigh and south- eastern Virginia. Beyond the Mississippi its culture extends up he lower valleys of the Red, Arkansas, and White rivers. The sea-island variety is raised on the low fertile islands of the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Its value is five or six times as great as that of the upland. In 1792 the question was seriously discussed in England, wheth- er the United States wouM ever produce one hundred bales of cotton. Subsequently the inventive genius of Eli Whitney con- quered for this plant a place among the principal staples of the world, second only to the cereal grasses. His cotton gin, which separates the fibre from the seed, renders it possible to prepare even the largest crops for the loom. In 1800 the whole product amounted to 100,000 bales of 400 236 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. pounds each; in 1824, to 509,158 bales; in 1830, to 976,845 bales; in 1840, to 2,128,880 bales; in 1850, to 2,445,793; and in i860, to 5,196,940. The war brought this branch of industry almost to a standstill; nor has the recovery been very rapid since. In 1866 the crop was almost a, 000, 000 bales; in 1867, 2,500,00 bales ; and in 1870, 3,011,990 bales, which were produced chiefly in Missis- sippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, the Caroli- nas, and Tennesse. For years to come the production will not, in the opinion of the Commissioner of Agriculture, reach the quantity before the war, and the average value will not exceed 300,000,000 dollars. The Potato is hardly of less importance than corn or wheat. It is a native of America, and has been found growing wild in Chili and Ecuador, but is now cultivated in nearly all parts of the temperate zone. Its climate range is very wide, as it is successfully grown from Alabama and Georgia to the shores of the Great Lakes, and even of Hudson Bay. The average yield is below two hundred bushels to the acre, though crops of four hundred bushels are not rare under favorable conditions of soil and season. In 1867' the United States produced 143,337,473 bushels, chiefly in New York Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The Sweet Potato is a native of the East Indies and tropical America; and is in the United States chiefly cultivated in the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas. The crop in 1870 was 21,709,824 bushels. Flax and Hemp were cultivated in the United States at an early date ; but they are now in great measure superseded by cotton. The hemp crop yielded, in 1870, 12,576 tons, eleven-twelfths of which were produced in Kentucky and Missouri. Flax yielded in the same year 27,133,003 pounds, two-thirds of which were pro- duced in New York. The Bay crop of the country is of great value ; but from its weight and bulk it does not form an important item in the list of exports. In 1850 there were produced 23,838,642 tons; in i860 19,083,896 tons ; and in 1870, 27,316,048 tons. The following states produced from one to between five and six millions of tons each : New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, and Vermont. The Southern states receive from the Northern large quantities of hay in the form of compressed bales. Butter, Cheese, and Milk are produced chiefly in the Northern states, and of these New York is far in advance of all others. The subjoined table shows the increase of dairy produce during the three last decades : 1850. i860. 1870. Butter. 313,345,306 4SQ,68i,372 514,092,683 pounds. Cheese loSiSSSi^gs 103,663,927 53i492ii53 pounds. Milk(sold) 235,500,599 gals. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 239 The production of IVool has progressed remarkably both as regards quantity and quality. In 1850 the aggregate product was about 52,000,000 pounds; in i860, 60,000,000; ana m 1870, 100,- 000 000. Ohio, with twenty and a half millions, surpasses all the other states; California follows with eleven millions; New York, with ten millions ; Michigan, with eight millions. Vermont ex- cels in producing wool of the very finest quality. rr • a The production of Stlk is still in its infancy m the United States The census for 1870 reports 3,937 pounds of silk cocoons, which were produced almost entirely in California. Here the mulberry (morus alby, and M. moretti) grows well m proper situ- ations ; but whe-ther the raising of silk-worms can be successfully carried on with the high prices of labor is doubtful. MANUFACTURES. The manufacturing industry of the United States progresses at the most extraordinary rate, and keeps pace with the develop- ment of the natural resources of the country. New branches are constantly added to those already in successful operation, and near- ly all the commodities that enter into the consumption of a civilized nation are produced within our borders. In 1870 there were 252,148 manufacturing establishments, em- ploying 1,215,711 horse-power of steam engines, 1,130,431 horse- power of water wheels, and 2,053,996 hands, of whom 1,615,508 were males above 16 years of age, and 323,770 females above 15 years of a^e The capital invested was $2,1 18,208,769 ; the raw material consumed had a value of $2,488,427,242 ; the wages paid amounted to $775^584,343; and the value of the products was 14,232,325,442. Deducting from this enormous amount the cost of raw materials, the profit realized by the manufacturing industry during the year was $1,743^898,200, or $45-25 per head to the population. The increase of this great branch of industry during the last decade has been unprecedented. The subjoined table exhibits the industrial statistics; the states being arranged in the order of the value of the annual products: Capital in- Value of annual STATES. vested ^ products. TVT V 1 -- $?66 994.320 $785,194,651 Ne^York., 406.821,845 711.394.344 Pennsylvama 4 ^3 553.9'2.568 Massachusetts 141923:964 269.713,610 Ohio.... - - 8-.Ik7 2A4. 206,213.429 M!''°-"" :: 9;'.368:o^7 205,620,672 New Jersey - 95 281.278 161,065,474 Connecticut - - ^J i 110.391,676 Michigan — - lellAll 1.1.418.354 Rhode Island - --- - t'lllill 108.617,278 Indiana - 39:796:190 79.497521 Wisconsin -- - - iaZnS 720 16,59^.613 Marj-land.. — -.- - iftf^TA 71.038,249 New Hampshire - 3f>.°2o,743 240 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. STATES Capital Value of annual Invested. Products. California.-- 39,728,202 66,594,556 Kentucky 29,247,809 54,625,809 Iowa- 22,420,183 46,534,322 Virginia- 18,455,^00 38,364,322 Tennessee i5.599i29S 34,361,636 Vermont 20,329,637 32,184,606 Georgia--- - 13,930,125 31,196,115 Louisiana 18,313.974 24,191,905 West Virginia - 11,084,520 24,102,201 Minnesota. ._ - 11,993,729 23,110,720 North Carolina 8,140,473 19,021,327 Delaware - 10,839,093. 16,21)6,397 Nevada- 5.127,790 ^5,870,539 Alabama.- --- 5714,032 13,040,644 Kansas — 4,319,060 11,775.833 Texas 5,284,110 11,517,302 South Carolina 5,400,418 * 9,858,981 Dist. of Columbia - 5,021,925 9,292,173 Mississippi -- 4,501,714 8,154.758 Oregon - 4,376,849 6,419756 Nebraska.- - 2,169,963 5,738,512 Florida- -- - 1,679,930 4,685,403 Arkansas 1,782,613 _ 4,629,234 Colorado --- 2,835,605 2,852,820 Washington.- 1,893,674 2,851,052 Montana — 1,794,300 2,494,511 Utah- 1,391,898 2,343,019 New Mexico - - 1,450,695 1,489,868 Idaho 742,390 1,047,624 Wyoming 889,400 765,424 Arizona 150,700 185,410 Dakota -- 79,200 178,570 The manufacture of Cotton Goods is one of the oldest branches of industry in the United States. It properly began v/ith the erection of the first water frame for spinning, in Rhode Island, in 1790; but since then it has increased even more rapidly than the production of the raw material. In 1850 there were employed 3,633,693 spindles; and the total product had a value of ^65,501,- 687. Ten years later the number of spindles in operation was 5,235,727, and the value of products, ^115,681,774. By 1870 the spindles had increased to 7,132,415, and the value of products to ^177,489,739; of which Massachusetts produced one-third, or ^59,493,155. The states next in rank, as regards the production of cotton goods were Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Hamp- shire, Connecticut, Maine, and New Jersey. The Printed Cottoti and Woolen Goods had a value of ^54,446,044. The value of Woolen Goods in 1870 was $155,405,358, against $6i,894,986in i860, and $43,207,545 in 1850. The leading states in this branch of industry were Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. The census report enumer- ates fifteen different articles manufactured in this country, among which flannels, cloths, cassimeres, blankets, tweeds, and twills occupied the first places. The manufacture of Silk Goods has doubled during the last de-' cade. The census for i860 returned for the total value of the products, $6,607,771 ; and the census of 1870, $12,210,662. In the former year the production was limited to sewing silk and OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 241 twist: in the latter there were manufactured 1,026,422 yards of silk goods, 3,224,264 yards of silk ribbon, 370,031 pounds of ma- chine silk, and 127,590 pounds of spool silk. The value of Hosiery produced in 1850 was but $1,028,102 ; in i860 $7,280,606 ; and in 1870, $18,411,564. The manufacture of Carpets shows also a remarkable increase, in producing the follow- ing values: in i85o,$5,4oi,234; in i860, $7,857,636 ; and in 1870, $21,761,573- Ready-made Clothing is manufactured principally in New Eng- land, New York, and Pennsylvania. The value in 1850 was $40,- 678,802; in i860, $64,002,965; and in 1870, $147,650,378. In the production of Cast Iron ^tx^ invested in 1870, $67,578,961, and the raw materials consumed, as pig-iron, scrap-iron, and coal, had a value of $48,222,550 ; while the value of products amount- ed to $99,843,218, against $36,132,033 in i860, and $25,108,155 in 1850. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts are the leading states in this branch of industry. Boots and Shoes were manufactured to the amount of $181,644,- 090 in 1870, against $91,889,298 in i860. The manufacture of Machinery has more than doubled within the last decade. In 1870 the products had a value of $138,519,- 248, and in i860, $51,887,266. Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts are the foremost machine-producing states. Sawed Lumber^ including shingles, staves, etc., was produced in i86o to the value of $96,715,854, and in 1870, of $210,159,327, chiefly in Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and Maine, Tanned Leather manufacture in 1870 had a value of $86,169,- S83, and the Curried Leather, of $54,192,017. The production of Brick and Tile increased from $11,263,147 in 1850 to $29,302,016 in 1870, and is most extensively carried on in New York and Pennsylvania. The Carpenters and Builders trade added to the national wealth the large sum of $132,901,433, and the value of Furniture \\^.s $68,522,221, and of Glass, $19,- 235,862. No branch of manufacture grows more rapidly than that of Agricultural Implenmits. The products in 1850 had a value of $6,842,611; in i860, of $17,487,960; and in 1870, of $52,066,- 875. The census report for the last year enumerates 21,790 corn- planters, 88,740 cultivators, 19,772 fanning mills, 103,646 grain- cradles, 207,310 dozen of hand rakes, 9,150 harrows, 3,566 har- vesters, 1,298,260 hay forks, 80,619 horse rakes, 39,486 mowers, 60,388 reapers, 59,645 mowers and reapers combined, 864,947 plows, 2,931 threshers, 881,244 scythes, 6,900 seed sowers, and 1,031 separators. Chewing^ Smoking and Snuffing Tobacco was manufactured of 16 242 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 5,388,356 in value in 1870; and ^21,820,545 in value in i860; and the number of Cigars was 935,868 boxes (of one thousand each), which had a value of $28,299,067. The value of Carriages and Wagons was $65,362,837. The Sugar Refineries turned out products to the amount of $108,941,911, and the Distilleries of Liquor, Beer Breweries and Wine Mafiufactories of $94,133,014. Paper of all descriptions was produced in 1870 to the value of $48,676,935, against $23,447,302 in i860, and the v^Xmq oi printed publications was in both years respectively $32,674,037 and $31,- 986,433- Flour and Meal \\2.^'mcxt2AQ^ from $248,580,365 in i860, to $44^,985,143 in 1870. The Iron industry of our country has attained colossal propor- tions, and is second only to that of England. In 1870 our pro- ducts were: pig-iron, $60,640,498, iron castings, $76,453-553; iron blooms, $23,389,625 ; forged and rolled iron , $128,062,627, and nails and spikes, $24,823,996. MINING. The United States is probably the richest country in the world, as regards the useful and precious minerals. The Appalachian ranges and the Mississippi valley have immense coal fields, inex- haustible deposits of iron, copper, lead, etc.; while the treasure of precious metals in the region of the Cordilleras is practically without limit. For many years to come the yield of our mines will increase, and mining continue to be a great legitimate branch of industry. - 009,474, or at 20 cts, per gallon, $116,007,579, which has been ad- ded to the exports of the country from an article unknown to commerce 12 years ago. The Valley of Oil Creek, a tributary of the Alleghany river, is the principal oil region of the country. It produced in 1869 the enormous number of 398, 186 barrels, and in 1870, 471,657 barrels. COMMERCE. The commerce of the United States has grown at the most ex- traordinary rate during the last decade, keeping fully abreast with the increase of population, manufactures, and general wealth of the country. In the year 1700 the exportsofthe colonies amounted to ;2^395,- 000, and the imports to ;^344,ooo. In 1,92 these values had risen respectively to $20,753,098 and $31,500,000, and in 1807, to $108,343,150 and $138,500,000. Then followed a period of com- mercial depression, brought about by the " Decrees of Berlin and Milan," and the " Embargo," and up to the year 1839 the exports and imports averaged about $78,000,000. The crisis of 1837 was succeeded by a decline which reached its lowest point in 1842. 246 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Here the figures rise again, slowly at first, more rapidly afterward, with but a Lrief interruption in consequence of the crisis of 1857. In i860 the exports amounted to $400,122,296; the imports to $362,163,440. " 1862 " '■ 229,938,975 ; '■ 205,819,823. " 1864 " " 340,665,580; ■' 328,514,559. " 1866 " " 437,641,357; " 565,426,394- In the year ending June 30, 1870, the United States imported goods to the value of ^541,493,706 and exported goods to the value of $590,078,550. Of this amount the value of domestic ex- ports was 1562,518,651, andof foreign exports, $28,459,899. New York absorbs 56.8 per cent, of the total foreign comTnerce of the country. Its pre-eminence is owing to the geographical position of the city, her magnificent harbor and her excellent con- nections with the interior by rail and canal. The Erie Canal, which connects New York with the Great Lakes, is the only water communication which intersects the whole breadth of the Appal- achian System from East to West. The mercantile fleet of the United States had, in 187 1, 4,282,607 tons new admeasurement, of which 1,087,637 tons were employed in steam navigation, Vessels which are engaged in foreign commerce and the whale fishery are registered, those which are employed in the coasting trade, mackerel fisheries, etc., are merely enrolled and licensed. On the 30th of June, 187 1, the tonnage was employed as fol- lows: In foreign trade 1,363,652 tons. In whale fisheries - 61,490 Total registered tonnage 1,425,142 Fnrolled vessels in the coasting trade 2,722,372 Licensed " " " (.under 20 tons) 42,228 In the cod and mackerel fisheries 92,865 Total registered and licensed tonnage 2,857,465 Total tonnage of the U. S - 4,282,607 The tonnage of our merchant fleet was 1,042,404 in 1800, 1,232,502 in 1810; 1,298,958 in 1820, and 1,267,847 in 1832. During the next fifteen years it doubled; numbering 2,562,084 tons in 1845. In 1850 it reached 3,535,454 tons ; in 1855, 5,212,- 001; and attained its greatest development in i86i,whenit num- bered 5,539,813 tons. The Southern insurrection, the British recognition of the Southern States as belligerents, and the depre- dations of Southern cruisers, bore with crushing weight on the shipping interests of the United States. Many ships were cap- tured and destroyed, and many more passed into foreign hands. Official returns show that our ocean commerce is being carried more and more in foreign bottoms. In i860 nearly 71 per cent, of our foreign commerce was in American ships; in 1864 it had decreased to 46 per cent. ; in 1868, to 44 per cent.; and in 1871, to 38 per cent. There is no valid reason why our shipping in- terest should not rise from its present depression and again take OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 249 the prominent rank it held before the war. The United States produce an abundance of iron and of the best ship timber in the world. American skill and ingenuity have produced the best ship models known. Though the high price of labor and mate- rials render competition with the older countries of Europe very difficult, yet with the wisest congressional enactments, and the most intelligent adjustment of taxes on ship-building materials, we may hope soon to re-assume our former position as a maritime nation. The number of vessels which entered into the ports of the United States during the year ending June 30, 1871, was 30,102, with an aggregate tonnage of 10,009,184. Of these there were 19,406 foreign vessels, with a tonnage of 6,266,444 or 62 J^ per cent. During the same year 29,861 vessels of 9,898,482 tons burden cleared from our ports, of which 10,288 vessels of 6,151,537 tons were foreign. It has recently been estimated, that there are on the Great Lakes no less than 5,424 steamers, sailing vessels and barges, having an aggregate capacity of 717,299 tons, and total value of $53,343,000. In 1800 there were only 1,640 vessels of all kinds on those lakes, valued at $23,229,000, and having a total capacity of 412,127 tons. The domestic commerce of the United States far exceeds the foreign commerce in the amount and value of the goods bought or sold. But as there is no bureau, official or unofficial, in which the movements of goods are registered, it is impossible to obtain statistics embracing the whole field. Our ocean coasts measure 33,633 miles (exclusive of Alaska) ; the lake shores 3,620 miles ; and the Mississippi, with its tributaries, has a net-work of navi- gable waters extending over 35,650 miles, to which the other navi- gable streams add nearly 50,000 miles. The combined length of our canals is over 6,000 miles, and of railroads over 65,000 miles. Thus our country possesses an aggregate of great commercial highways, open to steam communication, exceeding 190,000 miles in length. And all these roads and water ways carry vast quan- tities of goods and effect the interchange of commodities between the different parts of the country. The Southern States send their cotton to the factories of the North, and receive in return Northern manufactures ; the surplus of the Western grain moves to the Atlantic seaboard, to be consumed in the densely popu- lated states of the East, or to be shipped to foreign lands ; the Pennsylvania coal-fields furnish the households and steam engines of the New England and Middle States with fuel ; and the forests of Maine, Wisconsin and Michigan supply the great lumber mar- kets of Portland, Albany, Chicago, and other cities. 2CO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. RAILROADS, TELEGRAPHS, AND CANALS. The wonderful progress of the United States is clearly shown by the development of the railroad system. In 1830 the first 23 miles were opened for use ; during the decade ending 1840, 3,153 miles were added; in that ending 1850, 5,508; in that ending i860, 21,614; and in that ending 1870, 22,764 (notwithstanding the civil war, which occupied a part of this decade). At present the mile- age probably exceeds 68,000, the construction of which cost in round numbers about ^3,250,000,000, or $50,000 per mile. The mileage of all European railroads in 1871 was 66,135; of which Great Britain had 15,144; Germany 12,304; France 10,635; Russia 6,989; Austria 6,325 ; and Italy 3,648. Thus the time is near at hand when our railroads will exceed in length those of all Europe combined. In 1872 there were 346 incorporated railroad companies. The Telegraph service in the United States is performed by seven separate associations, which were estimated on the ist of January, 1873, to have a total length of lines of 80,000 miles; of wires 180,000 miles; 6,300 stations; and an aggregate nominal capital of $60,000,000. The most important of these associa- tions is the " Western Union Telegraph Company," which is a consolidation of most of the telegraph interests of the country prior to 1866. This company, on the ist of July, 1872, controlled and operated 62,032 miles of line, 137,190 miles of wire, and 5,237 stations. Of this aggregate 1,212 miles of line were in New Brunswick and in Nova Scotia, and 512 miles of line in British Columbia; leaving 60,308 miles of line, and 133,936 miles of wire, in the United States. There is probably no village of any importance in the country which is not within easy reach of telegraphic communication ; and yet the construction of new lines is progressing uninter- ruptedly. The Canals of national importance are those which connect the seabord with the great central region of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi valleys. Foremost amongst these is the Erie Canal, which was constructed from 1817 to 1822, under the direction of DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York. It connects Albany at the head of navigation of the Hudson river, with Buffalo on the eastern extremity of Lake Erie, following the direction of the Mohawk valley, and thus in connection with the Hudson River, forms an uninterrupted water communication between New York city and the Great Lakes. The total length of the carnal is about 370 miles, which is, however, greatly increased by the numerous branches, extending in various diiections. One of these connects Roch ester with the Alleghany river. New York city owes its pre- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 251 eminence as the commercial metropolis of our country chiefly to this canal. The Pennsylvania Canal consists of the central division, which connects Columbia on the Susquehanna river, with Hollidaysburg at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains; and the western division, which connects Pittsburgh with Johnstown. The distance of 37 miles intervening between Johnstown and Hollidaysburg is traversed by a portion of the Pennsylvania railroad. A branch canal extends from Wrightsville, opposite Columbia, along the lower course of the Susquehanna River to Havre de Grace, on Chesapeake Bay; and other lines follow the upper Susquehanna, terminating at Bellefonte and West Nanticoke. The commerce in coal and other mineral products of Pennsylvania has been greatly facilitated by this extensive canal system. The Chesa- peake and Ohio Canal is designed to connect Chesapeake Bay with the Ohio river, and has thus far been completed Irom Alex- andria and Georgetown along the Potomac river to Cumberland. The James River and Canawha Canal connects R ichmond with Buchanan, Va., and follows the James River valley. The numer- ous other canals in the United States are chiefly of local import- ance, and their description will be found in the articles on the states in which they are situated. EDUCATION. The people of the United States have always recognized the paramount importance of education and mental culture. Twenty years after the first tree was felled and the first block-house built in New England, the settlers of Massachusetts, though neither numerous nor wealthy, founded Harvard University. This glor- ious example was soon followed in other colonies, and the spirit thus early manifested pervades the entire nation. In no country in the world is there a larger amount of money expended for purposes of education by communities or private citizens; and certainly the excellence of our school buildings and other appurtenances is unequaled. In 1871 benefactions and donations from private citizens to educational establishments amounted to the large sum of ^8,592.000. The general system of education originated in New England, where as early os 1628 provision was made for the education of every child in the settlements. In 1637 a school was ordered to be provided for every neighborhood of 50 families, and another of a higher grade of instruction for every 100 families. These schools were maintained by taxes raised in each district. The New England system of public schools has been adopted with but slight modifications by nearly all the states of the Union. The Federal Government has no vote in the management or establish- 252 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGKS. ment of schools, and there is consequently in the cabinet no Minister or Secretary of Public Instruction, as in nearly all Euro- pean governments ; but Congress has aided the cause of educa- tion by reserving for the school fund of each state one section of land (of 640 acres) out of every township of the public domain. The amount of land thus appropriated or reserved for school purposes approaches nearly 12,000,000 acres. The older states have besides large permanent school funds ; but the maintenance of the schools is secured chiefly by direct taxation, which is voted in all the states with great liberality. The instruction given in the common schools is elementary and comprises reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and on outline of the history of the United States. There are, however, num- erous public and private schools of a higher grade in the cities and many country districts, such as grammar schools, high schools, and institutions of secondary instruction, where, in addi- tion to the elementary branches, Latin, German, French, mathe- matics, and the rudiments of the natural sciences are taught. In nearly all the states there are normal schools for the purpose of training competent teachers. Colleges and Universities in which the classical and scientific or professional branches of learning are taught, abound in the United States to an extraordinary extent. The report of the Commissioner of Education for 187 1 enumerates 372 collegiate institutions which are authorized to confer academic degrees; .i;6 agricultural and scientific schools; T17 theological seminaries; 40 law schools; 94 medical, dental and pharmaceutical schools; ] 36 female colleges ; and 84 ccmmercial and business colleges; and this enumeration is probably not complete. Many of these institutions are necessarily limited in means and performance, and yet await a fuller development and a wider scope ; but there are also many with ample endowments and generous aims, which have greatly raised the standard of literary and scientific excel- lence. Such institutions as Yale, Harvard, and Princeton univer- sities, the state University of Michigan, Columbia College in New- York, and some others, are subjects of just pride to every Ameri- can, and enjoy a well-deserved fame throughout the civilized world. A real university requires vast sums of money for its or- ganization and management, and in those countries where the true idea of a university is best comprehended, the available means and forces are concentrated upon a few large institutions. The recognition of this fact is rapidly gaining ground in the United States, and instead of multiplying the already too large number of small colleges, it is becoming more and more the policy to unite and combine those existing. Harvard College is the oldest institution of learning in the country. It was founded in 1636 and embraces, i, an academical OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 253 department, including regular courses of religion, philosophy, rhetoric and oratory, history, modern languages, L,atin, Greek, Hebrew, natural history, physiology, chemistry, mineralogy, phys- ics and mathematics ; 2, a divinity school , 3, a law school ; 4, a medical school ; 5, the Lawrence Scientific School and school of mining and practical geology; 6, a school of astron- omy; and 7, a dental school. It is situated in Cambridge, near Boston, has 76 professors, and was attended in 1871 by 643 students. The library contains 176,000 volumes and is one of the richest in the country. Yale College, in New Haven, Conn., was established 62 years later than Harvard, and embraces, i, an academical department ; 2, the Sheffield Scientific school ; 3, a theological department; 4, a law department; 5, a medical de- partment ; and 6, a school of the Fine Arts. The number of professors and instructors in 1871 was 68, and of students 840. The college possesses libraries with a total of near 100,000 vol- umes, valuable mineralogical, geological, botanical and zoological collections, an astronomical observatory, and an excellent chem- ical laboratory. Columbia College, in New York, was chartered in 1784, and is a wealthy institution. It embraces, i, a school of letters and science ; 2, a school of mines ; and 3, a law school ; and has 34 professors and about 300 students. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of the city of New York, with 28 professors and 326 students, is connected with Columbia College. The subjoined table contains a list of those colleges which, ac- cording to the report of the Commissioner of Education, had over ten teachers during the year 187 1 : 1 University of California .- Oakland, California. 2 St. Ignatius College San Francisco, California. 3 Santa Clara College Santa Clara, California. 4 Trinity College . Hartford, Connecticut. 5 Wesleyan University Middletown, Connecticut. 6 Yale College New Haven, Connecticut. 7 University of Georgia Athens, Georgia. 8 University of Chicago . Chicago, Illinois. 9 Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois. ID Knox College - Galesburg, Illinois. 11 Illinois College l Jacksonville, Illinois. 12 Monmouth College - - Monmouth, Illinois. 13 Northwestern College Naperville, Illinois. 14 Indiana Univeisity Bloomington, Indiana. 15 Northwestern t;hristian University Indianapolis, Indiana. 16 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana. 17 Upper Iowa University Fayette, Iowa. 18 Iowa College Grinnell, Iowa. 19 Simpson Cenienary College - Indianapolis. Indiana. 20 lo va St.ite University Iowa City, Iowa. 21 Iowa Wesleyan University ...Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. 22 Berea College - - Berea, Kentucky. 23 K -ntucky University Lexington, Kentucky. 24 Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 25 Straight University New Orleans, Louisiana. 26 Jefferson College St. Michael, Louisiana. 27 Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine. 28 St. John's College Annapolis, M-iryland- 29 Loyola College - Baltimore, Maryland, 254 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 30 Rock Hill College ElHcott, Maryland' 31 St. Charles College - - Ellicott, Maryland' 32 Mount St. Mary's College - - Emmettsburg, Maryland* 33 Wesleyan Maryland College Westminster, Maryland. 34 Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts. 35 Boston College Boston, Massachusetts. 36 Harvard College Cambridge, Massachusetts. 37 Tufts College, - College Hill, Massachusetts. 38 Williams College Williarastown, Massachusetts. 39 College of the Holy Cross - .Worcester, Massachusetts. 40 Michigan University Ann Arbor, Michigan. 41 Hillsdale College - Hillsdale, Michigan. 42 Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo, Michigan. 43 Olivet College - - Olivet. Michigan. 44 University of Mississippi - Oxford, Mississippi. 45 Pass Christian College Pass Christian, Mississippi. 46 University of Missouri - Columbia, Missouri. 47 McGee College College Mound, Missouri. 48 St. Louis University St. Louis, Missouri. 49 Washington University ..St. Louis, Missouri. 50 Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire. 51 Rutgers College New Brunswick, New Jersey. 52 College of New Jersey Princeton, New Jersey. 53 Seton Hall College S. Orange, New Jersey. 54 Alfred University Alfred, New Jersey. 55 Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute.. Brooklyn, New York. 56 St. Joseph's College.. . Buffalo, New York. 57 St. Lawrence University Canton, New York. 58 Hamilton College Clinton, New York. 59 St. Johns College Fordham, New York. 60 Madison College Hamilton, New York. 61 Cornell University.. Ithaca, New York. 62 N. Y. City College New York, New York. 63 College of St. Francis Xavrer ...New York, New York. 64 Columbia College.... New York, New York. 65 Manhattan College New York, New York. 66 University of New York City New York, New York. 67 UnionCoUege Schenectady, New York. 68 Baldwin University Berea, Ohio. 69 St. Xavier College .Cincinnati, Ohio. 70 Mt. St. Mary's of the West Cincinnati, Ohio. 71 Keynon College Gambler, Ohio. 72 Western Reserve College Hudson, Ohio. 73 Mt. Union College Mt. Union, Ohio. 74 Oberlin College Oberhn, Ohio. 75 Antioch College Yellow Springs, Ohio. 7^ Hiram College ,. .Hiram. Ohio. 77 Wilamette University Salem, Oregon. 78 And.ilusia College Andalusia, Pennsylvania. 79 Augustian College of Villanova Delaware county, Pa. 80 Lafayette College Easton, Pennsylvania. 81 Pennsylvania College Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania. 82 Lincoln University.. Oxford, Pennsylvania. 83 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 84 La Salle College. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. hfXTj}^""''^^ - Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. It wilWi V"'"^'!] ?-^- h y, South Bethleham Pennsylvania. 8lw^^'nSgCoHftr^°?''°"^^"- ^ashington,Penns;ivania. R« Qf vj^^n,,,-!. o„ii " ■ W ay nesburg, Pennsylvania. '^ IrownTniVe^s^^^^ " Westmoreland counfy. Phi Jdelphia. 91 University of South'Ca"roiin; r."l""-V 'cf^'fur^' r' " 92 East Tennessee University ..-Columbia, South Carolina. 93 University of Nashville..! Knoxvile, Tennessee. 94 Waco University " " N.ishviUe Tennessee. 95 University of vermorit..:::::::::::::::::::::::: - «;.u:::J^^'^i7"''^^- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 255" 105 University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin. 106 Racine College Racine, Wisconsin. 107 Ripon College Ripon, Wisconsin. 108 St John's College Prairie du Cnien, Wisconsin. 109 Georgetown Georgetown, D. C. no University of Deseret Salt Lake City, Utah. HI Franklyn and Marshall College Loncoster, Pennsylvania. The report of the Commissioner of Education enumerates 68 agricultural and scientific schools, the more important of which are associated with and form parts of older colleges and univer- sities. Many of them, however, have been founded on an inde- pendent basis. ■ Those scientific institutions which received gov- ernment aid by land grants number twenty-four, with i8o profes- sors and over 2,000 students. The only schools maintained by the Federal Government are the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy. The former is situated at West Point, on the Hudson river, in the midst of scenery unsurpassed for picturesque beauty. It was established in 1802, and nearly all the officers of the reg- ular army have there received their education and training. The superintendent is usually an officer of high rank. His military staff consists of an adjutant, quartermaster, treasurer, surgeon, and two assistant surgeons. The academic staff consists ol the commandant of the cadets, who is also instructor of tactics, eight professors, and thirty-one assistant professors and instructors. The number of pupils is 227. The discipline is strict, and the instruction very thorough, including the following branches : Mil- itary tactics, engineering, natural and experimental philosophy, mathematics, drawing, chemistry, mineralogy and geology, ethics and law, the French and Spanish languages, ordnance and gun- nery. Candidates for admission to the Academy must be over 17 and under 22 years of age, and pass an examination in reading, writing, the elements of arithmetic, English grammar, geography, and the history of the United States. The Naval Academy, situated at Annapolis, Md., is under the charge of a superintendent, assisted by eight naval officers The academic staff includes 67 professors and assistant professors who teach seamanship, mathematics, steam-engineering, astronomy and navigation, natural philosophy, ethics and English studies, the French and Spanish languages, and drawing. The number of pupils is 253. Candidates for admission must be between 14 and 18 years of age, and must pass an examination similar to that which is required for admission into the military academy. Notwithstanding the great efforts of communities, associations, and individuals, to promote the cause of education in the United States, the number of adults who cannot read and write is still verv large. According to the census for 1870 there are in the United States, 5,658.144 illiterates over 10 years of age who can- not read or write; that is, between 14 and 15 percent of the 256 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. entire population. This proportion places our country, in regard to the dissemination of elementary education, far in advance of England, France, Italy; but it is sufficiently unfavorable to arrest the attention of every intelligent American citizen. The largest contingents to this army of illiterates are furnisHed by the colored people^'of the Southern states, formerly held in bondage, and those immigrants who come from countries where popular education is notoriously neglected. Yet the remainder of native whites who cannot read and write is much larger than the number of elemen- tary schools in the country would seem to warrant. In some places the school accommodations are as yet inadequate, notably in the Southern states and more sparsely inhabited districts of the new territories. In others, however, educational facilities are abundant, but regular school attendance is not sufficiently en- forced by those having the care of children. To remedy the evils consequent upon such neglect, legislation to compel attend- ance is recommended, and has been carried out in some localities. The distribution of illiterates is, however, very unequal in the various sections of the country. In northern New England, cen- tral New York, northern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, southern Michigan, and the larger portion of Iowa, the percent- age of illiterates to the whole population is less than 5 per cent. ; and varies in the remainder of the states north of the Missouri and Ohio river, from 5 to 20. The Broad belt of country extend- ing from the Chesapeake Bay through the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, southern Arkansas, and Texas, has a percentage of illiterates varying from 20 to 60; but includes extensive tracts, where it rises to over 60 per cent. LIBRARIES. The Americans are a nation of readers. In the, northern and western states books are found in almost every hdusehold, and works of a religious or popular character are issued in immense editions and sold all over the country. The sales of some works have reached the enormous number of 200,000 copies and over. The census for 1870 gives the number of libraries in the United States as 164,815, containing 45,528,938 volumes. Of these libraries 108,800, with 26,072,420 volumes, are private; and 56,- 015, with 19,459,518 volumes, are public. Large as these num- bers may appear, they are far below the truth. The Commissioner of the Census remarks, that in respect to certain states, the figures returned by the marshals were ludicrously disproportionate. Thus, for example, for the state of Connecticut, no returns of private libraries were made at all, the deputy marshal reporting that no extra information could be obtained. The Congressional Library in Washington, probably the largest collection of books in the country, contained, in 1870, 199,000 volumes. The num- R K. 3r-'TBr''"iiSfl|I2Sf-=^^=V7;i, GENERAL POST OFFICE AT WASHINGTON. jOHMi-'tAliSUl TREASURY BUILDING, WASHINGTON. 17 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 259 ber of volumes in the libraries, both public and private, was, in Pennsylvania, 6,477,840; in New York, 6,310,302 ; in Ohio, 3,687,- 363 in Illinois, 3,323,914; in Massachusetts, 3,017,813; in Mich- igan, 2,174,744; in Kentucky, 1,909,230; in Maryland, 1,613,483; in Indiana, 1,125,553; in Virginia, 1,107,313; and in Missouri, 10,65,638. The libraries of the following states contained from 500,000 to 1,000,000 volumes : Alabama, District of Columbia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Wyoming and Arizona contain the least number of books, barely exceeding 2,000 in all libraries. THE PRESS. The aggregate of the newspapers and periodicals published in the United States, in 1870, was 5,871, issuing the enormous num- ber of 1,508,548,250 copies per annum, and having a total circu- lution of 20,842,475. The average of copies issued during the year was 40 single numbers for every head of the population, and one newspaper and periodical was published for every 6,800 in- habitants. Of the aggregate number (5,871) there were 574dailies, 107 tri-weeklies, 115 semi-weeklies, 4,295 weeklies, 96 semi- monthlies, 622 monthlies, 13 bi-monthlies, and 49 quarterlies. Of the various interests represented, politics engrossed by far the largest number, viz. : 4,333. The remainder comprised 93 agri- cultural journals; 81 devoted to benevolent or secret soci- eties; 142 commercial and financial juornals; 503 illustrated, lit- erary, and miscellaneous; 407 religious; 6 sporting; 207 technical and professional; while 79 contained only advertisements. OUR POSTAL SYSTEM. The Post Ofifice is one of the most useful and important of human institutions. It is, indeed, an immense public blessing. We would almost as willingly do without government as without the mails. Public mails are altogether a modern affair. Ancient governments had their couriers to bear official communications with extraordinary dispatch, but they had nothing like our post office system for transmitting and delivering the correspondence of private citizens. The word post is from the Latin positus, because couriers vftre placed dX convenient posts along the route, with horses all saddled and bridled, each ready to hasten to the succeeding post on the arrival of the courier from the preced- ing. The first posts of which we have any account,were in the Medo- Persian Empire. They were merely a governmental concern. Some interesting references thereto are incidentally given in the Book of Esther : " And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar." " The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace.'' " And he wrote in king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the King's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries." " So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment." Of course the Roman emperors had pretty extensive postal arrangements, but they were almost wholly military, being de- signed to transmit intelligence between the armies and the capital. 260 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 261 Tiberius is said to have thrown away dispatches with indignation if they were more than three days in coming from the most re- mote points of Italy. In the East, carrier-pigeons were formerly much employed to carry letters, and when well trained their per- formances were wonderful. They have occasionally been employed in Europe, but where the telegraph operates the pigeon may now rest. It is vi^orthy of remark, that when the Spaniards discovered Peru, in 1527, they found messengers posted at short intervals along the road from Cusco to Quito, to transmit with speed the orders of the Inca — a fact which of itself discloses con- siderable advancement in civilization. At one period the butchers of the large cities of Europe, who rode over the country to buy up cattle, were employed to convey letters. The University of Paris, and afterwards the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, employed private messengers to convey, at appointed times, the correspondence of the students ; the messengers commonly went afoot. The growth of the occasional and irregular government express into a regular, systematic, national establishment, seems to have been gradual and slow. We see the beginning of the English postal system in the statutes of Edward III, but it was not till the reign of Queen Anne that it assumed anything like its present form. Virginia has the credit of projecting a post office in the Americam Colonies as early as 1692. A patent was laid before the Assembly and passed, for making Mr. Neal Postmaster General of Virginia and other parts of North America. The act, however, did not go into practical effect, the inhabitants being so dispersed. In 17 10 the first post office in the Colonies was established by an act of Par- liament — the act " for establishing a general post office, for all her Majesty's dominions " — the Postmaster General of Great Britain being " at liberty to keep one chief letter office in New York, and other chief offices at some convenient place or places in each of her Majesty's provinces or colonies in America." The appoint- ment of Dr. Franklin, in 1753, as Deputy Postmaster General for America, and his removal, in 1774, by the British Ministry, for his connection with the celebrated Hutchinson and Oliver letters, imparts special interest to the history of the Colonial Post Office. During the Revolution, our post office affairs were, of course. 262 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. badly deranged, and they did not acquire complete system till the adoption of our National Constitution, in 1789. It was wise in the framers of the constitution to confer upon Congress the exclusive power of establishing post offices and post roads. To this we owe much of the dispatch, precision and reli- ability which our national post office system possesses. This system is one of the precious blessings as well as bonds of the Union, and one whose value is seldom sufficiently appreciated. The German post office establishments were for a long time ex- tremely clumsy and inefficient, because they were not made a unit, each separate state having its own independent establishment. German unity has doubtless emancipated them from this encum- bered condition. The post office is a great civilizer, and it ought to be trained to its highest efficiency. It is very interesting to consider the extent and fidelity of its operations in our country. We enclose a letter which we have written to a distant friend, or perhaps to a distant stranger, in an envelope which cost a trifle over three cents, drop it through an aperture in a wall labeled " letter box,'' and the chances are many to one that it quietly proceeds, with little delay, and perhaps with tremendous speed, to his hand, whether he resides in a solitary dwelling upon the borders upon a remote western prairie, or amid numerous thousands in the bewildering city. If our letter is directed across the ocean, its cheap and faithful transmission is more wonderful. If we should employ a special messenger to do the errand for us, how very much more would it cost. And then the danger of accidents and of unfaithfulness would be greatly multiplied. Thanks to Government, the operation is as useful as it is wonderful and systematic, The consideration of postal affairs in general, naturally awakens in the mind of every American interesting reminiscences of this important branch of our Government, as well as of those who have presided over its destinies. The General Post Office at the National Capital, with its minor post offices in every portion of the country, is one of the most useful and important depart- ments of the Government. It is one with which the people have more intercourse, and with which they are better acquainted, OUR GOVERIsrMENT AND HISTORY. 263 than with any other. The transmission of letters and other mail- able matter to the places where directed, for the people, instead of leaving them to do this business for themselves, in the laest way they can, is, as we know, by no means peculiar to ourGovern- -ment, but is found in every civilized country. We have already shown that post offices existed in this country long before our present form of Government was established. There is, however, but little publicly known of their history, al- though the General Post Office is in possession of some very^ interesting and valuable materials on the subject. The first .action in regard to a post office anywhere in this country ap- pears to have been an order of the General Court, in Massachu- ,^etts, November 5, 1639, providing that notice be given that Richard Fairbank's house, in Boston, be the place appointed for all letters which were brought beyond seas, or to be sent thither, to be brought to, so that he might take care that they be delivered "^ «ri ^^% L*'.-' ■f 5 " WHITE HOUSE AT WASHINGTON. PATENT OFFICE, WASHINGTON. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 26^ where Congress held its sessions. Thence it was taken to Phila- delphia in December, 1790, from which place it was removed to Washington, with the other executive bureaus, in the year 1800. Mr. Osgood was the first Postmaster General appointed after the Federal Constitution went into effect in the spring of 1789. When the new Government commenced operations, there were but seventy-five post offices in the Union, and only eighteen hundred and seventy-five miles of post road, on much of which the mails were conveyed but once a fortnight. The entire annual revenue of the office was $37,935, and its expenditures $32,140. The amount paid for the compensation of postmasters was $8, 198; and for the transportation of the mail, $22,081. These statistics, commenc- ing with the year 1790, are the earliest reliable ones we have of the operations of the postal system under the act of September 22, 1789. In 1792, a" General Post Office " was permanently established, under the immediate direction of a Post Master General, who was authorized to appoint an assistant and deputy postmasters at all places where found necessary, and to provide for carrying the mail of the United States "by stage carriages or horses." From this primitive beginning, the operations of the General Post Office have expanded to a degree fully up to the requirements of the increased population and intelligence of the people. Other laws have from time to time been enacted for the regulation of this important department. The magnitude of the interests confided to the post office department is such, that the Postmaster General has become a Cabinet officer, and is not only required to regulate vast concerns of his department, but, in addition, to assist in deliberations which decide the home and foreign policy of the Government. Previous ito 1829, the Postmaster General was not recognized as a member of the President's Cabinet. The precedent was established by President Jackson, who invited Postmaster General Wm. T. Barry, of Kentucky, to a seat in his Cabinet. Of course Mr. Barry ac- cepted the position, and thus became the first chief of the postal establishment who took a seat at the council board of the Presi- dent. He was appointed Postmaster General March 9, 1829, and was succeeded by Amos Kendall, May i, 1835, who, since 1829, 270 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. had been Fourth Auditor of the Treasury. In 1835 Mr. Barry- was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain, but died at Liverpool, England, on his way to Madrid. The Hon. John A. J. Creswell, of Maryland, was the twenty- third Postmaster-General of the United States. He was nom- inated and confirmed March 5, 1869, and resigned June 24, 1874. Hon. Marshall Jewell, of Connecticut, U. S. Minister to Russia,, was recalled and appointed his successor. THE HISTORY OF POSTAGE STAMPS. The introduction of the postal system, as it at present exists in all countries on the globe, has been credited to England, when, in 1840, covers and envelopes were devised to carry letters all over the kingdom at one penny the single rate. This plan was adopted through the exertions of Sir Rowland Hill, who has been aptly termed the " father of postage-stamps." It now appears, however, that there is another aspirant for the introduction of the stamp system,. In Italy, as far back as 18 18, letter sheets were prepared, duly stamped in the left lower corner, while letters were delivered by specially appointed carriers, on the prepayment of the money which the stamp represented. The early stamp repre- sented a courier on horseback, and was of three values. It was discontinued in 1836. Whether Italy or Great Britain first intro- duced postage-stamps, other countries afterward began to avail themselves of this method for the prepayment of letters, although they did not move very promptly in the matter. Great Britain enjoyed the monopoly of stamps for three years, and, though the first stamps were issued in 1840, she has made fewer changes in her stamps than any other country, and has suffered no change at all in the main design — the portrait of Queen Victoria. In other countries, notably in our own, the Sandwich Islands, and the Argentine Republic, the honor of por- traiture on the stamps is usually distributed among various high public officers ; but in Great Britain the Queen figures on her stamps, and not even the changes that thirty-five years have made in her face are shown on the national and colonial postage-stamps. The next country to follow the example of England was Brazil. In 1842 a series of three stamps was issued, consisting OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 27 H simply of large numerals, denoting the value, and all pritited in black. Then came the cantons in Switzerland and Findland,„ with envelopes which to-day are very rare, and soon after them,, Bavaria, Belgium, France, Hanover, New South Wales, Tuscany,, Austria, British Guiana, Prussia, Saxony, Schleswig, Holstein^ Spain, Denmark, Italy, Oldenburg, Trinidad, Wurtemburg, and the United States, Other countries followed in the train, until, at the present moment there is scarcely any portion of the globe, inhabited by civilized people, which has not postage-stamps. MAILABLE MATTER. Mailable matter is divided into three classes, viz, : — 1, Letters. 2, Regular printed matter. 3, Miscellaneous matter. First Class. — This class embraces all correspondence, wholly or partly in writing, except ^^t^/^-manuscript and corrected proof- sheets passing between authors and publishers ; local or drop- letters and U. S, postal cards. Second Class. — This class embraces all matter exclusively vcu print, and regularly issued at stated periods from a known office- of publication, without addition by writing, mark or sign. Third Class. — This class embraces all pamphlets, occasional publications, transient newspapers, magazines, handbills, posters,,, unsealed circulars, prospectuses, books, book-manuscript, proof- sheets, corrected proof-sheets, maps, prints, engravings, blanks,,, flexible patterns, articles of merchandise, sample-cards, phono- graphic paper, letter envelopes, postal envelopes and wrappers,, cards, plain and ornamental paper, photographic representations of different types, seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, scions, and all other matter which may be declared mailable by law, and all other articles not above the weight prescribed by law, which are not from their form or nature, liable to destroy, deface, or other- wise injure the contents of the mail-bag, or the person of any one- engaged in the postal service. The weight of any package to be sent in the mail shall not ex- -2 72 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. >ceed four pounds, except documents printed by order of Congress e 'ssued on credit. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 29 1 These orders are only payable by the Postmaster at the otticc upon which it is drawn. Payment of all orders should be ob- tained before the expiration of ninety days from the date of issue. The Post-Office Department will not be responsible for the pay- ment of claims already collected, no matter who presents the order, and if the official forms be mutilated in any way, there may be difficulty in obtaining payment. Instructions are endorsed on the back of each order, which will enable parties to proceed in the business intelligently. FOREIGN POSTAGE. «> c •-1 5*5 r Cts. Cts. Austria — via North German Union, direct _. *5-. 2 do crossed mail, via England *6.. 4 Australia — Victoria, (Port Philip,) Brit. Mail via Southampton fl7_. 6 do via Marseilles _ 33.. 10 do via San Francisco :j:10-. 3 ASPINWALL _ - 5-. 2 Belgium and the Netherlands f5.. 2 Brazil — via England 27-. 4 do via Am. packet, monthly from N. Y 15.. 2 Canada — Dominion of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, [letters, if unpaid, 10 cts.] 3.. 1 China — American packet, via San Francisco 10.. 3 do French mail _. _ 19.. 2 do British mail (except Hong Kong) via Southampton 33.. 8 do (except Hong Kong) via Marseilles 136-. 3 do via North German Union, direct 24. 12 do closed mail via England 27-. 13 Chili — British mail via Panama j 17. . 4 Cuba—. 5.. 2 Constantinople — via N. German Union, direct *13.- 7 do closed mail via England *15-- 8 do viaEngland 28.. :|:6 Denmark — via N. German Union direct (if prepaid, 9 cts.) *5.- 3 do closed mail via England, (prepared, 10 cts.) *I3-- 7 East Indies — British mail via Southampton. 21.. X^ do via Marseilles 28.. 10 do N. German Union direct 24_. 12 do closed mail via England. 27 do via San Francisco. _ 10.. 2 Egypt — (Lower, excluding Alexandria,) via N. German. Union direct *17-. 9 do (Lower, excluding Alexandiia,) via England _ *20.. 10 France — Direct mail 5.. 2 do via Enffland.. 4 292 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Frankfort— via North German Union, direct *7.. 3 do via N. German Union, closed mail via Eng *10.. 4 German States— via North German Union, direct ^5.. 3 do via North Ger, Un. closed mail via England, including Baden, Hanover, Hamburg, Bremen, Brunswick, Saxe Allenburg, Saxe Coburg, Gotha, Meinengen, Weimar, Saxony, Schleiswig, Holstein, Mecklenburg, Wirtem- burg, Cuxhaven, Bavaria, Lubec, Luxemburg *7-. 4 Great Britian — Including England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. . *5.. 2 IJ^^For every newspaper not exceeding 4 oz. in weight, 2 cts. Holland - -- *5-- 2 do via Bremen or Hamburg *10.. Honduras - Belize, British Honduras, American packet, via New Orleans .. *12-. 2 Hong Kong — via Southampton — 28.. G do via Marseilles 36-. 8 American Packet via San Francisco -- 10.. 2 Hungary — See Austria. Italy — via North German Union, direct - *11.. 7 do closed mail, via England — .- *14.. 8 do closed mail - - - *5._ 2 Japan— British mail, via Southampton — 27.. 4 do British mail, via Marseilles.. .- 34.-10 Mexico — Direct from New York — 10.. 2 Nassau — N. P. Steamers direct from N. Y. 3.. 2 Norway — via N. German Un. direct, if paid, 11 cents 5.. 2 do Closed mail via England, 12 cts 15. _ 9 Note — Small newspapers under 2 oz. 6 cts. each by direct mail, 7 cts. by closed mail via England. Netherlands *5.- 2 Newfoundland .., 6.. 2 Prussia — via North German Union direct. 6.. 3 do do closed mail via England 7.. 4 Sweden — via North German Union direct, if prepaid, 10c 5.. 2 do do closed mail via England, pre-paid, lie . 16.. 9 Note — Small newspapers under 2 oz., 6 cts. each by direct mail and 7 cts. by closed mail via England. * Indicates that in cases where it is prefixed, unless the letter be registered prepayment is optional ; m all other cases prepayment is required. f Double the prepaid rates must be collected on all unpaid letters. :j: Prepayment compulsory. II The book and pattern post to Egypt via British mail extends only to Alex- andria, Cairo and Suez. THE REPORT OF POSTMASTER GENERAL JEWELL. "December, 1875, shows, among other things, that the ordinary receipts of the department during the last fiscal year were $26,- 671,218.50; an increase of $299,344.80 over the receipts of 18745 being less than the estimate made in 1873 by $1,809,331. To the ordinary receipts should be added the sum of $650,000, subsidies to steamship lines, drawn from the general treasury and expended, and $120,141.09, revenue from ordinary order biisiness, making the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 293 receipts from all sources 127,441,360.57. The expenditures of all kinds were ^33,611,309.45, an increase of $1,484,894.87 over those for 1874, and less than the amount estimated in 1873 by $318,603. The amount drawn from the general treasury under appropria- tions to meet deficiencies was $6,054,646.96, from which should be deducted the sum of $1,338,319.50, referred to in a previous paragraph, which will leave, as the legitimate amount drawn on account of the past fiscal year, $4,716,329.46, against $5,259,933.- 55 for the fiscal year of 1873-1874 — a difference in favor of 1875 of $543)606.09. THE MONEY ORDER DEPARTMENT, The annual transactions of which have reached about eighty mil- lions of dollars, shows an apparent profit of about $120,000, though it is really in arrears more than that sum if the clerk hire and stationery required for business, and now charged against the postal revenues, were transferred to this account, where they properly belong. The money order business is nothing more or less than government banking for the benefit of the public, and those who avail themselves of its benefits should pay its current expenses. Congress at the last session advanced the fees on small money orders to a point at which it is believed it will, as it should for the current year and hereafter, pay its own expenses." WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE? What constitutes a State ? Not high-raised battlements or labored mound, Thick wall, or moated gate ; Not bays and broad-armed ports, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; Not starred and spangled courts, Where low-bound baseness wafts perfume to pride. No : — men, high-minded men, With powers as far above dull brutes endued In forest, brake, or den. As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude : Men, who their duties know, But know their rights,' and knowing, dare maintaia Prevent the long-aimed blow, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain -. These constitute a State ; And sovereign law, that State's collected will; O'er thrones and globes elate, Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. 294 MOTTOES OF THE UNITED STATES INDIVIDUAL STATES. United States. E Pluribus Unum. One of many. Alabama [No motto.] Arkansas Regnant Populi. The people rule. California Eureka. I have found it. Connecticut. \ Q^^i transtulit sustinet. ( He who brought us hither will preserve us Delaware Liberty and independence. Florida In God is our trust. Georgia Wisdom, justice and moderation. Illinois State sovereignty and national union. Indiana [No motto.] T j Our liberties we prize, and our rights ^v« will ( maintain. Kentucky United we stand, divided we fall. Louisiana Union and confidence. Maine Dirigo. I take the lead. ( Ense petit placidatn sub libertate quiete^n. Massachusetts ■< By her sword she seeks the calm repose of ( liberty. Maryland Industry the means, and plenty the result. iSi quaeris peninsulaftt amcenam circumspice. If thou seekest a beautiful peninsula, behold it here. ^ j Saliis populi suprema lex esto. \ The welfare of the people is the first great law. Mississippi [No motto.] N. Carolina [No motto.] N. Hampshire.. [No motto.] 29S 296 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. New Jersey Liberty and independence. New York Excelsior. Higher. Ohio Imperium in imperio. An empire within an empire. Pennsylvania. Virtue, liberty and independence. Rhode IsLAND.In God we hope. ^ „ ( Animus Opibusqtie Farati. S. Carolina.-- ^ ^ ^, ^., ,. ( Ever ready with our nves and property. Tennessee [No motto.] Texas [No motto.] Vermont Liberty and Independence. Virginia Sic semper tyrannis. So be it ever to tyrants. Minnesota VEioile du Nord. The Star of the North. ,,. ( Civilitas successit barbarum. Wisconsin •< ... ( Civihzed hfe takes place of savage. T^ ( Ad astra per aspera. Kansas \ ^ ^ . . ( By rugged ways (we ascend) to the stars. Oregon Alis volat propriis. She sails with her own wings West Virginia \ ^'''^''''' ''"'^'' ^'^'''- ( The mountains are always free. Nebraska Popular Sovereignty. Nevada Volens et potens. Willing and able. Colorado Nil sine Nimiine. Nothing without Divine aid. THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF VOTERS. fN a Republican term of Government, every act and feature of our laws is traceable directly to those who by tlieir votes enacted them, or indirectly to those who by their neglect to vote suffered the passage of a bad or injudicious bill and allowed it to become a statute, and thus wronged thousands, and disgraced the country. We say, boastingly, that the " right of suffrage" is extended to every citizen of the United States, but the term, as applied to the citizens of a Republic, is a contradiction, meaning as it ^OQ'?,, permission from the ruling power thus to do — when the very significance of our form of government is proof that it is as much the birthright of every citizen as is the air he breathes. The declaration that " all men are created free and equal," gives no man an inherited supremacy over another, either social or politi- cal, and imposes certain duties upon every one, duties that are inseparable from his citizenship. A republican government is a contract or compact between the people for mutual protection, defense and security, and since \ every citizen derives actual and positive benefit from this protec- tion it is impossible but that he has duties to perform and obliga- tions to meet. It is not practicable, of course, for the people to assemble in masses and give instructions tc the Chief Executive personally ; hence, conventions are called, at which some one who is known to be honest and faithful to the interests of the common- wealth, and especially of the district he represents, is nominated, and afterwards elected to meet the general assembly of represent- atives, at which the wants, wishes or demands of the people are made known, and such measures adopted as shall most easily and speedily carry them out. 299 300 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. It is at the polls that our republican principles are most clearly- shown, and that every man is the peer of his fellows. His vote is the expression of his views, and the strongest manner in which he can declare his approval or disapproval of men or measures. A selfish consideration of party interests, or a' reckless strife for power at the cost of principle, or a narrow personal prejudice indulged to the extent of the sacrifice of the interests of the coun- try, is unworthy of meu to whom so much has been entrusted. The candid citizen will hold himself aloof from and above all unworthy motives, and, not narrowing his vision to the things of to-day, will act with wise reference to the good of his country, and the safety and prosperity of generations to come. He will study well and carefully the principles of both or all the political parties of the times — study and understand thoroughly the platform of his own party, to be sure it is right, and be able in every possible way to aid it and secure its success, and he will be equally familiar with the platform of the party he opposes, to know if it is wrong, where it is Avrong, in what Avay injurious to the country, and how he can best work to defeat it. No man has a moral right to give his vote to advance a measure that he knows is wrong, or that he does not surely know is right. It is a lamentable fact that men rash to the ballot box and deposit their votes by thousands, when a large majority are so ignorant of the first elements of their duty as scarcely to know to which party the man for whom they have voted belongs, and to know nothing — absolutely nothings of what his life has been, or whether he has any real claim upon them for support or merit which qualifies him for the ofiice he is being elected to. This can not be justified in a country like our own, and is little, if any, less than guilt. We are far from asking that every man be a professional politi- cian, but that, knowing from his boyhood that he will one day be called upon to take this position, and that he cannot avoid a citi- zen's responsibilities, however he may neglect a citizen's duties, he prepare himself to discharge them honorably, conscientiously, and in the fear of God, rather than man. In voting, a man can not confine the consequences of his act to himself, but it extends to all who come under the influence of those whom he helps to elect. It is no proof that a man should be placed in ofiice because he asks it, and no proof that he is qualified to discharge its duties OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 3OI because he assures you, with his hand upon his heart, that he will do so. Be guided by candor in this matter rather than impulse ; remember that you hold the motive power and wield it for good or evil. All political statements should be made with a just and careful regard to the influence they will exert, and honor, no less than Christianity, demands courtesy from party to party, as from man to man. Keep your manhood unsullied and your soul unspot- ted with the low, base, treasonable designs of those who will build up on the ruins of patriotism and principle a fictitious glory for themselves or their cause. It may shine for a season, but it will end in darkness. It may triumph to-day but will be cut down to- morrow, and the disgrace and dishonor will fall upon all who were engaged in its upbuilding. No ranker, baser crime is known in civil society than- treason, and a political traitor, whether im- pelled to the act by cowardice or love of gain, is a criminal of the most contemptible sort. There is nothing that prepares a man more thoroughly for the active duties of life than a careful study of human nature and a close observation of the relative position of facts as presented by all parties, and the more one reflects and reasons the better he is prepared to act. No people can remain free who are ignorant. Knowledge as surely constitutes power as light constitutes day ; a community in ignorance is a community in degradation. A man who allows himself to remain uninformed upon political subjects and matters of interest to voters and citizens, must needs expect to be the dupe and tool of those who are stronger and more designing than themselves. A man may be honest, but if he is far behind the age in which he lives, his very honesty will subject him to imposition, and with his tin sword rusty in its scabbard, he is no match for the man whose sword of Damascus steel is bright and keen from constant use. If it were only for your own inter- est — if the welfare of none others had been entrusted to you, it would still be best that you cultivate your knowledge, both gen- eral and special, upon everything which concerns you as a citizen and a voter. Another point of vital interest is, that you have no right to be careless or indifferent upon these matters. You have no right to sit down and fold your hands while the battle between right and wrong wages around you, and say it matters not who is victorious. 302 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. You have no right to close your eyes to danger that threatens your country and say you are neutral ; for be sure neutrality is either cowardice, treason, or ignorance ; and society, both social, religious, and political, has far more to dread from an army of neutrals than from an army who throw their colors to the breeze and declare the ground on which they have taken their stand. Never forget for one moment, whether you be leader or private in the army, that the majority rule, and that if the majority is on the side of wrong, wrong will triumph. Study not only to throw the weight of your vote on the side of right, but throw your influence there, with all the strength and force you can gather. The people have it in their power to rule for good. Woe to that nation where ignorance has covered the land with mourning and her sons have sold their birthright of liberty for a dish of pottage, and see an usurper wear the glory that was their heritage, without a sigh or pang of regret. To the voters of America is entrusted the holiest treasure that man was ever enjoined to guard — the liberty of our country and the protection of our republican principles and institutions. How well it has been preserved in the past, the proud position which she holds in the rank of nations tells more eloquently than writ- ten or spoken words. Whether we shall go on from victory to victory, crowned more and still more royally with the luster of great deeds, until she shall be a light to the nations who sit in darkness, depends upon you who hold in your hands the power to make her what you will, and whose votes must decide her destiny. PENSION LAWS. ^X^^ENSIONS for ofificers, soldiers and sailors disabled in the jtj^^ service, and for the widows and children of officers, sol- ^1"^ diers and sailors who have died in the service, have been liberally and carefully provided by Congress. The proper officials to whom all applications should be made, by letter or petition, in Washington, are, by a soldier having his dis- charge, to the Paymaster General ; when the discharge paper is lost, to the second Auditor of the Treasury ; when by those who represent a deceased person, to the second Auditor of the Treas- ury ; when for commutation of rations, to the same officer ; when for pensions, or any matter connected with pensions, to the Com- missioner of Pensions. Instructions have been prepared for all applicants, by the Com- missioner of Pensions for the purpose of preventing fraud or misunderstanding. They are, in substance : INSTRUCTIONS. By the act of Congress approved July 14th, 1862, and amenda- tory acts, pensions are granted as follows : 1 . Invalids, disabled in the military or naval service of the United States, in the line of duty 2. Widows of persons who have been killed or have died in the military or naval service of the United States. 3. Children under sixteen, of the classes of persons on account of whose death widows are entitled ; provided said widows have died, or have remarried. 4. Mothers of all classes of persons on account of whose death widoAvs are entitled, provided said mothers were dependent on the deceased for support and no minor child survived. 5. Fathers, the same as mothers, in case of the death of the latter. 3o4 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 6. Brothers and sisters, under sixteen, provided they were de- pendent for support upon the person on account of whose decease they claim. The First Section of the Act of July 14th, 1862, showing the rates of pension to the several classes and grades, is as follows : Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That if any officer, non-commissioned officer, musician, or private of the army, includ- ing regulars, volunteers, militia, or any officer, warrant, or petty officer, musician, seaman, ordinary seaman, flotillaman, marine, clerk, landsman, pilot, or other person in the navy or marine corps, has been, since the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or shall hereafter be, disabled by reason of any wound received or disease contracted while in the service of the United States, and in the line of duty, he shall, upon making due proof of the fact according to such forms and regulations as are or may be provided by, or in pursuance of law, be placed upon the list of invalid pensions of the United States, and be entitled to receive, for the highest rate of disability, such pension as is hereinafter pro- vided in such cases, and for an inferior disability an amount proportionate to the highest disability, to commence as hereinafter provided, and continue during the existence of such disability. The pension for a total disability for officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates employed in the military service of the United States, whether regulars, volunteers, or militia, • and in the marine corps, shall be as follows, viz. : lieutenant-colonel and all officers of a higher rank, thirty dollars per month; major, twenty-five dollars per month ; captain twenty dollars per month ; first lieutenant, seventeen dollars per month; second lieutenant, fifteen dollars per month ; and non-commissioned officers, musi- cians and privates, eight dollars per month. The pension for total disability for officers, warrant, or petty officers, and others employed in the naval service of the United States, shall be as follows, viz. : captain, commander, surgeon, paymaster, and chief engineer, respectively, ranking with commander by law, lieutenant commanding, and master commanding, thirty dollars per month; lieutenant, surgeon, paymaster, and chief engineer, respectively, ranking with lieutenant by law, and passed assistant surgeon, twenty-five dollars per month ; professor of mathematics. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 305 master, assistant surgeon, assistant paymaster, and chaplain, twenty dollars per month; first assistant engineer and pilots, fifteen dollars per month ; passed midshipman, midshipman, cap- tain's paymaster's clerk, second and third assistant engineers, master's mate, and all warrant officers, ten dollars per month ; all petty officers, and all other persons before named employed in the naval service, eight dollars per month ; and all commissioned offi- cers, of either service, shall receive such and only such pension as is herein provided for the rank in which they hold commis- sions. Act OF July 4, 1864. Various Supplementary Acts have been passed by the Act of July 14, 1862, modifying in some particulars the provisions of pre- vious legislation. By the Act of July 4, 1864, it is provided that biennial exami- nations will hereafter be made by one surgeon only, if he is regu- larly appointed, or holds a surgeon's commission in the army. Examinations by unappointed civil surgeons will not be accepted, unless it can be shown that an examination by a commissioned or duly appointed surgeon is impracticable. Increased Pensions in Certain Cases. — A pension of twenty-five dollars per month is granted to those having lost both hands or both eyes in the military service of the United States, in the line of duty, and twenty dollars per month to those who, under the same conditions, shall have lost both feet, if such parties were entitled to a lower rate of pension under the act of 1862. This higher pension will date only from the 4th day of July, 1864, in case of pensioners already enrolled, or of applicants discharged prior to that date. Evidence of Muster-in. — In accordance with the nth Section of the Act of July 4, 1864, evidence of the muster-in of the sol- dier will not be required in any case, but there must be positive record evidence of service. Evidence of muster-in in the case of commissioned officers is still required. 3o6 footprints of the ages. Act of June 6, 1866. The Supplementary Pension Act, approved June six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, provides increased rates of pensions over those granted by the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, in the following cases, viz. : 1. Twenty-five dollars per month to all those invalids entitled, under the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to a lower rate of pension, on account of service rendered since March four, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, " who shall have lost the sight of both eyes, or who shall have lost both hands, or been permanently and totally disabled in the same, or otherwise so per- manently and totally disabled as to render them utterly helpless, or so nearly so as to require the constant personal aid and attend- ance of another person." 2. Twenty dollars per month to those invalids who, being enti- tled under like conditions to a lower rate of pension, " shall have lost both feet, or one hand and one foot, or been totally and per- manently disabled in the same, or otherwise so disabled as to be incapacitated for performing any manual labor, but not so much so as to require constant personal aid and attention." 3. Fifteen dollars per month to those invalids who, under like conditions, " shall have lost one hand or one foot, or been totally and permanently disabled in the same, or otherwise so disabled as to render their inability to perform manual labor equivalent to the loss of a hand or a foot." In order to obtain the benefits of the foregoing provisions, pen- sioners already enrolled will file an application in accordance with form F, appended hereto. Proof in addition to that on file with the previous application need not be forwarded, except as shall be specially required in each case, after the application is received. The applicant need only be examined by a pension surgeon when expressly required, on due notice from this office. Applicants not already pensioned, who believe themselves entitled to the benefit of the foregoing provisions, will specifically set forth such claim in their declarations, carefully stating the nature of the disability on account of which such higher rate of pension is claimed. The declaration must be made before some officer of a court of record, or before a pension notary designated by this office, as provided by the third section of the act of July four, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 369 The above specified increased rates of pension will be allowed only to those disabled since the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and will date only from the sixth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. Teamsters, Artificers, and other Enlisted Men, — not embraced in the terms of the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, or of Acts supplementary thereto, are, by the tenth section of the Act of June six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, included in the administration of the pension laws, in the class of non-commissioned officers and privates. Minor Children to be Pensioned, in Certain Cases, instead of the Widow. — The eleventh section provides that when any widow, entitled to a pension under previous Acts, has abandoned the care of a child or children of her deceased husband, under sixteen years of age, " or is an unsuitable person, by reason of immoral conduct, to have the custody of the same," the pension shall be paid to the duly authorized guardian of such child or children, while under the age of sixteen years, and not to the widow. The proper proof in such case, as provided by this section, is the certificate of the judge of any court having probate jurisdiction, " that satisfactory evidence has been produced before such court " to the efi'ect above indicated. In presenting an application under this section, the guardians of the minor child or children will make a declaration in accordance with the appended form G. Pensions Granted to Dependent Fathers and to Dependent Orphan Brothers. — By the twelfth section the provisions of the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, are extended so as to include the dependent brother or brothers of a deceased officer, soldier or seaman, and the dependent father of such deceased persons, under like limitations as apply in the case of dependent sisters and mothers ; but not more than one pension is granted on account of the same person, or to more than one of said classes. The forms prescribed for the latter cases may be used, with obvious variations, in applications made by dependent fathers or on behalf of dependent brothers. Limitations as to Number and Date of Pensions. — The thirteenth section declares that but one pension shall be granted to any person at the same time ; and that when application is not made within three years after the death or discharge of the party on 3TO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. whose account a pension is claimed, such pension, if allowed, "shall commence from the date of filing the last paper in said case by the party prosecuting the same." This limitation applies to all classes of pensions. Evidence of Marriage of Colored Applicants. — The fourteenth section provides that habitual recognition of the marriage relation between colored parties — that is, in the absence of the usually required proof— when shown by " proof satisfactory to the Com- missioner of Pensions," shall be accepted as evidence of marriage and the children of such parties shall be regarded as if born in lawful wedlock. When the usual proof of marriage can be fur- nished, it will be required as heretofore. When only evidence of cohabitation and mutual recognition can be adduced, as provided in this section, the testimony of two credible and disinterested witnesses will be required, who must state how long they have been personally acquainted with the parties, and for how long a period the latter are known to have recognized each other as man and wife. If such acquaintance is deemed to be of too recent date to warrant the acceptance of this testimony, or if there is reason to doubt, in any instance, that the marriage relation existed in good faith, more specific instructions will be issued, adapted to the circumstances of the particular case. Act of July 25, 1866. Provost Marshals, Enrolling Officers, and others Entitled to the Benefits of the Pension Laws. — The first section of the Act of July twenty-five, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, extends the benefits conferred by the pension laws to provost marshals, deputy provost marshals, and enrolling officers disabled in the line of their official duty as such, and to the widows or dependents of such officers in like manner. Declarations will be made in accordance with the instructions issued under the Pension Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and supplementary Acts. The grade of such officers, for the purpose of determining the rates of pensions un- der this section, is fixed as follows : Provost marshals will rank as captains; their deputies as first lieutenants; and enrolling officers as second lieutenants. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 3II Increased Pensions to Widows, and Orphan Childre7i Under Six- teen Years of Age. — The second section of this act allows to those who are or shall be pensioned as widows of soldiers or sailors two dollars per month additional pension for each child (under sixteen years of age) of the deceased soldier or sailor by the widow thus pensioned. On the death or remarriage of such widow, or on the denial of a pension to her, in accordance with the provisions of section eleven of the Act of June six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the same amount to which she Avould otherwise be entitled, under this and previous provisions, is allowed to the minor children. The number and names of the children, with their ages, must be proved by the afildavits of two credible and disinterested vs^it- nesses. The provisions of this section only include the children of the widow, and not those of her deceased husband by a previous marriage. The widows of minor children of officers are not enti- tled to this increase. Declarations for an increase under this section, if for the widow, will be made in accordance with form H, appended hereto ; and if for minor children, according to form I. The pension certificate must be sent with all applica- tions filed subsequently to September four, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. Increase of Pensions under Acts prior to July 4, 1862. — All pen- sioners under Acts approved prior to July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, are, by the third section of the present act, granted the same rights as those pensioned under acts ap- proved at or since that date, so far as said Acts may be applicable, with the exception of soldiers of the Revolution or their widows. This section applies only to pensioners who were such at the date of the approval of this Act. Declaration of claimants under this section will be made in accordance with the forms previously issued under Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and subsequent pension acts, with the necessary modifications, and the pension certificates will be returned. Invalid Pensions of Claimants Dying while their Applications are Pending, the Evidence being Completed. — The fourth section of this act is construed in connection with the tenth section of the Act of July four, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and the sixth sec- 3T2 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. tion of the Act of June six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, to which it is supplementary. If an applicant for invalid pension dies while his claim is pending, the evidence having been com- pleted, the pension, under the provisions of this section and of those sections of previous acts above referred to, is disposed of as follows : 1. If he left a widow, or minor child, or children under sixteen years of age, or other dependent relatives, and died of wounds received or of disease contracted in the service or in the line of duty, no invalid pension certificate will issue, but such widow or dependent relatives will receive a pension, in their own right, taking precedence in the order prescribed by law in other cases. 2. If the claimant left a widow or dependent relatives, but did not die of wounds received, or disease contracted in the service and in the line of duty, so that neither widoAv nor dependent rela- tives would be entitled to a pension on his account, then the cer- tificate will be issued in his name, and the pension paid to the widow or to the dependent relatives, as the case may be, in the same order in which they would have been pensioned, if entitled, as set forth in the preceding paragraph. 3. If the claimant left no widow or dependent relatives, the certificate will issue in his name, and the pension will be drawn by his executor or administrator. Certai7i Accrzied Rights Resei'ved under Repealed Ejiactments.^- The fifth section reserves all rights that may have accrued under the fifth section of the pension Act of July four, eighteen hun- dred and sixty-four, and the third section of the pension Act of March three, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, though repealed by the first section of the Act of June six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. Widows Remarryijig while their Claims are Pe7idi7ig^ — Are en- titled, under the sixth section, if their claims are otherwise valid, to receive pensions to the date of remarriage, if the deceased officer, soldier or sailor, on whose account they claim, left no legitimate child under sixteen years of age. Joseph H. Barrett, Commissiofur of Pensions. Pension Office, August 4, 1866. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 3I3 Act OF July 27, 1868. Section i. — Dependent Relatives. — In this section precedence is given to the dependent relatives hereinafter mentioned, in the fol- lowing order, to wit : First, mothers ; secondly, fathers ; thirdly, orphan brothers and sisters under sixteen, who shall be pensioned jointly ; and the persons enumerated shall each be entitled in their order, after the death of the one preceding. Sect. 2. — Invalids disabled Subsequent to Passage of this Act. — This section specifies as to pensions by reason of disabilities incurred subsequent to the passage of this Act, and enumerates the circumstances under which said disabilities must have been contracted. Sect. 3. — Unclaimed Pensions. — This section provides that pen- sions remaining unclaimed for fourteen months after the same have become due, shall be adjusted at the Pension Agency instead of at the Office of the Third Auditor ; and the failure of any pen- sioner to claim his or her pension for th7'ee years, shall be deemed presumptive evidence that the same has legally terminated. On a new application, with evidence satisfactorily accounting for such failure, the pensioner may be restored to the rolls. Sect. 4. — Increase of Pensions of Widows and of Childre^i by a Former Wife. — This section gives an increase of two dollars per month for each minor child of a deceased soldier, to commence from the death of their father, and continue until they severally attain ,the age of sixteen years ; and provides that the children of a former marriage shall be " entitled to receive two dollars per month, to commence from the death of their father, and continue until they severally attain the age of sixteen years, to be paid to the guardian of such child or children for their use and benefit : Provided, hozvever, That in all cases where such widow is charged with the care, custody, and maintenance of such child or children, the said sum of two dollars per month for each of said children shall be paid to her for and during the time she is or may have been so charged with the care, custody, and maintenance of such child or children, subject to the same conditions, provisions and limitations as if they were her own children by her said deceased husband. Sect. 5. — Widows and Minors not Debarred, etc. — By this sec- tion no widow or guardian to whom an increase of pension has 314 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. been or may hereafter be granted on account of minor children, shall be deprived thereof by reason of their being maintained or educated at the expense of the State or of the public. Sect. 6. — Extension of Limitation. — This section provides that all pensions applied for within five years after the right thereto shall have accrued, and which have been or may be granted under the Act of July 14, 1862, or Acts supplementary thereto, shall commence from the discharge or death of the person on whose account the pension has been or shall be granted ; and incases of insane persons and minors, who were without guardians or other proper legal representatives previous to. said limitation, applica- tions may be filed in their behalf after its expiration. This section applies solely to cases in which the title to pension has accrued subsequent to March 4, 1861. Sect. 7. — Arrears. — In which notification of title to arrears of pension, under the foregoing section is provided for ; and also that no claim agent or other person shall be entitled to compensation for services in making application for such arrears. Sect. 8. — Widow'' s Pension to Childreny etc. — In which the re- quirement of the certificate of the court that satisfactory evidence has been adduced of the abandonment of the care of the minor child or children of a deceased soldier by his widow, or of her unsuitableness to have custody of them is dispensed with. The furnishing of satisfactory evidence thereof to the commissioner shall be sufficient to cause the suspension of said widow's pension. Sect. 9. — Pending Claim may he Completed by Heirs. — In which if any person entitled to a pension has died since March 4, 1861, his heirs or legal representatives shall be entitled to receive the accrued pension : provided no widow or minor child survives the applicant. Sect. 10. — Remarriage. — This section provides for pension to the widow or dependent mother, from the death of soldier to the date of claimant's remarriage, (provided no children under six- teen survive.) Sect. II. — Extension of Time. — This section provides for the continuance in force of the Act of July 4, 1864, from the 4th July, 1867, for five years. Sect. 12. — Loss of an Eye. — This section allows twenty-five dollars as a pension for total loss of sight from wounds received or OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 315 disease contracted in the service, though the pensioner may have had only one eye when entering the service. Sect. 13. — Pensions by Reason of Right Accrued since Revolu- tion. — By this section all persons pensioned by reason of services rendered since the war of the Revolution, and prior to March 4, 1 86 1, are placed on the same footing with those pensioned under Acts passed since that time ; and grants eight dollars per month to the widows of revolutionary soldiers and sailors now pensioned at less than that amount. Sect, xd^.-^ Limbs to Officers. — By this section captains in the army and lieutenants in the navy, and those of less rank, who have lost a leg or an arm in such service, shall be entitled to receive an artificial limb upon the same terms as privates in the army. Sect. 15. — Special ^^r/x.— By this section all pensions granted by special Acts shall be subject to be varied in amount, according to the provisions and limitations of the pension laws. Sect. 16. — Repealing Clause. — By this section all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with the foregoing provisions of this Act be and the same are hereby repealed. NATURALIZATION LAWS. j^lpATURALIZATION is the act by which an alien, or for^ eigner, becomes invested with the rights and privileges of a native-born subject or citizen. In the United States, a person duly naturalized is entitled to all the privileges and im- munities of a native-born citizen, except that he must have been a resident of the United States for seven years, to enable him to occupy a seat in Congress, and that he is not eligible to the office of President or Vice-President, or, under the Constitution of some of the States, to that of Governor. Congress having the power, under the Constitution of the United States, to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, has provided by various enactments, as follows, viz. : Any alien, hav- ing arrived in the United States after the age of eighteen years, may be admitted to the rights of citizenship, after a declaration, upon his part, or oath or affirmation, before the Supreme, Supe- rior, District, or Circuit Court of, or any court of record having common law jurisdiction in, any of the United States, or of the territories thereto belonging, or before a Circuit or District Court of the United States, or the Clerk or Prothonotary of any of the aforesaid courts, two years at least before his admission, that it is his bona fide intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate. State, or sovereignty whatever, and particularly by name, the prince, potentate, State, or sovereignty, whereof such alien may at any time have been a citizen or subject; if such alien has borne any hereditary title, or been of any of the orders of nobility in the kingdom or State from Avhich he came, he must, moreover, expressly renounce his title or order of nobility, in the court in which his application is made, which renunciation is to be recorded in such county ; and the court admitting such alien 316 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 3I9 must also be satisfied that he has continuously resided in the United States for five years, at least, immediately preceding his naturalization, and also within the State or Territory wherein such court is at the time held, at least one year immediately previous to such naturalization ; and that during such five years, he has been of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same ; the oath of at least two citizens of the United States, is requisite to prove the fact of such residence ; and, at the time of his application to be admitted to citizenship, he must make, upon oath or affirmation, the same declaration of renunciation and abjuration of allegiance to any foreign power, and also, make oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States ; all of which proceedings are to be recorded by the Clerk or Prothonotary of the proper court. If any alien, having legally filed his declaration of intention to become a citizen and taken the necessary oath or affirmation, die before he is actually naturalized, his widow and children are enti- tled to all the rights and privileges of citizens, upon taking the required o-aths or affirmations. Any alien, arriving in the United States under the age of eight- een years, and continuously residing therein until the time of his application for citizenship, may, after reaching the age of twenty- one years, and having been a resident within the United States for five years, including the three years of his minority, be admit- ted a citizen, without making the formal declaration of intention required in other cases ; but at the time of his admission, he must make such declaration, and further satisfy the court, upon oath or affirmation, that, for the three years immediately preceding, it had been his bona fide, intention to become such citizen, and in all other respects must comply with the naturalization laws of the United States. Severe penalties for counterfeiting any evidence of citizenship, or disposing of a certificate of naturalization to any person other than the one for whom it was issued, are imposed by act of Con- gress. It is to be observed, in this connection, that as the various States have the right under the Constitution of the United States, of de- fining and fixing the qualifications of their respective citizens, 320 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. persons who are aliens and not citizens of the United States may yet be citizens of a particular State, under its enactments, entitled to right of suffrage and other privileges and immunities enjoyed by and belonging to the citizens of such particular State. Some of the States have also interfered, by legislative enact- ment, to require a naturalized citizen to reside in such State a certain length of time after his naturalization, before he can enjoy the right of suffrage therein. It has been held, that, if a subject of a foreign power, at the time of leaving the dominion of such power, actually owed mili- tary duty or service to such power, by formal enactment or con- scription, he is not protected, in the event of his return within the dominion of such power, by his certificate of naturalization within the United States, from the discharge of such duty or service, but is bound to render the same, upon demand therefor made after such return. It is but just, however, to add, that this opinion is strongly com- bated, and can by no means, at present at least, be considered as embodying the settled opinion of the proper authorities, or of the people of the United States. PRE-EMPTION LAWS. PRE-EMPTION right is the right of a squatter upon the lands of the United States to purchase, in preference to 'others, when the land is sold. Such right is granted to the following persons : Any citizen of the United States ; any person who has filed his declaration of intention to become a citizen ; any head of a family ; any widow ; any single woman of the age of twenty-one years or over , and any person who has made a settlement, erected a dwelling-house upon, and is an inhabitant of the tract sought to be entered — -provided such settlement was made since June i, 1840, and previously to the time of application for the land, which land must, at the date of the settlement, have had the Indian title extinguished, and been surveyed by the United States. A person bringing himself within the above requirements by proof satisfactory to the Register and Receiver of the land district an which the land may lie, taken pursuant to the rules hereafter prescribed, will, after having taken the affidavit required by the Act, be entitled to enter, by legal subdivisions, any number of acres, not exceeding one hundred and sixty, or a quarter-section, to in- clude his residence ; and he may avail himself of the same at any time prior to the day of the commencement of the public sale, including said tract, where the land has not yet been proclaimed. Where the land was subject to private entry, June i, 1840, and a settlement shall thereafter be made upon such land, or where the land shall become hereafter subject to private entry, and after that period a settlement shall be made, which the settler is desir- ous of securing, notice of such intention must be given within thirty days after such settlement ; and, in all such cases, the proof, affidavit and payment must be made within twelve months after such settlement. 21 321 322 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The tracts liable to entry are embraced under the following de- signations : first, A regular quarter-section, notwithstanding the quantity may vary a few acres from one hundred and sixty ; or a quarter-section, which, though fractional in quantity by the pas- sage of a navigable stream through the same, is still bounded by regular sectional and quarter-sectional lines; second, a fractional section containing not over one hundred and sixty acres, or any tract being a detached or a nomalous survey made pursuant to* law, and not exceeding such quantity ; third, two adjoining half- quarter sections (in all cases to be separated by a north and south line, except on the north side of township, where the surveys are so made as to throw the excess or deficiency on the north and west sides of the township), of the regular quarters mentioned ia the first designation ; fourth, two half-quarter or eighty-acre sub- divisions of a fractional or broken section, adjoining each other^ the aggregate quantity not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres; fifth, a regular half-quarter and an adjoining fractional section, or an adjoining half-quarter subdivision of a fractional section, the aggregate quantity not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres % sixth, if the pre-emptor do not wish to enter one hundred and sixty acres, he may enter a single half-quarter section (made by a north and south line), or an eighty-acre subdivision of a fractional sec- tion ; seventh, one or more adjoining forty-acre lots may be entered, the aggregate not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres ; and^ eighth, a regular half-quarter, a half-quarter subdivision, or a frac- tional section, may each be taken, with one or more forty-acre subdivisions lying adjoining, the aggregate not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres. Forty-acre tracts, or quarter-quarter sections, may be entered in the same manner that eighty-acre, or half-quarter sections, have been. Only one person upon a quarter-section is protected, and he the one who made the first settlement, provided he conform to the other provisions of the law. A person who has once availed himself of the provisions of the Pre-emption Act, cannot, at any future period, or at any other land-office, acquire any other right under it. No person, who is the proprietor of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory of the United States, or who quits or abandons his residence on his own land to reside on OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 323 the public land in the same State or Territory, is entitled to the benefit of the Pre-emption Acts. The approval of the tracts by the local land-office is the evi- dence of the survey ; but the land is to be construed as surveyed, when the requisite lines are run on the field, and the corners es- tablished by the deputy-surveyor. No assignments or transfers of pre-emption rights are recognized at the land-office ; the patents issuing to the claimants, in whose names alone the entries are made. The following description of lands are not liable to entry : first, lands included in any reservation by any treaty, law or proclama- tion of the President of the United States, and lands reserved for salines and for other purposes ; second, lands reserved for the sup- port of schools ; third, lands acquired by either of the last two treaties with the Miami Indians in Indiana, or which may be acquired of the Wyandot Indians in Ohio, or any other Indian reservation, to which the title has been, or may be extinguished at any time during the operation of the Pre-emption Acts, by the United States ; fourth, sections of lands reserved to the United States, alternate to other sections granted to any State for the con- struction of any canal, railroad, or other public improvement ; fifth, sections or fractions of sections included within the limits of any incorporated town ; sixth, every portion of the public lands which has been selected as a site for a city or town ; seventh, every parcel or lot of land actually settled and occupied for the pur- poses of trade, and agriculture ; and eighth, all lands in which are situated any known salines or mines. Persons claiming the benefit of the Pre-emption Acts are required to file duplicate affidavits, such as are specified by law, and to furnish proof, by one or more disinterested witnesses, of the facts necessary to establish the requisites mentioned in the first paragraph of this article ; such witnesses having first been duly sworn or affirmed by some competent authority. If adverse claims are made to the same tract, each claimant is to be notified of the time and place of taking testimony, and allowed to cross-examine the opposite witnesses, and to furnish counter-proof, itself subject to cross-examination. If, by reason of distance, sickness, or infirmity, the witnesses cannot personally appear before the register of the land-office, their depositions. 324 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. taken in conformity with the following regulations, may be received. The notice to adverse claimants must be in writing, and served in time to allow at least one day for every twenty miles which the party may have to travel in going to the place of taking evidence. The proof, in all cases, should consist of a simple detail of facts merely, and not of broad and general statements. If the pre- emptor be " the head of a family," the witnesses must state the facts constituting him such ; whether he be a husband having a wife and children, or a widower, or an unmarried person under twenty-one years of age, having a family, either of relatives or others, dependent upon him, or hired persons. - All the facts rel- ative to the settlement in person, inhabitancy, or personal resi- dence, the time of its commencement, the manner and extent of its continuance, as also those sharing the apparent objects, must be stated. It must be stated that the claimant made the settle- ment on the land in person ; that he has erected a dwelling upon the land; that he lived in the same, and made it his home, etc. In the event of a decision by the land-officer against the claimant, he may appeal to the Commissioner of the Land-Office at Washing- ton. No entry will be permitted until the affidavit required of the claimant is taken. Duplicates thereof must be signed by the claimant, and the fact of the oath being taken must be certified by the register or receiver administering the same ; one copy to be filed in the Register's office, and the other to be sent to the Land-Office at Washington. A purchaser of public land is only required' to make written application to the Register of the local land-office for the tract de- sired to be entered, and to pay to the Receiver the purchase- money therefor. Blank forms of such application are furnished gratuitously at the Land-Office where the tract is desired to be entered. SOLDIERS' HOMESTEAD LAW OF 1872. I^^T^HE following is the full text of the Amendatory Soldiers' 3y^ Homestead Bill, approved by the President on the 3d of April, 1872. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Ame7'ica in Congress assembled, That every pri- vate soldier and officer who has served in the army of the United States during the recent rebellion for ninety days or more, and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the government, including the troops mustered into the service of the United States by virtue of the third section of an act entitled "An act making appropriations for completing the defenses of Washington, and for other purposes," approved February 13th, 1862, and every seaman, marine and officer who has served in the navy of the United States, or in the marine corps, during the re- bellion for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the government, shall, on compliance with the provisions of an act entitled, " An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain, and the acts amendatory thereof, as hereinafter modified, be entitled to enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of public lands (not mineral) not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter section, to be taken in compact form according to legal subdivision, including the alternate reserved section of public lands along the line of any railroad or other public work not otherwise reserved or ap- propriated, and other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States : Provided, the said homestead settler shall be allowed six months after locating his homestead within which to commence his settlement and improvements : And pro- vided also, the time which the homestead settler shall have served in the army, navy or marme corps aforesaid shall be deducted 325 326 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. from the time heretofore required to perfect title, or if discharged on account of wounds received, or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the terra of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, without reference to the length of time he may have served : Provided, however, that no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved and cultivated his said homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall commence his improvements as aforesaid. Section 2. That any person entitled under the provisions of the foregoing section to enter a homestead, who may have hereto- fore entered under the Homestead law a quantity of land less than one hundred and sixty acres, shall be permitted to enter un- der the provisions of this act so much land as, when added to the quantity previously entered, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres. Section 3. That in the case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a homestead under the provisions of the first section of this act, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly approved and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to all the benefits enumerated in this act, subject to all the provisions as to settlement and improve- ments therein contained : Provided, that if such person died during his term of enlistment, the whole term of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect the title. Section 4. That where a party, at the date of his entry of a tract of land under the Homestead laws, or subsequently thereto, was actually enlisted and employed in the army or navy of the United States, his services therein shall, in the administration of said Homestead laws, be construed to be equivalent, to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the same length of time upon the tract so entered : Provided, that if his entry has been canceled by reason of his absence from said tract while in the military or naval service of the United States, and such tract has not been disposed of, his entry shall be restored and confirmed : And pro- vided further, that if such tract has been disposed of, said party may enter another tract subject to the entry under said laws, and OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 329? his right to a patent therefor shall be determined by the proofs touching his residence and cultivation by the first tract and his absence therefrom in such service. Section 5. That any soldier, sailor, marine, officer or other per- son coming within the provisions of this act may, as well by an AGENT as in person, enter upon said homestead : Provided, that- the said claimant in person shall, within the time prescribed [six- MONTHS FROM DATE OF ENTRv] commcuce Settlement and improve-- ments on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the requirements of this act. Section 6. That the commissioner of the General Land Office shall have authority to make all needful rules and regulations to-' carry into effect the provisions of this act." HOW TO ACQUIRE TITLE TO GOVERN- MENT LANDS. I |HERE are two classes of public lands subject to entry; one at $1.25 per acre, known as mimmutn^axid one at $2.50, known as double mtni?fium, the latter being the alternate sections along the lines of railroads. Title may be acquired by purchase at public sale, or by " private entry," and in virtue of ^he Pre-emption and Homestead Laws. At Public Sale. — Lands are offered at auction to the highest l)idder, pursuant to proclamation or public notice. Private Entry. — Lands subject to private entry, are those which tiave been once offered at public sale without finding purchasers. In order to acquire title to these lands, a written application must 3)e made to the Land Register of the District in which the land is located, describing the tract desired. The Register certifies the seaport towns. The consul must carry with him a certificate of his appointment, must be publicly recognized and receive from- the government under which he proposes to reside a written per- mission to perform his special duties. He is not entitled to' the immunities of a minister and may be discharged at the will of the government to whom he is sent ; but an ambassador can only be withdrawn at the will of the sovereign he represents. The refusal to receive a consul is never considered a breach of eti- quette, but a refusal to receive a minister would be an open insult to his government, and denote great dissatisfaction, if not actual hostility. It is not customary, nor admissible, to open war upom 336 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. .-any nation without a certain preliminary course. It is preceded "by setting forth the wrongs and grievances upon which it is based, ,and asking peaceful redress and not until every other means have been tried, and every other measure resorted to without success, is war justified by the law of nations. In the United States the -power to declare war is intrusted to the national legislature. When once war has been declared, every subject is considered or ttreated as if responsible for the acts of his government, and en- ;xnity and hostility exists, not only between the active armies, but between the individuals who comprise the nations, and indirectly they support the war, since the taxes levied upon them, paid, it :may be reluctantly, yet paid, are the only means by which the .armies could be sustained or war carried on. A blockade is the surrounding of a place with hostile troops or .ships in such a manner as to prevent escape and hinder supplies of ammunition and provision from entering, with a view to com- pelling a surrender by hunger and want, without regular attacks. No neutral nation is permitted to afford aid or relief to the inhabi- -tants, and all supplies in a state of transmission for such relief, are subject to confiscation. A mere declaration of blockade is not •sufficient, nor is it binding upon neutral powers, unless they have first been notified, and the port or country surrounded in such a .manner as to prevent ingress or egress. A truce is a temporary suspension of hostilities by the mutual ■agreement of the two armies, and at the close of it, war may be at once resumed, and it may be general, or only partial. A partial truce suspends hostilities, only at one point, while a general truce extends over all the dominion of the hostile nations. A declaration of war is. a total prohibition of commercial inter- course between the citizens of the two opposing powers, and any .contracts made between them are null and void ; neither is it ;lawful to insure the property of, or remit money to, a citizen of the other country. An embargo is an injunction to vessels not to leave port, and can only be issued by the supreme rulers of a country, and im- plies that there is threatening and immediate danger. Letters of marque and reprisal are sealed commissions granted 'by a government to its citizens, licensing the seizure of an enemy's jproperty, or of the^p^Qi^on iif , those who belong to a government CHICAGO WATER WORKS. 23 o W O. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 339 which has refused to do justice to the country granting it; and war-vessels owned by private individuals, and thus licensed, are privateers. A treaty is a solemn compact between nations, made by com- missioners who represent the sovereign or chief magistrate, and the country which they represent pledges its national honor and truth before the world to keep sacred the stipulations of such treaty , and this is as closely binding upon the respective gov- ernments as are contracts upon private citizens. In this age a nation would be irredeemably disgraced who would wilfully out- rage or violate a treaty. It is the tendency and design of the law of nations to cul- tivate the principles of justice and humanity, and to unite in the encouragement of the rational usages of the Christian world. THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY. |Mj^HE history of America has not, like that of the Old World, Jw the charm of classical or romantic associations ; but in ^^ useful instruction and moral dignity it has no equal. It is only a century since this fair and flourishing republic was a colony of England, scarcely commanding the means of existence without the aid of the mother country, who was herself oppressed by European wars. Our puritan forefathers began in the rough fields of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, on a broad, comprehensive principle, which has gone forth to fraternize the world. Our history, therefore, like that poetical temple of fame reared by the imagination of Chaucer, and decorated by the taste of Pope, is almost exclusively dedicated to the memory of the truly great. Within, no idle ornament encumbers its bold simplicity. The pure light of Heaven enters from above, and sheds an equal and serene radiance around. As the eye wanders about its extent, it beholds the unadorned monuments of brave and good men, who have bled or toiled for their country ; or it rests on votive tablets inscribed with the names of the blessed benefactors of mankind. The puritans of England — the resolute conquerors of the lakei and forests of the New World — occupied, in the first period of their social existence, the depressed position of a European colony; but the spirit of liberty which had led them to these wild regions, and the gifts of a magnificent and fertile nature, were sufficient to prepare them for their high des- tiny. This rude apprenticeship lasted more than one hundred and fifty years before the hour of change struck ; and in the night of the 1 8th of April, 1775, the cannons of Lexington called a new-born nation to regenerate the world. The people rose as one man, and turning the ploughshares that tilled the soil into 340 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 341 swords to defend it, they threw themselves upon their unjust op- pressors, and proclaimed at Philadelphia the immortal principles of self-government, that made tyrants tremble and every generous heart palpitate with joyful hope. At that moment a new name was inscribed on the catalogue of great nations. If not great in national importance, it was great by the moral influence it imme- diately exercised on the world. The long and bloody but success- ful Revolutionary War broke the chains of the thirteen colonies, and offered to the astonished world the most sublime spectacle of ancient or modern times — the fusion of all races, tongues and sects, in the one political religion of liberty. In our necessarily brief record of these wonderful events and their grand results, we have as historians tried to be faithful, and as chroniclers have endeavored to present facts unbiased by pre- judice, and with strict regard to truth. We view the Union from no sectional stand point, but looking over its broad area from east to west, from north to south, we say, with as fervent love as ever swelled the heart of patriot for country, // is ours ! God bless America ! God bless and preserve our Union ! and if too much of pride and exultation mingles with our emotions, we find in her glory and honor our only apology. We naturally ask what is to be the future of our country — what its population — how rapid its growth — what of the generations to come, and for what length of time the present rate of increase can be maintained } Some close their eyes to the brightness which surrounds them, and with retroverted vision, and gloomy forebodings, point to the ruin and decay which cover the land where once flourished the mightiest kingdoms of the world ; while, passing to the opposite extreme, hopeful and sanguine men will tell you there are no limits to our growth and prosperity. In favor of our present ratio of increase it may be urged, that with a population of only 40,000,000, we have sufficient territory to accommodate 1,000,000,000, and yet not be so densely populated as China, India, or Japan. An eminent mathematician has estimated that, starting at the present year, with a population of 43,000,000, the same ratio of increase that has prevailed for the last century, would give the United States, in the year 2000, a population of one and a quarter billion, or very nearly the present population of the entire globe. Startling as is the proposition, it is not improbable. 342 * FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. We have abundant resources to support this, or even a greater number in comfort. To-day not one-half of our entire territory is settled, and not one-half of that settled is cultivated, while even this does not produce to exceed, on an average, more than one- half it is capable of producing under a higher system of agricul- ture, and with better machinery ; yet we have enough even now, to very nearly or quite sustain the population which we shall have ten centuries hence. Those who are living in dread of a famine in consequence of the great rush of emigration, would do well to consider the following facts. Most of the immigrants come from a hard, stern school, in which they have learned lessons of close economy, industry and patient perseverance, preparing them to win from our most sterile lands a richer harvest than rewarded their efforts on the best of their own acres. With simplicity of habit, they possess great power of endurance. Having in their hearts an irrepressible love of freedom, a hungering and thirsting after the liberty with which the generous Republic endows all her sons alike, whether hers by birth or adoption, they become at once the staunchest defenders and the most unbounded admirers of our institutions. If agriculture is in its infancy, so also is the development of our mineral resources, abundant and unlimited, even to the necessities of all the anticipated increase of population. Christ- ianity and education elevate the masses of the people, and give them the wisdom requisite for the duties of citizens and states- men, and it is only through the influence of those two agents that we shall escape the fate of Republics which rose and fell before our own had an existence, or its birth was foretold. So long as numberless church spires pierce the clouds in every city, town, vale and prairie throughout the land, and every- where are found institutions of learning — from the classic halls that have been the literary ahna mater of generations of philoso- phers to the log school-house on the far frontier, we have little to dread from political power. Neither civil nor religious oppres- sion can be brought to bear heavily upon a people thus guarded and protected. No Republic, except our own, ever attained such triumphs in the test of the great principles upon which it was founded, and perhaps no people ever possessed such advantages for perfecting an experiment that has so often proved a disastrous failure with other nations. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 343 It is impossible for us to be too careful in guarding every source by which corruption can creep into our councils and obtain power in our midst. The contest with bigotry, prejudice and superstition, with the religious intolerance of other ages and other nations, will not only be sharp, but long. If " the price of liberty is eternal vigilance," it is still worth all it costs. It is not the inter- vention of foreign foes we have to dread so much as masked treason in our midst. The world looks on in silence. Freedom, crushed again and again by the hand of tyranny in the Old World, lias found a place of refuge, a . shelter, a home, an altar in the New. Her triumphant shouts reach the shores of distant king- doms, and the reverberating echo startles crowned heads from their fancied security. There is no standing stili — no folding of idle hands — no loiter- ing in pleasant places by the way. " Onward ! " is the cry ; " On- ward!" is the motto — onward the purpose. Millions of acres are yet to be brought under cultivation ; exhaustless wealth of iron, and coal, and copper, and lead lie in the unexplored depths of the earth. Ophir ne'er possessed more abundant riches of gold and silver than await the persevering industry of the miner in this fair land. Our territories offer homesteads for all who will come. The ordinary mind is overwhelmed with the magnitude of the view thus presented and shrinks from the task of predicting the future of such a country, but dwells in ever-brightening hope of the glory thereof. ^44 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, HOW GOVERNMENTS ARE SUPPORTED, The government of the United States is supported by the pro- ceeds of taxation, and to a slight extent, from the sales of public land. In former years the public lands were considered one of the main resources of the government. The constitution provides that, " Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within the Union according to their respective numbers." Resort to this mode of collecting revenue has been had but twice, the last time during the late civil war. The main sources of revenue are : i. The du- ties on imports of foreign merchandise ; 2. Internal revenue, being the proceeds of taxes on spirits, fermented liquors, tobacco, and cigars, wines, capital, circulation and deposits of banks and bank- ers, adhesive stamps, including stamps on bank, and stamps on patent medicines, and matches. With this explanation, the follow- ing condensed table of receipts and expenditures of the United States treasury for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1874, will ex- plain where the revenue comes from and where it goes, RECEIPTS. Custom Duties, (gold). . $163,103,8:14; Internal Revenue . 102,409,785 Sales of Public Lands... . 1,852,429 Tax circulation and receipts of National Banks. . 7,030,038 Repayment of interest of Pacific Railroad Co . j,o28,895 Custom Fines, penalties 651,272^ Labor, Drayage, Storage... 74ii435 ^ales Indian Trust Lands - 903,439' Fees, consular, patent, and land .. 1 - 1,898.1891 Sales government property . 1,699,018- Marine Hospital tax , 3S2,38c>> Steamboat Fees 274,49r Profits on Coinage.. 447 970 Tax on Seal skins 356 6io> Miscellaneous sources — . r.691,303 Total ordinary receipts , 284,441,091 Premium on sales of coin , 5)037i665: Total net receipts, exclusive of losses 289,478,756' EXPENDITURES. Civil Expenses . $17,627,110 Foreign Intercourse i,iw8,o65 Indians „ 6,592,465: Pensions 29,038,413- Military establishments, including fortifications and harbor iwiJpro-^emems and Arsenals .-- 42,313,927' For Naval establishments 30,932,58s' Miscellanies, including Lighthouse, collecting revenues, &c. 5o'5o6,'4i4 Interest on the Public Debt _ 107,119,815, Total ordinary expenditures „. 285,738,800 Premium on bonds purchased ,.., 1,395,073; 1287,133,873; Surplus revenue „. $2,344,882! STATE AND TERRITORIAL GGVERNMIENTS^ Are supported mainly by direct taxation. The allnost universal rule is for the legislature of each State or Territory annually, or OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 345" biennially, to make all the appropriations for the entire support of the state government, for the year or two years following the session, and, to raise the revenue to meet these appropriations, a rate of tax is levied upon the real and personal property of the inhabitants according to a legal assessment of the value thereof. In some states, revenue is also derived from special taxes off licenses, or gross receipts of corporations, or fees, or business of insurance, railroad, gas, and other companies, on ferry privileges- and from interest on trust funds held for school, college, or other' purposes. Payment of the interest or principal of the state debt is included in the general expenditures. MILITARY RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES. The military history of the United States is as strange as the rise and rapid growth of the nation. In 1790 the rank and file of the army, as fixed by act of Congress, amounted to 1,216 men; and in^ 1 814 an English expediton of 3,500 men was able to sieze and' burn Washington, the capital of a country which even then num- bered eight millions of inhabitants. In 1861, at the commence- ment of the war of secession, the whole regular force amounted^ to only 14,000 men. In April of that year the President called out 75,000 volunteers for three months to defend the capital, which was threatened ; and in May a further call for 42,000 was- made. In July two calls for 500,000 each were authorized by Congress, and as even this vast force proved insufficient for the gigantic struggle which America had now embarked in, it wag- found necessary to introduce the conscription. In October, 1863, a levy of 300,000 was ordered, and in February, 1864 a further call of 500,000 was made. Finally, in the beginning of 1865, two' further 1-evies, amounting to 500,000 men were ordered, but only partially carried out in consequence of the cessation of hostilities. The total number of men called under arms by the government of the United States between April, i86i,and April, 1865, amount- ed to 2,752,049, of whom 2,656,053 were actually embodied in the' armies. If to these be added 1,100,000 men embodied by the Southern States during the same time, the total armed forces reacb the enormous amount of nearly four millions, drawn from a pop- ulation of only 32,000,000 — figures before which the celebrated uprising of the French nation in 1793, or the recent efforts of France and Germany in the war of 1870-71 sink into insignifi- cance. And within three years the whole of these vast forces were peaceably disbanded, and the army had shrunk to a nominal strength of only 30,000 men. THE CENTENNIAL SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES This Senate has some peculiar features. Including the four Senators who were re-elected, it contains twenty-five new mem- '34^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. .bers. The four who were re-elected are Thurman and Bayard, Democrats, and Hamlin and Edmunds, Republicans. The other iiwenty-one are new men — an unusual number. Among the most conspicuous of those who disappear are Sum- ner — if it be proper to include him in the list — Schurz, Carpenter, Fenton, Scott, Pratt, Stewart, Buckingham, and Chandler, Repub- licans, with Stockton and Hamilton, Democrats. Sumner's seat, after having been temporarily occupied by Washburn, permanent- ly falls to Dawes. Schurz is succeeded by Cockrell, who was a general in the Confederate army. He is an imaginative orator, .and in depth and brilliancy will not compare with his predecessor. •Cameron of Wisconsin, who takes the place of Carpenter, is un- derstood to be a man of some mark, but as a lawyer and a debater he will not take rank with the man whom he badly beat in the Legislature. Kernan, the successor of Fenton, is among the fore- most members of the bar. Wallace, who fills Scott's chair, is an acute politician of the Pennsylvania type. McDonald, who dis- rplaces Pratt, is one of the ablest Democrats in Indiana. Stewart makes way for Sharon, the rich miner, who lives in San Francisco, but represents Nevada as a rotten borough. Eaton, who takes the vacant seat of Buckingham, has long stood at the head of the Connecticut Democracy. Christiancy, who drove out Zack Chan- dler, was Chief Justice of Michigan when elected, and is a learned ?lawyer. Randolph, who follows Stockton, is a man of about the •same caliber, while the successor of Hamilton is Whyte, who has been Governor of Maryland, and is the grandson of the famous William Pinkney, one of the great men of the last generation. Upon the whole perhaps the eleven new Senators make good ihe places of their predecessors. The only other new Senators of much mark are McMillan, of Minnesota, who has been Chief Justice of that State ; Withers of Virginia, who was a gen- eral in the Confederate- army, and since that time Lieutenant- Governor; Burnside, a major-general of volunteers, and for two or three terms Governor of Rhode Island; and Booth, recently -Governor of California, largely engaged in commercial pursuits on the Pacific coast, and holding an independent position in •politics. In the last Senate the Republicans had fifty-three members, in- cluding Schurz, Fenton, and Hamilton of Texas, who, at one time, counted as Liberals. The Democracts had twenty members, in- cluding Tipton of Nebraska, who was formerly a Liberal. This gave the Republicans thirty-three majority, with one vacancy in Louisiana. In this Senate the Republicans have forty-three members, and the Democrats, twenty-nine, giving the Republicans a majority of fourteen, Gov. Booth standing as an Independent, and the vvacancy in Louisiana still continuing. -^o^^- |!Ti^f^iR?]^^iriisMgi^jLM^siKiaMiriii£SM - Centennial Buildings. v'\a^ AORlCLIKTXIRsQLli BXIIIIDTX<>. 1376. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 349 THE WORLD'S PROGRESS IN THIS CENTURY. Few phenomena are more remarkable, yet few have been less remarked, than the degree in which material civilization — the progess of mankind in all those contrivances which oil the wheels and promote the comfort of daily life — has been concentrated into the present century. It is not too much to say that in these respects more has been done, richer and more prolific discoveries have been made, grander achievements have been realized, in the course of the sixty or seventy years of our own life-time than in all the previous life-time of the race, since States, Nations, and Politics, such as history makes us acquainted with, have had their being. Consider only the three momentous matters of light, locomotion, and communication, and we shall see that this generation contrasts surprisingly with the aggregate ot the progress effected in all pre- vious generations put together since the earliest dawn of authentic history. The lamps and torches which illuminated Belshazzar's feast were probably just as brilliant, and framed out of the same materials, as those which shone upon the splendid fetes of Ver- sailles when Marie Antoinette presided over them, or those of the Tuilleries during the Imperial magnificence of the first Napoleon. Pine wood, oil, and perhaps wax, lighted the banquet-halls of the wealthiest nobles in the eighth century before Christ and in the eighteenth century after Christ, there was little difference, except in the finish of workmanship and elegance of design — little, if any, advance, we mean, in the illuminating power or in the source whence that power was drawn — between the lamps used in the days of the Pyramids, the days of the Coliseum, and the days of Kensington Palace. Fifty years ago, that is, we burnt the same articles, and got about the same amount of light from them, as we did four thousand years ago. Now we use gas of which each burner is equal to fifteen or twenty candles ; and when we wish for more, can have recourse to the electric light or analogous in- ventions, which are fifty-fold more brilliant and far-reaching than even the best gas. The streets of cities, which, from the days of Pharaoh to those of Voltaire, were dim and gloomy, even where not wholly unlighted, now blaze everywhere with some- thing of the brilliancy of the moonlight. In a word, all the ad- vance that has been made in these respects has been made since many of us were children. We remember light as it was in the days of Solomon, we see it as Drummond and Faraday have made it. The same may be said of locomotion. Nimrod and Noah trav- eled just in the same way, and at just the same rate, as Thomas Acsheton Smith and Mr. Coke, of Norfolk. The chariots of the 350 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Olympic Games went just as fast as the chariots that conveyed our nobles to the Derby, " in our hot youth, when George the Third was King." When Abraham wanted to send a message to Lot, he dispatched a man on horseback, who galloped twelve miles an hour. When our fathers wanted to send a message to their nephews they could do no better, and go no quicker. When we were young, if we wished to travel from London to Edinburg, we thought ourselves lucky if we could average eight miles an hour — ^just as Robert Bruce might have done. Now in our old age we feel ourselves aggrieved if we do not average forty miles. Everything that has been done in this line since the world be- gan — everything, perhaps, that the capacities of matter and the conditions of the human frame will ever allow to be done — ha? been done since we were boys. The same at sea. Probably when the wind was favorable, Ulysses, who was a bold and skill- ful navigator, sailed as fast as a Dutch merchantman of the year 1800, nearly as fast as an Amarican yacht or clipper of our father's day. Now we can steam twelve and fifteen miles an hour with wonderful regularity, whether wind and tide be favorable or not ; nor is it likely that we shall ever be able to go much faster. But the progress in the means of communication is the most remark- able of all. In this respect Mr. Pitt was no better off than Per- icles or Agamemnon. If Ruth had wished to write to Naomi, or David to send word of love to Jonathan when he was a hundred miles away, they could not possibly have done it under twelve hours. Nor could we to our friends fifty years ago. PRES. GRANT'S REVIEW OF THE CENTURY. December 7, 1875. — In submitting my seventh annual message to Congress, in this Centennial year of our national existence as a free and independent people, it affords me great pleasure to recur to the advancement that has been made from the time of the colonies, one hundred years ago. We were then a people numbering only 3,000,000 ; now, we number more than 40,000,000. Then, industries were confined almost exclusively to the tillage of the soil ; now, manufactories absorb much of the labor of the country. Our liberties remain unimpaired. The bondsmen have been freed from slavery. We have become possessed of the re- spect, if not of the friendship, of all civilized nations. Our pro- gress has been great in all the arts, in science, agriculture, com- merccs navigation, mining, mechanics, law, medicine, etc. ; and, in general education, the progress is likewise encouraging. Our thirteen states have become thirty-eight, — including Colorado, which has taken the initiatory steps to become a state, and eight OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 35 H territories, including the Indian territory and Alaska, and exclu- ding Colorado, — making a territory extending from the Atlantic: to the Pacific. On the south, we have extended to the Gulf ofi Mexico ; and on the west, from the Mississippi to the Pacific- One hundred years ago, the cotton-gin, the steamship, the railroad^ the telegraph, the reaping, sewing, and modern printing machines^ and numerous other inventions of scarcely less value to our busi- nesj and happiness, were entirely unknown. In 1776, manufac- tures scarcely existed even in name in all this vast territory ; in 1870, more than 2,000,000 persons were employed in manufactories, pro- ducing more than ^2,100,000,000 of produce in amount annually, — nearly equal to the national debt. From nearly the whole of the population of 1776 beiiig engaged in the one occupation of agricul- ture, in 1870 so numerous and diversified had become the occu^ pations of our people that less than 6,000,000 out of more than 40,000,000 wer.e so engaged. The extraordinary effect produced in our country by a resort to such occupations has built a market for the products of fertile lands distant from the seaboard and the markets of the world. The American system of working var- ious and extensive manufactories next to the plow and the pasture, and adding connecting railroads and steamboats, has produced in our distant country results not equaled by the intelligent parts of other nations. The ingenuity and skill of American mechanics have been demonstrated at home and abroad, in a manner most flattering to their pride. But for the extraordinary genius and ability^ of our mechanics, the achievements of our agriculturists, manu--- facturers, and transporters, throughout the country, would- have been impossible of attainment. The progress of the miner has also been great. Of coal our production was small ;. now, many millions of tons are mined annually. So with iron,- which formed scarcely an appreciable part of our products half a century ago; we now produce more than the world consumed at the beginning of our national existence. Lead, zinc, and copper^- from being articles of import, we may expect to be large exporters of in the near future. The development of gold and silver mines throughout the states and territories has not only been remarkable, but has had a large influence upon the business of all commerciali nations. Our merchants in the last hundred years have had a- success, and have established a reputation for enterprise, sagacity^v progress, and integrity, unsurpassed by people of older nationali- ties. This good name is not confined to their homes, but goes out upon every sea and into every port where commerce enters. With equal pride we can point to our progress in all the learned- professions. As we are now about to enter upon our second Cen- tennial, commencing our manhood as a nation, it is well to look back upon the past, and study what will be best to preserve and- advance our future greatness. •352 -FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. THE UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL INTERNATION- AL EXHIBITION. TO BE HELD A. D. 1876, IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. An Act of Congress, approved March 3, 187 1, provided for the .national celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Inde- pendence of the United States, by the holding of an Exhibition .of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the soil and mine. A Proclamation by the President, issued July 4, 1873, announced the Exhibition and National Celebration, and commended them to the people of the United States and of all nations. The act of Congress provided for the organization of the Uni- ted States Centennial Commission, " whose duty it shall be to pre- pare and superintend the execution of a plan for holding the Exhibition." Upon the nomination of the Governors of the sev- eral states and territories, the President appointed the members Main Building 2147 3. Education and Science, ) 4 Art Art Gallery 1.5 5. Machinery Machinery Building 14. 6. Agriculture Agricultural Building 10. .7. Horticulture Horticultural Building 15 Total 48.47 This provided nearly ten more acres for exhibiting space than there were at Vienna, the largest International Exhibition before held. Yet the applications of exhibitors were so numerous as to exhaust the space, and many important classes of objects were provided for in special buildings. The Women's Centennial Executive Committee raised ^30,000 for the erection of a pavilion in which to exhibit every kind of women's work. To this collection women of all nations con- tributed. The list of special buildings is constantly increasing, and the indications are that their total number will be from 200 to 250. Most of the important foreign nations — England, Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, Egypt, Japan, and others — put up one ,or more structures each, for exhibiting purposes, or for the use of the commissioners, exhibitors, and visitors. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AN: TERRITORIES MAINE. i)N the year 1638, the same year in which New Haven was set- tled, Ferdinand Gorges procured a charter of the King of England for all the lands from the borders of New Hampshire, on the south-west, to Sagadahoc, on the Kennebec River, on the north-east, under the name of the Province of Maine. It remained a separate province till 1652, when it became a part of Massachu- setts. Various attempts were made, between 1785 and 1802 to form it into an independent State ; but these efforts failed. In 1819 a large majority of the people were in favor of separating from Massachusetts. A convention was called, a Constitution prepared and adopted, and, in 1820, Maine was received into the Union. It is by no means an agricultural State, but its extensive fisheries and great lumber trade have greatly enriched it, and its progress in morality has, perhaps, been superior to that of any other State. The staple export of the State is lumber, of which vast quanti- ties are manufactured from the boundless forests. Her water power is good, but little attention is yet given to the manufacture of woolen or cotton, though the interest in this branch of busi- ness is increasing. The State has made steady progress in rail- road and other internal improvements. The soil is good and pro- ductive; the mineral resources limited. It was settled in 1625, at Bristol, by the English. The population is 626,915. It forms part of the first judicial circuit and constitutes one judicial district. It has thirteen ports of entry, and thirty-two ports of delivery. 23 .353 354 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The capital is Augusta, on the Kennebec river. The State elections are held on the second Monday of Sep^ tember ; and the Legislature meets on the first Wednesday at January in each year. NEW HAMPSHIRE. ]f/^f^'H.lS State was a part of Massachusetts up to the year 168a,. l^i^ It was, however, settled in 1624, the first settlement being formed at Dover by the English. In 1680 it was erected into a separate colony, and its first legislative assembly met that year. John Mason was its first Governor. It suffered severely from Indian wars, and its progress, during the first years of its existence, was slow. In 1742 it contained only six hundred persons liable to taxation. Its first Constitution was formed in 1683. It suffered from the effects of an insurrection in 1686, although prior and subsequent to this affair, it seems to have been one of the most peaceful and quiet of the colonies. It is distinguished for its excellent pastures, towering hills, and fine cattle. The White Mountains are the highest in New England. This State took a prominent and active part in the Revolution. It ratified the Constitution June 21, 1788, since which time it has been highly prosperous. The soil is sterile, and a very large proportion is devoted to grazing purposes. New Hampshire has but one navigable river, and that but a short distance, but her water power is good and the people are largely engaged in manufactures. Fine quarries of marble and granite are abundant ; and minerals of almost every specie, and a variety of precious stones are found in different por- tions of the State. The population, according to last census, was. 318,300. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 355 It lies in the first judicial circuit ; constitutes one judicial dis- trict ; and is embraced in one collection district, and therefore has but one port of entry. There are three ports of delivery. The capital is Concord. The Legislature assembles on the first Monday in June, the State election being held the second Tuesday in March. VERMONT. ^*'?HE territory of Which this State is composed began to be set- tled in the year i73i,butwas for some years considered as a part of New Hampshire. It was also claimed at one time by New York, and a contest arose between that State and New Hamp- shire, which was adjusted by the King of England in a manner by no means satisfactory to the settlers. The result was a quarrel between Vermont and the Crown, in which the Green Mountain Boys, led by Col. Ethan Allen, resisted the officers of justice, as well as the New York militia, who were called out to sustain them. The province appears not to have had even a territorial gov- ernment until 1777, at which time a convention of delegates met at Westminster, and declared themselves an independent State, under the name of New Connecticut. Previous to this time, however, they had rendered material aid to the Revolution. In May, 1775, Col. Allen, at the head of two hundred and seventy men, reduced Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and thus became complete masters of Lake Champlain. During the whole, period of the Revolution the State did good service in the cause of lib- erty, although it remained independent. Some time subsequent to its declaration of independence its name was changed to Vermont. As it was not one of the original States, it did not ratify the Con- stitution, but, upon application, was admitted to the Union during the second session of Congress, in the year 1791. J56 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The climate of Vermont is pleasant, and the temperature even. The soil, in the valleys, is fertile, and large quantities of maple sugar are made. The water power of Vermont is the best in New England, but is but little used. Granite, marble and slate are found in large quantities. Iron and sulphuret of iron are abund- ant. A most liberal provision is made for education. Present population, 33O5552, It has three representatives in Congress; forms part of the second judicial circuit, and constitutes one judicial district. One port of entry and two of delivery are authorized to be named by the President of the United States. Montpelier is the capital. The State election is held on the first Tuesday in September and the Legislature meets on the first Wednesday in October. MASSACHUSETTS. ^fei?'^^^^*^^^^^'^'^^ was settled in the year 1620, by the Jp^JvP Puritans. These people, having been severely persecuted ^L^^^ in England, had previously taken refuge in Holland ; but for various reasons they determined, after remaining in Holland a season, to emigrate to the New World. They started at a very unpropitious season, arriving at New England in the winter. The severity of the climate and the scarcity of food at times, ope- rated seriously against their comfort and progress. It is said that they were frequently threatened with starvation. At one time the entire company had but one pint of Indian corn, which being divided equally among them, allowed to each person eight grains. But, unlike the early settlers of Virginia, they were all working men, and good economists. From the time of the landing at Plymouth up to 169 1, this first settlement was known as the Ply- mouth Colony. Meantime another settlement had been formed, ART G-ALU^RY Horticultural Hall. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 359 -Styled the Massachusetts Colony. Both were for some years under the control of a London company. In 1691 Massachusetts and Plymouth Colonies were united, and thenceforward their history is one. The people of Massachusetts were, during the early part of their colonial existence, sorely vexed, at times, by the Indians, especially by the Pequods, They, unfortunately, had imbibed, during their own persecutions, too much of the spirit of conscrip- tion and, although themselves refugees from religious bigotry, sullied much of their history prior to the Revolution by punishing what they called heresy in the Quakers and Baptists. During 1774 and 1775, Massachusetts took a very prominent part in favor •of colonial rights, and was the first State to manifest the spirit of resentment toward Great Britain. This State has wisely made education one of its first objects, and its public school system is unsurpassed. The public schools are supported by direct tax. Harvard College, at Cambridge, is the oldest University in the Union. Massachusetts is the third State in the Union in manufactures, and first in cotton and woolen. Its cotton mills alone furnish employment to 24,988 persons. In internal improvements, she is also rich, and in proportion to her size, is really the most important State in the Union. Salem is the oldest city in New England, celebrated alike for being the place where the Pilgrim Fathers landed when they arrived from England, and for being the scene of the witchcraft superstition. Boston has long enjoyed the title of the Athens of America, and is justly celebrated for the high and intellectual character of her inhabitants. The State has an area of 7,800 square miles. Her population in 1870 was 1,457,351, and entitles her to eleven Members of Congress. It is in the first judicial circuit, and forms one ju- icial district. There are fourteen ports of entry, and twenty-five ports of delivery in this State. Boston is the Capital, the metropolis of New England, and an important center of intellectual and business energy. The Leg- islature meets on the first Wednesday in January, and the State elections are held on Tuesday after the first Monday in January. 36o FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, RHODE ISLAND. )N June, 1636, Roger Williams, an earnest, enthusiastic advo- cate of religious liberty in the broadest sense, having been ban- ished by the Puritans of Massachusetts from that colony, went to what is now known as Rhode Island, purchased the present site of Providence of the Narragansett Indians, and founded a col- ony, of which he was at once pastor, teacher, and father. He donated land to any whom he thought worthy, and Providence Plantation, as it was long called, became an asylum for persecuted Christians of all denominations, especially the Baptists. The first settlement in Rhode Island proper, -was formed by William Codington, in the year 1636, Up to 1640 the citizens of Rhode Island made their own laws in general convention. But, in 1644, Roger Williams^ with the aid of Gov. Vane, of Massachusetts, procured a charter for two settlements, under the name of Rhode Island and Provi- idence Plantations. The Constitution framed under this charter was a good one; and lasted until the year 1818. For many years; the legislative assembly of this colony met twice a year. Rhode Island is distinguished as the smallest State in the Union. It did noble service in the war for independence, but did not, for some reason, adopt the Constitution till the 29th of May^ 1790. It has been a highly prosperous State ; is distinguished for its good schools and large manufactories. There are no lofty mountains — no rivers of imposing length or breadtli,' and but few minerals ; but the Narragansett Bay, which divides the State into two parts, is picturesque and beautiful — ^thickly studded with a charming cluster of islands. The State is actively engaged ia manufactures, and her water-power is unsurpassed. Education receives a fair share of interest, and the State is alive with energj? and activity. Present population 220,350. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 361 Rhode Island forms part of the first judicial circuit ; consti-' tutes one judicial district; and has an area of but 1,306 square miles, or 835,840 acres, and has three ports of entry, and seven- of delivery. It has two capitals, having been originally formed of two separate colonies. These are Providence and Newport. The election for State officers is held on the first Wednesday in April. The Legislature is held twice in the year, in May and January. CONNECTICUT. N the year 1633, the Puritans of Massachusetts, having heard' very flattering reports of the valley of Connecticut, resolved to^ make an effort to settle it. Accordingly, a company of them sailed for the Connecticut River, taking with them the frame of a^ house. Meantime the Dutch, claiming the territory as theirs, built a fort on the river where Hartford now stands, to prevent the emi-- grants from passing up. The Yankees, however, with that steady perseverance which has always marked their course, proceeded on their way, paying no attention to the Dutch fort, whose only demon- stration was an unexecuted threat to fire on the emigrants if they' passed it. Landing where Farmington River enters the Connect-- icut, they founded the town of Windsor. Other settlements were subsequently formed at Westfield, Hartford and Watertown. The first general court was held at Hartford, in the year 1636. The province suffered severely from the depredations of the Pequot Indians, with which tribe a great and decisive battle was ulti- mately fought on the river Mystic, in the year 1636. This battle resulted in the destruction of the Pequot tribe. During this year the towns of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield met ia convention and formed a government, electing John Haynes the' first Governor of the colony. ^62 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Its course from this period forward was one of great prospenly. 'It stood in the front rank during the war for Independence, and in 'jio case was ever known to flinch from duty. It ratified the Con- ^stitution June 9, 1788. In minerals, Connecticut is very rich. Marble of a fine quality iis abundant, as is also granite. But the beryl and the chrysoberyl a,re found near Haddam, and Columbite near Middletown. Gold, silver, lead, iron, and copper are found in different parts of the .State, as also bismuth. Her manufacturing and educational interests, as in most of the Eastern States, are in a flourishing condition. Yale College, in this State, is very old, having been founded in 1700. A curious law once existed in Connecticut prohibiting kissing. One trial is on record where, under this law, the parties were proven guilty and fined twenty shillings each. It is to be presumed that it is long since repealed. Population, 537,454. Its area is small, embracing only 4,674 square miles, or 2,991,- 360 acres. It has four representatives in Congress. It is part of the second judicial circuit, and constitutes one judicial district. It has five ports of entry, and five collection districts, with |;wenty-two ports of delivery. It has had two capitals ever since the first two colonies, estab- lished at Hartford and New Haven, were united ; and holds its State election on the first Monday in April, The Legislature jneets the first Wednesday in May. OUR GOVERNMEJST AND HISTORY. 3^3 NEW YORK. ^APTAIN Henry Hudson, the famous voyager, discovered what is now New York, together with a considerable extent of territory contiguous to it, in the year 1609. Although an Englishman by nativity, Hudson was at this time employed by the Dutch (Hollanders), who, consequently, claimed the territory. Meantime the English set up a claim to it, as being part of North Virginia. They also claimed it on account of Hudson being an Englishman. The Dutch, however, determined to hold it, and in 1 6 ID opened a trade with the natives at Manhattan Island, on the spot where the city of New York now stands. They erected a fort on or near the site of Albany, named the country in general. New Netherlands, and the station at Manhattan, New Amsterdam. The Dutch retained the country until the year 1664. It seems that, up to this time, they claimed not only the present territory of New York, but also that of Connecticut and New Jersey. The liberal governments of the surrounding colonies stood in great contrast with the despotic one imposed by the Dutch Government upon their American colonists. And when, in 1664, the English squadron dispatched by James, Duke of York, with instructions to take possession of the province of New Netherlands, appeared before New Amsterdam, the inhabitants were willing to capitulate without resistance. Peter Stuyvesant, their Governor, and an able executive, made vain efforts to arouse them to defense, and was forced to surrender. The English Government was now acknowledged over the whole of New Netherlands, the capital receiving the name of New York, as well 364 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. as the province. From this time forward to the Revolutionary War, New York remained in the hands of the English, and was. under the control of a very arbitrary succession of governors. The progress of the colony was steady in numbers, wealth and civilization. It took an active part in the Revolution, and adopted its Constitution July 26, 1788. After this it outstripped every State in the Union in everything pertaining to wealth and greatness, save education, in which matter no State can compare with Massachusetts. The commerce of New York is immense — greater, by far, than of any other State — and she possesses one of the finest harbors in the world. Almost every variety of industry, and manufacture, and art is represented and encouraged, and carried to great per- fection. Its internal improvements are carried on on a large scale, and nothing is omitted which would add to the wealth of the State or the people. New York city is the most important city in the Union. Unfortunately, its situation will prevent it from becoming the largest. The hotels of New York are the finest in the world. The State is rich in minerals, and mineral and salt springs abound. The soil is good, and scientific farming is carried to a high degree of excellence. The population is 4)374,499- Its area is 47,000 square miles, equal to 30,080,000 acres. It has thirty-three Members of Congress. It forms part of the second judicial circuit, and has three judi- cial districts , eleven ports of entry, and fourteen ports of deliv- ery, with the privilege of eight or nine others ii the President of the United States deems them necessary. The Capital is Albany. The State elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and the Legislature meets on the first Tuesday in January in each year. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 365 NEW JERSEY, /i^ T first, formed a part of the Dutch province of New Nether- ^^^ lands. But soon after the latter came into the hands of the English, the Territory of New Jersey was transferred to Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret, by the Duke of York. The first permanent settlement was formed at Elizabethtown, in 1664, by emigrants from Long Island. Philip Carteret arrived in the ■colony in 1665, and became its first governor. The province had very little trouble with the Indians. Many emigrants from New England and New York soon arrived, and for a series of years the •colony advanced in prosperity. It enjoyed the blessings flowing from a liberal form of government. In the year 1685 the Duke of York became the King of Eng- land, under the title of James II, and disregarding his former pledges, assumed, in 1688, the government of New Jersey, placing it under the control of Sir Edmund Andros, whom he had already made Governor of New York and New England. This state of things was terminated by the revolution in England, but left New Jersey for years in a very precarious condition. In 1702, its proprietors having resigned their claims, it became a royal province, and was united to New York. In 1738 it became again a separate provin :e. and so continued until the Revolution, in which it took a very active part in favor of liberty. It ratified the Constitution December 18, 1787. Thenceforward its career lias been a highly prosperous one. The scenery of New Jersey is picturesque and beautiful ; and its watering places are our most fashionable resorts during the .summer season. The State is also rich in minerals, and its beds of marl and peat are very extensive. Its commerce is limited, but its manufactures are excellent and its water power not surpassed, A great deal of attention is given to education, and her colleges and libraries are in a prosperous condition. 366 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. It has an area of 8,320 square miles, or 5,324,800 acres. The population, by the census of 1870, was 905,794, which gives her seven Representatives in Congress. This State lies in the third judicial circuit, and forms one ju- dicial district. There are six ports of entry and as many collec- tion districts ; and also eight ports of delivery Its capital is Trenton. The State election is held on the Tues- day after the first Monday in November, and the Legislature assembles the second Tuesday in January. PENNSYLVANIA. fHE Old Keystone State, and one of the most wealthy and prosperous in the Union, was settled by the Quakers, under the direction of Wm. Penn, at Philadelphia, in the year 1682. The founder of this colony showed himself a philosopher, philan- thropist, and thorough political economist, at the very commence- ment of his labors. He put the province under the government of a Council of Three and a House of Delegates, chosen by the freemen, who, according to his arrangement, were all those who acknowledged the existence of one God. He pursued such a course with the natives as won their confidence and esteem. No Quaker was ever murdered by an Indian; and to this day the "sons of Wm. Pean" are everywhere respected by the savage. The treaty Penn made with the Indians was never violated. In framing the colonial government, he provided for the largest relig- ious liberty, allowing every one to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience. Up to 1864, Delaware, as before men- tioned, was included in Penn's grant. But about this time he procured a new charter, more strictly defining the rights and limits i.- ?/'^.^ ' . ' 1 EMIGRANT TRAIN GOLD HUNTERS 1 849. CHINESE, GOLD MINING IN CALIFORNIA. OUR GOVERNMENT. AND HISTORY. 369 of Pennsylvania, and Delaware was detached. For seventy years prosperity smiled upon this colony, during much of which time Penn was, according to the historian, its governor, magistrate, preacher and teacher. It was troubled with no Indian wars till 1754, Avhen Penn's example and teachings began to be forgotten. The population, owing to a considerable influx from Sweden, Germany, and some other countries, began, at a later date, to assume a more varied aspect ; and when the colonies rebelled against the mother country, Pennsylvania contained sufficient " fighting " material to lend valuable assistance to the cause of liberty. Pennsylvania stands first in the abundance and quality of her coal and iron, and though no diamond fields have made her a sec- ond Golconda, no exhaustless mines of gold ranked her an Eldo- rado, yet her more substantial metals have steadily increased her prosperity. Her coal, iron, copper, zinc, marble and slate are apparently inexhaustible, while in greater or less quantities, all the rarer minerals are found in different sections of the country. The railroads and canals of Pennsylvania are very important, and both in number of miles and cost of construction she stands num- ber one. Her school system is excellent, and has received great attention. Population, 3,519,601. Its area is 46,000 square miles, equal to 29,440,000 acres. The population entitles it to twenty-seven Representatives in Congress. It is in the third judicial circuit; and forms two judicial dis- tricts. There are two ports of entry, and two collection districts. Harrisburg is the capital ; the Legislature assembling on the first Tuesday in January, the State elections being held on Tuesday following the first Monday in November. 24 370 • FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. DELAWARE. USTAVUS Adolphus, King of Sweden, formed a plan of establishing colonies in America as early as the year 1626. But as he died on the field of Leutzen, during the German war in 1633, without carrying his scheme into effect, his minister took it up, and employed Peter Minuets, the first Governor of New Netherlands to carry it into effect. In 1 638, a small Swedish colony arrived under the direction of Minuets, and settled on Christian Creek, near the present town of Wilmington. Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the Dutch Government of New Netherlands, who claimed the territory, the Swedes continued to extend their settlements from this time until they pre-empted all the territory from Cape Henlopen to the falls of the Delaware. At this time the colony was called New Sweden. In 165 1, Governor Stuy- vesant, to check the aggressive movements of the Swedes, built a fort near the present site of New Castle, of which the Swedes afterward obtained possession by stratagem. Enraged at this movement, the Government of Holland ordered Stuyvesant to reduce the Swedes to submission, which he speedily accomplished with six hundred men, in 1655. The province was soon after annexed to New Netherlands. Delaware was, after it fell into the hands of the English, included in the grant made to William Penn, in 1692. It remained attached to Pennsylvania till 1691, when it was allowed a separate government. It was reunited to Pennsylvania in 1692. • In 1703 it was again separated, having OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 371 its own legislature, though the same Governor presided over both colonies. The ancient forms of the government were preserved through the revolutionary struggle. It ratified the Constitution December 7, 1787. The direct foreign trade of Delaware is scarcely worthy of men- tion, as all its business passes through Philadelphia and New York. She sends large quantities of fruit to the North, and both the quantity and quality are being improved upon every year. The climate is fine, but the sea breeze renders the winters some- what severe. The soil is productive, and it is rapidly becoming one of the most fertile and prosperous States. Delaware is without mineral wealth of any sort, if we except a fine glass sand, which is exported to the New England States. The population is 125,015. It is next to Rhode Island in size, containing the small area of 2,120 square miles, or 1,356,800 acres. 372 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. MARYLAND. ?|^f^N 1632, Sir George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) visited America, explored a tract of country lying on the Chesapeake Bay, be- longing to what was then called South Virginia, and returned to England to procure a grant for it. But before the patent was made out, he died, and it was given to his son Cecil. The pro- vince was named by King Charles I. in the patent, in honor of his Queen, Henrietta Maria. A part of the province appears to have been included in the grant made sometime afterward to William Penn, and to have caused much contention between the successors of Penn and Baltimore. In March, 1634, Leonard Calvert, the brother of Cecil, arrived at the mouth of the Potomac River, bringing with him two hun- dred emigrants, most of whom were Roman Catholic gentlemen. Leaving the vessel, he ascended in a pinnace as far as Piskataqua, an Indian village nearly opposite Mount Vernon. The Indian Sachem gave him full liberty to settle there if he chosQ ; but not deeming it safe, he began a settlement lower down on a branch of the Potomac, at the Indian town of Yoacomoc. The settlement was called St. Mary's. Maryland made a very fortunate beginning. The colonists arrived in time to make a crop for that year. Their neighbors in Virginia supplied them with cattle, and protected them in great part from the Indians, while their own kind and consistent course materially promoted their happy relations with the savages. The charter granted them was very liberal — ceding to them the full power of legislation, without any interference on the part of the Crown. In 1635 they made laws for their government, which were somewhat modified in 1636. In 1650 they had, like Virginia, an upper and lower legislative assembly. Pop., 780,894. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 373 Maryland has an area of 11,124 square miles — equal to 7,119,* 360 acres. The population gives her six Representatives in Con- gress. By an act of Congress, passed in 1866, this State was put in the fourth judicial circuit, which is composed of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina. Maryland constitutes one judicial district ; has ten ports of entry, viz. : Baltimore, Chester, Oxford, Vienna, Snow-Hill, Annapolis, Not- tingham, St. Mary's, Georgetown, and Havre de Grace; and twelve ports of delivery. Annapolis is the capital. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The Legislature meets on the first Wednesday in January. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. I^^i^f^HE District, originally ten miles square, now embraces an Jv^ area of but sixty square miles. It is the seat of our Na- ^T^ tional Government, and lies at the head of tide water, on the east side of the Potomac River. It includes both the cities of Washington and Georgetown. Until the year 178 1 it was governed by Congress, but in that year a law was passed giving the District the control of its own affairs. At the time that war was declared between the Colonies and Great Britain, Philadel- phia was the Capital of the new territory, and continued to be so until 1783. At that time some difficulty arose between a band of dissatisfied soldiers, Avho marched to the hall where Congress was in session, forced the doors of the building, and in a violent and in- sulting manner demanded the back pay due them, amounting to a considerable sum, and which it was not then in the power of the Government to pay. The outrage pressed upon their attention the subject, already under consideration, of a better site for the Capitol, removed from the seat of war and beyond danger of a recurrence of such scenes. It was proposed that it be located on the banks of the Delaware or Potomac river, and in December, 1788, Delaware, through its legislature, offered Congress the necessary ground, provided it did not cover to exceed ten miles square. The matter was debated in Congress, and the North and ITouth, then, as sir.ce, divided upon almost every question, clam- 374 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ored like two spoiled children for the location of the new build- ings. The House of Representatives at one time declared the Capital should be in Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna, at which the South demurred. Germantown was next proposed — voted upon by the House, and carried by a vote of 31 to 19. The fur- ther consideration of the matter was then postponed until the next session of Congress, and so, for the time, Germantown was the Capital. The South was very much excited over the state of affairs ; the North was anything but pleased with it, and in De- cember, 1789, Virginia ceded a district to Congress on the Poto, mac for the purpose of founding there the Capital, and also pledged herself to give the sum of $120,000 for the erection of public buildings ; at the same time asking the intercession of Ma- ryland to induce Congress to accept the gift, and also to pledge herself to give $25,000 for the same purpose. Maryland agreed to both propositions. In Congress the matter came to a complete standstill. Neither the North nor South would yield, and it re- quired the most delicate diplomacy just then to prevent serious trouble. The great question which at that time hung suspended over the heads of politicians, like the fabled sword, by a single hair, was the debt of the States, amounting to $21,000,000 ; and it had become in some way a party question, and also become in some way, associated with the location of the Capital. It is for- tunate that when matters had assumed this ominous form, we had wise men at the helm of our Ship of State. Jefferson was Secre- tary of State, and Hamilton of the Treasury, and they were clearsighted enough to see that there must be a compromise between the two sections, or there would be a sad rupture. The South must be won over to consent to the General Government's assuming the debt, while the North must accept the offer of Vir- ginia and Maryland. The thing was at length brought around by the utmost tact and delicacy, and the interests of the North and South so skillfully balanced that the threatening clouds passed over, and again sunshine flooded the land. Commissioners were appointed, three in number, to survey the District, and on the 15th of April of the same year, the corner stone was laid at Jones Point, near Alexandria ; and having located its boundaries, it was christened " Columbia," with appropriate honors. The next step was to lay off the new city, which was done by Major L'En- fant, and it was called " Washington." The Capitol building is OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 375 not yet finished, and will cost, when completed, from twelve to fifteen million dolters. Georgetown is separated from Washington only by Rock Creek. It is a beautiful town, and the inhabitants are noted for culture, intellect, and hospitality. The Georgetown College, a noted Roman Catholic institution, is located here, as also is a fine hospital for sailors, said to be one of the best planned and conducted in the Union. The population of Georgetown is 11,384; that of Washington, 107,204. The population of the entire District is 131,000. S^i VIRGINIA. ?HE Old Dominion," so distinguished as being the native State of the Father of American Liberty, and the " Mother of Presidents," really seemed at one time to be peculiarly favorable to the birth and development of statesmen. It has furnished no less than five Presidents, among whom are Washington, Monroe, Madison and Jefferson, It was the first Colony, on the Continent, settled by the English. In 1607, a com- pany formed under the patronage of James I. obtained a grant to make settlements in America, between the 34th and 38th degrees of north latitude. In May, 1607, a colony of one hundred and five persons, under direction of this company, arrived off the coast of South Virginia. Their intention had been to form a settlement on Roanoke, now in North Carolina ; but being driven north by a violent storm, they discovered and entered the mouth of Chesa- peake Bay. Passing up this bay they named its capes Henry and Charles, in honor of the king's two sons. They were com- manded by Capt. Christopher Newport, an experienced navigator. Passing up James River, they arrived at a peninsula, upon which they landed and established Jamestown. 37^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. After promulgating a code of laws which had been formed by the London company, Capt. Newport sailed for England, leaving the colony under the care of Capt. John Smith, whose subsequent relations to the settlement became so important, and without whose efforts the enterprise would doubtless have proved a fail- ure. The colonists seem to have been very poorly adapted to the labor required at their hands. Too many of them -^ox^ gentlemen, and came, it appears, only to enrich themselves by gathering gold, which, they had heard, was very abundant. The State is especially rich in mineral resources, which are yet but slightly developed. Gold is found in many parts of it, and its copper ore is very rich. Iron is abundant, while immense beds, apparently inexhaustible, of both bituminous and anthracite coal are found in the mountain region, and in and beyond the valley. Salt springs of excellent quality are numerous. Fruits, grain and vegetables of every variety are raised in the State, and the soil is productive. Her commerce in tobacco, flour, oysters and cotton was very valuable previous to the war, and is rapidly improving at present ; and in manufactories — cotton, woolen, leather, iron, steam engines and machinery, lumber, flour, salt and tobacco, she was in advance of many of her sister States. There is no better water power in the world than in Virginia, and on this account she must some day be one of our first manufac- turing States, Her internal improvements are fully medium. The free school system has been fairly established, while some of the colleges are in a most prosperous condition and unsurpassed for the advantages they afford. The Washington-Lee University is very old, dating back of the revolutionary war. It was endowed and opened by Washington, and after the war of 1861 it was reopened by Gen. Lee, who was its president. After his death it was given his name, in addition to that of Washington, Virginia is also one of the original thirteen States, and had an area previous to the division in 1862, of 61,352 square miles, equal to 39,265,280 acres, but after West Virginia was set off as a separate State, there were but 38,352 square miles left of Ut".<^ o'^'^.e great State, equal to 24,545,280 acres. ■'riff . • "iff I . L '"' -' «V, HmE»^'»,^- ' * I / i^ , -.-1 ■■! Ill -,',"",.' , " 1,,. • . .1 > ^ J I ..J...- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 379 The population in i860 amounted to 1,596,318, which entitles the State to twelve Members of Congres. By the division the number of Representatives was cut down to nine; the new State receiving three out of the twelve. Population in 1870, 1,224,830. Virginia lies in the fourth judicial circuit, which by the act of 1866, was composed of this State, Maryland, West Virginia, and North Carolina and South Carolina. There were two judicial districts in this State, anterior to the division ; the Eastern and the Western. There is now but one. There were also twelve collection districts in this State, and twelve ports of entry, all of which remain the same as they were before West Virginia was cut off, for they were all located on the Atlantic coast, or on the bays and rivers running into the Atlan- tic Ocean ; there are also ten ports of delivery. Richmond is the capital. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The Legislature meets on the first Monday in December. 38o FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. WEST VIRGINIA. ^''^|HE State of West Virginia was separated from the " Old Dominion " in May, 1861, and a convention met at Wheel- 1^"^ ing in November of the same year, to draft a constitution.' On the 31st of Dec. 1867, Congress passed an act admitting the new State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States ; allowing them three Representatives in the House. The scenery is very beautiful, wild and picturesque ; while at Harper's Ferry it is grand beyond the power of the most graphic pen to describe. At this place, on the Maryland side, it is said that nature, with a mighty chisel and master hand has carved, from a bold, protruding rock, a likeness of Washington, so true and faithful a likeness of the noble patriot that any one observes it at a glance. West Virginia covers an area of 23,000 square miles. V/heeling, the capital, is situated in Ohio county, on the eastern shore of the Ohio River. The most valuable mineral in West Virginia is bituminous coal, which lies in stratas from four to six feet deep, very near the sur- face in almost any part of the country. Iron also is abundant, as is timber, of the best varieties. She has not less than 500 miles of completed railroad, and enterprise in this direction is active. Manufactures are also making rapid progress, and becoming an important feature of the State. The population of West Virginia is 442,01-2. The climate is pleasant and mild, and the soil good — an of the country being adapted either to grazing or grain. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 381 It has an area of 23,000 square miles, or 14,720,000 acres. This State has now three Members of Congress.. West Vir- ginia was subsequently put into the fourth judicial circuit, and constitutes one judicial district. Parkersburg, also, was made a port of delivery. Charleston is the capital. The State election is held on the fourth Thursday in October. The Legislature meets on the sec- ond Tuesday in January. THE CAROLINAS. )N the year 1563, the coast of Carolina was explored, and named after Charles IX. of France. The first attempt to settle it was made by the celebrated and accomplished Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1585, twenty-two years before the settlement of Jamestown, and thirty-five years before the Puritans landed at Plymouth. This effort failed, on account of the incapacity of the Governor appointed by Raleigh, and the ill-behavior of the colo- nists toward the natives. The first successful attempt was made sometime between 1640 and 1650, under the direction of Governor Berkley. The settle- ment was made in Albemarle county, by a few Virginia planters. In 1663, a large tract of land, lying between the 30th and 36th degrees of north latitude, having the Atlantic Ocean for its east- ern boundary, was conveyed by Charles II. to Lord Clarendon and associates, under whose auspices a settlement was made near the mouth of Cape Fear River, in the year 1665, by emigrants from Barbadoes. Sir James Yeomans was appointed Governor. A settlement was made at Port Royal, South Carolina, in 1670; and in 1671, a few persons located at what was then called Old Charleston, which place was abandoned in 1680, and the founda- tion of the present city of Charleston laid, several miles nearer the sea. All the various settlements here mentioned went under the gen- eral name of Carolina, until 15 71, when a division was made, and the northern and southern portions were called by their distinctive names. North and South Carolina. These States were the scenes of many revolutionary tragedies. South Carolina, in particular, 382 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. although the home of Sumter, and Marion, and Rutledge, was replete with tories (royalists), who spared no efforts to annoy the infant republic, and play into the hands of the British Govern- ment. South Carolina ratified the Constitution May 23, 1788, but threatened to break the compact in 1832, and was only prevented by the stern will of President Jackson. NORTH CAROLINA. POTH the soil and climate of North Carolina are highly favorable to the production of fruit, grain and vegetables. The most important are wheat, corn, rye, oats, potatoes, yams, rice, peas, tobacco, cotton, grapes and turpentine. Albe- marle Sound fisheries are quite important, and 100,000 barrels are taken from these waters alone annually. The minerals consist of iron, coal, copper, gold, silver, plum- bago, lead, marble, agolmatolite, soapstone, mangonese, limestone, whetstone, grindstone, slate, porcelain and pipe clay. A chain ol silver and lead mines extend through the entire cerxter of the State. Population 1,071,404. The manufactures are lumber, iron, paper, spirits of turpentine, wool and cotton. The exports of the State are quite extensive, and since the close of the war, a very large trade has sprung up, which is being rapidly increased. Education, encouraged by the people, is making rapid forward strides. This is one of the original thirteen States, and has an area of 50,704 square miles, equal to 32,450,560 acres, with a population of 1,069,614 (one-third colored), and entitled to eight members of Congress. North Carolina, by act of 1866, was located in the fourth judicial circuit, which is composed of Maryland, Vir- ginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and is divided into three judicial districts, ';::.lled the districts of Al- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 383 bemarle, Pamlico, and Cape Fear, The collection districts, and the ports of entry and delivery in this State have been so often modified and discontinued that there is some uncertainty as to the number. There are, as near as we can determine, ten districts, ten ports of entry, and nine ports of delivery. Raleigh is the capital. There the Legislature meets biennially on the first Monday in November. The State election is held on the first Thursday in August. SOUTH CAROLINA. 2^2r^HE climate of this Italy of the New World, is so beauti- ^YK^ ful as to leave nothing to be desired. The soil is so varied as to produce all the products of the north and of the tropics. Cotton, bcUi long and short staple, rice — swamp and upland — sugar, indigo, and tobacoo — oats, wheat, rye, millet and corn — peas, buckwheat, Darley, broomcorn, sorghum, beans, guin- ea corn, sunflower, sweet and Irish potatoes, hops, flax and hemp grow luxuriantly ; while, in a wild or cultivated state, nearly every known fruit, berry and nut, are produced abundantly. Manufac- tures are not very much engaged in, but the State possesses facili- ties for carrying on almost every branch of it. With the products of every land growing at their own door, with fuel and water power in ■ abundance there is nothing to pre- vent her from becoming one of the first manufacturing States in the Union. I will quote a paragraph from a recent State publica- tion : " We have the cotton growing in our broad fields beside streams which furnish mill sites and water power ; we have iron ore in abundance, and fuel ready at hand, to make our own metal and build our own machinery, we have the clay for stoneware and pottery, and the fine kaolin for porcelain silica for glass, fine ;irained and hard woods in our noble forests for all varieties of 3S4 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. cabinet work, and an excellent and ever ready market for all our products." In addition to this they have connection, either by water or rail, with all the world; and railroad stations are of easy access from every part of the state. The future of this favored State shou'ld, and doubtless will be very bright. Its population is 705,163. South Carolina is one of the original thirteen States, and has an area of 29,385 square miles, making 18,806,400 acres, with a population, in 1870, of 728,000, (over half colored), which gives her five Members of Congress. By an act of 1866, South Carolina was located in the fourth ju- dicial circuit : it is divided into two judicial districts, called the Eastern and Western. There are three collection districts in this State and four ports of entry, i"o-wit : Georgetown, Charleston, Beaufort and Port Royal ; but no ports of delivery. The capital is Columbia. The State elections are held on the fourth Monday in November. The Legislature meets on the third Wednesday in October. GEORGIA. Jifr^l ENERAL James Oglethorpe, and a company of twenty- "^SvW^ one others received, in the year 1732, from George II. of ^r^ England, a grant for all the land between the Savannah and the Altamaha rivers. In January, 1732, a company of one hundred and fourteen men, women and children, arrived at Charleston, S. C, destined for Georgia. They were kindly treated by the Charlestonians, and were greatly assisted by them in their labor of forming a colony. The first laws made for the province OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 385 by the twenty-two grantees, prohibited the importation of rum, trade with the Indians, and the use of negroes. They also pro- vided that lands should go back to the original owners in case the purchaser had no male heirs. Although the first, second, and third of these provisions were undoubtedly wholesome, the fourth was highly objectionable, and tended very much to retard the progress of the colony. In the year 1740 General Oglethorpe, as commander-in-chief of the forces in Georgia, at the head of two thousand men, invaded Florida with the intention of forcibly an- nexing it to Georgia ; but he was soon repelled from the territory, and returned home bootless. The Spanish, in turn, with two sail of vessels and three thousand men, invaded Georgia in 1742, and were likewise forced to return home thwarted. The progress of this colony was for many years very slow ; the people manifesting that indolence and indifference which are anything now but a characteristic of Georgians. It was mainly on the side of freedom during the revolution. The climate of Georgia is fully equal to that of any other Southern State, while the soil, rich along the coast and rivers, is poor in the pine barrens, but yields abundantly when fertilized. In the central part of the State the soil is a red loam, while in the western part it is light and sandy, productive when properly- culti- vated and cared for, but easily exhausted under a bad system of cultivation. Before the late war Georgia was foremost of the Southern States in her manufactures, and in every enterprise cal- culated to increase her wealth, but during that sad contest she was crippled to that extent that she has not yet wholly recovered. However, the energy and determination of her people are fast improving the financial condition of the State. The rivers are navigable for a great extent, and her principal towns are connected by railways. Although the last settled of the thirteen States — the youngest of the band of sisters — her rapid progress in agricul- ture, commerce, manufactures, education and internal improve- ments is a credit alike to herself and the Union. Georgia has an area of 52,009 square miles, equal 1033,285,760 acres. She was named after George II. The population in 1870 was 1,200,000, which entitles her to nine Representatives in Congress. 25 386 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The State is in the fifth judicial circuit, and has two judTcfal districts; also four ports of entry — Savannah, Brunswick, St,- Mary's, and Hardwicke ; and two ports of delivery — Augusta and Sunbury. The capital is Atlanta. The State election is held on the first Tuesday in August. The Legislature meets on the second Wednesday in January. FLORIDA. t l^/|rS^HE Peninsula State, diccovered and explored by Ponce ^Yu^ de Leon, a voyager with Columbus, and whose name was ^^ suggested to the discoverer by the abundance and beauty of its wild flora, was, from 1512 to 181 9, with the exception of the interval between 1763 and 1783, a province of Spain. The first attempt to settle it was made in the year 1565, at St. Augustine, (which is said to be the oldest town in America,) by the Spaniards, This effort was attended with many difficulties, the colonists con- tending, for the first few years, alternately with the horrors of savage warfare and famine, at times being forced to subsist on roots and acorns. In 1819 it was transferred to the United States by treaty, which treaty was, after much delay, ratified by Spain, and with still more delay by the United States. Possession of the colony was granted the Government in July, 1821. The ter- ritory contained, in 1840, a population of 54,477, and on the ^d of March, 1845, became a State, and was received into the Union, A chain of lakes, some of them beautiful gems, set in rank and luxuriant vegetation — tropical vines, flowers of the most exquisite color and fragrance, mosses as rare and dainty as the silver frost work of an arctic night — extends through the entire center ©f the OUR GOVlERNSrEN"T AND HISTORT. 389> peninsula. The State Ees upon the border of the tropics, and the; climate, fanned as is the land by the soft sea breezes from threes sides, is as mild and pleasant as is possible to imagine, and inva- lids are very much benefited by it. All the winter months, sob rigid and tiresome in the north, the gardens of Florida are a wil- derness of the most beautiful flowers, while from the orange trees,, laden with their bloom and ripening fruit, the mocking-bird car- ols forth his richest melody, or the oriole, flitting through the dense and glossy leaves from bough to bough, dazzles you like some fiery comet that has fallen from its sphere in the cloudless blue above. With proper drainage, the marshes, so long and still an object of aversion and contempt, might be made the richest land in. America, The products are grain of different varieties. Cotton,, sugar-cane, Irish and sweet potatoes, and every variety of fruit known in the tropics. The State has little or no foreign commerce^ and but little attention is paid to manufactures. Railroads con- nect most of the principal towns, and these with most of the other States. It was discovered on Easter Sunday, and from this, and the fact that the land was a mass of bloom, it derived its pretty and sig- nificant name — " the flowery land." The present population i& 187,748. Florida was admitted into the Union, March 3, 1845 ; making; the twenty-seventh State. This State has an area of 59,268,, square miles, equal to 37,931,520 acres. She has two Represen- tatives in Congress. Florida lies in the fifth judicial circuit, and forms two judicial, districts ; and has seven ports of entry — St. Augustine, Key West,. Apalachicola, Pensacola, Magnolia, St. John's River, and Fer- nandina ; and two ports of delivery — Palatka and Bay Port, The capital is Tallahasse. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The Legislature meets on the Tuesday after the first Monday in January. 390 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ALABAMA. )AS admitted to the Union on the 14th of December, 1819. It has a deep, rich soil, and in many portions a f healthful climate. It remained till the Revolution a mere hunting ground of the savages. From the peace of 1783 to 1802 it was claimed by Georgia, and lands were sold to settlers and speculators accordingly. In the j^ear 1802, Georgia ceded all her western territory to the United States for $1,250,000. In 1800, the present State of Alabama became a part of Mississippi Terri- tory, from which it was separated when Mississippi became a State It was settled in 17 n, at Mobile, by the French, being a part of the territory explored by La Salle in his Mississippi tour. A band of fugitive Indians, weary and foot-sore, fleeing by day and by night from their pursuers, found here their first safe shel- ter, and we can imagine how, throwing aside the suspense and anxiety and terror under which they had been so long borne down, they flung themselves down on the green sward, under the branches of gigantic trees, and exclaimed in the fullness of their satisfac- tion, "Alabama! " Here we rest. Some of the richest soil in the world is found here, and with but little cultivation the yield is very large. The climate varies greatly, and every degree from the temperate to the torrid zone is represented. The mineral resources of the State are vast. The entire central portion, if not, indeed, the whole of the State is underlaid with beds of coal and iron of surpassing richness. Lead, marble, ochre, and manganese are found in abundance, while chalybeate and sulphur springs are frequent. The railroads of the State were almost entirely destroyed by the war- but are rapidly recovering their prosperity and wealth. The pop Illation of Alabama is 996,992. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 391 It has an area of 50,722 square miles, equal to 32,462,080 acres, and is entitled to eight Representatives. It forms a part of the fifth judicial circuit, and is divided anto three judicial districts, the Northern, Middle and Southern. It has one port of entry (Mobile), and two ports of delivery, viz. : "Tuscumbia and Selma. The capital of the State is Montgomery. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Mon- day in November. The Legislature meets on the third Monday in November. MISSISSIPPI. ^HE territory comprising the present State of Mississippi and 5\(^ Alabama having been divided, that portion lying next the river was, in 1817, admitted into the Union as a State imder the name Mississippi, while the eastern portion was organ- 3zed as a Territory, and named Alabama. The whole of this ter- jritory was explored, first by Ferdinand De Soto, and afterward by Xa Salle. It suffered greatly during the wars of the Natchez In- dians. The Choctaws, for a long time, retained possession of the northern portion of it, and were, to some extent, civilized. Mis- sissippi was settled by the French, in 17 16, at Natches. The northern part of the Slate is prairie, with a rich, black soil Tjut in the South it is sandy. Cotton has long been the staple -product, but more attention is now being paid to grain, and other ibranches of agriculture. Peaches and figs yield enormously; in- deed the former grow wild in many parts of the State. Until iiately but little attention has been paid to fruit, though all varie- ities grow and produce abundantly. She has no foreign commerce, and her exports and imports pass through New Orleans. Missis- ■sippi has more than a thousand miles of completed railroad. One 392 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. main line passes through the center of the State, southward to Louisiana, another crosses it from Vicksburg to the Alabama line from east to west, the road from Mobile to the Ohio River extends through almost the entire eastern part, and the great line from Memphis to Chattanooga passes through the northeast. Mississippi is thus well supplied with railroads. The old school system was one of the best in the South previous to the war, but schools were, of course, sadly broken up then. The new consti- tution makes very liberal allowance for educational purposes. Population 829,019. The Territory of Mississippi became a State in 1817, making the twentieth State. The area is 47,156 square miles, equal to 30,179,840 acres. The population entitles her to six Representa- tives in Congress. The State lies in the fifth judicial circuxit, and is divided into two judicial districts, viz. : the Northern and Southern districts of Mississippi. She has three ports of entry, viz. : Natchez, Vicksburg, and one near the mouth of Pearl river. to be established whenever the President may direct ; also three ports of delivery, viz. : Grand Gulf, Ship Island and Columbus. Jackson is the capital. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday, in November, and her Legisla- ture meets biennially on the Tuesday after the first Monday in January. OUR GOVERNMENT AND- HISTORY. Z9S LOUISIANA. ^^^PAIN ceded Louisiana to France in the year 1802, and it;" was bought by the United States of the latter power, in. 1803, at a cost of $15,000,000, Governor Clayborne took ^ possession of it the same year. It was settled by the French, at Iberville, in 1699, and was admitted into the Union April 8th,. 181 2. It is an important State, in that it holds the keys of. entrance to the mouth of the Mississippi. The surface of the State is low and flat, and the southern por- - tion so very low that it always overflows when the rivers are high„ There are a large number of lakes in this portion of the State. , and the country here is very marshy. Numberless islands lie - along the gulf coast, some of which are very fertile and beautifuL On one of them is an immense salt bed or mine, known to be * nearly or quite a mile in extent — perhaps more. The depth of the strata is unknown, as they have bored down forty feet into the : pure, solid salt, with no indications of the bottom. Tropical fruits grow well here, and in the southern part fruit' • ripens from fall to spring, as well as from spring to fall. Oranges ■ grow here in the greatest perfection, and the yield is enormous..' A single tree often bears 5,000. Apples, peaches, pears, quinces,, figs, plums, berries of all kinds, and grapes do well.-- Little- attention has been paid to manufactures, but cotton and! cane.-" being staples, they must sometime be encouraged. Schools- are- supported by tax, and no appropriations by the State are allowed- for the purpose of sustaining or assisting such institutions. A - University in New Orleans, with law and medical department, is^ : however, partly sustained by the State under the new Constitution..'. Population 726,915. 394 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. She has an area of 46,431 square miles, equal to 29,715,840 acres. She has six Representatives in Congress. Lousiana forms a part of the fifth judicial circuit, and consti- tutes two judicial districts, viz. : the eastern and western districts 'Of Lousiana. This state has one collection district, denominated 'the district of New Orleans ; which city is the only port of ■ entry. The shores of the river Ohio, and all the rivers emptying 'into the Mississippi, are attached to the district of New Orleans, though most of them do not lie in the State. Several of the cities and towns on these rivers are made ports of delivery. Collection districts are not always confined to one State. New Orleans is the capital. The Legislature meets on the first Monday in January, once in two years. The State election -is held on the first Monday in November. TEXAS. f;ONCE De LEON and La Salle explored the territory of Texas. After Mexico became independent of Spain, a grant which had been made to Moses Austin, a native of Connecticut, comprising a large tract of this province, was con- firmed by the new Republic ; and, being transferred by Moses Austin, at his death, to his son Stephen, was subsequently en- larged by a further grant. Emigration from the United States was encouraged, and in 1830 nearly ten thousand Americans were settled in Texas. The prosperity of these inhabitants excited the jealousy of Mexico, and under the administration of Santa Anna, an unjust, oppressive policy was adopted toward Texas. Remon- strance proving useless, the people of the territory declared them- ;selves independent. The revolution began in 1835, by a battle at OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 39" Gonzales, in which five hundred Texans defeated over one thou- sand Mexicans. Other engagements followed, the result of which was the dispersion of the Mexican army. Santa Anna now re- doubled his efforts, and appearing in March, 1835, with a force of eight thousand men, several bloody battles followed. On the 21st of April, having under his immediate command one thousand and five hundred men, he was met by General Sam. Houston, with eight hundred men, and totally defeated, on the banks of the San Jacinto. Santa Anna himself was captured the next day in the woods, when he acknowledged the independence of Texas, though the Mexican Congress refused to ratify the act. Active hostilities, however, were now abandoned, and the independence of Texas was acknowledged by the United States, Great Britain and other European countries. It was in this condition of things that Texas was annexed to the United States. On the 24th of Decem- ber, 1845, it was admitted into the Union, which act was ratified by the Texan Legislature July 4th, 1846. But Mexico, still re- garding Texas as a revolted province, refused to acknowledge the validity of this measure. The result was a war between Mexico and the United States, which terminated on the 2d of February, 1848, in a treaty by which the latter power, in consideration of the payment of a debt of $3,500,000, due from Mexico to the citizens of Texas, acquired New Mexico, Texas, and California. The progress of Texas from this time till the eve of the great Re- bellion, was almost unprecedented, no less than twenty-five thou- sand Germans having emigrated to that State in five years' time. It is said that Texas has the most delicious climate of the Southern Empire — that her skies are as clear as the glowing skies of Italy — that her sunsets rival all that poet has sung of, and that the artist would go mad with despair were he to attempt to trans- fer to canvas the beauty in which his soul revels. The low, rich lands of southern Texas are covered with boundless profusion of the most beautiful vegetation. The climate is so healthy that it is claimed that a person born and brought up there would never die, unless they went out of the State, and in proof of this a story is told of a traveler who met very aged men, who were so hale and fresh looking as to excite wonder, while the manner in which they were hastening towards the border aroused suspicion, and they 396 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. were questioned, " Whither away ? " They answered that they" were tired of living and wished to die, and were going somewhere — they cared not where — to seek some happy spot where people could die. • The' pasture lands of Texas are the very best, and stock raising, is made profitable. All sorts of grain grows well here, and forests, in endless quantity and variety. Decided progress has been made in internal improvements ; indeed, quite wonderful when we con- sider how young she is, how thinly settled and under what difficul- ties she has labored. Texas lies in the fifth judicial circuit, and makes two judicial districts, the eastern and western. There are three collection districts in the State. The respective ports of entry for these- districts are Galveston, La Salle, and Brazos Santiago. To these are attached nine ports of delivery. The capital is Austin. The Legislature is composed of a Sen- ate, elected for four years, and a house of Representatives elected! for two years. The sessions of the Legislature are biennial ands are held in December. The Governor is elected for four years,. f^/>X3- n*^ 1% ' , ) ,^ ; *^"*'^f ^^ i^# '^ ». ' ■**?»!'*'' /^^ * -**> ■^j}. "^i 'It. * S* -v ' / , r^sJW^^ / OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY'. 399 TENNESSEE, ^OR some time, was a part of North Carolina. It was . I) made a territorial government in the year 1790, and was admitted into the Union in 1796. The first permanent white inhabitants of Tennessee went there in the year 1775, and built Fort Loudon, now in Blount county. They were, in 1760, attacked by the savages, and two hundred persons were massacred. Buf, in 1767, the natives were reduced to submission by Colonel Grant, and a treaty was made with them, which encouraged emi- gration. Settlements were formed on Holston River in 1765, which, although frequently attacked by the Indians, made very fair progress. Colonel John Sevier, with the Tennessee militia and a few Virginia soldiers, gained a decisive victory over the savages, and from this time forward, though more or less harrassed by the Indians, the progress of the State, in population and im- provement, was rapid. North Carolina gave up the territory in 1789, and in 1790 Congress recognized it as a separate province. It has great extent of territory, and up to 1861, was considered as among the greatest of the agricultural States. Its staple products are cotton, tobacco and corn. The mineral resources of Tennessee are not yet developed to any extent, but they are rich in quality, and limitless in quantity, and will be a . source of boundless wealth to the State. In the mountains, easy of access, are endless stores of copper, zinc, sandstone, iron, and ^40o FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the very finest marble, waiting since creation's birth for the enter- prise that should tear it from the bosom of the earth and give it -shapes of beauty and utility. Coal of the best quality is abundant, ..and gold is found in some parts of the State. Tennessee has nearly or quite two thousand miles of railroad, and though these thoroughfares were much irij.ured by the war, the admirable energy ■of the people would not allow them to lie in waste, and they were .accordingly rebuilt in an excellent manner. Her free schools, under the protection of the State, and liberally supported by the 'Government, are in a prosperous condition. Population, 1,258,370. This State has an area of 45,600 square miles, or 29,184,000 .nacres. It had a population in 1870 of 1,257,983. The State is entitled to ten Representatives in Congress ; is -in the sixth judicial circuit ; has three judicial districts ; and has vtvvo ports of delivery — Memphis and Knoxville. Nashville is the capital. The State election is held on the first Monday in August, and the Legislature meets on the first Mon- «>orted independent of the State. 4lb FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. This State has an area of 67,380 square miles, equal to 43>i23,- 200 acres. Her population in 1870 was 1,715,000, entitling her to thirteen Representatives in Congress. This State is in the eighth judicial circuit ; and forms two ju- dicial districts, the Eastern and Western. It has no port of entry and but one port of delivery, Hannibal. The capital is Jefferson City. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and the Legis- lature meets on the last Monday in December. ARKANSAS. ^^HIS State lies south of Missouri, and was once attached to ^yj^ it. It has a fine climate and prolific soil. The first settle- ment of whites within its limits was made at Arkansas Post, in tlT« year 1685. The earlier inhabitants were French. Its progress, for many years, was very slow. It was not till about the year 1826 that the tide of emigration began to flow from the At- lantic States in that direction. Little Rock, the early seat of government and the present capital, was laid out in the year 1820, during which year the first steamboat ascended the Arkansas River. The boat was eight days in going from New Orleans to the village of Arkansas — a distance of scarcely one hundred miles above the mouth of the Arkansas River. The State once con- tained the remnants of several powerful tribes of Indians. By a treaty made between the Cherokees and the United States, the former agreed to give up all their lands east of the Mississippi River, and to retire to a region guaranteed to them in the present State of Arkansas. ~7 -SB«B"--!tli '*JV i- ' I '1 >■ , V !>' ifhn^* liiii JOSEPH SMITH, Founder of the Mormon Church. BRIG-HAM YOUNG, HEAD OF THE MORMO» CHURCH. lii>EPH 1-. SMITH. (Nephew of Jo. Smith, Jr. , and one of the Twelve Apostles.J MRS. ALICE YOUNG CLAWSON. (Brigham Young's eldest daughter — an actress.. Herself and her two sisters are married to H. Bi Clawson. ) OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 419 The present Constitution of Arkansas was adopted in 1868, since which time she can be said to be in a flourishing con- dition. With a good soil, so rich as to yield abundantly with small outlay of money or labor, with a climate that was all that could be asked, it has yet never made rapid progress. It has no manu- factures, but will some day rank high amongst our mining States. Coal, lead, zinc, iron, manganese, salt and marble are found in great quantities ; indeed, in manganese it exceeds every other State, and in zinc is exceeded only by New Jersey. Gold and silver have been found in several counties, and silver is found in the lead mines in considerable quantities. It has quarries of the finest oil-stone in the world, and an inexhaustible supply of the most exquisitely white alabaster. Its hot springs possess medicinal qualities which will, when understood, render them a very popular resort for invalids. The new Constitution makes ample provision for schools, and education is receiving considerable attention. The population of the State is about 600,000. It has an area of 52,193 square miles, equal to 33,406,7 20 acres. The population entitles the State to four Representatives in Con- gress. This State lies in the eighth judicial circuit and forms two ju- dicial districts, the eastern and western. It has no ports of entry or delivery. The capital of the State is Little Rock. She holds her State election the first Monday in November. The Legislature meets but once in two years, on the first Monday in January. 420 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. KANSAS. BOUT the development of this young State cluster some of the most important events of American history. Its ^p ^ territorial organization, by the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Bill, in 1854, re-opened the agitation of the slavery question, which, seeming to have acquired fresh vigor and viru- lence from the sleep it had enjoyed under the Missouri Compro- mise, thoroughly aroused the old animosities between the pro-and anti-slavery elements of our national politics. From 1854 to 1857 it was the theater of political tragedies, the bare mention of which may well put the blush of shame upon even the most fool-hardy partisan. The Territory made application to Congress, in i857,for a place in the Union, but the Constitution under which it asked admission (the one framed at Lecompton) was known to be a fraudulent affair, and hence Kansas was rejected. The discussion of this Constitution caused a permanent division of the Democratic party. The Constitution was rejected by the people of Kansas by a ma- jority of 10,000. Kansas was, however, received into the Union, in 1 86 1, under a free State Constitution, formed at Topeka. The surface of the country is uniform, with no mountains, sloughs, swamps, marsh lands or lakes. The soil is rich and pro- ductive, the climate mild and healthy. For all agricultural products it is one of the finest States west of the Mississippi. Corn and all small grains yield abundantly. It promises also to be a great fruit State when older. Rapid progress is being made in internal improve- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 421 ments, and besides nearly a thousand miles of completed railroad, others are being pushed forward to completion with great energy. In consideration of her means, age and population, Kansas has done a great deal for education. There is a school fund, public lands have been donated, and taxes are levied for the support of the public schools. Coal, sandstone, limestone and marble are found in all parts of the State, and in some sections timber of fine quality is abundant. There are a large number of salt springs and sulphur springs also abound. Topeka is the capital of the State and signifies " Pota- to," great quantities of which grow wild in the vicinity. The last census gives its population at 364,477. Kansas has an area of 78,841 square miles, equal to 50,187,520 acres. The population gives her three Representatives in Con- gress. This State is in the eighth judicial circuit, and forms one judicial district. It has no ports of entry or delivery. Topeka is the capital. The State election is held on the Tues- day after the first Monday in November. The Legislature meets on the second Tuesday in January. 422 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. - NEBRASKA. NEBRASKA was organized into a territory in 1850. The first settlers were Americans. In the last few years it has increased in wealth and population more rapidly than any of the adjoining States or Territories. Probably the chief cause of this has been occasioned by the Pacific Railroad passing directly through the State from east to west. It is impossible, at the present time, to estimate the advantage it will be to the State in developing its resources. The value of its minerals in the western portion of the State is incalculable. It has fair prospects of becoming one of the richest mineral and agricultural S.tates in the Union. Omaha, the capital, is a city of considerable com- mercial importance, being located at the junction of the Missouri River and the Pacific Railroad. In 1866 the Territory applied for admission into the Union, but, on account of the word "white" being used in its Constitution, it was rejected. The word was then stricken out, after which it was admitted, February, 1867, the bill for admission having been passed over the Presi- dent's veto. Every thing indicates that stock raising and dairy farming will be the leading feature in agriculture, the state being better adapted to growing grass than grains, yet producing these well, especially in the eastern part, where the soil is very fertile. The State has no public debt to retard its growth. A generous pro- vision has been made for schools, and one-sixteenth of the public land of the State, 2,500,000 acres, set apart to be sold for securing a school fund. Ninety thousand acres were given to endow a State Agricultural College, and a State University was also en- dowed with 46,081 acres. According to the last census, the pop- ulation is 122,993. OUR GOVERNMEJ^JT AND HISTORY. 423 On its admission, in 1867, it was the thirty-seventh State. It has an area of 122,007 square miles, or 78,084,480 acres. It forms the ninth judicial district, has no ports of entry or delivery. The capital is Lincoln. The State election is held on the sec- ond Tuesday in October. The Legislature meets on the Tues- day after the first Monday in January. NEVADA. ^^^^/HIS Territory having formed a State Constitution, under ^v(? an enabling act previously passed by Congress, was admit- ^^ ted as a member of the Federal Union, on an equal footing ■with the original States. The State convention was held at so late a period of the year that it was necessary to telegraph the •Constitution, in order that it might be received there in time to secure the admission of the State previous to the Presidential (election. Immediately upon its reception. President Lincoln issued a proclamation, dated October 31st, A. D. 1864, in which he "declared and proclaimed that the said State of Nevada is admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States," etc. The vote of the State at the Presidential election, an 1864, was 16,420. Nevada possesses some of the most magnificent scenery in the world and some natural curiosities worthy of mention ; amongst these is Lake Mono, with water so sharply acid and bitter that it can not be swallowed, and cloth fabrics or leather immersed in its waters are destroyed in an incredibly short space of time. No fish or animal can exist in its motionless depth — no water-fowl «ever leaves its bosom or dips its wing, or skims lightly over the sur- face that is never lashed into fury by the storms, and that only the strongest winds can ruffle. It is a very Marah of bitterness — a Dead Sea of isolation — locked in by towering crags, surrounded tby shadow and gloom. 424 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The silver mines of Nevada are the richest in the world. For the year 1867 it is estimated that Nevada yielded 20,000,000 of dollars, of which the Comstock lode ^yielded 17,500,000. The product of this mine for five years amounts to $60,000,000. Salt and alkali are abundant. The climate is healthy, divided, as in California, into a wet and a dry season. The soil is poor, and agri- culture receives little attention. Education has been almost entirely neglected, but measures are being taken to establish schools on the same plan as in the other States, Population last census 42,491- It has an area of 63,473 square miles, or 40,622,720 acres. The population in 1860, while yet a Territory, was 6,857. In conform- ity with the Constitutional provision that every State shall have one Representative in Congress, Nevada has one. This State lies in the ninth judicial circuit, and forms one judicial district, called the district of Nevada. CALIFORNIA ^AS admitted into the Union on the 7th of September^ 1850. The alarming discussion which occurred upon the question of admission was what gave rise to the compromise measures of 1850, popularly styled the Omnibus Bill. General Fremont, with a small but dauntless band of rangers, conquered California in 1846, having defeated, on frequent occa- sions, vastly superior forces of Mexicans. Its resources as a farming country early attracted attention. But when, in February^ 1848, it was published that gold in quantities had been found on a branch of the Sacramento, the swarm of emigrants which rushed in, comprising representatives from every State in the Union, and from nearly all the nations of Europe, was almost incalculable^ OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 425 From a small village, San Francisco was rapidly inflated to a^ large city In many places towns sprang up like mushrooms. Owing to the fact that its population had been thrown hastily together, from so many places, and in consequence of the want of a government, California was, for some time, the scene of many' dark crimes and hideous outrages. Never was the want of whole- some legal restraint more keenly felt than here. The Constitution' of California was framed by a convention of delegates in 1849. It is a wild and broken country, mountainous and rugged,- traversed by both the Sierra Nevadas and the coast range. The valleys, long neglected for the mines, are again being cultivated and brought to a high degree of fertility and productiveness.- The gold mines are too well known to need any description. They furnish annually to the Government seventy to eighty million dollars in gold. The climate of California varies greatly' — from extreme cold in the north, and at great elevations, to' tropical warmth and softness in the south. There are heavy rains in November and December, which deluge and saturate the land. Winter they have none; and at all seasons of the year tropical plants grow and blossom in the open air, attaining a size that seems incredible. Grape culture is rapidly assuming an im- portance which may well warn Europeans to " look to their laurels," since the flavor of California wine is pronounced equal to that of their best brands. Thousands of tons are now being; shipped east annually, and their pears, luscious and rich as none" others in the world are found in the market of almost every city in the Union. Almost every known fruit grows here, and it bids- fair to be the greatest fruit State in America. The commerce of California is immense ; and extends to all parts of the globe. In the matter of gold alone, from 1858 to 1868, $826,873,738.11 were' exported, and in the last named year, nearly a million barrels of flour. In 1870 there were 800 miles of railroad in operation, and- many new roads not yet completed. In the matter of education, she has been generous and energetic, and, aware of its importance,? has made ample provision. The school fund is $725,000, and irt 1867 the State expended for educational purposes $i,i68,ooGi The last census reports the population 500,223. .426 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. California was the thirty-first State. It has an area of 188,982 -square miles, equal to 120,948,480 acres. The Population in 3870 was 560,285, entitling her to four Representatives in Congress. By act of 1866, this State, with Oregon and Nevada, consti- -tutes the ninth judicial circuit, and forms two judicial districts. •California has seven ports of entry, viz. : San Francisco, Monte- rey, San Diego, Sacramento, Sonoma, San Joaquin and San Pedro ; also, one port of delivery, Santa Barbara. California was obtained from Mexico by conquest in 1846. The capital is Sacramento. She holds her State election on the first Tuesday in September. Her Legislature meets on the ifirst Monday in December, but meets only once in two years. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 429 COLORADO. ''y^^j^AS formed from parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Utah. '^mii Its Territorial government was organized by act Con- gress, March 2, 1861. It is situated west of Kansas, on the great route from the Pacific to the Atlantic States, and on the dividing ridge, or backbone, of the continent. The rivers that find their head waters within the territory run southeast and south to the Gulf of Mexico, and southwest to the Gulf of California. The surface is nearly equally divided between a plain, gently descending from the abrupt mountain wall of rock constituting the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains, and the mighty mass of that chain, with its peaks, rising nearly three miles above the surface of the sea, now forming an elevated plateau, and again sending off spurs and lateral ranges containing beautiful valleys, or, in a more lavish and genial raood, taking a wide circuit inclosing an immense sunken plain containing hun- dreds of square miles of charming, well watered farming land called parks. Of these there are seven. It is a magnificent re- gion, and contains all the elements of extreme mineral and agri- cultural wealth. It has mines of gold, silver, copper, lead and iron. Coal abounds in all parts, oil flows from the wells with a little encouragement, and salt is easily obtained in some parts. An immense soda, fountain is found near Colorado City, called Fountaine qui Bouille (boiling fountain) and there are indica- tions of cinnebar platina, and precious stones. The climate is fine, the general temperature like Southern Pennsylvania or Maryland ; and, from the elevation, the air is very dry and pure. The plain rises by imperceptible degrees to 430 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 5000 feet (about one mile) above the level ot the sea, at the foot 'of the mountains. The numerous valleys, the parks, and much of the sloping plain, form as fine an agricultural region ^ with proper irrigation, as any State possesses, and much of the re- mainder furnishes excellent pasturage through the entire year. Occasionally heavy snow falls and for a few days extreme cold- prevails, but these are exceptional years ; and it does not lie long. Its effects can be guarded against with prudent care. Corn^ wheat, and other small grains and vegetables reach their greatest perfection here. It furnishes excellent manufacturing facilities along the unfail- ing mountain streams in the valleys, and will no doubt ultimately unite with Montana and Southwestern Dacotah to supply the im- mense central part of our domain with all the products of manu- facturing genius and skill. Denver, the capital and principal city, is situated near the east- ern base of the mountains, where these put on their severest and sublimest aspect. Clear lakes are set like stars, here and there^, and the beautiful and grand in scenery are nowhere more strik- ing or more agreeably combined. The Territory contains 106,475 square miles in area, and the population in 1870 numbered 29,706. Several attempts have been made to obtain admission of Col- orado as a State into the American Union. An act to enable the people to form a constitution and State government was passed by Congress, March, 1864. The constitution framed under this- act, was rejected by the people of the territory. Another consti- tution was framed and adopted in 1865, but a bill passed by Con- gress for its admission, was vetoed by the President. Another attempt made in 1867 likewise failed by the President's veto; since which time it quietly remained under its Territorial gov- renment until March 3d, 1875, when it was admitted by Act of Congress. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 43^ OREGON ^X^^RIMARILY included Washington Territory, and, with the Jv^^ latter, comprised the extensive tract lying between the ^ British Possessions on the north and California on the south ; the Rocky Mountains on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. The coasts of this region were discovered by the Spaniards in the i6th century. In 1792, Captain Grey, of Boston,, discovered and entered Columbia River, and thus the United States acquired the right of sovereignty over the territory. The exploration of the country from the Missouri to the Columbia, by Lewis and Clark, government appointees, in 1804-5-6, strength- ened this claim. The British, however, laid claim to the northern part of the territory, which gave rise to a threatening dispute- between Great Britain and the United States. But the difficulty was adjusted by a treaty in 1846, establishing the boundary of 49 deg. north latitude. It was admitted into the Union in the year' 1859. The State still contains the Flathead, Pend Oreille, Spo- kane, Shoshane, and other tribes of Indians, who are, for the most: part, in the savage state, though the Christian missionaries have done much in the way of civilizing a portion of them. The furs- of this region, those of the badger, beaver, bear, fisher-fox, lynx, martin, mink, muskrat, etc., have long been a great source of revenue. The American fur companies established trading posts in Ore- gon at an early period, that of Astoria being founded in 1810,. under the auspices of the late John Jacob Astor, of New York., It was settled, at Astoria, by emigrants from the Eastern States,.. in the year 181 1. 432 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The mineral resources of Oregon may properly be limited to coal and copper, but the quantity of these is to be left unlimited, ;since it is estimated that they are inexhaustible. Gold is also found, but not extensively. The climate in the eastern part of the State is cold and damp — indeed, one might safely go farther and say wet, since rain falls four days out of seven in the summer, and the winter is one long rain, known as the "wet season;" yet notwith- standing this, the valleys are the most fertile in the world, and large crops of grain are raised, in which wheat takes the first place. Manufactures have scarce an existence yet, and the commerce of the State is almost entirely confined to San Francisco, to which place most of her exports are sent. These consist of agricul- -tural products and lumber. In internal improvements also she is still deficient, little or jiothing having been done for the railroads of the country, except ito plan one or two lines. The construction of them, however, is in the "dim distance." One has been finished from Portland to Salem, and it is designed to continue it down through the State and to connect it with some road running into San Francisco. The common school system is the same as in the Eastern States, ^nd a school fund already established and profitably invested, which will in a short time support them without resort to taxation. The population in 1870 was 90,923. It has an area of 95,274 square miles, equal to 60,975,360 .acres. The population in 1870 did not reach the number re- quired to entitle it to a Member of Congress according to the fixed ratio. But every State is entitled to one member, whatever its population may be. By the act of 1866, the States of Oregon, Nevada and California were constituted the ninth judicial cir- cuit. Oregon forms one judicial district, and has one collection district, and one port of entry. The capital is Salem, where her Legislature meets once in two years, on the second Monday of September. The State election is held on the first Monday in June. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 43;^ THE TERRITORIES. jm^i^ HIO, and all the territory north of the Ohio river, was early WM^erected into a separate government, by Congress, called the 1^ Northwest Territory. The region south of the river was treated in the same manner a little later. In 1800 the Mississippi Territory was organized; thus covering all the ground origin- ally belonging to the New Republic. These were, as population increased, divided into sections, of convenient size for the pur- pose of local self government, and States created as fast as the requisite number of citizens had collected within such limits ; and the remainder continued under the preliminary territorial Tule. In 1802, the vast region west of the Mississippi was bought of the French government. This extended the National Domain from the mouth to the head waters of this river, and westward, north of the Spanish possessions, to the Pacific ocean. Many new States and Territories have been formed from it. The pro- cess of multiplication has not yet ceased in this region. In 1819 Florida was purchased ; a part of Mexico was obtained in 1848, and again in 1853; and the increase of territory continued by the acquisition of Alaska in 1867. This policy has become, in a manner, traditional, and it is not unlikely that it may be contin- ued to some extent in the future. The government of the territories is established by act of Congress ; the President nominates and the Senate confirms the Governor, Secretary, and Judges of courts ; and Congress passes all the general laws for the government of the inhabitants. A Territorial Legislature is elected by the inhabitants which takes charge of all the local interests of the Territory. All these laws and organizations are temporary, and pass away when a State government is founded. Commonly an act of Congress author- izes the election of delegates to a Convention for framing a State Constitution; though the Territorial Government sometimes takes the initiative. This constitution is then submitted to the popular •vote of the citizens in the Territory ; and if they favor it, pre- sented to Congress for its approval. If it is in harmony with our usages, and republican principles, Congress accepts it. 2^ 434 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. NEW MEXICO. |^^/>^HIS large territory as defined by Spanish or American au- 5y(^ thorities, extended from 32 deg. 30 min. to 42 deg. north latitude, and from 23 deg. to about 30 deg. longitude west. of the city of Washington. It was early settled by Spaniards, and' formed a territory of the Republic of Mexico until 1848, when it was ceded to the United States. In September, 1850, this terri- tory was defined by act of Congress, and provision made for its organization. Rig]it of Suffrage. — Every free white male inhabitant, above the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of said territory at the time of the passage of this act, shall be enti- tled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within the said territory ; but the qualifications of voters and of holding office, at all subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative Assembly. Within the bounds of this territory and Arizona, are residing large tribes of Indians,, many of a warlike character, roaming over this region and west- ern Texas, as well as the northern part of Mexico. The high table-lands, of which most of the territory consists, are broken by mountain ranges. The Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madres pass through the central portion from east to west. The soil is dry, and much of it, owing to its great elevation above the sea, is sterile, and agriculture almost entirely neglected. It is,, however, a fine grazing country, and stock raising will no doubt be one of its principal sources of wealth, though its mines are very rich, and when properly developed, will command much attention and pay abundantly. Gold and silver is especially abundant, and it only needs capital to bring the mines into more favorable and general notice. The country is settled by a wild and lawless people — Spaniards, Mexicans, Indians and half breeds of every nationality — and, of course, order is but partially observed ; laws can not be enforced ; civilization makes but little progress, and society does not improve. The climate is mild and healthful, and but a small portion of the country wooded. There are several fine salt lakes in the terri- tory where the rapid evaporation of the water causes the crystali- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORV 435 zation of the salt so rapidly that it falls to the bottom ; as the water is shallow, it is taken out almost pure, and qui>te a business is done in supplying the inhabitants with the article. A public school has been established by the Governor of the Territory. A Territorial Government exists. The capital is Santa Fe. UTAH ''as formerly a part of the Mexican territory of Upper California, and was acquired by the United States in 1848, by the the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. It was too distant, desolate, and dangerous a region for a settlement by Mexicans, and has little known history anterior to the explora- tions of Fremont, between 1843 and 1846. The first American settlement was made by the Mormons, in July, 1847, and was supposed by them to be out of the territory of the United States, and beyond the reach of possible interfer- ence. Here, in the depths of the desert, they determined to build up a peculiar religious society embracing customs abhor- rent to the views and institutions of modern civilized States. Their success was a surprise to the world, and probably to them- selves; the capacity of the depths of the Great American Desert, as it was called, for cultivation, exceeding all previous expecta- tion. But the war with Mexico, then in progress, threw this, be- fore inaccessible, desert into the limits of the American Union ; and the discovery of gold in the neighboring territory of Califor- nia, throwing them almost midway between the old western set- tlements and the new Eldorado, subjected them to contact with, and interference by, the tide of modern civilization, as it flowed toward the setting sun ; and in ten years from their first appear- ance in the Great Central Basin of the continent, they came again mto hostile conflict with the established authorities they thought 436 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. to have finally escaped. Though their conflict with the United States government, imbued with habits and prejudices with which they antagonized, was deferred by the troubles which precipi- tated the Civil War, and their institutions remained substantially intact until that was past ; the Pacific Railroad was then built through their territory, and, if they are no longer persecuted, and their peculiarities opposed by deadly force, the moral influence and dissolving powers introduced by numbers is more surely wasting away the foundations of their political and religious edi- fice. Utah was organized as a Territory by act of Congress, Sept. 9, 1850. Brigham Young, the head of the Mormon church, be- came the first governor. In 1854 it was vainly attempted to re- move him; and in 1857 an army was sent to enforce Federal authority. A final conflict was avoided by compromise. In 1862, the Mormons attempted to get admission into the Union as a State, with their " peculiar institutions," but failed. A Territo- rial Government exists, but has little force or vitality, while the Mormons are large in numbers. Utah is unique in one respect ; though lying nearly a mile above the surface of the sea, and having a complete system of lakes and rivers, there is no visible connection of these with the ocean. It is a continent embosomed within the depths of a con- tinent. The Great Salt Lake is 100 miles long by 50 broad, and its waters are very salt — three parts of the water producing one of pure salt No fish can live in it. It receives the con- tents of many considerable streams. Whether they are kept in subjection by evaporation alone, or have a concealed outlet to the ocean is unknown. The soil, though in its natural state an apparent desert, is extremely fertile when irrigated, and produces wheat and other cereals in great profusion. Its mountains are believed to be rich in silver and gold ; but the Mormons have discouraged mining, and very little has been done in that direc- tion. Cotton is highly successful in the southern settlements, and experiments with flax and silk culture have been very favorable. The climate is mild and healthy. Utah is a highly promising section of our national domain. Its population in 1870 was 86,786; its area about 87,500 square miles. GEORGE A. SMITH, FIRST COUNSELLORj CHURCH HISTORIAN. NEXT TO YOUNG IN AUTHORITY. ORSON PRATT, ONE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. ORSON HYDE, PRESIDENT OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. THE ARCH OF TRIUMPH, Pans, Erected by Kapoleon I. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 439 WASHINGTON TERRITORY. j^RGANIZED by act of Congress, passed March 2d, 1853^ Sfjf settled by emigrants from the Northern and Western States. It was taken from the northern part of Oregon, *' being all that portion of territory lying and being south of the 47th degree of north latitude, and north of the middle of the main channel of the Columbia River, from its mouth to where the 46th degree of north latitude crosses said river, near Fort Wallah Wallah, thence east to Snake River ; thence north to the 49th par- allel of latitude, being bounded on the east by the Territory of Idaho, and on the north by the British Possessions. Lying on Puget's Sound, in north latitude 47 deg., west longitude from Greenwich 120 deg. 25 min., having a mean annual temperature of 50 deg. Fahrenheit. The climate of Washington Territory is much milder than in the same parallels of latitude east of the Rocky Mountains, while the soil is mostly rich and very fertile, producing a large growth of forest trees. Gold and other valua- ble minerals also abound in many parts of the territory. With the exception of the land around Puget's Sound, the soil is rich and productive, and though corn does not grow well here, no better wheat is produced in the world, and barley, oats and potatoes yield immensely. It is a fine grazing country, and prom- ises, in its horses, cattle and wool raising interests, to be of great value. It has immense forests, and produces, it is said, the finest masts and spars in the world. Its mineral resources have not yet been sufficiently tested to give a definite idea of their value. Gold and silver are known to exist in large quantities, and coal in inexhaustible quantities ; -enough, it is believed, to supply the Pacific coast for generations to come. The capital is Olympia, and lies on the east side of Tenalquets River, in Thurston county. The population is 23,925.^ Paget Sound can float with ease the navies of the world on its peaceful bosom. The Northern Pacific railroad will originate here probably another great commercial emporium. Washing- ton will, in due time, become a great and wealthy State. Its area is about 70,000 square miles. 440 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. DAKOTA TERRITORY, j^RGANIZED by act of Congress, passed March 2d, i86i^ )fjf comprised a large extent of country, being bounded on the east by Minnesota, south by Nebraska, west by the 27th degree of longitude west of Washington, separating it from the Territory of Idaho, and on the north by the British Possess- ions, running along the 49th parallel of latitude. It is drained by the Missouri River on the south, and by the Red River on the North, emptying into Hudson Bay. Unquestionably Dakota is one of the very finest of our territo- ries, and is unexcelled either in its agricultural, mining, or stock- raising facilities and qualifications. Its soil is as rich as that of Illinois ; its climate is as fine as that of any of the Middle States,, its mineral resources are as great as those of any Western Terri- tory, while its inhabitants are mostly emigrants from New Englandl and the East, thus giving the young territory advantages superior to those enjoyed by many other sections of the West. Water is. everywhere pure and plenty, and timber of the best quality skirts all the streams. The wild grasses are pronounced far superior to the cultivated grass of the east ; richer, more nutritious, and with a far heavier yield per acre; while left growing, it cures into good winter feed, and cattle not only live but fatten upon it. There are about twenty-five free schools in the territory, and ample means have been appropriated to increase them as fast as needed and to encourage their growth and prosperity. Several railroads are projected and some in process of construction. The population, according to the last census report, was 14,181. The capital, Yankton, is a flourishing city. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 441!' ARIZONA TERRITORY. ^v^^jV act of Congress, approved February 24, 1863, Arizona jY(^^j was organized, embracing " all that part of the present ^P territory of New Mexico situate west of a line running, due south from the point where the southwest corner of the Ter- ritory of Colorado joins the northern boundary of the Territory' of New Mexico, to the southern boundary of said Territory," con- taining an estimated area of 131,000 square miles. It is thinly' settled by natives of Mexico and emigrants from different States^ of the Union, besides containing a large number of Indians of a' warlike character. The right of suffrage and territorial organiza-- tion similar to those of New Mexico, with the provision, " thatf there shall neither be slaves nor involuntary servitude in said Ter-- ritory." This Territory is rich in gold, silver, copper and other minerals, while the soil is mostly sterile except in the few valleys' susceptible of irrigation. Arizona, proper, was acquired by treaty with Mexico known as the " Gadsden Treaty," and ratified iff June, 1864. Few marks of civilization are found here, and neither Christ- ianity nor education has smoothed away the rough, half-savage- characteristics of the inhabitants, who are Spanish, half-breeds^- Indians and miners, gathered from the refuse of all States, many^. or most of them*, desperadoes and outcasts,, with here and there^ in the agricultural districts, an American settler. Their towns are closely like the Mexican, with miserable, unburnt brick huts, where filth and squalor reign supreme. Scattered through the Territory are ruins of fortifications and castles and ancient churches whose ruins give everywhere proof of their having been devoted to idol worship, while here and there, half covered with mould, and almost hidden by rank vegetation and tangled vines, which creep over' them as if in pity for their hideous ugliness, lie the shattered gods' of the people who once dwelt here, a lordly but barbarous race,.- of whom not a vestige remains. Arizona was formerly a part of' Mexico, until purchased by the United States. Population 9,658^ ^42 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. IDAHO TERRITORY. "I^^^HIS new Territory, lying on the west side of the Rock) f Mountains, was organized by act of Congress, approved March 3, 1863. Its boundary is as follows: " Beginning •at a point in the middle channel of Snake River where the north- ern boundary of Oregon intersects the same ; then follow down the said channel of Snake River to a point opposite the mouth of the Kooskooskia, or Clearwater River; thence due north to the 49th parallel of latitude ; thence east to the new Territory of Mon- tana ; thence west along the 42d parallel of latitude to the east- -ern boundary of the State of Oregon; thence north along said boundary to the place of beginning." The surface is rough and broken, and the entire eastern, north- ,-eastern, and northern parts are mountainous. The Rocky Mountains ,and the Bitter Root Mountains cover fully half of the Territory with either broken or continuous ranges, affording magnificent ■scenery, that in the vicinity of Salmon River being exceedingly fine. The gold and silver mines are partially worked, and though the yield is good, the want of transportation, either by water or railway, is a serious drawback and greatly retards the develop- ment of the mineral resources of the Territory. Several thousand ■claims are taken up and worked to some extent, but the enormous ^expense attendant upon it prevents successful efforts to work them extensively. There are three beautiful lakes of considerable size in Idaho ; ,the Coeur d' Aline, the Pen d'Oreille, and the Boatman, each are •about 30 miles long and about 6 to 10 wide, and navigable for vsteamers. The soil of the central, southern and western parts is fertile, and produces small grain and vegetables, but corn does •not do well there. Grass grows abundantly, and grazing will be the most popular branch of agriculture. The Northern Pacific Railroad will cross the State from east to 'west, but at present the Territory has no railroad. The system of (■education is the same as in the other Territories, but is very limited :in its operations. Boise City is the capital. Population 14,978. JOUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 443 MONTANA TERRITORY. ^HIS new Territory, lying between the 45th and 49th de- grees of north latitude and the 27th and 39th degrees of longitude west from Washington, was organized by act ©f Congress, approved May 26, 1864. It may be said to form the northern half of the Territory of Idaho, as organized March 3, 1863. This extensive territory embraces the head sources of the Missouri River, lying east of the Rocky Mountains, and the head ■sources of the north branch of the Columbia River, lying west of the above mountains and north of the Bitter Root Mountains. It is one of the finest countries for grazing purposes west of the Mississippi. Small grrtin and small fruits grow almost sponta- neously and produce abundantly. It will no doubt be the " Gar- den of the West." The important vegetable crops also yield well. Timber for mining, agricultural and domestic purposes is abund- ant. Gold, silver, iron, lead and copper are abundant in the moun- tains, and some of the lodes, both of gold and silver, are as large and rich as have yet been discovered in any State or Territory. Montana must some day rank among our richest States, for, no matter how great her mining population may be, her agricultural -resources will be amply sufficient to meet every want. Virginia City is the capital, and is connected by stage routes with all the principal towns in the Territory. Population of the Territory in 1870 was 20,594, area 153,800 square miles. 444 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. INDIAN TERRITORY, n^^jTTUATED west of the States of Arkansas and Missouri, 1^^^ and south of the 37th degree of north latitude, is bounded ^IF^ on the south and west by the State of Texas. This is a fruitful region, inhabited by many tribes of civilized Indians, mostly Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws and Seminoles, amounting to 60,000 or 70,000 souls. The extent of Territory is about 70,000 square miles, and with- the exception of a sand tract in the northeastern portion, is fer- tile and fruitful. This Territory is set apart for the permanent home of the Indian tribes, and no authority is exercised over them by the Government, except for crimes committed by them against the whites in the border States. Some of the tribes are highly intelligent, and as each tribe has its own lands secured to them by the United States, and is protected in its domestic insti- tutions and customs, they are free to cultivate habits of industry and to have their schools, churches and factories, and improve in civilization, art and science. The Cherokees avail themselves most readily of these advantages,, and have highly cultivated farms with good buildings and fruit in abundance ; churches and thriv-. ing schools, while other tribes are fast decreasing in numbers and wealth, and will soon become extinct. Their capitalia Tah.-le» Quah, and their population 70,000. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 44S WYOMING TERRITORY, ^xf^HIS, one of the youngest of the Western Territories, lies Jv^ between the parallels of 41 and 45 deg. north latitude, and ^^ between the meridian of 27 and 34 deg. west longitude from Washington. It was organized by act of Congress, approved July 25th, 1868. It has on the north, Montana; on the east, Da- ikota and Nebraska, and on the south, Colorado and a small portion of Utah, and on the west, Idaho and tlie northern part of Utah, The Pacific Railroad passes through it, and Cheyenne and Lar- amie are already very considerable towns. The surface is broken by several mountain ranges, outlying spurs of the Rocky Moun- tains, such as the Bighorn, Rattlesnake and Wind River Mountains, as well as by the main chain of the Rocky Mountains themselves, which cross the Territory from northwest to southeast. Most of it is an elevated and rolling plateau, but the greater part is fertile and arable land, though needing irrigation in most sections. The valley of Bitter Creek and the vicinity of Bridger's Pass are ex- ceptions to the general fertility, being desolate and desert in the extreme. The valley of the Sweetwater and the foothills ot the Wind River Mountains are known to be largely auriferous, and some hundreds of lodes have been located. There are also extensive beds of coal and iron in the vicinity of the Pacific Railroad, and the supplies of coal for that road are drawn from this source. There are also large quantities of lime, gypsum, lead and copper ores, and oil and salt springs. The climate is mild and remarkably salubrious. The winters are mild and open, and stock fattens without requiring to be housed. The passage of the Pacific Railroad and some of its branches through the Territory insure its speedy settlement and prosperity. Population 9,118. Area 100,500 square miles. 446 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ALASKA TERRITORY. jJ^/f^HIS vast region, formerly known as Russian America, was 1^^ purchased by the United States from the Russian Govern- ment, March 30th, 1867, the actual transfer taking place in October of the same year. Its boundaries are as follows : Com- mencing at 54 deg. 40 min. north latitude, ascending Portland channel to the mountains, following their summits to 141 deg. west longitude from Greenwich ; thence north on this line to the Arctic Ocean, forming the eastern boundary. Starting from the Arctic Ocean west, this line descends Behring's Strait, between the two islands of Krusenstern and Ratmanoff, to the parallel of 35 deg. 30 min., and proceeds due north without limitation, into the same Arctic Ocean. Beginning again at the same initial pointy on the parallel of 65 deg. 30 min., thence in a course southwest through Behring's Strait, between the island of St. Lawrence and Cape Chenkotski to the 172 deg. of west longitude (from Green- wich) ; and thence southwesterly, through Behring's Sea, between the islands of Attou and Copper, to the meridian of 193 deg, west longitude ; leaving the prolonged group of the Aleutian Islands in the possessions now transferred to the United States and making^ the western boundary of our country the dividing line betweea Asia and America. The surface of this vast region, comprising 577,390 square miles, is varied. The northern part of the main- land is compact and nearly level, comprising a tract nearly square and about 600 miles in length and breadth. From this a narrow belt extends along the coast to latitude 54 deg. 40 min., broken and mountainous with a few fertile valleys. There are in this region several large rivers, the principal of which is the Yuken or Kwichpak, 2000 miles or more in length, of which nearly 1500 are navigable. The Peninsula of Alaska is mountainous and its sum- mits are among the most elevated in North America, Mt. St. Elias and Mt. Fairweather are between 15,000 and 18,000 feet in height. The islands of the Aleutian group are volcanic, and form a remark- able range. BURNING THB GTJILLOTINE IN THE PI^CB VOLTA.IR«^ ^ ' ''-ti',.- i.-'^'' W ()^I I N \\ AT 1 IN' . II IE RETURN OF THE CARRIER PIGEON During tUe Siege of Pails. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 449 HISTORY OF THE U. S. FINANCIALLY: Giving names of Presidents and Vice-Presidents, and sliowing Expenditures and Debt of ttie Country during the vari us Political Administration from tlie Founding of tlie Government to tiie present time. Yr. President. George Washington. George Washington. George Washington. George Washington. George Washington. George Washington- George Washington. George Washington. 1790 1791 1792 1793 '794 1795 1796 1797 John Adams. 1798 John Adams - 1799 iohn Adams. i8oo John Adams. 1S02 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 t8o8 1821 1S22 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1830 1831 1832 '833 1834 1835 Thomas Jefferson, i'homas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson. James Madison. James Madison. James Madison. James Madison . James Madison, fames Madison. James Madison. James Madison. James Monroe.. James Monroe.. James Monroe.. James Monroe.. James Monroe.. James Monroe.. James Monroe.. James Monroe.. John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams. Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson, 1836 Andrew Jackson. Vice-President. Jolin Adams . *F John Adams.. F John Adams F John Adams F John Adams F John Adams F fohn Adims F John Adams F Thomas Jefferson F Thomas Jefferson F Tliomas Jefferson F Thomas Jefferson F Aaron Burr R Aaron Burr R Aaron Burr R Aaron Burr R Geoige Clinton. R George Clinton R George Clinton R George Clinton — R George Clinton R George Clinton R George Clinton R George Clinton R Elbridge Gerry.... R Elbridge Gerryt R JohnGaillard R John Gaillard. R D. D. Tompkins R D. D. Tompkins R D. D. Tompkins R D. D. Tompkins R D. D. Tompkins R D. D. Tompkins A' D. D. Tompkins R D. D. Tompkins -..R John C. Calhoun R John C. Calhoun R John C. Calhoun R John C. Calhoun R John C. Calhoun D John C.Calhoun D John C. Calhoun D John C.Calhoun D Martin VanBuren D Martin VanBuren D Martin VanBuren D Martin VanBuren D Public "Expenditures. fe.797i436 78 8,962,920 00 6,479,977 97 9-041,593 17 10,151,240 15 8,367,776 84 8,625,877 37 8,583,618 41 11,002,396 97 11,952,534 12 12,273,376 94 13,270,487 31 11,258,983 67 12,615,113 72 13,598,309 47 15,021,196 26 11,292,292 99 16,762,702 04 13.867,226 30 13,309,994 4Q 13,592,(304 86 22,279,121 15 39,190,520 36 38,028,230 32 39,582,493 35 48,244,495 SI 40,877,646 04 35,104,875 40 24,004,199 73 21,763,024 85 19,090.572 69 17,676,592 63 15.314,171 00 31,898,538 47 23,585,804 72 24,103,398 46 22,656,764 04 25,459,479 52 25,044,358 40 24,585,281 55 30,038,446 12 34,356,698 06 24,257,298 49 24,601,982 44 17, 573, 141 56 30,868,164 04 Public Debt. 175,463.476 52 77,227,924 66 80.352,634 04 78,427,404 77 80,747,587 39 83,862,172 07 82,064.479 33 79,228,529 12 78,408.669 77 82,796,294 35 83,038,050 80 80,712,632 25 77,054,686 30 86,427,120 88 82,312,150 so 75,723,270 66 69,218 398 64 65,196,317 97 57,023,192 09 53,173,217 52 48.005,587 76 45,209,737 90 55,962.827 57 81,487,846 24 99,833,660 15 127,334,933 74 123,491.965 16 103,466,633 83 95,529,648 28 91,015,566 15 89,987,427 66 93,546,676 98 90,875,877 28 90,269,777 77 83,788,432 71 81,054,059 99 73,987.357 20 67,475,043 87 58.421,413 67 48,565,406 50 39,123,191 68 24,332,235 18 7,001,698 83 4,760,082 o3 37,513 05 336,957 83 * The political complexion of the different Presidential terms is indicated by a single letter opposite each year, defined as follows : F, Federalist ; R, Republican ; 2?, Democrat ; W^ Whig. t Elbridge Gerry died in 1814, and was succeeded by John Gaillard, Vice-President/r<» tem. 29 45° FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGE& HISTORY OF THE U. S. FINANCIALLY-Gonfinued. President. Vice-President. Public Expenditures. Public Debt. 8(7 Maitin VanBuren. Martin VanBuren. Martin VanBuren. Martin VanBuren. W. H. Harrison. John Tyler John Tyler John Tyler James K. Polk. James K. Polk. James K. Polk. James K. Polk. Zachary Taylor.. Millard Fillmore. Millard Fillmore. Millard Fillmore. Franklin Pierce.. Franklin Pierce.. Franklin Pierce.. Franklin Pierce.. James Buchanan.. James Buchanan.. James Buchanan.. James Buchanan.. Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. Andrew Johnson.. Andrew Johnson.. Andrew Johnson.. Ulysses S. Grant.. Ulysses S. Grant . Ulysses S. Grant.. Ulysses S. Grant.. Ulysses S. Grant.. Ulysses S. Grant.. Ulysses S. Grant.. R. M. Johnson ..D R. M. Johnson D R. M. Johnson ...Z) R. M. Johnson D JohnTylert W Wm. P. Mangum W VVm. P. Mangum IV Wm. P. Mangum IV George M. Dallas D George M. Dallas D George M. Dallas D George M. Dallas D Millard Fillmoreg W Wm. R. King.. IV David R.Atchison IV David R. Atchison W Wm. R. Kingll D David R. Atchison D Jesse D. Bright ...D Jesse D. Bright D J. C. Breckenridge D J. C. Breckenridge D J. C. Breckenridge D J. C. Breckenridge D Hannibal Hamlin.. R Hannibal Hamlin R Hannibal Hamlin R Hannibal Hamlin R Andrew Johnson^ R Lafayette S. Foster R Benj. F. Wade R Benj. F. Wade. R Schuyler Colfax R Schuyler Colfax R Schuyler Colfax R Schuyler Colfax R Henry Wilson R Henry Wilson R Henry Wilson R l37^265,o37 15 39.455,438 35 37,614,936 15 28,226,533 81 31,797.530 03 32,936,876 S3 12,118,105 15 33,642,010 85 30,490,408 71 27,632,282 90 60,520,851 74 60,655,143 19 56,386,422 74 44,604,718 26 48,476,104 31 46,712,608 83 S4,577,o6i 74 75,473,170 75 66,164,77s 96 72,726,341 57 71,274,587 37 82,062,186 74 83,678,642 92 77,055,125 65 85,387,313 08 565.667,563 74 89;, 815, 911 25 1,295,541,114 86 1,906,433,331 37 1,139,344,081 95 1,093,079,655 27 1,069,889,970 74 584,777,996 II 702,907,842 88 691,680,858 90 682,525,270 21 524,044,597 91 $3,308,124 07- 10,434.221 14 3,573,343 82! 5,250,87s 54. 13,594,480 73-. 20,601,226 28 32,742,922 00 23,461,652 50- 15,925,303 or 15,550,202 97 38,826,534 77 47,044,862 23 63,061,858 6^ 63,452,773 55 68,304,796 02' 66,199,341 71 59,803,117 70- 42,242,232 42 35,586,956 56 31,972,537 90 28,699,831 85. 44,911,881 03 58.496,837 88 64,842,287 88 90,580,873 72 524,176,412 13. 1,119,772,138 63 1,815,784,370 57- 2,680,647,869 74 2,773,236,173 69 2,678,126,103 87 ,611,687,851 19 ,588,452,213 94 2,480,672,427 8t 2,353,211,332 II 2,253,251,328 78 2,234,482,993 20 Note. — Though the principles of the various administrations, from 1801 to 1829, are designated as Republican, it may be remarked that the principles of both the Democratic and Republican parties have materially changed since the establishment of these parties, which change^> have been wrought by the new political issues that have from time to time sprung up ill the history of the Government. X Wm H. Harrison Died in 1841, after being one month in office. John Tyler succeeded to the Presidency, and Wm. P. Mangum became Vice-President /n? tern. § Zichary 1 aylor died July, 1850, being succeeded by Millard Fillmore; Wm. R. King, succeeding to the Vice-Presidency the first half of the Presidential term, and David R. Atchison the last half. I Wm. R. King died 1853; David R. Atchison becoming Vice-President /r(7 ^^?«. for the first half of the Presidential term, and Jesse D. Bright for the last half. '[ Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865. _ Andrew Johnton succeeded to the Presidency, and Lafayette S. Foster to the Vice-Presidency the remainder of the first half of the Presidential term, and Benj, F, Wade the last half. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 451 STATE LAWS RELATING TO RATES OF INTEREST, AND PENALTIES FOR USURY. States and Territories. Legal Rate Rate of allowed by Interest' Contract. Penalties for Usury. Alabama . ■_. Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Dakota Delaware _. District of Columbia Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas .- Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Min-nesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico.- New York North Carolina Ohio Ontario, Canada Oregon ... Pennsylvania Quebec, Canada Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas .. Utah Vermont Virginia V\^ashington Territory West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming - • EjEcept per cent 8 lo 6 lo lO 7 7 6 6 8 7 lo 6 6 6 7 6 5 6 6 6 7 7 6 6 lo lO lO 6 7 6 7 6 6 6 lo 6 6 6 7 6 6 lO 6 7 12 per cent. 8 Any rate. Any rate. Any rate. Any rate. 7 i8 6 lO Any rate. Any rate. Any rate. lo ID lo 12 lo 8 Any rate. 6 Any rate. lO 12 Any rate. lo Any rate. 12 Any rate. 6 7 Any rate. 7 8 8 Any rate. 12 Any rate. Any rate. Any rale. Any rate. 10 Ar>y rate Any rate. 6 6 * Any rate. 6 * lO Any rate, Forfeiture of entire interest. Forfeiture of entire interest. Forfeiture of principal and interest. Forfeiture of principal. Forfeiture of entire interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of entire interest. For. of ex. of int. above I2 per cent. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest. No Usury Law in this State. Forfeiture of entire interest. Forfeiture of entire interest. Forfeiture of thrice the ex. and costs. Forfeiture of entire interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of entire interest. Forfeiture of excess above 6 per cent. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of excess of interest. Forfeiture of entire interest, in cases defined by Statutes of the State. 45^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. STATE LAWS RELATING TO LIMITATIONS OF ACTIONS: SHOWING LIMIT OF TIME I^ WHICH ACTION MAY BE BROUGHT ON THE FOLLOWING: • States and Territories. Alabama Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut- Dakota Delaware -. District of Columbia. . Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa -. Kansas Kentucky Louisiana - Maine M aryland - Massachusetts - Michigan - Minnesota M tssissippi - - Missouri Montana , Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina Ohio Ontario, (U. Canada). Oregon Pennsylvania — Qaebec, (L. Canada) . Rhode Island . - South Carolini Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Territory West Virginia. Wisconsin Wyoming Assault slander, replevin &c. Open Accts. Notes. Judg- ments. Sealed anc witnessed Instru- ments. Years. I Years. 3 Years. 6 Years. 20 Years. 10 I 3 5 lO 10 3 I I 2 2 6 4 6 5 3 6 5 3 17 2 6 6 20 20 I 3 6 20 20 1 3 3 12 12 2 5 5 20 20 I 4 6 7 20 3 I 2 5 4 lo 5 20 5 10 2 6 20 20 20 2 5 lO 20 10 I I I 3 2 3 5 5 5 5 15 10 15 15 20 2 6 20 20 20 3 2 3 6 3 20 12 20 12 20 2 6 6 lO 10 2 6 6 lO 20 I 3 6 7 7 2 2 lO 20 20 2 I 2,6 2 4 6 4 5 20 5 5 20 4 10 20 I lO 10 2 6 6 20 20 I 3 lO ID 10 I 6 15 15 15 I 3 ID lO 10 I 6 15 IS 15 I 2 5 I 5 6 30 10 30 20 I 6 6 20 20 I, 2 I 5 6 5 6 30 26 30 20 2 I 6 6 6 6 20 20 20 I 2 4 to 10 I 2 2 6 4 14 5 8 7 8 5 2 5 2 5 3 5 6 5 6 6 6 10 9 10 20 20 20 10 20 I 6 15 ID 21 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 453 OUR POPULATION AND GROWTH. States and Territories. States. Alabama Arkansas -. California Connecticut Delaware — Florida --' Georgia.... Illinois Indiana Iowa - Kansas - Kentucky — Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri — Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire - New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio - Oregon -. Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin - Total States Territories. Arizona - Colorado Dakota District of Columbia Idaho . Montana -- New Mexico Utah Washington — Wyoming Total Territories. . Aggregate United States. Area in Square Miles. PopulE lion. Miles R. R. i860. 1870. 1862. 1872. 50.722 964,201 996,992 8c5 1.671 52,198 435,450 484,471 3^ 25 188,98) 379,994 560,247 23 1,013 4,674 460,147 537,454 630 820 2,120 112,216 125,015 127 227 59,268 140,424 187,748 40i 466 58,0c 1,057,286 1,184.109 1,420 2,108 55,410 1,711,951 2,53989' 2,998 5,904 33,809 1,350,428 1,680,637 2,175 3-529 55,045 674,913 1,101,792 731 3.160 81,318 107,209 364,399 1,76© 37,600 1,155,684 1,321,011 567 1,123 41,346 7o8,co2 7-6,915 355 539 31,776 628,279 626915 505 871 11,184 687,049 780,894 408 820 7,800 1,231,066 1.457351 1,285 1,606 56,451 749,113 1,184,059 853 2,235 83,53' 172,023 439,706 1,612 47,156 791,305 827,922 862 990 65,35c 1,182,012 1,721,295 838 2,580 75,995 28,841 123,993 828 112,09c 6,857 42491 593 9,280 326,073 318,300 661 790 8,320 672,035 906,096 633 1,265 47,00c 3,880,735 4-382,759 2,728 4,470 50,704 992,622 1,071,361 937 1,190 39-964 2,339,511 2,665,260 3,100 3,740 95,244 52,465 90,923 4 159 46,00c 2,906.215 3,521,791 3,006 5,113 i,3c6 174,620 217,353 108 13b 29,385 703,708 705,606 973 1. 201 45.600 1.109,801 1,258,520 1,253 1,520 237,504 604,215 818,579 45' 865 10,212 315,098 330,551 562 675 40.9C4 1,219,630 1,225,163 1,379 1,490 23,000 376,688 442,014 361 485 53,924 775,881 1,054.670 961 32,120 1.725 1,950,171 31,183,744 3*5,113,253 59,587 113,916 1 9,658 104,500 34-277 39,864 39a 147,490 60 4,837 75,080 14,181 [31,700 * * 90,932 . . 14,999 143,766 I2r,20I 20.595 91-874 93516 80056 40,273 86.786 375 69,944 93-107 11.594 23.955 9 ti8 498 965,032 1 259,577 442,730 1,265 2.915,203 31,443,321 38,555,983 32,120 60,852 * Included in the Railroad Mileage of Maryland. 454 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. POPULATION OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES, 1790-1870. STATES AND AGGREGATE. TERRITORIES. 1870. I860. 1850. 1840. 1830. 1820. 1810. 1800. 1T90. Alabama Arkansas California Connecticut .. Delaware 996992 484471 560247 537454 125015 187748 1184109 2539891 1680637 1191792 364399 1321011 726915 626915 780894 1457351 1184059 439706 827922 1721295 122993 42491 318300 906096 4382759 1071361 2665260 90239 3521791 217353 765606 1258520 818579 230551 1225163 442014 1054670 9658 39864 14181 13 1 700 14999 20595 91874 86786 23955 9118 694201 435450 379994 460147 112216 140424 1057286 1711951 1350428 674913 107206 1155684 708002 628279 687049 T231066 749"3 172023 791305 1182012 28841 6857 326073 672035 3880735 992622 2339511 52465 29062 I 5 174620 703708 1109801 604215 315098 1596318 771623 209897 92597 370792 91532 87445 906185 851470 988416 192214 590756 97574 309527 30388 127901 14273 309978 78085 54477 691392 476183 685866 43112 297675 76748 34730 516823 157445 343031 275248 72749 261942 72674 251002 64273 237946 59,096 Georgia 340989 55211 147178 252433 12282 24520 162686 82,548 Indiana 5641 Kansas Kentucky 982405 517762 583169 583034 994514 397654 6077 606526 682044 779828 352411 501793 470019 737699 212267 687917 215739 399455 447040 610408 3'639 654317 153407 298335 407350 523287 8896 406511 76556 228705 380546 472040 4762 220955 73,677 Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan 151719 341548 422845 96,540 319,728 378,787 Mississippi ... 375651 383702 136621 140455 75448 66586 40302 20485 8850 N. Hampshire New Jersey.. - New York..-- NorthCarolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania . Rhode Island- South Carolina Tennessee Texas 317976 489555 3097394 869039 1980329 13294 2311786 147545 668507 1002717 212592 314120 142 1 661 284574 373306 242882T 753416 1519467 269328 320823 1918608 737987 937903 244161 27757s 1372812 638829 581434 214460 245562 959049 555500 230760 183858 211149 589051 478103 45365 141,885 184,139 340,120 393,751 1724033 108830 594398 829210 1348233 97199 581185 681904 1049458 83059 502741 422823 810091 76931 41511S 261727 602365 69122 34SS9I 105602 68,825 249,073 35,691 Vermont Virginia W. Virginia... 291948 1239797 280652 12 II 405 235981 1065366 217895 974600 154465 880200 85,425 747,610 775881 305391 3094s 34277 4837 7508c Dist. Columbia 51687 43712 39834 33039 24023 14093 9351^ 40273 1 1 594 61547 11380 Utah Washington .. Wyoming 1 1 \ . Total 38555983 31443321 23191876 17069453 1286602c , 9638453 7239881 5,308483 3929,214 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 455 NATIVE AND FOREIGN POPULATION. bTATHS AND Total TERRITO- popula- RlfiS. tion. Alabama Arkansas California ■Connecticut. . Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas - Kentucky Touisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada N. Hampshire New Jersey. New York__ N. Carolina. Ohio... Oregon.- Pennsylvania.. Rhode Island. S. Carolina Tennessee Texas 'Vermont Virginia West Virginia. Wisconsin Arizona ■Colorado Dakota Dist. Columbia Jdaho Montana New Mexico. Utah Washington . Wyoming — Native Foreign] | popula born. born 964201 435450 379994 460147 11-2216 1404'i4 1057286 1711951 1350428 674913 107206 1155684 708002 628279 687049 1231066 749113 172023 791305 1182012 28841 6857 826073 672035 3880735 992622 3339511 52465 2906215 174620 703708 1109801 604215 315098 1219630 376688 775881 34277 4837 75080 93516 40273 11594 951849 431850 23:W66 379451 103051 137115 1045615 1387308 1233144 568830 94515 1095883 637037 590836 609520 970960 600020 113295 782747 1031471 33490 4793 305135 54924! 3879455 989334 3011262 47342 2475710 137236 693732 1088575 560793 383355 1301117 360143 498954 12353 3600 146528 80696 9165! 3309 1167ll 3246431 118284 1060771 12691 597991 80975 37453 77529 260106 149093 58738 8558 160541 6351 30(^4 30938 123790 1001380 3398 328349 5123 430505 37394! 99S6| 21336 4.3433, 33743: 18513; 16545! 3769371 31611 3063 63596 86793 27519 8450 total copula- Native tion. ■ born. 771623 763089 209897 30763ti 92597 70340 370792 331560 91532 86368 87445 84665 906185 899132 851470 736149 988416 930458 193314 170931 982405 517762 583169 583034 994514 397654 6077 606.536 682044 317976 489555 3097394 869039 1980329 13394 2311786 117.545 66850' 1003717 312592 314120 1421661 949652 448848 550878 531476 837430 341656 4097 601330 604533 7509 1471 21802 38518 5353 2669 6488 111893 55573 30969 1035 790 455 714 11 11 565 3439 2386 314 1870. Indian. 93 49310 2 2t)66! 1774' 12184 6733; 13754 3144 305391 51687 01547 11380 303563 439176 3436771 866341 1757746 13081 3006307 133564 659743 995478 194433 380055 1398205 194099 46720 B9187 9326 31420 68233 31835 51209 l(i4024 54703 1977 4788 76592 1333 681 466 349 3060 1295 3 508 930 14265 50948 655929 2581 218193 1022 303417 3;3903 8707 5653 17681 33715 33985 110477 2151 2044 148 4311 4694 317 4390 191 2163 79 57 1586 478 350 471 815 49 309 10 1870 I860. 160 48 17793 16 98 7^1 3;i5 3153 15 29 ..... 3.330 14 3 4274 1949 "445 234 143 2 40 32 240 48 914 108 569 499 4 153 4926 690 809 75 87 23 33 16 439 1241 100 318 34 154 134 70 379 14 339 1 1306 31 180 1300 15 47 1.5' i:309 179 1319 66 1 38 33 290 65 189 33 173 5 32 6172 2S69 2 20 63 140 1158 30 177 7 19 88 60 403 30 113 lOlT 2361 1 10507 89 436 Total 3144.332l'27304634 4138697 23191876 '20913613 3244602' 34662 63254 25731' 44031 456 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. NATIVE AND FOREIGN POPULATION. X870. I or both Foreign STATES AND Total Native Foreig-n parents foreign. Foreign Foreign father and TERRITORIES. population. born. born. father. mother. mother. Alabama 996.992 987 030 9.962 21.844 20,765 18,060 16.981 484 471 479 445 5 026 10.617 9,893 8,484 7,760' California 5t)0 247 3.50 416 209.831 323,507 310,927 308.303 295,72:3- Connecticut 637 454 423 815 113 639 203,650 198,958 197.377 192.685- 125.015 115.879 9,1:36 20,361 19,:338 18.311 17,288 187.748 1,184,109 182,781 1.172.982 4.967 11.127 9.295 23.814 8,734 22.901 8020 19,413 7,459 18500 2,5:59,891 l,t)S0,()37 2,024693 1,5:39,163 515.198 141,474 986 a35 441.001 956,711 326,312 920.147 298,753 890,.y23 Indiana 284.064 1,191,792 987,7135 204.057 316 139 397,672 379.438 360,971 3(54.399 1,321011 310007 1,257.613 48,:392 63,:398 87,211 142 720 82,848 139,336 77.828 i;30,ia3 73,46S Kentucky 126,799 Louisiana. 726,915 6()5,088 61,827 132.011 127,480 118.017 113,483' 62^5,915 780. 8 W 578.034 6t>7,482 48.881 83,412 91,651 181,362 84,381 176,274 81,128 164 9iK) 73,853. Maryland 159.872 Massachusetts 1,457,351 1,104 032 353.319 626.211 609,836 606.727 690,852- Michigan 1,184 059 916.049 268,010 483,159 459,537 444,958 416,3:36. Minnesota 4;59,70« 279.009 160,697 285 516 277,:345 273.860 865,689 Mississippi Missouri 827,922 816.7:31 11,191 18,756 17,862 15.861 14.967 1,721,295 1,499 028 222.267 465,125 453,264 428,770 416,909 Nebraska 122,993 92 245 30,748 50,017 48,277 46.392 44,652 42,491 318,300 23.690 288.689 18,801 29.611 25,117 44,592 24,222 42,862 24.042 42550 23,147 New Hampshire. 40,820' New Jersey 906 096 717,153 188.494 350.316 340,661 330,900 321,245- New York 4,382,759 3.244.406 1,138,35:3 2,22.5,627 2,161,752 2,106.937 2,043,112 North Carolina .. 1,071,361 1.063,3:32 3 029 6,464 6,148 4,644 4,:32d Chic 2,065,260 90,92;B 3,!521,791 2,2!)2,767 79 32:3 2,976,530 372,393 11.600 545,261 849.815 20,705 1,151.208 816,780 19 320 1,108 603 764.380 17,541 1,034.456 731,345- 10,15fi- Pennsylvania 991,851 Rhode Island 217,35;^ 161,957 55.;396 95,090 92,762 92 311 89,983 South Carolina 705,606 697 5:32 8,074 16449 15,875 14,166 13,582: Tennessee 1,258.520 1,239.204 19,316 36,326 35,045 31,861 30,580 818,679 3:30.651 756 168 283 396 62 411 47,155 107.327 83 615 103,713 79.287 100,047 76,482 96,23*- Vermont 72,154 1,225,163 442014 1,211,409 424 923 13,754 17 091 30,794 46 204 29.677 43;917 24,751 39,077 23 634: West Virginia 36,790 Wisconsin 1,054.670 690,171 364499 717,8:32 700,402 688,189 670,759' 9.658 39,864 3.849 as. 265 5.809 6,599 6,766 10,707 6.612 10,200 6,654 9,854 6..50O- Colorado i),347' 14,181 131,700 9,366 115,446 4,815 16 254 7,319 34,106 7,1:37 32,721 6,786 30,668 6,604 Dist. of Columbia 29,183: 14 95)9 20.595 7.114 12,616 7,885 7,979 9 305 10.246 9,180 9,926 9,122 9,682 9,906 Montana 9,:363- New Mexico 91.874 86 254 5,620 8,677 8,392 7,636 7,:351 Utah . . 86,786 2:3955 56 084 18.931 30.702 5:024 59.024 8,.382 54.649 7,880 50,182 7,069 51,807- Washington 6,.567' Wyoming 9,118 6,605 3,513 5,000 4,850 4,7i0 4,560' Total 38,555,983 32,989,437 6,566,546 10,892,015 10,521,233 10,105,627 9,734,845 Note to Native and Foreign Table. — Of the sums contained in the four columns in order, respectively, fourth, fifth, si.xth, and seventh, in this table, that in the seventh is invariably the smallest, and that in the fourth invariably the largest. The sum given in column five may be larger or smaller than that in column six, according to circumstances. It happens to be larger in the case of every State, and of each of the Territories except Arizona and Utah (in the latter case for obvious reasons). The mathematical proof of column four is by adding columns fiveand si.x, and subtiacting column seven. The difference between columns six and column seven yields. the number having foreign mothers but native fathers. THE LAST CHARGE OF THE FRENCH AT SEDAN. THE FIELD GUNS CAPTURED BY THE GERMANS AT SEDAN. Leaders of the French Armies, in the Gbsat War with Germaity OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 459 POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. CITIES. Adrian, Mich 8438 Akron, Ohio 10006 Albany, N.Y 69422 Alexandria, Va 13570 Allegheny, Pa . 531 Allentown, Pa Alton,Ill 8665 Altoona, Pa.... 10610 Atlanta, Ga 21789 Auburn, N. Y 17225 Augusta, Ga 15389 Aurora, 111 11 162 Baltimore, Md 267354 Bangor, Me 18289 Bellville, 111 8146 Biddeford, Me 10282 Binghamton, N. Y 12692 Bloomington, 111 14590 Boston, Mass... ..250526 Bridegeport, Ct 18969 Brooklyn, N.Y 396099 Buffalo, " 1 1 77 14 Burlington, Iowa 14930 Burlington, Vt 14387 Cambridge, Mass 39634 Camden, N. J 20045 Canton, Ohio 8660 Chicago, 111 298977 Charleston, S. C 48956 Charlestown, Mass 28323 Chillicothe, Ohio 8920 Chester, Pa 9485 Cincinnati, Ohio.. 216239 Cleveland, " 92829 Columbia, S. C... 9298 Columbus, Ohio 31274 Cohoes, N. Y... 15357 Concord, N. H 12241 Council Bluffs, Iowa 10020 Covington, Ky._ 24505 Davenport, Iowa 2003 8 Dayton, Ohio 30473 Des Moines, Iowa 12035 Detroit, Mich 79577 Dover, N. H 9294 Dubuque, Iowa 18434 East Saginaw, Mich 11350 Elizabeth, N. J 20832 Elmira, N. Y 15863 Erie, Pa. _. 19646 Evansville, Ind 21830 Fall River, Mass 26766 Fond du Lac, Wis 12764 Fort Wayne, Ind ' 17718 1870. [ 1860, 6213 3477 62367 12652 28702 8025 3585 3591 9554 10986 14875 601 1 212418 16407 7520 9349 8325 7075 202977 13299 266661 81129 6700 2606 14358 4041 112172 40467 25065 4581 4631 161041 43417 8052 18554 CITIES. Frederick, Md Galesburg, 111 Galveston, Tex Georgetown, D. C Grand Rapids, Mich.. Hamilton, Ohio Hannibal, Mo Harrisburg, Pa Hartford, Ct Haverhill, Mass Hoboken, N. J Houston, Tex Hudson, N. Y Indianapolis, Ind Jackson, Mich Jacksonville, 111 Janesville, Wis Jersey City, N.J Kansas City, Mo Keokuk, Iowa Knoxville, Tenn Lafayette, Ind Lancaster, Pa. , Lawrence, Kan Lawrence, Mass Leavenworth, Kan Lewiston, Me Lexington, Ky Little Rock, Ark Lockport, N.Y Logansport, Ind . . Louisville, Ky Lowell, Mass Lynn, " Macon, Ga Manchester, N. H 8799!Madison, Ind. 6896 201 1 16471 11267 20081 3965 45619 8502 13000 3001 I1567 9419 1 1484 14026 5450 Madison, Wis Mansfield, Ohio Memphis, Tenn.. Milwaukee, Wis ; Minneapolis, Min Mobile, Ala Nashua, N. H Nashville, Tenn. Natchez, M iss New Albany, Ind Newark, N. J New Bedford, Mass Newburgh, N.Y Newburyport, Mass New Brunswick, N. J... New Haven, Ct New Orleans, La 1870, 8526 10158 I I1384 16507 IIO81 IO125 23104 37180 13092 20297 9382 8615 48244 1 1447 9203 8789 82546 32200 12766 8682 13506 20233 8320 28921 17873 13600 14801 12380 12426 8950 100753 40928 2S233 10810 23536 10709 9176 8029 40226 71440 13066 32034 10543 25865 9057 15396 105059 21320 1 7014 21595 15058 50840 191418 I860' 8143 4953 7307 8733 8084 7223 6505 13405 17956 9995 9659 4845 7187 18611 4999 5528 7702 29226 4418 8136 9387 17603 1645 17639 7420 7424 9321 3727 2979 68033 36827 19083 8247 20107 8130 6611 4581 22621 45246 2563 29250 1065 16988 6612 12647 71941 22300 13401 11256 39267 H8670 460 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Population of the Principal Cities of the United States^ (Concluded). cities. Newport, Ky Newport, R. I New York, N. Y Norfolk, Va. Norwich, Ct Ogclensburgh, N. Y Omaha, Neb Orange, N. J Oshkosh, Wis Oswego, N. Y Patterson, N. J Peoria, 111 Petersburg, Va Philadelphia, Pa Pittsburgh, Pa Portland, Me Portland, Oregon Portsmouth, N. H Portsmouth, Ohio. Portsmouth, Va Poughkeepsie, N. Y Providence, R. I Quincy, 111 Racine, Wis.- Raleigh, N.C _ Reading, Pa Richmond, Ind Richmond, Va Rochester, N. Y Rome, " Sacramento, Cal St. Joseph, Mo St. Louis, " 1870. 1860. 15087 10046 12521 10508 942292 805051 19229 14620 16653 14048 10076 7409 16083 1881 9348 8877 12643 6086 2ogio 16S16 33579 19586 22849 14045 18950 18266 674022 565529 86076 49217 31413 26341 9293 2868 9211 9335 10592 6268 10492 9488 20080 14726 6S904 50666 24052 13718 9880 7822 7790 4780 33930 23162 9445 6623 51038 37907 62386 48204 1 1 000 3584 16283 12797 19565 8932 310864 160773 St. Paul, Min -. Salem, Mass Salt Lake City, Utah. San Antonio, Texas.. Sandusky, Ohio San Francisco, Cal Savannah, Ga Shenectady, N. Y Scranton, Pa. Springfield, 111 Springfield, Mass Springfield, Ohio Steubenville, Ohio... Stockton, Cal Syracuse, N. Y Taunton, Mass. . Terre Haute, Ind Titusville, Pa.. Toledo, Ohio Trenton, N. J Troy, N. Y Utica, " Vicksburg, Miss Washington, D. C Waterbury, Ct Watertown, N. Y Wheeling, W\ V Williamsport, Pa Wilmington, Del Wilmington, N. C Worcester, Mass York, Pa. Zanesville, Ohio 1870. 1860. 20030 10400 241 1 7 22252 12854 8207 12250 823s 13000 8408 149473 56802' 28335 22292 10029 9576 35092 9223 17364 9320 26703 15199 12652 7002 8107 6154, 18966 3679: 43051 28110- 10629 15376' 16103 859+ 8639 438 31584 1376S 22874 17225 46465 39232 28804 22529: 12443 4591 109199 61122 10826 10004 9336 — 19289 14083 16030 556S 30841 21254 13446 9553 41 105 24960 1 1003 8605 lOOII 922^ OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 461 FACTS [RELATING TO THE UNITED STATES. 1565 l6oy J614 3620 1623 1624 1625 2627 1633 1634 1636 1663 1669 1670 ^670 1682 1685 3690 1690 1699 1711 1716 ^720- 1725 1733 J7S7 1764 1769 1775 1788 iSii 1833 4346 l8:;o i86t i86i S854 States. Florida Virginia* Meiv York* Massachusetts* Meiv Hampshire*.. New Jersey* Maiiii Delaware* Jonnicticut* Maryland* Rhode Island* North Carolina* Wisconsin Michigan South Carolina* Pennsylvania* . Arkansas Texas Indiana Louisiana Alabama Mississippi Illinois Vermont Georgia* Tennessee .. Missouri California Kentucky Ohio Oregon Iowa Minnesota... Kansas Nevada West Virginia Nebraska ... Capitals. Where Settled. Tallahassee Richmond Albany Boston Concord Trenton Augusta . Dover . Hartford Annapolis Prov. and Ncv/port. Raleigh Madison Lansing Columbia Harrisburg ... Little Rock Austin Indianapolis New Orleans Montgomery J ickson Springfield Montpelier ,A.tlanta Nashville Jefferson City Sacramento Frankfort Columbus Salem Des Moines St. Paul Topeka Carson City Charleston Lincoln Augustine .. Jamestown Manhattan Plymouth Dover ; Bergen Bristol ,, Cape Heiielopen V/indsor St Mary's Providence Albermarle Green Bay Detroit Port Royal Philadelphia Arkansas Post San Antonia Vincennes Iberville Mobile Natchez Kaskaskia Fort Dummer Savanna Fort London ^t. Louis San Diego Boonesboro- Marietta Astoria Rurlington St. Paul Ft. Leavenworth. . Wash oe See Virginia.. By Whom. Spaniards Engli-sh iJuich Engli-sh Puritans. . English Dutch and Danes. English - — Swedes and Finns From Massachu'ts English English English French French English English French.. Spaniards French _.. French French French French From Massachu'ts English From N. Carolina French Spaniards From Virginia From N. England From New York.. From N. England From N. England Fr. N.E.&W.St's From California.. Formed from Va.. Fr. N.E.&W.St's 845 788 t 7S8 t 788 t 788 t 787 t 820 787 + 788 + 788 t 790 t 789 + 848 837 788 + 787 t 826 845 816 8l2 814 317 796 821 850 792 803 8';9 846 857 86 1 864 863 867 * The thirteen original States. t Date of adoption of Constitution. PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Name. ■George Washington . John Adams .. Thomas Jefferson James Madison J ames Monroe John Quincy Adams. Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren .. William H. Harrison John Tyler James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Milla-d Fillmore Franklin Pierce James Buch nan Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson kUlysses S. Grant Va Mass. .. Va Va Va Mass. . Tenn. N. Y. . Ohio.. Va Tenn. L,a. ... N. Y. . N. H.. Penn. . Ill Tenn. Ill 1732 1735 1743 175' 1758 1767 1767 1782 1773 1790 I795 ,784 1800 1804 1791 i8.-.g 1808 1822 Installed intu OthCB. 1779 1797 i8oi 1S53 1857 1865 65 Term of Office. 8 years. momith y rs. II mos years y. 4 m. 5 d... y. 7 m. 26 d. . . years . y. I m. 10 d.. 1 y. 10 m. zo d. Died. 1 Age j at I death Dec. Jwly July 1799! 68 18261 91 1826I 83 June 23, 18361 85 1831 72 1848 80 184.S 78 Feb. 23, June 8, July 24, April 4, Jan. 17, June 15, July 9. March 8, Oct. 8, June I, April 14, July 3i-< 1862 80 68 72 .H 66 74 6s 77 56 1862 1846 1850 1874 xSrs- GEORGE WASHINGTON, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE PRES- IDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. GEORGE WASHINGTON. )N the line of march, whether progressive or retrogressive^, ^X^ we have been Jed through all ages by men who, by the strength of their intellect or the force of their will, or by a subtle power, inexpressible by words, but to which we yield almost insensibly, have proved themselves masters of the masses. If his: instincts are pure, and his aims and tendencies elevated, his influ- ence upon the world will be beneficial ; if they are corrupt and' degraded, while he grovels in the filth and slime of the dregs- of social or national vices, he turns backward the wheel of the car of progress ; its motion is reversed, and the jar and shock is felt, it may be, to the ends of the earth, causing disastrous- results to the generations following, even greater than to the. present. A thousand men in the quiet walks of private life- might practice the vices that are common to this age or sphere^., and they would pass comparatively unnoticed ; but once a man. steps out from the masses and takes a position above them,, the influence of his lightest act is a power for good or evil. With a desire to present, in a condensed form, sketches of the- lives of those who may serve, by their virtues and admirable qual- ities of mind and habit, as models for our imitation, or whose' vices, though brilliant, are repulsive enough to make them a warn- ing to him who reads even while he runs, we have chosen a few from almost every rank and profession of those whose names are bright on history's page, and whose services render it a pleas- ure to record their acts, while their virtues, far more than the 463 A61 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Ihistorian's skill, lend interest to the subject. It is meet that -those who have been Chief Executives of our Nation should have a place ; that those who have so generally been an honor to the people should be remembered at this time. The veneration which we feel for Washington, and the rever- •€nce and respect which is the involuntary tribute of the world to his memory, make it most fitting that we give him the first place on the pages of the book which we dedicate to his countrymen, as they have given him already the. first place in their hearts. An enthusiastic writer has declared Washington to be the most perfect character that has adorned any era of history. While it was grand and majestic, I believe there were not wanting, then or rsince, those who were just as pure, unselfish, and honest as he, who loved our country well, and labored, and suffered, and died, if need be, to defend its rights, its liberty, and its honor. At that -early day, when despotism stood with bated breath, waiting till the first weak cry should proclaim that even in a manger in the New World the young babe Freedom had been born, that it might send forth and slay it; when devotion to the new power was treason to the old ; when devotion to the Union that was being christened with the baptismal drops that flowed from the brave hearts of those that stood to guard it, with one hand upon the -sword and the other grasping the banner whose stars should lead them to victory, their eyes turned to the hills from whence their help must come, appealing to Him who was, and is, and will forever be, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, was counted a .crime against the "powers that be," ,of sufficient magnitude to cost a man his life ; he was indeed a hero who dare lead the feeble enterprise to a grand success — a success so magnificent that .crowned heads trembled on their thrones as they beheld it. Of this type of men was he who is enshrined in the hearts of -this nation as the " Father of his Country." He was born February 22d, 1732, in the county of Westmosreland, Virginia, His education was domestic and scanty, but his principles were rsuch as should underlie a character that is strong enough to •wrestle with the forces that were brought to bear against it. He was by profession a civil engineer, and in that wild, new country, there must have been ample need for his services. He -also directed much of his attention :to the science of .arms, in the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 465 5ise of which it was necessary every young man should be a pro- ficient, since they were liable to be called at any moment to repel the Indians, who were led on by skillful Frenchmen. At the age of nineteen he was appointed one of the adjutant-generals of Vir- ginia, which gave him the rank of major. So exemplary was his conduct, so cool his judgment, and so faithful, even to the minutest -duty, that he was advanced to a colonelcy and sent by Gov- ernor Dinwiddle to the Ohio, with dispatches to the French com- mander, who was erecting fortifications from Canada to New Orleans, in violation of existing treaties. His conduct proved Jiim worthy of the highest confidence, while the delicacy, yet shrewdness with which the rather dangerous and difficult matter was managed, proved him at once a statesman and a diplomatist. In the spring of 1755, Washington accompanied General Brad- dock as an aid, in that disastrous and disgraceful expedition -against Fort Du Quesne, and had his advice been followed, suc- cess, and not defeat, must have followed it. Three years later Washington commanded the Virginians in another expedition against the fort, which gave him a splendid victory. At the close of this campaign he withdrew from the army and married Mrs. Martha Custis, the widow of Colonel Daniel P. Custis. The lady was oldex than her husband and the mother of two children, but was as charming as she was sensible, and as fascinating as she was wise, and though it is even more than hinted that Madame Wash- ington was slightly strong-minded, and had a will of her own, gave impromptu curtain lectures, and said " my dear" to her hus- band with a sharpness of tone which contrasted oddly with that affectionate and loving title, we have reason to believe that his do- mestic life was very happy, and her intelligent and patriotic con- duct, both as the wife and widow of America's best-loved hero, will ever be remembered with gratitude and admiration. In 1759 he was elected to the House of Burgesses, and contin- ued to be returned to that body, with the exception of short inter- vals of rest, until 1774, when he was elected to represent Virginia in the Continental Congress. His well-tempered zeal, and his military skill, which enabled him to suggest the wisest and safest national defences when the young country was in extremity, soon ■drew all eyes and hearts to him as one qualified to direct and lead in that hour of extreme peril. Even after the lapse of nearly a 3® 466 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. hundred years, our pulse beats quicker, and tears spring unbidden, as we recall to mind those years of struggle and suffering that bought us the liberty we prize so highly and hold as a sacred birthright, guarding it as we guard no other thing this side of Heaven. Thank God for the firm hand and the strong heart and the lion courage of our Washington ! We can almost see him now as he knelt amid the snows of Valley Forge and, gathering together the band of heroes whose sufferings were almost past human endurance, but whose faith was also almost superhuman^ prayed for the guidance and protection which was so much needed, and which alone could save the cause for which they were sacrificing their lives. Immediately after the opening scene of the revolutionary drama, at Lexington and Concord, when an army had concentrated at Cambridge, he was unanimously elected Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. The purity of purpose, the self-sacrificing spirit, the conscientiousness and honor with which he discharged every duty relating to that trying position, are too well known to require any pen so weak as ours to linger in the detail. After bringing the war to a triumphant close, while the green laurels whose leaves, wet with the grateful tears of his countrymen as their fingers wrought them together, were yet fresh upon his brow, he hastened to Annapolis, where Congress was then in session, and on the 23d of December formally tendered the resignation of his commission. In May, 1787, he was elected to the convention which met at Philadelphia for the purpose of forming the Constitution, and presided over its deliberations ; and it was here, while their proud, free spirits, which the armed legions of tyranny and despotism could not subdue or force to yield, yet smarted under the wrongs they had resented, that they framed the Constitution that has made ours pre-eminently the first nation upon God's footstool. Its leading clause should be graven in every heart, over erery hearth- stone, altar, and pulpit in the land, and be our national watchword in war and our motto in peace, as also the rule of our lives : — " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the /reel exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people to assemble, and petition the government for a redress of grievances y After the Con- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 467 stitution was adopted by the people, Washington was elected first President of the United States for four years, at the end' of which time he was re-elected for a second term. There is scarcely a school boy or girl in America who is not familiar with his farewell address, and looking over his life, we can see how like himself was that tender and humble sentence in which was the sentiment of a Christian, a philosopher and a patriot. " I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last act of my offi- cial life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superin- tendence of them, to His holy keeping." Washington died December 14th, 1799, ^-t the age of 68 years, JOHN ADAMS. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 469 JOHN ADAMS, ?HE second President of the United States was John Adams, whose fame as a statesman and patriot is imperish- able. He was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, October 17, 1735. He early displayed fine talents, and graduated from Cambridge with great credit. He studied law, and was admitted to practice, and rapidly attained that high distinction which his superior capacity entitled him to. From the very outbreak of our troubles with Great Britian, he took a prominent part in all the war measures that were originated and himself suggested the appointment of Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the army. He was one of the framers and signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence ; and the next year he visited France to form a treaty of alliance and commerce with that country. In 1785 he was sent to England as the first minister from this country ; and on his return was elected Vice-President, in which office he served two terms, and in 1797 was elected to succeed Washington as Chief Executive of the nation. He was succeeded by Mr. Jeffer- son, in 1 80 1, after which he retired to his farm in Quincy, where his declining years were passed in the gratification of his taste for reading and study. The fiftieth anniversary of our American Independence, July 4, 1826, was remarkable, not alone for the event it commemorated, but for the decease of two of the most active participants in the measures by which it was secured to us. On that day Adams and Jefferson were both gathered to their fathers. 47© FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. THOMAS JEFFERSON. ^XT^HOMAS JEFFERSON was born at Shadwell, Albemarle J^j^ county, Virginia, April 13, 1743. He was educated at ^^ William and Mary, and was a great student, having a fond- ness for natural history quite remarkable. He studied law with the renowned George Wythe, and was a celebrated pupil, but never became a distinguished lawyer. Soon after his admission to the bar, he was elected to the House of Representatives, and there had abundant opportunity to exercise his fine business abilities. British oppression roused him to perfect frenzy, and with his pen he gave to his country the fiery thoughts that his indignation kin- dled. In June, 1775, he took his seat in the Continental Congress, from Virginia, and here soon became conspicuous as one of the most ardent friends of American freedom. He was chairman of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence ; in- deed, this instrument is conceded to have been mainly his own work. He succeeded Patrick Henry in 1779 as Governor of Vir- ginia. In 1783 he was sent to France to join the ministers of our country — Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin. In 1785 he succeeded Dr. Franklin as ambassador, and performed that duty for two years, when he returned home. He was Secretary of State under Washington, in which position he gave the highest satisfaction. In 1795 he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and took his seat the 4th of .the following March. In 1801 he was elected President of the United States, a position which he held for eight years. At the close of the last term, he retired from active life, and died July 4, 1826, just fifty years after his pen traced the words " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created free and equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; amongst which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." He was a man of strong mind, strong will and strong prejudices, and no man ever labored harder to convert every one with whom he came in contact, to his own mode of thinking; yet he was honest and patriotic, and his loss was deeply felt. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 47^ JAMES MADISON. ^HE fourth President of the United States, was born in Orange County, Virginia, March i6, 175 1. His studies were far advanced under the care of a most accomplished preceptor, and he graduated with the highest honors. He turned his attention to political life, and ini776 was elected to the gen- eral assembly of Virginia, and for more than forty years was constantly in office and served his State faithfully, in small as well as in great things, from legislator to President. While he was a member of the Executive Council of the State of Virgmia, he won the highest regard and respect of his associates, by his honest and faithful discharge of duty, and in the year 1780, he took his seat in the Continental Congress, and became immediately an active and leading member. In 1 787 he became a member of the Convention held in Philadelphia for the purpose of draftmg a constitution for the new government, whose national existence was but an experiment, the success of which the world doubted. He was one of the joint authors of "The Federalist;" sharing the labor with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. He was a member of the State Convention of Virginia which met to adopt the Con- stitution, and was chosen a member of the first Congress which was organized under it. In 1 86 1 he was one of the presidential electors, and Jefferson at once offered him a place in his cabinet, where he entered upon the duties of Secretary of State; in 1809 he succeeded Jeffer- son to the Presidency, and served in that office two terms. After, this, he returned to his home in Virginia, where he passed the re- mainder of his days in quiet content, until June, 1826, when the last survivor of the framers of the Constitution passed peacefully awaj. .^^^^^^ JAMES MONROE. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 4'/ 3" JAMES MONROE i'AS the fifth President of the United States. He was" born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 28, lyaS.- He was a graduate at William and Mary, but anxious to aid in the struggle for independence, he joined the army under General Mercer, as cadet, and soon distinguished himself in sev- eral well-fought battles, and rapid promotions followed, until he reached the rank of captain. At Harlem Heights and White Plains he shared the defeat and sufferings of Washington, through New Jersey ; at Trenton he rejoiced in the triumph of our arms over the Hessians, and though severely wounded, carried the musket ball in his shoulder through the day and " fought out the fight." He was, afterwards, aid to Lord Sterling, with the rank of major, and if he earned for himself fame, it is very certain that he found no flowery path to tread. In the military service of those days, when the leaders of our battles and our national councils looked upon their country's peril with an anguish that words can never convey to this generation, and when their country's honor was something to them which we fear modern statesmen and sol- diers can not understand, men worked with an energy and self- sacrificing spirit that made each one a host. At the bloody bat- tles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth, Monroe is said' to have particularly distinguished himself for his bravery and courage ; and by the coolness which he displayed. Ambitious to command a regiment of his own, he obtained a dismissal from the army, returned to Virginia, where he met so many discouraging obstacles that he gave it up, and resumed his law studies in the office of Mr. Jefferson. In 1794 he went as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Ver- sailles, and after settling the cession of Louisiana to the United- States, he went to England to succeed Mr. King as Minister at the 474 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ^"ourt of St. James. The little difficulty between the two coun- tries in regard to the Chesapeake, placed him in so unpleasant a position that he returned home and was soon after chosen Gov- ernor of the State, in which office he remained until called by Mr. Madison to assume the duties of Secretary of State. In 1 817 he was elected President of the United States, and in 1 82 1 was unanimously re-elected, with the exception of a single vote in New Hampshire. His entire administration was marked by peace, quiet and prosperity. When the convention was called to revise the Constitution of the State of Virginia, he was chosen to preside over its action. Soon after he removed to New York City, where he remained until his death, which occurred July 4th, 1831, when amid the pealing =of bells and the thundering of artillery that proclaimed the na- tion's jubilant rejoicing at the anniversary of independence, ihe angels whispered, " Come up higher." KOBERT L. OrR. 47 6 FOOTFRINTS OF THE AGES. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, fIXTH President of the United States, was "born m Quincyj, Massachusetts, May nth, 1767, graduated at Harvard College, and became a law student in the ofifice of Hon, Theophilus Parsons, for many years Chief Justice of Massachu- setts. His literary tastes gained him considerable attention, and some of his essays are commended as excellent. Under Washing- ton's administration he was appointed minister to the Netherlands^ and afterwards to Portugal. He was, at different periods, minister to Prussia, Russia and England, and was one of the commission- ers who negotiated the treaty of peace with Great Britain, at Ghent. During Mr. Monroe's entire administration of eight y^ars, he held the office of Secretary of State, after which he was elected President of the United States by the House of Representatives,. the people failing to make a choice. Like his father, he met verjr strong opposition from the political party then coming into power^ and his service ended with one term — being defeated in re-election by Gen. Jackson. Soon after he was chosen representative im Congress, and was re-chosen at each successive election until his- death. Two days previous to his decease, while at his duties in the House, he received a paralytic stroke, from which he never recov- ered his consciousness. Mr. Adams was a man of fine intellect and great endowments ; his mind was cultivated and enriched to a high degree. The government lost, in him, one of its brightest ornaments. 3 2-» c^-cio^^^ *• 478 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ANDREW JACKSON ^EVENTH President of the United States. The fame of " Old Hickory " is too far spread to need that our feeble' powers be exerted to add to it one ray of luster. He was born at Waxhaw, Lancaster county, South Carolina, 1767, and manifested, from childhood, something of the martial spirit whicb. made him the hero of New Orleans. One author said of him, with a spice of malice, that a more tur- bulent, roaring, rollicking youngster never lived than this same soldier and statesman. In 1790 he fixed his residhe Napoleonic Dynasty to intimidate the world, or, perhaps, he /eally believed the arms of France were invincible, yet he has had jbundant opportunity, in his forced seclusion, to meditate upon .he fallacy of measuring swords with a man like Bismark. In person the Count is a portly but intellectual looking man, with a quick, nervous manner, partly the result of ill-health, yet with an air M great self-command, while his keen, brilliant eyes have a 5i6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. most pleasing expression. He is a fine scholar, thoroughly acquainted with most of the languages of Europe, speaking them fluently. His herculean labors within the last five years have permanently impaired his health, and it is not likely he will ever regain it. While Germany is a nation, and while her people glory in the triumph of her cause, they will never forget how much is due toBismark's diplomatic and parliamentary powers for their reorganization and safe establishment as an- independent and honorable kingdom, and the first power in Europe. CARL SCHURZ. )N 1848, when the present formidable German Empire was divided into some thirty-seven duchies, principalities and other monarchial governments, which drained the substance from the people that held them in bonds of almost penal servitude, a few brave men called the masses to arms, and sought to establish a great republic. Among the prominent agitators of the move- ment was Carl Schurz, now Senator from Missouri. It is but a matter of history that the uprising was unsuccessful, and a large number of the leaders were executed, others imprisoned, and many banished. Among the latter was Carl Schurz. Upon tak- ing his forced departure, he exclaimed : " To-day I leave you, an exile ; but I shall return, and when I do you shall respect me as much as you now despise me ! " and if any man had the power to make good the words that to the old world despots were both a threat and a prophesy, it is he who flung them back as a parting souvenir to a power he hated. Physically he is tall, sinewy and lean. His physiognomy is pure Teutonic. A fair forehead, under dark-brown, carelessly- combed hair , sallow cheeks ; a sharply-cut nose, and deep inden- tations above flaring nostrils ; a reddish moustache and a reddish Carl Schurz. 518 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. beard, pretty closely trimmed ; a strong jaw, lips that can smile sweetly or curl into a sneer like Mephistopheles' own, and eyes singularly expressive and piercing : these are the features of Carl Schurz. Between 11 and 12 every forenoon he walks up the avenue to the capitol with a heavy overcoat wrapped around him, his left hand holding the folds together over his chest, and his right hand swinging a Malacca cane. In the Senate, divested of his overcoat his figure appears the more lithe and slender. His movements are in striking contrast with the slow, formal, and studied movements ofmany of the elder Senators, being full of nervous vivacity and grace. His manner is courtesy itself. Generally, his first business after taking his seat appears to be the wiping of his spectacles with a spotless handkerchief. By the time this little thing is done, the Senator has in a series of swift glances surveyed the Chamber, galleries and all ; and many are the imperceptible signs of personal recogni- tion which flash from his keen eyes. In the time of debate he is a careful listener. He never insults an adversary while that ad- versary is speaking by a mean pretense of being engaged in letter- writing or the examination of papers ; on the contrary, it seems natural to Senator Schurz to preserve the demeanor of a gentle- man toward all his associates at all times. This politeness on his part doubtless has its influence, in conjunction with the fascina- tion of his abilities, to secure for him, whenever he arises to address the Senate, an attentive audience on the floor. He is always charged with something to say on every important question ; but he has the sense and tact to reserve himself for occasions when his voice and influence could not well be spared. He is never trivial; never makes much of small topics. Therefore when Carl Schurz gets on his feet, there is generally a reason for it, and he does not often sit down without vindicating some principle worthy of such an advocate. In an important debate fitted to call into exercise all his powers, he makes a magnificent figure. His firm yet elastic posture ; his gestures, commanding, graceful, vehement ; his voice, now ringing loud, now subdued to impressive monotones ; his irresistible Ger- man accent ; the close reasoning, cumulative logic, sarcasm and eloquence of his speech ; its fine, nervous English ; and above and beyond all, the manly earnestness and fervor with which he is OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 5I9 evidently defending a principle dear to his heart, make him a great orator. * * * What is chiefly edifying to a student of the current debates is the dominion of such a mind as his over the bombast, the quibbles, the stump oratory, and the rickety logic of Senatorial quacks. It suggests the poise of an eagle in the "" blue serene " above a flock of clacking wild geese. The lovable side of Carl Schurz's character is, the sociable and •domestic side. He has a noble wife and one child, and a quiet home in Washington. There, on Saturday evenings, his friends .are entertained with conversation and music. There is certainly ■no difficulty in conversing with the Senator, because he talks flu- ently in three languages, and we don't know how many more. He lias a true German fondness for music, and is said to be a fine amateur pianist. LYMAN TRUMBULL. fN speaking of this man, no introduction is needed. His name is familiar to every voter, his speeches have been read at every fireside, and his acts have been before the public for many years. He was born in Colchester, Conn., in 1813. In his sixteenth year he became a teacher in his native town, and upon reaching his majority went to Georgia, where he was engaged in teaching for several years, devoting all his spare time to the study of law, and was admitted to the bar while he was still a resident of that State. In 1837 he removed to Illinois, and in 1840 represented St. Clair county in the State Legislature; and in 1841 was made Secretary of the State of Illinois. In 1848 he was elected one of the Chief Justices of the State Supreme Court, an office which he held for thirteen years. In 1855 the Legislature elected him to 520 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the Senate of the United States, and in 1861-67 he was re-elected'. In connection with other leading men, and in accordance with the known wishes of the people, he advocated earnestly the nom- ination of President Lincoln, both for his first and second terms of office. Senator Trumbull is one of our strong men. He is emi- nently practical, and very firm ; while rarely, if ever, acting upon impulse, he rarely, if ever, changes an opinion. He is an earnest,, thoughtful, conscientious man, not one of those, perhaps, to whom our hearts go out involuntarily with their freight and offering of love, but one of those whom we honor and trust, and to whom we could safely commit the keeping of our national honor. SCHUYLER COLFAX. )0N. SCHUYLER COLFAX was born in the city of New York, March 23, 1823. He early learned to depend upon himself, and prepare to meet life's stern realities,, and to breast the tide of human affairs with what strength and forces were at his command. His father died before his babe was born, leaving the young widow with exceedingly limited resources When he was ten years old, Schuyler went into a store, where he remained three years, and then, with his mother and stepfather,, removed to the West, and settled in Indiana, where he again found employment as a dry goods clerk, for four years more. He must have given promise already of ability, for before he was eighteen he was appointed deputy auditor, and moved to South Bend. He possessed some literary taste, and wrote fluently and correctly, and attracted some attention by articles in the country papers of the day. In 1845 he began the publication of the St. Joseph Val- ley Register. His speculation seems not to have been imme> diately successful, for it is said that the young editor found HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX. 522 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. himself deeply in debt — almost any one but him would have said, 'hopelessly so — and Avhen, by the closest attention to business, he liad placed his paper on a safe footing, he had the misfortune to lose his office by fire. Having no insurance on it, of course the loss was total. It is pleasant to be able to say that the courage of the young man was equal to the emergency, and that his energy rnade it a popular and profitable paper. The beginning of his political career was his appointment as .delegate and secretary to the Whig National Convention. In 1849 he was a member of the Convention to revise the Constitution of Indiana. In 185 1 he received his first nomination to Congress, but lost the election. In 1855 he was re-nominated, and elected by a majority of two thousand ; and has been returned to each suc- ceeding Congress. He approved of the nomination of Mr. Lin- coln, as one of the best and safest measures of the period, warmly seconded every effort for the election, and during his entire ad- ministration was a wise and faithful friend, a discreet and judicious counselor. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives •during the sessions of the Thirty-eighth Congress, and subse- quently twice filled the office. The National Republican Con- vention which met in Chicago in May, 1868, nominated Mr. ■Colfax for the Vice-Presidency under Grant; and the measure _gave great satisfaction to the people. Mr, Colfax had for many jears been a widower, having been married while very young to £i sweet, frail girl, who drooped and faded and died, as the blos- soms die when wild rude winds sweep round them. A few days after his nomination to the office of Vice President, he was mar- ried to Miss Ella M. Wade, a niece of Hon. B. F. Wade, of Ohio, £L most amiable and accomplished woman. Mr. Colfax is a man ■whose many virtues, pleasing manners and address have made him popular, while his firm adherence to principle has won him the respect of the nation. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 523 CHARLES SUMNER. ^X(^[?OR forty years the name of Charles Sumner has been before 3] the American people, and for more than thirty years he has been a leading statesman. His ancestors for several generations had been legal men — indeed, one may safely say that it is a family trait to incline to the profession of the law. Charles Sumner was born in Boston, January 6th, 181 1 ; grad- Fuated from Harvard College in 1830 and was admitted to the bar in 1836. In 1837 he visited Europe and spent three years on the Continent, when he returned to America and resumed the prac- tice of law in Boston. Mr. Sumner, though not at this time an .active politician, Avas claimed by the Whigs as belonging to their party, and most likely he did. He strongly opposed the Mexican War, and wrote a letter to Hon. Robert C- Winthrop, who then •was the Member of Congress from Boston, filled with the most scathing rebuke, for having voted in favor of that war in direct £24 FOOtPRINTS OF THE AGES. contradiction to the known wishes of his constituents. When Mr, Webster was withdrawn from the Senate by Mr. Fillmore to a place in his cabinet, Charles Sumner was chosen to fill the vacancy, andy, already ahead of all parties on some of the great questions of the day, he now took a more decided stand. He dissolved his con- nection with the Whigs, broke with a firm hand all old political ties that bound him, and became a leader in the new Free Soil party. Mr. Sumner's public life has been so prominent that it is- well known. Upon the Missouri Compromise and Kansas Bill; he was particularly earnest and enthusiastic, determined to do all in his power to hand down to posterity laws that should not dis- grace America. His speech which was published under the title of " The Crime Against Kansas," occupied two entire da3''s in its< delivery. It created intense excitement and indignation amongst those who were opposed to his views, and arguments which eould not be defeated by words were met by blows. Preston S. Brooks,, a Representative from South Carolina, attacked Mr. Sumner two days afterwards, while he sat at his desk unarmed, engaged in writing, and beat him over his head with a heavy cane until he fell insensible. In the following January, while still suffering; from his injuries, he was re-elected to Congress, but his health was- so poor, and his suffering so great, that he went to Europe by the advice of his physician, to see if he might not be benefited by change of air. Still very feeble, he returned in the fall, but the next May again went abroad to submit to a course of medical- treatment which had the desired effect, and after an absence of eighteen months he again resumed his official duties. Mr. Sumner took an active part in the election of Mr. Lincoln; to the presidential chair, and considered the triumph not one of party but of principle. In 1861, he was made Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, and at that time the positioB was one requiring the greatest discretion as well as delicacy. He entered his third senatorial term in March, 1863. He was deeply pained by President Johnson's course; indeed, so widely different were their views it was impossible to reconcile them, and from the first to the last he was a bitter and constant opponent of "■ My Policy " Mr. Sumner died, March nth, 1874, at Wash- ington. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 5^5 JOHN W. CHANLER. fOHN WINTHROP CHANLER was born in the city of .New York, in 1826. He graduated in Columbia College in 1847, and, like most of our political men, made law the profession of his choice. In 1859 he was a member of the New York State Assembly and gave the greatest satisfaction, as well as high promise for the future. In i860 he declined the nomination which was tendered him for the State Senate. For two years we hear little of him, but that he practiced his profession with great success, and was popular as a lawyer ; but evidently the desire of the people was toward him, for he was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and again to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth. Perhaps Mr, Chanler has never done anything in all his public life by which he distinguished himself so much as by his powerful speech in answer to Thaddeus Stevens, in reply to his Confiscation Bill. We wish it were possible to give it here — eloquent, impetuous, strong and overflowing with unmeasured indignation and fiery denuncia- tion of a measure which he considered and characterized* as the basest robbery. We pass no criticism upon the principle he advo- cated ; we leave that to each reader, supposing him competent to form his own opinion, and only ask him to remember that it was at a time when party strife and bitterness ran high, and when it was necessary to set aside the courtesy and dainty politeness de- manded and tendered on ordinary occasions and act quickly and decisively. We doubt if ever a senator delivered a more powerful speech upon any subject. His speech upon the rights of American citizens abroad is also spoken of as one of his best efforts, and one in wliich are some fine ideas most ably expressed. In looking at his life, and at his abilities, we prophesy for him a greater work than he has yet done. 526 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. JOHN A. LOGAN. fjX^OHN A. LOGAN was born in Illinois in 1826. His father, Iy\^ one of the first settlers of the Prairie State, was borrr in Ireland. His mother was from the State of Tennessee^s and is spoken of as a lovely woman ; and it is from this daughter of the South that he inherits his warm, glowing temperament and his impulsive disposition. His father was a man of fine tal- ents, and a good scholar. In those days school houses were not by any means as plenty as now, so he took the education of his boy into his own hands, and I have never heard but that he did credit to his teacher. As had been foreseen and prophesied by prominent statesmen and prophetic lookers-on, the Mexican war followed the annexation of Texao ; the call for volunteers rang through the land, and bright swords leaped from the scabbard at the touch of willing hands, as from the North and the South her ruddy sons went out to defend the dear old flag. With the fore- most of these young Logan marched to the fray, and on those dis- tant Avestern battle-fields won his first laurels. From that day ta this no year has passed but fresh leaves have been added, of deeper,, more fadeless green. At the first he was chosen lieutenant in a company of the first Illinois volunteers, and the records of that war contain evidence- that he was a good and faithful soldier. In the fall of 1848, hav- ing returned home, he commenced the study of law, and in No- vember, 1 84 1, was elected clerk of Jackson county. He was- admitted to the bar in 185 1, and commenced practice with his uncle, A. M. Jenkins, Esq., who had once been Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of Illinois, and in 1852 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the third judicial district. In the autumn of the same year he was elected to the State legislature, and was three times re- elected. In 1856 he was chosen presidential elector, and was the successful democratic candidate for representative in Congress, being re-elected by the same party in i860. He was one of the W^^^' JOHN A. LOGAN. 528 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ^Strongest supporters of Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency ; ■yet so strong was his love for peace and order, and so far did his love for his country exceed his love of party, that he proved a stanch friend of Mr. Lincoln, after his election. During the rebellion Mr. Logan's record was one of which, either as an honest man, an officer, or a patriot, no one need be .ashamed. In 1862 he was urged to again take part in political life, by .allowing his name to be used as candidate for Congressman-at- ;large, but he declined, believing that he had higher duties to ful- ifil, and that there were many who could fill that position as well .as he. In 1868 he was offered the position of Minister to Mexico, "but declined it, and was then elected a Representative to the For- tieth Congress, was re-elected to the Forty-first, and appointed .chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, for which he was eminently qualified. In Congress, as on the battle-field, he is im- petuous, fiery, out-spoken, frank — sometimes rash. He was styled the " Murat of the Army," and deserves, better than any living .-orator and statesman, the title of the Calhoun of the age. REVERDY JOHNSON. ^EW are the links that are left to bind us to an age that seems so far in the past, and one of that few is Reverdy Johnson, S„enator from Maryland, who was born in Annap- ,olis in that State,. May 26, 1796. His father was an eminent law- yer and held the offices of Attorney General, Judge of Appeals, and Chancellor of the State of Maryland. Reverdy was sent to the primary department of St. John's College when but six years old, and remained in that institution until, having pursued a thorough classical and mathematical course, he left the school without graduating, and studied law in his father's office. One day, as the boy sat delving deep in the musty old tomes, it was told jhim that the British wereakout to attack Washington. The en- REr\rEKDY JOHNSON. 1* 53^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. thusiastic young student, seeing a regiment of hastily recruited volunteers marching past, caught his cap and joined them in such haste that his slippers, in which he sat to study, were not changed for more substantial shoes, and before half the distance was passed, he was barefooted ; but his company were in time to take part in the battle of Bladensburg, August 24, 1815. Two years after he removed to Baltimore, where he had an extensive practice and held the position of Chief Commissioner of Insolvent Debtors. In 1812 he was elected State Senator of Maryland for a term of five years, and re-elected at its expiration, but resigned his seat at the end of the second year, and returned to his profession, to which he gave his undivided attention. In legal learning Mr. Johnson is said to stand at the head of the profession in America, and in all parts of the United States, and in Europe his services have been sought. In California he has seve- ral times tried cases requiring great skill and nice judgment, and in England he tried successfully a case involving a heavy sum against our government. In politics Mr. Johnson has been a whig, and was a warm per- sonal friend of Clay ; yet believing that the interests of the country would be advanced thereby he used all his influence to secure the election of Jackson over Adams. When General Taylor was elected President Mr. Johnson was appointed Attorney General, but upon the death of his friend he resigned the office. When the policy of southern leaders made war inevitable, Mr. Johnson threw the full force of his influence against it, and declared that secession was heresy and madness ; and in i860, before the Su- preme Court, he pronounced one of the most glowing and eloquent eulogies upon union, picturing in the strongest terms the condition of the several States, and the disgraceful position of our republic before the world, should secession be successful. At Balti- more, while Maryland wavered between loyalty and rebellion, he tailored almost frantically for the Union. A speech which he made before thousands of her citizens, is conceded to be one of the most powerful ever delivered upon the subject, and gave him a most honorable reputation. In 1862 he was elected to the United States Senate, and in 1864 gave his vote for the uncondi- tional abolishment of slavery ; also in the Thirty-ninth Congress he favored the immediate readmission of the seceded States. When OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 53I the Military Reconstruction Bill was before the Senate he op- posed it, but when even this seemed likely to be lost, and nothing gained in its stead, eager that any measure which should re-admit the South to her old rights under the government should be adopted, he urged its passage. Mr. Johnson has been one of the most industrious men of the Senate, or in public life, and his record is a grand one, an honor to himself and the State he rep- resents. His death occured Feb. loth 1876, at Annapolis Md. SIMON CAMERON. flMON CAMERON, better known as Secretary Cameron, was born m Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 8th, 1799, and educated himself while following his trade, which was that of a printer. He edited and published a paper called the Pennsylvania Intelligencer, and before he reached the age of twenty-two was editor of a paper in Harrisburg. He was active in promoting the welfare of the State, urging forward every inter- nal improvement which could add to her wealth and prosperity. In 1832 he established the Middleton Bank, and was president of two railroad companies. He was appointed by Governor Shultze Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania, and in 1845 was elected United States Senator for four years. His term of office expired, he again devoted himself to internal improvements and finances. 1857 found him again in the Senate, for six years, but he resigned to become Secretary of War under President Lincoln,* but his views were so widely different from those entertained by the ad- ministration, that he withdrew from the cabinet and was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia. He found the Czar freeing the serfs, and his heart went out in rejoicing that this nation had so soon recognized the great principle of right and justice, SIMON CAMERON, OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 533 and he congratulated him for taking a position demanded of him by the age. He had been eager, from the first outbreak of the war . between the North and South, that the services of the negroes should be accepted by the government for soldiers, and now he resigned his position abroad and hastened home to aid his coun- try in her struggle. When at last his long cherished wish was carried out and the negroes armed, he offered to raise a regiment and lead them into the field, but his services were more needed elsewhere. He continued to devote himself to the interests of the Union, and in 1866 was again elected to the United States Senate for the term ending 1873, and was at once placed on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was bitterly opposed to the administration of Johnson, feeling that it must be disastrous to the country, hence voted for his impeachment. In i860 he was a candidate for the nomination for the presidency. As a states- man, a politician and a financier, he is shrewd, but ever hone^ and fair. JAMES A. GARFIELD. CRITIC in the Northwestern Review, who was v/ise enough to withhold his name, says that " a man's success is the gage of his ability." I admire the excellent taste of the author in remaining anonymous. Every living being is, more or less, the victim of circumstances. He may be the favor- ite of fortune, or the target of misfortune, and a vast deal of en- ergy and persistence would be needed, a vast deal of tact and ingenuity, too, to enable one to turn his disadvantages to advan- tage, and out-wit even fate by turning her weapons against herself. I believe a man can be almost anything he will dare to be, but there are far too many who will not dare to be anything. There is little question but there is an up-hill path for every man, if he JAMES A. GAIiFUKLD. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 535 will not waste the first and best years of life in loitering in the pleasant valleys — later, it is hidden by weeds and tangled vines that have sprung up and covered it It is a pleasant task to trace with mind and pen the career of the strong, brave men, who, struggling with poverty, friendless and alone, make for themselves a place on the pages of history. Perhaps there are few, if any, of those who have risen by their own efforts who deserve more credit than James A. Garfield. He was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in 1831. His father died when he was but a child — the youngest of four, of whom all were so young as to be entirely dependent upon their widowed mother. James attended the district school a few .months in winter, and aided his mother, as soon as he was old enough, by working at the carpenter's trade ; but not liking the employment, he went as teamster or boatman on the canal. He loved the water, and the free life of a sailor had for him pecu- liar attractions, and he looked with fond longings to the time when he should be able to go upon the lakes or the ocean, and some day be owner of a gallant boat that would be able to outride storm and gale. A severe fit of sickness prevented him from im- mediately carrying out his darling project, and health returning but slowly, he began to attend the " Geauga Academy." He was too poor to pay his board, but took a room in a dreary little farm house and cooked his own simple meals. Subsequently he taught school and attended the academy alternately until his twenty- second year, when he entered Williams College, in Massachusetts. Here, after two years of study he graduated with high honors, when he returned to his home in Ohio, where he was made teacher of Latin and Greek in the Eclectic Institute, and soon after presi- dent of the institution. While he held this position he studied law, and also began to look into politics with something of the interest natural to a "rising young lawyer." In 1859 he repre- sented Portage and Summit counties in the Ohio Legislature, where he soon took a high position, both as a well-read politician, an eloquent and witty debater. When the war broke out, Mr. Garfield at once identified him- self with the interests of the North, and held almost every posi- tion in the army, from lieutenant to general. While still on the battle-field he was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress from Ohio, and after three years of hard service the brave soldier 536 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES resigned his commission to serve his country in another capacity. His sterling good sense and fine abilities made him justly popular? and he was re-elected for the Thirty-ninth Congress by a major- ity of twelve thousand. His thorough information on all financial questions and matters, recommended him for the position of Chairman on the Committee of V/ays and Means, in which capa- city he gave the utmost satisfaction, heing considc^^ ^. one of the best of financiers. He was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress and was made chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. He is a fine looking man, still young, and very popular. We have few, if any, better specimens of the " self-made man " than Mr. Garfield. BENJAMIN R WADE. ^X^^ENJAMIN F. WADE, of Ohio, is a character well worth Jv^fl) studying, and a man who will not suffer in public opinion ^^^^^ by a careful analysis of his history. He was born in Feeding Hill Parish, Mass., on the 27th of October, 1800, and was the youngest of ten children. His father was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and fought in every battle from Bunker Hill to Yorktown. His mother was a woman of rare worth and intellect, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. The family were very poor — indeed, among the poorest in New England, and Beniamin was educated by his mother, never having attended school. The boy worked on a farm a few years, but his labors were re- warded by meagre wages, and at length he turned to the broad west for a field where wealth and honor might repay his efforts. When eighteen years old he started for Illinois on foot, with his wardrobe in a handkerchief on his shoulder, and five dollars in BLN ( VMIN I \\ VUL 53^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. money in his pocket. He walked as far as Ohio, when the deep snow and bitter cold rendered it difficult for him to proceed, and he remained in Ashtabula county and chopped wood until spring for fifty cents per cord. His evenings and all spare moments were given to study ; in the summer he cleared land and worked Vv^ith his might at anything which his hands found to do. In the winter he taught a district school, and then for two years was engaged in buying and selling cattle. When about twenty-three years old he began to study law, and was admitted to the bar in two years, and made rapid progress in his profession, though he had to wait twelve weary months for his first case ; but the ability he displayed in managing it procured his election to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Ashtabula county. He was soon after sent to the State Senate where he took an important part in securing the abolition of the law for imprisonment for debt, and also against the admission of Texas as a slave State. The latter act gave offense to his friends, and lost him his office for the next two terms. In 1 841 Mr. Wade was elected Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, and retained the position four years, when he was elected United States Senator from Ohio. He was not an aspirant for the office — had never asked or sought it in any way, and in his first speech on the Senate floor declared that, since he must act in that capacity, he should act, not with a view to gaining popu- larity, but that humanity might be benefited by his labors. In those days republicans were few in Congress, and had but little influence or power, but Mr. Wade at once avowed his sentiments to be in sympathy with that party. He met the members from the southern States friendly and fearlessly. Tombs, of Georgia, who admired him much, once said of him to the Senators from the northern States, " He is always honest, outspoken and straight- forward — I wish to God the rest of you were like him." There was a time when Mr. Wade came so near being our President that, as one historian says, "He barely missed it." Near the close of the Thirty-ninth Congress, when it seemed likely that the impeachment of Mr. Johnson would remove him from office, Mr. Wade was elected President of the Senate for the bal- ance of the term, and the same author adds, " The narrowness of Mr. Johnson's escape and the nearness of Mr. Wade to being OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 539 President, are among the curiosities of history." The oratorical powers of Senator Wade are not remarkable or brilliant, but he is forcible and fiery, and has a way of presenting a subject when he has worked it out in his own mind, which impresses his hearers deeply. He is plain and unaffected in manners, and the usual stern look on his face softens sometimes into sweetness and tenderness, or grows radiant with lofty thoughts and noble aspirations. FREDERICK SAWYER. FREDERICK SAWYER was born in Bolton, Mass., and graduated at Harvard in 1844. He made teaching a pro- fession, and in 1859 accepted the position of principal in a young ladies' normal school in Charleston, S. C, and remained there until 1864, when he yielded to the persistent entreaties of his friends on the Board of Commissioners of the normal school, then removed north. Mr. Sawyer possessed those qualities that endeared him to his pupils and friends, and though too honest and fearless to conceal his loyal sentiments, those Avho differed from him in opinion were still steadfast friends and admirers. Beyond the fact that himself and family were m the center of the theater of war, he was unmolested ; and when hostilities ceased he returned to Charleston, where he was cordially welcomed. The first civil appointment made in the State after the war, was that of Mr. Sawyer as collector of internal revenue for the second district of South Carolina. The appointment gave satisfaction to the people, and he was elected a member of the convention that formed the new constitution for the State. He was elected to represent the State in the national Senate, and so great was his popularity that all political parties gave him their support, and he 540 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. received a large majority of votes. Mr. Sawyer was as much a favorite in the Senate as he had been in private life, and as a de- bater, soon took high rank. He is easy and graceful in manners, a fluent and pleasant speaker, witty, and even brilliant; but never bitter, sarcastic, or regardless of the feelings of any one, not even his political opponents. He is no slight antagonist, yet so thor- oughly courteous that though they may be defeated in argument and measures, no adversary will speak unkindly of him or im- peach his honor or integrity. WHITMAN T. WILLEY. )HITMAN T. WILLEY, one of Virginia's ablest and noblest representatives, was born in Mongalia, in the "Old Dominion," October i8th, 1811, and his first home was a log-cabin, but just twenty feet square. According to the custom of the day, the child was early taught to do such work as he was able to, and until he was sixteen years old worked upon the farm, attending the country school occasionally a few weeks at a time, and once, for two months was sent to a gram- mar school. At sixteen he was sent to Madison College, where, after four years study he graduated with the highest honors. He studied law at Wellsburg, Virginia, and was admitted to the bar in 1833, and soon secured a good practice. In 1850 he was elected a member of the convention for reforming the Constitu- tion of Virginia, and here he sustained the high reputation which he bore, and took a prominent part. As a speaker, he was highly complimented ; as a statesman he bid fair to rise high. In 1865 Mr. Willey was nominated as candidate for Lieutenant-Governor. Commenting on the nomination, the Richmond Whig pronounced him one of the ablest and most eloquent men in Virginia. In ad- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 54'^ dition to his position as a distinguished lawyer, his private and public character was without a single stain, and he was a most consistent christian. The ticket however, was not popular, and though Mr. Willey's name went far to save it, was not carried in the election. In i860 he tooK the ground he might naturally have been ex- pected to chose, and exerted his influence to the utmost for the Union. In the winter of 1 860-61, he was elected to a seat in the Richmond Convention. The works of that body are well known. The act of secession was passed, and West Virginia refusing to be governed by it, the State was divided against itself, and a new capital was located at Wheeling. The legislature organized there sent Mr. Willey to represent it in the Senate of the United States. His position was most trying and critical, but he bore the trial nobly, as became a christian and a patriot. Some of his speeches of that date have few if any equals. His great heart throbbed in sympathy with his country as if the suffering were inflicted upon himself, and the hot blood flushed his cheek as he thought of the disgrace which disunion of the States must bring upon the nation. He exclaimed, " Sir, this Union can not be dissolved. Nature and Providence forbid it. Our rivers, lakes, mountains, and the whole geographical conformation of the country rebuke the hand that would sever them. We are one in language, in law in religion, and in destiny. 'Whom God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.' The past has been glorious, but the future shall be sublime." He labored earnestly and unwearily, and it was mainly through his exertions that West Virginia was admitted at once into the Union as a State. He was elected Senator from the new State for two years, and before the expiration of the term was re-elected for the term ending 1871. There is much in the character of this gentleman which it would be pleasant to dwell upon, but no pen can do him justice which does not bring before the world as brightly as possible the sterling worth and integrity — the incorruptible honor of the man. He is comparatively poor — has at some periods of his public life been in straightened circumstances, and has in a great measure always sacrificed his prospects financially for principle, and to an earnest desire to serve the country. Referring to this he once said, " Pov- erty is more desirable than ill-gotten gains. I will live honest, if 542 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. I die poor. I will live an honorable man, if I die in obscurity. I would not exchange the approbation of a good conscience for the hoards of Croesus, and the crown of an emperor would not tempt me to barter my integrity." Mr. Willey is a member of the Methodist Church, and his simple, unaffected piety impresses one with its sincerity and gen- uine truthfulness. He has been foremost in every good work. The Sabbath School and the temperance cause have found in him a steadfast friend and an able and eloquent advocate. JUSTIN S. MORRILL. ^XpUSTIN S. MORRILL was born in Stafford, Vermont, 1810. 5)r(f At fifteen years of age he was taken from school, to which he never returned, and placed in a country store. In 1848 he turned his attention from mercantile to agricultural pursuits, in 1854 wsis elected a representative from Vermont to the Thirty- fourth Congress, and was re-elected until he had filled the office twelve years. During the Thirty-ninth Congress he was Chair- man of the House. In 1856 he opposed the admission of Kan- sas, also the Lecompton Constitution. February 6th, 1857, he delivered a powerful speech on tariff in opposition to the bill of Campbell, of Ohio. He also opposed making paper currency legal tender on account of the difficulty which would be expe- rienced by the government in resuming specie payment. In 1866 he was elected Senator in Congress from Vermont for six years. His speeches have always been characterized by their ability and honesty. The labor of preparing the Internal Revenue Tax Bill was largely borne by him, and has been pronounced the most perfect system ever devised by any nation. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 5^3 OLIVER P. MORTON. ^LIVER P. MORTON was bom in Wayne county, Indi- ))^ ana, August 4th, 1823. His parents died while he was a child, and he was committed to the care of his grand ■ mother, and apprenticed to learn the trade of a hatter. This was not, however, to the boy's taste. At the age of fourteen he entered the Wayne County Seminary, and afterwards graduated at the Miami University. He was admitted to the bar in 1846. Six years later, having taken rank among the most able lawyers of the State, he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court. In 1854 Mr. Morton aided in forming the Republican party. Until this time he had been a stanch democrat. He was nominated, in 1856, for governor of Indiana, but lost the election ; but his campaign speeches did much to aid the party of which he was a member, and in i860 it triumphantly elected Henry S. Lane governor and Oliver P. Morton lieuteuant-governor. On the i6th January, 1 86 1, Governor Lane was sent to the United States Senate, and Mr. Morton thus became governor of the State. It was in the midst of gathering and threatening danger to the Union that he was inaugurated. Indiana stood divided on the great question before the public, and the seceding States were given to under- stand that they would have more than the sympathies of Indiana, To see that she remained true to the Union was the work of the new governor. Soon came the call for men, and the startled na- tion rose to answer. To the earnest appeal of Mr. Morton, the response came in the shape of forty thousand volunteers for the federal army. For four years he was actively engaged in study- ing and promoting the welfare and comfort of the soldiers. In ferreting out and defeating the secret organization known as the " Knights of the Golden Circle," he employed secret detectives, placed agents at every point in the State, and thus prevented their triumph in well laid plans. The exposure of the organization i i.i ■■»■■ 1^ OLIVER p. MORTOif. ^:^ t- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 545 sliowed thar it numbered eighty thousand men, well-drilled, well- armed and disciplined, ready at any time to obey orders, and bound together by tne most solemn oaths. The discovery of their plans alone prevented Indiana from being the scene of the most terrible outbreak. When the war was ended, there came a day when the great strain so long kept upon nerve and brain might relax, and the overtaxed body could rest, but it was near coming too late to save the life that had been so freely and unselfishly used for others. In tlie summer of 1865 he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and every effort to bring him relief proved vain. His physicians recommended change of air, and he sailed for Europe. After an absence of a year he returned, only partially recovered, however, and resumed his official labors. In January, 1867, he was elected to the United States Senate and resigned the governorship for this office. He is so feeble as often to sit while addressing the. House, but his mind is as strong and active as ever, and his speeches are among the most able and eloquent ; and in all that pertains to a noble and unsullied man- hood, patriotism above reproach, and honor above suspicion, he stands high among American statesmen. WILLARD SAULSBURY. 'ILLARD SAULSBURY was born in Kent county, Del- aware, June 2, 1820. He was educated with great care, aftending both Delaware and Dickinson colleges from the latter of which he graduated. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1845 ; rose rapidly in his profession, and was appointed attorney general of his native State, holding the office five years. In 1859 he was elected Senator in Congress from Delaware, and was re-elected for the term ending 1871. He 35 546 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. v/as a member of the Chicago Convention in 1864, and has been^ during his entire political career, a consistent democrat, true to his party whether it was in sunshine or clouds, in majority or minority — in triumph or defeat; true, not to party, but to party principles, and faithful to the Union. From the first moment that the idea of secession had a tangible form, he opposed it. When the message of Buchanan, December, i860, gave them for the first time something to grasp, he met the arguments of Wigfall and Ivison unflinchingly, and declared that Delaware could nof fail to be loyal to the Union; and when, later, Jefferson Davis produced his celebrated resolutions in favor of the disunion of the States, Mr. Saulsbury rose and moved that parts of Washington's farewell address be substituted ; and was the only democratic member who did not vote for them when passed. He voted in favor of the act which authorized President Lincoln to use mili- tary force for the collection of revenues from the port of Charles- ton, and giving him the authority of commander-in-chief. During- the war, and after, he steadily opposed tlie republican majority ia the Senate, and voted against the civil rights bill and the freed- men's bureau. His opposition was fearless and honest — never shrinking from a duty because unpleasant or unpopular, never hesitating to denounce what he believed to be wrong because the majority favored it, and never courting popularity at the expense of his honor. EDWIN D. MORGAN. PDWIN D. MORGAN was born in the town of Washington,, Massachusetts, 181 1. He attended the common schools until he was twelve years old, when his family removed to Windsor. While yet a young man, he engaged in mercantile busi- ness, and by honesty and industry succeeded in establishing a fine EDWIN D. MORGAN. 548 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, wholesale business. In 1836 he removed to New York city and entered business there. Mr. Morgan was a Whig, and when the party, defeated in its attempts to elect Henry Clay, who was its idol, rallied and reor- ganized, and became the Republican party, he was one of its stanchest friends and supporters. In 1856 he was Vice-President of the Republican National Convention, and was there made Chairman of the National Committee. In 1855 he was ap- pointed Commissioner of Emigration, which office he held until he was made governor in 1838, and he was re-elected to the same office at the close of the first term by the largest majority ever given to a Governor in New York. He entered upon his duties at a time when it required calm decision, good judgment, freedom from party. prejudice and great firmness. All these traits of char- acter he possessed. The treasury of the State was literally empty, its credit overtaxed, and a strong party were craftily working to get possession of her canals, while her harbor defenses were so poor as actually to invite invasion. The canal finances were his first care, and with that energy and perseverance for which he was marked, he took grounds against their sale, urged their immediate completion, and before the close of his last term, had the satis- faction of seeing this carried out, and knowing that they were adding materially to the revenues of the State. Harbor defenses did not progress so rapidly, and it was not until 1863 that the de- fenseless condition of the State was forced upon their attention by the prospect of a possible war with England and France, and danger of ravages of privateers, that the legislature made an appro- priation of ^1,000,000 for the necessary improvements. Every- thing was done that was necessary, and in the best order, but the alarm, magnified by the imagination of the people, subsided, the money was placed in the treasury, subject to the order of the proper authorities, and with the exception of $5000 consumed in the purchase of material, wood, iron and stone, remains untouched. In 1 86 1 when the first shot struck the flag that Washington fol- lowed to victory — the stripes and stars that every nation on earth paid homage to — the ensign of freedom that had been many a soldier-hero's shroud and pall, the people uprose to shield it, — Mr. Morgan was one of the first to answer the call, and the quota of New York for men and money was about one-fifth of all that OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 549 was asked. The legislature appropriated three and a half million dollars, and authorized the raising of 30,000 men. When the President's call came for 25,000 men from New York, 120,600 were waiting, and no call was ever made on that State that was not filled at once. In February, 1862, he was elected to the United States Senate for a term of six years, and he served on committees on almost every subject that comes under the supervision of the Senate. On the retirement of Mr. Fessenden from the position of Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Morgan was solicited by Mr. Lincoln, to accept the position, but declined. Notwithstanding this, he was nominated without his knowledge, and only upon the most deter- mined refusal on his part, was he allowed to withdraw his name. In 1867 Williams College, Massachusetts, conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws. CHARLES D. DRAKE. ^HARLES D. DRAKE was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, April nth, 181 1 ; received his education in the common schools of the West, and afterwards was sent to Partridge's Mili- tary School in Connecticut, where he became a midshipman in the navy, in which he served until January, 1830, when he withdrew, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1833, and settled in St. Louis, then a town of only a few thousand inhabitants. In 1859 he was elected to fill a vacancy in the House of Representa- tives in Missouri, but took no part in public life until 1869, labor- ing night and day for the election of Stephen A. Douglas to the Presidency. During the rebellion he took a most earnest stand for the Union — the " Constitution and the Union unconditionally." In 55© FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 1863 Mr. Drake was elected a member of the Missouri State Con- vention, which was called by the governor to consult upon the slave question, and there he took the ground of immediate action, and advocated immediate emancipation. This was overruled, however, and the convention originated and adopted a scheme of gradual emancipation, so slow in its working as to scarcely termi- nate slavery by the year 1900. Mr. Drake was chairman of the committee from Missouri who waited upon President Lincoln to lay before him the statement of the condition of the State, people, and finances. In 1867 he was elected to the United States Senate, and in his steadfast adherence to radicalism as opposed to the conservatism of that day, no one, not even his most bitter enemy, can charge him with a sentiment dishonorable to himself or his constituents. WILLIAM P. FESSENDEN. fORTY years of political life and faithful service — of devo- tion to State and Union — on which lie no spot or blemish — years of unsullied patriotism, solicitude and care pa- tiently and unselfishly borne ; years of unstained political honor — make up the public life of this good man. He was born in Bos- cawen. New Hampshire, in 1806, graduated at Bowdoin College in 1823, and was admitted to the Portland bar in 1827. In 1831, when but twenty-five years of age, he was elected to the State Legislature, and though he was the youngest member of the House — a boy in. years and experience compared with his associates, he distinguished himself for his clear judgment, his unbiased opin- ions, his independence of character, and his spirit and ability in debate. As a lawyer he rose rapidly in his profession. In 1839 he represented the city of Portland in the State Legislature. At this time the House was Democratic, and Mr. Fessenden was a CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, JAMES FISK, JR. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 553-' Whig, remarkable then, as always, for his unswerving constancy tO' principle. So great was the respect he commanded for his hon- esty and ability, that he was placed on the Judiciary Committee,, and made chairman of the committee for revising the statutes of the State. In 1840 he was nominated for Congress by the Whig; party, and by an immense majority. In 1843 he declined re-elec- tion, and in 1845 was returned to the State Legislature. On being: renominated the following year he declined to again accept the office, and confined himself to the practice of his profession, in which he now stood as high as any man in his State. He was a member of the national convention which elected General Har- rison President in 1840, again of the convention which nomi- nated General Taylor in 1848, and also of the convention which nominated General Scott in 1852. In 1853 he was a member of the legislature, also the following year ; and although a stanch Whig, and both branches. Democratic, he was elected United States Senator. This was the result of a breach caused by the- Kansas-Nebraska question ; and may, indeed, be said to have been the origin of the Republican party in Maine, since the union of the Whigs and Free Soil Democrats must needs result in the-^ birth of a new party. Mr. Fessenden, opposed with all his strength^- the Nebraska bill, and upon its passage delivered one of the most- powerful speeches ever made in the halls of the Maine Legisla- ture, and which at once decided his position as one of the' ablest, men of the day ; and through all the changes of time, and the' ups and downs of party life, he has steadily held that position. In 1839, without nomination, so decided was public opinion om the point, he was sent to the United States Senate for six yearSj. and appointed by President Lincoln Secretary of the Treasury, to- fill the vacancy caused by Salmon P. Chase's being appointed Judge- of the Supreme Court. He was chairman of the Committee on Finance in the Senate, and here his excellent abilities as a finan-- cier were invaluable to the country ; especially as it required the- most rigid economy and the finest judgment to enable the govern- ment to meet the heavy expenses of the war. We doubt if any man in the Senate was better calculated to do the work which he- did ; for his great discretion and fine powers of estimating the' practicability of a measure were almost perfect. His informa- tion is general, enabling him to speak without preparation upon all 554 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the ordinary topics of the day ; and his remarks, though brief, are always the word in season. He is polite and courteous in "debate, never forgetting to yield to his opponent as much as he .asks for himself ; and though his principles and views are unchange- .able, he never misrepresents nor wrongs those who believe differ- ..ently from himself. When President Johnson was impeached Mr. Fessenden voted for his acquittal, not for the sake of the individual, but the office ■he held, preferring rather that he go unpunished, if guilty, than Ihave a precedent of this kind, weakening as it must, the authority and dignity of the chief executive, and placing him, as the repre- sentative of our national honor, in a disgraceful position before ^he world. Although many of his friends regreted this step on his part, and others censured it, there remains not a question (Of the purity of his motive, or even of the wisdom of his decision. He died September 8th, 1869. JAMES HARLAN. E)AMES HARLAN was born in Illinois, and like a large ma- jority of those who have risen to distinction, was a farm boy, who literally " earned his bread by the sweat of his )row." Habits of industry, economy and temperance prepared Jhim for the great work which lay before him. Without time or money to give to his education, it was mostly acquired by study ^during evenings and stormy days, when his agricultural labors ■were temporarily suspended, and in 1841 he was ready to enter •the preparatory department of Asbury College, then under the presidency of Bishop Simpson. With no means except what he -earned by teaching winters, and during vacations, he struggled on jnost manfully, and graduated with honor in 1845, and the follow- ing winter was elected Professor of Languages in Iowa College. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 555 Without friends or influence, a stranger and unaided, he at- tained to an enviable position, and when he had been there but two years was elected Superintendent of Education for the 5tate of Iowa. In 1848 he was succeeded by the Hon. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., on what was afterwards proven to be fraudulent ^election returns. He now commenced the practice of law, and continued it until ^853, when, by the Annual Conference of the Methodist Church .he was elected President of the Mt. Pleasant Collegiate Institute. In 1850 he had been nominated by the people for Governor, but as he was not at that time old enough to be elected constitution- ally, they were reluctantly compelled to wait for time to remedy this defect in their favorite. In 1S55 he was elected to the United States Senate, resigned the Presidency of the University, and was elected Professor of Political Economy and International X.aw. He met, in the Senate, some of the most able and some of the most unprincipled of our politicians, even those who had heen for many years familiar with chicanery and diplomacy, -who cared far more to carry a point, be it by right or wrong means, than they did for the honor of the Constitution and the preservation of the Union. They soon learned that, though young in years, it would be no light work to corrupt his principles or to win 'him over to be a party tool for their own or his advancement. For two years he held his seat unquestioned, when the Democratic members of the House finding him in the way of the prosecution •of some of their schemes, knowing that the resolute will and un- bending spirit of the man threatened exposure and defeat for them, declared that he was not entitled to his seat — that he had •not been fairly elected, and he was no longer a member of the .Senate. Mr. Harlan was not prepared to accept the situation, to ■quietly ]>ermit what he believed to be wrong to triumph in that :manner; neither were the people disposed to have their voice .stifled, and their choice set aside in this manner. The legislature was in session, and he hastened to Iowa City, was immediately je-elected, returned to Washington, was resworn, and at once pro- ceeded with his duties as if no Democratic party had been in ^existence. In 1861 he was elected for his second term, and com- manded the respect of his opponents by his fearless defense of whatever he believed was right and demanded by the best inter- R. N. T. HUNTER. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 557 €sts of the people, and his honesty and truthfulness secured the friendship of political opponents. He long and ably opposed secession, assuring the southern members that though the people of the South were earnest, and many of them conscientious, yet .any effort on their part to sever the Union must result in disas- trous failure, since the will of the majority would be, " preserve the Union at a?2y cost." He was a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, «on which he was thoroughly informed, and was also a member of the Committee on Agriculture and a member of the Peace Congress. He was also a member of the Union Congressional Committee for the presidential campaign for 1S64, having been chosen by the amion members for the office, and on the 15th May he became a member of President Johnson's cabinet, but the course of the President was so at variance with his views that he resigned his position and left the office, with the approval of his friends and the xegret of the President. His speech, as Senator from Iowa, on the impeachment trial of President Johnson,' is said to be the most powerful effort of his life. He has always been identified with the anti-slavery party, and his strongest labors in that direction have been so tempered with love, good will and the charity which " thinketh no evil," that ■even those whom he met in that bitterly waged war gave him their respect and confidence. He is still in the prime of life, a noble Christian gentleman and a patriot of unquestioned honor. JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE. SpOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE was born at Lexington, Ken- iffr' tucky, January 21st, 1821. He was educated at Center College, and studied law at Transylvania Institute and removed to Iowa, designing in the new far Avest to build up a rep- utation as enduring as the institutions of the State whose interests and advancement should be identical with his own. But his love 55^ FOOTPRINTS .OF THE AGES, for the South, and especially for Kentucky, was so strong that his; heart longed for a resting-place in his native State, and he returned to Lexington, which he ever after made his home. During the Mexican war he entered the military service and was elected Major of the Third Kentucky Regiment Volunteers,, but was so late in the field he saw little actual service. Returning, home at the close of the war he was elected to the House of Rep- resentatives in Kentucky, and all the brilliant qualities of the mart were called out in debate. In 1851 he was elected to the Federal House of Representatives after a rather exciting contest, over General Leslie Coombs. In 1853 he was renominated and ran against Governor Robert Letcher, and met in him the strongest opposition he ever faced ; for at that time party spirit ran high and fierce. After the death of Henry Clay he was chosen to de-- liver an eulogy upon his character, and though widely differing; from liini in views of national polity, his admiration of the fine" qua.in.-. of the ruarx, his talents and his patriotism, made the task, a pljau.-it f lie, and he united with the nation in its grief for its- loss of the great statesman. The tribute which he paid to the memory of the departed was touchingly eloquent and beautifuL When Franklin Pierce was elected to the Presidency, Mr. Breck- inridge was offered the appointment of Minister to Spain, but' declined it, when it was accepted by Mr. Soule. In 1856 he was' elected Vice-President under Buchanan, and though the youngest man who had ever held the office, his native dignity, good sense- and impartial judgment enabled him to discharge all his duties to- the satisfaction of the country. He died May 17th, 1875. FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN, ^i.(^ ^,,^^^'REDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN was born at Mill- jv^ stone, Somerset county. New Jersey, August 4th, 1817. ^^ His grandsire, Frederick Frelinghuysen, was a member of the Continental Congress, and resigned his commission to go» out and bear arms in defense of his country, and during the Revo-- FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN. 5^0 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. tutionary war served as captain. In 1793 he was a Senator in Congress. The subject of this sketch is nephew and adopted cson of Honorable Theodore Frelinghuysen, who was United ..States Senator from 1829 to 1835, and was also the candidate of iheWhig party for the Presidency in 1844. Frederick T. Freling- liuysen graduated at Rutger College, where he had distinguished tiimself for brilliant scholarship and indefatigable industry. Upon leaving school he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1839. In 1 86 1 he was appointed Attorney General of his native State, ..and upon the expiration of his term was reappointed. The .death of the well known and lamented Hon. William Wright occasioned a vacancy in Congress which Mr. Frelinghuysen was .appointed by the governor to fill. Giving universal satisfaction by his honorable course, he v/as re-elected by the people. He served on the Committee on Judiciary, and also on the Committees vOn Naval Affairs and Claims, in all of which he was one of the leading spirits. He denounced the course of President Johnson in the most unqualified manner, and in the impeachment trial ■declared him guilty of high misdemeanor in " willful and defiant -disregard of law," and in a long and powerful speech asserted that to permit such a proceeding on the part of the Executive was to suffer the destruction of the government. In reconstruc- tion, his generous and patriotic heart seconded every effort which ■could be honorably made to restore peace to the war-stricken ,country ; and his sympathies for the South were keen and active. His term in the Senate ended March 4th. 1869, and though short, was productive of good, alike creditable to himself and the State ;|ie represented so ably and honorably. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. fe'JI^fe ILLIAM H. SEWARD was born in Florida, Orange xMr county, New York, in 1820. His ancestors were Welch A ^ on his father's, and Irish on his mother 3 side, and set- tled in the New World .at .an early date jn its history. At nine OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 561 years of age he was sent to the academy at Goshen, and at fifteen to the Union College, from which he graduated ; afterwards he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1822, and the next year he entered into partnership with Judge Miller, of Auburn. In 1828 he was tendered the nomination to Congress but declined it, and two years later he was sent to the State Senate. In 1S34 he was nominated for Governor of the State but lost the election, and in 1838 was renominated and elected by a very large major- ity. In 1849 Mr. Seward was sent to the United States Senate and remained in that body until Mr. Lincoln's election, when he was offered the position of Secretary of State in the cabinet. which he accepted and held during Mr. Lincoln's administration. Mr. Seward was looked upon as one of the most able men in Con- gress, though no orator, and not a man who wins friends as did a host of our statesmen — indeed, pure, personal frierids he had few^ but admirers and supporters he had many. He lacked utterly that magnetic power which controlled the feelings and sympathies of the masses, yet he was for many years the representative man of his party. He died in October, 1872. JOHN JAY CRITTENDEN. j^^fpR. CRITTENDEN was born in Woodford county, y|v Kentucky. His mother was left a widow while he was a child, and with but scanty means for their support. He was, in a great measure, self-educated, and early chose the profession of law, which he commenced at Hopkinville, from whence he removed to Frankfort, where he soon won a reputation and a fine practice. In 1816 he was chosen representative in the State legislature, and was nominated Judge of the Supreme Court of the United 36 5^2 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. States by J. Q. Adams, then President. In 1835 he was chosen United States Senator, served a full term, was re-elected, but resigned in 1841 the post of Attorney-General under President Harrison. In the fall of the same year, with every member of the cabinet, except Webster, he withdrew, sending a kind, courteous, and respectful letter of resignation to President Tyler, and was at once chosen Senator in Mr. Clay's place, that gentleman hav- ing resigned after the passage of the tariff' bill, and was re-elected in 1843 for another full term. In 1 818 he was elected Governor of Kentucky, a measure which gave great satisfaction. He was in Mr. Fillmore's cabinet during his term of office, and was again nominated for the Senate for the term ending 1861. He has always favored the protective policy, voting for the tariff of 1842, and against that of 1846. In 1835 he opposed Mr. Cal- houn's bill empowering postmasters to take from the mails docu- ments hostile to slavery. He opposed the annexation of Texas as unwise, unnecessary and unconstitutional, and strove to bring our difficulties with Mexico to a peaceful termination. He also opposed the admission of Kansas under the Topeka Constitution, and in favor of it under Mr. Toombs' bill, and again against it under the Lecompton Constitution, which he pronounced a fraud and contrary to the wishes of a majority of the people. His speech on this subject carried great weight with it, not only from the high position he held, but from his age, and as being the rep- resentative of Kentucky. Throughout all the bitter debates, and the daily wrangles over Kansas, Mr. Crittenden never forgot his dignity as a Senator, or indulged, even in the hight of debate, in language unbecoming either his position or himself. He was highly esteemed, both in the councils of State and Senate, and was a fine extemporaneous debater. It is peculiarly pleasant to us now to refer to Mr. Crittenden's course during the war of 1861. Having exhausted his ingenuity to propose or suggest some pacific measure which might heal the wounds and prevent the outbreak, the very thought of which brought pain to his loyal heart, he took his seat in the United Staljtes House of Representatives as a member from Kentucky, in the extra session of July, i86r, took part in the debates and work which came up, not as an avowed partisan of the administration, but as something more honorable — as a firm adherent to the gov- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 563 crnment, as one whose nobility of soul, strength and honesty of purpose, and unquestionable patriotism made him superior to party and above prejudice, a man who was so true to the consti- tution — so true to the Union — as to be ready to sacrifice personal feeling for their preservation. It was during this session that in one of his most eloquent speeches he exclaimed, " Party ! party ! ! PARTY ! ! ! in an hour like this. Party! when the government is being tossed at the mercy of the storm, and any moment may see the Union a wreck. Perish party forever from the green footstool of God, if for it a government like ours must be sacrificed, or for one moment its safety be jeopardized!" And a few weeks before his death he reiterated his firm purpose in these words : " In defeat or victory, my intention is to stand by and maintain the govern- ment." He died at his home in Frankfort, Kentucky, July 26, 1863. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. LEXANDER H. STEPHENS was born February 11, 1 81 2, in Crawfordville, Ga., and' losing both parents, one in his infancy, the other when ten years old, was reared and educated mostly by his uncle, Aaron Grier. At one time he was strongly inclined to study for the ministry, but later he chose law, and was admitted to the bar in 1834, when twenty-two years of age. He rapidly acquired a fine reputation ; indeed, his first case^ which he gained against the celebrated Mr. Jeffreys, gave him at once a firm position. His orphan boyhood, his pov- erty, his struggle for his education and profession, when want and physical suffering battled mightily with the strong will that was, as he said with a grim bitterness, " about all there was of hirn," 564 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. have marked both the face and character of the man. You read the story in the wistful look of his large, sad eyes, in the sweet and patient mouth — even in the listless, weary droop of the slender shoulders. His birthplace was sold, at his father's death, but he had a love for that spot of earth that has been well nigh the ruling passion of his life, and he set apart the first fruits of his profes- sional labor to redeem it from the hands of strangers. The young neophite had no paltry pettifoggers to oppose him, but those who had tempered their steel with practice, and whose talents, no less than their legal lore, made them able antagonists. At the very beginning of his career he came in contact with men whose social, political, financial and professional positions were already defined and secured ; men who are all gone now — men of yesterday, but who made for their names a place in our memory. There were Sayre, and Thomas, and Dawson, and Tombs; these were the men amongst whom the friendless and penniless boy had to make his way — the men amongst whom he did make his way right gal- lantly. In 1836 he was nominated for the General Assembly of his State, and had a most gratifying majority of votes against a ]:)itter and vigorous opposition, arising from the fact of his well- known, openly expressed objection to the doctrine of nullifica- tion, then popular with the people, and his objection to the Vigil- ance Committees which had been appointed in many counties in the State, and proposed in his district, and which were clothed with unlimited and despotic power to arrest and punish, without trial, any persons who might be suspected of tampering with slaves, or circulating amongst them incendiary sentiments. He appealed to the people with an earnestness which he rarely sur- passed, " as they valued, prized, and cherished liberty, to stand by the supremacy of the law'' The measure was defeated, but at a cost, for at once he was charged with being unsound upon the slavery question, and some of his most masterly speeches were made in self-defence. The life and labors of Mr. Stephens have been presented to the public so often, and are so well known, so thoroughly appre- ciated and admired, it seems unnecessary to enter into details. In 1837, Mr. Stephens' health, always delicate, gave way com- pletely, and for the next ten years he was so feeble most of the time as to be unable to walk without support; yet he gave up JEFFERSON DAVIS. 566 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. his work for but one year, when he was compelled to seek relief in travel. In 1839 he was sent to Charleston as delegate to the National Convention, and there met the most distinguished men of the nation. The subject under discussion when Mr. Stephens made his debut in the capitol of South Carolina was, the impor- tance to the South of direct communication and trade with Great Britain, and the best mode of calling public attention to it. It may not be generally known that South Carolina and Georgia were always opposed to each othei- in everything, as much so as if it had been a settled principle and policy for them to differ, and this point was no exception. They passed the first clause of the subject readily, but upon the second they failed most signally to agree. Mr. Stephens, then comparatively unknown in his own State, was a stranger here, and when the most eminent men of South Carolina had spoken upon the question, and the opposing party was requested to meet their arguments, the request was made in a manner which clearly denoted that they felt there was not a David on the floor who dare meet their Goliath. A mo- ment of silence followed the call, and then it was repeated, while the glow of triumph brightened on the faces of the prematurely complacent Carolinians. At length a stranger arose in one of the boxes, a man with a beardless, boyish face, with mournful, deep set eyes, around which pain had traced deep lines — a man who was slender and stooping, who clung to the box as if for support, and whose general appearance, as he glanced over the assembly, brought forth a smile of pitying contempt. But, says that mag- nificent writer, John Savage, " The hour and the man had come, and no one who heard that speech delivered, ever forgot it. His voice was soft and rich and penetrating, and scarcely had he commenced when every head was raised, and every eye was fixed in wonder. The contrast between his physical delicacy and his intellectual strength, between his masculine thoughts and melo- dious intonations, produced the greatest astonishment, and this in turn changed into intense admiration of his quick wit, his keen powers of analyzation, and his overwhelming replies. It was a bold proceeding in a stranger, to measure swords with such antag- onists as he met there, but it was a still more memorable exploit to obtain, as he did, the victory over them in argument. The speech, in which he snatched their laurels from the most brilliant states- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 567 men present, was the wonder of the day, and the topic of eulogy; and he, modest and quiet, was the observed of all observers." . In 1843 he was nominated for Congress, and it was in this cam- paign that h^e met and spoke in opposition to Judge Colquitt, the eminent candidate of the Whig party. He was elected, and then was compelled to contest for his seat in the Senate, on some tri- fling quibble, persistently brought forward by his opponent, and stoutly maintained for some time. Mr. Stephens opposed the Mexican war, believing it unwise, unconstitutional, and that it had been brought forward by President Polk to advance personal interests. In 1850 he threw all his strength against the secession movement made in the South on account of the admission of California. In the fall of that year he traveled over the land, everywhere making the most eloquent appeals — successful ones, too— to the people, to stand firm for the Union. In 1848 he gave the nomination of General Taylor his cordial support, but when the General's policy met his disapproval, he stated it frankly, as his country's friend should do. Mr. Buchanan's turn came, and though not his choice, and his heart misgave him, he voted for him. The quarrel of the President with Judge Douglas he considered most unwise,— not only impolitic and unjust, but dangerous. He foresaw that if Mr. Buchanan persisted in his course, a disruption of the party at the Charleston Convention was almost certain, and that a national convulsion must follow. Mr. Stephens again re- tired from political life, for the reason, as he dryly remarked, that " if he sees that the engineer is reckless, and a smash up ahead, he gets off at the first station." In 1855 Mr. Stephens again stood before the public in the po- sition of antagonist to the most gigantic and unconstitutional piece of injustice ever attempted by Americans— the Know- Nothing movement — which seemed, so silent had been its opera- tions, to spring into life like Venus from the wave, full grown at birth. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, rallying to the defence, flung out the stripes above the heads of the adopted children of our land, and pointed to the Constitution, which gives all our citizens equal rights. When the campaign of i860 called the people again to choose a President, Mr. Stephens was very ill— as himself and every one believed, ready to die— but the great pulsation of the nation's 568 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. heart throbbed against his own, and the ''impending crisis" roused him into new life, and he went out once more at the call of his coimtry to battle for the Union. His speech in Columbus, Ga., was one of the grandest efforts of his life, and sR far was his audience carried by the force of eloquence, that when he called upon them to stand by the Constitution in any or every event, the audience rose in a mass to their feet, and their enthusiasm was uncontrollable. He voted and labored for Stephen A. Douglas, and worked for him with a will and an energy worthy of the ob- ject, and when the final and dreadful ending came, he wrought, with an almost frantic desperation, for the cause so dear to him ; and through the terrible storm that swept over our land he was as loyal to the Union as ever was needle to the magnet ; through the darkness of the night, when the clouds hid the future from less discerning eyes than his own, he saw the rock where dimly burned, like evening vesper star, the light that would guide us safely through the storm, and by that light, — " Aye, thrill, Ye pulses, standing still with shame," he read the words of the Constitutiofi, on whose soundless depths, as on some land-locked harbor, rode safely our noble Union, late washed by waves of blood, torn by contending principles, wept over by Justice and Mercy, but now saved to her worshiping sons; and turning from the vision which to his prophetic and longing soul was the very gate of Heaven, he waited till the whirl- wind passed by, then, like the Samaritan of old, gave himself to the work of healing the wounds that came of strife. It is not strange that Mr. Stephens accepted the position of Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy, for, though he long opposed secession, pronounced it a " wrong and an actual crime," he yielded at last to the demand of Georgia, and became the second officer of the new government, but was a most convincing . proof of the truth of the old proverb, that " A man convinced against his will, Is of the same opinion still," and he declared, both then and after, that he filled the position only in the hope that he might be of use to the country, and that sometime his counsels might prevail. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 569 His faith in the restoration policy of Mr. Lincoln he expressed in no equivocal terms, and he declared in all his speeches that " the whole United States is our country, to be cherished and defended as such by all our hearts and all our arms." Mr. Stephens' letters and speeches, so far as made public, are well worthy of perusal, and whether read for their literary or po- litical merits, are equally interesting to scholar or politician. His character is symmetrical, polished, beautiful, either as that of a statesman, a patriot, or a Christian gentleman. His biographer says of him, — " At the first, he was a poor orphan; then, successful lawyer; champion of education ; advocate of a great railroad ; protector of the weak against the strong, righting wrong and securing jus- tice ; benefactor of the poor ; faithful ever to the home and graves of his sires ; laying aside the robes of office from choice, while in the noon of power ; an ardent defender of the Union, as well as devotee of the doctrines of State rights of the school of Jefferson and Madison; ministering spirit at the hospitals and caring for captive enemies as for brethren. Then, a State prisoner, and af- terward a Senator elect, dedicating his matchless eloquence again to harmony, wisdom, peace, and Union ; hero of civil triumphs and bloodless battles ; Christian gentleman and patriot states- man; in a word — Alexander Hamilton Stephens." HENRY CLAY. j^ NE of the most distinguished of our southern statesmen Sfjf' was Henry Clay, who bore in youth the soubriquet of the "Mill Boy of the Slashes." His father was a clergyman, but in so poor circumstances as only to allow a very meager edu- cation to his son, who, as soon as his attainments would permit, NATHANIEL P. BANKS. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 571 Was put as a copyist in the office of the Court of Chancery in Richmond. With a strong desire for a better education, and with a dim, undefined consciousness of the power that would one day be developed in him, he commenced the study of law at the age of nineteen, and so rapidly did he progress that he was admitted , to the bar in the course of the year. In 1797 he commenced the practice of law in Lexington, Kentucky, which was henceforth to be his home. He took a lively interest in politics, and when a convention was called for a revision of the Constitution of Ken- tucky, the youthful politician rendered himself remarkable for his efforts towards the election of such delegates as were in favor of emancipation of the slaves. Of course this could but be unpopu- lar, and he fearfully hazarded his position by it, but his after course, especially in regard to the alien laws, gave great satisfaction and soon made him a general political favorite. In 1803 he was elected a member of the legislature by a large majority, where his natural "powers of eloquence and argumentative ability won him the high- est rank. He was chosen, in 1806, to fill the vacancy in the Senate caused by the resignation of General Adair. He was again ap- pointed to the Senate in 1839, when the character of the nation was undergoing a formative process. The problem, whether Fed- eral or Democratic principles should obtain the predominance, was hastening to a solution. The country was ready and waiting for the coming of the man who had the self-centered strength to mark out and fix its subsequent policy. Mr. Clay's term in the Senate lasted but two years, when he returned to Lexington, but already he had -established himself in the hearts of the people, and Kentucky could not dispense with services so fitted for public life and legislation, and he was immediately elected to a seat in the House of Representatives ; and so conspicuous had his talents already made him, so great was his popularity, that he was at once made Speaker of the House. This could but have been a proud moment in the life of Clay. Owing nothing to birth, nothing to education, nothing to outward circumstances, or to the influence of friends, he was in a position to receive the willing homage of those who could boast of all, and the torrent of applause which greeted the announcement of his election revealed how strong was the love of the enthusiastic crowd of friends who would rally to his 'iHPi-inrf. even as now thev had rallied to make his entrance 572 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, amongst them a triumph. Meantime arose the difficulty between the United States and England, in 1812, in which Clay took so active a part as to be charged by some historians with having been the principal instigator of it. The gloom which overspread the nation, however, soon passed away, and England, who had been so exultant, was made to lower her tone of insolent superiority, and Clay was chosen one of the negotiators of peace. He returned from Europe with his laurels undimmed, having proven himself as skillful a diplomatist as he was eloquent as an orator, or able as a debater. Upon his return he was elected to Congress, and took his seat in 1815, and was again chosen speaker. President Madison offered him the position of Minister to Russia ; again, upon a va- cancy in his cabinet, the Secretaryship of War. Honors poured in upon the rising statesman from every quarter, but believing he could serve his country best in her halls of legislation, he declined every offer. He identified himself with the tariff question in 1819-20, and became the acknowledged champion of domestic industry by his resolute advocacy of protective duties. He was also an active agent in the adjustment of the Missouri Compro- mise, and in other subjects of national interest. In 1S34 President Jackson's characteristic rashness would have plunged us into a war with France. In the treaty of 183 1 France had pledged herself to pay the United States twenty-five million of francs for aggressions made by that power upon our commerce during the wars in which she was engaged from 1800 to 1817. The money was not promptly paid, and Jackson recommended reprisals upon French property. A war would, of course, have been the result of so desperate a step, and in this extremity Mr. Clay stepped in to avert so great a calamity, for at that time we could iU afford it. As Chairman of the Committee on For- eign Relations, he reported a resolution to the effect that it was inexpedient, at that time, to pass any law vesting in the President authority for making reprisals upon French property, or upon the property of any foreign power, in the emergency of provision not being made for the payment to the United States of the indem- nity stipulated by the treaty of 1813. At that time, one like Clay, of indomitable courage and Roman firmness, was needed in the Senate to curb the headstrong rashness of the executive. Per- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 573 haps the times demanded a President with the boldness and inflexible will of Jackson, at the same time that it brought upon us danger which we desired to avert, not by compromise of our nation's honor, but by diplomacy, not even by willful or feigned blindness to that which we could afford to see at another time. Mr. Clay was no less distinguished for his generosity and phi- lanthropy than for other noble qualities. The oppressed instinct- ively looked to him for redress, and he was the eloquent and impassioned advocate of the wronged and the down-trodden. His position for years was one of conflict, when identifying himself often with the weakest party, he was obliged to stand forever on the defensive. In 1834 the Senate had adopted measures of cen- sure against President Jackson, and in the following year Mr. Benton sought to have them expunged. The Senate refused, by an immense majority ; but two or three years after it was brought up, and time had made such changes that now there seemed to be a prospect of success ; but M"r. Clay came forward to battle against odds as bravely, and with the same undaunted spirit with which three years before he had hailed the assurance of victory. His speeches before the Senate at that time were full of the bitter- est sarcasm and most scathing irony, and the hot indignation of the man was poured out in a burning but eloquent and irre- sistible tide of invectives against what he denounced as the mean condescension, the groveling sycophancy, the self-degradation, and self-abasement of those who sought to expunge from the nation's archives by a few black lines that which he (the President) had not thought it worth his while to expunge from the nation's hearts by later acts. One paragraph, or portion of a speech will be a sample of the burning, impetuous, eloquent indignation which he felt and expressed so ably. It was after the wily stratagems of the other party had brought them the victory which he considered disgraceful to the Senate, that the defeated lion of the Whig party stood at bay and exclaimed, while his eyes flashed and his lips whitened with anger : " But why should I detain the Senate, or needlessly waste my breath in fruitless exertions .^ The decree has gone forth, and it is one of urgency, too. The deed is to be done — that foul deed, like the blood-stained hands of the guilty Macbeth, all ocean's waters will never wash out. Proceed then to the noble work that is before you, and like other executioners, do 574 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. it quickly ; and when you have perpetrated it, go home to the people and tell them what honors you have achieved for our com- mon country. Tell them you have extinguished one of the bright- est and purest lights that ever burned on the altar of civil liberty. Tell them that you have silenced one of the noblest bat- teries that ever thundered in defense of the constitution, and bravely spiked the guns. Tell them that, henceforth, no matter what daring or outrageous act any president may perform, you have forever hermetically sealed the mouth of the Senate. Tell them that he may fearlessly assume any power he chooses — snatch from its custody the public purse, command a military detachment to enter the halls of the capitol, overawe Congress, trample down the constitution and raze every bulwark of freedom, and the Sen- ate must stand mute in silent submission — and never, now or hereafter, dare to raise its opposing voice. That it must wait until a House of Representatives, humbled and saddened like itself, and a majority of it composed of partisans of the president, shall prefer articles of impeachment — tlien^ not till then, may it dare to think, or act. Tell them, finally, that you have restored the glorious doctrine of passive obedience, and non-resistance, and if the people do not pour out their indignation and impreca- tions, I have yet to learn the character of the American freemen." Seldom has our country been the scene of such enthusiasm as that which characterized the presidential campaign of 1840. The interests of the country, owing to the success of the banking and sub-treasury scheme, were at the lowest stage of depression, and in a change of policy the people fondly hoped to see business inter- ests revive. The twelve years of worship which they had given to the hero of New Orleans had not been productive of the desired effects, and the expected blessings had not come at the call of the anxiously awaiting people ; and now, weary with this state of affairs, they rose with a unanimous movement and demanded other laws and another policy. It was expected, when the con- vention met at Harrisburg, that Henry Clay would be their choice, but with a blind fanaticism they still desired to be ruled by a mili- tary chieftain, and General Harrison received the nomination. All that was noblest in the character of Henry Clay shone bright in this defeat, as, nobly putting aside every personal consideration, he hid, even from himself, his bitter disappointment, and devoted OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 575 all his strength and influence to the success of the rival candi- date. Harrison was borne into power with an overwhelming majority, but he did not live long to enjoy this crowning honor; he died in one month from the time of his inauguration, and Vice President Tyler took his place at the head of the nation. In 1844 he was nominated for the Presidency in opposition to James K. Polk, the Democratic candidate, and again defeated, even when his party had not thought such a thing possible. The Kentucky electors, who not only with justifiable pride as a states- man and legislator, but with affection as a public benefactor and friend, immediately waited upon him to tender him their heartfelt regrets for his defeat. Mr. Clay was evidently deeply disap- pointed, but he bore his disappointment nobly. Again he put aside all thoughts of self, and in his anxiety for the welfare of the country he loved, as a mother loves her wayward child even more tenderly and with deeper solicitude for every pain he costs her, so he waited and worked, and prayed that all might be well. The annexation of Texas was followed, as he had predicted, by war with Mexico, which was soon subdued by American arms, and once more the people desired him for their ruler, and once more the eyes of the masses were dazzled by the epaulets and laurels of Taylor. Fresh from the fields which he had won, and with all the glory, half fictitious though it was, of having trod, as a con- queror, the " Halls of the Montezumas," he was chosen Chief Executive. Twenty years of reverses had not soured or embit- tered his disposition, neither had injustice, detraction, or blasted hopes made him a hater of his kind. He was the same ardent and unselfish patriot that he had ever been ; and when Kentucky, believing that he was needed now, if ever, in the legislative coun- cils, offered him a seat in the United States Senate, though aged and toil-worn, he accepted the responsibility without one mo- ment's hesitation. It was indeed a time when the country had need of its truest son, for the question of slavery, always a dan- gerous and fearful one, presented itself with more than its usual terrors. Mr. Clay offered measures of compromise between the North and South, and as he appeared upon the Senate floor, he seemed to regain something of his youthful vigor. His wan cheek glowed again with the flush of excitement, and his eye flashed with the old light before which his adversaries had so often 576 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. quailed ; while his voice grew soft and mellow — the same seduct- ive tones that had the power to disarm anger. To those who spurned the idea of compromise he exclaimed, "There are those who are very wise in their own esteem, and who will reject the idea of compromise, but that is no reason why compromise should not be attempted. I go for honorable compromise when occasion demands it. Life itself is but a compromise, until the great de- stroyer finally triumphs. All legislation — all government — all society is formed upon the principle of mutual compromise — con- cession, politeness, courtesy — upon these everything is based. Compromise is particularly appropriate between members of a republic, as of a common family. Compromises have this recom- mendation — that if you concede anything, you have something conceded to you in return. Treaties are but compromises made with foreign powers, which is not a case like this. Here, if you concede anything, it is to your own family — your own brethren. Let him who elevates himself above humanity, with its weaknesses, its wants, its necessities, say, if he will, that he never will compro- mise ; but let no one who is not above the frailties of our common nature, disdain compromises." The debate was continued through many months, and the ex- citement became intense, both in Congress and amongst the people, and Mr. Clay, disregarding the weakness of age, and the pains of disease, battered on to effect a reconciliation of the oppo- site principles of the North and the South. Mr. Foot, of Mis- sissippi, and Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, had aided him, presenting each a set of compromise resolutions, which were not favored by the executive, but during the continuance of the agitation, Mr. Taylor died, and Mr. Fillmore was understood to look upon the measure with more leniency, and when, on the thirty-first of July a bill passed entering Utah as a free territory, ignoring the existence, for a time, of any other bills, he felt that the day of his triumph was at hand — for his far-seeing eye told him that the Senate did not come to this work without having made up their minds to carry out, separately, every one of the three bills. The irresisti- ble influence of Mr. Clay, so long and so well sustained, had suc- cessfully combatted faction in all its forms, and converted opposition into reluctant auxiliary. But the eloquent statesman had combatted error for the last time — the great chieftain had OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 577 fought his last battle. He had passed the three-score and ten allotted to human life, and as spring advanced he sank rapidly. Yet even now, his sympathies were warm and quick. The people were running wild over Kossuth, and the greatest interest was felt in that oppressed country. The eloquent and fascinating Hunga- rian had nearly upset the neutrality policy of our government. The voice which had been lifted so often in behalf of South Ameri- can independence and the struggling Greeks, was now heard in friendly remonstrance. The dying statesman admitted the en- thusiastic Hungarian to an interview. He addressed him with his usual courtesy, and in terms of the highest compliment, but protested against the policy which had been recommended to our people, and demonstrated its impracticability. This was his last service to his country. After this he sank speedily, and intelli- gence was received daily with mournful interest. The calamity came at last. On the twenty-ninth of June, 1 85 2, it was announced in the Senate Chamber that Henry Clay was no more. ROBERT TOOMBS. POBERT TOOMBS was born in Washington county, Ga., July 2, 1810. Received a partial education in Georgia, but completed his studies in Schenectady, N. Y., graduating there in 1828. His law course was taken at the University of Virginia, and he began his professional life in his native town. He served under General Scott as captain of a volunteer company in the Creek war, and was a dashing and gallant soldier, who feared nothing on earth — always ready for a skirmish or a frolic. In 1837 he was elected to the State Legislature, and continued a member of the lower house until 1845. In that year he was elected to the Federal House of Representatives, remaining in 37 Robert Toombs. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 579 that body until 1853, and was then sent to the United States Senate and served his term, giving such satisfaction to his con- stituents, that he was renominated and returned. He served on a number of prominent committees, where his fine executive abili- ties won him the respect and admiration of his associates. He was from the first a member of the extreme Southern party, and strong in his political convictions. After Mr. Lincoln's election, he threw all his strength and influence with the party of his choice. He opposed Alexander Stephens, and at Milledgeville made, in answer to him, November 15, i860, one of the most brilliant campaign speeches ever listened to. On January 19th, 1861, Georgia passed the secession ordinance, and Mr. Toombs withdrew from the United States Senate, and became a member of the Confederate Congress. When Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Southern Confederacy, he ap- pointed Mr. Toombs his Secretary of State, and in September of the same year he resigned his office, and it was filled by Robert Hunter, of Virginia. He was better known than many of our Southern statesmen, partly by his brilliant oratory, his impulsive, impetuous eloquence that flashed and blazed out like the swift lightning from the heaped up banks of inky clouds that lie against the horizon of the tropical skies ; and by the burning, scathing words that rushed in resistless torrents, like molten lava from the bosom of Vesuvius, and won for this fervid son of the South the soubriquet of the " Georgia Fire Eater." Mr. Toombs belonged to the Whig party when first he entered political life, but after- wards became a Democrat. THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 58' THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. ?HOMAS A. HENDRICKS was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, September 7th, 181 9. He studied law in Pennsyl- vania and was admitted to the bar in Chambersburg, after which he settled and practiced his profession in Indiana. In 1850 he was a member of the convention to amend the State Constitution, and in 1851 he was Representative from Indiana and served in Congress two years with marked ability. Mr. Hendricks was ap- pointed by President Pierce Commissioner of the General Land Office, and during the four years he held the position, eighty mil- lion acres were sold. In i860 Mr. Hendricks was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Indiana, but was defeated, and two years later was elected by his party to the United States Senate. In 1868 his was prominent among the names in the New York Convention for the Presidency, and had the party decided upon him to lead in the ensuing campaign he would have been a leader worthy of them. His name was upon the ticket of this cam- paign for Governor of Indiana, and a second time he was defeated for the position. Mr. Hendricks is one of the most able and pop- ular men in the Democratic party. He is as much marked for the gracefulness of his oratory as for his eloquence, and his audience never weary of listening, while his politeness and good humor in debate make him a general favorite. His speech on the Supple- mentary Reconstruction Bill was one of his most masterly efforts. Said he, " What objection have you to the Constitutions of the Southern States as amended by the people .? For two years you have kept those States out of the Union, so far as representation was concerned ; for two years trade, commerce, or business have been afraid to put out their hand, or capital to trust to any enter- prise, and the spirit of confidence and harmony have been passing away from both sections of the country because of the strife thus kept up. For what have you done it, and what end have you attained? * * A republican form of government is one in 582 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. which the people make their own laws through legislators selected by themselves — execute their laws through legislators chosen by themselves — and administer law through their own courts. * * * * Yet what have you done under a constitution that guaran- tees to the State a republican form of government.?" There is no question but that his enthusiasm, beautiful as it was, and seductive as was the eloquence with which he urged the claims of the South, was the honest sentiment of a heart that bled over the misery that war had occasioned, and his ready sym- pathy had a counterpart in many a noble heart that put aside every consideration but loyalty to the Union and the future wel- fare of our beloved country. He was Elected Governor of Indiana in 1873, and was nomi- nated for Vice-President of the U. S. by the St. Louis Democratic Convention in 1876, with S. J. Tilden as President. THIERS. ^Jg^RESIDENT THIERS was born at Marseilles on the i6th Jvp^ of April, 1797, his father, who was a dealer in clothes, ¥" having been ruined by the Revolution. From 1806 to 1814 he studied at the Seminary in that city, thanks to the aid of the Chenier family, relatives of his mother. From 1815 to 1820 he studied law at Aix, and went to Paris in 1821. Between 1822 and 1829 he wrote successively, articles for the Constitutionnel, an op- position paper then very successful ; a volume of art-criticisms called " The Exhibition of 1822;" "Historical Tablets," written jointly with Jouffroy, Mignet, and Remusat, and his " History of the Revolution." After the revolution of 1830 he became Counsellor of State, and Secretary General of the Department of Finances, under the celebrated Baron Louis, of whom Mr. Thiers always speaks as his teacher in financial matters. In 1831 he defended the hereditary Peership, in the Chamber of Peers: and, in 1832, having become OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 583 Minister of the Interior, he caused the arrest of the Duchess de Berry, during her famous insurrection in la Ve/jdee, From 1832 to 1834, having left the Interior Department, he took charge of that of Commerce and Public Works ; returning to the former in 1834, and marching personally against the barricades and rioters who appeared in Paris at that time. In 1836, he resigned ; but, a month later, he was President of the Council of Ministers and in charge of the Foreign Affairs Office, where he was succeeded by Count Mole in August, 1836. In 1837, he made a trip to Italy, where he created quite a sensation as a liberal patron of art and a liberal Minister. In 1840, as a result of the famous Thiers Guizot coalition, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Council, and caused the construction of the fortifications of Paris. At the close of the year he resigned, and traveled in Italy, Spain, Germany and England, until 1845. In 1848, he was Minister for one day, on the eve of the Revolution ; and, at the close of the year was elected to the Constitutional Assembly by four Departments. At the coup d'etat of 1851 he was arrested and sent to the frontier. In 1852 he returned to France. In 1863 he was elected by Paris to the Corps Legislatif, and was re-elected in 1869. He was chosen a member of the French Academy in 1833, in the place of Andrieux. In 1847 he published his History of the Consulship and the Empire, which he finished during the reign of Napoleon the Third. His life from 1870 till now is well known. 584 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. fEORGE S. BOUTWELL was born in Brookline, Massa- ) chusetts, January 28th, 1818. When seventeen years of age he went to Groton and commenced business as clerk in a store. At nineteen he appeared first as a lecturer before the public in the Groton Lyceum. At the age of twenty-one he was nominated by the Democratic party for the legislature, but lost the election. Three years later he was again candidate, and being elected, was continued in the office seven successive years. In 1 85 1 he was elected Governor of Massachusetts and held the office two terms. In 1853 he separated from the Democratic party and became a leader of the Republicans in Massachusetts. In 1861 he was a member of the Peace Congress, was the first Com- missioner of Internal Revenue and organized the revenue system of the United States. He was elected a Representative in Congress and took his seat in March, 1863. He was appointed a member of the Judiciary Committee, and continued on it, and also on the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. At the close of the war he was one of the first advocates of negro suffrage. As a manager of the Impeach- ment Trial before the Senate, his honest sincerity and eloquence attracted the attention and admiration of the whole country. Mr OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 585 Boutwell had just taken his seat in the Forty-first Congress when he was called by President Grant to take a seat in his cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Boutwell entered upon his duties under many difficulties, and though he pursued a new policy, the practical results of which was doubted by some, the na- tional debt was reduced more than twenty million dollars during his first three months in office. There is no question of Mr. Bout- well's honesty, or of his integrity, while his ability, force of char- acter, vigorous powers and habits of thought, together with an attractive, kindly manner, make him a general favorite and a trusted statesman. ZACHARIAH CHANDLER. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 587 ZACHARIAH CHANDLER. ^^ACHARIAH CHANDLER was born in Bedford, N. H., ^^[/^ December lo, 1813. He received a good education, and at the age of twenty-two went to Detroit, Mich., engaged in mercantile business, and as the town, then small, increased in size, so also did his business, until he was one of the heaviest wholesale dry goods merchants in the State. He was a whig in politics, so far at least as he was a politician, which was not to any great extent, and he never sought political honors. He was elected Mayor of Detroit in 1851, and in the following year was nominated for Governor of the State, but his fine sense of honor forbade his silence upon what seemed to him vital points of interest to the nation, and he gave his views so plainly and independently as to offend the party in power, and lost the election. In 1856 he was elected to the United States Senate for six years, and during that term was identified with all the leading movements of the day : for a general system of internal improvements, for pre- venting the further increase of slave territory, and for the sup- pression of the vices and corruption which disgraced the nation. One of our finest critics writes of him : " The country does not know how much it owes to his Roman firmness. The people have become too much accustomed to regard him as one of the fortresses of their liberties, which no artillery could breach, and whose parapet no storming column could ever reach, that they- have never given themselves a thought as to the disastrous consequences which might have followed had he spoken or voted differently from what he did. When did he ever pander to position, or complain of being unappreciated by his party .? Yet no man ever did braver work for a party, and got less con- sideration than he." In the rebellion he advocated prompt and energetic measures, not half-way action. He was prompt and efficient in promoting the welfare of the soldiers, and in bringing about an honorable peace. John C. Calhoun. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. $89 JOHN C. CALHOUN. »2<. ^HE subject of this sketch was born in Abbeville District, y^^ South Carolina, March i8th, 1782, and the luster of his name, which was never clouded or dimmed or disgraced, lent to the glory of the State that gave him birth, that he loved so well, and served so faithfully. His father was the first member elected to the Provincial legislature from the interior of the State, and of this body and the State legislature, he continued a member for thirty years, with the intermission of a single term, and held the office at the time of his death. At Yale College young Calhoun distinguished himself for breadth of intellect and for his precocious sagacity, and the learned Dr. Dwight, president of the College, with whom he had frequent dis- cussions, was astonished at bis depth of thought and power of eloquence, and unequivocally predicted the future of his pupil. He remarked to a friend, " That young man has talents enough to be President of the United States." A high compliment in that day, but which, with the experience that later years has brought us, we are justified in questioning, and we defend our own skepti- cism and turn wistful eyes backward over time as we cry, " Oh, for the days when men like Calhoun dared to ' Beard the lion in his lair, The Douglas in his halls ! " When fame's fingers had already begun to weave laurels for his brow, as he stepped forth to meet a Randolph of Roanoke, and in answer to that powerful antagonist, threw back, with fiery impetuosity, concentrated bitterness, and scathing scorn, in the true spirit of the proud sons of the South, the taunts and sneers with which he had been met in the legislature by him. Those who knew Randolph, and knew how haughty and impe- rious was his nature, can perhaps imagine his astonishment and rage, when this stripling stepped forth, as confidently as did David to meet Goliath, and exclaimed, in answer to Randolph's pro- 5 9© FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. posal of conciliatory measures in regard to our " little unpleasant- ness " with England in 1811, " Sir, I here enter my solemn protest against this low and calculating avarice entering this hall of legis- lation. It is only fit for shops and counting houses ; and ought not to disgrace the seat of sovereignty by its squalid and vile ap- pearance. Whenever it touches sovereign power, the nation is ruined. It is too short-sighted to defend itself. It is an unprom ising spirit, always ready to yield a part and save the balance. It is too timid to have in itself the power of self-preservation. It is only safe under the shield of honor. It is unworthy of our national government, unworthy of our nation." Loving the South with a passionate fervor, he was yet a man so clear-sighted as to refuse to gratify her at the expense of principle and honor, hence, when the embargo was greatly relied on in the troubles ot 181 1, to which we before alluded, and the enthusiastic South ap- plauded the scheme, the young statesman had the hardihood to oppose it in the most energetic manner. Said he, " I object to the restrictive system, because it does not suit the genius of our people or our government. To make the restrictive system effective, requires the most arbitrary laws. England, with the most severe penal statutes, has not been able to exclude prohibited articles, and Napoleon, with all his power and vigilance, was obliged to resort to the most barbarous laws to enforce this conunental sys- tem. It is unworthy of our principles — alike insulting to them and our constitution." In 1 81 7 Mr. Calhoun was appointed by Mr. Monroe to the office of Secretary of War. Entering upon his duties under the most adverse circumstances, but everything was forced to yield to his skill and sagacity. He found upward of forty million of dol- lars of unsettled accounts, which he speedily reduced to three million ; and by the economy and exactness of accountability which he introduced into every branch of expenditure under his control, he saved the government many million of dollars. He was twice elected Vice-President of the United States, on which office he conferred a dignity and character every way worthy of the station and of himself. On the occasion of his being chosen to fill Mr. Haines' seat in the Senate, he met with the most bitter opposition, and on account of his views favoring State Rights, was even threatened with OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 59 I arrest, and it was at this time, when treason reared its head in the high places of the land, that some of his most able and eloquent speeches were made. We only wish it were possible to make I'oom for them upon these pages, or even for lengthy extracts. He has been repeatedly pronounced to be the most profound metaphysi- cian of his age ; but in setting him at the head of American ora- tors we design to speak more of his clear-sighted wisdom, of his practical application of illustrations and of the purity and exalted nature of his thoughts, as expressed by his unsurpassed eloquence. He w as incontestably superior to any of his cotemporaries in val- uable philosophical accomplishments. The condensing power of his mmd, the manner in which he not only concentrated, but intensified thought, making a few well chosen words convey a vol- ume of meaning, was unsurpassed by any public man of any age. Said a writer, who was at a loss for words, as we now are, since language seems so incapable of conveying the true quality of a mind like this: " An indignant, fiery purity pervaded Calhoun's phraseology like heat and resistance in glowing steel." Awed and penetrated by his power, we are loth to deal with his character as with th >se of a more common stamp. No one could listen to him without feeling that his mightiest power is in clear analogies, sup^ pressed -imotion, and lofty earnestness. He was far in advance of his age, ind his ardent devotion to the liberties of his country, and his jealous watchfulness of her honor and interests, have been nistak'-n by some for ambition. Ambition he had, but it was I'igh ai d noble, and never could exist apart from his ambition for his country. His nullification, so much misunderstood and mis- lepres'^nted, was, with him, a pure and almost holy devotion to the ( onsti ution and to the permanent good of the whole Union, ac- tord'ig to his understanding of them. The genial goodness, i'ati\'. to his head and heart, is manifest in the spirit of his pub- lic C'lduct. Everywhere he was as full of thought as an ocean is of brine, but there is no bitterness in his written or living speech. His loftiest abstractions are embodied m that good sense, and keen, fine honor, which forbade him to stop in the dark ; while he never resorted to the paltry subterfuge of attempting to appa- rentlv enlarge an idea by clothing it in a misty, hazy, ambiguous cloud of words which really only bewilder the listener. 592 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. We feel the insufficiency of any mind or pen to present to you a correct analysis of this great man, who stood prominent among the men whose great thoughts possess us like a passion, through every limb and the whole heart ; whose words haunt us " as eagles haunt the mountain crags " — thoughts which command all com- ing times and minds, as from a tower a warden. Carefully avoid- ing all discursiveness of the imagination, his speeches are characterized by a steady pressure to the point. In debate, a rapid, vehement outpouring of thought and sentiment that carried everything before its rushing tide. From 1 83 1 until 1843 he was in the Senate, and was then ap- pointed Secretary of State ; he was again returned to the Senate in 1845, of which body he remained a member until his death, which occurred in 1850, at Washington, after nearly fifty years of steady labor and of unselfish patriotism. WILLIAM PITT. WILLIAM PITT was the second born, but eldest living son of Lord Chatham. He was born May 28, 1759. At the age of fourteen he entered Cambridge, where he made rapid progress in his studies, and, as an English historian says of him, became " saturated with knowledge." He had been taught from his childhood, almost from his birth, that he was th€ hope of the country, and his ambition, naturally strong, was in- creased and cultivated in every possible way. He was haughty, reserved, cold and proud, a man while yet a boy ; indeed, the writer quoted says he never had a boyhood, but that at the age when others are blushing with boyish diffidence, he had the aus- terity and assurance of a man of the world, taking up its cares and duties as if he had known them a lifetime. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 593 In January, 1781, he was sent to Parliament from Appleby, ana at once threw himself into politics with the spirit of an old de- bater. He advocated reforms, and all the popular measures oi the day, and stood boldly and stoutly for representation of the people. In July, 1782, he was made chancellor of the exchequer, and this, following, as it did, Lord Shelburn's accession to the ad- ministration, was equivalent to an invitation to retire from a party who were considered mad to advance in England, or indeed in Europe, a theory so unlikely to succeed, idle as was the dream- er's wildest fancies. His ambition was stronger than his love of reform, and in December, 1783, King George placed young Pitt at the head of the cabinet, and for seventeen years he, more than any other man, ruled the United Kingdom. When first placed in power, it is probable that something of the rose tints with which he had clothed his first love, Reform, yet haunted his vision, for he still talked tenderly of free trade ; but the disastrous failure of the French Revolution, whose dedication page was written with the blood of her bravest sons, was a lesson that he was not slow to learn, and henceforth Pitt was the despot of the Parliament, measuring his strength with a boldness that was characteristic of the man, with any or every political power, and his resources seemed inexhaustible. His readiness in debate, and promptness in action, as well as his business capacity, were truly wonderful. Unfortunately he gave himself up to dissipation of every sort, and died of a broken constitution and exhausted vigor, January 23d, t8o6. DANIEL WEBSTER. i^AJ^HE birthplace of Daniel Webster was Salisbury, Mass., the ^yj^ year, 1782. His father was a farmer, and fought both in the French and Revolutionary wars. Daniel Webster was educated in a school in the wilderness, and fed and grew strong 38 HON. DANTKL WEBSTEB, OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 595 intellectually on a repast not equal to the crumbs which fall from modern tables. He studied and was admittec^ to the practice of law in Boston, in 1805; his first practice was in the village of Boscawen, and afterward he removed to Portsmouth, tvhere he struggled awhile with poverty and adversity, was burned out and returned to Boston with the almost hopeless hope of bettering his condition. Now the tide turned, the stranded barque was again lifted to the crest of the wave, and scarcely would it be amiss to wind up with the novelist's oft repeated termination of his romance — " he was prosperous and happy forever after." Poetic justice might be satisfied with this, but in the life of these '' Master Spirits of the World," is a lesson too rich to be so easil) .-onned. Mr. Webster's career in Boston was upward, but he diew him- self up the steeps with patient endeavor. For six or eight years he avoided politics, refused to accept office, and devoted himself closely to business. On the loth of March he made an appeal before the Supreme Court at Washington in behalf of Dartmouth College, and of his efforts it is said : " After his speech was finished there was a perceptible interval before any one seemed willing to break the silence, and not one in that vast crowd doubted that the man who had so moved, controlled, and astonished them had that day vindicated his right to a place at the side of the ablest jurists in the country." In 1822 he consented to accept a seat as Representative in Con gress, and 1826 was chosen to fill a vacancy in the Senate of the United States. It was not as a politician that Mr. Webster made his public life an honorable success, but as an orator, and as " one who loved his fellow men," — one to whom humanity in any and every phase is dear, and whose whole object and purpose is to ele- vate it. His oration at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, before the assembled multitude who stood with un- covered heads, while their feet pressed the turf that had been reddened by the blood of the martyrs who defended it, was one of the most thrilling outbursts of eloquence that ever fell from his lips, and its closing sentences awed the listeners into a silence as if it were a voice from the skies. There was always in his ora- tory a dignity that amounted to formality and stiffness, and a solemnity that would have been oppressive but for the purity and 596 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. beauty of his ideas, and their polish, which, if it made them seem cold, gave them a brilliancy never excelled. One object he had forever in view. It was never lost sight of, no matter how trivial the occasion that called him into action, and that was moral ana intellectual greatness. It was this, adhered to so persistently, which seemed to lift him above the head of every one with whom he came in contact. It is doubtful if his eloquence lay in speech alone — it was in manner, gesture, look. It was a part of him. He was a most careful speaker, never advancing what he could not substantiate, never raising a pyramid of argument without being sure that the base would support it. He had the power, Avithout the heat of enthusiasm in himself, of arousing it to the highest pitch in others. He reminded one always of the Alpine moun- tains, " the mountains, Round whose snow-clad crest The clouds forever lie, the clouds From out whose breast the lightnings flash, and To whose breast the lightnings leap and hide." His audience might sun themselves in the warmth of the fruit- ful valley; he was towering above them in thought's sublimest realmo, cold, strong, majestic, immovable. He died in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in the 71st year of his age. DEMOSTHENES. ("HE father of Demosthenes was a cutler and cabinet- maker, and the great Greek orator was bom B. C. 382. His father died when he was but seven years old, and his property, consisting of fifteen talents, was put into the hands of three guardians who were appointed by his father. Upon arriving at his majority he demanded his money but could not get it, and OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 597 at once instituted proceedings against those who held it, and not being able to employ an advocate, pleaded his own case, and obtained a verdict for the sum of ten talents against one of them. The speeches made by himself on the occasion were amongst the finest specimens of his oratory. They were the eloquent, fiery outpouring of his indignation and wrath, the hot, passionate, though almost boyish expression of his sense of the injustice done him, and his impetuous demand for justice fr©m the Athenian court for one of her citizens. Encouraged by his success, and by the admiration he had excited, he now determined to devote him- self to lecturing, and at once commenced the work; but his second attempt ended in a failure as mortifying and humiliating as his first had been gratifying. Without the stimulant of that intense excitement which had nerved him then, his voice was weak and feeble, and the impediment in his speech was so great as to render it difficult for him to be understood at all ; and he met with only contemptuous ridicule. In no way discouraged by the ill-fated beginning of a public career which he had destined to be life-long, and with an unconquerable determination to suc- ceed, to make his way in the face of every obstacle, and to rise above those whose sneers stung him almost into frenzy, he ap- plied himself to study, going through the most vigorous course oi practice, never wearying, and never doubting his ultimate victory. B. C, 355 he reappeared before the public, from which he had dis- appeared so entirely as to have been forgotten, and delivered two orations against Septimus and Androtion, which were exceedingly fine, especially the first, and these being rapidly followed by others, his fame as an orator spread far and wide, and, as one of those "whose resistless eloquence wielded and swayed that fierce Democrat, he became one of the leading statesmen of Athens, and took an active part in all public affairs. He strongly opposed the expedition to Euhoar, and endeavored, without success, to dissuade the people from taking up arms against the Persians. Thenceforth his life belonged to his coun- try, and in anything which could serve her interests, or promote her honor, or add to her fame, he was a zealous and untiring laborer and any measure which threatened encroachment upon her liberty was watched with jealous and sleepless eyes. 598 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. B. C. 358 Philip, of Macedonia, began his aggressive war upor. the northern part of the Macedonian possessions, and as theii encroachments were patiently borne, and no opposition brought to bear, but the territory quietly given up, there seemed no probability that they would withdraw, or retreat, or give back that which was not demanded of them. The proud and patriotic spirit of Demosthenes could ill brook this insult to his nation, and to rouse his countrymen to a sense of the degradation of their position he uttered his Philipics, probably the most eloquent series of orations ever delivered ; and they moved upon the hearts of the people as did the voice of Moses when he commanded the Israelites to submit no longer to the oppression of Pharaoh. The Olynthiacs are , equally celebrated, and were delivered with a view to prevail upon the Athenians to aid the inhabitants of Olynthus, which had been besieged by Philip, and which, not- withstanding all the exertions of the orator, was taken the next spring. Demosthenes was now sent, with nine others, on an embassy to treat with Philip, and concluded a superficial peace, which lasted ten years. At the end of that time hostilities again commenced, and the disastrous battle of Chaeronea left Philip master of the destinies of Greece. Defeated and disgraced, the people yet rec- ognized the heroic efforts of Demosthenes, and his love for the Macedonians remained unabated ; but upon the accession of Alex- ander to the throne, so strong was the power which seated and aeld him there, that all opposition was overawed ; and soon there was a revulsion of feeling, and Demosthenes, who had been the idol of the people, came under their condemnation. Harpacus, who had been left at Babylon in charge of the immense treasure there, absconded with it, and, arriving at Athens, by a judicious distri- bution of part of it, secured his personal safety. Demosthenes was suspected of being one of the recipients, and was tried for the offence. No proof was found, but he was declared guilty ; and the suspicion, and the weight of shame attached to the unsus- tained charge, almost broke the heart of the heroic old man, and he retired to Trozene, where he remained until the death of Alex- ander, when he returned to Athens, but was not allowed to remain ; he fled again from his ungrateful country to Calauria, where he found refuge in the temple of Neptune. He died suddenly in OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 599 this lonely spot, an exile from the land of his birth, an exile frcni the country to which he had been so true — a victim of " man's inhumanity to man." His orations are familiar to every reader, cind are pronounced by Hume as being the most perfert of the kind ever given to the world. " His manner," says the author just quoted, "is rapid harmony, exactly adjusted to the sense; it is vehement reasoning without any appearance of art ; .t is dis- dain, anger, boldness, freedom, involved in a constant stream ol argument, and of all human productions, the nearest perfect." EDWARD EVERETT. (DWARD EVERETT, the fourth of a family of eight children, was born in Dorchester, Mass., in 1794. He was educated in the public schools of Boston, to which place his parents removed while he was quite young ; prepared for college at Exeter, N. H., entered Harvard August, 1807, and graduated, with the highest honors of his class, in 181 1. Ht was induced to study theology, and in 181 2 was appointed Latin I'ttor in the University. Before he was nineteen years of age he was settled over the Brattle Street Church, Boston, but being ap- pointed Professor of Greek Literature in Harvard, he resigned his pastorate in the third year; and, to improve his health and mind, was assisted by the Corporation of the University to travel, and spent some time in Europe, visiting its old colleges. He was in London when the battle of Waterloo was fought, and remained nearly five years abroad, at the end of which time he returned to his duties. He accepted the editorial charge of the North Amer- ican Review, and under his care it became equal to any of the foreign Reviews. Mr. Everett's literary works are num«rous, and familiar to every one. In 1824 he was chosen to fill a vacancy in 6oO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the Congressional district to which Cambridge belongs, and elected by a large majority. He was returned for five successive Congresses, and his legislative labors were able and effective. For ten years he was on the Committee of Foreign Affairs, much of the time as Chairman. In the spring of 1835 he declined re-elec- tion, and took leave of the House of Representatives. On the election of Gov. Davis to the United States Senate, Mr. Everett be- came his successor in the gubernatorial chair, and in 1836, and again in 1837, was re-elected to the position. He afterwards be- came resident Minister at the Court of St. James, where he re- mained several years. On his return he was made President of Harvard College. As an orator, it is almost needless to speak of Mr. Everett to the people of America. So lately he was in our midst — so late our tears fell as they said, "He is dead !" — that his gifts and his virtues are fresh as is the memory of our loss. He was calm and earnest in his manner, his words and his measure were like a soft, liquid flow, never wearying you with sameness, never startling you with sudden outbursts of passionate rhetoric. He was no eagle, that — " Bared its bosom to the storm, And swept where darkest roll the clouds," but holding to the world of humanity with tender, clinging grasp, that placed no space between himself and them. While Mr. Everett's ideas combine in themselves every element of strength, they were so finely wrought, so daintily finished, so cunningly woven with sweet fancies, and broidered with all the poet's sweet device?, that in their beauty we forget their grandeur. In after tim*?;, 'he soft raiment with which he clothed them left our mind iiT» perceptibly, as the dew is dried from the rose, nor seen as it eihalca ; but after this, we saw how massive was the structure hat — " Autumn leaves distained with dusky gold, And clinging tendrils almost hid." His taste his learning, and nis education cdmbind power to enchant his heares ;while his maner, like his matter, was studied, elaborats but not so much so as to be degraded into a trifling bauble or a splendid fault. Edward Everett died in Bostoh Mass. Jan 15. 1865. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. goj HENRY WILSON. Henry Wilson, late Vice-President of the United States, was one of those rare examples of men who have won a prom- inent place in the politics of the country without any advantages of birth, or culture in early life. He was born at Farmington, New Hampshire, on the i6th day of February, 1812. His parent- age was of the humblest, for he was barely ten years of age when he was apprenticed to a farmer in the vicinity for eleven years. His master was a kind and generous man, who sent the young, hard-working boy to school in the intervals of agricultural labor, and here he soon developed a great taste for reading. He hun- gered after knowledge, and his evident desire to learn induced a lawyer of Farmington to offer him the free use of his library, which was fortunately a very extensive one. Here the statesman in embryo reveled, and in after life he has declared to friends, that he believes he read during those eleven years, a hun- dred volumes a year. When he became twenty-one he had exhausted the library. His indentures were now completed, and, if he had chosen to become a farmer, opportunities of ad- vancement were not wanting, for everybody liked the shy, awkward youth, with his broad, high forehead, his honest eyes and his immense but somewhat desultory stores of information. But he had resolved upon quitting Farmington and seeing the world. Putting his few clothes and his books, his only treasures, into a bundle, he slung it across his shoulder and walked gayly off to Natick, in Massachusetts, where he hired himself to a shoemaker with the resolution of working at this trade until he had accumu- la>ed a fund sufiicient to maintain him in some good academy. It took two years to do this, when he returned to New Hampshire and studied for a time in the academies at Stafford, Wolfsborough and Concord. Most unfortunately, the man to whom he had con- fided his little heap of savings became insolvent, so Henry Wii^ HENRY WILSON. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 603 Son was obliged to return to the shoemaker's bench at Natick. He was now twenty-six, and noted everywhere in the neighborhood as a modest, well-educated young man, with a great turn for debat- ing. He delighted in discussion, and was so redoubtable an opponent that no one in the academies or among his comrades at Natick cared to enter into an argument with one who was so log- ical, so keenly alive to the weak points of others, and who had, moreover, so powerful a flow of language. Everybody predicted that at the next election the people would hear of Henry Wilson. They did. In 1849 he was chosen Chairman of the Free Soil State Com- mittee of Massachusetts, which post he held for four years. In 1850 he was sent to the State Senate, and unanimously elected President. Two years afterward he was elected, by acclamation. President of the great Free Soil Convention, which was held in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, when he electrified the members by the most wonderful displays of eloquence. The Free Soilers put him up as candidate for Representative in Congress, and though de- feated, he ran ahead of his ticket by thousands of votes. Next year the same party put him up for Governor, but he was again defeated, though still running largely ahead of his ticket. Two years afterward things changed, and the Free Soilers being in the ascendant, Henry Wilson was elected United States Senator in the place of Edward Everett. No sooner had he taken his seat than he made the Senate Chamber ring with the most eloquent denun- ciations of slavery. He made a great speech advocating the repeal of the Fugitive Slave law, and for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. He next took an active part in or- ganizing the Republican party on the basis of equal and exact justice to all. In May, 1856, Mr. Sumner, his colleague, was assailed in the most dastardly manner by Preston Brooks, of South Carolina. He rose to his feet and denounced the assault as " brutal, mur- derous and cowardly." At the same time he intimated that should any one assault him as his colleague had been assaulted, it would be seen that he believed most fully in the right of self-defense. And now the whilom farmer-lad and shoemaker stepped into the front rank of the Senate, and was recognized by all as emphatic- ally a strong and shrewd man, a keen debater, and a wise, fore- 6o4 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, seeing statesman. His great speech in defense of free labor, in reply to an attack of Senator Hammond, of South Carolina, was circulated in every workshop of the free States, and taught the working-men to recognize their champion. His term of senator- ship expiring the next year, he was re-elected by an immense ma- jority. When the Senate assembled in March, 1861, he was made Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. In this capacity he introduced the act to authorize the enrollment of 500,000 men as an army, besides other matters of equal military importance. Gen. Scott declared that no man ever did so much work in one short session as Senator Wilson, and this only reechoed the general sentiment of the country. From that date his actions in the Sen- ate have embraced all the important work that has been done by the Republican party. He was reelected in 1865, and again in 1871, He was elected Vice-President of the United States by the Republican party in 1872. He died at Washington, Nov. 22d, 1875, of apoplexy. Howell Cobb. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 607 HENRY WARD BEECHER. |HIS distinguished clergyman and orator was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24, 1813, and his father, Dr. '^ Lyman Beecher, was quite a celebrated New England di- vine, who has the honor of being the father of some of our brightest literary lights. In every flock is some weak lamb, and Henry enjoyed the distinction, in childhood, at least, of being considered, both by his family and the neighbors, thn "dunce of the Beecher family," a distinction which, we have heard, gave him no pain in those days, and but little since. Although he has taken so kindly to theology in later life, he has declared a never- failing distaste for the doses of catechism and ten command- ments which he was forced to take. His memory was very poor, and he had a slight impediment in his speech, and a thick, indis- tinct utterance, which, together with his aversion to study, ren- dered it up-hill work to learn anything. His mother died when he was three years old, and the lady who was chosen to fill her place appears to have been a most estima- ble person, though gloomy, stern and uncomfortably pious, with an ever-abiding, sense of her responsibility for the brood of little Beechers whose rearing she had assumed. The father's early choice was, for Henry to be a minister of the gospel. Henry promptly decided that he would be anything else first, and suggested the sea. The boy looked with indescrib- able longing at the wild, free waves. In other years he under- stood this — now it is one of the mysteries of life to him, and stirs his soul Avith a joy that is yet a pain — a vague, subtle charm that, though he loved it well, he could not grasp or hold. His father was too shrewd and too good a reader of human nature to openly oppose the boy's wish to be a sailor, and accord- ingly proposed an education that would fit him for the navy, trusting to time, but more to his repugnance to study, to wean 6o8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. him from his fond fancy ; and he was sent to Mount Pleasant to perfect himself in mathematics, at that time his " favorite aversion." But, stimulated by his desire to be a sailor, he applied himself dil- igently, and did his tea.cher credit, not for his proficiency, but for his progress. He also took lessons in elocution of Professor J, E. Lovell, and obtained in this way a control over his voice and utterance, which had been so bad before. He had been a stu- dent at Mount Pleasant but a short time, when, at a protracted religious meeting then being held there, he was converted ; and now, with broader views of life and labor, he looked out upon the ocean again, and it was typical to him of life, and of his sphere of action. He remembered the fishermen of Galilee, and how the Master had said, " Follow me — henceforth ye shall be fishers of men," — and his soul and all that was within him leaped for joy as it recognized and answered the call. Mr. Beecher's first call was to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and from thence to Indianapolis, where he remained eight years, when he received and accepted the call to Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. There are no questions of general or special interest, either to his people, the public, or himself, that he does not inform himself upon and preach about them if he chooses. His church is sup- ported by the sale of its pews, and from a weak organization whose failure was popularly predicted, it has grown to be one of the strongest churches, both financially and numerically, in the East. No description of Plymouth Church is needed. Every- body knows there are grander and more pretentious edifices and yet from that plain red brick building goes out an influence that is felt all over the world. The unassuming simplicity of his dress, speech and manners might make it well worth while for some of our aspiring young clergymen to imitate — an example every way good. His sermons are the very soul of eloquence — warm, earnest and glowing with the love that fills his great soul — love for God and love for man, love for the meanest creature that ever the power of Omnipotence kindled life in. He is a professional thinker, and a hard student, yet genial and sunny as sunshine itself. In the fullest sense of the term, without exaggeration or flattery, we can say of him, that he is one of the mightiest pulpit orators of the day and o»e of the Master Spirits of the times. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 609 GEORGE WHITFIELD. "W^--^ was the son of an Inn-keeper, and born in Glou- VJK cester, England. He, the Wesleys and others formed ^^'^^ themselves into a praying band at Oxford University, where they received the sobriquet of "Methodists." Polemical controversy soon divided them into two parties, — Calvanists and Arminians. Whitfield cast in his lot with the Countess of Hunt- ington, and became the most popular preacher in her ladyship's denomination. He ranged the entire length of the United King- dom, often crossed the Atlantic, traversed nearly every State, and was undoubtedly the greatest preacher that either -continent ever produced. He had no family to enrich, no earthly care to distract him, and no wife to divide his time, for his marriage was short and late in life. He was the mere ambassador of God ; he carried with him a glowing love and a burning zeal, which frequently broke forth in the most thrilling, dazzling and electrifying elo- quence, such as swayed the mightiest masses, until like the awful deep they surged and swelled as though wrought up under the lash of the stormy Eurus. He became at length a living Gospel, full of nothing else but Heaven reconciled and man restored. He overleaped the ordinary bounds and preached at fairs, on commons, in fields, and by the road-side. He could be heard in the open air by twenty thousand people at once ; his charming voice being distinctly articulate in the softest strains of music or in rolling peals of thunder. He effected more than the civil magistrate, when he brought the whole rabble of Bartho- lomew's fair down in crouching submission, wringing every heart with grief and blanching every cheek with terror. By a single sen- tentious stroke he laid open alike the hidden arcana of every man's heart and the unseen realities of the eternal state. A glance would paralyze the hand of a skulking miscreant ready to hurl a brick bat at his head, while furrows on sooty faces 39 6lO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. often told that poor colliers Avere weeping. The quivering of an ostrich plume bespoke its elegant wearer's deep emotion. People often said to him, " I came to break your head, but, through God, you have broken my heart." For years he received a thousand letters, on an average, weekly from such as v/ere convinced under his preaching. The great secret of his stre-ngth was, he invariably preached in the full confidence of accepted prayer. He spoke as one having authority and not as the hired clergy. He addressed the people in the spirit of the old Hebrew prophets. His only argument was, "Thus saith the Lord." He stooped to neither please nor rationalize with the pretended sophist. He flattered no man's vanity and retreated before no amount of threatening. Many more ornate in language have preceded and followed him, but none had his power of electrically darting the truth directly into the conscience, until the whole man quivered and lowered, like a bird struck and rankling with the barbed arrow of the archer firm fastened within. He was strong in the singleness of his aim, the simplicity of his purpose, the directness of his effort and the sincerity of his actions. He was alone the herald of the cross, the ambassador of Christ, the preacher of righteousness, the min?- ister of the New Testament, and the servant of God. Every second thought to him was foreign, an unknown tongue, a grand impertinence, a wicked fraud, and a cruel mockery. To his eye the invisible was more palpable than the visible, heaven and hell were far greater certanties than earth, and eternity was a fathom- less, boundless ocean, with which time could no more compare than a point to infinity. But however magnificent and great the character of the man, such he was by no other agency, not even through the least alliance or in the smallest part, than the glori- ous gospel of the blessed God. He had so adoringly and persist- ently gazed on the cross, that, as by the principle of induction or assimilation, he was changed into the same image. He frequently found an entire audience pretty much the trans- fusion and reflex of himself even as he himself was of the message he conveyed. His immense influence lives on, and can never, never die ! Countless millions through the cycles of time and the eons of eternity will stud, gem and radiate, like clustering and corruscating diamonds, the victors crown of rejoicing. He was born December i6th, 1714; Died September 30th, 1770. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 6ll REV. C. H. SPURGEON. i)T is astonishing that, although we commonly believe the world to be six thousand years old, — and Agassiz is rapidly convincing us that it is at least ten times that age, — she has not yet wearied of producing an endless variety of human beings, among which some are pigmies in intellect and education, while others are grandly gigantic — subjects of our unbounded ad- miration and wonder. In this latter mood was she when she gave to the nations that sit in darkness the subject of this sketch. When there came to us across the water the first notices of the " Boy Preacher," we smiled indulgently, and gave the matter not even attention enough to fix his name upon our memory ; until fame, with a thousand tongues and a clarion voice, demanded for her favorite the homage that was his due. Then, rousing our- selves to look, we realized that he had sprung, like Venus from the wave, full grown, into power ; and in an incredibly short space of time, he ranked with the first preachers of the day. Mr, Spurgeon was born in the village of Kelvedon, on the 19th of June, 1834, so that he is at present 38 years of age. In his infancy he was much in the company of his grandfather, pastor of an Independent church at Stonebourne, Essex, His precocious piety attracted much attention, and it is said that at six years of age he had read repeatedly the Pilgrim's Progress, Baxter's Saint's Rest, and others of the same class. At fifteen he was sent to school to Newmarket, and while here was sorely tempted to adopt the principles of a freethinker. About this time he heard a sermon preached by a Methodist from thd text, " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God. and none else," Said Mr, Spurgeon, *' The command seemed to me as much a direct command to me as if there was not on ail the face of the earth another sinner, and I made not one effort to C. 11. SPUKGEON. t' lt;i';!i iJi OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 613 e^'ade it, but I looked that moment, the grace of God was vouch- safed that instant ; and I shall never forget that hour while memory holds its place ; nor can I help repeating that text every day of my life." He preached his first sermon in a cottage at Teversham. From this time his labors as a preacher were incessant. His friends wished him to attend college, to which he al'so inclined, and the cause of his failure upon this point may be best given in his own words. " I had agreed to go to college, the tutor had come to see me, and I had gone to see him. We were to meet at the house ol a mutual friend. I was shown by the servant into one dark draw- ing room; he was shown into another. He sat and waited for me two hours, and I sat and waited for him two hours. He could wait no longer, and went away, thinking I had not treated him well ; and I went away thinking he had not treated me well. As I left the house, the text ' Seekest thou great things .' Seek them m>t,* came to my mind, and I declined to go to school." In the autumn of 1853, he was invited to supply, temporarily, the pulpit of New Park Street Chapel, Southwork, which had in former times been occupied by such men as Rev. Benjamin Keach, the well known author of " Scripture Metaphors ;" Dr. Gill, the celebrated commentator ; Dr. Rippon, of hymn book fame ; Dr. Angus, the oresent highly respected and able President of Regent's Park Baptist College ; the Rev. James Smith of Cheltenham, and Rev. R. Walters, now of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Notwithstanding the fact that so many eminent men had at one time or another labored there, the church had almost entirely lost all spiritual life and in- terest, and the congregation had declined until the young preacher found the chapel so empty as to be almost desolate. He created quite a sensation at once, and at the end of a probation of but six weeks the chapel was full. He was called to the pastorate, and entered upon the office when only nineteen years old. It is impossible to write of Mr. Spurgeon as we would write of common men. He has made for himself more friends and more enemies than any other preacher of his day ; and gained for himself an unparalleled notoriety. His congregation is the largest in the world, and hundreds of converts yearly assert the power of the gospel he preaches, while his discourses are regularly published, and circulate all over the world. Yet there are those who de- 6l4 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. nounce him bitterly, and deny his claim to confidence or respect He is one of the most catholic though one of the most isolated divines of the age. He is a Baptist, and does not attempt to con- ceal his views, yet is never restricted by them in his Christian sym- pathies, or his manly genialities, or his religious charities. He is not the pampered idol of a sect or faction of the Church Uni- versal, and has never sacrificed his individuality to partisanship, neither has he submitted to narrow denominational bondage ; his time, his talents, and his influence are at the service of those who are engaged in good works. Even in the most stormy weather, when drenching rains fall, or wild winds blow, the Tabernacle, an immense building, arranged so as to economize space, is filled from top to bottom ; leaving no doubt of his al- most unbounded popularity; and spacious as is the edifice, his magnificent voice fills it without taxing it in the least ; it is never husky — never hoarse — never weak, but clear as a bell and soft as a harp ; and he speaks as easily to his vast audiences, and reaches each one with as little effort as if he were speaking to a few friends in his own private drawing-room. There is no question but this gives him a very great advantage. No one who judges by msre outward signs, or who never looks below the surface, or has studied the intricate workings of the human heart, can say correctly that they know him. We believe the world generally does not understand him. He has sometimes been supposed to be a flippant egotist — a grotesque humorist — a low comedian in the pulpit, while nothing can be farther from the truth. It would, oj course, be absurd to deny that he has a vein of comic humor in his nature, and that his quick appreciation of and relish for the humorous, or for that which may be said to verge upon the ridic- ulous, are not in accordance with the strictest rules of ministerial dignity; but it is at Je.ist pardonable. He has said funny, auda- cious, and startling things, and provoked his auditors to laughter by the sharpness of the ready wit, that sprang, unpremeditated to his tongue ; indeed I doubt if he was aware that he had even been witty. The faults which he has been charged with are even vir tues in his case, and lie at the foundation of his great success in the ministry. They are the fruits of a nature and temperament without which he could never have gone through one-half the work he has accomplished. He Y xs an immense fand of animal OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 615 spirits, a fecund mind and a racy tongue ; quick perceptions, thoughts that come to him, not always with regard to strict pro- priety, but with most perfect adaptability to circumstances ; hence he may be said to have ready wit. The strange sayings in which he indulges are not stock-in-trade, carefully accumulated, pre- served, assorted, arranged an^} labeled for ready use, but the ex- uberance of a strong, youthful, vigorous and prolific mind — exu- berance which only a prude or a Pharisee would punish, but which a friend would seek at once to excuse and restrain ; foi they are the fruits of superabundant energy, vivacitv fluency verbal aptitude, and unstudied, Saxon simplicity of speech. In listening to Mr. Spurgeon,one is impressed with a peculiarity of his nature which goes far to account for what some people call nis wonderful popularity and power as a preacher. Religious life is with him real life. His spiritual experiences are actual, vivid, living and practical. He speaks of his love for Christ as one speaks of a human love ; as if it were the most natural thing in the world— -indeed the only natural or proper thing. God is not a concealed being, but an actual, living presence, a Being who walks and talks with him ; not only at eventide in the garden, but everywhere in life; and heaven is not afar off, but even in his own heart; and he scarcely looks forward to the time when death must open the door and give him a glimpse into that land whose glories eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. The Songs of Solomon are not difficult of interpretation to him. Their tender and beautiful words of endearment are just what his own soul, with its strong emo- tional love would prompt him to lavish upon the Saviour. His church work is very extensive, and the Sabbath service, though important, is but a small part of it. Ordinary Christians will be surprised at the extent of Mr. Spurgeon's labors. The zeal to which he has trained his people has always been seconded by his own efforts and by his attractive and encouraging example, being literally first in all good words and works. In connectiovi-with Mr. Spurgeon's chtirch is a college, of which he is himself president, numbering seventy students; and the evening classes number one hundred and eighty-two members. This institution is supported at a cost of 3,000 pounds per year. In addition to the very large Sunday schools, no less than eight 6l6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. preaching places are regularly supplied. The church is kept m admirable discipline, and exhibits a strength of attachment tor their pastor which is little less than idolatry. Though sneered at as a boyish upstart by a few, whose ignorance and prejudice du their only excuse, he is respected by all candid men as an earnest, eloquent. Christian minister of the gospel, full of energy, untiring in devotion, and practical in his godliness, hence triumphant over his enemies A long and wide extended career of usefulness seems to lie before him. He labors in the fields that are white for the harvest, as one who feels that he was called by his Master, and many of the sheaves which he has gathered, are already gar- nered in the storehouse of the Lord ; and the souls of such as were ready to perish, those for whom no man cared, will shine brighter than the stars of the firmament ia the crown of his re- joicing in the day of the Lord. JOHN WESLEY ^^2/^HE founder of the Arminian branch of Methodists, John VC^" Wesley, was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire, June 17, 1703. His father was rector of that place, and un- like many divines of that day, he was a rigid disciplinarian, and the strict enforcement of church rules and laws created so great a hostility against him that more than once the good man was driven almost to distraction. The education of his son was of an entirely religious character, and at the age of seventeen he became a student at Oxford, and while here formed, with fifteen other young men, a society which soon attracted attention by the austerity of their manners and the fervor of their piety. The'r nightly meetings for social prayer and religious converse were held in Wesley's chamber, and from personal improvements they soon began to turn their eyes toward the poor, to whom, in these OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 617 days, the gospel was not especially preached, and they visited and Labored with them in a systematic way that was productive of much good. At the close of his university studies he was offered the position of assistant and successor of his father, but declined on conscien- tious principles, and returned to Oxford to labor amongst the students. In 1735 he was sent to the colonies of Georgia as mis- sionary. He embarked for America with his brother Charles and settled at Savannah. He soon rallied a large congregation, which increased and flourished several years, until his rigid and sudden enforcement of every measure of discipline, raised such a storm of indignant protest from the people that he resigned. He re- turned to England where he met Whitfield, and the two erected one banner and commenced an active career of field preaching At Bristol, in 1739, the first Methodist Chapel was built, under the supervision of these two active laborers. Soon after this a rupture between them occurred on account of a difference which they could not reconcile — Wesley being an Arminian, while Whit- field was a stubborn adherent to the creed of Calvin. Wesley, however, was as undaunted as he was indefatigable, and he preached all over the country, employing lay preachers, and pro- mulgated his doctrines far and near, and in the conversion of thousands of souls he met his rich reward. It is estimated that twelve million of the human race are taught weekly the lessons of religious experience wrought out in the active intellect of John Wesley ; that no part of the known world has been unvisited by his disciples ; that the tide of reform set in motion by his pure and lofty energy is still in the ascendant, is moving slowly onward with ceaseless vigor, and shows no traces of decay. Wherever the Anglo Saxon race penetrates it is pursued and softened by the influence of this unassuming saint. In Aus- tralia and South Africa, in America and the islands of the Pacific, the genius of Wesley is ever active. His schools and churches have belted the world with an illustrious chain. His writings have been translated into nearly all the languages of Europe, and are made familiar to the worshipers of Bramah and of Buddah. Since Luther, no other man has exercised so wide, so benign an influence upon his race. Nor is it unjust to assert thai but foi his English successes the Reformation of the German Church 6l8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. into an empty formalism, at least in England, amidst the coi upt ing alliance of Church and State. It was the aim of Wesley to withdraw religion from the control of the great and the powerful, of statesmen or of bishops, to make it the light and the solace ol the worship and the cottage, the almshouse and the jail; to diffuse its sacred teachings among the people, and preach, with saintly earnestness, the gospel of the poor. As contrasted with all other successful teachers of a faith, whether true or false, it is a striking trait of Wesley's triumph that he was never aided by the civil power ; that his disciples have never wielded the sword of persecution, nor gained any victories but those of peace. History, indeed, has no record of any other great religious movement, except the founding of Christianity, that was not perfected in violence, and sealed with the blood of its opponents. The Greek Church was planted in Russia by the civil power; the Romish Church won its supremacy by bitter wars and endless cruelties. Bernard and Dominic enforced their teachings by the sword ; Luther and Calvin were often sustained by the arms of their adherents ; the dark and treacherous brother- hood of Loyola obtained its ascendency by arousing in every land the fiercest flames of religious persecution. But of the millions of devout believers who have lived and died in the simple faith of Wesley, not one has yielded to any sterner influence than the power of Divine love. As the vast wave of reform has swelled from the poor cottage at Epworth over England and America, over the Pacific and the Indian seas, it has never needed a Con- stantine or a royal protector ; has been governed in its holy victo- ries by no human hand. It is said that the domestic life of the noble reformer was any- thing but that foretaste of heaven which wedded bliss is supposed to be. At about the age of fifty he married a lady whose beauty of face and form, rather than of mind, attracted him, and she proved to be a shrew and a vixen, and poor Wesley learned to his sorrow that he had caught a Tartar. Her terrible temper embit- tered and destroyed the peace of his remaining years. He died March 2, 1791, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, and in the sixty-fifth year of his Christian ministry. OUR GOVERNMENT A.ND HISTORY, 619 THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS CHRIST. Much has been written by writers of different schools concern- ing the personality and portraiture of Jesus Christ. Eusebius, of Cesarea, refused to procure for the sister of Constantine the Great, a picture of Christ, and a century later, St. Augustine declared that as regards the personality of Christ nothing is posi- tively known. The origin of the first pictures of Christ was said, in the early centuries, to have been a picture by Jesus him- self, or by Pontius Pilate or St. Luke, or by Nicodemus. Some founded their idea of his looks upon old manuscript. The following is a correct translation of an epistle sent by Publius Lentulus to the Roman Senate : *' There appeared in these days a man of great virtue named Jesus Christ, who is yet among us»; of the Gentiles accepted for a prophet of truth; but his disciples call him the Son of God. He raiseth the dead, and cureth all manner of disease. A man of stature somewhat tall and comely, with a very reverend countenance, such as the be- holder must both love and fear. His hair the color of a chestnut full ripe, plain to the ears, whence, downward, it is more orient, curling and waving about his shoulders. In the midst of his forehead is a stream or partition of his hair, after the manner of the Nazarites; forehead plain and very delicate; his face without spot or wrinkle, beautiful, with a lovely red ; his nose and mouth so forked as nothing can be represented ; his beard thick, in color like his hair, not over long; his look innocent and mature; his eyes gray, quick and clear. In reproving, he is terrible ; in admonishing, courteous and fair-spoken ; pleasant in conversation? mixed with gravity. It cannot be remembered that any have seen him laugh, but many have seen him weep ; in proportion of body most excellent ; his hands and arms delectable to behold , in speaking, very temperate, modest and wise ; a man of singular beauty, surpassing the children of men," John, of Damascus, wrote in the eighth century of Christ : "Jesus was of stately height, with eyebrows that met together, beautiful eyes, regular nose, the hair of his head somewhat curling and of beautiful color, with black beard and corn-yellow complexion, like his mother's, and with long fingers," 620 FOOTPRINTS OF 1 HE AGES. GEN PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. F the boyhood of General P. H. Sheridan little is known. He has not been handed down to posterity by the pre- cocious wit of infantile prattle, or by wonderful exploits in his baby boyhood, and has not yet, to our knowledge, been spoken of or made famous by any doting biographers as the " curly-headed little boy who never told a lie." In years to come, when he has passed away, and there is no one living who can, from personal recollection, contradict it, even this honor may be lavished upon his memory, in addition to those which belong to it in reality. General Sheridan was born in Perry county, Ohio. His parents were plain, unpretending Irish people, and their boy was early set at such employment as would enable him to do something towards his own support. At seventeen he drove a watering cart through the streets of Zanesville, the genius, however that was in him attract- ed the attention of a member of Congress, who secured him a cadet- ship for West Point. The next five years, we fancy, were a curious compound of good and evil, and often his progress was like climb- ing a slippery hill, where the pedestrian takes " two steps forward and one back," until by this slow manner he reaches the top — for " Phil." did reach the top at last. He was quick tempered, proud and rash, as full of frolic as it was possible for human nature to be, and as fond of fight as frolic. Indeed, it is said, that " black marks " counted up so fearfully fast against him that it was almost impossible for him to remain in the academy ; and sometimes the matter of turning away the troublesome but brilliant boy was se- riously considered. At last, however, less through fear of the disgrace than from a desire to succeed, he managed, by the exer- cise of a vast amount of self-control, to keep his temper in check, and his mind on the rules; and he won the sympathy of his teach- ers, who knew how strong was the effort this required. They were,; OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 62I afterwards indulgently blind to his little slips. Yet with all the favoritism that could be shown him, he just nearly failed to grad- uate. He got through son^ehow, though, as he expressed it, " with the skin of his teeth." His first exploits were in Texas, where, among the savage tribes on the frontier, he grew more bold and reckless than heretofore, and his quick, but impulsive Irish nature found abundant food to mature upon ; if, indeed, there were need for circumstances to develop it. In 1856 he was put in command of the forces at Yo- kima reservation, and here his treatment of the Indians was so kind, and his negotiations so judicious as to win him compliments from General Scott. At the breaking out of the war of 1861 he was ordered east, and received the rank of first lieutenant. Soon after he was promoted to captain in the Fifteenth and sent to Jef- ferson Barracks. He does not seem to have been ambitious for promotion, or to have craved glory so much for himself, as to desire, with something like jealousy, that full justice should be done his men. Refusing, at one time, to forage on the enemy's country to the extent that some of the commanders seemed to think the fortunes of war allowed, he wrote a letter to General Curtis in which he expressed his opinion on the subject in terms more remarkable for honesty and force, than for elegance or respectfulness, and was ordered to be placed under arrest for "contempt of his superior officer." It is said that when the charge was read, Sheridan's only answer was a significant smile, and a slowly drawled out " very likely. " The pressing need of good cavalry officers, however, was so great that he was not long kept in " durance vile," but was released and sent as captain of the Second Michigan Cavalry, to Corinth. After his brilliant exploit at Booneville he was made brigadier general. At the battle of Mur- freesboro — we wish Vv'e could give you all the story, it cripples it so to speak of it in fragmentary sketches, as our space compels us to, — but there he won laurels that will never die, and saved the reputation of Rosecrans, as he himself admitted in the dispatch in which he praised in the highest terms — not too extravagant — they could not be — the bravery of the men. His division was literally butchered under his eyes, as he held them firm in the martyrdom which they willingly suffered, for their sacrifice saved the army. Negley was pushed forward at last to cover their retreat, 622 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. when their ammunition was exhausted and tne bayonet could not be used, and they left the field in sullen silence, with firm step — that little handful — and shouldered arm§, like men who were going out to victory. In his dispatch he said : " I knew before I reached the thicket that hell was in there ; but I knew it better when I got there and saw the men fall right and left, while Sheridan rode bareheaded, sword in hand, through the fire and smoke, begrimed with powder, stained with dust and blood, lightning leaping from his eyes and curses from his tongue — he did indeed seem the incarnate Spirit of Darkness." After the battle of South Mountain he was made Brigadier General in the place of General McPherson, that noble chief, who went down in the early morning of his life. In the battle of Mid- dleton, whose glory is of so terrible a brightness that the pen of the historian pauses while his mind gropes blindly for words that will paint its colors, and whose appalling gloom chills the blood in its haste to the heart, and whose victory was tempered by the sad, sad loss it cost us, Sheridan performed the feat which will be remembered so long as time lasts. Of this, Thomas Buchanan Reed wrote his masterpiece, the poem called " Sheridan's Ride." No poet could do it justice ; only the gratitude of the country can do that. In person, Sheridan is not one's ideal of a military commander. He is short, broad, well-knit, compact, and though not exactly meriting that title, is known among his soldiers as " Little Phil." His face is a pleasant one — rather handsome it looks to partial eyes, — with eyes that are always either dancing with fun or flashing with feeling. In private intercourse he is frank, genial, social and a general favorite. As a military commander, he ranks with our first officers, and well deserves the fame he has won. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 623 GEN. W. T. SHERMAN. )M. TECUMSEH SHERMAN was born in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, on the 8th day of February, 1820, and was but nine years of age when his father died, leaving eleven children to the care of the mother. For six years previous to his death he held the position of Judge of the Superior Court of Ohio. After Mr. Sherman's death his friend, the Hon. Thomas Ewing, proposed to adopt Tecumseh, and as the mother wisely looked more to the child's interest than her own feelings, he was at once given up and placed by his adopted father at school and kept there until he was sixteen, when he was sent to West Point. Four years later he graduated in the class of 1840, and stood sixth in the examination. He at once entered into the regular service, and was ordered to Florida with the rank of Sec- ond Lieutenant of the Third Artillery. At the end of the year he was made First Lieutenant and stationed at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. In 1846 he was sent to California, and during the Mexican War was promoted to the rank of captain. In 1850 he married the eldest daughter of Mr. Ewing, between whom and himself there had been a strong attachment since his childhood. Wearying of a profession that in time of peace con- sisted of a monotonous round of mechanical duties, he resigned his commission and was made president of a banking house in San Francisco, where he remained several years. In i860 he was offered the Presidency of the Louisiana State Military Academy, where he remained until the gathering of the war clouds black with their pent up volumes of wrath, warned him that the storm was near, when he resigned his position, only three months before the attack upon Fort Sumter. In his letter to the Board of Super- visors, he says : " I beg you to take immediate steps to relieve me the moment this State resolves to secede ; for on no earthly account will I do any act, or think any thought hostile to, or in 624 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. defiance of, the old government of the United States." His resig- nation was accepted and he went to St. Louis to make prepara- tions to enter into the combat the notes of which were already sounding far and near through the land. The history of General Sherman for the next four years is the history of our country's struggle to maintain and defend the con- stitution. His success is the old, old story of the triumph of those who loved better than life the principles on which our government was founded — who were ready to give life and more, if more was theirs to give, for the triumph of right. His brother officers and those who were his superiors in command speak of him in un- measured terms of admiration ; and when a division of the army was placed in his charge, when he came to be only second in com- mand in all our army, his skill, courage and lion-hearted bravery saved our troops from destruction and our cause from disaster. O, noblest of the noble men who rallied under our banner, who with heart breaking under wrong and injustice, under the calumny and misinterpretation which it met, had yet the inward strength that was born of patriotism in that dark hour, to forget self, to bear the pain until such time as your country should vindicate your honor! Of his conduct at the bloody battle of Pittsburg Landing his historian says : " Through all that fearful Sabbath day he seemed omnipotent, and to bear a charmed life. Horse after horse sunk under him, and though struck several times, he was not wounded so as to give up the command, and from the first to the last, where the fight was fiercest and the leaden hail fell thick around him. he blazed like a meteor here and there over the field. His intrepid- ity saved Rosecrans at Stone River, and Thomas at Chickamauga, and Grant at Shiloh. Of this last battle Rosseau says : " No liv- ing man could surpass him;" and just a few days before his death the lamented Nelson said : " For eight hours the fate of the army on the field of Shiloh depended on the life of one man — if Sher- man had fallen the army would have been captured or destroyed ;" and Halleck comes up and generously declares in his dispatches - " He was a strong man in the high places of the field, and hope shone in him as a pillar of fire when it had gone out in all other men." It is useless to write what the world already knows so well ; but it is pleasant to linger over these grand deeds and to OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 625 think from what source came the inspiration under wnich they Were enacted. Do you remember, oh, grateful country, the long marcn from the "River to the Sea?" Do you remember the storming of Ibrt McAllister, and the dispatch which, meaning so much, yet only modestly said, to the president, " I make you a Christmas present of the city of Savannah" ? A critic says : " Personally, General Sherman is anything but heroic in appearance, a plain looking man, six feet high, slender, brawny, like a vast bundle of muscles. He is abrupt and rapid in conversation ; a man whose temperament will keep him forever busy." You all know what his face is like ; stern, yet kindly, lighted by a pleasant smile sometimes, and a pair of glorious eyes always. GEN. ROBERT E. LEE. POBERT E. LEE was born at Stratford, Westmoreland county, Virginia, January 19th, 1807. His father died while he was yet a child, and at the age of eighteen he entered the Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in four years. He stood second in a class of eighteen, many of whom have since risen to distinction. Some of them fought at his side and shared the brilliant conquest of Mexico — and in the sharper and sudden conflict where, on southern battle- fields, brothers stood face to face as foemen, they met again. It was no war for conquest now, but a war for principles — no war for glory, but a war for that which was dearer than life to each — the rights of the land they loved, and though divided in opinion and in action, they were brothers atill, and equally honorable. When he left college he was at once appointed to a lieutenancy in the corps of topographical engineers. When the Mexican war 40 ROBERT E. LEE OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 627 opened, Lee was appointed chief engineer of the army, under General Wool, and it was to his skill that General Scott was always pleased to admit that he owed the victory of Vera Cruz. He was placed on the general's staff, and the skill and bravery of the young officer was often .eferred to by his seniors in command. He received two promotions in the campaign. For his noble conduct at Cerro Gordo he was breveted major, and the laurels thickened in his wreath of glory at Contreras, and at the terrible battle of Chepultepec. He was appointed to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and at the end of the war was made Superintendent at West Point, still retaining his military rank. While he was yet at the head of the academy, two regiments were ordered by Congress to be raised, equipped, and sent to the Texas frontier. Of the sec- ond regiment Colonel Lee was appointed Lieutenant Colonel, and remained four years in the southwest fighting the Indians and per- forming general garrison duty. Upon his return from Texas he went to Europe, where he studied army tactics closely, storing away in his mind many a suggestion which came to be of use to him in after years. He was a man of pleasing appearance, fascinating manners, and possessed a high type of physical beauty. He soon became a general favorite in the old world, where he had relatives among the nobility, having descended from the Lees of Ditchley, one of whom married a daughter of Charles IL and the Duchess of Cleveland. Up to the time of the breaking out of the war between the North and South, General Lee had taken no part in politics ; indeed, had little taste for it. With 'all his heart he loved the Union, but with all his soul he loved the State that gave him birth — that had been the home of his fathers, far back beyond the Revolutionary War, and he believed that he owed a stronger alle- giance to Virginia in particular than to the United States at large. There was much in the character of General Lee that was noble, and now all that was strongest and best was roused into action. The struggle was long and severe. He was not prepared for neither did he desire secession. General Scott, who may be said to have been the foster-father of Lee's military talents, appreciated him very highly, and when he resigned his commission in the Union army remonstrated most earnestly with him ; but Lee 628 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. though heart-broken at the necessity of chosing, remained firm. " I am compelled to," he said ; " I cannot consult my own feel- ings." When the secession of Virginia was formally decided upon, General Lee was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Confed- erate armies. He was a brave soldier and a skillful general, and while there are numberless evidences of his humane and generous disposition, our space will not allow us to give them. He never, even in the heat of battle, in victory or defeat, forgot the courtesy which is due from man to man, for General Lee possessed that crowning grace which adds luster to the most perfect character, and to the most brilliant intellectual attainments, — hewasa Chiist- ian. His public life, while connected with the army of which he had the honor to be commander-in-chief, is too well known to make it necessary for us to go into detail. He has sometimes been severely censured for the surrender of his army to General Grant, but it was not cowardice nor treason, nor even an error of judgment. He had fought long and bravely, and done all that lay in his power for the cause he defended; even in the last act was more thoughtful for others than for hin> self, since his heart had never known a throb of fear, Ijut he would not allow a useless sacrifice of the lives of his men, cand he accepted terms that were honorable both to his own army and to those who offered them. In his last interview with General Grant, General Lee spoke in the most earnest and emphatic manner of his desire for a total cessation of hostilities and for a return of peace, and when that peace was declared, he never, by word or act, encouraged a feeling of dissatisfaction amongst the people, nor entertained for an instant a sentiment of rebellion against the government. Fully aware of his influence, he exerted it to the utmost to promote union of sentiment and a restoration of pros- perity and harmony. He suffered much, pecuniarily, by the war, but he never murmured nor complained, if he had lost ; he had staked, and like a man who wisely does the best he can under the circumstances, he looked around for some way to make good his loss. In 1865 he accepted the position of President of Washington College, an office for which he was eminently fitted ; and under his excellent management it became one of the most popular OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 629 institutes. Its sectarian character was laid aside, and from North and South, and East and West, students filled its halls. It was the intention of General Lee to have written a history of the war, but his severe labors wore sadly upon his constitution, and his overwrought strength gave way; his work and his life were ended together. His loss was mourned by the nation, for he had warm admirers everywhere, but in the South where he was most intimately known and most deeply loved, a wail of pas- sionate grief surged over the land. Mrs. Robert E. Lee is a grand-daughter of Mrs. Martha Wash- ington, and General Lee's father was a personal friend of Wash- ington, and highly esteemed by him. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. )E have never been able to banish the idea that men go back too much into the dead and buried ages to find their models and examples, overlooking the fact that we live in a generation when heroes are plenty, not only those who go out at the call of duty to defend their country, or die for her, but moral and spiritual heroes whose courage would lead them unflinchingly to the stake, if need be, to defend the principles they teach, not by precept alone, but by the example of a pure and honest life. The heroism of warfare and battle, may be grand in its own. way, but unutterably grander is the heroism of him who dares to gird on the sword of truth, and in the face of established wrong, that has grown to gigantic proportions by the nursing care of ages, grown defiant by centuries of indulgence, proclaims the everlasting principles of right, justice and Christianity. How- ever, since we write of the Master Spirits of all ages, we cannot, in justice to our work, leave untouched a life so eventful as was Alexander's. The ruling passion of his life, strong even in 630 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. death, was ambition, and in youth he thirsted for glory as the hunted stag thirsts for cool streams. He accustomed himself to hardship and deprivation, scorning luxuries which would render him delicate or effeminate. His desire for knowledge was insatiate, and his education was entrusted to Aristotle, the first philosopher of the kingdom, if not of the world, at that time. At sixteen years of age he was appointed regent of Macedonia, and at the age of twenty he succeeded his father, Philip, upon the throne. He had already, by force of arms, or by subtle pol- icy, subdued Greece to his dominion, and laying aside his arts long enough to pay funeral honors to his father, wearied of the constrained quiet which decency and decorum imposed, he, at the earliest moment, rallied his forces and set out on an expedi- tion to conquer Thebes, and subjected it. But he was cruel and brutal, and the Thebians hated, with double reason, the power they could not break. His boundless ambition and haughty spirit could brook no control. With him, life must lay everything with which she was freighted at his feet, or withhold all. " The knowledge of the human heart," says Rollin, " and the art of gain- ing it, is of great importance to a friend." Alexander fully under- stood this, and he endeavored to bind his subjects to him by the ties of interest as well as of loyalty. When he had proposed to his generals the project of invading Persia, they opposed him with reason and argument and entreaty, urging the nature of the country, the depth and swiftness of the river Granicus, on whose opposite banks the Persian army were encamped, also the rocky and almost perpendicular nature of those banks, which they must climb in face of the enemy's fire; but it all made no impression upon the headstrong king. His only answer was, ''''Forward ! /lead you." They crossed the river and gained a foothold with great difficulty, and the swift waves rushed on crimson with the blood of the flower of the Macedonian and Persian armies. The struggle was fierce and sharp, the slaughter was terrible, and the Persian army was cut to pieces and totally destroyed, with the exception of 2000 who were taken prisoners. Sardis, looking on, terror-stricken at the fate of Persia, discreetly sent to Alexander, even while he was afar off, her sur- render, in consequence of which he allowed them all their rights. After a long succession of victories which seem marvelous as a OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 631 romance of the Arabian Nights, he met Darius, near tne city of Issus. The spot where the battle was fought was bounded on one side by the mountains and on the other by the sea, but must have been of great extent since the two armies encamped on it, and it is known that the force commanded by Darius was immense. The river Pinarus ran through the middle, dividing it very nearly in two parts. The armies being drawn up in line of battle, Alex- ander addressed his men with eloquence and energy, appealed to their ambition and their pride alike, told them of the glory of the past, of the high reputation they enjoyed, of the rich spoils which would fall into their hands. He bade the Illirians and Thracians, nations who used to subsist by plunder and rapine, " view the enemy's army, blazing with purple and gold, not loaded so much with arms as with wealth ; that they had but to push forward and with one bold stroke, strip it from them." When he had ended, the troops sent up deafening shouts, and eagerly desired to be led on to victory. The forces met, and Darius, with a cowardice that no circumstance can palliate or excuse, abandoned his army, his mother, his wife, his sisters, and his little son, who was heir to the crown he deserted ; and all fell into the hands of Alexander, who treated them with the greatest consideration and kindness ; nothing but the remembrance that they were captives, could have made them sensible of their calamity ; and of all the luxuries they possessed before, nothing was wanting, and the confidence and trust which it is so hard to give an enemy, were not withheld from him by them. The siege of Tyre was one of the most memorable events in history, confirming and fulfilling, as it does, so many of the proph- esies of Isaiah. After a siege of seven months it was forced to yield, but not until he had sunk their fleets, destroyed their forti- fications, and reduced the besieged garrison to the greatest suffer- ing. The city was in a grand and flourishing condition when it fell into the hands of Alexander, and here began, according to Isaiah, the seventy years of obscurity and oblivion in which it was to, and did lie. She had filled up the measure of her iniquity, by her impiety against God, and her barbarities against His people. She had rejoiced over the ruins of Jerusalem, exulting, as she cried, " Behold, then, the gates of this so populous city are broken down. Her inhabitants shall come unto me, and I will enrich myself with 632 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. her spoils, now she is laid waste." But the day of her own humil- iation was at hand, and, dispossessed of her dignity as a queer, and as a free city, boasting no more her diadem nor her girdle, she will be reduced to the mean condition of a slave. " The Lord hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth." It is scarcely to be wondered at, that so many and so great victories should in some measure raise him in his own esteem, but for the arrogance which led him to take upon himself the importance and demand for himself the honors of a god, we see little excuse. Two years after the battle of Issus, Darius and Alexander again had an engagement, which gave to Alexander a victory and an empire. The loss of the Persians in the famous battle of Arbela, was 300,000 men, besides the wounded and prisoners, while the loss of the Macedonians was very trifling. Flying, sore pressed, from Alexander, Darius was betrayed, and put in chains by the Governor of Bactriana, who, upon the approach of the foe, de- serted his post and basely murdered the helpless prisoner whom he had bound with chains. He expired, but not until he had sent to Alexander a message of gratitude for the generous care and treatment which his family, who were still retained by him, had always received at his hands. Little by little, Alexander yielded to the vices and the passions of which he had heretofore been master, and abandoned himself to sensuality ; whom the arms of the Persians could not conquer fell a prey to the uncon- trolled lusts of his own nature. From his earliest years, as if he realized the mighty things to which he was born, he endeavored to shine on all occasions, and would not tolerate the thought of a superior; no one was ever fired with so strong a love of glory, and the unbounded ambition which is looked upon by Christian nations as almost a vice, was, to the heathen nations he ruled, a high if not the highest virtue. But though he claimed for himself something more than humanity, — that he was a god, and the son of a god, — he died at the age of 32, before he had yet reached his manhood's prime — died from the indulgence of the basest and lowest passions and appetites of man ; and his kingdom was divided and passed into the hands of those who, with less ambition and more discretion, ruled perhaps more wisely than he had done. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 63- NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. ^T is impossible," says Gregorovius, than whom we have no better authority, perhaps, " to establish with any accuracy the origin of the Bonaparte family." Certain it is, that when the author whom we quote, and to whom v.-e are indebted for these facts, first introduces them, they are a quiet and unknown family, living in seclusion in Corsica. There the three young sisters grew out of their beautiful childhood into more beautiful girlhood, and the young brothers prepared themselves for the life that lay before them. Napoleon, who was not eldest, yet in every way took precedence of Joseph, and the Archdeacon Lucien, their uncle, said on his death-bed, to Joseph : " You are the oldest of the family, but there stands its head — you must not forget this." Even in childhood he showed a marvelous passion for military life, and was almost constantly with the soldiers in their barracks at Ajaccio, imitating and practicing their duties and exercises. While very young he was sent to military school at Brienne, and in 1783 to the military school at Paris to complete his studies. He had already an am- bition that was more than master of every other faculty he pos- sessed, a vivid imagination aflame with the excitement of ancient history, and he aspired to re-enact the bold and valiant deeds ot the Caesars and of Alexander. Having finished his military stud- ies, we find him at Ajaccio, and a zealous democrat. How in after years, when he with his own hand placed the crown upon his head, where the Pope had so recently rested his hand in conse- cration, did he reconcile his change of viewsf Corsica, as every reader knows, was forever in an uproar or a revolution — first the prey of one and then of another power, and when the time came that the democratic party, under the leadership of Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte, drew up a congratulatory address to the convened assexiibly, it was filled with the bitterest denunciations NAPOLEON L OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 635 of the previous government of Corsica, and was most artfully but positively coupled with a request for the incorporation of Corsica with the Kingdom of France. Napoleon watched every event with an eagle eye, reading the signs of the times with an accuracy that was almost prophetic, and when the right moment came, threw aside the Corsican patriotism in which he wrapped himself, as in a garment so long as it best served him, gave himself heart and soul, to France, and flung his life, his talents and his sword into the revolution. After his conquest of theAustrians, he became an object of ter- ror and dread to the French government, for his unbending will, his ambition and the military fame which he had won. To get rid of so formidable a rival, they adopted the plan of David, and sent their Uriah to the front of battle. In other words, they gave him the command of the great expedition which was about to be sent into Egypt. Napoleon was too shrewd to be deceived as to their motives, but the time had come for him to open the great revolu- tion which he meditated against Europe — the great revolution which he had already decided should envelop the continent in a sea of blood ; in which nation should rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. On the ruins of a world he would build a throne and unite the fragments into a kingdom more powerful than any that ever stood before, and it should be his own. There he v/ould found the Napoleonic dynasty that should be upheld by a long line of his successors. His Egyptian campaign is one which we shudder to look at now, marked as it was by barbarities which disgraced the age, and the commander who not only permitted but ordered them. The cruel massacre of 4000 prisoners taken at Jaffa, unarmed and helpless, by his order, is a terrible stain upon his name, as also was the slaughter of the Ottomans at Mt. Tha- bor. Beyond Acre, no more triumphs awaited him. Sir Sidney Smith met him there with a legion of brave English soldiers, and Napoleon was compelled to retreat, as he did so poisoning several hundred of his own wounded men, whom he was unable to trans- port, knowing the Turks would wreak their vengeance upon them should they ever fall into their hands alive. Returning to France he found that Suwarrow with his horde of Austrians had defeated the French on the plains of Lombardy, and, crossing the Alps, appeared on the shore of the Var. There seemed but one man 636 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. who had the courage to advance to the now shattered front — but one general who could gather the demoralized forces and lead them to certain victory ; if he failed, woe to France. With one bold stroke, Napoleon drove the legislature from the halls of the capitol at the point of the bayonet in the hands of his soldiers, to whom his order was law, and seated himself on the throne, under the title of First Consul. His next step was to expel the Austrians from Italy, defeating them at every point with frightful losses, and peace was granted to humiliated Austria upon the terms of the conqueror. The peace, however, was of short dura- tion, for Russia united with Austria and advanced as far as Ba- varia. Napoleon crossed France and the north of Germany by forced marches, with the most incredible speed, defeated the Aus- trians in several encounters, and at length hemmed in 30,000 at Ulm, where they were forced to surrender. He hastened down the valley of the Danube with an army of 180,000, captured Vi- enna and defeated the united armies under the Emperor Alexan- der himself. The next year, with blind fanaticism, or fool-hardy recklessness, the Prussians rushed on to combat with the hero of the day, and at Jena and Auerstadt, dwindled into insignificance until they were joined by the Russians, when for a short time they not only withstood him, but won the victory of Eyelau, with heavy loss to the French. But the star of Napoleon was irresist- ible. After the battle of Friedland came the treaty of Tilsit, which swept into obscurity all minor powers and virtually divided Europe between Napoleon and Alexander. Napoleon had now divorced Josephine, and was looking around for an alliance with one who would add to the glory of his name and make yet stronger his position. Austria was only too proud to give him the hand of the Archduchess Maria Louise, daughter of the Emperor. He had sacrificed every personal feel- ing to his ambition, but he had reached the summit of his great- ness. Alexander was far from being pleased with the marriage of Napoleon, as he had been upon terms which indicated, and indeed intimated a proposal for the hand of his sister. War again broke out, and at Moscow the man at whose name all Europe had trembled, began the downward road which he never retraced. When his confused and distressed soldiers reached and crossed Neiman in their retreat, of his magnificent OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 637 army of three hundred thousand men, not thirty thousand re- mained ; and these worn with fatigue, sickness and famine. They were in the midst of misery and poverty, and to save his own life, Napoleon deserted them and fled to Paris almost alone. Encouraged by his defeat, all the nations took heart anew, and the Emperor found himself in the center of a world in arms. At almost every step defeat awaited him. The most brilliant military abilities, and the almost superhuman efforts of himself, his officers and his men were powerless to avert ruin. At last he was over- powered and overmastered, and the Bourbon seated on the throne of France. At Elba Napoleon was allowed the emblems of roy- alty, and as if in mockery of the olden times, set up a mimic court. But his restless and ambitious spirit could not endure the forced inaction and quiet, and he escaped from Elba, returned to France, and at the head of but a handful of men, marched unmo- lested to Paris, dethroned Louis XVIII. and resumed his own place at the head of the nation. Again, when success seemed so certain, and safety so near, the allied monarchs of Europe arose against him, and at Waterloo he fought his last battle, except as he lived over the past in dreams. He was captured, banished to St. Helena, guarded with the most vigilant care, and here spent the remainder of his days. His captivity was worse than death to the proud and ambitious man, and only for the hope, never given up, of escape and triumph, no doubt his life would have ended sooner. He was magnificently treated by the English government, who expended 12,000 pounds sterling on his private establishment, and 400,000 more on the island, but he chafed and pined like a caged eagle, and died May 5th, 181 2. His remains were removed by the consent of the English government to France, in 184.1, and interred in Paris. 638 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. C^SAR. i^ULIUS C^SAR was born 100 years B. C, and for two thousand vears his name has been the synonym for bravery anc . patriotism. Thrown, from his birth, into public life, he filled a position which was inherited on one side, and forced upon him by marriage on the other, and early threw all ^he strength of his mind into the study of war and politics. He was as ambitious as he was brave — as honorable as he was patriotic ; in eloquence and power of expression he was scarce- ly second to Cicero. He was a formidable opposer of the aristo- cratic party, and all his sympathies were with the people. He distinguished himself early, both in the camp, on the battle field and at the forum, and studied closely the changes in public opinion, never neglecting an opportunity to increase his popu- larity. During the great Catilinian conspiracy he was so eager and bitter in the expression of his hostility to the aristocratic rulers, as to subject himself to the suspicion of being in league with them; but the most jealous of his enemies could bring no proof of a charge so opposed to his usual policy, and so fatal to his advancement and interest. In the year 64, B.C., he obtained the province of Further Spain, and it was there that he won the first of a long line of triumphs which ranked him with the greatest generals of all ages. Crown- ed with glory, he returned to Rome just at the time that Pompey, disgusted and disappointed at the failure of his own schemes, was ready to desert the party in power. Caesar's influence effected a reconciliation between him and Crassus, and he formed with them that combination known as the First Triumvirate By this new party he was elected to the consulship, and obtained the provinces of Transalpine Gaul, Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, with an army of six legions for five years. This placed him in an important position, and with an immense army at his command he prepared for the war that he foresaw impending between the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 639 Romans and the Gauls, who for generations had been hereditary- enemies. The hope or necessity of subduing a fierce and war- like race, who were, and had so long been on hostile terms with his own nation, was motive enough to have urged one who thirsted less than Cassar for glory, to have undertaken their sub- jection, and for nine years he literally lived in camp, and slept Avith his harness on. The Gauls were conquered, however, and he twice led his armies into Britain and received the submission of the people of the southern part of the island. These years had wrought great changes in Rome, and Pompey, hating the man who had eclipsed him, fearing the chieftian who far outstripped him, and jealous of his growing popularity and power, again joined the Aristocrats, and plotted with them how best to crush the mighty conqueror of the Gauls. A decree was passed by the Senate that Csesar should disband his army by a certain day and retire from the command, or be considered an enemy of the State. Knowing to whom he was indebted for this, the haughty spirit of the " leader in a hundred battles " refused to accept terms dictated by petty spite, and his army refused to leave him except at his own command. Accordingly he crossed the Rubicon, and opened the civil war which resulted in giving him the dictatorship. The sharp engagement made him master of Italy, and he next drove Pompey from Spain, followed him to Greece, and on the plains of Pharsalia fought the decisive battle which gave him the entire Roman Empire. Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was murdered, and Caesar proceeded to Africa, where he defeated Scipio and Cato, and then, by the battle of Theopsus broke the strength of the Pompeian party. During his absence he was elected Dictator of the Romans, and upon his return was received with magnificent display. He laid aside the profession of war, studied peace and legislation, brought about many needed reforms, corrected abuses, sifted cor- ruption and exercised the unlimited power vested in him with so great moderation and leniency as to cause him to be called " The Benefactor," and to win the respect and admiration, as much as he had excited the surprise of his enemies. A conspiracy was form- ed against his life, hov/ever, and he was assassinated in the Senate on the 15th of March, B. C., 44. As statesman, warrior and scholar, Csesar was one of the most remarkable men of any age. 640 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. STONEWALL JACKSON. jM^HOMAS JACKSON, better known as " Stonewall " Jack- son, was born at Clarksburgh, Va. He entered upon his studies at West Point three years in advance of his class- mates, but far behind them in every respect, as to education. His disposition was retiring and taciturn, but his face brightened in conversation, and he was animated and interesting. By a singular coincidence, he graduated in the same class with Foster, Stoneman, McClellan, Sturges, Couch, Reno, Seymour and many others who have since distinguished themselves in our late con- flict. He served in the Mexican war, where his gallant and meritorious conduct won him the respect of his superior officers. He was several times rewarded with well deserved promotion, and for the bravery he displayed at Contreras, was raised to the rank of lieutenant, with the brevet of captain ; and so much dis- tinguished himself at Chepultepec as to receive the rank of major The actual facts of the Mexican war do not furnish the name of another person entering that war, without position or office, who attained so high rank within the brief campaign and series of battles from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. The gallantry and cool courage of the young officer were such as to win the highest commendations from his senior officers ; and in the special dis- patches of Gen. Scott he was frequently spoken of as "the brave Lieutenant Jackson." As a professed christian he was earnest, faithful, and zealous of good works ; not only a regular teacher in the Sabbath school, but arj earnest laborer among the poor, especially the negroes, to whom there was seldom so patient and faithful a friend, and wherev- er his influence could be exerted for them, his voice was heard. . At the outbreak of the war Jackson was living in Lexington, and it was not until the secession of his State that he laid by his peaceful pursuits, girded on his sword, and went out at the STONEWALL JACKSOK 4T 642 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. call of his country. Like his celebrated comrade in arms, Gen. Lee, he was a Unionist up to the very date of Virginia's secession, and the struggle -between his duty to his State and his country Avas long and sharp, and at last he threw his strength, his influence, and his life into the struggle. It was at Harper's Ferry that he gathered the first leaves of the laurel wreath with which the South delights to crown her men. The engagement at Falling Waters was but a prologue of the great drama in which he was to take so prominent a part. It was at Bull Run that he played the most conspicuous part, and is thought by Beauregard to have contributed so largely to the Confederate success ; and here he won the sobriquet which fol-- lowed him so long as he lived. Gen. Beauregard, fancying Jackson's troops to be raw, asked if they would stand fire.? "Yes," answered Jackson, "like a stone wall T And from the memorable day when Southern men and Southern arms were victorious on the bloody field of Manassas, until the day of his death, the name of " Stonewall " Jackson followed him, though he modestly insisted that it belonged to his boys, not to himself. In all the battles of the Shenandoah Valley he took a prominent part. His bravery and courage were unsurpassed and marked him as one of the truly great men of that period which called out the strongest feeling and put in action the dormant qualities of those who, untried before, proved themselves heroes then. Though the battle of Winchester pales into insignificance befote many of the conflicts of the war, conflicts in which twenty times as many men were ranged on either side, yet it was never surpassed by any in the almost inhuman fierceness of the combat. It has been said of both armies that they fought like infuriated fiends ; and though many of them were never in an engagement beforc- they behaved like veterans, and were led by commanders worthy of their valor. Although Jackson suffered the mortification of defeat on this occasion, had he been opposed by a less prac- ticed and less gallant soldier than he found the Federal Com- mander to be, his well-known strategy must have won for him the honors of the day , as it was, so cool and brave was he, so slowly and reluctantly did he yield to the immense force against him, so ably did he handle and dispose of his men, that defeat had in it almost the glory of victory. The dogged courage and persist- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 643 «ent endurance of the Northern men were such that it was simply impossible to stand before them. So terrible was the engagement that four times was the color-bearer of the Fifth Ohio Volunteers laid prostrate in death, and the banner was borne forward to victory by the Lieutenant Colonel of another regiment who oaught it from the hand of the dying sergeant. To capture Jackson was a darling project of Gen. Banks, and more than once he barely avoided falling into the hands of the Federal forces. At Bull Pasture Mountain he narrowly escaped "being captured, and was only saved by the accidental disobedience of the officers of the Richmond Zouaves. Again the fortunes of war anade Jackson victorious, and he drove Gen. Fremont from his position on the Shenandoah mountains, and turned upon Banks with such rapidity that he had scarce time to retreat in order. At the second engagement between the Federal and Confederate forces at Winchester, the troops under Jackson were victorious, (but his men so far outnumbered the enemy that it can scarcely be considered so complimentary as was his defeat, there certainly was not half the ability displayed as upon the former occasion. After a succession of skirmishes which were of no benefit to either party, Col. Fremont and Jackson again met at Cross Keys, and after a long and terrible contest, Jackson was compelled to yield ; then within reach of their outotretched hands he slipped again through the very fingers of the Federals, when Fremont had marched fifteen days through rain and mud to capture him. We said before, that Jackson was a devoted christian. Amid ithe dreadful scenes which were being daily enacted, he never omitted to appeal to his Maker for support in the trying ordeal through which he had to pass. Having foiled his pursuers in the valley of Virginia, he hastened to join his forces to those who were defending the Capital against the expected attack of McClel- laiu The Confederates now being in sufficient force to become the attacking party, determined to rid. their Capital of a besieg- ing host. A great council of war was then held at the Rebel lieadquarters. In it were assembled all that were eminent in the Rebel army. Johnson had been severely wounded in the battle of Seven Pines, and Lee was his successor. Gazing cheerfully over the countenances, for each of whom a part was assigned, the new Commander-in-chief stood like a rock. Thoughtfully and ^44 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. sadly from one to another his eyes wandered, a s if he was fixing upon his memory loved faces that he might never see again. Beside him towered the knightly form of Gen. Baldwin ; at his other side stood Stonewall Jackson, now the idol of his troops, his face pen- sive, yet with an impatient light in his eyes, swinging his saber to and fro as if the narrow room stifled him, and he longed to be in the field, leading his men in the fierce combat. A little apart stood the two Hills, speaking in almost whispered tones, while around them were grouped Generals Wise, Hughes, Longstreet, Branch, Whiting, Anderson, Ripley and Magruder. Gen. Lee laid his plans before them, assigned each his part ; there was a silent clasping of hands, a silent look into eyes that might never meet again, and they turned away to the duties that awaited them. The seven days siege of Richmond has passed upon the pages of history as one of the most fearful the world ever knew. Great was the slaughter, and while it is not known how great on either side, it is feared, from the sad havoc wrought by a destructive ar- tillery, that the sackcloth of mourning palled from twenty-five to* thirty thousand American homes, rendered dark and sorrowful from the fact that countless thousands of the flower of the land were laid low in death. Among all the officers who planned and exe- cuted that seven days' work, none were more brave, composed and cool than Jackson, and there is no doubt but he was largely in- strumental in compelling the Federal forces to raise the siege of the city. We find his name at that time a tower of strength to his own cause, and a source of continual annoyance and appre- hension to the enemy. At Gaines Mills, the only battle of the series in which can be claimed a distinct and decided victory, Jackson struck the decisive blow which sent terror and defeat through the ranks of his opponents. It was Jackson's fortune, during his short but brilliant military- career, to have crossed swords with some of the best and bravest of the Federal Generals, each of whom acknowledged him their peer, and recognized his military genius. We find him op- posed by Lander, on the Upper Potomac ; by McDowell, at Bull Run ; by Shields, and Banks, and Fremont, in the Virginia Valley ; by Porter and Heintzelman,with McClellan as Commander-in-chief, in the combats near Richmond, and by Hooker and Sumner, with OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 645 McClellan again as their chief, at Antietam. The rest of his career was upon different fields, with still older Generals to resist his might and genius. It was at Chancellorville that General Jack- son received his death wound, and on that hotly contested field, where the soil drank in the ensanguined tide that flooded it, his own life blood mingled with that of nearly three thousand brave men from both armies, but no foeman's shot or shell or saber wound cut short the life of this man who gave it cheerfully for the sake of the land he loved. Three shots struck him, but all -were from the guns of his own men. Unconsciously they killed the leader they worshiped, and though it was known from what company they came, in mercy their number was never given. During the month of May the Federal army lost, in killed and prisoners, twenty-five thousand. The Confederate loss was smaller, but they suffered one loss which was irretrievable. Gen. Lee said of him, " Pure, high-minded, unselfish, he has no thought of his own advancement. The sole aim and object of his life is the good of his country " Sunday, the twelfth day of May, 1863, will ever be a day of mournful memory to the people of the sunny South. On that day set the most resplendent star in their galaxy of Generals. He who had forsaken the quiet of his professional life to put himself at the head of charging columns, on that day breathed his last. He who, amid the blaze of cannon, the rattle of musketry, and the clash of steel, had won honor and renown, died a soldier's death — died as he had lived, strong in his religious faith — strong in his reliance on Him who is mighty to save ; going down into the valley and shadow, fearing no evil. At his own request, the sermon was preached from the words : ^' For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." 646 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. GUISEPPE GARIBALDI. '^^^^E was born at Nice, Italy, in 1807. Little can be said c>!/J^/fe °^ ^^^ early parentage, and this is to our radical repub- ^1^1^^ lican purpose, as it will compel us to base the man where all ought to be based, — upon vierit alone. Who would honor a stupid mule simply because he can trace in its lineage a noted horse which once won the Derby ? In refreshing contrast with all such empty boasts, we find the hero of Italy is the son of an industrious- sailor. His father never had more than a bare competency. When but a stripling he gave evidence of great aptitude for study, so that at eight years he was proficient in geometry and algebra. He refused, when young, to be articled to any profes- sion, and declared his preference for a sea-faring life. In short,, as a boy, he was no lisping finic, no lo-ng-haired dandy, no lily- white fingered gentleman, but a strong, hardy and robust germ, from which has broken a spirit that, like a rod of iron, has smitten and dashed to pieces the old despotisms of Europe. The year 1834 effected great changes for Garibaldi. On the accession of Charles Albert to the throne of Sardinia, that mon- arch belied his previous character by refusing to adopt more lib- eral principles as the basis of his administration. Then Garibaldi, Mazzini, and others conspired to revolutionize their country, but were betrayed by a perjured professed adherent.. Thus baffled in his first revolutionary attempt, branded with the black name of a conspirator, and disguised as a peasant, he' sought refuge in flight and hastened to Marseilles. Here, under circumstances of great daring, he saved a youth from drowning,, and indignantly refused a liberal reward offered by the family.. He proved himself no leech, no loafer, no pensioner on the bounty of others, but a high-minded, honest-hearted, horny-handed working man. The failure of the above plot sent Garibaldi on his first visit to South America. Here he found many exiles like himself, and with OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 647 their assistance, procured a small coasting boat with which he traded between Cabo Frio and Rio Grande. Presently, hearing of a republican outbreak against the Brazilian government, he vol- unteered the former his ship and crew. Soon he found the movement degenerating into a miserable, mercenary scramble. So he left it, from the very motive which induced him first to join — disinterested patriotism. Shortly after, at the head of the Italian Legion, of whose exploits all his countrymen are justly proud, with only 134 men all told, raw, half-fed and undisciplined troops, he succeeded in expelling a force of the enemy over 500 strong, and they hardy veterans, long experienced and self-confident soldiers, apparently impregnably entrenched on the confines of the country. Next morning more than half the imperious enemy were found slain in battle, and the few remaining, mostly maimed and wounded, were easily taken prisoners. The news of this vic- tory, so disastrous to the imperial party, produced great rejoicing in Monte Video. The name of the Legion was emblazoned on its banner in letters of gold by order of the government. The first officer of the French admirality v/rote a letter of eulogy to Gari- baldi, with his own hand, in which he declared that such an exploit would have lent luster to the renown of the first Napo- leon'^ grand army. With the more recent events of the last thirty years the reading community are familiarized by all the papers of the globe. The battle of Magenta and Solferino, and the treaty of Villafranca have been followed by events which have made the ears of the eastern continent to tingle. Kingdoms have been quickly revo- lutionized. Crowns have been torn in the grasps of popular fury. The floods of the people have been, lashed into madness, and then left, like the rolling sea after a frantic storm, to rock themselves to rest. The last of the accursed house of Bourbon has been cast aside as a withered branch. He, who conquered the Philistines by the hand of a shepherd boy, yA\o dispersed the Midianitish army by the breaking of earthen vessels and the acclaim of voices, who brought down the fortifications of Jericho by the tramping of feet and the blowing of horns. He has seized a poor sailor, and made him a scourge in His right hand with which to lascer- ate and scatter the tyrants of Europe. The hero, meanwhile, humbly seeks his Caprera Island home. WILHELM, EMPEROR ©E GERMAjSTY. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 649 THE EMPEROR WILLIAM OF GERMANY, HIS FAMILY, AND CHIEF GENERAL. ^I^HE Emperor William is an economical, unostentatious \jj^ sovereign, who lives now very much as he did when he was Crown Prince. Perhaps he came back from Versailles with a couple of trumpets and drums the more, but that was all. He is a robust, bald old man, with a remarkably healthy face. His head is enormous, aud rests on very broad shoulders ; his eyes, gray and bright, under thick eye-brows which frown with facility ; his mustache, joined to thick white whiskers, completely covers his -mouth and conceals its expression. War for him has always been a divine mission, and in his visions the world appears only under a luminous cross formed by a gun and a sabre. His method of life is very simple ; his love of discipline and regard for strict military dress and deportment are profound. It is said that Bismarck gained Tiis good graces by hindering him one day from appearing before 'the troops in a uniform not entirely buttoned up. He opens his mail every ]day, and charges his Privy Councilors to reply to all letters. After this performance he receives his doctor, who, ac- cording to the color of the imperial tongue, allows outside exer- cises or exacts staying in-doors. He regularly studies the bills-of- fare proposed by his cook as carefully as one of Bismarcks reports. The Emperor likes plain, but classical, and especially economical cooking ; the dinners given by him when Crown Prince were no- toriously scant. At his desk near the window he is often seen -seated, and writing with an eagle's quill; before him are the pho- tographs of his children and grandchildren, as well as various battlefield souvenirs — balls, bits of shells, and metallic cartridges. His vigorous constitution allows him to indulge in excessive work ; travels, fetes and reviews seem only to increase his toughness. His thirst for popularity is unbounded, and the Court historio- graphers are continually writing him up. Born March 22, 1797. The Empress Augusta has always been liberally disposed, and for a long time struggled against the belligerent tastes of her hus- band and liege lord. She tried hard to prevent all his wars, but in vain, and hence there arose an antagonism between herself and Eismarck, which still continues. She heads the Court party of 650 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. opposition to the Chancellor, as the Crown Princess, Queen Vic- toria's daughter, heads the English party. French ideas have always met with the sympathy of the Empress, and she was very kind to the prisoners of Metz and Sedan. The Crown Prince also lives in the simplest style. No war tools are to be found in his private apartment. His tastes are agricultural, and rather averse to arms. His delight, indeed, lies in blue skies, green fields upon which the sun only flashes, the hum of bees and of mills. While his cousin. Prince Frederick Charles, reviews army corps, he visits sehool-rooms and amuses himself by putting his helmet on the heads of the pupils. Moltke resides in the office of the Grand Staff of the army. The room in which he works is large and well lighted by three high windows fronting on King's place. The table around which the staff assembles in council is heaped with maps, books, pamph- lets and journals. A piece of shell is the General's favorite let- ter-weight. The frescoes of the walls represeut some of the events of the war, and the hero himself is depicted under various costumes. His bed-room, adjoining, is of monastic severity. Moltke is tall, thin, slightly stooping ; he is only straightened up on horseback, and then looks like a man of 30. His close-shaven face is very much wrinkled ; his profile recalls vaguely Caesar's ; his prominent nose indicates will, perseverance, courage ; his lips are thin and expressive of melancholy ; his chin sharp ; eyes black and brilliant; neck long. He is a great worker and an early riser ; passes sometimes as much as nine hours at his desk without taking anything save a glass of Bordeaux and a bis- cuit ; dines at two and sups at eight. He is always punctual in Parliament, where his colleagues style him the " Great Silent." Less a captain of genius than an admirable organizer, he is as cold-blooded in a battle as the gods who dwell in Olympus. His amusement is to walk in the Theirgarten, with his hands behind his back in the old Napoleonic style. A Dane by birth, he married a young English girl who fell violently in love with him ; her premature death, in 1868, came near killing him. He was born Oct. 26, 1800. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 5c;E BENJAMIN DISRAELI. • ^HIS great British author, orator and statesman, was born. lyjj^' in London, England, in 1805, and is the oldest son of Isaac Disraeli, the author of "Curiosities of Literature." He received his early education at a private academy in the sub- urbs of London, whence, while yet a mere boy he was transferred to the office of an attorney as an articled or bound clerk. Here he remained three years, but the monotony and confinement of his daily labor was galling in the extreme to the ambitious soul that already aspired to soar into realms far higher than the sphere of the most successful attorney, and availing himself of the assist- ance of distinguished friends of his father, " Disraeli the Young- er," as he loved to call himself, with self-caressing conceits that were very soothing to the vanity which was strong in the talented young genius, obtained admission into what was called the " best society " of London, where his magnificent physical beauty, re- fined manners and brilliant conversational powers soon made him a favorite. From the day when he filled an uncongenial post in a solicitor's, office ; from the day when he wrote novels and satires which did something more than amuse society, which added new treasures to the literature of his country ; from the day when he was one of that gay throng of wits and fops of which he is now, alas ! almost the last man left to us — Mr. Disraeli's life has been one that de- serves, and will unquestionably receive the study and the criticism of future generations. He was a man of mark before he entered Parliament ; he had made himself a man of mark, he — the obscure son of a m.an of the middle class, foredoomed to the drudgery of conveyancing — was looked upon as a successful novelist and social critic, at a time when the great rival, who has pressed him so hard throughout his political career, was still a youth at Oxford. His whole life is a tempting theme to dwell upon, but the limits of ^^52 FOOTPRINTS .OF THE AGES. these pages afford no opportunity of giving way to the tempta- tion ; and, though when diamonds are photographed little but the flaws are shown, we must try in this brief sketch to reproduce ^something of the light and the brilliancy, the depth and the splen- dor, of this " diamond of the first water," with whom we have to deal. His past career is part of English history, and to the his- torian we must leave it ; our duty is simply to draw the ex-Pre- :jnier of England as you may see him to-day in the House of Commons. A man of middle height, of spare but well-proportioned frame, -of scrupulous neatness of dress, and possessed of a countenance which no one can forget who has once looked upon it — this is Mr, Disraeli, as we see him now quietly walking up the floor of the House to take his place on the front Opposition bench. Arrived at his seat, he removes his hat — he alone among the gentlemen iipon that bench — and sits down, folding his arms, and stretching •out his legs in a fashion v/hich recalls by-gone days, when, out of every twenty honorable gentlemen in the House, nineteen of them stretched out their legs in exactly the same way. Over the high-arched forehead — surely the forehead of a poet — • there hangs from the crown of the head a single curl of dark hair, black as jet, a curl which you can not look at without feel- ing a touch of pathos in your inmost heart, for it is the only thing ^bout the worn and silent man reminding you of the brilliant youth of "Vivian Gray." The face below this solitary lock is -deeply marked with t he furrows left by care's ploughshare ; the fine dark eyes look downward, the mouth is closed with a firmness .that says more for this man's tenacity of will than pages of eulogy would do ; but what strikes you more than anything else is the utter lack of expression upon the countenance. No one, looking at the face, though but for a moment could fall into the error of .supposing that expression and intelligence are not there ; they are ihere, but in concealment. Much is said of the power possessed by Napoleon IH. of hid- ing his thoughts from the keenest scrutiny ; but more than once even his power over his countenance has been sorely taxed, and he has been glad of the grateful shelter of the curling mustache that shades his mouth. Without any such help, however, Mr. Disraeli has a face that is simply inscrutable. Again and again OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 655- have hundreds of keen eyes been turned at critical moments^ toward that face, to read, if it might be possible, something of the mysterious thoughts of the man himself; but never once, not even in the most exciting crisis of personal or political conflict,, has the face unwittingly relaxed, or friend or foe been able to read aught there. It is the face of a sphinx, inscrutable and unfathom-- able; it is, as men of every party will admit, the most remarkable- face in England. Mr, Disraeli's mind is no more to be analyzed than his counte- nance is to be fathomed. He is here ; we know what he has done,, we have seen his labors, we acknowledge his genius, we believe him to be intellectually one of the greatest men, not of his own time, only, but of all English history. Beyond that we can not go,^- and we must leave to future critics, who will see him through a clearer medium than that through which it is possible for us to- behold him, and who may haVe new lights thrown upon his charac- ter which are withheld from us, to decide what he is, and what precisely is the motive-power of his life. All that we know at present is, that he is an intellectual prodigy, and, like other prod- igies, he must be tried by exceptional rules and standards. But this has nothing to do with the mere sketch which we propose to attempt of the man himself, of the place he holds in the House of Commons, of the work he does there, and of the qualities he dis- plays in doing it. He is a great party-leader. That is beyond dispute. To him' belongs the honor of having, with an exquisite tact and skill, led the House of Commons, when he had only a minority of support- ers at his back, and of having led it in such a way that the most watchful of foes were unable to trip him up, or even to change the secretly formed purpose of his mind. Those who saw him first as chancellor of the exchequer, then as prime-minister during the last conservative administration, leading his party and the house of commons at the same time, witnessed a spectacle the like of which has perhaps never before been seen ; for we have no previous record of such generalship as that which Mr. Disraeli then displayed. He was himself engaged in a task which, to the most sanguine of his own followers, had but a short time before seemed an ut- terly hopeless one, and which, to those of them who were unable; to see as far as he did, seemed worse than hopeless — suicidal. 654 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. But he went on, in spite of difficulties and discouragements -^vhich would have broken the spirit and destroyed the strength 01 any other party-leader of modern times. And he went on with wonderful success. Past rocks and shoals and quicksands with- out number, and by a channel on which it had never before •entered, he steered the vessel of the state ; he faced obstacles which seemed insurmountable, and which, to any other man, would have been what they seemed, and lo ! they vanished under his marvelous manipulation. With a party sorely reduced in strength, he kept at bay the overwhelming numbers of the enemy — nay, he even used them as instruments of his own, and it was by their aid that he passed the great reform bill which will hence- forth be associated with his name, and balked his rivals. This is what Mr. Disraeli has accomplished within the last few years ; and no impartial man will deny that it is one of the greatest political achievements recorded in the history, of Parliament. It was during the trying period between i866-'6g that he de- veloped his ripest powers. Until he became the leader of the House of Commons on the last occasion, he had never shown his remarkable fitness for such a post. On previous occasions he had done well ; but then he did his work superlatively well. It is true, that, when he had formally been leader of the house, he had la- bored under the disadvantage of having opposed to him a skilled veteran who was the most popular party-man ever seated within the walls of parliament. But, making allowances for the difference in his position which -was made by Lord Palmerston's death, we yet can not doubt that there was a ripening and maturing of his powers during the long interval of opposition through which he passed, while that noble- man and Lord Russell were at the helm of the State for the last time, which contributed materially to his success when he himself was recalled to the leadership. It was not until he was recalled that, in addition to all his other great qualities, he displayed that geniality and humor which the House of Commons is so quick to appreciate in its leader, and the absence of which in the present prime minister it feels so strongly. And somewhat akin to this humor is that higher power of sar- casm for which Mr. Disraeli has been famous throughout his whole public life. He is not, in ^one sense of the word, a good debater. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 655 It can not be denied that at times he contrasts unfavorably with Mr. Gladstone. But upon some subjects he makes speeches which are far above the level reached by any other man in the House of Commons. No one has the power of investing a great political event with more of the interest attaching to domestic affairs than he has. Over and over again he has brought down incidents which were so far above the ordinary level of the House of Com- mons as to be beyond the reach of its sympathy, to the region of everyday life — as, for instance, in the case of Mr. Lincoln's assas- sination, when he made the speech of all the speeches made, the world over, upon that most terrible, most touching of tragedies, and brought tears to the eyes of men to whom, before that mo- ment, the President of the United States had been a mere abstraction. But while upon such topics he is a perfect master of words and ideas, when he is speaking upon the mere party-question of the hour, he often fails to produce that impression upon his audience which one would expect from a man of his genius. No doubt many causes unite to produce this effect. Chief among them, we believe, is the fact that he has not the passion of the ordinary party-man. The range of his sympathies is so catholic, that his mind is seldom roused to passion upon a question which is only a question of party ; it is not until he is really touched by one of those few topics which have power to move him deeply, that the fire of genius in his soul pours forth its sparks, and that he shows all the depths of passion and enthusiasm hidden within him. And yet even when he is in his coldest mood, what an in- tellectual treat it is to listen to him speaking upon one of the great questions of the day. The political career of Mr. Disraeli is one of the most remark- able in English history. By force of talent, industry and perse- verance, unaided by wealth or family relatives, with his Jewish origin working against him with terrible force, and the reputation of being a clever novelist, he has raised himself to the position of leader in the House of Commons and minister of finance in the greatest commercial empire of the world. 656 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. CHARLES DICKENS. ^HARLES DICKENS was born at Portsmouth, England, February 12, 1812. His father was a retired Navy-depart- ment clerk, and in his latter years a reporter for the London daily press. Charles was intended for the profession of an attorney, but could never learn to love it, and though he plodded through a course of study, it was never of use to him except that it gave him a knowledge of law phrases, and a famil- iarity with the intricacies so dearly loved by the impartial goddess of Justice. He threw it aside without ceremony, for the more congenial duties of reporter to the London papers, and was afterwards attached to the " True Sun," then to the " Morning Chronicle," in which latter he won his first literary reputation under the signature of " Boz." He was possessed of rare powers of delineating character, and while some of his friends have re- gretted that he had given his talents to the portraiture of a class of the human family who would otherwise never be known to the world, it is here, perhaps, that he won more fame than in any other class of literature. The first of the " Pickwick Papers " was published in 1830, but the series was not complete until 1837,, when it was brought out by Mr. Seymour. It was a favorite both in England and America, and is still considered his best work. His next was the "Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby," then " Oliver Twist." " The Old Curiosity Shop," more than any other work of his, paved the way for his enthusiastic reception in America, and when he came here in 1842, he had certainly noth- ing more to desire of our people. His views of American life were published on his return to England, but were too much of the Trollope school of criticism to be thoroughly relished, added little to his reputation, and nothing to his popularity. About this time he wrote several short Christmas stories which were very pretty, and the most amiable of his works. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 657 In 1844 he published "Martin Chuzzlewit," and in the same year went to Italy and remained some time. " Dombey & Son " came out in 1848, and "David Copperfield," his own favorite, in 1850. In 1853 he finished "Bleak House," and in 1857 "Little Dorritt," both of which were favorably read. Dickens' wonderful success as a novelist lies in his humor and originality, and no one, not even the most selfish of critics, can deny this. Wordy he is — even to a fault, perhaps, — but his words are so prettily chosen as to be forgiven by the charmed reader. As a public reader of his own writings, Mr. Dickens was certainly a success, and the stories already familiar to our mind borrowed a new grace from his pleasant intonation. His last visit to Amer- ica is too recent for any to have forgotten the rapturous crowds who nightly listened to him. His domestic life has not been free from pain, and to this, perhaps, in a great measure may be attrib- uted the under-current of deep pathos that is traceable in all his writings. He died June 9th, 1870. HOMER. '^X^^ISCUSSION and speculation have proven fruitless in lo- jylrjj/r eating the birth-place of Homer; even the exact age ^^"'^ in which he lived is also lost. Seven cities of Asia claim the honor of having given the poet to the world, each with some show of truth, and seven more would be willing to share the honor had they a shadow to found their claim upon. Between the ear- liest and the latest dates in which he is said to have lived, lies a period of nearly five hundred years. It is impossible to state more than the probabilities of the case, which are, that he was a native of Smyrna, an Ionian city, on the coast of Asia Minor, and was therefore an Asiatic Greek ; lived in the second century, after the taking of Troy by Achilles; most likely from B. C. 1019 to B. C. 984. 42 658 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. It is well established that he was blind, not from birth, but from an accident, occurring at some unknown date. The soiJgs and poems of Homer were scattered until the time of Pisistrus, who gathered them together and formed the collection much as it is known now. To the Iliad and Odessey he owes his fame, though all his works are worth preserving. Scholars differ much in opin- ion of his minor poems and epigrams, many doubting their authenticity. The Iliad is claimed to be not only the oldest specimen of historic and national poetry, but the most perfect poem of the kind ever produced. The subject is well known — the siege of Troy, which was invested, by Achilles, in order to be revenged on Agamemnon, who had supplanted him in the affect- ions of his rnistress, Briccis. Itis divided into twenty-four books, and ends with the . death and burial of Hector. The long con- tinued and terrible sufferings of the Greeks ; the horrors of the siege ; the barbarous mode of warfare of that day ; the full grati- fication of the revenge of Achilles, and the reaction of feeling at last, are vividly portrayed. The Odessey, preferred by some to the Iliad, we can not think its equal. It is also divided into twenty-four books, and contains the history of Ulysses and his adventures while on his return from Troy to Ithaca. There is no doubt but that, so far as the subject gave scope for expression, the poem is equal to any he wrote, but in the death and funeral ser- vices of Hector, the author had opportunity to portray all the heights and depths of sublime endurance, of heroism, affection and grief. The criticism of Colonel Mure upon Homer is very fine. He says : " In conception and portraiture of character, and the deep- est vein of tragic pathos, he may be equaled by Shakspeare ; in moral dignity of thought and expression, by Milton ; in the grace and delicacy of his lighter pictures, by Petrarch and Ariasto ; and in the gloomy grandeur of his supernatural imagery, by Dante ; but no one of these poets has combined in so great a degree those various elements of excellence, in each of which they may sepa- rately claim to compete with him. Like the works of Shakspeare and Dante, Homer's may be com- pared to a fine old painting, whose rare colors and exquisite shades have been mellowed by time, and age has but made them more attractive to the scholar. Jay Gould, the New York Speculator. 6 6o FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. SHAKSPEARE. ^T is said that no other man ever swept the complicated strings of the human heart with so masterly a hand as Will- iam Shakspeare. It is said that no other mind was ever so familiar with every shade and phase of human nature as he, and that no one could so well uncover the dark passions that were hid- den from the world with cunning skill, or that slumbered unchal- lenged and unseen. No works, dramatic, poetic, or prose, in ancient or modern literature, have had so much influence in every grade and sphere of life, and their popularity increases with the increase of knowledge and education. He was born in 1564, probably, though not certainly, in Strat- ford-on-Avon. The house in which he is said to have been born was unquestionably the property of his father in 1546, and after- wards came into possession of the poet. Very little light is thrown upon his early life, for he was only a yeoman's son, and nothing in his childhood gave promise of the glorious manhood that lay before him, or the laurels that in every land under the sun were budding for his brow. Every theory has been advanced ; that he was a pale-faced student in the grammar school of his na- tive town ; that he was an attorney's clerk ; that he was a dissi- pated young blade who shamed his honest, hard-working parents ; that he was a reckless poacher, who heeded no game laws and feared no magistrate. A mile from Stratford stood an old, gray farm-house, whose porch was smothered in honey-suckles, and from whose mossy eaves long, slender sprays of ivy swung down, catching the win- dow ledges and draping the diamond-paned lattice with its veil of dainty green. Here lived sweet Annie Hathaway, to whom the poet when but eighteen years of age, was married and the mar- riage was full of happiness for both. Three children were born to them, two daughters who survived their parents, and a son, who died young. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 66l When Shakspcare was only twenty-five years old he was one of the proprietors of the Blackfriars Theater, and he afterwards be- came its entire owner. The date of the production of his first play is lost ; indeed, accurate dates can be affixed to but few of his writings, except his poems. It would be folly to criticise an author whose genius and talents are so widely acknowledged, and to whom such universal homage has been paid, as there is scarcely a mind in the old world or the new whose treasure house does not hold gems that this master poet has polished and fitted for their setting. He became immensely wealthy from his theater. He died April 22, 1616, and no descendant of him lives to bear his name, indeed, it is defunct, but in every home and at every hearth his memory is honored and loved. JAMES F. COOPER. ^AMES FENIMORE COOPER was born at Burlington, New York. His parents removed, while he was in his first year, to Otsego Lake, and there, in the almost unbroken wilds, the pioneer began life anew by the erection of the home- stead, or " Hall," as it was styled,— the " Hall " so often referred to in the novelist's works. His father was a man of a good deal of shrewdness and sagacity, and possessing an immense tract of land that came to him in some way, how does not seem to be made quite plain by history, of course became the possessor of almost boundless wealth as civilization brought it into demand. Mrs. Cooper, his mother, was a woman of strong and cultivated intellect, of great personal beauty, and a romantic turn of mind. At the age of thirteen the author was entered in the freshman class of Yale College but seems neither to have been fond of 662 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Study or to have any indications of his future greatness. At the end of his third collegiate year he left school, tired of the re- straint and of study, and entered the United States navy, where he remained two years. On board the " Sterling " he was promoted, first to midshipman, and later to lieutenant. In 1811 he was married to Miss De Lancy, sister of Bishop De Lancy, of New York, and removed to Mamaroneck, and it was not until several years after this that, reading from an English novel, he exclaimed to his wife, as he yawned over its pages, " I could write a better novel," and it is said that her quiet answer, " You had better try," gave him his first idea of authorship. A few weeks of secret labor resulted in the first few chapters of " Precaution." It was published anonymously, and not acknowl- edged until several years later ; indeed it is said, he was never at all proud of it. Three years after he. published the " Spy," and with this book began his success and his popularity. In Europe the work was even more overwhelmingly popular than in Amer- ica. From this time forward he devoted himself to literature, and in two years more he produced the " Pioneer." This work is said to have been his favorite, of all he wrote, because, as he remarked, his first was written for the world and the world rejected it; the sec- ond was written to compel its notice, and to obtain for it the position that was refused the first. Having gained this, he wrote the third to please himself, and succeeded here also. The next year came the " Pilot," which far out-ran the others, and then in rapid succession followed the " Red Rover" and "Lionel Lincoln ;" the last not equal to either of his former works, not even except- ing his first. His failure seems again to have roused the spirit of the author and put him to his mettle. The next work took the world by storm. The romance, the sentiment, and the wild ex- citement of Indian life were never so developed by any one as in his " Last of the Mohicans." It gave him a name in every quar- ter of the globe, and his " Prairie," which came next, is scarcely, if at all, inferior to it. In 1828 he went abroad with his family, residing in Europe until 1833. Mr. Cooper, though not a politician, was a most passion- ate lover of home, and a jealous lover, too. His keen percep- tion of the light estimate placed upon his couptry and his countrymen, and the false interpretations and slanders so common OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 663 in Europe at the time, cast upon her, as he believed, a degree of odium that was unendurable. Like a gallant but overhasty knight he threw down the gauntlet and took up the pen in defense of his " lady love," and in this spirit were written " Letters of a Travel- ing Bachelor," " Residence in Europe," " Home as Found," and the " Mannikins ; " all of which it would have been to Mr. Coop- er's credit never to have written. Next followed " Bravo," which certainly went far to redeem his lost reputation. Before he returned home he published the " Wept-of-the-Wish- ton-Wish," " Hieldenmanor," and the " Herdsman of Berne." He became involved in lawsuits which he instituted on account of the too free and too frequent criticisms of his historical work, " Naval History of the United States," and thus, in a measure, lost some of his last years, or rather, the world lost the benefit of his genius. His last finished book was " Ways of the Hour," pub- lished in 1850. The next year, while engaged upon a historical novel, his physical powers, always wonderfully strong, suddenly gave way, and to the astonishment and grief of his friends, he died. Mr. Cooper was a splendid man — tall, finely built, with a most perfectly symmetrical form ; generous, even to a fault ; kindly and social, a true friend, an honorable enemy. His talents have built for him an imperishable monument, and his name is loved and familiar. JOHN G, WHITTIER, ^OHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, December, 1807. His family were mem- '"^ bers of the Society of Friends, and the poet was brought up in that faith, to which he still adheres. He spent the first few TOMB OF FRANKLIN. mkyj. r** .... WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 665 years of his life upon a farm, living, acting, and working after the fashion of farmer boys. At that time he was sent to the town academy two years. In 1829 he became editor of the " American Mechanic," published at Boston, devoted to the maintenance of the tariff, then in the first stages of decline, and threatened with speedy reduction. In 1850 he succeeded George D. Pren- tice as editor of the New England Review, at Hartford. In the same year he wrote a memoir of Brainerd, to be used as a prefix to a volume of his poetical works. The Legends of New Eng- land emanated from his pen at about this time, overflowing with thrilling incidents of the wildlife of the early settlers of the con- tinent. From the same fruitful source he drew the material for many of his later poems. " Mogg Megone " and the " Bridal of Pennock " are so strongly marked by the same spirit as to be easily recognizable. He soon returned to the old homestead, and for two years, 1835-36, was a member of the Massachusetts legis- lature. His political sentiments were in accordance with those of most of the Friends, and he was, if not an abolitionist, at least in sympathy with them. In 1836 he went to Philadelphia, where he edited the " Pennsyl- vania Freeman." Several of his best short poems were written at this time. In 1840 Mr. Whittier removed to Amesburg, Massa- chusetts, and has resided there since. He has devoted his life to literary pursuits, and is one of our most popular poets, with very little of the sensational or sentimental in his writing, but a strong, healthy, earnest tone, different from the sickly trash of some who have even gained a day of popularity — why, one would wonder. His best prose works are " Legends of New England," " Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal," " Old Portraits and Modern Sketches," and " Literary Recreations." His first poems were published in 1850, and since that time he has published "Songs of Labor, and other Poems ; " " The Chapel of the Hermits, and other Poems," and " Home Ballads." His " Songs of Freedom " were also brought out about this time. His " Snow Bound " is an exquisite picture of winter-life, dainty and pure, cold and white, only rich and warm in its coloring and delineation. Another of Whittier's best efforts is the " Tent on the Beach." There is a tone of mournful grandeur — of solemn majesty and of sublimity beyond criticism in its beautiful lines. 666 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. You can imagine him lying prone upon the strand, with the boundless blue of heaven above him, from which the clear stars shine out like lamps lit by angel hands ; before him the deeper, darker, denser blue of the ocean, with its great dark waves on which lies a crest line of white, soft, feathery foam. You can fol- low it with your eye as it rolls in and breaks with a sullen, deaf- ening, thundering roar, with a sound like the "voice of many waters." There were with him a few friends, a poet, editor, trav- eler, one whose Aveary feet had lingered on every soil beneath the sun and who had turned his face homeward and rested again under the spreading branches of the roof- tree that sheltered him in his boyhood days. Ah ! that was long y.ears ago ; threads of silver mingle plentifully with his jetty curls now, contrasting with the fire in the eyes that are fierce as an eagle's and yet gentle as those of an Arab girl. Here they wrote, walked, sang and held sweet converse with nature, their own hearts and each other, and here was born, at least in Whittier's brain, the " Tent on the Beach." You have not forgotten — no one can — his gem written while yet the glare of the red light shone brazen against the western sky, and given to the world while the pall of smoke hung heavy over, the ruins of Chicago, as if in pity, as much as in sullen despair, they veiled the burning of that magnificent city. " Men said at vespers : ' All is well !' In one wild night the city fell ; Fell shrines of prayer and marts of gain, Before the fieiry hurricane." OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 667 WASHINGTON IRVING. WASHINGTON IRVING was born in New York, April 3rd, 1783, and died at his residence in Sunnyside, November 28th, 1859. He had but an ordinary edu- cation, and his school days ended when he was fifteen years old. He had brothers older' than himself who were literary men, and he gave indications, before his school days were over, of the promise which afterwards made him so favorite an author. At sixteen he began the study -of law. This, however, was a mere form, and a useless one too, for he was so utterly destitute of system, so impulsive and changeable in his moods, that he could not bear the confinement, and the dull, musty volumes of lore dis- gusted his mind. His brother. Dr. Peter Irving, edited the " Morning Chronicle," and for that paper Irving wrote a series of sketches upon every subject, over the signature of "Jonathan Oldstyle." In 1804 symptoms of pulmonary consumption drove him abroad. Added to, or perhaps stronger than, his desire for health was his eager, insatiate desire, amounting almost to passion, to visit foreign lands. Leaving New York in May, he passed through France, visited Na;ples, and in Rome passed many happy months with Allison, the painter. He fell so deeply in love with art that he believed, for a time, that he had mistaken his calling, and should have been an artist. Everywhere the eye of the young American scanned European life and manners closely, and his active mind stored for future use many a bit of romance or little episode to be wrought over by imagination for future use. In 1806, after nearly three years abroad, he returned to New York, and resumed the study of what he was pleased to term his " profession," and actually made such proficiency that he was admitted to the bar in due course of time. He did not love law — there was no use in trying to believe it ; he could not endure it, and he turned to the flowery fields of literature, to his own de- 668 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. light and the disgust of the more practical of his friends. Ameri- can literature was just then below par ; in fact, an American author was in the disgraceful position of a prophet at home, literally without honor. His first articles were a sort of partnership affair, in which both his brother and John R. Paulding had a share in the making, and the lion's share of the spoils, if spoils there were any. Irving was at that time, and indeed always, a spasmodic writer ; must work when, as he expressed it, the " fit was on, or not at all." A serial was published by them, entitled " Salmagundi, or the Whim-Whams of Launcelot Longstaff, Esq., and Others." This was very popular, and each number was hailed with delight, though the modest young authors declared their only intention was " to simply instruct the young, reform the old, correct the town, and castigate the age." The work became one of much more importance than they had imagined it would, and was a favorite for its keen wit and rich humor. Blackwood spoke favorably of it ; what better lease of life could it ask } Two years later was announced a " History of New York, from the beginning of the World to the end of the Dutch Dynasty.' It is said that the " sell " was complete and the parody was read as a veritable his- tory. Irving was no less a favorite with English readers than with the Americans, though an ill-natured critic " over the sea" has intimated too plainly that he made more use of Dean Swift than he had any legitimate right to. As a delineator of scenery and character, perhaps Irving has had few equals ; in the latter he resembled Dickens, in the former. Cooper. For some years after the Knickerbocker history, his pen lay idle, and he made no attempt to produce anything. With one of those revulsions of feel- ing peculiar to himself, he seemed to have lost his taste for any- thing of the kind. In 1810 he wrote a biographical prefix for a volume of Thomas Campbell's Poetical Works, and in i8i3-i4he edited the "Analytic Magazine," in Philadelphia, and published in it the lives of Com- manders in the American Navy. They are the best of the kind ever given to the world, and if he had never written anything else, history would stili be indebted to him for them. In 1814 he became an aid on Gen. Tompkins' staff, and at the close of the war, went to Europe and remained seventeen years, although the visit was at first intended to be short. He formed many OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 669 pleasant friendships there, and was much with Sir Walter Scott, whom he admired and loved tenderly. While in Edinburgh he learned of the financial failure of the mercantile house in which his money was invested, and henceforth his talents must win his bread. His "Sketch Book" was written abroad ; also "Brackenridge Hall, or the Humorists." His " Tales of a Traveller," were written in Paris, and the writer's well earned reputation made it as popular as might justly be expected. From Spain he gave the world the " Chronicles of the Conquest of Grenada," and " The Al- hambra," which is doubtless the finest galaxy of word paintings in the English language. In 1842 he was appointed Minister to Spain, and filled the post four years. It is impossible to notice all his works, or to criticise even the most prominent. They are so full of genuine humor — so witty, yet kind and gentle, so rare in coloring, that even in his satires and burlesques is nothing to wound those who may be car- ricatured, and if an age or an individual fancies that " the coat fits him," he puts it on, laughing at the sweet-tempered, sunny, genial spirit of him who cut and made it for him. As a historian he is well known, and his writings are standard works in every library. He was never married, although once devotedly attached to a young lady who died ere the day which had been set for their marriage, arrived. For some years before his death he resided at his home at " Sunnyside," surrounded by a host of friends and relatives who were, scarcely more than the world, bereaved by his sudden death. 670 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. CUVIER. EORGE CUVIER, the most eminent Naturalist in mod- ern times, was born August 23, 1769, at Montbelaird, Switzerland. His father was a distinguished officer in a Swiss corps in the pay of France. Cuvier was intended for the church and, from the poverty of his parents, was a candidate for admission to the free school of Tubingen. Cuvier first began his anatomical collection, of a few skeletons tied together like so many fagots, in the lumber- room of the College. Circumstances by degrees contributed to the success of Cuvier's labors. Wherever French armies marched, it was their pride to collect whatever might enrich the increasing collections at Paris ; and under the directions of Cuvier, the numerous contributions thus received were arranged according to the system which his eloquent lectures explained. By labors which knew little inter- mission, and with the help of these daily increasing stores, he was enabled to lay the foundations of Comparative Anatomy, to make the discovery of ancient Zoology, and to introduce a reform throughout the whole series of the Animal Kingdom. The death of M. Daubenton, in 1799, opened the way for the succession of Cuvier as professor at the College of France ; and thus he discharged the double duty of teaching Natural Philosophy at the latter insti- tution, and lecturing on Comparative Anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes. It is painful to state that his pecuniary remuneration for this great labor was neither commensurate in amount nor reg- ular in its payment. In 1800, Cuvier commenced his celebrated " Lectures on Com- parative Anatomy," which were completed in five years. His skill in delineating forms was so great, and the rapidity and ex- actness with which he produced them so extraordinary, that it seemed to his pupils as if he rather created living objects than inanimate representations. He did not consider the whole organic structure of each animal separately, but examined an individual organ through the whole series ot animals in succession It was by this method that he was ultimately led to the revealment of an order of facts illustrative of the theory of the earth. To his researches into Fossil remains, Cuvier ever attached the utmost importance. His writings on those and other subjects are OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 671 indeed so numerous, that it is impossible for us even to attempt a list of them. His labors increased with his years in magnitude and diversity, but only to show the extent of his capacity. The extraordinary talents of Cuvier, blended as they were with so much dignity of character and so much experience, were indis- pensable to France under all the successive changes of govern- ment which happened during his lifetime. The Consulate, the Imperial Government, the Restoration, the Monarchy of July, did but anew direct public attention to the civil services of a man whose attainments and sagacity were for all time. After the restoration, Louis XVIII. bestowed on him the dig- nity of Councilor of State, and he was thus called on to take a considerable share in the internal administration of his country* as President of the Committee of the Interior, an office which involved him in endless details of business. In 1818 he visited England for six weeks, and during his absence from Paris had the distinguished honor of being created one of the forty of the Academic Francaise. In 181 9 he was named GrandrMaster of the University, and in the same year was created a Baron. In 1826 Charles X. bestowed on him the decoration of grand officer of the Legion of Honor, and his old sovereign, the King of Wurtemburg, about the same time made him commander of the order of the Crown. During the same year he lost the favor of the Court, by steadily refusing the appointment of Censor of the Press ; but he incurred a much heavier dispensation in the loss of his only remaining child, Clemantine, a beautiful young woman, on the eve of marriage. In 1830 he again visited England along with his step-daughter, Mademoiselle Duvancel, and they happened to be in London during the Revolution of the Barricades. On his return to Paris, Cuvier was most graciously received by Louis Phillipe, by whom he was, in 1832, created a Peer of France. But he lived not long to enjoy his dignity. On the 9th of May he was attacked by partial paralysis in his arms, and aware in what it was to termi- nate, made his will. To M, Pasquier, who saw him on the 12th, he remarked: "I had great things still to do. All was ready in my hand. After thirty years of labor and research, there remain- ed but to write, and now the hands fail to carry with them the head." He expired May 13th, 1832. 6j2 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. WILLIAM B. ASTOR. THE RICHEST MAN IN AMERICA. 5ILLIAM B. ASTOR died in New York, the 24th of November, 1875, of pneumonia, in the 84th year of his age. John Jacob Astor, the father of William B. Astor, was born in Heidelberg, and coming to this country in early life, embarked in the fur trade and amassed a fortune. William B. Astor was born at 149 Broadway, on the 19th of September, 1792. There his father carried on his business as furrier, and lived with his family in the same house. Six years after the birth of the future million- aire, the elder Astor, having accumulated between $200,000 and $300,000, hired a house at 223 Broadway, the site of the existing Astor House, and moved into it with his family, retaining the premises in the lower part of the city as a place of business only. From a very early period of his life, William B. Astor was his father's principal assistant. He learned the fur business thor- oughly, and acquired, too, those habits of industry, perseverance, and economy which finally made him the Rothschild of America. His father intrusted the trade he had built up so well almost wholly to the management of his son, so that the latter may be said to have himself accumulated much of the fortune accruing to him when John Jacob Astor died. After some years the old fur trader began to send his wares to China, receiving in return consignments of tea, a business that soon became enormously profitable. John Jacob Astor doubled his already large fortune in a very short time. Hitherto his son had received no book education beyond what he had beenableto give himself in the few hours snatched from the pursuits of his business. But now his father, realizing that the future manage- ment of his increasing business must, to continue successful, be intrusted to one possessed of a better education than he had given OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 673' his sdn, sent him to the university of his native town, Heidelberg. There the young student made excellent use of his opportunities, learning fast, and obtaining numerous honors in the college. He became a thorough German linguist, a branch of knowledge which subsequently was of inestimable service to him. He was also an accomplished musician, and, like all German students of that day, and indeed, of our time, he became a skillful swordsman. He remained in Germany several years, and returned to America only when his father felt his presence indispensable to the management of his business, now swollen to colossal proportions. William B. Astor had not lost his taste for business, and after ^ traveling entirely over Europe which at that time was by no means the simple journey of to-day, he returned to New York, and once more entered the fur store. His uncle, Henry Astor, in whom was the same aptitude in amassing money that seems to have characterized every member of the family, had accumu- lated a vast fortune. He was greatly attached to his nephew, and on his death he bequeathed to him $500,000. This legacy did , not tempt William B. Astor to forsake his father's business. He invested the money, and carried on the fur trade with greater en- ergy than ever. His father's increasing age and infirmities ren- dered his attention to the business uncertain, and finally almost the entire management fell upon the son. Out of the profits of his trade John Jacob Astor had purchased the site upon which his dwelling in Broadway was built, and in 1835 he built the Astor House on it, and transferred the whole property to his son. Soon^ afterward he gave him the residence in Lafayette place adjoining, the Astor Library. In 1848 John Jacob Astor died, at the age of eighty-three or eighty-four years, leaving an estate valued at upward of $20,000- 000. The institution with which William B. Astor's name is popu-; larly identified is the Astor Library. The original fund for found- ing it was $400,000, of which $100,000 was for the site, building, and purchase of books, and $180,000 was to be used from time to time to increase the library. The remainder was to constitute a reserve fund. Since the institution was founded upward of $900,000; 4^ 674 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. has been expended on it, and William B. Astor, out of his private funds gave Mr. Cogswell, former librarian, an annuity of $5,000. The first gift was made in 1859, when the first building was fur- nished. Afterward Mr. Astor gave the trustees a site of 150 feet deep by eighty feet wide, upon which a second and better build- ing was erected. In 1866 he gave the library $50,000, of which $20,000 was invested in books. Among the original trustees of the library were William B. Astor, Washington Irving, Joseph C. Cogswell, and Fitz Greene Porter. Mr. Astor tvas a much more liberal man than was generally supposed, but he gave unostentatiously, and many of the charities benefited by his benefactions never knew the giver of the most liberal gifts. On one subscription list, in possession of Mr. Isaac H. Brown, appears the entry $250 from "the son of a Mason;" the giver was Mr. Astor, who was not a Mason himself, though his father had been an active member of the order. William B. Astor's eldest brother was a person of eccentricities, and could not be trusted alone. His tutor was appointed his guardian at a handsome salary and attended him wherever he went. He was often very violent in his dealings with those with whom he came in contact, and his quarrels with his guardian were frequent. He was secluded from society as far as possible, and was for a long time confined in his house at Fourteenth street and Ninth avenue, and there died a few years ago. William B, Astor lived, for a long time, in Lafayette place, in a mansion adjoining the Astor Library. He owned 2,500 houses and building lots in the city, and his total wealih was recently estimated at $150,000,000. Mr. Astor had more improved real estate than any four men in New York, excluding William Rhinelender, the Goelets, A. T. Stewart, and the Beekmans. Most ot the large tenement houses around Tompkins square and along First avenue and Avenues A and B belong to the Astor estate, as also do whole blocks in Sixth avenue, from Sixteenth street to Fortieth street. The old Bowery Theatre and the old Park Theatre were on his land. He was al- ways ready to buy real estate where he could get it cheap. It was his rule never to sell any of his houses or lots. He leased the most OUR Government and history. 675 of his lots for twenty-one years, with the stipulation that the lessee should build on them. On the expiration of the leases the buildings reverted to him with the lots. None of William B. Astor's property was insured. He believed like Mr. Stewart that the cost of insurance would be greater than his losses. The terms of his father's will prohibited the building of brown-stone houses, as they were too extravagant. He strictly abided by this rule, aud the brown-stone houses that he owned he bought from others, as they reverted.to him on the expiration of leases. The most of the residences that he built on Madison and Fifth avenues and Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets in Tecent years were of Nova Scotia free stone or brick with stone trimmings. Mr. Ast<^r attended personally to the rental of his real estate, and was assisted by his sons and agents, Mr. Hallock and Mr. Bruce. His office was at 85 Prince street, and he went to the office every day up to 4 days before his death. He retired Mr. Eruce on a pension. In 1870 Mr. Astor paid two million dollars taxes on his houses and lots. ,Wm. B. Astor married Margret, daughter of Gen. Armstrong who filled many positions of honor, among those of Minister to France and Secretary of War. By her he had three sons, John Jacob, William and Henry, and, two daughters, Mrs. Carey and Mrs. Delano, All these survived him. Mr. Astor never held a public office. His whole life was spent in the management of his fortune. Henry, the youngest son, inherited the estate of his uncle, John Jacob, six years ago. He married the daughter of a poor farmer in Barrytown, Duchess county, against the wishes of his relatives. Since his marriage he retired to a place near Hudson, and he rarely goes to the city, although the most ot his property is there. It has been the custom of the Astor family for three generations to deposit one hundred thousand dollars in bank at the birth of a son or daughter, the money and the interest to be given to the child when he or she became of age. 676 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The world has heard little of Mr. Astor ; he never mingled in politics nor connected himself with the public questions of the day. For a space of about thirteen years prior to 1873 he was. engaged in extensive building operations, until at the expiration of that time nearly all of the property which had been purchased by him in an improved condition was built upon. His rent rolls- were enormous. He became the great landlord of the great city, and was said eight years ago to own 720 houses. As a landlord he gained the reputation of a prompt, obliging business-like man^ and his affairs were conducted in a little dingy office in Prince street, without either display or confusion He was faithful to> his clerks as they were to him, and there were some who had spent long lives in the service of father and son, Mr. Astor also in- vested largely in the stock of several railroads, as the Harlem, New York Central, Pennsylvania, Delaware & Lackawanna and others, in various coal companies and in several insurance compa- nies. The good fortune which has seemed to attend the accumu- lation of this great property, besides the peculiar business tact, was seen in his withdrawal from several insurance companies shortly before the Chicago fire, thereby saving himself from con- siderable loss. But a short time before that fire he began to dispose of that kind of stock, and in one instance, at least, sold his stock in a fire insurance company only one week before the great fire, thus escaping serious loss. Mr. Astor's business habits were fixed and regular. Every working day that he was in the city he called at his office in Prince street, and received the reports of his subordinates, and examined papers which required his signature. He was plain in his attire averse to show of all kinds, and of a retiring disposition. If a subscription paper was brought to him, he would request that other signatures be procured, and then bring it back to him to sign. He was careful not to give offence by speaking roughly to those with whom he was brought in contact. He was genial to those with whom he was intimate, but he did not encourage ad- vances from others. For many years past he has contributed to various charitable institutions in a quiet way, giving from $1,660 to $5,000 each, but not desiring that the fact should be made OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 677 public. The most noteworthy of his gifts was that of $5 0,000, made to aid St. Luke's Hospital, several years ago. He was a reg- ular attendant of Grace Church. Considering his advanced years, Mr. Astor was a man of great physical vigor, his mind clear, and his faculties unimpaired. He -was the sole survivor of the children of John Jacob Astor. Cincinnati and Covington Suspension Bridge* View taken from the Covington Side of tlie River. x)ii«iE3srsioi>rs: Diameter of the Cables, 12% inches, weigh- ing one million pounds. Amount of Lumber^ 500,000 feet. Strength of Bridge, 16,300 tons. Width of Bridge in the clear, 36 feet. Total cost, $1,750,000. feet. Main Span, 1057 feet, length of Bridge, 2252 feet. Height from Low Water, ic Height of Towers, 230 feet. Towers, at base, 86 by 52. Jw- the two cables are 10,360 wires COMMODORE VANDERBILT. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 679 CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. ^N a low, brown farm-house, on Staten Island, covered with moss, and embowered in vines and shrubbery, Cornelius Vanderbilt was born — and there in his island home, where the waves murmured soft lullabys, and the ebb and flow of the tide marked the hours of the day and night, he grew up a sturdy, active boy, who seems, even in childhood, to have had a very good idea of the value of money, and a knack for making it. He was fond of a boat and " took to the water as naturally as a duck does." At twelve years of age we find him entrusted with a man's work, in superintendence of the removal of freight from a lighter to the city. He was always anxious to be a sailor, but as his mother opposed his wishes, he was obliged to give it up for a while ; still his love for the water was so great that at last he carried the day, became the possessor of a boat, and worked steadily and faithfully. He formed -no bad habits, contracted no vices, and laid up all his money. During the war of 1812, the harbor de- fenses were fully manned and a large number of boats were con- stantly in port, and between these and the city a stream of passengers, giving steady work to the young man, who profited by it to the best advantage. In 1814 our whole eastern sea coast was guarded against an attack from England, the militia was called out, and forced, under heavy penalty, to serve ; and about the same time the commissary called for bids from the seamen to convey military stores to the different ports — six in number — where sol- diers were stationed. The contractor was to be exempt from mil- itary duty. Of course every seaman in the port sent in a bid, most of them at the most absurd prices, not intended, or expected to cover the expenses, but simply to exempt them from duty. Vanderbilt did not at once send in a bid, but at last, to satisfy his father, made an estimate which would give him a moderate profit, and sent it in, and to his surprise it was accepted. The work was 680 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. done to the entire satisfaction ot the commissioners, and Vander- bilt made enough money to build the schooner " Dred," the dain- tiest little thing that ever shot over the blue waters. In 1818 he turned his attention to steamboat navigation, which now seemed to be establishing itself beyond doubt or question, and when satisfied that it must supercede everything on the water, he gave up his now flourishing business and took the position of captain on a steamer owned by Captain Gibbons. His friends were astonished at this movement, but he looked more to the fu* ture than the present, and moved on in opposition to their views. He had charge of the steamers through all those long, vexatious troubles between the courts and the steamboat proprietors, and for seven years was harrassed, annoyed and impeded in every way. The State of New York had granted to Fulton and Living- ston the sole right to navigate the waters of New York, and Mr, Gibbons, being of opinion that the grant was unconstitutional, determined to run his line in defiance of it, or until it was proven, at least. The supreme court at last decided that point, leaving every channel of navigation open to all. In 1827 Mr. Vander- bilt left the service of Mr. Gibbons, and built his first steamer, the " Caroline," and after the opposition which the comparatively young and poor meet in competing with the rich and strong, he established his line safely and firmly, and made his way gradually in the business until he stood at the head of steamboat interests in the United States. He has, perhaps, controlled more money in that way than any other man. Even those who had been estab- lished for years in the business, dreaded the young giant whose energy and determination rendered him almost invincible. It is related of Mr. Collins, that when his ocean steamer, the " Arctic,'' was lost, he asked to be allowed to run his magnificent " North Star " in its place, until such time as Mr. Collins could replace his own, and was not only refused, but his offer was declined in terms so insulting that Mr. Vanderbilt declared to him that he would run his line off the ocean if it took all the years of his life and every farthing of his fortune, and he kept his word; still, as to whether his course was the most honorable or not, we do not pre sume to judge. He at once applied to the government to give him the mail to carry, pledging himself to carry it quicker and more regularly than it had ever been done before, without one cent of OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 68l subsidy. The offer was accepted, and Collins' magnificent line went to ruin and its owner into bankruptcy. There is no doubt but this might have been avoided by a wise liberality on Mr. Col- lins' part, or eVen by the outstretching of a kind hand to one who had had so much to contend with and struggle against. At the time of the rebellion Commodore Vanderbilt was one of the stanchest defenders and supporters of the government; as ■unselfish as patriotic, as honest as fearless. When the navy de- partment was in need of gunboats, he equipped his magnificent isteamer, the "Vanderbilt," and offered it to them at very low terms ; but learning that an enormous per cent, of the purchase money would have to go into the hands of the '' sharks," who stood between himself and the government, he withdrew his offer, saying his boat was not for sale, and, making a thorough investi- gation to know that it was in perfect order, presented it to the government. It was a noble, generous thing, and can not be forgotten. On Wall street Mr. Vanderbilt is one of " the powers that be," and though not quite so demonstrative or blustering as some of New York's money kings, his word is law in many departments of commerce ; and his judgment is unsurpassed. He is a regular attendant at Dr. Hutton's Church, on Washington Square, and a warm personal friend of the pastor. In his domestic life sorrow has come to him, as it comes to every one, and the shadow of the messenger of death has darkened his hearthstone as remorselessly and mercilessly as that of the humblest cottage in the land. One noble boy died during the late war — died as did those who had dedicated their lives to the oreservation of the Union. His wife, the loving and patient sharer of his years of toil, and of the suc- cess that rewarded them, was taken from him two years ago. Re- cently he has married again. Mr. Vanderbilt is considered one of the handsomest men of his age in New York ; and is a living illustration of the truth of the saying of the wise man, " The hand of the diligent maketh rich." 682 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ALEXANDER T. STEWART. 50 name is more familiar to the American public than that ^^^r of A. T. Stewart, and none shine brighter in the galaxy of self-made men, — those who by patient, tire- less, persevering industry, and unimpeachable honesty, have won mammoth fortunes. He was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1802, and was educated by his grandfather, his own parents having died while he was an infant. The intention was to fit him for the church, but his grandfather dying while he was only in his sec- ond year, the idea was abandoned, and he embarked for the New World. Fortunately he was not compelled to come destitute to America, as do so many of his countrymen, but with a sum of money which was sufficient to meet his wants. For some time he tried in vain to obtain work, and at last accepted a position as assistant in a small commercial school, but not liking the work, for which he had neither taste nor adaptation, he opened a dry goods store in New York. Of course, his first effort was made in a very small way ; but he was patient almost to humility, and knew it would be uphill work to establish himself in a city where rich and prosperous merchants already held the ground. He had no special business capacity, no extraordinary talents, nothing peculiar about him, but his extreme youth ; for he was only twenty years old. On reaching his majority he received a small inherit- ance, amounting to about one thousand pounds, with which he extended his business. He worked unremittingly ; he filled ever) office, from porter to proprietor ; he gave every moment and every thought to business. His goods were almost always bought at auction, small, cheap lots of everything, and pressed, dressed, and sorted over by himself and his wife after business hours, then sold lower than at first or even third rate houses, yet at a fair profit to himself Unswerving honesty was his constant rule, both in buying and selling goods — he gave no advantage consciously — he would take none. Another rule was, one price, from which there OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 683 was no demur and no deviation. His law was as unchangeable as were those of the Medes and Persians. On one occasion while still struggling to gain a foothold on the road that leads to success, he was, for the first time in his mercan- tile life, without the means to meet a note that was near maturity. He had no credit ; if he would he could not borrow the money; times were very hard, the market dull, and money scarce. To fail to meet it would be ruin, and once down how could he ever rise again ? He cast about for ways and means, and soon hit upon the plan of offering his goods at a price but little, if any, in ad- vance of cost ; and with this in view he had hundreds of large posters printed and scattered the length and breadth of the city. This course had the desired effect ; throngs filled his little store, and long before the note was due, almost every dollar's worth of goods was disposed of, and the money was in his pock- et. He " lifted " his note, and had enough money left to buy a. new stock. From the small, old-fashioned store he had occupied- he was obliged to remove to a larger and more fashionable one on Broadway, and his stock of goods was increased in quantity and quality to suit the stylish and elegant people who were his custom- ers. It is said that he noticed how apt the ladies were to trifle and chat with the clerks, and that they invariably purchased more goods of the handsome, than of the plain ones ; accordingly he filled his store with the finest looking young men that he could find, and from the first the plan was successful, his trade was immensely advanced. When the war broke out, he sent a com- pany who were known all over the States as " Stewart's lily fin- gered regiment," but they were brave boys, and never flinched or swerved from meeting either hardship, privation or suffering. In the great crisis of 1837, many a stanch barque, that had breasted storm and disaster, went down, but Stewart was fully established, both in business and reputation, and profiting by the necessities of those who must sell at any loss, to save themselves at all, he bought largely of confiscated goods, that at the very lowest prices, and selling at low figures, still made a handsome profit for himself. For some time before the war broke out, he saw the trouble in the distance, and saw, too, what the probable ending must be, and accordingly began to enter into contract with many of the lead- ing manufacturers of the north and east, for such goods as must <684 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. necessarily be in great demand for the army. When at last the storm did break, the government found that Stewart had monopo- lized and controlled nearly all the blankets, flannels, woolen goods, &c., which had been or could be manufactured for some time to come, and that it was with him they must treat. It is said that he never took advantage of this, but that his dealings with the gov- ernment were uniformly fair and just, — even more, that they were exceedingly liberal. Upon General Grant's election to the Presidency, it was his wish that Mr. Stewart, who was a warm personal friend of his, should become one of his cabinet, and he was nominated to the position of Secretary of the Treasury ; but when he was about to enter upon the duties of his office, some person, who doubtless wished the office either for himself or a friend, brought forward an old, but not obsolete law, forbidding a merchant from becom- ing the head of the treasury department. There is no question but that Mr. Stewart, although no politician, earnestly desired the position, and was willing to make any sacrifice to obtain it, for he immediately proposed to give up his immense interest in the busi- ness, and to devote the entire profits for the period of his official term to the poor of New York. We do not believe so magnificent an offer was ever made before or since, or that history will ever record another such, unless indeed it be the princely Stewart who repeats it. We have always felt that the country was an immense loser by the administration's tame acceptance of this state of affairs, and, had Grant shown at the time the spirit which he was then supposed to have, millions might have been saved to the nation, for there is little doubt but A. T, Stewart is one of the wisest financiers in America. Other great men we have, — other self-made millionaires — other men, hosts of them too, — who laid with their own hands the stepping stones on which they crossed the slough of poverty — more frightful than Bunyon's " slough of despond," — and made their way, unaided even by kind or cheering words from friend or brother man, up the hill to the summit of prosperity ; but while we give credit to whom credit is due, and reverence with something that is akin to adoration, this strong reliance in self — this unbend- ing will, this fixed purpose and determination to succeed, which will bring a man off more than conqueror, even though fate itself OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 685 seems in league against him — which we recognize and pay- homage to whenever met ; yet for this high qualitity, Stewart leads off most gloriously. There may be dozens of Astors and Rothschilds, but there is only one Stewart. His palaces are the admiration of the world, and to visit New York without going through his establishment would be to miss one of the grandest sights. We cannot afford to go into detail, it would be tiresome to you and require too much space, but a few items will give you some idea of the extent of his business. There are twenty-two hundred persons regularly employed in the different departments of his store on the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway, and the cash receipts range from sixty to eighty-five thousand dollars per day. His duties on imported goods are thirty thousand dollars per day, in gold, and he is un- questionably the heaviest importer in the world ; for his busi- ness is as steadily increasing now as it was ten years ago, leaving the bewildered looker-on to wonder what it will be, or where it will end.^ In the personal appearance of Mr. Stewart, there is nothing remarkable. He is of medium hight, rather slender, with brown hair and beard, regular features, a rather stern, thoughtful face ; his manners are cold, reserved, but not harsh or repellant. We look upon his life, so far as we are ac- quainted with it, both public and private, as one of the finest models that can be held up to the young men of our land. No under-handed trickery has soiled its pages ; no selfish or unprin- cipled speculations have blotted a line; no mean treachery or chicanery has left upon its margin finger-marks which can not be erased. He is now about sixty years of age, but hale and strong as at forty, and we hope he may long be spared to enjoy the wealth and honor hfe has won so fairly. Mr. Stewart pays about $120,000 in taxes on his real estate in New York.city. His wholesale store is assessed at $1,150,000 and taxed $32,200; his. retail store assessed at $850,000 pays $23,800, , and he pays $16,800 on his house on Fifth avenue, which is as-- sessed at $600,000. DANIEL DREW. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 687 DANIEL DREW. mt^^JK'ti'E' name of this king of enterprise is as familiar to the ly^ public as that of any man who has figured before us for many years. His success in life, and the immense for- tune which he has amassed, are owing entirely to the energy with which he has applied' himself to anything he undertakes and his good common sense and excellent judgment. In early life he was a farmer boy ; later he kept the famous Bull's Head Tavern, which was a favorite resort of the butchers and drovers doing business in the city. He formed a partnership with two of these drovers, and bought up cattle, which were driven to the city for sale. The ventures were small, the profits were large, and business was extended and increased as fast as the means of the company would permit. He con- tinued in this business fourteen years and managed, by close at- tention to his own interests, and by the practice of great economy, to lay up quite a snug little property. In 1834 the steamer " Gene- ral Jackson," owned by Jacob Vanderbilt, was blown up at Grassy P(>int, and a friend of Mr. Drew's at once put another on the river in its place. Mr. Drew loaned the means necessary to put this enterprise through, and finally became owner of the boat. Commodore Vanderbilt was already King of the river, and resented this encroachment on what he was pleased to style " his premises "; and, putting a new boat in the place of the old one, prepared him- self for the "tug of war." Both were men of mettle; both stood their ground ; both resolved that they would carry it to the bitter end, let it cost what it would. The consequences were, that both lost heavily, but two lines were established instead of one. In 1836 Mr. Drew, now of the firm of Drew, Kelly & Richards, replaced the " Water Witch," their first boat, by a fine steamer called the " Westchester," and they also bought the " Bright' Emerald " and the " Rochester," paying the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars for the two ; then, reducing the fare to ridi- 688 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. culously low figures, ran a strong opposition to the Hudson River Line. This company has bought and built some of the most magnificent and costly steamers which have ever floated on any waters in the world. The " Dean Richmond " and the " Drew " cost over seven hundred thousand dollars apiece, and though, everybody looked wise and shook their heads and prophesied ruin for them, they went on in the even tenor of their way ; and by good management and fair dealing, not only kept their heads above water, but made money, and actually bought out the Hudson River line, which had opposed them so strongly at first. In 1847 Mr. Drew formed a partnership with George Law and established a line between Stonington and New York. In 1852 the Hudson River railroad was completed and the greatest con- sternation was felt among steamboat men, as all declared it must inevitably ruin the water trade, that it was folly to attempt to compete with land travel. Mr. Drew believed to the contrary. Of course it would be necessary to reduce the fare and freight and thus offer extra inducements ; but his business was immense, and if necessary, he knew he could aff'ord to divide it with the R. R. Co. The necessity now came. The River line had all it could possi- bly do, while the. railroad could scarcely push on its freight fast enough, and was obliged constantly to increase its facilities for carrying passengers, to accommodate the extensive travel. In 1836 Mr. Drew commenced operations on Wall street, by opening the well-known banking house of Drew, Robinson & Co., and his success here, as elsewhere, was marked. In 1854 he bought up a large amount of Erie railroad stock, and in 1855 indorsed the ac- ceptance of the same road for five hundred thousand dollars. The world was atonished, and men almost refused to credit the assurance, given officially, that he could double it without any inconvenience to himself. In two years more, he backed the assurance by taking acceptances to the amount of a million and a half of dollars. Mr. Drew was then elected director of the road, and a little later, treasurer. The Erie road became one of the heaviest corporations in the world — indeed it seemed at one time too strong to be a safe power, and threatened to monopolize all railroad interests. The injunctions issued by the New York courts to prevent them from issuing more stock must be still in every mind; also the fact that the Legislature overruled it, and OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 689 that compromises were effected between Mr. Vanderbilt, who re- presented the New York Central, and Mr. Drew, who represented the Erie road. From Mr. Drew's first speculation on the river to his last on the railroad, he has met Mr. Vanderbilt everywhere. For nearly twenty years their business relations have brought them face to face, again and again, in opposing interests. Often their inte- rests have united, as in the Harlem road, and though at times the feeling of competition may have been carried high and far, no personal bitterness has resulted from it, which is saying much for both. Mr. Drew has been a member of the Methodist Church since 1811 ; and has ever been ready to help, not only his own, but every religious denomination, with his money or his influence. The elegant church on the corner of Twenty-second Street and Fourth Avenue, New York, was built almost, if not entirely by him. He endowed the Wesleyan University largely, and the Drew Theological Seminary with several hundred thousand dol- lars. He is one of those rare men, especially rare amongst our great capitalists, who hold their money as a stewardship, for which they must give account. His private charities amount to more than a hundred thousand dollars annually,and his public donations and charities are very large. His property is estimated at over twenty millions of dollars. His success has been very marked, his course has been fair and honest, and his reputation stands high in the community. Disaster overtook him in the winter of 1875, and he became a bankrupt. ROTHSCHILD. ATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD, the richest man in Wr^ Europe, was the third of five sons of Mayer Anselm Rothschild, who founded, the first of the present century, the house which bears their name, and which, for a hundred years, 44 690 FOOTPRINIS OF THE AGES. has controlled the financial operations of Europe, thus of the world, in a great measure. Nathan went to England in 1800, and in addition to the immense fortune left him by his father, had large sums placed under his control by the Geneva princes, for whom he was at once banker and financier. Honest and upright in all his dealings, faithful to the interests of those who trusted him, just, to the utmost farthing, and always successful in his enterprises, his wealth rapidly accumulated. Having the co- operation of his brothers, who were established in different cities of Europe, and the funds of almost every heavy capitalist, nothing was too great for him to undertake, and amongst his debtors were almost every government on the continent. Notwithstand- ing this, he had the excellent faculty of steering clear of bad in- vestments, and there was literally a rivalry as to which of the States should be most in his favor. His transactions in gold and in foreign securities seemed boundless, and if the coffers of Rothschild were locked, the world begged for bullion in vain, until he chose to give it ; and again and again in the treasure vaults of Rothschild was the philosopher's stone of Europe. It has long been the custom and pride of the family that none of their for- tune shall go out of it by marriage, and from one branch to another, then back, flows the golden stream of marriage settle- ments. M. Rothschild had gone to Frankfort for the purpose of attending the wedding of his eldest niece, the daughter of his brother Anselm, when he was taken ill and died suddenly, on the 3th of August, 1836. The Rothschilds are said to be worth $3,400,000,000. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 69 1 ; BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SpHE life of Benjamin Franklin is so familiar to every school- v|f^ boy in the land, and " Poor Richard's " sayings have so long dropped like golden grains of wisdom from the lips of prophet and sage, as to have indeed passed intp proverbs. From childhood he was quiet and studious, evincing and ex- pressing a perfect contempt for the business of chandler and soap boiler, which his father carried on quite extensively. The boy loved but one thing on earth thoroughly, and that was a book. His father had the good sense to see the great advantage which an education would be to his son, and not having the means to gratify him, sent him to his brother, to learn the printing business, and he was apprenticed in due time and form. He showed con- siderable literary and poetical talent, and wrote a number of arti- cles which received high compliments from the " literati " of the time. His brother James was a man of the most overbearing and tyrannical nature, and also exceedingly harsh and jealous, suspi- cious alike of stranger and kinsman, and their relations were by no means of the most agreeable sort. Long before his time of service had expired he broke his bonds in a most unceremonious manner and ran away. He made some effort to get work in Bos- ton, but failing in this, went to New York. Now began, for the first time, the actual battles of life — those battles which he had so longed to go out and engage in, but like many another impetuous young soldier, he found that " distance lends enchantment to the view," and lends a great deal to it, too. In New York, as in Boston, he could get no work, and was referred to Philadelphia as the place where he was most likely to find it. His first visit tq the city of Brotherly Love — his scant financial resources — even the story of the baker's rolls, and the picture of the pretty girl who stood in a door and laughed at the odd figure he made, as he lunched from the end of a roll; and how in after years, when he Benjamin Franklin. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 693 had won for himself fortune and fame, she became his wife, — is as well known as is the story of his whistle. The first public office which he ever held was that of clerk to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. Upon the expiration of his term he was re-elected, and served with great acceptance to the people. Franklin pays the highest tribute to the eloquence of Whitfield, the celebrated English preacher, that we remember. The church in wl>ich he labored was very poor, and very sadly in want of a better edifice in which to worship, and from the ease with which he raised the desired fund, together with the enthusiasm that was mingled with the admiration that was felt for him, Franklin, in a spirit of envy or jealousy very much at variance with his usually generous nature, conceived a strong dislike for him. On leaving Philadelphia Mr. Whitfield went to Georgia, doing missionary work for the colonies, whom he found in a dreadfully destitute and suffering condition. Returning to Philadelphia, he told, in the most eloquent and touching manner, of the sad sights he had seen, and appealed to the North for aid. Franklin declares that he did not approve of this, though he does not tell why. On one occasion he says he listened to him, and perceiving that the ser- vice would end with a collection, resolved that he would get nothing from him. With this idea he put his hand into his pockets to see what they contained, and found there a quantity of cop- pers, some silver dollars, and five gold pieces. As the minister proceeded, he thought he would give some of the coppers. More earnestly the man of God preached of that religion which without charity is but "as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal"; and Franklin concluded to give the silver. Another clever stroke — another grand burst of his inimitable oratory — and Franklin's heart warmed and softened toward one whose eloquence was almost di- vine, and who spoke as man rarely spoke before ; and when the contribution was asked, he gave every farthing he had with him, and regretted that he had no more to give. When the difficulties arose between the mother country and the colonies, Franklin proved himself a most wise and judicious, as well as favorite mediator between them, and he endeavored faith- fully to act as peace-maker ; but when the oppression became too sore to be borne by our freeborn men, and they threw off the 694 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. yoke of British thraldom that they so hated, he was a firm and consistent friend of the feeble government. Franklin was always remarkable for love of Natural philosophy, and to his experiments we trace back the electric current, from our own magically acting and perfect system of telegraphy. He filled various political offices, always to the entire satisfac- tion of the country, and it was in a very large measure owing to his delicate skill that the French government recognized and sym- pathized with the struggling colonies. His long and useful life was closed on the 17th of April, 1790, and the country mourned as if it had but one heart, for every living being had in him a per- sonal friend, and fully acknowledged the debt they owed him. ISAAC NEWTON. ^^J^^j^HIS celebrated philosopher was born at Woolsthrope, near Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, England, December, 16 12. The small estate had been in the family for more than a hundred years. His father died before the birth of his child, and his mother married again when he was two years old ; his step- father living only a few years, Isaac was recalled from school and assisted in the management of the farm, but having a deal more taste for water-wheels, models and dials, the farm went into neglect, and the boy was sent back to school in disgrace. In due time he went to Trinity College, and here he took his degree of A. B., and afterwards of A. M. ' In 1665 he committed to paper his first idea on fluxions. In 1666 he discovered the unequal refrangibility ©flight, and the true doctrine of color, but was now driven from Cambridge by the plague, and while resting weary brain and body at Woolsthrope, lying under the shade of the spreading branches of orchard trees OUR GOVERNMEMT AND HISTORY. 695 that were older than himself, he formed his first ideas of gravita- tion from seeing an apple fall from its stem to the ground. In 1669 Newton was appointed Professor of Mathematics in place of Dr. Barrows, at Cambridge, and from this time his most important discoveries date. In this year he gave much attention to the tele- scope, and in 1672 he announced to the Royal Society a discovery made in the operations of nature, one of the most important ever made. This was the discovery of the composition of light. A paper prepared by him on this subject was read before that Soci- ety, and at once attracted the attention of scholars, but unfortu- nately at the same time drew him into endless and bitter controversies with Hook, Hoygens and several foreign savants. With so much spirit and sharpness, not unmixed with malice, was this carried on, that Newton withdrew from it in disgust, and resolved to turn the cold shoulder to Philosophy, and steel his heart against her fascination. But the man was born to study mysteries — study was as much a part of his life as was breathing, and unconsciously he delved deeper and deeper, giving to the world treasures of truth and knowledge, and in return, such time as he was an hungered and asked for bread, she gave him a stone. He met the reward of genius, but like many another who spurned the pittance v/hich his labor earned, whether it was gold, or the still more precious appreciation that the heart craves, the earnest " well done," which repays for every effort, he toiled on from love of his work. He had long ago drawn the conclusion, partly from the writings of Kepler, partly from observation, that gravity decreases with the square of the distance, but no demonstration had been given, and no proof obtained that the power of attraction which drew the ripened apple to the earth, was the same power which held the moon and stars in their orbit. Newton worked and puzzled over this in the dark. Every test and measurement left the proof just short of certainty, which to him was worse than actual failure. In 1682 he heard of Picard's measurement of the earth, and taking this plan and using it in connection with his own, found that the force of gravity four thousand miles from the earth's center, when diminished by the square of 240,000 miles, the moon's distance, was exactly equal to that which kept the moon in her orbit. New- ton has been accused of plagiarism in presenting his first ideas on 696 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Buxion as his own. It is claimed for Leibnitz, that he had already invented them before Newton published his method. His first article on the subject was written May 20, 1665, and the subject appears never to have left his mind until he made his first small telescope, which he completed and explained to a friend in 1668. If Leibnitz had discovered all this before, neither Newton nor the world were wiser for it at that date, as he had never imparted the knowledge. When NewtOD was fifty years of age, it is said that he was the pride of England, and was then appointed warden of the mint, and soon after to the mastership. The honor of knighthood was conferred on him by Queec Anne, and when George I. ascended the throne he was a great favorite at court, where his piety and character had given him an enviable reputation, and the patron- age of the Princess of Wales, and by her, unwittingly. Sir Isaac was brought into disgrace through the publication of MSS, giveii her by himself, and claimed by Leibnitz as embodying only dis- coveries made by himself prior to Newton's, but the scientific were satisfied that this was incorrect. He died March 20, 1729, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His most important works are his " Principia," " Arithmetic Uni- versalis," " Geometrica Analytica," " Treatise on Optics," and " Sections Opticae," though he published a large number of valua- ble works upon scientific subjects. SOCRATES. f'OCRATES was born at Athens, in the year 469 B. C. His ) parents were of no rank or authority in the Athenian world ; Socrates was not gifted with any of those personal distinctions which then were allowed to take the place of heredi- tary title or position. A face the very reverse of beautiful, untidy OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 697 dress, often unsandaled feet, were the characteristics of the man from whose lips fell gems of rarest wisdom, and whose lips never spoke but in favor of virtue, truth and honor. As a son, he was dutiful and obedient to the parental law ; as a citizen, he was rigidly observant of the law of his country ; as a moralist, though a heathen, he was faultless in the performance of every duty ; looking through the sacrifice, the fasting, the observance of ceremony which constituted the worship of the gods of his people, to the " Unknown God," whose existence, though untaught at that day, yet was felt. There was a consciousness in his life which was neither known nor understood by his countrymen. It is said of him that he was the most just, the most exalted, the completest type of humanity to which classic antiquity with its wonderful creations, ever gave birth — the nearest of all who preceded to a Being we name not here — who, without ambition, or pretence, or external advantage, but through the simple force of moral and in- tellectual greatness, took unrelaxing hold at once of the heart and mind of the ancient world. No tyranny of custom ever subjected Socrates ; no passing years set the seal of age on his heart and mind; no richness and fullness of wisdom clogged the intellect ; no experience of sorrow and adversity chilled his affec- tions. In every passing moment of his life was a solemn meaning few ever comprehend. He could not conceal from himself, or from the world, that he had gone deeper than sense, that he looked beyond the range of ordinary vision; that the voices whose whisperings made melody in his soul came from a realm beyond our own. As a teacher of the young his constant care was to im- press upon their minds that they were not to acquire knowledge for the sake of use, but possession; not for the' sake of display, but enjoyment ; not for the sake of the world's appreciation, but for their own gratification, — to acquire strength, and symmetry, and grace, and richness and beauty of intellect, and all the " use " would follow ; to prepare to act well a part, and the " part " v/ould be found. Said he, " Does the oak of a century's growth send out its broad branches that it may cast a shadow ? On the contrary, it grows and spreads through the strength of its inner life, and the tribes and nations are sheltered beneath its grateful covert." Yet this man was condemned to die by his own countrymen — con- demned by the Athenians, whom he had sought only to benefit 698 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. No wonder the world asks, in painful surprise, " What had he dene that he must die?" Even Athens did not know, but looking back we answer : he taught virtue when vice reigned ; he taught purity when corruption was practiced ; he taught morality when degra- dation existed ; he taught honor when treachery abounded ; he taught morality where idolatry prevailed ; he turned from the gods who, having eyes see not, having ears hear not, and piercing the veil of ignorance and darkness in which the world was en- veloped as in a garment, worshiped the true and living Au- thor of the created universe, recognizing Him, untaught, yet fail- ing to convey the Divine impression to dullei" minds and con- sciences that were deadened by sin. Glorious was his noble life; glorious was his noble death; and when in his last hours his afflicted friends gathered around him, he taught them again the lesson so oft repeated, of duty, of resignation, of superiority to the incidents of existence, of immortality, of a life that no human tribunal can end at will or pleasure. Plato, weeping in heart- broken sorrow for his friend and teacher, cried, " The last of our friend, the best of all men of this time — the wisest and the most just of all men !" The eloquent Henry Millman said of him, *' Jesus Christ died like a God, but Socrates died like a philoso- pher." PLATO. k^f^SARLY five centuries Before Christ, lived Plato, styled by *'^|i the ancients, whose love and reverence for him amounted to m something akin to worship, " the Divine." His philosophy was wholly speculative, and in his school he is what Shakspeare is in Drama, or Milton in Poetry — not only unapproached, but unap- proachable, — and he stands out from the philosophers of that age — of every age, — with the clear cut distinctness with which a leafless THE ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK IN" THE CATHEDRAL OF STRASBURG. 700 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. tree lies against the horizon, or a black cloud is outlined against the sunset sky. We said his philosophy was speculative, but it com- bined reality with ideality in a manner that confounds the philoso- phy of modern teachers. He taught much of truth unconsciously, and like one who prophesies in a trance, he grasped by a process of reasoning unknown to the mass of thinkers the underlying facts of our being. His imagination was one of the strongest, if not the strongest faculty of his mind, but it did not run to vagueries, or to wild, fantastic freaks, but rather pictured with the purest tints that which should be, instead of that which is possible to finite powers. Standing as that age did, in spiritual darkness, given over to the most brutal self-indulgence, and to a very riot of sen- sualism, Plato yet taught a mastery of self that was sublime, and a clearer sense of an Omnipotent Being than even he fully com- prehended; and he was far ahead of Socrates, who was his teacher, but not his leader, since the pupil was superior even to his grand old master. Panastius called him the Homer of phil- losophers, and declared that he would rather err with Plato than be right with any other. ' He thrice visited Sicily, and in that court where vice and folly reigned supreme, the grave wisdom, the untarnished honor, the childlike simplicity and rigid virtue of the old philosopher must have seemed to Dionysius as refreshing as the shade of palm trees to the desert traveler. At the invitation of the younger Diony- sius, he was his guest upon the occasion of his third visit to Sicily, and unfortunately offending the elder, was by his order arrested and imprisoned. Released by the kind intercession of Aniceris, of Cyrene, he returned to Athens, retired to private life, re- established his Academy, and could never be induced again to leave it. He died in his 79th year, 348 B. C. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 7OI NICOLAS COPERNICUS. ^OPERNICUS, who restored the system of astronomy- taught by Pythagoras, was born at Thorn, in Prussia, He took the degree of M. D. with a view to practicing medi- cine, as his father had done before him, but in consequence of attending a course of mathematical lectures, became much inter- ested in astronomy, and gave a large share of his time to the study of the science. Believing in the annual motion of the world, and desirous of proving it, he constructed a large quadrant. His observations and views were written by himself, and explained to a few friends, but so far were they at variance with the accepted science that he felt the hopelessness of trying to introduce them, and dreaded the ridicule that would be lavished upon a system that would be pronounced absurd. He preferred to introduce it gradually, and trusted time to prepare the world to receive one truth after another. George Rheticus, professor of mathematics, resigned his chair at Wittemberg, to study astronomy with him, and they planned together how best they might present the matter to the world in such a manner as not to shock beyond endurance its religious feelings, for, it was very sensitive indeed; and the same theory taught by Galileo one hundred years later, was pronounced rank heresy. In 1540 Rheticus, whose affection, veneration and admiration of his teacher and friend seem to have been almost boundless, desirous not only to publish the truth, but, so soon as safe to do so, see Copernicus reaping the honors which were due him, published, without the author's name, an account of his discoveries, and these being received favorably, or at least without alarmingly unfavorable symptoms, he published another and fuller account, with his name. 702 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. But as in other — as in 7nost cases, — he was not to wear the lau- rels he had earned ; and it was more than a century before the seed he sowed bore fruit that ripened in a more genial age than his. When the tirst printed volume of his book was brought to him the philosopher lay dying. The day and his life were eb- bing together. The sun, whose rising arid setting he had so often studied, was sinking in the west; and he was not to see its light on the morrow's dawn. His friend came from the publisher with the first printed book, and placed it in his hand ; he raised it before him again and again, till the eyes grew dim as the twilight gathered, the twilight of the night and the twilight of death, but a smile lighted his face as evening's first star lit up the west, and he murmured : Ye golden lamps of heaven, farewell, ■with all your feeble light ! Farewell, thou ever changing moon, pale empress of the night. Ye stars are but the shining dust of my divine abode, The pavement of those heavenly courts where I shall reign with God. His death occurred May 22, 1543. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 703 RAPHAEL. fANTI RAPHAEL was born at Urbino, Italy, April 6th, 1483. His father gave him his first instructions in art, and he afterwards studied with Pietro Perugino. His first en- gagement was the fresco on Sala del Cambo. In 1505 Raphael removed to Florence, and remained there, with the exception of brief absences. Florence was at that time far superior to Rome in the facilities which it afforded the student to study, not only from the finest masters, but to study the masterpieces of all ages. The cartoons of Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci, then in preparation for the Council Hall, were in themselves superior to any other works in Rome. Raphael was invited to Rome by Julius II., and was already established temporarily there when Michael Angelo paid the city his third visit. The rivalry between the two artists was very beneficial to both. It was under the stimulus of this rivalry that he painted the fresco of the dwelling- rooms of the Vatican, representing the " Dispute on the Sacra- ment." In the same rooms are the frescoes of " Poetry," " Phi- losophy," " The School of Athens," and "Jurisprudence.' His finest fresco, both for grandeur of conception and superior execu- tion, is the " Mass of Bolsena," finished, as also was the " Attila," and " St. Peter delivered from Prison," in 15 14. Between the years 1512-20 Raphael painted " St. Cecilia," " Madonna de San Sisto," " The Spasimo," and the cartoons at Hampton Court. His last work, the " Transfiguration," is called the best of all his paintings. If his genius had been prophetic, and foreseen that in this last and purest gem his mighty talents must make for them- selves a memorial of their greatness, he could not have better accomplished the work, though his " Madonna di San Sisto " is, perhaps, equally celebrated. Raphael had never an equal for the purity, beauty and grandeur of his conceptions. In this he stood alone during his life — in this his works still stand alone, marking 704 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. him far above the mass of those who blended colors more har- moniously, or spread them with lighter tones, Raphael died young — ^just thirty-seven years old — died in the glory of his fame ; even before his powers had reached their prime, or the weaken- ing of his strength had given him regret or pain. His death occurred on the anniversary of his birth, April 6, 1520. MICHELANGELO BUONARROTL ^(HIS world-renowned sculptor and painter, better known by the name of Michel Angelo, was born at Castel Caprese, in Tuscany, March 6, 1475. His early studies were passed in the Academy of Lorenzo de Medici. He was much admired by that prince, who was a patron of art. His first great work was executed in 1494, a statue of the " Sleeping Cupid." At Rome he executed his " Pieta," now the pride of St. Peter's Church. At the beginning of the sixteenth century his chisel wrought with dainty and patient labor, the colossal " David." In 1508 he began his career as painter, or rather, the world began to recognize him as such, for it was previous to this, 1500, that he produced his "Cartoon of Pisa." He was commissioned by Julius H. to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, at the same time that Raphael decorated the dwelling-rooms of the Vatican palace. The fres- coes were completed in twenty months, and represented the crea- tion of the world — of man — his fall — also the early history of the world, so far as that mightiest of all tragedies — that Divine masterpiece which both heaven and earth conspired to perfect, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of our Saviour. It is said to be the grandest production, of art — far superior to anything produced even by himself at any other date. His " Last Judgment," though among his latest works, will not compare with it, either in con- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 705 ception or execution. For twenty years he worked on the history •of man in tne Sistine Chapel. Hir last work was the Capella Pao- lina, finished in 1549, for Paul III. In the seventieth year of his ,age he was appointed architect of St. Peter's. This great man was also a poet, but never attained any great distinction in this way. He was never married, and died at the age of eighty-nine. It is impossible to do him justice in so limited a sketch — impos- sible to do more then place his name in the list of those of whose mighty genius the world loves to hand down a record from age to age. His name was the last word spoken by Sir Joshua Rey- nolds, and Raphael thanked God he lived in the day of Michel- Angelo. HIRAM POWERS. ^>;|g/:p€/IRAM POWERS was born in Woodstock, Vermont, on W^V^ the 28th of July, 1805, and was the eighth of a family of nine children. His father was a farmer, in poor circum- stances, with unlimited calls upon an exceedingly limited income. The children were taught to work as soon as they could walk, and the united efforts of all were required to extort from their few bar- ren and stony acres the wherewithal to keep actual want from their door. In an ill-fated day Mr. Powers was persuaded to be- come security for a friend, and lost his home, and everything he possessed in the world, except the helpless ones who were but a precious burden. A total failure of crops throughout the State added to their misery. They had by some means become pos- sessed of a cow or two, and these, with difficulty kept them alive and supplied them with one of the staples of their daily bill of fare. In after years, Hiram Powers, a man of the world, an artist Avith a fame second to none, with a position secured beyond ques- tion, thus refers to those dark days : " We lived upon milk and 45 7o6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. potatoes, both in so small quantities as scarcely to satisfy the keenest cravings of our hunger, until we loathed the sight or taste* of them,. and almost the name." The oldest son, a man when Hiram was born, had managed to secure an education, removed to the West, and was now editing a paper in Cincinnati^ whither the family now removed. Through the assistance of his> son, Mr. Powers obtained a small farm near Cincinnati, then a small town, but the country was new, the land low and boggy, and the air poison with malaria. The family were all sick. Mr. Pow- ers died, and they were left in extreme destitution. Hiram, and indeed each one who was old enough, was dependent upon his own exertions to procure him the necessaries of life, and they were scant indeed. At one time the boy was drummer for a vil- lage merchant ; at another, collector for a clock-maker and organ- builder ; in the latter capacity he gave great satisfaction, and was. at length taken into the factory to work, at which piece of good- luck he was delighted, since it promised clothes and food ; " for,"' said he, " I often went hungry through the streets, creeping close to the walls to hide the holes in my clothes." The only thing which had ever distinguished our hero was an ingenuity at every mechanical contrivance, and this was now brought into play. His employer believed he could make the boy earn his bread at rough work, and he was one day set to file down some brass plates used about the stops of an organ, after which they were to be given to one of the foremen to be finished and polished for use. Suppos- ing, as it was hard work, and he unaccustomed to it, and having,, moreover, no very high opinion of his abilities that he would be some time about it, left him to himself. Looking in, after awhile, what was his astonishment to find it not only filed, but finished and rolished better than any one in the establishment, even the head finisher, had ever done it. He at once gave the worl;s into his charge ; he became superintendent, and had a home in his em- ployer's family. One day, in an idle ramble around town, he visited the museum and saw a bust of Washington, the first one he had ever seen ; and he says he could never describe his sensa. tions as he looked at it. The quick blood leaped from his heart, and even in his finger tips it tingled and throbbed and burned, and a bewildering familiarity with art haunted him as if at somt time, sleeping or waking, dreaming or acting, he had done such OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 707 work as this, and a consciousness that he could do it came back again and again. From a German who lived in the city, he ob- tained some hints, and set about the undertaking silently and secretly. His first attempt was with wax — a model of the head of a babe of John P, Foot, Esq., and his success was gratifying indeed. He did not devote any but spare time to " his art," as he now began to call it himself, for Hiram Powers is as modest as he is talented, but he made rapid progress. While he was still very young, a traveling showman brought to Cincinnati a collection of odds and ends of wax figures, which was dignified by the name of an " Exhibition of Natural History." They had become very much injured by transportation ; indeed, they were almost ruined by knocking around the world, for they had been great travelers, and seen better days, no doubt. Hear- ing that Hiram was a genius and an artist, their owner came to him and asked if he could not patch up the dilapidated collection and again make it presentable to decent society. Hiram looked at the helpless mass in despair ; and while he looked an original idea, born of the ludicrous forlornness of the group, entered his brain, and he proposed that a new combination be arranged — an odd, ungainly object, that would attract attention by its very re- pulsive grotesqueness. The thing was done ; and when he sug- gested .that it be christened " King of the Cannibal Isles," was astonished to be shown an advertisement already out, in which it was declared to be the embalmed body of a native of some far-off, unexplored, and heretofore unheard of region, obtained with the greatest difficulty and without regard to cost. Hiram smiled grimly, but the thing was a success, and crowds flocked to see it wherever it was exhibited. At the age of thirty Mr. Powers had won quite a reputation, and Mr. Longworth, being much interested in him, offered to es- tablish him in business. Mr. Powers was deeply grateful, but too proud to accept the offer. Mr. Longworth then proposed to send him to Italy ; but this, too, being declined, he begged him to go to Washington and devote himself entirely to art. Mr. Powers thought favorably of this, and his friend provided him with let- ters of recommendation as well as the necessary means, and he removed to the capital and lemained two years. His letters were a passport to the best society, and his talents were a sufficient 7o8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. introduction when once they were known. He modeled busts of all the leading statesmen of that period ; among whom were An- drew Jackson, John Q. Adams, Calhoun, Van Buren, Marshall, Webster and Woodbury. While in Washington he formed the acquaintance of Senator Preston, of South Carolina, who con- eeived for him so strong a friendship and admiration that he wrote to his brother, General Preston, an immensely wealthy man, and asked as a personal favor to himself that he send the young artist to Italy to complete his studies and perfect himself in his art. General Preston responded by sending Powers (who had until then been ignorant of what his friend had done) a check for a thousand dollars, and an order for the same amount yearly as long as he should- remain abroad, and urged him to go to Italy at once. The offer was so frank, so noble and generous, that Mr. Powers accepted it at once and sailed for Europe. Orders came in rapidly upon him, and the sculptor soon had as much work as he could possibly execute. One piece alone established him a reputation higher than that of any other artist of the day, and that was the Greek Slave, an ideal work executed in moments of leisure. His Eve, finished two years prior to this, considered in- imitable, and was indeed exquisite, both in conception and execu- tion, but was never so popular as this. Among his best pieces are " America," " California," " Washington," " Calhoun," " Franklin," " Proseq^ine," "The Fisher Boy," and "II Penseroso." The freshness and originality of design is only equaled by the finish of his works, and neither by 'American nor foreign artists has this been surpassed. His originality and truthfulness were the basis of his success, and as marked now as when he was a young man. He has been a resident of Italy thirty-five years, but is an Amer- ican still, loving his native land with all the fervor of a patriot, though impelled, by motives of economy, to remain abroad. He is now sixty-five years old, fresh, hale and hearty, with a Avarm and cordial welcome for his countrymen, and ever a help- ing hand and encouraging words for young artists ; and more than ®ne will remember long years hence how much they owe to Hiram Powers. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 709 THOMAS NAST. fHE story of Thomas Nast's artistic career is a little pecu- liar. His father was a professional musician, and when we first knew Tommy, the old gentleman was playing that extension brass, shove-out-and-pull-back, force-pump sort of old- fashioned horn they used to have in bands (a friend says it is called a trombone), in the orchestra of Wallace's old theater cor- ner of Broome and Broadway, at ten dollars a week. Nast senior wanted Tommy to become a musician, and, to that end, used to thrash him with a leather strap most enthusiastically and faith- fully, in order to make him learn the scales on the violin. Thom- as, however, had a genius for drawing, and knew it. He used to beg his father to permit him to become an artist, to all of which the truly conscientious old gentleman (now many years dead) would reply with additional doses of strap. At last young Thomas became acquainted Avith Mr. Berghaus, now, and for more than a dozen years, one of Frank Leslie's chief artists ; and to Berghaus, who was also a German, he confided all his woes. He showed his drawings to Berghaus and to Sol Eyt- tinge, who is one of our most delicate and fanciful American draughtsmen, and who was at that time with Leslie ; and they, seeing there was really something in the boy, then eleven years old, advised him to continue his efforts to convince his father that he could earn more money as an artist than as musician. Tommy went home that night, and to the German parent, hav- ing come at 12 m. (midnight), he thus remarked: " Father, I must be an artist. If you let me go and learn to draw, in a year or two I can earn twenty dollars a week ; and, in a few years after that, I can bring in from fifty to seventy-five dollars every week ; if you make me learn music I may slave all my life, and I shall very likely find myself at fifty years old just where you are now, playing for ten dollars a week in somebody's 7IO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. band, liable to a discharge any minute, and out of an engagement a quarter of the year, even when things are at their best." Whether it was the argument, or the determination of young Nast to learn to draw in spite of the paternal forbidding, that car- ried the point, we know not ; certain it is, however, that the next day Tommy Nast entered Frank Leslie's employ and was assigned a desk between Berghaus and Eytinge, which two thorough artists and amiable gentlemen gave Nast all the regular instructions he has ever had. The young artist more than kept his word ; in less than a year he could earn, not $20, but twice that, on Leslie's paper alone, beside making as much more on outside work. His father lived to see that his son was right, and to see that son bringing home his hundred dollars in gold every Saturday night, while he was humbly toiling away for the same old hardly earned ten dollars. Nast's industry and imaginative genius rapidly carried him forward in the profession, and we presume that for the past ten years, there has not been a week when his work, taking his car- toons for illustrated papers, his illustrations for books, and other business, has not been equal to at least $50 a day, and up to three times that sum. Nast's mother is a thorough German, a most estimable woman, we are told, and excellent mother — but she cannot speak, or could not when we saw her first and last, a dozen words of English. Several years ago Nast was introduced to an English family, consisting of the father, mother, son, and three daughters. The mother is a fine specimen of the thorough bred English lady, and her daughters are like unto her. The mother is an aunt of James Parton, the biographer — he who has written the lives of Andrew Jrxkson, Aaron Burr, Horace Greeley, etc., and who is known all over the country as one of the most versatile and accomplished ■magazinists and men of letters in the land. The eldest daughter, Sallie, of this lady (Mrs. Edwards), Mr. Thomas Nast married some nine years ago. They have had three children, all, I think, now living. So, you see, if the caricaturist dies he leaves abund- ant material for a new generation. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 711 MASANIELLO. i^NE of the most singular freaks of fortune or of fate was )pjj^ the public career of Tomaso Aniello, who was born in Italy in the year 1622, and was a poor fisherman of Naples — one of the most ignorant of even his ignorant class. Yet iie must have possessed some strong traits of character, or he •could never have accomplished what he did. Beautiful Italy, by turns the possession of almost every despot in southern Europe, was just then under the mild and beneficent rule of Spain, and the bland and gentle Duke D'Arcos governed it as Viceroy. The wealth of the land was drained to fill Spanish coffers, and the Taravest of her stalwart sons did forced duty in the army of the .government they detested. Every specie of tyranny and oppres- sion had been imposed upon a people whom to oppress or wrong .seemed outrageous, since they were poor and helpless. The " last istraw which broke the camel's back" was the levying of a tax upon fruit whicla forms so large an item in the food of all classes .as to make it impossible for them to subsist without it. Mas- .aniello denounced the measure in the market and other public places, and the gathering discontent manifested itself in the mut- terings of the populace. One day as Masaniello was drilling a troop of young men for the .approaching festival of our Lady of the Carmel, which consisted •of mock combats, and skirmishes, he overheard a quarrel between -a countryman and a customer who had bought some fruit of him, .as to which of them should pay the tax. Very little fruit was ■offered now, and scarcely vegetables enough for consumption. The magistrate who was appealed to decided in favor of the pur- -chaser. The people gathered around and the fire so long sup- pressed burst out, past control. Masaniello sprang to the center ■of the infuriated mob and shouted " No taxes ! No more taxes for Italy." A thousand voices caught the cry as mountain crags OUR GOVERNMENT ANTD HlSTOiRY. 717? catch the echoes and send them from^ peak to peak. Suddenly his whole nature seemed to change ; the fisherman of Naples de- veloped and expanded in a few minutes, of time into an orator whose words thrilled the hearts of his audience, and leaped like- fire from pulse to brain, as he poured out a torrent of burning: invectives upon the head of their oppressor, and called, in rude, unstudied eloquence, for them to break every fetter and throw off' the yoke that ground them in the dust at the feet of the power' whose tyranny they hated. Excited by the inflammable address, and maddened by their wrongs, the Neapolitans at once proclaimed Masaniello their chief, and with him at their head, pressed on,, increasing at every step, until they numbered thousands. Rudely and hastily armed, they assailed everything that opposed them,.- tore the viceroy from his palace, and demanded nothing less^ than the total abolition of all taxes and the withdrawal of Span- ish power. Frightened into compliance, and desirous of protect-- ing himself from the mob, he readily promised anything and everything, but barely escaped with his life. The palace was- sacked, and the costly and beautiful furniture and works of art were burned on the market square by the order of Masaniello. In six hours from the time when he cried " No more taxes for Italy!" he was Captain General of the Neapolitans, and entered upon the performance of his duties ; while Naples, taken by sur- prise, was forced to yield to a man who was at best but the mean- est of her sons, yet exacted such absolute obedience as never was given to the mightiest of her legitimate sovereigns. Habited in costly apparel, invested with the insignia of royalty and of his- office, he set about his duties with a system and energy that was- astonishing. The town was put in a state of defense ; sentinels- were stationed to guard against surprise. The army and navy were alike subject to his will, and that will was law. Nobles and cavaliers were compelled to yield up the swords that had so long; been the honored and honorable badge of their nobility ; and na article of dress was allowed to be worn that could in any way cover or conceal a weapon. An awe, a strange, subdued, hush — - a timid, paralyzed helplessness seemed to have taken possession of the people, and they moved, with stealthy cowardly looks> and steps. 714 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. This brilliant, but arbitrary reign was brought to a sudden <:lose ; a close that corresponded well with its meteoric birth and progress. The importance of his position, the weight and multi- plicity of care was too great for a mind so undisciplined and so unused to bearing burdens, and it gave way beneath the pres- sure. He became cruel, jealous and suspicious, and in fits of frenzy perpetrated the most unjustifiable acts. Entering a con- -vent one day, he talked in so wild and incoherent a manner that the priests persuaded him to lie down and calm himself. Sud- denly arose the cry of " Masaniello ! " and it was discovered that the convent was surrounded with armed men. Masaneillo came at the call, and was shot down as he appeared at the door of his cell. " Ungrateful people ! " were his last words. His reign cov- -ered but nine days. ZERAH COLBURN. J^ERAH COLBURN was bom at Cabot, Vermont, Septem- ^mt ber I, 1809; and was considcrcci a ' -■W child until he was "'^^^ six years old ; when one day, setting on the floor playing with chips, he was heard repeating and multiplying numbers. His father's attention was attracted, and he questioned him as far as 3iis own limited knowledge of mathematics- went. The astonish- ment of the father was expressed to a neighbor who rode up just then, and soon word of the strange phenomenon spread through the town, and in less than a year to Europe. Some gentlemen of influence and means examined the boy, and finding that up to the moment of the discovery he had had no advantages, proposed to Jiave the matter thoroughly tested. Accordingly Mr. Colburn ■took his son to Danville, during the session of court, and he was visited by the judge and members of the bar, who satisfied them- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 715 ■selves of his power of solving, in an instant, the most intricate problems of mathematics. Mr. Colburn then took his boy to Bos- ton, where it was proposed to educate the infant prodigy ; but the terms, though very liberal, were not equal to what his father de- isired ; he refused them and traveled with him. A person who saw him at six years of age says of him : " He was like other boys of his age ; not at all remarkable in appearance ; small, light, quick in his motions, and playful ; answering, without a seeming thought, any question put to him." The following is a specimen of the questions and answers given as rapidly as he could speak them : ^' What is the number of seconds in 2000 years.? The answer, 563,072,000,000, was readily and accurately given. Another ques- tion was this: Allowing that a clock strikes 156 times in a day, "how many times will it strike in 2000 years.? The child promptly ;Teplied, 113,800,000 times. "What is the product of 12,225, multiplied by 1,223 ? Answer: 14,951,175. What is the square of 1,449.? Answer: 2,099,601. ;Suppose I have a corn-field, in which are seven acres, having •seventeen rows to each acre, sixty-four hills to each row, eight >ears on a hill, and one hundred and fifty kernels on an ear ; how :jnany kernels in the corn-field? Answer: 9,139,200." As his acquaintance with arithmetical terms increased, with no education but that of the questions which were asked him daily, his faculty for calculation increased, and these extraordinary per- formances were witnessed by thousands daily, and attracted so imuch attention in scientific circles that he was taken to London. There even- royalty amused itself with the wonderful child; and ;among others who visited him were the dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland, Lord Ashburton, Sir James Mackintosh, Sir Hum- prhey Davy, and the Princess Charlotte. The latter, attended by her tutor, the bishop of Salisbury, remained a full hour, and asked a number of questions. Among the rest was this : What is the ■square of 4001 ? The answer, 16,008,001, was immediately given. The duke of Cambridge asked the number of seconds in the time ■elapsed since the commencement of the Christian era, 1813 years, 7 months, 27 days. The answer was correctly given, 57,234,- 384,000. An extraordinary interest was excited in London in respect to this remarkable youth, and schemes for giving him an education 7l6 FOOTPRINTS OK THE AGES. suited to his turn of mind were suggested. At a meeting of several distinguished gentlemen, to mature some plan of this sort, various questions were proposed to the child. He multiplied the number eight by itself, and each product by itself, till he had raised it to the sixteenth power, giving, as the almost incor^ceivable result^ 281,474,976,710,656. He was asked the square root of 106,929, and before the number could be written down he answered, 327. He was then requested to name the cube root of 268,336,125, and with equal facility and promptness he replied, 645. It was now proposed to give him a thorough education at the Royal College, but before the king's sanction came. Napoleon re- turned from Elba, the Bourbons were swept away, and fled before the emperor like thistle down before the wind ; but Napoleon be- came the patron of the boy, and on the first of May he was placed in the Seminary, under the royal protection. After the battle of Waterloo, his father removed him to London, and he was placed by the Earl of Bristol at Westminster school when he was twelve years old. His father seems to have been unwise in his management of the boy — selfish and narrow in his views, expecting and desiring nothing but to make money from his gifts, and because enough could not be extorted from his noble patrons to support, not only the boy and himself, but a family of six beside, he withdrew him from the school, where he was making most satisfactory progress in all his studies, and decided that he should go on the stage. For this purpose he was put under the training of CharJes Kendall, and made his first appearance in the character of Norval ; though his reception was flattering to a beginner, he received no compensa- tion, and his father took him from Mr. Kendall, and traveled hither and thither, through England and Scotland, but met with no success ; and after an absence of a few months they returned to London, reduced to absolute beggary, which vocation was plied until their friends wearied of supplying the wants of one who had thrown away so many opportunities of doing well. His father died in 1S24, and Zerah, in coinpliance with his death-bed request, returned to his mother, whom he had not seen for twelve years. During her husband's long absence, with a fam- ily of eight children, with but little property, she had, with the labor of her own hands, supported them and made a decent living. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 717 Zerah was now converted ; having for some time been im- pressed with religious views, he united with the Methodist Church, and became a preacher, and afterward professor of the Greek, Latin, French and Spanish languages in the Vermont University at Norwich, at which place he died March 24, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. DANIEL BOONE. ^m\ mighty hunter, even as Nimrod," was Daniel Boone ; ^[^ a skillful and cunning frontiersman, a pioneer of the old school From his very childhood he had a taste or fondness for a gun which amounted almost to a passion, and he early became, by practice, a proficient in the use of it. When Mr. Boone was eighteen or nineteen years old his father removed from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, then an entirely new coun- try, where game was very abundant, and Daniel confined him- self entirely to hunting as a profession or business. It was a habit or custom to hunt deer by torchlight. The animal, attracted by the light, would stop to look at it, and its eyes gleaming through the darkness made an excellent mark for the hunter. On one occasion he was out at night with a friend ''''fire hunting" as they termed it, when suddenly, like stars through a rift in some wild, dark cloud, there shone out of the darkness a pair of the brightest eyes. Boone raised his gun to his shoulder, and waj about to fire, when the deer bounded away and was lost in the forest. Young Boone followed rapidly, and after an exciting chase he came out at the house of a farmer, and to his utter amazement found the game he had pursued so hotly was a beau- tiful girl of sixteen, "a daughter of the house." The pret- tiest romance in the world has been woven by his biographer, and were it not too long we would give it to you in his own Ian- 7l8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. guage, but as we must condense our narrative, we have not space. But the self-evident fact remains, that young Boone fell desperate- ly in love, then, and there with the flaxen haired girl who had sa narrowly escaped being shot for a fawn, and that she became his wife. Boone removed with his wife to the head waters of the Yadkin, where he remained several years. But as the country be- came settled his wild, untamed spirit grew restless in his close quarters, and he again moved to the wilds of Kentucky, and with some friends, crossed the Alleghanies and stood at last on the summit of the Cumberland Ridge, their faces turned to the setting sun. The unbroken forest lay- stretched out before him, mile after mile of country that was never pressed by the foot of a white man, and through whose still glens the tramp of coming millions had not yet even echoed. Trees of every germ and de- scription towered there, untouched by the woodman's axe, and not even blazed by the hatchet of hunter or pioneer. Rivers flashed here and there in the sunlight, and clear lakes lay in the valleys like dimples in the cheek of beauty. No richer or more fertile country lies on the face of the earth than the valley of the Mississippi, that then lay before them. Game of every kind was very abundant, and as they proceeded westward they met large herds of buffalo. They spent the summer in those lovely wilds, and in the winter divided for the purpose of making more ex- tended observations, and to explore more of this, then, wildner- ness. One day, when pursuing their way quietly, a band of Indians suddenly sprang from an ambush, with a frightful whoop and yell, and took them prisoners. They made their escape, however, the next night and returned to their old quarters, where they failed then to meet with the other members of their party, but met by a chance that seemed almost a miracle, a brother of Boone, who with a single companion had found his way through the trackless forest. His friend was, soon after, shot by an Indian, while the companion of Daniel went out and returned no more ; though they sought him sorrowing, only the torn and bloody garments were found giving evidence, as did " the coat of many colors," that wild beasts had devoured him. The two brothers were now the only white men west of the mountains, and they decided to spend th-e winter there. It passed pleasantly and safely by, hunting by day, telling tales and singing songs by OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 719 their blazing cabin-fires. In the spring their ammunition was near- ly exhausted, and it was decided that the elder brother should re- turn to civilized life and lay in such supplies as were needed. It was seven hundred miles to the nearest white settlement, and the trip would necessarily consume some time. He started the first of May, and returned the first of August, and all those long; months Daniel was alone in the forest— the wild, dark forest,, swarming with savage men. At last the long months passed away, and the brother returned with horses and the needful sup- plies, and with tidings of his family, from whom he was sepa- rated. It had now become a settled conclusion with the broth- ers, that no better place could be found for a home than the coun- try where they then were, and they set about selecting a site for the houses they would build before they brought to the west their wives and children. In September he went to North Carolina^ and started with his own and brother's families, together with five others, and they were also joined by forty men, armed and equip- ped, to act as guards. Before they reached their old camping ground they were attacked by Indians, six of the party killed, and all their cattle killed or driven away. They held a council, and concluded under the circumstances, that it would be wise not to proceed on their journey, but on account of their helpless wives and children to remain near white settlements ; and they returned as far as Clinch river, where they made a temporary settlement. In 1773 Boone and several others built a fort, and as soon as- it was completed he removed his family to it. Within two years he was twice attacked by the red men, and repulsed them, but was then taken by them while out hunting and carried to Detroit, from whence he escaped and returned to the fort. At another time they were surrounded by four or five hundred Frenchmen and Indians, but with fifty men he repulsed them, and they with- drew after great loss. In 1792 Kentucky was admitted to the Union as a State, and his right to the land he claimed being contested, he lost his home- through the trickery of the law that should have defended him It is said that the indignation of the old hunter knew no bounds at those whom the fortunes of war threw into his power, especially women and children, and with all his rude faults, there was some- thing noble in his savage nature. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 729? TECUMSEH. ^ECUMSEH, one of the most renowned warriors of the Shawanese tribe, was born on the Scioto, at or near the site of Chillicothe, Ohio. He was one of three sons delivered at one birth, his second brother being Ellskwatawa, the Prophet, Of the third, nothing is known. His brother was the reverse of" himself in everything — stupid, sensual and intemperate. The most extravagant tales were told of his supernatural powers, and as a- bold, unprincipled and unscrupulous impostor, he was at least equal to any who have succeeded him. In 1809 a treaty was entered into and concluded between the- Delawares, Miamis and Potawatomies, the United States, through. Gen. Harrison, their commissioner, ceding a tract of land sixty miles wide along the Wabash river. This was done without the- knowledge or consent of Tecumseh, or the Prophet. He had- been absent at the time, but on his return, raved over the transac- tion and threatened to kill the chiefs concerned in the negotiation^, who had singed the treaty ; and declared that Americans should never inhabit it. Gen. Harrison, on being informed of this, sent for him to come and prove if he had any claims on the property j; if so, he should receive his share of the pay. Tecumseh met him at Vincennes, and failing to establish any right to the land, he flew into a passion, and giving the signal, his warriors grasped their" hatchets and sprang forward. Harrison drew his sword as he- leaped from his seat, maintained a calm demeanor and ordered his. men to come forward as coolly as it no danger threatened. Toma hawks were raised, swords unsheathed, but the stern, firm face or the wily old General intimidated the savages far more than the glitter of their swords. He ordered Tecumseh and his men to leave the camp and return home, which they did, with " curses more- deep than loud," and with threats of vengeance. •73^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. General Harrison having demanded of Tecumseh the resto- :ration of some horses stolen by his men, was informed that the •chief and his brother would pay the general a visit, and re- ceived permission on condition that he brought but thirty of ;his followers with him. This visit resulted in exhibitions of strategy and treachery, and with no advantage to the Indians. In September, 1811, Harrison, at the head of a thousand men, marched up the Wabash, halted within the United States limits, met the Indians in fierce battle and routed them. This was one ■of the most hotly contested of any of the Indian battles, and Tip- pecanoe will long be remembered as the scene of it. Tecumseh was unable after this to raise any considerable force. Little was •.seen or heard of him, however, until the disastrous campaign -of General Hull laid the northern border open to the savage i^swarms, who were not slow to avail themselves of the oppor- tunity. Tecumseh received from the British the commission of ibrigadier general, and with a strong body of followers joined ^General Proctor, who had an immense force, and occupied Maiden, where he first proposed to await the attack of Harrison, ■who was marching forward ; but the victory of the victories was that of the Americans on Lake Erie, which changed his plans, and he burned the town and retreated to the interior. Tecumseh, who was brave and fearless, despised the cowardice of his commander .and harrangued and urged in vain to prevent the unnecessary and :shameful retreat. Harrison crossed the river, and rapidly pursu- ing, brought them to a stand at the Moravian town on the Thames. ■The Indians fought with the coolness of veterans, and the desper- .ation of devils, reserving their fire until they were so near the Americans that a volley would lay down the. foremost rank as a ;scythe cuts down a swath of hay. Tecumseh led his men, and where -the fight was fiercest and wildest, his voice animated them to greater -efforts. Suddenly the cheer which was rising from his lips, was • cut short ; his tall form reeled for a moment to and fro as if he were drunken with the wine red carnage, and then he sank to rise no more. Tecumseh was dead; with the fall of their leader the courage of his men gave way, and they turned and fled. He was the life and soul of the Indian tribes, and at his death most of them delivered up their prisoners, made treaties of peace, and ;gave up forever the idea of an Indian confederacy. Capt. Jack, Chief oj" the Modoc Indians. 732 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. BLACK HAWK. ^HE utter explosion of a bubble does not erase from our mind the tints of more than rainbow brightness that col- ored it. Something of the romance which it has been.: customary to fling around the Red Men of the forest still lingers, though years of stern experience has robbed the halo- of some of its brightness. There are a few of the old Indi- an warriors who Avere the true friends of the infant colonies in their long struggle for a foothold on the Western Continent, and- who shared with them their scanty supply of corn, sheltered them in their wigwams, and warned them of coming danger when hostile tribes were upon the war-path thirsting for vengeance ; and later still, when the British haunted them, more merciless than savage- foemen, they were the trusty allies of the Federalists. We love- to speak of them as friends of our country's early years. Yet,, with a few exceptions, the Indian tribes were the scourge of the^ continent, and the terror of the early settlers. One of the principal leaders of the savage tribes Was Black Hawk, chief of the united tribes of Sacs and Foxes, who claimed and occupied t*he territory between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. The spot on which the Sac village was built, at the junc- tion of the Mississippi and Rock rivers, had been their head- quarters for more than a hundred and fifty years. Here their treasures had been gathered ; here their young men had grown into veteran braves ; here their little ones were bom, and their dead buried. All this was included in the territory which Keo- kuk's treaty gave the whites, and the hearts of the red men were sore within them at the prospect of giving it into the hands of aliens. Black Hawk easily convinced Keokuk that he had been^ overreached, and that the cession was both illegal and impolitic,, and he readily promised to get the village restored to its original and rightful owners. With this understanding the Indians remained in their old homes _ until fall, Avhen, as usual they went for their winter OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 733 liunt, and the whites, taking advantage of their absence, took im- mediate and full possession, and upon their return, not being will- ing to give up their position, offered to compromise matters, think- ing all could live happily together. The Indians kindly con- sented, but every imposition was heaped upon them, until their pride and anger were roused, and when they resented they were ordered to quit the village and go out and make new homes. They refused. The State militia, seven hundred strong, was ordered out by Gov. Reynolds, to remove the Indians, dead or alive. Part of them withdrew, sadly and sullenly, others still refused. A council was called, and Black Hawk came to meet the Governor. He was firm in his declaration not to give up one inch of his ground — ^that he was not afraid of the whites — and was ready to fight, but as soon as the militia arrived, the Indians with- drew. Under Black Hawk they fought, were defeated, taken pris- oners and were afterwards pardoned, and in his farewell address to Col. Eustace, Black Hawk said : " Brother, I have come, on my own part and in behalf of my companions, to bid you farewell. Our great father has at length been pleased to permit us to return to our hunting-grounds. We have buried the tomahawk, and the sound of the rifle will here- after only bring death to the deer and the buffalo. Brother, you have treated the red men very kindly. Your squaws have made them p'resents, and you have given them plenty to eat and drink. The memory of your friendship will remain till the Great Spirit says it is time for Black Hawk to sing his death song. Brother, your houses are as numerous as the leaves upon the trees ; and your young warriors are like the sands upon the shore of the big lake which rolls before us. The red man has but few houses and few warriors, but the red man has a heart which throbs as warmly as the heart of his white brother. The Great Spirit has given us our hunting-grounds, and the skin of the deer, which we kill there, is his favorite, for its color is white, and this is the emblem of peace. This hunting-dress and these feathers of the eagle are •white. Accept these my brother. I have given one like this to the White Otter. Accept it as a memorial of Black Hawk. When he is far away, this will serve to remind you of him. May the Great Spirit bless you and your childreru Parewell." 734 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. STEPHEN GIRARD. Stephen GIRARD was a native of Bordeaux, and was boro ^j in the year 1750. His parents were poor, and he received no other education than is implied in the fact that when he was a child he was taught to read and write. Although nearly his entire manhood was spent in his adopted city he never acquired a sufficient knowledge of the English language to speak it correctly; but the native vigor of his mind supplied in large measure such deficiencies as in most other men would have been insuperable barriers to success. He often referred to the ridi- cule from which he suffered in his early youth, because of the distorted features of his face, produced by a defective eye. At the age of ten or twelve years he shipped as a cabin boy oti a small vessel bound to the West Indies, and afterwards sailed from New York in the same humble capacity. At this time he won the good-will of the master of the vessel by his fidelity and industry, who not long after gave him the command of a small craft, in which Girard made several voyages to New Orleans and other ports. His great frugality and success in specula- tion enabled him soon to become part owner of the vessel, in which he continued to sail as master. In 1769 Girard, then but nineteen years of age, established him- self in Philadelphia, and in the course of the next year he married Polly Lum, the pretty daughter of a caulker, then in her seven- teenth year, and a servant girl in his neighborhood. His mar- riage did not prove a happy one, because of the asperity of his- temper ; and the final result was a divorce from his wife, who afterwards became insane, and for the last twenty-five years of her life she was an inmate (1790 to 1815) of a lunatic asylum. She bore him but one child, who died in infancy. Girard's commercial operations were interrupted by the war of the Revolution, so that for several years he was occupied as a grocer and dealer in liquors ; he, however, again entered the West India trade, and was soon recognized as a rich man. The first impressions upon the spectator made by Stephen Gi' rard were decidedly unfavorable ; his person was altogether quite forbidding. His vulgar exterior, his cold, abstracted, and taciturn OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 735; habits did not fail to excite in the mind of the casual observer a. feeling approaching to contempt. He was short and square built,. and resembled an old sailor. His v/all-eye, mean garb, and general presence contrasted so strikingly with his large fortune,, that one could scarcely fail to ieel disgusted at his appearance and bearing. He was partially deaf in one ear, and his conversa^ tion was sadly disfigured by his broken French dialect. He talked but little, except on business, and then said no more than was necessary to make himself understood. His volubility, howeverr when excited by anger, was without a parellel, especially when among his workmen and dependants, and his language was not either refined or courteous. But to compensate for these ebulli- tions of temper towards his inferiors, he had the art of concilia- ting them by the most fascinating displays of occasional good na- ture, which impressed them favorably, and led to great readiness- on their part to serve him devotedly. In his habits of attention to business, Mr, Girard was precise^ and regular ; perhaps more so at his counting-room than at his- bank. On discount days at the l.itter, he observed regular hours. During the spring and summer months he was accustomed to- spend an hour or two each morning in a garden attached to his bank, where he employed himself in nursing his fig-trees, dressing: his shrubs, and pruning his vines. At the venerable age of eighty-one he died, and was buried without religious ceremonies in a Roman Catholic cemetery. His- will devised an immense estate, — perhaps greater than was ever before given, — for purposes wholly beneficent and charitable, which led to prolonged litigation. In these legal contests Daniel Webster and other eminent counsel were conspicuous. Mr. Girard's estate was valued at about twelve millions of dollars, and was all devoted to educating destitute children, and the relief of the poor and distressed. In his will Mr. Girard gave- particular directions for constructing Girard College, as to form,, size, and materials. The foundations of the main edifice were laid in the summer of 1833, but the structure was not completed and opened until the beginning of 1848. The principal building, is said to be the finest modern specimen of Grecian architecture. The form is that of a Corinthian temple, surrounded by a portico,v having thirty-four columns, each six feet in diameter and fifty-five- ■736 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES- liigh, resting, on a; basis of eleven white marble steps. The build- ing is ninety-seven feet high, one hundred and eleven feet wide, and one hundred and sixty-nine feet long. The walls are of white marble, and the stairways and roof, also. The entrances .are on the north and south fronts, each having doorways thirty- two feet high and sixteen feet wide. There are twenty-four 'windows on each of the east and west sides. Mr, Girard's re- iimains were buried beneath the centre of the lower vestibule and are covered by a marble statue. Besides this main edifice there are five other buildings within the inclosure — a labratory, a wash-house, bakery, etc. The cost of erecting the whole was but little less than $2,000,000. Provision was made by the will for supporting as many poor orphans as the premises could be made to accommodate ; firsts those of Philadelphia ; secondly, those of Pennsylvania ; thirdly, those of the city of New York ; and, fourthly, of New Orleans. These poor orphans to be taught "the various branchesof a sound education," etc., etc., and "the French and Spanish languages," the Latin not being forbidden, but not recommended. Also such other learning and science to be taught as the capacities of the several scholars should merit or warrant. Principles of morality are to be inculcated, but, in the terms of the founder's will (showing his singular and eccentric character), "no ecclesiastic missionary or minister, of any sect whatever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty whatever in said college ; nor shall any such person ever be admitted within the premises ap- propriated to the purposes of said college." Orphans are admit- ted between the ages of six. and ten years, and are fed, clothed, and educated, and when between fourteen and eighteen years are bound out to learn some useful occupation, often to agriculturists, rmechanics, etc. As many are admitted to the institution as the ■ endowment will support. It is to be remarked that 'the trustees of Girard College early •decided to introduce the Bible for the use ofthe scholars, as not being inconsistent with the will of the founder ; and as a com- mentary upon the course of human events, it may be stated that the present President of that noble institution is likewise Presi- dent of the American Bible Society, and an LL. D. of eminent attainments and thehighest religious, character, who .fills his posi- tion. Mr, Girard died in 1831. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY; 737 MAZZINI. JOSEPH MAZZINI was born in Genoa, in 1809. His pat- riotism was marked in boyhood. He died at Pisa in the IT early part of 1872, quietly in his bed, and on Italian soil ; and it was given to him to hear before he died that the King of Italy had proclaimed the work of Italian independence and unity completed, from the steps of the Capitol at Rome. The most eager, restless spirit in Europe is quiet ; the most intense and lofty idealist of our times has passed into the world where '* things not seen " may yield to him a satisfaction which he failed to find in any of the enterprises and achievements of life. His health had long been broken ; the ardent, enthusiastic spirit has worn out at last the frame which he had never spared in the service of his country or of mankind, and which nothing but an indomitable will has kept alive so long. As student, as conspira- tor, as political chief of a great party, as Republican ruler of Rome, his life had been one of intense, restless activity. No liv- ing man, probably, was so ubiquitous, had so many threads of policy in his head, or so many schemes of which he alone held the key. He was trusted with blind confidence by the daring and enthusiastic youth of the party of progress in Italy, in France, and in a measure in England ; and he wielded something like the power of a dictator in the revolutionary propagandas of which he was the acknowledged head. No man in Europe was so hated and haunted by established authorities; no man had so many police agents on his track. And yet no man moved about more freely wherever it pleased him, or escaped so constantly the most carefully arranged toils. He bore not a charmed life, but a charmed person. Years ago it was one of the wonders of the time how Mazzini, proscribed by every government in Europe except England, with a price set upon his head, and a host of police agents familiar with his person oe his track, could travel through 47 738 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Europe on a revolutionary campaign, stir up rebellion in half-a- dozen southern kingdoms or dukedoms, and find himself safe back in England when his enterprises, as always befell, had failed. The truth is, he had something of the power of old Caius Marius, of mastering and constraining men. A singular personal fascination was characteristic of him; and he had devoted adherents by troops in the armies and in the courts of his most bitter foes. Mazzini, in the first instance, won fame and influence by his fine literary genius. His style was a model of purity and grace, and his criticism was always masterly. He was an accomplished scholar, not in the literature of his own country only, but in the literature of his almost adopted country, for England was his second home. Some of the best criticism which has appeared of late years in our leading periodicals was from his pen. He was a thorough English scholar, and, like Kossuth, handled our lan- guage with an ease and mastery which only the very ablest of our native writers attain. But literature, after all, was but the by- play of his life. His great work absorbed him wholly. A fine scholar and critic was spoiled, some may say, to make a bad con- spirator. But it was just the qualities which made his criticism so masterly — which made him primarily an Italian patriot, and sustained the faith which quickened faith in others, and made so many joyful martyrs to a noble cause. He was a true lover of mankind — perhaps in the highest sense of the word the pure phi- lanthropist. He shared the modest proceeds of his literary labors with Italian organ boys, while his heart was always open to appeals of human need. He had a profound faith in the possi- bility, and the near possibility, of a much higher and happier con- dition for the toiling and suffering mass of mankind than econo- mists dream of. He believed in " God and the people." If was his chosen watchword. He had no sympathy with the aspirations of an atheistic communism. He believed firmly in God, and he never ceased to bear witness that the relations of men were rooted in their relation to God ; and that duty, the duty which has Divine sanction, alone could supply the inspiration to the noble and lofty public and private virtue, which to him found a miserable substitute in the frippery, the profligacy, and the extrav- agance of courts. In these days, in which the revolutionist affects H. M. STANLEY. 74© FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the atheist, let it not be forgotten that Mazzini held fast his faith in God, as well as in the people, to the last. His brief rule in Rome was the one gleam of sunlight on a sad broken life. In Rome he showed what large statesmanly power was latent in him, if it could but have found a fair theater for its exercise. We have heard those who were in Rome at the time say that life in Rome was never so sweet and wholesome as during the months of his rule. Struck down by the arms of the French Republic he returned to his sad exile. But his instinctive dread of French vanity and ambition was sharpened by the experience ; and it is a sign of his clear discernment, that in 1859, when France was all-popular in Italy, he warned his countrymen that France was seeking her own, and would leave Italy when her own ends were gained to shift for herself. He was a pure Republican of the old classical type. He never could fairly reconcile himself to the regeneration of Italy under the scepter of a king. But still his heart must have swelled within him almost to bursting when he heard the echo of the shouts which acclaimed Victor Emmanuel on the Roman Capitol. From that moment we can well believe he set himself to die. Mazzini's work was done. GEORGE PEABODY. MAGNIFICENT charities are not always a proof of true benevolence, and princely fortunes may be bestowed without in any great degree benefiting the world, but when a man starts from the lowest ranks in life without assistance, amasses a fortune by his industry and attention to business, and, never hoarding, bestows liberally upon all who need — not only upon the beggar at the door, but famished nations are fed by his bounty, — when his quick sympathies and generous heart respond to every call of woe and every cry of destitution, he may well be called a OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 741 benefactor of the human race. From the age of eleven, when George Peabody was taken from school, until he was nineteen, he was a clerk in various dry goods houses, but at that time he became a partner with Mr. Elisha Riggs, of Georgetown, D. C. The new business consisted of the importation and sale of European goods, and the entire charge and management of the business devolved upon Mr. Peabody, a "boy of nineteen," as some of Mr. Riggs' friends sneeringly styled him. In 1815 the business had increased to that extent which made it impracticable to carry it on in George- town, and they removed to Baltimore, where banking was added to their regular business. In 1820 Mr. Riggs withdrew from act- ive participation in the cares attendant upon such an enterprise, and the style of the firm was changed to Peabody, Riggs & Co. They had for some time been the financial agents for the State of Maryland, and their banking business had become very extended. In 1836 a branch house was established in London, as their trade in British manufactures was so great as to seem to demand it, and in 1837 he removed there to take charge of it. Since that time London has been his place of residence, though he always con- sidered America his home. This year was one of the most remarka- ble in our history. A. very large number of banks suspended payment ; manufactories were closed ; mercantile houses were ruined, or stood trembling upon the brink of ruin until saved by almost superhuman efforts. The credit of the United States seemed for the time to be disgraced, and American securities were a by-word with the nations of Europe. It was then that the strength of Mr. Peabody's character and-the firmness of his standi ing was proven. It is said there was not half a dozen men in Europe who would have been listened to in this matter, but his judgment commanded the respect to which it was entitled, and his opinion carried weight with it. He stood iirm in this time of trial, and the reproach was gradually removed. From this time forward he stood amongst the foremost merchants in the worldo His business was increased, his vessels ploughed the main freighted Avith the products of Europe and America. His bank g^ew in popularity and was a source of great profit. Mr. Peabody was very proud of America. He loved his birth- place even more for his exile, and a cherished purpose was to re- turn there some day and make his home with his people. For a 742 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. great many years after his arrival in London he celebrated the anniversary of American Independence with religious exactness, and only relinquished the practice when the v/hole body of Amer- ican residents observed the day with public services. In speaking of the manner in which he organized his business establishment he once said : " I have endeavored, in the constitution of its mem- bers and the character of its business, to make it an American house and to give it an American atmosphere ; to furnish it with American journals ; to make it a center of American news, and an agreeable place for my American friends visiting London." It was mainly owing to his exertions that American enterprise was properly represented in the Great Exhibition. In speaking of this, the Hon. Edward Everett said : " In most, perhaps in all other countries, this exhibition had been a government affair. Commissioners were appointed by authority to protect the inter- ests of the exhibitors ; and, what was more important, appropria- tions of money had been made to defray their expenses. No appropriations were made by Congress. Our exhibitors arrived, friendless, some of them penniless, in the great commercial Babel of the world. They found the portion of the Crystal Pal- ace assigned to our country unprepared for the specimens of art and industry which they had brought with them ; naked and una- dorned, by the side of the neighboring arcades and galleries fitted up with elegance and splendor by the richest governments in Europe, The English press began to launch its too ready sar- casm at the sorry appearance which Brother Jonathan seemed likely to make ; and all of the exhibitors from this country, as well as those who felt an interest in their success, were disheartened. At this critical moment, our friend stepped forward. He did what Congress should have done. By liberal advances on his part, the American department was fitted up, and day after day, as some new product of American ingenuity and taste was added to the list, — McCormick's reaper, Colt's revolver, Powers's Greek Slave, Hobbs' unpickable lock. Hoe's wonderful printing presses, and Bond's more wonderful spring governor,™it began to be sus- pected that Brother Jonathan was not quite so much of a simple- ton as had been thought. He had contributed his full share, if not to the splendor, at least to the utilities of the exhibition. In fact, the leading journal at London, with a magnanimity which did OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 743 it honor, admitted that England had derived more real benefit from the contributions of the United States than from those of any other country." Mr. Peabody was, so long as he lived, as simple and unaffected as in the days of his poverty, followed his methodical, exact busi- ness practices with the same rigid system which was never changed. He gave away millions of dollars without a second thought, but insisted upon receiving a penny if it was his due. He several times visited America, going back to England always more pleased with his native land, more proud of his birthplace. He marked each visit with a magnificent gift. Education and Religion, pub- lic and private charities were the recipients of his bounty, and rich and poor alike blessed him. His own relatives, some of whom he never saw, received from one to three hundred thousand dollars apiece; friends of his boyhood who were in poor or straightened circumstances, were handsomely provided for. Lon- don, more than any American city, seems to be the gathering place of Christ's legacy to his disciples, as if he had been there when he said, "The poor ye have always with you." And to the squalor — stricken multitudes George Peabody has been a friend steadfast and true. He has made them his care from year to year, never wearying of well-doing, satisfied if he might smooth an otherwise rugged path, or sweeten a bitter draught from whence pallid lips might not turn away, or bring hope and comfort, love and peace into the home where poverty and suffering had set their seal. So marked was his benevolence and thoughtful care for this class, that Victoria presented him with her portrait painted expressly for him, costing nearly $50,000, in token of her grateful appreciation of it. When Mr. Peabody last visited America he was in ill health and suffering severely, and believing that he might improve more rapidly in London, returned thither, but received no benefit from the change, and died there November 4, 1869. The news of his death was received with the strongest demonstrations of sorrow, and grief was in every household. The world will never know how much it owes this good man, since such was his unostenta- tious kindness — often his right hand knew not what his left hand gave. 744 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The following list includes all his public donations, of which a record has been preserved : To the State of Maryland, for negotiating the loan of $8,000,000 $ 60,000 To the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md., including ac- crued interest 1,500,000 To the Southern Educational Fund . 3,000,000 To Yale College 150,000 To Harvard College 150,000 To Phillips' Academy, Massachusetts 25,000 To Peabody Academy, Massachusetts 25,000 To Peabody Institute, etc., at Peabody, Mass 250,000 To Kenyon College, Ohio 140,000 To Memorial Church, in Georgetown, Mass 100,000 To Homes for the Poor in London 3,000,000 To Libraries in Georgetown, Massachusetts, and Thet- ford, Vermont 10,000 To Kane's Arctic Expedition 10,000 To different Sanitary Fairs 1 0,000 To unpaid moneys advanced to uphold the credit of States 40,000 Total . $8,470,000 JOHN HOWARD. W^OHN HOWARD, the philanthropist, was born at Hackney, nj/fp London, in 1726. His father was immensely rich, but from an impression which he entertained that his son, then about eighteen years of age, had not quite done sowing his wild oats, made a will by which the young heir of the Howard estate was prohibited from controlling his property until he was twenty- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 745 five. His guardian apprenticed him to a grocer, but the disgusted representative of a long line of independent gentlemen scorned the idea of serving his time, and accordingly purchased his in- denture and set out on a continental tour; but was not absent long, and on his return to London, married his landlady, who was nearly double his own age, out of pure gratitude to her for care received during sickness. The gratitude was beautiful, no doubt, and perhaps commendable, but the lady did not long survive her new honors, but died ere their honeymoon began to wane. The spirit of adventure drove our hero out into, the world again, and he started for Portugal with a view to explore the ruins of Lisbon, after the earthquake. The vessel in which he sailed was attacked by a French Privateer, the crew and passengers were made prisoners, and for some months he not only suffered the loss of his personal liberty, but all the horrors of prison life, and so vivid were his recollections of that dreary and horrible confine- ment, that upon regaining his liberty by exchange of prisoners, his first and earnest efforts were to bring the subject before the public and the parliament of Great Britain. He now married a second time, but this marriage also unhappily terminated soon, his wife dying, and leaving him an infant son. He resided on one of his estates near Coddington, and gave his time to the management of his property and the education of his child. But a terrible misfortune, the saddest, perhaps, that could have come to him, came in the hope- less insanity of his boy, upon whom he had set his heart, and in whom centered all his pride, his ambition and his hopes. He was obliged to place him in an asylum, and then, every tie broken which bound him to a domestic life, gave up his entire time to benevolence, and using liberally his immense fortune in the ame- lioration of the sufferings of prisoners, convicts, the insane, the blind, and idiots. He inspected every public prison in the United Kindom, also in France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland. His attention was attracted to infectious diseases, and he entered into an inquiry as to the cause and cure of the plague, on account of the terrible ravages of that disease in the south of Europe, and in the coun- tries of the Levant. He visited those countries, passing through the plague-stricken districts, and giving it his own personal atten- tion, and on his return to England he published an account of his 746 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. travels, with a description of the Lazarettos of Europe, to which the attention of scientific men was attracted, and the public mind was very much excited over the, until then, unknown wrongs of so large a class of people, and the terrible sufferings of many more. Again he quitted England's shores; again for the sake of humanity he exiled himself from people and kindred, hurrying through Holland and Germany, to Petersburg and Moscow, on, to the shores of the Black sea, — on, still on, through pestilence, famine, cholera and, more dreaded than all else, the plague, until at last he was himself stricken down almost before his life had reached its noontide, and died as he had lived, strong in the Christian's faith and the rude people of those half-barbarous lands , recognizing the holy purpose, the noble zeal, the lofty impulses which gave his years and his wealth to a cause that was so little in favor, yet so much in need of friends, raised over his lonely grave, in a quiet spot eight miles from Kherson, an obelisk on which was the inscription, " He lived for the good of others." He died Jan. 20, 1790. WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. j'HIS distinguished philanthropist was born in 1759, at Hull. From the grammar school in his native town he was sent to Cambridge, and as soon as he reached his majority was chosen to represent Hull in Parliament. His extreme youth pre- vented him from taking an active part in the proceedings of the legislative body. But though silent, he was a most observant and deeply thoughtful member, and not an act escaped his eye, or a speech his mind. His first strong effort was in favor of abolish- mg the traffic in human beings as slaves, and a speech which he made on this subject, when in his second term, was considered a most powerful argument, and from that time forward he labored OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 747 Steadily and faithfully until his object was effected. Even in that first appearance, he won the name of being one of the most brilliant, effective and eloquent of English orators. A violent opposition to his measures at once sprung into existence, and the whole array of British talent was against him ; but at the next session he again introduced the subject, despite its unpopularity. The public mind was not yet sufficiently enlightened to demand the passage of his bill, and it was overruled and put down by a large vote, and it was not until 1806 that it passed both Houses and his bill abolishing slavery became a law. Mr. Wilberforce Avas looked upon as the champion of the cause of humanity ; and testimonials and expressions of gratitude poured in upon him from all parts of the country. At that time it was much more difficult for a man in Mr. Wilberforce's circumstances to be a Christian than now, and peculiarly difficult for a young and pop- ular man to declare to the world that it was only in accordance with the high principles of Christian morality that he had acted, not from desire for, or love of public approbation. The publica- tion of his " Practical View of Christianity," a work in which he rigidly and carefully compared the defective religion of that day with the standard of the New Testament, formed an era in the religious history of the country. His life and character was a beautiful commentary on the principles laid down and developed in his book. Through all his life he bore the reputation of a con- sistent Christian, in whom was no blame, and though such char- acters may not be rare now, in that day they were, amongst those who mingled in high life, and were subject to the temptations of court life. He was esteemed and respected by all parties ; and while the poor looked to him as a benefactor and protector, the rich and great felt honored by his friendship. He died July 28 1833. ' ' . 748 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. GEN. LA FAYETTE. 'i)Si*)ARIE Paul Jean Roche Yves Gilbert Motier, Marquis de JyC La Fayette, is one of those characters that, belonging to a past generation, is brighter to-day than yesterday, and will be brighter to-morrow than to-day, because we learn with passing time the richness of the heritage of glory and free- dom which they forsook home and friends, wealth and ease, to purchase for us. At the age of twenty he left his girl-bride, who it is said buckled his sword with her own fair fingers, and smiled through her tears as she bade him "God-speed," and fitting out two vessels with arms and provisions, sailed for Boston, where he was received by Washington with delight, joined the ranks as a volunteer, was wounded in the first engagement, and commanded the vanguard of the army at the capture of New York. When peace was concluded, he returned to the mother country, and found himself a hero, lionized to his heart's content. At home, as in America, he embraced the side of the people, and demanded for them popular rights. In 1789 he proposed the " Declaration of Rights," which he had brought from the New World, and proposed it as the basis of a constitution. The insurrection of 1790 was the result of his endeavor to establish a Republic. The French people of that day are what they are now, volatile, excitable, brave, rash, easily discouraged, and easily dissuaded, it seems as if for them it had been written — "unstable as water, thou shalt not excel." La Fayette's attempt to found a republic was a failure. The powers of Europe, looking on, began to close in with their armies around France, and armies were raised to meet them ; and La Fayette led them out to defend their own soil, as he had led in the defense of ours. At his headquarters at Sedan, he heard of the bloody tragedy of the loth of August and of the imprisonment of the Royal family. Agents were sent to the different departments OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 749 and the reign of terror was fairly instituted ; orders were given for the arrest of all the generals, and but one course was left open — to sacrifice the lives of his army, or to fly. He chose the latter, but was surrounded by the Austrians, captured, and con- fined in the gloomy dungeons of Olmutz, in Moravia. The rigors of his imprisonment were so severe that his health failed under them, and it was not until repeated efforts were made that they were relaxed, and a mitigation of his severe sufferings permitted. At length he succeeded in effecting his escape, but was retaken, closely confined, fed upon scant portions of bread and water, threatened daily with execution, and suffering untold agonies of uncertainty as to the fate of wife and child, whom, when he last heard from, were in prison in France. The Grand- mother, mother and sister of his wife had perished on the scaffold ; she herself was destined for the same fate,but was saved by the down- fall of Robespiere. Freed from a dungeon in France, she has- tened to Austria and kneeling at the feet of Francis II., pleaded as only a wife could plead, for the remnant of the life of her hus- band, — prayed for the broken, shattered wreck, a gift, not to his country, but to herself, and failing to receive the boon, determined to share his captivity. General Washington wrote to the Emperor and demanded his release, with as little effect, and it was not until Napoleon was master of the destiny of Europe that La Fayette breathed once more the free, sweet air of France. Nothing could ever draw him from private life again. Offices in America, the best our govern- ment could offer in her gratitude, and the entreaties of Napoleon alike left him unmoved, and nothing but the peril of his country called him from retirement. The Bourbon dynasty was re-established, and La Fayette, having seen tranquility restored, visited America for the last time. Again revolution sweeps over France. Charles X. and his family are fugitives. Louis Philippe is on the throne, — La Fayette at the head of the national guards, and a hollow peace was restored, which fortunately lasted as long as the life of the patriot. He died May 20, 1834. 750 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. jHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS was a Genoese, and born in the year 1435. His father was a wool-comber, and his an- cestors were humble people. With the exception of one year spent at Paris, his education was conducted in his native city, and confined to such studies as fitted him for the sailor's life for which he was destined by his father. He went to sea at four- teen ; at twenty-one we find him at Lisbon, and in 1470 on the African coast, seeking ahke for gold and employment by the Portuguese government. He was now thirty-five years of age ; tall, straight, handsome, dignified and commanding in appear- ance , his hair already whitened by exposure and the care and anxiety attendant upon his position. He married at this time OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 751 Felepe Modis de Palestrello, daughter of an Italian gentle- man, deceased, who had been a navigator under the patronage oi Prince Henry, and who had colonized and been governor of tlie Isle of Porto Santo. Columbus gave much of his time to drawing maps and charts, made several voyages to the coast of Africa, also to the Canary and Azore islands, and in 1477 madeavoyage to Iceland. Long before this date he had conceived the idea of reaching India by a westward course, and supported this theory by the views of Ar- istotle and other ancient writers. The great problem of the time was how to reach India by sea, and he offered his services to John II. of Portugal to solve it, if he would give him an expedition for this purpose, and well-nigh succeeded, when some unknown -agent prevented the king from acceding to his wishes. Columbus, disgusted with a monarch who had everything to win, at so tri- fling a risk, yet feared to venture aught, left him and went to Spain. He entered Spain alone, without friends, and in great poverty, but his pleasing manners won him both respect and atten- tion, and friends came at his bidding. He soon made his way to the king and queen, to whom he told his plans, his hopes and his disappointments. His enthusiasm was contagious, and the will to aid him was good, but the uncertainty appalled men ; and for seven long years he waited in suspense that made it seem a life- time to the ardent and impatient navigator. At last, weary with the painful waiting and tired of the suspense, he left the court and started for France ; but two of his friends waited upon the queen and she was persuaded to give her support, and promised even to pledge her jewels to obtain the means for his outfit. Colum- bus was then sent for ; the king furnished men and ships, and the fleet, consisting of three vessels and twenty men, sailed from Pa- los, August 3, 1492. At ten o'clock at night, October 11, Colum- bus first saw lights moving in the far distance, and gazing intently, was satisfied that land was ahead. At two o'clock, a sailor in one of the other boats, a little in advance, saw the land — a lovely lit- tle island — San Salvador, one of the Bahamas. Soon after Cuba and Hayti were discovered, all of which he supposed to be por- tions of Asia. It is believed that he never knew to the contrary. The discovery produced the most intense excitement in Europe, and upon his return he was received with transports of joy by the 752 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. king and queen of Spain, and every honor and attention lavished on him. In September, 1493, he sailed from Cadiz with seventeen ships and 1500 men, and discovered the islands of Jamaica, Porto Rico and the Windward isles. In his third voyage he discovered the islands of Trinidad, Orinoco and Para. At this time Columbus found the new colonies which he had planted in a sad state of dis- organization, and remained some time to set things to rights and restore order ; but complaints reached Spain, and a commissioner . was sent out to make an examination, who so far exceeded his orders and authority that he arrested Columbus, his son and brother, and sent them home in irons. Spain was in a fever of indignation ; the king declared his innocence of any such orders ; the queen was kindness itself, but the admiralty was not restored to Columbus. In 1502 Columbus was sent on another voyage to discover the passage from the Caribbean Sea into what was then supposed to be the great Indian Sea, and came near discovering Mexico, but died never knowing how narrow was the step between himself and more of glory than he had ever dreamed of. He returned at the end of the year and appealed to the king to remove from his name the partial disgrace resting upon it, and restore his title, but in vain. Like many another, since his time, the king had used his tool as long as it was profitable to him, and now wearied of the one who had served him faithfully. Columbus was not the last who learned the bitter lessons of man's ingratitude ; but his heart was broken by the lesson that he was too proud to learn in humility, and he died at the age of sixty-seven. Tardy and partial justice was done his son after the father's death, but only when he had appealed to the law against the king. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 753 CAPTAIN COOK. ^APTAIN JAMES COOK was born at Marton, near Stock, ton-upon-Tees, October 27, 1728, and was apprenticed to a haberdasher at the age of thirteen, but having a strong inclination for the sea, was transferred into a coal company, and soon became so skillful a sailor as to be promoted to mate. In 1759 he offered himself as a volunteer for the navy and through the influence of friends obtained command of a sloop, and went into service against the French. In 1764 he was appointed marine surveyor of New Foundland and Labrador, and ten years later was sent out in command of a ship which went to the Pacific to ■make astronomical observations. All the phenomena were suc- cessfully observed and he then sailed in search of the southern continent, which was supposed to exist. He sailed far enough to prove that New Zealand and New Holland were not parts of the continent, if it existed, and he set out to circumnavigate the globe, to settle the question beyond doubt. He was gone three years, and was the first man who traversed the Pacific at that high lati- tude of 70 deg. 10 min. The result of this voyage was the greatest excitement, and he was raised to the rank of post captain, and appointed to Green- wich Hospital. The question of a southern continent being set at rest he turned his attention to a north-western passage between the Atlantic and Pacific. An offer of a prize of twenty thou- sand pounds and the king's ships to the discover, induced Captain Cook to lead another expedition. He set out in the ship " Resolution," and made many important discoveries, among which were the Sandwich Islands, where he returned to winter. The first night after his arrival one of his boats was stolen by the natives, and the next day measures were taken to recover it and pre- vent a repetition of the act. For this purpose Cook attempted to carry the aged king on board his ship, but on reaching it the King 48 754 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. refused to embark, and his wives, who had followed him, set up al- most dismal lamentation The howl was caught by those next of kin, and repeated from lip to lip until the island echoed with it,, and the natives came in swarms to defend their chief. The sav- age crowd, seeing him a captive, were maddened to perfect fury,, and rushed upon Captain Cook and his men, four of whom, with their commander were killed. His mangled remains were torn and hewn in pieces, and only the bones recovered by his surviving^ crew. In the extent and value of his discoveries. Captain Cook's; surpass those of any other explorer. He was killed October 14, 1779 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, [HIS greatest of modern travellers was born at Blantyrep Scotland, on the banks of the river Clyde, near Glasgow, March 19th, 1813. His great-grandfather was a soldier and fell on the gory field of Cullodin, and his grand- father was a farmer of Ulva, one of the most beauti- ful of the Hebrides. Campbell's story of the eloping lovers, which was no doubt intended to be, and probably is, a timely and beneficial warning to all hard-hearted fathers, who do not desire to be " left lamenting," locates its scene somewhere here, since the hero explains to the boatmen who thought the water too rough to be entirely safe : — " O ! I'm the chief of Ulva's isle, And this Lord Ullin's daughter." At the age of ten he was put into the factory of Blantyre, and says that with his first earnings he purchased the Rudiments of Latin, and gave every spare hour to its study — indeed it was ever his favorite study, and he pursued it for years with undiminished ardor. He was carefully taught the principles of Christianity, and DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 75^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. " free salvation" was a doctrine that he imbibed as readily as he breathed the air of heaven. He began the study of medicine in the same way that he did of Latin, with but little help ; and yet so closely did he devote himself to it that at twenty years of age he finished his studies and was admitted to a Licentiate of Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. Partly from a strong desire to see the world, and partly from a christian desire to carry the glad tidings of redemption to the nations that sit in darkness, he had decided to go to China with a party of missionaries, but the opium war, raging at that time, made it dangerous, or at least in- expedient, and he turned his eyes in the opposite direction, and transferred the field of his studies and labors from China to Africa. In 1830 he sailed for Africa, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society, which sent out no creed nor sect, but the Gospel of Christ, — the plan which met his views most satisfac- torily. Reaching Lattakoo, which is the farthest mission station from the Cape, he at once struck out for the North, into the Backwain country. For twenty years he has wandered to and fro over that vast continent, of which so little is known, sending, from time to time, accounts of his valuable researches and dis- coveries. His " Life and Explorations," written by his own pen, have made the world so familiar with him and with his movements that it is unnecessary to give them here. Far over the deserts, deep into the jungles, o'er the bosom of beautiful lakes, to the source of mighty rivers, and to the crest of lofty mountains where never a white man's foot had rested before, in the tents of the savage tribes, in their villages, in their cities, where never a white man's face was seen, under the feathery palms, and where date-trees hung their slender, fruit-laden branches over the green oasis, went this man who, for the love which he bore his race had become an exile from home, country aad friends. Suddenly, while the eyes of the world were fixed on the solitary traveler he disappeared from their sight, and his fate was enveloped in mystery and shrouded in darkness and dread, until Henry M. Stanley, the daring American, found him in Central Africa and supplied him with stores necessary to continue his jour- ney to discover the source of the Nile. But death overtook him and lie passed away. May 4th, 1873, at Ilala, Central Africa. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 757 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. 'AMUEL F. B. MORSE was born in Charleston, Mass., 1791, graduated from Yale in 1810, adopted the profession of an artist, and studied abroad under West, Copley and Alliston. His first work, a model of a dying Hercules, received from the Adelphi Society of Arts a gold medal, which was presented by the Duke of Norfolk in the presence of the foreign Ambassadors. After spending three years in Europe he was forced to give up his studies, for want of means to pursue them. In 1829 Mr. Morse again went abroad for the purpose of completing his studies. In Europe, for three more years, he visited and tarried in every large city on the continent, especially where art flour- ished. In 1832 he sailed from Havre for New York, to accept the position of Professor of the Literature of the Fine Arts, which had been tendered him. He had always felt a strong interest in chemistry and natural philosophy, and had given much time to the study of both. During the interval between the first and sec- ond trips, he delivered a course of lectures upon the Fine Arts, alternating nights with Professor J. F. Dana, who lectured upon electro-magnetism, illustrating his remarks with the first electro- magnet ever exhibited in America. The two professors became warm friends, and passed many hours together in discussion of the principles of electricity. Soon after, the electro-magnetic in- strument was presented to Morse. His pursuit of the science was very thorough, aided by the magnet, with which many experiments were tried, and it is said that his investigations of the subject were deeper than those of any other man in America. The theory, so full of mystery then, and so incomprehensible to most of the pas- sengers, was discussed on board the boat in which he returned from France, several of the passengers being professional men, and some of them fine scholars, who were given to deep research. The subject of such deep interest to Professor Morse came up 758 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. a-mong others, and one gentleman narrated the experiments he h-\d lately witnessed, " the object of which was to prove how read- ily the electric spark emanated from the magnet, and how quickly it could be disseminated." The party were sitting upon the deck when this was told, and one by one, as evening drew on, they with- drew to the cabin, or to their staterooms. At last the shadows had deepened into night, but one still form had not moved, or changed its position. The moments multiplied themselves into hours, and still he sat there, studying and working on this one great probkm, that he had never seen before. When the moon rose up in the midnight sky and silvered his locks as if with age, he looked out over the broad waters with a new light in his eye — the light of a new life and a new purpose. In his lonely and silent vigil he had traced out the path that should lead him to fame and renown ; he had planted seeds in the past which, know- ing now how to water and tend them, would yet bring him an abundant harvest ; yea, he had builded better than he knew. He had found the solution of a mystery that had haunted him. No more art for him ; no more days of dreaming ; no more coquetting with the coy godess who held her laurels too high for him to reach with brush and canvas. Now she would come and offer them to him, and plead his acceptance of the gift she so long withheld. She would shower her treasures over him whether he would or no. Every one knows Mr<, Morse was very practical, and he lost no time in thinking, but set at once to work ; and before the end of the voyage he had wrought out the idea, and completed the drawings for the electric telegraph, also the "electro-magnetic and recording telegraph, substantially and essentially as it now exists." This was in 1832, but he did not complete the first in- strument until three or four years later. This, like every embod- iment of the ideal, was far from being equal to the invention, as he still held it fixed upon the retina, of his mind. He made re- peated experiments and improvement^ and succeeded in sending messages over the wire half a mile or more. In 1840 he obtained his patent, after long and vexatious delays. Little confidence was felt, even amongst scientific men, that the invention would ever be brought into common use, or be of any practical use in long distances ; but his own f^ith in it was bound- less, and he petitioned the Government for an appropriation to S^MURT, F. B. MORSE. 760 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. enable him to put up an experimental line from Baltimore to Washington ; for Morse, like many another genius, had more brains than money, and more talents than influence. Considera- ble interest was felt in the subject, both by Congress, and throughout the country ; and scientific men, moved by his own enthusiasm and earnestness, began to ask if really there might not be something in it after all. In 1838 Morse went to Europe to try to interest the nations over the sea to seek abroad that aid and encouragement he had failed to meet at home. Here, again, he was disappointed, and returned to America weary, worn, disgusted, saddened and grieved by his disappointment. In 1842 he again laid the subject of his telegraph before Con- gress, and again asked the same aid he had before. His pecuniary circumstances had not improved, and he was unable to do any- thing himself — unable to afford even the expense of remaining in Washington during the session ; and he waited almost hopelessly as day after day passed and nothing was done; and his patience waned as did his small store of money, and grew rapidly but wfi"/ " beautifully less." Up to the last day, and the last night of the session nothing had been done for it, and at a late hour of the night he returned to his hotel, packed his valise and made all preparation to go to New York the next day. A sleepless night brought him no rest, and a gloomy, morbid, bitter sense of wrong, neglect and injustice still rankled in his mind ; his heart throbbed wearily with its weight of pain, as he sat over his coffee and morning papers at the breakfast which he could not swallow. His eye passed listlessly over the items, while his. thoughts wandered aimlessly away. So he had looked twice at a paragraph, and dreamily looked at it the third time, before he- realized that it was really himself and his own bill ; and that it announced that at the very last moment it had passed, and that thirty thousand dollars had been appropriated to his project. He could not believe his own senses; he sought his hat, and forget- ting his breakfast, forgetting his weariness, he rushed with toilet half made to the capitol, to learn if it was true. It is said that when he was convinced that the hour of victory was at hand — that the struggle and pain were past, and that the morning of the dense dark night was dawning, the overstrained, nerves gave: OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 761' way, and the strength that had supported him in his despair failed him in his triumph, and he sat down and wept like a child, andi like one of old, "he recked not that men saw." Work on the- experimental line was at once begun, and on the 25th of July, 1844, it was completed. The trial was made before all the gov- ernment officials and a large number of invited guests. Prof. Morse seated himself at the instrument, and with a sense of tri- umph that was pardonable, since Caesar never won a victory like this, and with his heart throbbing wildly to the songs fame sung; in the distance, for he knew that wealth and honor would crowrt him at last — ah! at last! — sent his first message to Baltimore^, and received an immediate answer. For two hours messages were sent and answers received with a rapidity which astonished every one but Morse; and while the spectators were wild with delight, this man, whose whole future hung upon the experiment ; this man, who had suffered tortures of fear and suspense; who had^ staked everything upon the success of his invention, and who had: scarcely a dollar in his pocket, sat, apparently calm and unmoved. Let the future bring him what it would, there could never be in her treasure house another hour of such unmixed joy, and nc glory like the glory of that day. Offers for the use of his invention floAved in upon him, and telegraph companies were organized all over the country. In fifteen years after that first trial morning, it is estimated that- there were 150,000 miles in operation; and his system is adopted all over the globe. His patent brought him a speedy and im- mense fortune, and those countries that were most tardy to do him justice were ready enough to force their acknowledgments of his genius upon him ; it is said that he has received more marks of honorable consideration from the crowned heads of Eu- rope than has fallen to the lot of any othe-r inventor. From Na- poleon III. he received the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; from the King of Denmark, the Cross of Knight of Danebrog ; from the King of Prussia, a gold medal ; from the Sultan of Turkey, the decoration of Nishaun Iftichar in diamonds, and from the Queen Isabella of Spain, the Cross of Knight Com- mander of the order of Isabella. In 1859, at the suggestion of Na- poleon III., representatives from the various European powers met to decide upon an appropriate token from all the nations. France,, 7^2 FOOTPRINIS OF THE AGES. Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Holland, Austria, Belgium, and Sardinia, Tuscany, and the Holy Land were represented, and presented, in the name of the united governments, the sum of 400,000 francs, .as a token of their appreciation of his labors. Mr. Morse was also the first experimenter with, and inventor of, the submarine telegraph, and was with Cyrus W. Field from the •first to the last of that mighty enterprise that enabled two worlds, wide sundered by a waste of waters as drear and wild as that over -which Noah's dove looked in vain for a resting place, to bid de- fiance to the wrath of Neptune, and, sitting each upon the soil of •liome, speak as friend to friend. Prof. Morse died in April, 1872, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Russia to India, the cities and nations have mourned ifor the world's benefactor. ELIAS HOWE, JR. l>^f^HETlE is not, in all the length and breadth of our land, a * tired and over-worked mother, groaning under the ac- cumulation of household sewing which the fingers, ready .-and skillful though they be, can not find or make time to do, and whose over-burdened heart and brain have been relieved and made to sing with joy by the possession of the " Household Fairy," who -will not be pleased to know something of its inventor. For, though the clarion voice of fame may boast of our telegraphs over land .and through ocean, of our magnificent steam printing presses, of •engines which are more wonderful than stories of Arabian Nights' Entertainments ; may talk of fire arms, whose deadly work upon the battle-field is more sure and fatal than that of the -pestilence which wasteth at noon-day ; may sing of the sculptor's cor the poet's art and tell of those who have made their names im- OUR GOVERNMEM' AND HISTORY. 763 ■mortal as financiers, or diplomatists ; yet a woman's heart beats high with gratitude as she remembers him whose cunning and patience and skill broke the chain of her bondage to toil that consumed her midnight hours, to poverty that robbed life of every blessing, and too often drove her to sin at which she shuddered, even while she embraced it, or into a suicide's grave. The " Song of the Shirt," with its vivid picture of degradation and suffering, is a song and a picture of an era that is passed, thank God, forever; and now, when care and anxiety and suffering Tiad set their seal on women's faces until they had grown prema- turely old and gray, peace and prosperity have come through the sewing machine. The inventor, Elias Howe, was born in the town of Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1819. Besides himself there were eight child- ren, and his father was in straightened circumstances, so that there -was need that each child, as it became old enough to work, should contribute to its own support. His education was very meager, -and his delicate health prevented his working hard ; besides, he was slightly lame, and so was unfitted for farm or other active labor. When he was sixteen years of age he went to Lowell, looping to make his fortune in the mills of the place, but he did Tiot remain long there. He went to Cambridge, and obtained employment in a shop where, with his cousin, Nathaniel P. Banks, he worked upon a hemp carder. In a few months he went to Boston, and there, at the age of twenty-one, he married a loving girl, and if, as commentators sometimes remark, it was a rash, ill- advised step, it was, in one sense at least, a good thing for the world, for his health was so poor as to render it almost impossible jfor him to work, and the necessity for bread, which drives some to crime, in like circumstances, sharpened his inventive faculties, if, indeed, it did not actually give birth to his genius. Three child- ren, wee, tiny, birdies, were born to him, and the young father's 'heart yearned over them with a love that was pain in itself, as his strength failed day by day, and his scanty earnings would not and could not be made to cover more than the barest necessities of life. He labored patiently and conscientiously for them, but he vdid it with a heart-broken hopelessness, which only those who Ihave tasted the bitterness of abject poverty can understand. The world, like a child testing its undeveloped powers, was beginning 764 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. • to think everything could be done by machinery, and, like the lit- tle one who, wearied of every toy, sat down amid them and cried for the moon, knowing full well it must cry in vain, this overgrown baby world declared it must have a sewing machine, that the want was imperative and must be met, while in the same breath in which it clamored for it, it declared it could never be ma4e~that the want could never be met — it was no use for any one to attempt it. Howe, in the midst of his poverty and suffering, listened, as one listens to voices in a dream. No man could need money more than he ; at the same time he knew he had talents of the high- est order, though they had never been tested. There was a silent but imperative power within him which struggled for a being and an acknowledged existence, and here was something which others dare not attempt. If he succeeded, fortune and fame were his ; without it, life was a burden too utterly dreadful to be long borne. He was now in that state when a man attempts desperate things ;; and he turned over the matter again and again in his mind, and. determined if human being could accomplish it, he would. He watched his wife hour after hour, as the cunning fingers drew the shining steel through the fabric, and tried from this to get the clue to his plan. He invented one machine which sewed in imi- tation of hand work, but he perceived at once that it was not what he wanted and not what the world wanted, either ; but it was a. whole year before he learned that the machine need not at all imi- tate the human hand in its work. From this he stepped inde- pendently aside, and labored to invent something on an entirely different principle, and he conceived the idea of using two threads- and forming a stitch with a curved needle and a shuttle. Now he- had the secret, at least the secret of the stitch ; and with wire and; wood he constructed a rough model of his own machine in Octo- ber, 1844, and operated it to his entire satisfaction. He now gave- up his position as machinist, and removed to his father's house,, for his poverty was extreme, and he could scarcely provide bread for his family. He had the model for his machine clearly worked out in his brain, but had not a dollar nor a farthing to do any- thing toward making a machine or getting a patent. In this- strait he applied to a gentleman, a Mr. Fisher, who was a man. of some property, and whom he knew could help him if he wouldy, and succeeded in interesting him to that extent that he formed a OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 765 partnership with him upon the terms that Mr. F. would furnish the money to build the model and advance also enough to support his family and defray his expenses, and in return would receive half the profits on the machines. The terms were gladly accepted, and Mr. Howe went to work, toiling all day, and often all night ; and in April his machine was finished. In May, 1845, he made two suits of woolen clothes, one for himself and one for his part- ner, upon it. He procured his patent, and tried to dispose of his machines to tailors, but found, to his astonishment, that he could not dispose of a single machine. Its ingenuity was praised, and of course every one wished him well, but good wishes alone would not support his family; and when his partner gave it up in disgust and withdrew from his business, poor Howe was disheartened to that extent that he set it away and obtained a place as engineer upon a railroad, where he remained until his health utterly failed and he was obliged to return home. Not long after this he went to England with his machine, but found no encouragement there, as elsewhere, but at length received the offer of twelve hundred and fifty dollars for the machine he Iiad with him, and fifteen dollars per week to operate the machine in making umbrellas. This was not what he had hoped for, but it seemed the only thing he could do, and he accepted in a sort of hopeless despair, and sent for his family to join him. He remained in this position but a few months, for his master's temper was -unendurable, and they were better apart. Dark as had been the gloomy life he had led for. years, the darkest of all his sad days came to him now. A stranger — without a friend in England — poor health, a sick wife, and three children on his hands — his case was sad indeed, and their sufferings were great, but at length in some way he obtained the means to send his family home again, jemaining himself in London. At last he became utterly dis- couraged and gave up all hopes of bringing his machine into use Tiere, and pawned his model and patent papers for money to return to America. When he arrived at New York he was almost penni- less, and before he had time to look around, think of wages and means, or mark out any course for himself, he received intelli- gence that his wife was in the last stages of consumption — proba- bly dying. We cannot picture his anguish as he listened to this sad intelligence. We cannot, and no pen can convey to you any just 766 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. idea of the bitterness that filled the heart that bled with its agony-.- From first to last his life then seemed to have been made up of a succession of failures, each succeeding one more humiliating and more complete than the last, and she had shared them all, had shared his sorrow and his poverty, her life had been dark- ened by the shadow from his own ; and now, in spite of the efforts he had made to win wealth and honor, efforts made more for her sake than his own, she was dying — dying in dependence and want — dying, and he had not the money to go to her, and was too feeble to walk a mile. Of all his dark days this was the darkest, and he felt, as he never felt it before, that Fate had singled him out as the object of her scorn and abuse. When at last he reached his wife, she was breathing her last, and he wept such tears over the still white face of the dead as rarely fell from the eyes of man. Soon after his return he learned that during his stay in London his- machine had been largely copied by parties wfio had the means to manufacture and introduce them, and having a patent which was full and ample to cover all his rights, he set to work to defend them ; and now, by one of those strange revolutions of fortune which go farther than anything else to disgust one with human na- ture, everybody was ready to help him. The most bungling prophet could see now that success must crown him, and there were plenty desirous to aid and prove their regard for him. The decision of Judge Spurgeon, in 1854, settled the suits in his favor. From that time forward prosperity flowed in upon him, and he accumu' lated a large fortune. The strangest thing, perhaps, in his life, was the fact of his en- listing as a private soldier in the Seventeenth Regiment Connecti- cut Volunteers, with whom he went to the field and performed all his duties until his failing health compelled him to return home. He was a patriot in the strongest sense : he fought for his country because he believed it had claims on him, and because he dis- dained that his gold should buy him a substitute, who, falling on. the battle field would leave a responsibility on him that he could not meet, here or hereafter. Howe died in Brooklyn, in 1867, and from the East to the West,, from the north to the south, in all lands of the old world and the new, wherever woman's skill ministers to fashion or comfort, to luxury or necessity, by every hearthstone, and in every home, the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 76r busy hum of the sewing machine will keep his memory green im grateful hearts through all generations to come. ROBKRT FULTON. FACETIOUS author calls our men of genius " freaks of nature ; " but looking at the array of men whose talents have made them comparisons in history, I can but think Nature is in a mood for indulging herself in " freaks " very often. America has in a very great degree been blessed in the number of which she has been the a/ma mater. Her democratic principles foster in every son, yea, and daughter too, of her soil the desire to be all that God gave them power to be, and do something by^ which the world will remember them when they have been gath- ered to their rest. The pen and brain love to dwell on the mighty- works which these children of genius have achieved, and one of the mightiest monuments which living man ever built with his. own hands to his name, is to be found in the floating palaces that- ■_768 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. " walk the waters " of every land beneath the sun, the work of .Robert Fulton. He was born at Little Britton, in Pennsylvania, in 1765. He •was an artist and a genius from his birth, and while a mere child, used his pencil with great skill, and loved it so well as to chose painting for a profession, and at the age of seventeen, established himself in Philadelphia as a portrait and landscape painter. At the time when the bold conceptions and dainty skill of West had made him the idol of Europe, Fulton determined to go abroad and study under some of the great masters. It was while he was the guest as well as pupil of Benjamin West, that Fulton, then xising rapidly in his profession, met many scientific men, and was advised by the Duke of Bridgewater to turn his attention to engin- eering. He discovered what others had overlooked in the young .American, a peculiar aptitude for mechanism and certain qualities lof intellect which would make him master of the law of motion iin any or every form. He also formed the acquaintance of the .Earl of Stanhope, a man of fine talents, yet exceedingly visionary and ideal. Fulton's first experiments were with a missile which he invented to be used in time of war — a torpedo for destroying gunboats. He failed to accomplish anything with this, but his attention had by this means been directed to water craft, the .clumsy and uncertain means by which they were propelled, and the great need of a better means of locomotion. Watt was .already experimenting with steam, and it is quite probable, if not certain, that Fulton's genius lay more in adaptation of ideas than in fertility of origination. When the engine had been invented by another, Fulton saw at a glance, as even its own inventor did not, and never would, to what use to put it. His first experi- ments were made in France, but they were completed and put into practice in America. Mr. Fulton and Mr. Livingston made ap- plication to the Legislature of New York to grant them the exclusive right to navigate its waters by steam, and its unhesitat- ing and unqualified consent was the strongest expression they ■could give of their contempt for a project which they thought, and the world thought, would never be carried beyond the mad brain of its author. The engines for Fulton's first boats were ordered from England, and the boats were built in America in j.80.6, A trial trip was OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 769 announced, to which all the political, literary and scientific men of New York were invited. In all that assembly there was scarce a man who believed in the success of the experiment, or looked upon it as anything but an object of ridicule. There were a vari- ety of opinions as to the object of Fulton, all more or less expressive of their contempt for him and his purpose , while all were unanimous in their verdict that it was money thrown away, and that inventor and invention alike would come to no good. The vessel was unshapely — there is no denying that — a coarse, clumsy, heavy, ungainly thing ; and as, at the word of command from Fulton, she began to move away from the shore and plow her way through the foaming waters, faces that were wreathed with smiles of scorn, or with skeptical sneers, began to straighten with interest, the interest to give place to wonder, the wonder to awe ; and at last, as the fact of locomotion became established beyond a doubt, and Fulton's triumph was assured, shouts and cheers rose, again and again, and from a visionary impostor they ele- vated him, at one revolution of opinion, into something almost superhuman. The " Clermont " then started on her first long trial trip, and ever after the tongue of doubter and skeptic were silent. The navigation of the Hudson by steam now became a fact ; the Clermont became a regular passenger boat, while Fulton watched closely and steadily for every opportunity to detect flaw or fault in her machinery, and many important improvements were made. However, if the "course of true love never did run smooth," neither did the course of any inventor whose invention was of in- terest enough to provoke opposition, and Fulton soon found com- petition, even though he had been granted the " exclusive right of navigating all the waters of New York by steam." Other boats were started upon the river, propelled by steam in the same way as their own. This was so clearly an infringement on Living- ston and Fulton's rights, that they applied for an injunction, which was refused by the court of chancery, after which it was carried lo the court of errors, which granted it. They now added a num- ber of new boats to their line, and largely increased their business. About this time were heard murmurs of discontent from those who wished to enter into this branch of business, and not unfre- quently the mass of the people joined against Fulton and declared that the legislature had no right to allow him to monop- 49 77° FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. olize what should, and must be in time open to all. Great interests were at stake — none knew yet the magnitude of the interests — perhaps none even guessed them, or had any idea how vast the transportation of freight and passengers would yet be. Fulton did not live to see his great invention carried to com- pletion, or to perfection. The State of New Jersey had declared Fulton's monopoly unconstitutional, and in the spring of 1815 his partner endeavored to have the decision revoked, but failed. Mr. Fulton had been attending court, and returning to his home, was exposed to very severe weather, caught a bad cold and was seized with a very violent illness, partially recovered, but had a relapse, from which in his weak state he could not rally. He died on the 24th of February, 1815. His loss was felt by the community at large, and every token of respect was paid him by the citizens of all the Eastern States and cities, and by the public journals. RICHARD M. HOE. NOTHING marks more sharply and distinctly the mighty strides which the world has taken in the arts and sci- ences, and in the more substantial and truly useful inven- tions which have elevated the human race, than the perfection to which printing has been carried ; and to realize this fully, one need but observe the working of one of our modem presses, as the beautiful sheets are printed and thrown from it with lightning rapidity, and compare its work with the rude, clumsy and almost unintelligible hieroglyphics of the ancients. Foremost among those who have laid the world under lasting obligations, standing high above the masses as a bene- factor of his race, and one whose name will be remembered RICHARD M. HOE. 772 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. SO long as food must be gleaned for the hungry laborer in the fields of literature, or from those same fields must be gathered amusement for those who " toil not, neither do they spin," is Richard M. Hoe, the inventor of the steam cylinder press, who was born in New York city, in 1812, His father was a man of more than ordinary talents and ingenuity, and engaged in the manufac- ture of printing materials. It is said that young Richard disliked the business exceedingly, and refused to walk in the " way his father trod," preferring to be a carpenter. He seems to have inherited all his father's ingenuity, and possessed some that was original. His first invention was a method of grinding saws, or rather, perhaps, an improve- ment on an old method, for which he obtained patents both in America and England. Previous to this, however, his father's health failed, and Richard took his place in the firm of which he has been a member. They were now manufacturing a press of their own invention, at least so-called, but really an imitation of, and improvement on, the Napier Press, of England. When Mr. Richard M. Hoe returned to New York from London, he at once confined himself to this branch of their business, and produced the machine so well known as Hoe's Double-Cylinder Press, thought at that time to be the very perfection of human skill in mechanism, and still extensively used. In a few years the progress which the newspaper interests had made far outgrew this, and something better was so imperatively demandea that Mr. Hoe taxed his brains to the utmost to invent something that would work with accelerated speed, but in vain ; for four years he experimented to no purpose. The difficulties were too great, and the solution of the problem was still far from him. At times the idea seemed to be almost defined, then, when he strove to grasp it, eluded him like a " will o' the wisp " Through the day he worked steadily at his business, but when night came, and he sat down to think, the shadow haunted him like a troubled spirit, and he again resumed the study ; but the more he thought and experimented, the more impossible it seemed to reach the desired result. With patience exhausted he was about to abandon it in despair, when suddenly, like lightning swift leaping from the summer sky, or like some trick of magic, the plan by which the types might be secured on a horizontal cylin- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 773 der came to his mind. He had mastered the difficulty, and in the hours of that night, when sleep was upon the children of men, he wrought out the plan of the mightiest conception that man ever knew. In the morning he had upon paper the magnificent Lightning Press ; matured his model, carried it to Washington, obtained his patent, and to-day the machine is incomparable and unrivaled. Mr. Hoe is also the proprietor of the Adams press, and has very extensive machine works both in England and America, indeed the largest of the kind in the world. The ten cylinder press costs fifty thousand dollars, and is considered cheap at that; it strikes off twenty-five thousand sheets per hour, and is capable of exceeding this. The inventor is still studying to improve it. No one who has not seen the gigantic machine at work can . ever form an idea of its vast power, or imagine the magnitude of the task of bringing it to perfection ; for the simple hand-press, easily worked by a child, was the tiny germ from which the mighty genius of Hoe developed this magnificent master-piece of ma- chinery. Mr. Hoe is still a young man, not far advanced in his fifties, and bids fair to live to bless the world in the future, as he has in the past, for many years to come. He is a just man, one who walks "uprightly before God," and whose observance of the golden rule has passed into proverb with those who know him most intimately. No better thing can be said of one than this — no other criticism of human character or conduct could be so high a compliment. GEORGE STEPHENSON. REAT results are born of great efforts ; while patient en- deavor stands faithfully by, watching jealously, that never, mid pain and suffering, under discouragement or even in disgrace, shall the brain cease its labors of maternity until her idea 774 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. is matured and given to the world as perfect as human ingenuity can develop it. To no one thing are the nations of the earth so much indebted as to steam. In a most especial manner is the New World, in its mighty strides from a feeble germ whose very life seemed to de- pend upon the tolerance of her natural foes, to the strongest republic, if not the strongest of all civilized nations, dependent upon steam for the strength which lent her power to go with gigantic strides toward the goal, and reach it in the glow of her sturdy national youth, while those who were far advanced in years when she was born came in long after her in the race. Not only do we possess the longest railroads in the world, but the cheapest, and we no longer wait for civilization to ask for them to be run to their doors, but with the sturdy tramp of genii, they make their way through mighty forests where never the woodman's axe rang, and never a sound broke their silence until the engine's shrill whistle echoed through the depths of the tangled jungles and slumbering valleys ; and while yet the Red man looked on with dusky eyes dilated with wonder, the teeming emigrant fol- lowed fast in its wake, and villages and cities sprang up beside it, and the desert blossomed as ths rose. The inventor of the present system of locomotion was George Stephenson, a very humble person for the first half of his life, afterward looked to from far and near as the peer of any or all of those who were the acknowledged benefactors of their race. He was born June 9, 1781, in a collier's tenement house, in the little village of Wylam, England. His father was a thrifty man, foreman at a shaft engine, on a salary of twelve shillings a week. The Stephensons removed to Dewly Burn before George reached his eighth year, and in this cold and cheerless place the child found his first employment in weeding turnips and tending cows, at the magnificent remuneration of two pence per day. From his earliest childhood he looked to the time when he should be an overseer, or have charge of an engine ; and the ambition, modest as it seems now, was a bold one for the boy whose surroundings were all of so depressing a nature. He kept alive his child-like hopes by building mud engines, with hemlock stems for pipes, and he built mimic wheels, that to his imagination seemed capable of bearing them to the uttermost parts of the earth. Faint foreshad- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 775 owings were they of the magnificent locomotives of which they were the forerunners. While he was a mere boy his father ap- pointed him assistant foreman at the Durley pit. He neglected no opportunity of making himself acquainted with the duties of the engine-room. He studied the machine by night and day, and he loved the dumb thing like a brother, or something dearer still ; while a personal friendship that was almost worship, sprung up in his heart for the engine he controlled. At the age of fifteen he was appointed engineer in a colliery, and he shouted triumph- antly, as if to the Fates who controlled his destiny, or would thwart his plans, " I am made for life." At eighteen years of age he was quite a celebrated engineer, but otherwise wholly unedu- cated. He had never attended school, and could neither read nor write. He was laboriously engaged through the day, yet after that he still stood beside his pet, cleaning and caring for it like a mother for her child. He now began to feel that the want of education was a serious drawback to his future progress — a bar which he must sur- mount and with that firmness which was characteristic, deter- mined to remove it. Old as he was, he went to the village school, and began with his ABC, like a little child, and so earn- estly did he apply himself, that before he was nineteen years of age, he could write his name in a bold, legible hand, and read passably well. Subsequently he studied arithmetic, mathematics, practical and experimental philosophy, mechanics, and similar subjects with marked success. He had a fine memory and an understanding easily impressed ; while he was modest, and never afraid to admit his ignorance. In 1802 he removed to Wellington Quay and was married. After remaining here three years he removed to Killingworth, where he was overtaken by a severe calamity in the death of his wife, and then went to Scotland. After nearly a vear's absence he returned to Killingworth, where his only child, a little son, Robert, was being nursed. A man like Stephenson, who understands well the machines under his control, and who takes pride in them, will always be in a way remarkable, and have opportunities for displaying his inge- nuity, but the first really important test to which his skill was put, was remedying the defects of an engine which had defied the skill 77^ FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. of all the engineers in the neighborhood, and even of the maker himself. Stephenson remedied the difficulty at once, and received for it ten pounds and the position of chief engineer of the col- liery. In 1812 he was made engine-wright ; when, being re- lieved from manual labor he could give his entire attention to machinery. He had given a great deal of thought and study to the subject of railroads, and was perfectly familiar with every experiment that had been made to introduce the locomotive. Their heavy and cumbrous wheels, cogs, screws, pistons and levers had been tried in the conveyance of wagons, but the speed was so slow, the wear and tear of machinery was so great, that every experiment was abandoned. That it must come into use, Ste- phenson felt sure, and his mighty mind grasped the advantages that would result from the application of a power so enormous as that of the locomotive, if once it were brought into perfect sub- jection. Setting himself to study it out, he worked until he was satisfied he had found the secret of so many disappointments, and unhesitatingly declared he could make a better engine himself, in which he was encouraged by all the colliery proprietors by whom his ingenuity had so often been tested ; and Lord Ravensworth at once advanced money for the necessary expenditures, in remem- brance of which Stephenson called his first engine " My Lord." This locomotive, after ten months of anxious labor and constant personal supervision, was completed. It fully justified his boast; still the experiments with it, although satisfactory to every one else were not so to him. He found it defective in many points, and so far — so far from his ideal — -yet, though many improvements were afterwards added by the author, this mechanical contrivance contained the germ of all that has ever been effected since. The use of steam for the transportation of passengers had never been dreamed of. The Stockton and Darlington railroad was the first completed road in the world, and was opened for traffic on the 27th of September, 1825, and one of Stephenson's engines tried. It was attached to a train consisting of six wagons loaded with coal, then the passenger coach, filled with the directors and their friends, then twenty- one wagons fitted up with seats foi passengers, and lastly, six more wagons filled with coal ; making, ' in all, a train of thirty-six vehicles. " The signal was given," says a local chronicler of the time, " and this immense train, drawn bv OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 777 a single engine, started off at a spe^d of twelve miles an hour. A large passenger traffic immediately sprung up, and was, of course, a source of unexpected profit to the road. With the successful issue of the Stockton and Darlington project, the practicability of railroads became an established fact, and other schemes were at once set on foot. The Liverpool and Manchester was the most important road, and was bitterly opposed by the canal proprietors, whose monopoly it destroyed ; but at length the bill was granted, and Stephenson was appointed engineer of the line. He gives a humorous account of his cross-examination before the House of Commons, of the conditions upon which an engine could be used upon the road, and finally of the trial of the four different en- gines which competed for acceptance before the directors. The judges had declared ten miles per hour to be the greatest speed possible for an engine to make, but the average speed of Stephen- son's " Rocket," during her trial trips, was twenty-nine miles per hour, or three times that given. The other engines were tried, but proved so inferior that the " Rocket " was accepted, and a prize of five hundred pounds awarded. Other engines made by Mr. Stephenson far eclipsed the " Rocket," and when the " Northumbrian " conveyed the body of a gentleman who had met with an accident a distance of fifteen miles in twenty-five minutes, the incredible speed burst upon the world with all the force of a new and unlooked-for phenomenon, and Stephenson's fame was made, and his career fairly inaugurated. Orders came in from all parts of the world for his engines ; his workshops were crowded with artisans, and he was recognized as the first engineer in his country. His personal services were much in demand, and every one who was desirous of constructing a road endeavored to obtain his influence. He paid a visit to France, Belgium and Spain, and was received with the high- est honors, and every mark of distinguished attention. In Spain he had a long illness, from which he never wholly recovered. His constitution, so strong and vigorous was broken, and he died on the 1 2th of August, 1848, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. In the latter years of his life he was greatly assisted by his son Robert, who rose to be the first engineer in the world. Mr. George Stephenson was one of the most remarkable instances of a truly self-made man. He would never admit that he had more 778 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. genius than others, but was proud of his perseverance and strength of purpose, to which he attributed his success in life. In his case we see a man struggling with the direst poverty, — born in it, cra- dled in it, reared in it, — meeting and fighting it at every step, yet never losing sight for one instant of his determination to master the problem that had so long baffled others, and to unfold the mysteries that slept in the womb of possibilities, and to break the fetters of the giant who, once free, would be a mightier power than was known on earth. " I have fought," he said, " for the loco- motive nearly twenty years, having no engineers to help me until I had raised engineers under my own care. The school of engi- neers were college-bred men ; they wrapped themselves in their professional dignity, and would not meet me in former years, be- cause by the most patient drudgery of hand and brain I worked out for myself my ideal. I have persevered, and I have conquered." He was modest in his deportment, and when a poor man carefully preserved his self-respect, and never was guilty of an act Avhich could impair it. His thirst for knowledge made his poverty re- spectable, and when he rose to a higher position and associated with men of the highest standing and influence in Britain, he took his position with as much quiet self-composure as if he had been born to the purpose. They wondered at the ease and dignity of his deportment, and men in the highest ranks of life pronounced him one of "nature's gentlemen." ELI WHITNEY. >^0 no one man does the North and South alike feel under so great obligations as to Eli Whitney. But for his genius the great staple of the South could not have been pre- pared for the manufacturers of the North in quantities sufficient OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 779 to make it a popular article of commerce. True, in time the need for the article must have forced a way for its preparation, but the time was then, when the means must come, or the work must lan- guish and the people suffer for want of one. ' Eli Whitney was born in Westborough, Worcester county, Mas- sachusetts, December 8th, 1765. Inclinations of his mechanical genius were developed at a very early age. In a hundred little ways the ingenuity of the boy showed itself, and like many another ingenious boy, his father and friends shook their heads in sorrow- ful regret, and indulged in sad misapprehensions of the worst that could befall him — at least, in the opinion of the strict, frugal, in- dustrious New Englanders, a shiftless manhood. From the age of nineteen, young Whitney conceived the idea of obtaining a liberal education, and partly from the avails of his mechanical labors, partly by teaching school in the winter he was so far able to overcome the obstacles that lay in his way, as to prepare himself to enter the freshman class at Yale college, in 1789. After taking his degree in the autumn of 1792, he engaged in the capacity of private tutor to Mr. B., of Georgia, but on ar- riving in that city found another had taken his place, leaving him without resources or friends, save in the family of Gen. Greene, of Mulberry Grove, with whom he had formed an accidental acquaintance. These people, with true southern hospitality, invi- ted him to make their house his home, where he commenced the study of the law. While there, Mrs. Greene was engaged in a sort of embroidery called tambour work. She complained of the frame she used, saying it tore the delicate threads, whereupon Whitney, eager to do anything for a lady to whom he was so deeply indebted, set his wits to work, and constructed one so superior in every way that she was delighted with it and con- sidered it a great piece of ingenuity. A short time after the family were visited by a party of gentle- men, mostly officers who had served under the General in the Revolutionary War ; and they were discussing the impossibility of being able to make the cotton crop, otherwise a staple in the south, a source of profit while the labor of removing the seeds by hand was so great and so tedious; and that until inge- nuity could invent some machine to do the work of which they were hopeless, it could never become a marketable article or 780 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. a source of wealth to them. Separating one pound of the clean staple from the seed was a day's work for a woman ; — it must be given up. An idea occurred to Mrs. Greene. Her woman's intu- ition had read the character of Mr. Whitney, and she believed it only required an opportunity to develop his ingenuity for him to make a mark in the world. Said she, " Gentlemen, apply to my friend Whitney, here ; he can make anything ; " at the same time showing the tambour frame and several other articles which he had made. She introduced them to him, extolled his genius and com- mended him to their friendship. He modestly disclaimed any claim to mechanical genius, and on their mentioning the subject, declared he never saw a cotton seed in his life. Mrs. G., how- ever, had accomplished her object, which was to introduce him to some influential men, who should assist him in making a start in life in some way. No one foresaw the change it would make in his life. * This interview, so accidental on his part, was the turning point with him, and he resolved, if it were possible, to invent something which would bring him fame ; and the motive which stimulated him, was above his own personal interests, was a wish, or deter- mination that the lady whose kindness had stood him in hand in this utmost need, and who had so high a confidence in his ability, should not be disappointed. He communicated his design to Mr, Miller, who so far entered into his plan as to give him a room in his house wherein to carry on his work. He set to work under every disadvantage, having to make his own tools, and even to manufacture his own wire, an article not to be procured in Savan- nah. Near the close of the winter the machine was so near com- pletion as to leave no doubt of his success. As yet, no one knew of his plans except Mrs. Greene, and Mr. Phineas Miller, who was a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale college. He was a lawyer of fine local reputation, and after the death of Gen. Greene, became the husband of his widow. He had considerable means at his command and proposed to be at the whole expense until the machine was completed, when he would be joint proprietor, and share in the profits of the sales ; and legal documents were drawn up, declaring that if the machine was successful, " all the advantages and profits arising therefrom OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 781 should be mutually and equally shared between them." An invention of so great value to the agricultural interests of the country, could not long remain a secret, and the knowledge which soon spread through the State was the cause of so intense an excitement that multitudes came from all parts to see a machine which was to revolutionize everything in the South, and under whose influence their waste acres would "blossom as the rose." So determined were some of the populace to obtain possession of the treasure, and neither law nor justice could restrain them, they actually broke into the room at midnight and carried off the machine. By this means the public became possessed of the secret, and before he could complete his model and secure the patent, quite a large number of machines were in successful ope- ration, constructed with some slight deviation from the original, with the hope of eluding the penalty for violating the patent right. As soon as the partnership between Miller and Whitney was formed, Mr. Whitney repaired to Connecticut, where he was to perfect the machine, obtain a patent, and manufacture and ship to Georgia such number as would supply the demand. The greatest difficulty experienced by men in that day was the scarcity of money, and the difficulty of obtaining means sufficient to carry on any enterprise. In April, 1793, he returned to Georgia, when the demand for the machines was immensely large. Enormous crops of cotton had been planted, with the expectation that the new gin would enable them to market it at little expense. In March, 1795, Mr. Whitney went to New York, and, in the midst of perplexity and discouragement, he was confined to his bed three weeks with fever. As soon as he was able, he went to New Haven, by packet, where he learned that his shop and all the machinery were de- stroyed by fire. Thus he was suddenly reduced to bankruptcy, without the means of making payment. His mind, however, was not one to sink or yield under such trials, but seemed to gather strength from all the opposition it met. Of a similar spirit was Mr. Miller, and the following extract from a letter of his to Mr. Whitney shows how brave was the moral strength of the man — ' how undaunted the courage which met what, to another, would have been defeat. " I think we ought to meet such events with 782 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. equanimity. We are pursuing a valuable object by honorable means, and I believe that our measures are such as are justified by virtue and morality It has pleased Providence to postpone the attainment of this object. In the midst of the reflections called up by our misfortune, and with feelings keenly sensitive to the loss, and injury, and wrong, we have sustained, I feel an exultant joy that you possess a mind similar to my own — that you are not disheartened — that you will persevere and endeavor, at all hazards, to attain the main object, I will devote all my time, all my thoughts, all my exertions, all the fortune I possess, and all the money I can earn or borrow, to compass and complete the business we have undertaken ; and if fortune should by any fu- ture disaster deprive us of our reward, we will at least deserve it. It shall never be said that we lost an object which perseverance could attain. I think it strange, indeed, if two young men in the prime of life, with some share of ingenuity, with a little knowledge of the world, a great deal of industry, and a considerable command of property, should not be able to sustain this blow, heavy as it is." After this the company began to be very much straightened for money ; but Mr. Miller expressed a confidence that they should be able to raise funds in some way or other; though he knew not how. While they were thus overwhelmed with misfortune, intel- ligence came from England that the cotton cleaned by their gin was ruined by the machinery. The news threatened the death blow to their hopes. At this time, 1796, they had thirty gins in different parts of Georgia. Some of these, owing to this report, were even then standing still. The company had $10,000 in real estate suitable only for ginning cotton. The strain upon the mind of Mr. Whitney was so great that it almost gave way under it. It seemed impossible to extricate himself from the accumulation of misfortunes ; and he wrote to Mr. Miller as follows : " Our ex- treme embarrassments are now so great that it seems impossible to struggle longer against them. It has required my utmost exer- tions to exist, without making any progress in our business. I have labored hard to stem the strong current of disappointment which threatens to carry me down the cataract, but have labored with a shattered oar, and in vain, unless some speedy help comes. Life is but short at best, and six or seven of its best years are an immense sacrifice to him who makes it. My most unremitting OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY." 783 attention has been given to my business ; I have sacrificed to it other objects by which I might have gained thirty or forty thou- sand dollars. My whole prospects have been bounded by it with the expectation that I should, ere this, have realized something by it." Honest merchants, who were neither bribed nor prejudiced gave their testimony in favor of Whitney's gin, and had it not been for the extensive and shameful encroachments upon their rights, they would have been successful. It seemed impossible to obtain justice in any court in Georgia. The companies and cor- porations who opposed them were as twenty against one ; and the juries were influenced, and bribed, and bought, where, indeed, they were not personally interested. They would now gladly have relinquished the plan of using their gins, and satisfied themselves with disposing of their rights, but none would buy what they could use with impunity. In December, 1802, Mr, Whitney negotiated a sale of his patent right with the State of South Carolina. The Legislature laid a tax of 25 cents upon every saw employed in ginning cot- ton ; to be continued for five years ; and as some of the gins, in- deed most of them, had forty saws, it promised to pay better than any other disposition they could make of it. About this time Mr. Goodrich, an agent of the company, entered into a similar negotiation with the State of Tennessee. This State had by this time begun to realize the importance of the invention, and the citizens testified to their strong desire to come into possession of its benefits. The Legislature therefore passed a law laying a tax of 37 J^ cents per annum for every saw, for the space of four years, to be faithfully paid over to the patentee as fast as col- lected. Thus far prospects were favorable to the patentees, when, through the influence of enemies, the Legislature of South Caro- lina suddenly annulled her contract, refused to pay any more, and sued for the refunding of what had already been paid. Mr. Whitney felt this most keenly, as is shown by the remonstrance which he presented to the Legislature. The State of Tennessee followed the example of South Carolina in annulling her con- tracts, and a similar step was undertaken in North Carolina ; but a committee to whom it was referred declared, " the State ought to fulfil its engagement with punctuality and good faith," which resolution was adopted by both Houses. There were high- 784 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. minded men, in South Carolina, too, who felt keenly the disgrace their State had brought upon itself, and the bitter injustice done Mr. Whitney, and were indignant at the measure adopted by the Legislature of 1806. Their sentiments produced so marked an impression on the minds of the public that they fairly compelled the Legislature to rescind their last decision, paid up all arrears, and signified their respect for Mr. Whitney by marked commenda- tion. In Georgia the tide seemed at last to turn in their favor, and where the strangest injustice had been met and the deepest wrongs borne, were found those who viewed with scorn and con- tempt the base frauds imposed upon him. At this time a new and unexpected responsibility devolved upon him. Mr. Miller, who had at first been enthusiastically confident of realizing a large fortune, had yielded to the perpetual disappointments that met him at every turn, and had sunk under them, and died, broken- hearted by the neglect and wrong which had been heaped upon them. Again, the United States Court, held in Georgia, in December, 1807, gave a most important and triumphant decision in his favor, but the time of the patent had nearly expired. More than sixty suits had been instituted in Georgia before a single decision on its merits was obtained. A gentleman of much legal experience, who was well acquainted with Mr. Whitney's affairs in the South, and sometimes acted as his legal adviser, says, in all his experi- ence in the thorny profession of the law, he has never seen such a case of perseverance under such difficulties, " nor do I believe I ever knew a man who would have met them with equal coolness and firmness, or would finally have obtained even the partial success which he had." Becoming deeply impressed with the uncertainty of all his hopes founded upon the cotton gin, notwithstanding all their high promise, he began seriously to look around for some busi- ness in which superior ingenuity, persevering industry, and rare business qualifications, which he must have been conscious of pos- sessing, might bring him at least a competency. The business which he chose, in accordance with his mind upon this subject, was the manufacture of arms for the United States. He addressed a letter to the Hon. Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury, by whose influence he obtained a contract for the manufacture of ten thousand stand of arms, four thousand of which were to be OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 785 delivered by the first of September of the ensuing year ; the ]Dalance within one year from that time. Finding it impossible to com- plete them in time to fulfil his contract, the Government, in the most liberal and generous manner, extended the time to eight, in- stead of two years. The great improvement which has been made in arms under his supervision, and the direction of his genius, has been acknowledged by the government, and laid the ■country under permanent obligation to him. He now obtained a contract to manufacture for the United States fifteen thousand stand of arms, and a similar contract from the State of New York, .and in the year 1822, Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, ad- mitted, in a conversation upon the subject, that at the two public armories alone, the government was saving twenty-five thousand dollars per annum through Mr. Whitney. In 181 2 he again attempted to secure a renewal of his patent upon his cotton gin, and, although he proved clearly his right to the invention, and that it was giving to the Southern States an annual income of at least three million of dollars, still, he failed ; but his manufacture of arms was gradually bringing him affluence and fortune. In January, 1817, he married Miss Henrietta Ed- wards, — daughter of Hon. Pierpont Edwards, of the District Court of Connecticut, — and fortune seemed to smile upon him, as he saw his family circle increased by a son and two daughters ; then death, which comes to all, took from the community this pa- tient and good man, whose genius had benefited all mankind ; and the demonstrations of respect and regard which were manifested by the citizens of New Haven proved how deep and sincere were iheir regrets for his loss. CHARLES GOODYEAR. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 787 CHARLES GOODYEAR. •k.** ^HE method by which to utilize the catechu, that was so abundant in the East Indies and in South America, had long been sought. Ships had brought it over as ballast from time immemorial, and one and another had attempted to render it useful in the manufacture of those articles for which it s'eemed so perfectly adapted, and which the world stood in need of. France was the first to put it to any real use, not far from the year 1820, by weaving strands of rubber with the threads of the goods for garters and suspenders ; and also, to some extent, for blacking and polish. The first pair of India Rubber shoes were exhibited in Boston, 1820, and it is said that they were so intensely homely as to be little less than monstrosities, and were looked upon more as curiosities than otherwise ; but a few years later the annual importation reached five hundred thousand pair. In- deed no lady thought herself well dressed in stormy weather un- less she had on a pair of the horrid things; but they were so un- deniably ugly that only the fact that they were fashionable, and cost five dollars per pair, made them even tolerable. In the win- . ter they froze solid ; in the summer they melted, and must have been every way a nuisance. Yet it seemed absolutely certain that it would some day come into general use, and that the process of preparation was a simple affair when once it was discovered ; and Yankee ingenuity and Yankee inquisitiveness was sure to find it out. A process was discovered by a foreman of a patent leather factory, a Mr. Chaffee, which was believed by himself and others to be the best thing yet hit upon. Capitalists united and formed an "India Rubber Company," and disposed of their stock readily. The excitement ran to fever height, and " all went merry as a marriage bell." But a sword was suspended by a hair above them, and disaster stared them blankly in the face. The goods, of every conceivable variety, were made in the winter ; and 7^8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. when the heat of summer came, they not only melted, but were so offensive in odor, that they were absolutely obliged to bury them. India rubber stock fell — or rather was thrown up by the ruined and disgusted stockholders — and they were appalled by their total and irretrievable losses. While they were still operating, however, before the final crash fell, with its overwhelming disgrace, a gentleman from Philadelphia stepped into the warerooms of the company, only from curiosity, to inspect the rubber goods, and purchased a life preserver, which he examined carefully; and finding the valve clumsy and defective, invented a better and safer one, with which he hurried back to New York, hoping to be able to sell it to the Company. This man was Charles Goodyear, whose name has since become inseparably connected with the India Rubber works. He had been engaged in the hardware busir ness from boyhood, and through a long series of misfortunes and business difficulties, was now on the eve of bankruptcy, and hoped that he would be able to make something out of it with which to relieve himself from his present embarrassment. The agent recognized the skill and ingenuity of the invention, but knew how useless it was at the present stage of affairs to apply it to the goods they were manufacturing; and taking Mr. Goodyear into his confidence, explained the real condition of the business, and the utter hopelessness of accomplishing anything, or, of saving themselves, unless some better method were devised for preparing the gum than had yet been discovered. He told him everything with a desperate truthfulness, and admitted that the thousands of dollars' worth of goods then in the market were worse than worthless, begging him to try if he could not dis- cover the long-sought process. He explained the process they then used, and while he admitted that it was an utter failure, prophesied that it would yet be brought to perfection, and that he should live to see the day. Mr. Goodyear listened in silence — listened like one who dreams — listened half unconscious that any one was speaking — listened with a dim, yet clear, a vague, yet firm conviction that he had found his life work; and this proved sadly true, indeed. He went home to devote the best of his years to patient work ; to days and nights of study and experiment ; and while his friends considered him a monomaniac upon the subject, there was something heroic OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 789 in his devotion to this apparently lost cause. Again and again his efforts were failures ; again and again entreaty, reproach and ridi- cule were brought to bear to dissuade him from his purpose. But without money, credit or influence ; with a young family depend- ent upon him for support ; and health already rapidly failing un- der steady and severe application, he kept his eye upon the suc- cess which he was determined to wrest from the future at any cost, and steadily answered again and again : " There is a way — there v7usthG one — and I will find it .'" Every preparation on the known earth was tried ; every mineral, vegetable and chemical substance or compound which ingenuity could invent or desperation sug- gest, was used in vain. His friends turned from him coldly, and even the most indulgent regarded him as an idle dreamer, or as a reckless enthusiast ; while others considered him a fit candidate for a residence in an insane asylum. In 1835 he succeeded in producing sheets of gum cloth so smooth and firm as to win him a medal at the Fair of the American Institute ; and for a time he seemed to have reached what he had striven for so hard, when, to his intense horror and mortification, he discovered, by the merest accident, that a drop of acid would ruin it. The next operation, and one which, unconsciously to himself, carried him to the very verge of success, was also the re- sult of accident. He was one day bronzing a piece of rubber cloth, when, wishing to remove the bronze from part of it, he used aqua fortis for the purpose. Of course it removed the bronze, but it also removed all color from the cloth, and he threw it aside as spoiled. A few days later the incident occurred to his mind, and he thought he would find the cloth and see how it looked. He was overjoyed to find that it had grown as hard as slate under the effects of the sulphuric acid ; and again he believed, this time truly, that he stood on the threshold of victory. But he had not yet found the key to open the door. He readily obtained a patent on this process of preparing the rubber, and also a partner, with a large capital, and removed his family to New York ; and for a time fortune smiled upon him, when he was again reduced to beggary by the failure of his partner. He was so terribly re- duced in circumstances as to be often faint and weak from hunger, and every useful, or valuable article in his possession, was pawned to keep his family from starvation. He endeavored in every way 79° FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. to interest capitalists in his plans, and to induce them to examine specimens of his work, but they would have nothing to do with it ; and declared, with some truth, that money enough had been wasted in such folly. His own faith in his ultimate success was regarded by his acquaintances (friends he had none now), as the maddest of lunacies. In 1836 he succeeded in borrowing a small sum of money, and with it proceeded to Roxbury, where he met Mr. Chaffee, who had never lost his hope of the ultimate perfection of his invention, and cheerfully and cordially tendered him the use of their old works in which to carry on his experiments. He soon pro- duced goods of so much better quality than any that had yet been made, that for a time fortune promised to reward him, and his path was bright with the delusive smile of hope, for it was but delusive ; then the darkness grew, dense — denser than ever before. He had obtained an order from the Govern- ment for a few hundred mail bags, and produced them in such beautiful shape, with so fine a finish, and so entirely insensible to moisture as to excite general admiration ; and for a time the world was compelled to listen to the inventor's assurance that he was at last victorious ; and as the proof was before them they listened willingly. But again the goods proved worthless, and for the first time in his life he was driven to despair. His pos- sessions had been seized for debt, and his friends and family up- braided him with his folly and their sufferings. The alternative was terrible. His wife and children were very dear; it was as much — more, indeed — for their sakes than his own that he craved the fortune which success would bring him; and he knew he would accomplish his object in time. He knew the discovery which had eluded him so long was almost within his grasp. It was plain to him that sulphur was the controlling agency, and that it must be through it, in some form, that the object would be accomplished, but how — how to subject every part of the gum to the influence of the chemical, without destroying its own original properties. He could not turn back — he could not abandon it — he could not look on and see the hopes that were so dear to him go down in ruin, or be tossed on the beech at his feet, mocking wrecks. He experimented and labored for months with a frigid, desperate determination that would have wrung OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 791 pity from the heart of even his evil genius. Had he worked for wealth alone, he might have turned to other channels, and grati- fied his ambition in other ways. But he aspired to be a benefac- tor of his race ; and he believed that the generations that would live when the tuif had grown green above him for many a year, would rise up and "call him blessed." He thought the work was for him to do — that he could leave it for no other. Thus far, •experiments had revealed nothing that was of any use to him, but an accident so trivial in itself as to seem insignificant, revealed the long hoped for, long prayed for result. I have told you before that he was looked on as a monomaniac upon this subject, and few cared to have him broach it, but standing in a store in Woburn, he was telling some gentlemen something of the properties of a bit of cloth he held in his hand, when he acci- dentally dropped it upon the red-hot stove. The ordinary cloth would have melted at once, but this was sulphur-dressed and only seemed to harden. To those who looked on it signified noth- ing, but to him it was a revelation, the revelation which his prophetic soul had whispered again and again would come. He renewed his experiments and soon proved, to his own satisfac- tion, at least, that India Rubber, mixed with sulphur and exposed to a certain degree of heat would neither melt nor freeze after- awards ; and now, nothing remained but to ascertain the exact degree of heat needed. No more terrible existence than his at this period can well be imagined. The clouds which had long hung over him thickened ^nd darkened until life seemed almost intolerable. He was deeply in debt, and in the sorest poverty, while the torturing fear which haunted him, and undermined still more his frail strength, was that he should die and not be able to complete his discovery ; but the most wretched drawback was his poverty, which made it impossible not only for him to work to advantage but to have even the food he needed to sustain him. He was obliged to carry his compound to the shops in the neighborhood and use the waste heat in the ovens and boilers, since he could not procure fuel to do the work at home. At this time he was universally re- garded as a harmless lunatic, while his family were regarded with sympathy, and supported by charity. In 1840 Mr. Goodyear received a letter from a manufacturing 792 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. house in Paris, offering him a handsome sum for his discovery of the use of aquafortis in preparing the cloth, but the experiments which he had since made proved that this was of no use in itself,, and he disdained to profit by their ignorance. His friends were in despair over his stubborn folly, and almost without exception! turned from him in anger, and declared they did not care what, he had to endure. His situation was dreadful — his sufferings,, both mental and physical, were intense. He was desperate, but it was a despair in which he stood firm ; it was a despair that ren- dered him frantic, but he was resolute. The winter was long and bitterly cold, while the snow fell to an unprecedented depth,, and the storms were the most violent and protracted that were ever known, and while it was almost impossible for man or brute to live out of doors, the last mouthful of food in the house was exhausted ; there was not a particle of fuel ; and he had not a friend or neighbor to whom he could apply, so vexed were all by his perseverance in what they called his mad projects. He was scarcely able and not at all fit to stir out of doors, or, indeed, to leave his bed, but something must be done, and he remembered a gentleman living fifteen miles away who had often assisted him,, and who he believed would aid him now if he could reach him. Almost too feeble to walk, but half dressed, reduced as he was by long fasting, his sufferings, as he battled with his weakness, the storm and the bitter, bitter cold, can never be pictured or told ; yet nerved by his agony and the thought of his helpless family, he tottered on, feeling as if every step must be the last, and again and again he reeled blindly and fell, or sat down, while his mind wandered dreamingly for a while to the probabilities that some passing traveller would find him lying there dead and st^rk, and he speculated, as if it were not himself, of what would be the sen- sation of the stranger as he looked at the cold white face — even how that face would look, and from whence would come the means, to bury him — of whether it would not be better for his family, if the art he would have given his life to discover would ever be found out then, and when and who would have the reward that should have been his ; and this last thought only of all, would sting him back to life and action, and once more he would stagger on and thus he succeeded in reaching the house of his acquaintance, and obtained aid sufficient to carry his family through the winter^ OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 793 He was fully satisfied that he would never be able to raise the means necessary for work in Massachusetts, and his mind turned to New York, and he determined to make an effort to get there. To do this he first went to Boston, where he met every discour- agement and utter failure at last, and returned home to meet, in addition to poverty that was absolute squalor, the shadow of the dark pinions of the angel of death brooding over his household. His baby was dying, and when the light went out of" the beautiful blue eyes, and the dainty waxen fingers were folded over its sin- less breast, there was not one morsel of food for the living, or a farthing in his purse. A few who pitied his wife and children, con- tributed some food, and the means to bury the dead birdie in his nest, and the family followed it to its little grave on foot. All this, even he was forced to say bitterly to himself, all this for the sake of something he might never win. Could darker days or drearier nights be in store for this man ? Could fate be more unkind, or bring to him a cup of wormwood and gall whose unmixed bitterness would be more intense } Yea, but there were greater sacrifices yet to be made. It cost thou- sands more failures — it cost him thousands of dollars, and taunts, and sneers, and reproaches that were endless. It cost him friends and position, and fortune ; it cost him even his own self-respect> yet the iron will of this man, who had been born with " genius " stamped upon his brow and upon his soul, would not yield. There is a depth below which human misery cannot sink, and having reached this, and lying prostrate, crushed, helpless and blind, suddenly there arose in the east a star, heralding the ap- proach of the day of his triumph. A relative lent him fifty dollars, and with this he went to New York, and there enlisted the sympathy and interest of two gentlemen by the name of Kieler^ who advanced him the money to pursue his experiments and sup- port his family, leaving his mind free from the care that had eaten half of his life away. In 1844, after ten years of patient endurance of scorn, and re proach, and contempt and discouragement, he held firmly in his grasp the prize he had coveted so long — ten years of experiment, of anxiety, of humiliation, of poverty such as rarely comes to mortal, he stood at last on the crest of the wave that bore him safely to a haven of rest. In England and France he lost the ^94 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. profits of his invention through the dishonesty of his agent, and in his own country was scarcely less unfortunate, and even after law had secured his rights beyond question, it is said he was too little the man of business to look after them. The Commissioner of Patents said of him : " No inventor, probably, was ever so har- Tassed, so trampled upon, so plundered by that sordid and licen- tious class of infringers known in the parlance of the world, with- out exaggeration, and without sufficient severity, as pirates.' The spoliation of their incessant guerrilla warfare upon his defenseless ■rights, have no doubt amounted to millions." In one sense, the life of this great man seems thrown away. True, he lived long enough to fulfil his mission to the human race, but with the first heart-throb of exultant triumph, the over- wrought system gave way, and in the mature prime of his years, the " silver cord was loosed, and the pitcher broken at the foun- ■tain," and he passed over to the land where there is no watching ;and waiting, and where the heart sickness of " hope deferred," is never felt or known. Though his reward fell so far short of his deserts, he had, it seems to us, a satisfaction very like, yet more complete than even that of Moses, as he stood on the mount and looked over into the promised land, mournful as he watched the sands of his own life ebb away, yet joyful in the knowledge that if he might not share in the blessings he had brought the world, at least those blessings were countless, and came in every form to -manufactures and to science, and that art made millions of homes beautiful with the material he had brought into use and within the reach of the people. After his death, which occurred in July, i860, an effort was made to secure something to his family, but this, too, was defeated, and though the world owed him. so great a debt, they were left in penury. In the fullest sense of the term he was what he most aspired to be, a benefactor of his rsLce, and Jiis name can never die from their hearts or memories- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. ^ ^ 795 CYRUS W. FIELD. ^T is said that the tree of knowledge is guarded by angels who stand with bare and gleaming swords to watch their treasure, lest, as they say, " Man should eat of its fruits and become like one of us ; " and in the far back ages when art and science were but in embryo, when the great world herself was unconscious that under her mother-heart nestled the wee babe %vho would struggle into existence and mature into a giant, it might have been successfully done ; but surely the grim sentinels slum- bered at their post some day, and this child, already standing on the threshhold of manhood, stepped through the charmed circle of wearied and worn-out watchers, until he was surfeited, and did "bring away spoils which he gave to. the children of men, and they became as gods. We are going to tell you the story of one of these, in a few words, too brief and too feeble to do him justice, yet the warm and honest tribute of our hearts to his worth, and expression of our admiration for his genius. Sixteen years ago very few persons had ever heard of Cyrus W. Field. Ten years ago he had acquired a notoriety as the vaguest visionary— a mad-brained enthusiast, who was determined to sink Tiis handsome fortune in the sea, and consign his name to disgrace- ful oblivion. Mighty changes have been wrought since then, however, and no one hesitates to admit that Mr. Field is a great man, and that they knew from the first just how it would be. Cyrus West Field was born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Teceived such advantages as the times admitted of for an educa- tion, and when he was fifteen years old went to New York city to seek his fortune. He was a bright, active, intelligent boy, and of course readily found employment with an enterprising commercial house, with which he remained, first as clerk, afterwards as part- ner, in various positions, until he stood at the head of the firm for twenty years. The manner in which he became interested OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 797 in the Atlantic cable was through his brother, quite a distingirished engineer, who introduced to him Mr. Frederick Grisborne, of New Foundland. He was then visiting New York for the purpose of endeavoring to interest American capitalists in a company already organized for the purpose of transmitting news more speedily than by any method now in use. Mr. Field declined to take any part in the enterprise. He had devoted his life thus far to busi- ness ; and, having accumulated sufficient means to enable him to retire, felt a distaste for excitement or care of any sort. Mr. Gris- })ome laid his plans before him and pleaded in behalf of the com- pany whose interests he represented, and though it had been compelled to go into bankruptcy for the want of funds, its mem- bers were not yet content to give up the work now well under way. A charter had been granted by the legislature of New Foundland, and the termini of their submarine telegraph were to be New York and London. Mr. Field listened to his guest with polite indiffer- ence, "hoped he would succeed," bowed him out of his study, and saw him depart with a sense of relief. He had not disposed of the subject however so easily as he had his visitor. The thought worked through and through his brain ; its magnitude and seeming impracticability pleased him, and the more he thought, half unwittingly though it was, the more he liked it and believed it could be carried into effect. He took a globe and ■examined carefully the proposed route, became satisfied that it might, if run at all, be very much simplified. Its usefulness to the world was the one mighty motive which moved him — not per- sonal elevation or aggrandizement. At length, really against his better judgment, he set to work to see if the thing were feasible, or could in any way be made practicable. With this in view he -wrote to Lieutenant Maury, chief of the National Observatory at Washington, and to Professor Morse, asking if it were possible to lay a cable through the ocean in this manner which Avould work. Lieutenant Maury replied to him at once, expressing great inter> «st in the subject, and sent him a report which had just been made to the Secretary of the Navy on the subject. Soundings of the ocean had also demonstrated that its bed was of such a nature as to favor the work, and the learned professor believed it not only practicable, but that it would soon be accomplished, and urg- ently advised Mr. Field to undertake it. Mr. Morse came in 798 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, person to consult with Mr. Field, and assured him that there was?. no "reason whatever why telegraphs would not work as well in- water as in air. Mr. Field at once declared his willingness to take the work in hand as soon as capital enough could be secured, and proposed that ten men should contribute each one hundred thousand dollars, making their capital a million dollars, which he sup- posed would be sufficient to very nearly or quite cover the necessary expense. Mr. Field knew that it was a stupendous undertaking, but what it would cost him, he little imagined^ not foreseeing that twelve long years would pass before it would be accomplished ; that he would be led on deeper and deeper into the work, until upon its success should be staked his entire fortune ; that he would sacrifice peace, rest, home and its comforts, the favor of friends, and even the confidence of the pub- lic, in a large degree, and that he would stand at the door of America and Europe — first one, and then the other — pleading like the veriest beggar, as it were for himself that he assumed the po- sition of a mendicant, and asked their favor. So little was the world acquainted with the philosophy and sci- ence of telegraphy, that it was very difficult to persuade them tliat- it was anything more than a magnificent humbug, and it was some- time before he could persuade a single individual to unite with him in the enterprise. The first convert to his faith was Mr. Peter Cooper, of New York, his friend and next door neighbor. In Mr. Cooper's name alone was a tower of strength for his cause. En- couraged by the success of his efforts he set to work anew and succeeded in enlisting Messrs. Moses Taylor, Marshall O. Rob- erts and Chandler White. This was not done without great diffi- culty, but once they had pledged themselves, they never lost. Mr. Cooper now proposed that the five now engaged in the enterprise should continue it in their own names without waiting for more assistance from others. This being decided upon, Mr, Field went to St. Johns, with his brother, Mr. Dudley Field, who- was to act as attorney for the company, and took there the neces- sary steps to obtain a new charter, which was granted by the Leg- islature of New Foundland to the " New York, New Foundland and London Telegraph Coinpany," and by assuming the liabilities of the old company. Hastening back to New York, with a capi- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 799 tal of a million and a half of dollars, of which Mr. Field contri- buted two hundred thousand, work was begun. From New York to St. Johns, the country was a scene of deso- lation, an almost unbroken wilderness, and he found that even roads over which to travel and convey their supplies, must be con- structed. The distance was four hundred miles — the country wild, rough, and almost terrific^at least in view of such an under- taking ; but under the able management of Mr. White, /ice-presi- dent of the company, who also acted as general agent for them at St. Johns, and Mr. Matthew W. Field, constructing engineer, this long stretch of road was built — four hundred miles, — also another' line of one hundred and forty miles in the island of Cape Breton,, and a submarine cable stretched across the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; but to their dismay, when all was in working order, it had cost them a million of dollars, and the cable between New Foundland and Ireland was yet untouched. The further examination of the ocean being necessary, Mr. Field requested the government of the United States to send out the necessary means, which was at once complied with, and Lieutenant Berryman performed the task with the utmost satisfaction to all parties. The next summer he made the same request of the Brit- ish government, and Commander Daymon went over the same ground with the same results, and proved conclusively that a cable could lie easily and safely on the bed of the ocean, below cur- rents, the anchors of vessels or the largest icebergs, and that the support it would receive from resting there would prevent danger- ous tension. It was evident to the company, now, that individual means and efforts would not be sufficient to defray the expenses, and that the two countries who were to be benefited by it to such an incalcula- ble extent must unite in furnishing the capital. The English press was called into requisition, and through it the sympathies of the people enlisted. The effort of securing the desired aid from the British government was entrusted to Mr. Field, and to- his excellent management, not less than to the necessity for the completion of the work, was the success which he met there due. The English government pledged itself to furnish ships to make the necessary soundings, and to furnish vessels to assist in lay- ing the cable. It also agreed to pay the company an annual SOO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, subsidy of fourteen thousand pounds for the transmission of the government messages, until the net profits of the company were equal to a dividend of six per cent., and in case their messages exceeded a certain amount, extra payment was to be made. The messages of England and America were to be placed on an equal footing, and in all cases to be sent out in the order in which re- ceived. In everything England exhibited a generous fairness in its dealings, and a desire for peace and good will ; and the last provision especially, since both ends rested on British soil, was exceedingly liberal. From first to last she shared equally with America in all its benefits, and gave to us every privilege she -claimed for herself. It became necessary, in addition to the aid thus given by the government, to organize a company in London, by which other funds might be raised. This was done, and a capital of three hundred and fifty thousand pounds subscribed without delay. In all his labors Mr. Field was ably seconded by some of the most enlightened and enterprising minds in the United Kingdom. Re- turning at once to America, he hastened to Washington to lay the matter before our own government and secure its co-operation with that of England, but to his astonishment, he met more oppo- sition to his scheme here than in London. He was opposed by a powerful lobby and a spirit of such malignant and bitter hos- tility that it seemed impossible to avoid defeat. The measure barely passed the Senate by a majority of but just one vote; and for a time the prejudice against it in the House was intense. It received the president's signature March 3d, 1857. Mr. Field returned to England, and in the summer everything was declared in readiness for the work. America contributed the magnificent steam-frigate " Niagara " to assist in laying the cable, and ordered the " Susquehanna " to accompany it. This was also a steam-frigate, and one of the finest boats in the navy. The British government sent out the steam-frigate " Agamemnon," a splendid vessel that had been the flag-^hip of the English fleet at the bombardment of Sebastopol, and the " Leopard," an equally fine vessel, was provided as escort. Both boats were commanded and officered by the ablest men — ^the " Niagara " by Captain W. L. Hudson, of the United States Navy, and the *' Aga- memnon " by Captain Noddal, of tlie Royal Navy. After receiv- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 8oi ing their cable they were ordered to Queenstown, and left England in the midst of popular and extravagant rejoicing, which argued well for the feeling of the people. At ValentJa, which was the eastern terminus of the line, they were hailed with delight. Here the cable was sunk and made fast, and the fleet stood out to sea, but at five miles distance the wire broke, and being spliced, after a little delay, the monster vessels moved on, slowly, very slowly, at first, to guard against a second accident. The ships kept near each other, so near that the signal bells could l)e heard and answered readily. We have a fancy in our own mind how grand a sight this must have been, and though to many it may seem a slight thing, a mere accident of the time, to me it is a most significant and beautiful thought, that an American's mind planned this work and carried it into effect, and that an American vessel, the " Niagara," resembling in her mighty propor- tions the unsurpassable cataract after which she was named, fast- ened the cable from her own deck to the shores of England, bearing it thence to our own, and thus, with this unseen, myste- rious thing, along whose hidden pulse throbbed, as it were, the life-blood of two nations, bound them forever together as one ; and we fancy the vessel, too, as if it were indeed " a thing of life," turning its prow back to its native land, as though somewhere in the midst of that gigantic machinery beat a human, homesick heart that longed to revel in the glory of our bluer waters and freer air ; and that the soul of the inanimate leviathan laughed foi joy as it kissed in farewell the snowy foam that parted and sped before it. All went well through the day, and the sun rolled slowly down the western sky, hanging like a god above the ocean, as if reluctant to lose sight of an enterprise that was big with the hope of two continents, then sank into the arms of waves that ■^ose up at his coming and met him with crimson blushes : The dusk grew deeper as crept the night With dewy eyes to the lap of day. And the stars came out and gemmed the lofty arch above, and were reflected back from the apparently deeper and bluer arch beneath. It is said that not a man slept on those vessels that first night at sea — that not one retired or closed his eyes for a moment. Strange thoughts came to them as they swept on their way, look. 8o2 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ing with a sort of fascination at the long, sinuous, serpent-like cable as it glided out into the darkness and buried itself in the bosom of the fathomless waters that were henceforth to be its. living tomb. All passed on well until two hundred miles were- made, and suddenly the electric current was lost. They were- struck with dumb amazement and astonishment, but no one on board could explain or remedy it. This lasted for two hours,, when strangely, silently and mysteriously as it went, it returned,, and men and officers rejoiced alike, and passed- from one to an- other, shaking hands in their joy- as they assured each other that it was " all right." But that night a far greater calamity befell them — the cable parted in mid-ocean, and through the whole fleet the deepest grief was felt; they sorrowed together like one bereaved household. The fleet at once returned to England, where the stockholders made arrangements for the manufacture of seven hundred miles of cable, to replace that which was lost, Mr. Field believed that the disaster was owing to the imperfect machine used in paying out the cable, and Mr.. Wm. E. Everett,, chief engineer of the Niagara, undertook, while waiting for the new cable, to invent something, better adapted to the work, and succeeded to the entire satisfaction of the Company. The brakes used were the invention of Mr. Appold, of London, and the whole machine, when completed, was a combination of American and English skill. In everything pertaining to the work of laying the cable, the two nations worked together without a vestige of any national jealousy, neither seeming to care to which the credit was given. In January, 1858, Mr. Field, at the urgent request of the Board of Directors, accepted the position of general manager, and though a salary of $5000 per annum was offered, he declined all compen- sation. In March, of that year, the cable was in readiness for the second attempt at laying; the Niagara sailed from New York,, and Mr. Field learned at the last moment that the " Susquehanna"" was at the West Indies, in quarantine, her crew, almost to a man^ being prostrated with yellow fever. Everything had been planned with the expectation of again having this vessel to assist; the disappointment was intense, and deepened by the fact that it was impossible at this late day to supply the deficiency at home, chiefly owing to the strong power which had worked against the enterprise OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 803 from the Arst ; he knew it was useless to appeal to our own gov- ernment. In this dilemma, either horn of which it seemed hopeless to seize, he laid the matter before the Lords of the Admiralty, of England, and asked for a vessel to accompany the Niagara. The British Government was at that moment making strenuous efforts to charter ships sufficient to transport troops to Malta, and it seemed impossible for it to contribute a third vessel that was suitable for the service, but the same day it sent the " Valorous " to act as con- sort to the Niagara. This assistance, so unhesitatingly given, was most generous and timely, and especially so as England was in sore need of all her own boats. The fleet immediately sailed for the Bay of Biscay with Mr. Field at the head of the expedition. It is impossible to give any idea of the weight of care and re- sponsibility which burdened him at this time, or the amount of work he performed. He had but little rest, frequently not having an entire night's sleep in a week, often traveling day and night, snatching an hour or two of repose in the carriage while on the road. On the loth of June the fleet sailed, but at two hundred miles from shore the cable again parted, and again it lay, a dead and useless weight on its ocean bed. The directors were dis- heartened by this second failure, and opposed to investing any more funds in what the world, and especially the American side of it, sneeringly, though wittily, styled the " sinking fund," and only Mr. Field's utmost powers of persuasion prevented them from totally abandoning it. Obtaining consent to make a third trial, he immediately commenced work again, and this time the cable was laid successfully, with no accident or hindrance; but it was in another sense a failure, since it never worked perfectly, and soon ceased altogether to transmit messages. The discouragement, to every one but Mr. Field, was heart-sickening, and so general was it, too, that he saw it was hopeless to attempt to raise more money by private subscription, and that if more was done it must be by the government entirely. x\merica had ever been a reluct- ant contributor, little Was to be hoped there — and England had lost heavily by the failure of the Red Sea cable, yet she nobly stepped forward and increased the subsidy a.1 ready guaranteed from fourteen to twenty thousand pounds per annum. For two years Mr. Field labored unremittingly to organize another com- pany, but with little prospect of success, and it was not until the 8o4 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. war broke out in America that, seeing the necessity for more direct and rapid communication with Europe than we now possessed he received the hearty approval of the President, and the assur- ance that the government would cordially unite with England to second any efforts made by them, and aid in every possible way. A few gentlemen organized a company and purchased the " Great Eastern," which having proven unfit for the purpose for which it was built, was advertised for sale, fitted it up and offered it for the work of laying the cable. On the 23d of July the cable was attached to the shore, and the fourth attempt made to lay it, and with a hope of success, but twelve hundred miles from shore it broke, and fell with a sullen plash to the bottom of the ocean. For nine days they used every endeavor to grasp it, but in vain, for though repeatedly caught, the rope broke every time, and the precious burden sank back to its bed, two miles below the surface of the ocean.' The spot was marked by buoys, and the ship returned to England. A new company was organized the next year, under the name of the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, with a capital of six hundred thousand pounds, and orders were at once given for the manufacture of as much cable as had been lost. On the seventh of July the Great Eastern arrived at Valentia, and the fifth time the cable was fastened to the land, and the mighty ship, with the entire telegraph fleet for consorts, sailed for Newfoundland. The voyage was made in fourteen days, wind and weather favoring the expedi- tion, whose progress was known in England from day to day, while. America was in uncertainty. A faithful few had gathered at Heart's Content to witness the arrival, but the boisterously enthusiastic crowd who gathered to welcome it a year ago, shrugged their shoulders in contemptuous and scornful unbelief, and stayed at home. The boat was hourly expected, and Friday morning th^ eager watchers rose early and looked out over the waters thai were yet gray with the misty garments of night. Far, far away the form of a vessel was seen, as if outlined with daintiest pencil- ings against the roseate sky. Another, another, and yet another, sailed slowly up, then the hull of the " Great Eastern heaves in sight. The " Albany " entered the harbor first, then the " Terrible," then the " Medway," and at last the " Great Eastern " glided slowly and majestically in and dropped its OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 8oq anchors with no more ado than if she had come over in the usual way, laden with the commonest merchandise. The cable across the St. Lawrence was broken, and it was two days more before the news reached New York ; but on the Sabbath morning of July 29th, the tidings came in the few brief words that told their own story, and were also characteristic of the great man who had mainly been instrumental in accomplishing the great work : " Heart's Content, July 27th. — We arrived here at nine o'clock this morning. All is well. Thank God! the cable is laid and in perfect working order. "Cyrus W. Field." The weary man rested here at this place, whose very name was sweetly laden with suggestions for him in that moment of supreme victory. Twelve long years his energy and per-severance had kept the subject before the people of two worlds — twelve long years his hands had wrought and his brain had toiled to accom- plish it. Twelve years his unremitting industry and unbroken faith had been the theme of jest and sneer for the selfish and ignorant, and at last — at last — beat high, noble heart ! — at last it is accomplished, and the very waves of the ocean raised their voices and sang anthems of rejoicing as they caressed with their foam- white hands, first the shores of the old world and then the new, while they cradled in their heart the perfected fruit of his patient endeavor. ELIAS HOWE, Jr. 'OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 807 JAMES WATT. tAMES WATT was born at Greenock, Scotland, on the 19th of January, 1736. His father was a merchant, and also one of the magistrates of that town. He received the rudiments of his education in his native place; but his health being even then extremely delicate, as it continued to be to the end of his life, his attendance at school was not always very regular. He amply made up, however, for what he lost in Lhis way, by the diligence with which he pursued his studies at Jiome, where, without assistance, he succeeded, at a very early ,age, in making considerable proficiency in various branches of knowledge. Even at this time, his favorite study is said to have been mechanical science. At the age of eighteen, he was sent to JLondon to be apprenticed to a maker of mathematical instru- anents. A year or two after this, a visit which he paid to some relatives in Glasgow suggested to him the plan of attempting to ■establish himself there in that business. In 1757, he removed thither, and was immediately appointed Mathematical Instrument Maker to the college. Honorable as this appointment was, he probably did not find ut a very lucrative one; and, therefore, in 1763, when about to marry, he removed from his apartments in the University to a house in the city, and entered upon the profession of general ■Engineer. For this his genius and scientific attainments admira- bly qualified him. But another pursuit was destined, ere long, to divert him from this line of exertion, and to occupy his whole ■mind in efforts still more worthy of its extraordinary powers. In the winter of 1763-4, a small model of Newcomen's engine, 'was sent to him by the Professor of Natural Philosophy, to be repaired and fitted for exhibition in the class. The examination ■of this model set Watt thinking anew, and with more interest than ever, on the powers of steam. Struck with the radical im- perfections of the Atmospheric Engine, he engaged in a course of -experiments for ascertaining the properties of steam, and was rewarded with several valuable discoveries. The rapidity with ^which water evaporates, he found, for instance, depended simply mpon the quantity of heat which was made to enter it, and this ;again on the extent of the surface -exposed to the fire. He also 8o8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ascertained the quantity of coal necessary for the evaporation off any given quantity of water, the heat at which water boils under various pressures, and many other particulars of a similar kind, which had never before been accurately determined. In the best of Newcomen's Engines, the perfection of the vacuum was thus, so greatly impaired that the resistance to the piston, in its des- cent, amounted to about a fourth part of the whole atmospheric pressure by which it was carried down, or, in other words, the- working power of the machine was thereby diminished one- fourth. , After reflecting upon all this, it at last occurred to Watt that it might be possible to condense steam in some other vessel tha» the cylinder. This fortunate idea having presented itself, it wa& not long before the mea?is lor realizing it were also suggested. The plan which he devised was a simple one, therefore the more beautiful. He connected the cylinder and another vessel by an open pipe, so that, when the steam was admitted into the former, it* flowed into the latter, and filled it, also ; this latter vessel only being subject to a condensing process, by contact with coldi water, a vacuum was produced, and into that, as a vent, more steam would immediately rush from the cylinder, which wouldi likewise be condensed, and so the process would go on until the steam had left the cylinder, and a perfect vacuum had been effect- ed in that vessel, without so much as a drop of cold water having touched or entered it. The separate vessel alone, or the conden- ser, as Watt called it, was cooled by the water condensing the steam, and instead of being an evil, manifestly promoted and quickened the condensation. When Watt reduced these views ta the test of an experiment, he found the result to answer his most sanguine expectations. The cylinder, although emptied of it& steam for every stroke of the piston, as before, was now constantly kept at the same temperature with the steam, (or 212 degrees- Farenheit,) and the consequence was, that one-fourth of the fueli formerly required sufficed to feed an engine. But besides the saving' of expense in maintaining an engine,its power was greatly increased' by the more perfect vacuum ; the condensing water could not, as. before, create new steam while displacing the old. Thus, by the genius of this great inventor, was the serious de. feet of the old apparatus remedie'4. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 809) While yet residing in the college, his attention had been direc- ted to the employment of steam as a mechanical agent, and the practicability of applying this power to the movement of steam carriages. He had also made some experiments with Papin's digester, to ascertain the expansive force of steam. It is gratifying to reflect that even while he was yet alive, Watt received from the voice of the most illustrious of his contempo- raries, the honors due to his genius. In 1785, he was elected a. Fellow of the Royal Society ; the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the University of Glasgow, in 1806 ; and in 1808, he was elected a member of the French Institute. He died, August 25th, 1819, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. JOHN FITCH. ^^^^Y THE power of steam, rapid, comfortable, and cheap jXjOj/) transit has been attained, and enjoyed for half a century, ^^ by the nations of Europe, and more especially by our own people. In traversing the ocean, and to a greater extent upon our own great inland seas, and in threading the great riv- ers of our central valley, America has reaped the benefits con- ferred by steam navigation. In the year 181 7, the original patents^ drafts, specifications, and models of Fitch and Fulton, were exhib- ited before a committee of the New York Legislature, raised upon the petition of Governor Ogden, of New Jersey. Many witnesses were examined, and among them men of the highest character, and the arguments of able council were heard. After much de- liberation, this committee reported to the legislature, and in the document submitted are the following expressions : '' The steam- boats built by Livingston and Fulton were in substance the inven- tion patented to John Fitch, in 1791, and Fitch, during the term: of his patent (fourteen years), had the exclusive right to use the same in the United States." John Fitch was born January 21st, 1743, at the paternal home- stead, in the township of Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, SlO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. The father was not inclined to liberality, but was a rigid and stem man, who, as his son says, "always had plenty of victuals in the house." John began his attendance at school when quite young» and, when nine years old, had mastered the " fundamental rules " of arithmetic. His father instructed him in surveying to the extent of his own information. At the age of seventeen, becoming weary with farm labor, he started for Rocky Hill, on the Connecticut River, on an agree- ment to make one voyage to New York, in a vessel under the command of Capt. Abbot ; but, experiencing rough treatment at the hands of the mate, he quit the craft before leaving port, and engaged on another vessel, in which he coasted, and after five weeks returned home. During the early part of 1785, Fitch seems to have been suf- fering from rheumatism, and while making slow progress walking with a friend in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, an acquaintance passed them at a rapid pace, in a two-wheeled vehicle, then known as "a chair." The speed of the horse, brought up in conversa- tion some speculations which he had no doubt previously enter- tained respecting the feasibility of propelling carriages by steam. The rough condition of the roads, and the apparently greater ben- efits to be derived by applying the power to vessels, soon turned his thoughts to "a steamboat." These facts were certified to in 1788, by James Scout, to whom Fitch submitted his plan ot a boat in May or June, 1785 ; and also by James Ogilbee, the friend with whom he was walking when the thought of steam power was first spoken of. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia gives some facts furnished by Daniel Longstreth, whose father was the friend and associate of Fitch. He says : " It was in Cobe Scout's log shop that Fitch made his model steam-boat, with paddle-wheels, as they are now used." Fearing that his invention would be supplanted in some way by the efforts of a rival inteiest patronized by Dr. Franklin, he memo- rialised the Legislature of Pennsylvania for an exclusive right to propel vessels " by fire and steam," in the waters of that State, This was dated March 11, and on the next day a similar memorial was presented by one Donaldson, who "had hit upon or been in- formed of the method of sucking in and voiding water through a tube," as suggested to the Philosophical Society by Dr. Franklin. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 8ll Without waiting further, Fitch left for Trenton, where he obtain- ed from the Legislature of New Jersey, an act bearing date March i8, 1786, which secured to him for fourteen years " the sole and exclusive right of constructing, making, using, and employing, or navigating all and every species or kind of boats or water craft which might be urged or impelled by the force of fire or steam, in all the creeks, rivers, etc., within the territory or jurisdiction of this State." Within a month following, Fitch had organized a company, with the number of shares fixed at forty, on many of which twenty dollars each were collected. There were, at this time, but three :Steam-engines in the whole country. In a letter to Stacy Potts, of Trenton, Fitch says:(July 28, '86,) " I completed my experiments yesterday, and find that they ex- ceed my most sanguine expectations. * * We shall not come short of ten miles per hour." We find him saying of the model also: "It fully convinced me that the steam-engine might be worked both ways as well as one." "The United States Gazette " of May 17th contained a notice, dated Burlington, May nth, in these words: "The triends of science and the liberal arts will be gratified in hearing that we were favored, on Sunday last, with a visit from the ingenious Mr. Fitch, accompanied by several gentlemen of taste and knowledge in mechanics, in a steamboat constructed on an improved plan. From these gentlemen we learn that thev came from Philadelphia in three hours and a quarter, with a head-wind, the tide in their favor. On their return, by accurate observations, they proceeded ■down the river at the rate of upwards of seven miles an hour." Averaging the trips made at twenty-five miles each, this, THE FIRST PASSENGER STEAM-BOAT, must have run, before she was laid up, between two and three thou- sand miles. The boat is said to have " run five hundred miles," without the least accident occurring. Gen. Joseph Bloomfield, of New Jersey, testified before a com- mittee of the New York Legislature, in 18 14, that he had frequently been a passenger on Fitch's boat on the Delaware. Dr. Thorn- ton, Fitch's former associate, stated that " our boat (Fitch's) went at the rate of eight miles an hour, in the presence of witnesses yet (1814) living." 8t2 footprints of the ages. After Fitch had spent two years with his sister and brother-in- law, King, at East Windsor, Connecticut, he seems to have deter- mined to seek his lands in Kentucky, and perhaps in passing through New York, called upon, or was brought into contact with Robert R. (Chancellor) Livingston, who even then was greatly interested in steam navigation. A Mr. John Hutchings, mention- ed in the Documentary History of New York, says that in the summer of 1796 or 1797, he, then a lad, assisted Mr. Fitch in steering a steam-boat, and otherwise aiding in the working of the machinery. No one can reasonably question that Fitch's steam-boats were the first vessels successfully propelled by steam. Amid all his misfortunes there is much to indicate that he was truthful, fair-minded, and upright in his intercourse with men. His letters to his children manifest much warmth of affection Perhaps we do not err in saying that his sensitive nature received a bias from the events which followed the death of his mother, before he was five years of age, from which his later training and experiences in no degree relieved him. He passed from the scenes of earth at the age of fifty-five, in the midst oi comparative strangers, and among those who, under the circumstances, could have but little sympathy for him. FRENCH AND SHREVE ^ERE leading names in early steamboat navigation on the Ohio. Two years prior to the date of Fulton's patent, in 181 1, Daniel French, of New York, obtained a patent for a steamboat and engine, October 12th, 1809. In the year 1787, while the Revolutionary Fathers were fram- ing the Federal Constitution at Philadelphia, John Fitch was offering them free rides in his steamer on the Delaware. Captain Henry M. Shreve was the first that ascended the Mis- sissippi and Ohio rivers, and he was the successful inventor and improver of Western River Steamers, and also inventor of the Snag-boat. OLR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 813 At the period of 1817, there had been built on the Ohio about fifteen boats, several of them under one hundred tons capacity. After the memorable success of Captain Shreve with the " Wash- ington," all fears respecting the navigation of Western waters by steamboats seem to have vanished. Boat-yards were established at convenient points and steamboat building was active. It is difficult, at this late day, to appreciate the enthusiasm excited among " the people of the West " over the achievements of the '" Washington " and her gallant captain. Dr. McMurtrie, in his sketches of Louisville, published in 1819, remarks: "Next to Fulton, the Western country owes a vast debt of gratitude to Captain Henry M. Shreve. It is to his exertions, his example, and, let me add, to his integrity and patriotic purity of principle that it is indebted for the present flourishing state of its naviga- tion. The offer of the Livingston Company was rejected with scorn and indignation, and the affair left to justice, whose sword instantly severed the links that enchained commerce on the Western rivers." Had Shreve been weak and grasping, how dif- ferent the result ! How long would the great monopoly have held control of steamboats, and the prices of transportation for freight and passengers ? Fulton had really almost no legitimate claim to originality in connection with the steamboat ; he had, however, secured the co-operation of large capitalists, who, after quarreling with each other over the steam apparatus of Watt, John Fitch, John Stevens, and Robert R. Livingston, had finally concluded to join forces and take the country, at least the fluid portions of it, and 'put it in charge of their monster leviathan ; but justice, under an over-ruling Providence, brought their coun- sels to naught, and gave to the wings of commerce on water, the power of steam free of all constraint, as came to be as palpably the case on land, a few years later, when the locomotive sprang upon the iron track, ready to move in all its ponderous power and winged fleetness, without paying tribute to patent laws, or being in the least restrained from fulfilling its destiny as fast as the laws of nature would permit. The " Washington " was not built under French's patent, as was the "Enterprise," but was built after the plans of Captain Shreve. The " General Pike " was the first boat built in the West for the special accommodation of passengers ; she was constructed, in 8 14 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. 1818, at Cincinnati for a company of her citizens. According to> the City Directory of 1820, "she measures 100 feet keel, 25 feet beam, and draws only 3 feet and 3 inches water." By the use of Shreve's snag-boat, the great raft' of the'' Red- River, consisting of trees, logs and drift-wood of every descrip- tion firmly imbedded in its channel for more than one hundred and sixty miles, was removed, and the navigation of that river opened, including the raft a distance of nearly twelve hundred miles. This work, alone, in consequence of the immense quan-- tity of public land reclaimed in that region and rendered fit for cultivation, the enhanced value of other lands on the upper part of the river, and the reduced cost in the transportation of sup- plies to Fort Towson and to the Indians located in that neigh- borhood, has been worth millions to the Government. Eighty- five thousand dollars was the saving in one season on freight alone. The cost of removing those obstructions was but about $300,000^, instead of $3,000,000, as had been prophecied. Such snag-boats have to be constantly removing new obstacles in all the Westernj rivers. Upon the advent of John Tyler to the Presidency, after the- decease of General Harrison, Captain Shreve was officially in- formed of his removal from office, by a letter dated at Washing- ton, September nth, 1841, After thirty-four years literally spent on the waters, he returned to the quiet pursuits of an agricultu- ral life, in which he was engaged in youth. His farm was near St. Louis, and with the same zeal and liberality which he had always manifested, he devoted himself energetically to improving his landed estate. At the opening of the telegraph at St. Louis, Captain Shreve sent the first message borne by electricity from the banks of the Mississippi to the tide waters of the Atlantic. It was to the President of the United States, at Washington. Thus did he fill out the measure of a career of great usefulness and brilliant en- deavor. Quietly at his home, for the last ten years of his life he enjoyed the pleasures of a serene old age, and died, after a pro- tracted illness, in his 66th year, March 6th, 1851, OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 8.15 RICHARD TREVITHICK '^•^Ig^^AS born on the 13th of April, 1771, in the parish of II- logan, a few miles west of Redruth, in Cornwall. He may be fairly regarded as the inventor of the rail- way LOCOMOTIVE, if any single individual be entitled to that ap- pellation. He was a person of extraordinary mechanical skill, but of marvelous ill fortune, who, though the inventor of many ingeni- ous contrivances, and the founder of fortunes of many, himself died in extreme poverty, leaving behind him nothing but his great inventions and the recollection of his genius. He early entertained the idea of making the expansive force of steam act directly on both sides of the piston, on the high-pres- sure principle, and thus getting rid of Watt's process of condensa- tion. Although Cugnot had employed high-pressure steam in his road locomotive, and Murdock in his model, and although Watt had distinctly specified the action of steam at high-pressure as well as low, in his patents, the idea was not embodied in any practical working engine until taken in hand by Trevithick. The results of his long study were embodied in the patent which he took out in 1802, in his own and Vivian's name, for an improved steam-engine, and "the application thereof for driving carriages and other purposes." The arrangement of Trevithick's engine was ingenious. It ex- hibited a beautiful simplicity of parts; the machinery was ar- ranged effectively, uniting strength with solidity and portability, and enabling steam to be employed with very great rapidity, economy, and force. Trevithick's steam carriage was the most compact and hand- some yet invented, and, as regards arrangement, has scarcely to this day been surpassed. It consisted of a carriage capable of accommodating some half dozen passengers. Underneath the en- gine and machinery was inclosed, in about the size of an orchestra drum, the whole being supported on four wheels — two in front, by which it was guided, and two behind, by which it was driven. The engine had but one cylinder. The piston-rod outside the cylinder was double, and drove a cross-piece, working in guides, on the opposite side of the cranked axle to the cylinder, the crank 8l6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. of the axle revolving between the double parts of the piston-rod. Toothed wheels were attached to this axle, which worked into other toothed wheels fixed on the axle of the driving-wheels. The steam-cocks were opened and shut by a connection with the crank-axle; and the force-pump, with which the boiler was sup- plied with water, was also worked from it, as were the bellows to {blow the fire and thereby keep up the combustion in the furnace. The first railway locomotive was finished and tried upon the Merthyr train-road, on the 21st of February, 1804. As a loco- motive, it was a remarkable success. The pressure of the steam was about 40 lbs. on the inch. The engine ran upon four wheels, •coupled by cog-wheels, and the four wheels were smooth. On the first trial, this engine drew, for a distance of nine miles, ten tons of bar iron, together with the necessary carriages, water, ,and fuel, at the rate of five and a half miles an hour, Trevithick, in a great measure, solved the problem of steam loco- motion on railways. He had produced a compact engine, work- ing on the high-pressure principle, capable of carrying fuel and water sufficient for a journey of considerable length, and of draw- ing loaded wagons at five and a half miles an hour. He had shown by his smooth wheeled locomotive that the weight had given sufficient adhesion for hauling the load. He had discharged the steam into the chimney, though not for the purpose of increasing the draught, as he employed bellows for that purpose. There can be no doubt as to the great mechanical ability of Trevithick. He was a man of original and intuetive genius in in- vention. Every mechanical arrangement which he undertook to study issued from his hands transformed and improved. But there he rested. He struck out many inventions, and left them to take care of themselves. His great failing was the want of perseverance. Trevi-thick made the first railway locomotive, and cast the in- vention aside, leaving it to others to take it up and prosecute it to a successful issue. He introduced, if he did not invent, the cy- lindrical boiler and the high-pressure engine, which increased so enormously the steam power of the world ; but he reaped the profits of neither. He invented an oscillating engine and a screw pro- peller ; he took out a patent for using superheated steam, as well .as for v/rought iron ships and wrought iron floating docks; but OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 817 fee left it to Other men to introduce these several inventions. Never was there such a series of splendid mechanical begin- nings. He began a Thames Tunnel, and abandoned it. He went to South America with the prospect of making a gigantic fortune, but he had scarcely begun to gather in his gold than he was forced to fly, and returned home destitute. But even when he had the best chances, Trevithick threw them away. There may have been some moral twist in the engineer's charac- ter, into which we do not seek to pry ; but it seems clear that he was wanting in that resolute perseverance, that power of fighting an up-hill battle, without which no great enterprise can be con- ducted to a successful issue. The character of Richard Trevithick presents a remarkable con- trast to that of George Stephenson, who took up only one of the many projects which the other had cast aside, and by dint of ap- plication, industry, and perseverance, carried into effect one of the most remarkable, but peaceful revolutions which has ever been accomplished in any age or country. During the last year of his life, Trevithick resided at Dartford, in Kent. He was entirely without means at his death, being some sixty pounds in debt to the landlord of the Bull Inn, where he had lodged for nearly a year. ALFRED VAIL. ^N THE month of September, 1807, there was born into the family of a sturdy machinist, a son, who in process of time came to be given the name of Alfred Vail. Stephen Vale was the first man in New Jersey to set up a ma- chine for making cut nails, which he started at Dover in his native county. He early married a young lady of excellent sense and of great amiability and nobleness of character, who manifested the best qualities of a true housewife and an earnest Christian mother^ Mrs. Vail had several children ; the eldest was a daugh- ter, Harriet, and the second a son, Alfred, the subject of our sketch. 52 0I« FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Alfred Vail passed his early life at the home of his parents and amid influences which were likely to engender and foster mechan- ical tastes. His youth until his seventeenth year was spent in attending school in Morris Academy. When young Vail had left school, his tastes and the tendencies of his surroundings led him at once into the business of his father — the manufacture of steam engines and other machinery manufactured of iron and brass. He was much in the brass foundry, and at an early age became noted for his skill. With great fondness for study, especially in the mechanic arts and sciences, he had frequent longings for more thorough attainments. He had, however, become a citizen of full age before he broke away from his moorings, and began his preparations for college. With great zeal and energy he pursued his studies at the academy in Bloomfield, Essex County, until duly prepared he entered the New York City University in 1832., probably at precisely the period of Professor Morse's return from Europe in the packet ship "Sully." Vail graduated in due course in 1836, with decided honor, and with such recognition from the faculty as led to an early offer of a professorship in the institu- tion. Through Professor Morse, Mr. Vail became interested^ and: finally absorbed, in improving the telegraph. He had at least as soon as the earlier part of September, 1837, entered with Profes- sor Morse upon a series of experiments at Speedwell with the rude machine of Morse's own construction. When he had by working with Professor Morse satisfied himself as to the capacities of his system and machine, Mr. Vail, with his accustomed patience and the concentration of his fine natural and acquired abilities for nvention, gave himself up to the work of improving on Professor Morse's machine. Mr. Vail's machine was exhibited at Washing- ton, by Professor Morse, who, after failing to accomplish anything practically beneficial, left for Europe under the patronage of his friends at Speedwell. Professor Morse, in his first letter to Alfred Vail, from Europe, writes : " Paris, October ir, 1838. " I exhibited the telegraph to the Institute, and the sensation produced was as striking as at Washington. It was evident that hitherto the asembled science of Europe had considered the plan of an electric telegraph as ingenious but visionary, and like aeronautic navigation, practicable in little more than OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 819 theory and destined to be useless. Icannot describe to you the scene at the Insti- tute when your box with the registering machine, just as it left Speedwell, was placed upon the table, and surrounded by the most distinguished men of all Europe, celebrated in the various arts and sciences — Arago, Baron Humboldt, Guy Lassac, and a host of others whose names are stars that shine in both hemispheres. Arago described it to them, and I showed its action. A buzz of admiration and approbation filled the whole hall, and the exclamations 'extra- ordinaire,^ 'ires bien,' 'ires admirable' I heard on all sides. The sentiment was universal." Here we insert the text of the original fac-simile certificate as it was found, excepting the erasures made by Mr. Vail, and the word combination given in italics, which was undoubtedly the word used, but it was torn off when first discovered by Mr, Vail's fam- ily: " This lever and roller were invented by me in the 6th story of the New York Observer office, in 1844, before we put up the telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore, and this cotnbination has been always used in Morse's instrument, I am the sole and only inventor of this mode of telegraph embossed writing. Professor Morse gave me no clue to it, or did any one else, and I have not asserted publicly my right as first and sole inventor, because I wish to preserve the peaceful unity of the invention, and, because, I could not, according to my contract with Professor Morse, have got a patent for it. (Signed) "Alfred Vail." Mr. Vail proposed and draughted his plan of printing instrument. The complicated machinery necessary to produce the result, which seemed more curious than useful, and its slowness of opera- tion, compared with the Morse-(Vail) instrument, were obstacles to its practical application. It was never practically tested. Mr. Vail's thorough scientific and mechanical knowledge of all that pertained to the telegraph, and his deep interest in its suc- cess, made him a valuable counsellor in the new projects which frequently came up for consideration during those early years in tvhich Mr. Kendall was effectively urging forward the schemes for erecting new lines, then being set on foot in all directions. Alfred Vail deceased on the i8th of January, 1859, in his fifty- second year, at his residence on South street, Morristown, N. J. S20 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT. ||^) ICHARD ARKWRIGHT, was born at Preston, in Lan- JX^*l|L cashire, England, on the 23rd of December, 1732. ^"^ Arkwright, from a very humble origin, rose to affluence and distinction by his perseverance in improving and perfecting machinery adapted to the cotton manufacture. Whitney had, by the invention 6i the Cotton-Gin, made the production of Cotton profitable, at a comparatively low price; and the combination re- sulted in the development of the great manufacturing interests of Britain and the United States. The parents of Arkwright were very poor; and he was the youngest of a family of thirteen children. The education he re- ceived was extremely limited, if indeed he was ever at school at all. The profession to which he was bred was that of a barber. He followed this business until nearly thirty years of age, and dur- ing this early period his history is hidden and obscure enough. About the year 1760, however, or soon after, he quit shaving, and commenced business as an itinerant hair-dealer, collecting the commodity by travelling up and down the courUry. It would appear that his first effort in mechanics was an at- tempt to discover the perpetual motion. It was on inquiring after a person to make him some wheels for a project of this kind that, in the latter part of the year 1767, he got acquainted with a clock- maker of the name of Kay, then residing at Warrington, with whom it is certain that he was, for a considerable time after, closely connected. From this moment we may date his entrance upon a new career. In the year 1767, Arkwright became acquainted with Kay. In 1768, the two friends appeared together at Preston, and immmedi- ately began to occupy themselves busily in the erection of a ma- chine for spinning cotton thread, of which they had brought a model with them. They prevailed upon a Mr. Smalley, who is described to have been a liquor merchant and painter of that place, to join them in their speculation ; and the room in which the machine was fixed was the parlor of a dwelling house attached to a free grammar-school, which Smalley obtained from his friend, the school-master. At ihis time Arkwright was so poor that, an OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 82 1 election contest having taken place in the town of which he was a burgess, it is asserted that his friends, or party, were obliged to subscribe to get him a decent suit of clothes before they could bring him into the poll-room. As soon as the election was over, he and Kay leit Preston, and, carrying with them their model, be- took themselves to Nottingham, the apprehension of the hostility of the people of Lancashire to the attempt he was making to in- troduce spinning by machinery, having, as Arkwright himself afterward stated, induced him to take this step. On arriving at Nottingham, he first made arrangements with the Messrs. Wright, bankers, for making the necessary supply of capital ; but they, after a short time, having declined to continue their advances, he took his model to Messrs. Need & Strutt, stocking-weavers of the place, the latter of whom was a particularly ingenious man, and well qualified, from scientific acquirements of which he had pos- sessed him&elf under many disadvantages, to judge of the adapta- tion of the new machinery to its proposed object. An inspection of it perfectly satisfied him of its great value ; and he and Mr. Needimmediately agreed to enter into partnership with Arkwright, who, in 1769, took out a patent for the machine as its inventor. A Spinning Mill driven by horse-power, was at the same time erected, and filled with the frames ; being, unless we include those erected many years before by Mr. Wyatt, the first works of the kind that had been known in England. In 177 1, Arkwright and his partners established another Mill at Cromford, in the parish of Wirksworth, in Derbyshire, the machinery of which was set in motion by a w^-ter- wheel, and in 1775 he took out a second patent, on additions which he had made to his original apparatus. After he had succeeded in forming his partnership with Messrs, Need & Strutt, his success was far from being secured. For a long time the speculation was a hazardous and unprofitable one, and no little outlay was required to carry it on. He tells us him- self that in his case it did not begm to pay till it had been perse- vered in for five years, and had swallowed up a capital of more than twelve thousand pounds. We can not doubt that it required all Arkwright's dexterity and firmness to induce his partners to per- severe with the experiment under this large expenditure and pro- tracted disappointment. But it was the character of the man to devote his whole heart and faculties to whatever he was engaged 822 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. in. Even to the close of his life, the management of his extended manufacturing operations was his only occupation, and even amusement. Although he had been from early life afflicted with severe asthma, he took scarcely any recreation, employing all of his time either in superintending the daily concerns of these establishments, which were regulated upon a plan that itself indi- cated in its contriver no little ingenuity and reach of mind, or in adding such improvements to his machinery from time to time as his experience and observation suggested. And thus it was that he raised himself from a poor barber to what he eventually be- came — not merely a man of rank and affluence, but the founder of a new branch of National industry, destined in a wonderfully shor- space of time, to assume the very first place among the manut facturers of his own country and America. Mr. Arkwright died at the age of sixty, in 1792, from the result of a complication of disorders arising from a sedentary life. At the time of his death his wealth amounted to one-half million sterling. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 823 JOSH BILLINGS. )>^;'i/K)ANY of our American humorists have as many read- jr^^r|r' ers as Henry W. Shaw, so well known under his pen ^^'^^ name of " Josh Billings "; none of them have, however, so wide and varied an audience. Old and young are alike pleased at his amusing oddities, quaint sayings, and natural kindly humor. His life seems to have been remarkable in no respect except in the rapidity with which he made and the ability with which he has kept his reputation as a humorist. It is not likely that a biography of " JoSh Billings "would prove more interesting than that of most people. It is in his writings alone that matter for interest is to be found. As an author he seems destined to ob- tain as much celebrity for the wealth of his humor and the ver- satility of its expression, as for its charming quality. He has already published four books, all of which have been successful, fcesides his well-known "Farmer's Almanax," of v/hich enough were sold at 25 cents each to bring the author a small fortune. 824 FOOTPRIXTS OK THE AGES. Like many other authors, he has entered the lecture field, where he has also achieved success. He never fails to obtain full houses, and is received everywhere with applause. The genius of " Billings " is to be seen rather in his quaint and original manner of saying things, his " cute " combinations^ strange juxtapositions, and the peculiar power he possesses oi presenting high moral truths, so that they may be brought, full of life and humor, to the comprehension of the most practical minds, than in the giving of new or original matter. He might be called an artist rather than a writer ; or to express it different- ly, a literateur in whom the artistic sense predominates. There may, indeed, be originality in matter as well as in manner in "Josh Billings' " writings — the humor which grows out of his com- parisons and combinations being certainly original^ — but most of his seem to be drawn from the wise old moral laws of our ances- tors, united to the odd and practical phraseology of certain classes. However this may be, " Josh Billings " is always heard and read with delight, and we have pleasure in presenting his portrait as being that of one of America's greatest humorists. DEAN SWIFT. ^^ EAN SWIFT was born in Dublin, in 1667, and was edir- *yj[' cated at Hiekenny, and Dublin University. He is said to have been a careless student, reading human nature more than books, and already a keen satirist. Until he was over forty years of age, he was a Whig ; then for a short time he sup- ported the Tories ; afterwards, until he was seventy he paid nc attention to politics except as it could be used as a means of bet- tering the condition of Ireland. When he reached his majority OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 825 he emigrated to England. He became a member of the family of Sir William Temple, a relative of his, and during his stay there studied,, and acted as secretary to his patron. He wrote Pindarie odes, which, says a critic, were poor enough to merit Dryden's opinion, " Cousin Swift, you will never be a poet." His poem, however, was not quite thrown away, but prepared his mind for the production of those later comedies in which satire is often half buried, or loses its power to harm, in comic wit. Having become dissatisfied with his patron, he crossed to Ireland, took orders, and accepted a situation as country pastor, on an endow- ment of a hundred pounds a year. Whether he only intended at the first to frighten his friends, or whether he discovered that he had made a mistake and chose a life and vocation for which he was unsuited, we know not, but are certain it is that receiving an invitation to the Temple in less than twelve months, he obtained a transfer of his living to a poorer man than himself, and returned to Moor Park, a wiser and perhaps better man. At this time,. Swift was unmarried and a most arrant flirt, and even while in Ireland, engaged in ministerial duties, found time to practice enough to keep his hand in two or three games, which he was playing secretly. During his second stay at Moor Park he wrote " The Battle of the Books," and "Tale of a Tub." His first works are his best, — ' strong, fresh, vigorous, not so well calculated to please, perhaps,, as later writings, since not so polished. His satirical romances- are called his masterpiece, and for the terrible invectives, for the masterly skill with which he uses the cutting lash of irony, no doubt they are. The same characteristics which marked his writings marked his conversation. He was brilliant, witty, fear- less, and cruel, never failing to throw back a sharp retort at the right time. On Sir William Temple's death Swift returned to Ireland with Lord Berkeley, and when his patron received his recall the next year. Swift was left in possession of an annual living of four hundred pounds. He now published the two first books written,, but though popular Avith the people, they were unpopular with the clergy, and were used as a means to so prejudice Queen Anne against him that his friends found it impossible to obtain a living for him in England, as they would gladly have done since 826 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. he preferred that country. Provoked by this state of affairs, Swift now made matters worse by his " Project for the advance- ment of Religion," and a work entitled " An Argument to prove that the Abolishing of Christianity in England may, as things now stand, be attended with some Inconvenience." Heretofore Swift had been a Whig, and a most zealous high churchman ; but his party wounded his heart by their neglect of Ireland, and his self-love by refusing to make him a bishop ; so when the Tories came into power, he unhesitatingly went over to their ranks. It was in their interests that he wrote " The Examiner," followed by "The Conduct of the Allies;" and his "History of the four last years of the Queen," was a defense of the treaty of Utrecht. In 1 7 13 his friends obtained for him the deanery of St. Patrick's Cathedral, in Dublin, which really amounted to banishment from England for meddling with politics. What hint accompanied the living is not known, but Swift never after took any part in politics. During all'these years Swift had kept up a most contemptible flirt- ation with two ladies, — one " Stella," daughter of Sir William Temple's steward, the other an Irish lady who was the " Vanessa " of his poems. Upon his return to Dublin, Stella followed him, and her frightful temper and jealousy caused stormy scenes, to appease which Swift married her secretly, and in so doing, capped the climax of their misery. Vanessa, having heard or seen some- thing which roused her suspicions, wrote to Stella, and she handed the letter to Swift, who, in a towering passion, called upon Vanessa, threw the letter on her table, and left her without a word. The shock killed both his victims and they were buried within a few days of each other. " Gulliver's Travels," and " Brob- dignag " are specimens of his light literature at this period. In liis sixty-eighth year he wrote the " Legion Club," one of his best rhymed pieces. About this time his health began to give way, and gradually declined. His death, in October 1745, was pre- .ceded by three years of total idiocy. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 827 MARK TWAIN. AMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, so well known to the English-speaking world as Mark Twain, was born in the town of Florida, Monroe County, Missouri, in the year 1835. He appears to have possessed, from early youth, that irresistible desire to write which has brought out and developed so many of our most talented men, while it has lured weaker minds to their ruin. Mark Twain commenced as a modest contributor to the " Daily Alta," of San Francisco, and subsequently appeared as regular contributor to the " New York Tribune," " Galaxy," " Packard's " and the " New York Herald," having written for some of those journals in conjunction with his regular duties of editing and publishing. The attention attracted by his earlier contributions appear to liave decided him in the choice of a profession, for he soon con- nected himself as editor with the " Daily Enterprise," Virginia 828 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, City, Nevada, where he received that discipline and facility in writing which he has turned to such good account. He next en- tered on a wider field of enterprise, as editor and part proprietor of the " Daily Express," Buffalo, New York, a position he has since retained. It is since his connection with this paper that he has made the name of " Mark Twain " a household word, and some of the brightest small sketches he has written appeared for the first time in that journal. He has written, since 1866, several books, and published some collections of sketches, all of which have been remarkably successful, and have made the author inde- pendent of the world. " The Jumping Frog of Calaveras Coun- ty, and other Sketches by John Paul," was published abroad in 1867 by Routledge, and was follow-ed by the " Innocents Abroad," (Hartford, 1869,) both of which were surprisingly successful. We will make no attempt to analyze the quality of his wit and humor. It owes something, doubtless, to the manner in which it is employed, and some of the humorist's strongest sketches may be suspected of a lack of originality, or at least of ingenious change or small adaptations. Some talk was created at the time of his connection with the "Galaxy." It was thought that he did not equal his former ef- forts in his articles for that magazine. It is, perhaps, true, though the articles contained much that was sparkling and original. One trouble was, however, with the public — they expected too much — and had formed little idea of the difficulty of making " a few pages of wit," to be ready always at a certain day. Much shorter sketches than these presented would have been better. Our humorist was married about two years since to an estima- ble lady of Buffalo, and has settled into a vaodt\ pater fa?mlias^ It is likely that he begins to think himself an old man already,, which is natural enough when we consider that at the age of only thirty-six, he has made a reputation which is higher and wider than most men, even humorists, attain at sixty. Some cynical people say that he has not said so good a thing; since he made his last joke of his bachelor life. His father-in- law had secretly furnished a house for the young pair. When Mark was led into and had looked upon its splendor his single remark was, "Well, isn't this a first-class sell!" OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 829 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN. UDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN was born at Bonn, De- cember 1 6th, 1770. He was the second of four children, and exhibited, at a very early age, proofs of great musical talent. At eleven years of age he is spoken of by a competent critic, in a periodical of the time, as playing at sight all the dif- ficult and most incomprehensible plays of Sebastian Bach. He liad also, at that age, already published three sonatas for the piano, and a number of pieces for the harpsichord, of which' he was master. At this period the elector died, and was succeeded by Maxim illian Francis, who was passionately fond of music. His bosom friend was the young Count Waldstein, a practical musi- cian, and familiar with the works of the best masters. The Count discovered the promise of the boy, became his protector, and had him appointed assistant court organist, and afterwards sent him to Vienna to study with Mozart, from whence he returned to take the position of chief organist. Again his kind patron returned him to Vienna at his own expense, and maintained him through five years of study and practice. He was now twenty-two years of age, handsome as an artist's dream ; polished, easy, graceful, learned in the ways of the best society ; with a force, fire and orig- inality of conception and a delicate yet brilliant execution in which he had scarcely a rival — surely but one — Wolfe, who was unsurpassed on the piano. His compositions took the world by storm. Whether in heavy thunders, like the tramping of armed legions, they swept in volumes of oppressive weight through the dim old aisles of the mightiest cathedrals of Europe ; or whether m whispers low and deft as those of twilight's softest breeze, they crept through nave and corridor, rising with the perfumed breath of incense burning upon holy altars, and thrilling and vibrating through the rich and dusky gloom, men listened with solemn awe, and the swift pulse wildly leaping, caught from the heart a sub- .dued and measured beat, and women wept with mournful pleasure 830 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. that was almost pain. But the life of the young musician was aU ready overshadowed with an impending calamity, and his soul- grew sick with an unutterable dread, for the brilliant triumphs which the future offered were but mockery ; since he, of all the world would soon know no more the ravishing strains his own ge- nius created, and his masterpieces of composition would be but signs whose exquisite expression he would never hear. He had been conscious for some time that his hearing was- becoming dull ; that he was gradually but surely losing it. It is> needless to say he was in despair. Every means which human skill could devise had been brought to bear upon the case in vain. It was far past the help of surgery, and grim and helpless he awaited the coming of the inevitable doom. His sensitive nature shrank from the society, sympathy and fellowship of men, and when only thirty years old he retired from the company which he had adorned, and of which he was the idol, and became a re- cluse. Henceforth every composition of his was tinged with the melancholy that had taken possession of his spirit, and the de- pression was so great that he seriously meditated suicide as the- only way to rid himself of an existence which had grown hateful CO him. Oilly love for his mission stayed his hand. Only the wistful longing to give to the world the darling creation of his brain — only the memory of what he had done in the past, and the knowledge that his powers had not yet reached their prime, pre- vented him from closing the door of time and stepping out into the darkness of an unknown future. The pensive tone which had always marked his productions, grew heavier as he advanced in years, and in some of his latest works is so strong as to possess a curious fascination. He was all his life a republican in principle, though circum- stances prevented the frequent expression of such sentiments ; and the aspirations, hopes, triumphs, the grief, woe, despair of the nations were themes for his muse. Some appreciative critic, says : " The orchestral words of Beethoven are the musical record of the great ideas of his time in the form and likeness they assumed in his mind. Haydn and Mozart perfected instrumental music in its form. Beethoven touched it and it became a living soul" He died March, 26, 1827, OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 83I MOZART. WOHANN CHRYSOSTOMUS WOLFGANG GOTTLIEB' f Mozart was born in Salzburg, Jan. 26, 1756. His father was a bookbinder, but having both taste and talent for music, studied at Salzburg and became one of the prince-arch- bishop's musicians. The young Mozart was born and bred in an^ atmosphere that was redolent with music, where, from matins to vespers, the sweet strains rang and vibrated, and thrilled every passer-by as if the gates of Heaven had been left ajar, and sera- phic strains floated through. At the age of three years he began to show signs of that remarkable talent which made his name im- mortal, and his compositions, even yet, are the masterpieces of musical works. At four years of age he played upon the harp- sichord quite a number of pieces, and at five he made his first at- tempt at composition; while he was bright and quick at all his- other studies, music was his favorite and in this he excelled. When seven years of age his family removed from Germany, and the boy and his sister played in all the principal cities of Europe, where they excited the greatest wonder and astonishment. In the fall of the same season he played upon the grand organ be- fore the entire court of Versailles. Here he published his two first compositions, and the fame of the infant prodigy was the one great sensation of the times. From there he went to England, where he composed six sonatas, which were, by special request of Her Majesty, dedicated to the Queen. In Holland, when not more than eight years of age, he composed a symphony for a full orchestra. In 1769, when entering upon his teens, he was ap- pointed concert master to the Archbishop of Salzburg. Every- where he was met w th the greatest enthusiasm. In 177 1 he com- posed the first opera for the carnival, and heard for the first time the celebrated '''Miserere.'" It may not be generally known that the reproduction of this piece was forbidden, that it could not be copied or published in any form or manner on pain of excommu- nication. Mozart was in Rome during Passion Week, and going home from mass, immediately produced from memory, the intricate and marvelous ""Miserere." Good Friday he again listened to it,. «32 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. corrected any mistakes he might have made, and then took Rome by storm by singing it in a manner equal to those who had given it years of practice. It had never been written before, and it was thought that notes could never be made to express it ; the surprise and admiration of professional singers was unbounded. The PoDe was enraptured with him, and bestowed upon him the order of the Golden Spur, and at Bologna he was elected a member ot the Philharmonic Society, an honor rarely conferred even upon 'the greatest singers. His position was now that of first singer in Europe, or rather first musician, for he was unexcelled either in vocal or instrumental music. His mother's death, which occurred in Paris, in 1777, occasioned his return to Salzburg, from whence he again made a tour to Europe, and then entered the service of the Emperor at Vienna, where he remained during the rest of his life. At the early age of thirty-five, when his already ripening honors were falling fast around him, death came suddenly, and the hand and brain wrought no more on earth the melodies that were fit for' the lips of seraphs. His Requiem is perhaps his. masterpiece, if we can choose, where all are so perfect. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY- 833 HORACE GREELEY. ^ORACE GREELEY is, in every sense of the word, a "self-made man." His father, Zaccheus Greeley, was a poor New Hampshire farmer, who was only able to give ■ him the advantages of a common school education ; but his ener- gy, ambition and capacity supplied all deficiencies, and enabled him to push his way from obscurity to the prominent position he Aow occupies. Horace Greeley was born at Amherst, New Hampshire, on the 3d of February, 181 1. He was a rather feeble child, and for years suffered from want of physical strength rather than frOm any positive disease. He lived with his parents in New Hamp- shire until the ist of February, 1821, going to school a little and working on the farm a great deal, when, in consequence of his father's failure and the enforced sale of his farm, the whole fami- ly went to West Haven, Vermont. Here he was distinguished at school by the readiness with which he absorbed knowledge. In the year 1826, being then fifteen years old, he entered the of- fice of the "Northern Spectator," at Poultney, Vt., as an apprentice. It did not take him long to learn the typo's trade, and he was soon noted for his dexterity and accuracy as a compositor. It was here that he first began his literary work — seldom writing anything, but composing editorials as he stood at the "case," and setting them in type v/ithout taking the trouble to write them out. While at Poultney he not only set type and helped edit " The Spectator," but would lecture in the village lyceum, and was the referee in all disputes on historical or literary questions. In 1830 "The Spectator" suspended publication, and Horace was compelled to start anew. He left Poultney richer only by the trade he had learned, and the experience of his four years in a country village. One morning in June of the above year, Mr. Greeley started from Poultney for the place to which his parents 5.3 Horace Greeley. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 835 had removed in Pennsylvania, 600 miles away. With all his possessions suspended over his shoulder at the end of a hick- ory stick, he walked to Schnectady, where he took a boat on the Erie canal, walking at the other end of the route over one hundred miles before he reached his destination. Making his home in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania the base of ope- rations he wandered through the surrounding country in search of employment. He finally got an engagement on the " Erie Gazette," where he remained for some seven months. As he had now near- ly attained his majority, he concluded that it was time for him to do something, and determined to set out for New York City. At sunrise on the i8th of August, 1831, Horace Greeley landed at Whitehall, close to the Battery. His cash capital consisted of ten dollars. The first work he obtained in this city was assisting in the composition of a Polyglot Testament. Mr. Greeley made his first business venture in New York as a partner in a daily paper called the " Morning Post," started January I, 1833, by Dr. H. D. Shepard. The paper lived about a montlu In March, 1834, he made his first visible mark in journalism by issuing " The New Yorker," a large and handsome weekly paper, devoted to literature and news. Two years after starting this paper Mr. Greeley married. Five children have been born to him, of whom two boys and one girl died at an early age. While publishing "The New Yorker" Mr. Greeley made his debut as a political writer, in 183-8, on a small campaign paper called "The Jeffersonian," and in the Harrison campaign as the editor of "The Log Cabin." On the loth of April, 1841, Mr. Greeley, almost moneyless and unaided, issued the first number of " The New York Tribune." In 1848 Mr. Greeley was elected to Congress to fill a vacancy, and served from December i of that year to March 4, 1849. In 1850 he published a volume of political lectures and essays, under the title of " Hints toward Reform." The following year he made a voyage to Europe, and during his visit to Eng land served as a juryman at the Crystal Palace Exhibition. On his return he published a volume entitled " Glimpses at Europe.' Mr. Greeley's connection with politics previous to and during the late war is too well known to require mention. Striving in the Sjd FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. first place to preserve peace when the war had broken out, he ad- vocated such measures as would bring it to a speedy conclusion. Horace Greeley has ably and persistently advocated the inter- ests of the working classes, and has used his political and social influence to further the schemes which have at various times been proposed for their benefit. He was nominated for the presidency May 3d, 1872, but was defeated by General Grant. He died November 29th, 1872. HUGH MILLER. ^UGH MILLER, son of a sailor, himself destined as geologist and naturalist, was born in the town of Cro- marty, Scotland, October loth, 1802. Some one has said that Hugh Miller could converse with books. His earliest work was the well known essay on " My Schools and School-masters," " Scenes and Legends," and " Lykewake." The most important stages of his life carry him through his school- days — when, undoubtedly, he formed material for that auto- graphic work, entitled, '* My Schools and School-masters." That book has been recognized by all judges as one of the most capti- vating and able of the author's performances, and has a place in English literature from which it cannot be moved; but it is no substitute for the biography of Hugh Miller. It deals with but one portion of its author's career, and that the portion which pre- ceded his emergence into public life. There is much biographic material relating to Hugh Miller, unencroached upon in the "Schools and School-masters." From early boyhood, he was fond of jotting down particulars connected with his personal his- tory and for many years previous to his being harnessed to steady literary toil, he took great delight in letter-writing. HUGH miller's BOYISH ADVENTURE IN THE DOOCOT CAVE. He was twelve years old when the notable adventure of the Doocot Cave afforded him the subject of his first verses. The OUR GOVERMENT AND HISTORY. ^37 incident, slight in itself, happens to possess extraordinary inter- est in a biographical point of view. There exists at least four accounts of the incident drawn up by himself —four successive paintings of the same scene, by the boy, the stripling, the man of twenty-seven, and the man of fifty. The first is that referred to in the " Schools and School-mas- ters," as executed in " enormously bad verse " a day or two after the occurrence. The copy from which this sketch is taken excited the admiring wonder of Miss Bond, mistress of the Cro- marty Boarding School. Attached to it is that pictorial repre- sentation of the scene which Miller describes as consisting of "horrid crags of burnt umber, perforated by yawning caverns of India ink, and crested by a dense forest of sap-green." You can see what is intended; the sea is below the cavern, and the sward and wood are above ; but the whole is not superior to the ordi- nary daubing of child-artists. The verses exhibit internal evi- dence of having been written within a day or two of the event they record. The agony of distress and terror experienced by the boy of twelve when he and his companion— a lad still younger— found themselves, as night came on, with the sea before, impassable rocks on either hand, and a dark cavern behind,— this, and their contrasted rapture when the boats hailed them at midnight, supersede all reflection on the beauties of the land- scape or the wonders of the cave. The grammar and spelling are about as bad as possible. Here are the first two lines : " When I to you unfolds my simple tale, And pamts the horrors of a rocky vail." He forgets to say what will happen when the dreadful revelation takes place, and strikes presently into description of the cave. We need not retain the childish misspelling : "There stands a cavern on the sea-beat shore, Which stood for ages since the days of yore, Whose open mouth stands forth awfully wide, And oft take-; in the roaring, swelling tide. Out through the cavern, water oozes fast. Which ends in nothing but white stones at last. For several years this version seems to have contented him xhe revision it underwent extending only to verbal alterations. The lad of nineteen, however, discards the whole, and produces a 838 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. more polished and melodious ditty. The friend who shared the adventure is dismissed, and the interest centres in the "author,'" or, as he is now more poetically styled, " the Muses' youngest child," or, with a touch of remorseful pathos, "the Muses' rude, untoward child." He has learned to sketch in Scott's lighter manner, and there is something of gracefulness and vivacity in his handling. "Well may fond memory love to trace The semblance of that lonely place ; Much may she joy to picture fair Each cliff that frowns in darkness there ; For when alone in youth I strayed To haunted cave or forest glade, Each rock, each lonely dell, I knew, Where flowrets bloomed, or berries grew ; Knew where, to shelf of whitened rock, At eve the sable cormorants flock ; Could point the little arm to where Deep the wild fox had dug his lair ; Had marked with curious eye the cell Where the rock-pigeon loved to dwell ; Had watched the seal with silent ken. And, venturous, stormed the badger's den. Hugh Miller was, at the time he left school, a rugged, proud, and stiff-necked lad, impossible to drive, and difficult to lead, his character already marked with strong lines, and developing from within or through self-chosen influences. "I saw," said Baxter, of Cromwell, "that what he learned must be from himself;" and the observation might already have been made of Hugh Miller. To his friends he was a perplexity and offense ; to his uncles, in particular, who knew him too well, and were too sagacious to accept the off-hand theory of his school-masters, that he was merely a stupid and bad boy, he must have seemed amass of con- tradictions. Intellectual in his wildest play, fond of books, and capable of discerning excellence from its counterfeits in thought and style, passionately addicted to the observation of nature, and forgetting no fact he once ascertained how could he be dull in the ordinary sense } We find him as the boy mason in 1829, when he writes to Prin- cipal Baird : " My first six months of labor, presented only a series of disasters. I was, at the time, of a slender make and weak OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 839 constitution ; and I soon found I was ill-fitted for such employ- ments as the trundling of loaded wheelbarrows over a plank, or the raising of huge blocks of stone out of a quarry. My hands were soon fretted into large blisters, my breast became the seat of a dull, oppressive pain, and I was much distressed, after exertion more than usually violent, by an irregular motion of my heart. My spirits were almost always miserably low ; and I was so wrap- ped up in a wretched, apathetic absence of mind, that I have wrought for whole hours together with scarcely a thought of what I was doing myself, and scarcely conscious of what others were •doing around me." Boy-life, with its freshness of faculty, its exuberence of delights, its opulence of wayward force, lies behind Hugh Miller. He found his way up as master of the workmen with whom he was once wont to drudge. But misfortunes overtaking him, he was forced'back to a barrack life, finally finding himself a friend- less wanderer in the woods. But in his wanderings over rock and 'mountain crag. Miller the geologist out-climbed Miller the mason. In seeking employment, or in wandering about on pleasant sum- mer evenings, he made the best of his talent in those studies which the naturalist or geologist delights in following. Hugh Miller was a remarkable and eccentric character. His life covered the beautiful, august and heroic. From the father, whose very image he in later years became, he derived the ground- work of his character, and for the education of conscience he was indebted to his uncle James. In early manhood he was en- 'Compassed with hardships, with coarseness, with manifold temp- tations. His soul took no taint. He rose superior to every form of vulgarity: the vulgar ambition of wealth, the vulgar ambition ■of notoriety, the vulgar baseness of sensuality and license. He aspired to fame, but it was to fame which should be the ratifica- tion of his own severe judgment. " I have myself," he said, "for my critic;" and while the decision of this sternest censor was even moderately favorable, no sneers could depress, no applause elate him. His course was a steadfast pursuit of truth and of knowledge, an unwearied dedication of himself to all that he believed to be true, and honest, and lovely, and of good report. Politeness is the last touch, the finishing perfection of a noble character. It is the gold on the spire, the sunlight on the corn- 840 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. field, the smile on the lip of the noble knight lowering his sword- point to his lady-love. It results only from the truest balance and harmony of soul. Hugh Miller possessed it. A duke in speaking to him would know he was speaking to a man as inde- pendent as himself; a boy, in expressing to him an opinion, would feel unabashed and easy, from his genial and unostentatious deference. Years in the quarry have not dimmed in Hugh Miller that finishing gleam of genial light which plays over the frame- work of character, and is politeness. Not only did he require honest manliness for this ; gentleness was also necessary. He had both, and has retained them ; and therefore merits fairly " ' The grand old name of gentleman.' " So far as"*we can penetrate the charm of his composition, it lies mainly in the fine continuity of it, in the absence of all jerkm-g, jolting movement, in the callida junciura^ not of word to word merely, but of sentence to sentence, thought to thought, illustra- tion to illustration. An author's peculiar excellence, if we have rightly discriminated it, will give us a hint^as to where we should look for his besetting fault, and in reading Miller long at one time, we may find in his billowy regularity and smoothness of movement a sense of monotony. Yet, after all, there is a mar- velous enchantment in his books ; the breath of the hills is in them, the freshness of the west wind and the sea. It was impossible to be long in Miller's company without per- ceiving the ardor of his devotion to science. He considered lit- erature inferior to science as a gymnastic of the mind. For the facile culture of the age he had great contempt, and ranked both religion and labor as stimulating, training agencies for mind and character, higher than what is commonly called education. "As for the dream," he says in one of his books, "that there is to be some extraordinary elevation of the general platform of the race achieved by means of education, it is simply the hallucination of the age — the world's present alchemical expedient for converting farthings into guineas, sheerly by dint of scouring." All that he had won had l)een won by stern effort, and he had no faith in royal roads to any kind of attainment. A man of priceless worth ; fine gold, purified sevenfold; deli- cate splendor of honor, sensitive and proud ; perfect sincerity andi OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 84I fautitu^ness in heart and mind. He never failed a friend. His comrade of the hewing-shed sits down at his table when he has become one of the most distinguished men of his time ; another friend is discoved to be at hand-grips with fortune, and he applies himself, with cunning delicacy, to solve the problem of inducing him to accept assistance. This was the manner and habit of the man. Of his power of brain — of his genius and originality — his books, viewed in connection with the circumstances of his career^ are the living witnesses. To their testimony must be added the fact of the great influence he exerted upon his contemporaries, the personal weight, the intellectual mass and magnitude, he was felt to possess. Hugh Miller was a Presbyterian. He performed editorial la- bors during the Great Disruption, and later was a most eloquent and vigorous writer in the newly constituted Free Church. Severe mental toil at last undermined his powerful brain, and, in a mo- ment of insanity, on the night of Dec. 23d, 1856, he committed suicide at Portobello, near Edinburgh. DWIGHT L. MOODY. ^teg^WIGHT L. MOODY, the great Evangelist was born in JwW Northfield, Massachussets, in 1837. In his boyhood he ^^ displayed great originality and force of character and the power of leadership that characterizes his later movements. At eighteen years, he entered the boot and shoe store of his uncle, in Boston ; his parents were Unitarians, and he had been brought up in their belief; but he became a member of the Sunday-school attached to Dr. Kirk's Congregational Church, where an evangel- ical sermon had the effect of making him uncomfortable, and he determined not to go again; induced to go back the next Sunday, the serious impression was renewed,and having obtained joy and peace in believing, he applied for admission to the church on the i6th of May, 1855. The committee by whom his application was consi- dered, recommended delay until he could acquaint himself •■842 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. thoroughly with the fundamental truths of Christianity. After six months he was received into the communion of the church. He removed, in 1856, to Chicago, where he obtained a situation in a shoe store. Desiring to make himself useful, he went into a Mission Sunday-school, and asked for a class. The answer to his application was, that the school was fully supplied with teachers, ibut that if he could gather a class for himself, he would be allowed a place in the school-room. He succeeded in bringing in eighteen boys, arid he enjoyed this sort of work, and handed the class over to another teacher, and continued bringing in recruits until he had filled the school. He soon organized a separate school for the benefit of the lower classes, in one of the most forbidding parts of Chicago. It was called the "North Market Hall Mission School," and it became one of the most famous of the West, the attend- ance reaching one thousand. Mr. Moody decided to give up his business and devote his time to the work he had planned for him- :self. Mr. Moody's work lay in a part of the city in which Roman Catholics and Germans abounded. Being no singer, he secured the help of a friend to sing for him, and for the first few evenings they spent the time alternately singing hymns and telling stories to the children. Very soon the children began to manifest a lively interest. Meetings were held every evening, and prayers offered and addresses delivered, the parents began to attend these meet- ings, and some of them were greatly blessed. Some of those then converted through his instrumentality, have since been among Mr. Moody's most valuable and active helpers in Chicago. An inde- pendent church grew out of the school and Mr. Moody became its unordained pastor. It was a hive of Bible readers, tract dis- tributors, lay preachers, and missionary visitors. Mr. Moody is not a man of education or culture ; his manner is abrupt and blunt, his voice is sharp, rapid, and colloquial, and he never attempts anything like finished or elaborate composition. But he is in downright earnest. He believes what he says, says it as if he believed it, and expects his audience to believe. There is nothing of novelty in the doctrine which he proclaims. It is the old Gospel, old yet always fresh. D. L. MOODY. IRA D. SANKEY. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 845 IRA D. SANKEY. i)RA D. SANKEY, the great singer and companion of Moody, was born at Edinburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1840. In early life he displayed a taste for sacred music, and after join- ing the church at the age of fifteen, he actively promoted the training of Sunday-school children in the singing of hymns. It was in Indianapolis, at a national convention of Young Men's Christian Associations, that Mr. Moody first heard him sing. The two men found that their views and wishes harmonized, and they decided to work together. Mr. Sankey has a fine, full, soft, baritone voice, well trained, and over which he has complete mastery. His singing is plain and natural, xnth wonderful distinctness of articulation, and un- affected feeling. A certain class of hearers attend their meetings solely to hear Mr. Sankey. The story of the successful European tour of Messrs. Moody and Sankey, of the auspicious opening of their work in this coun- try, and their success everywhere, is one of the marvels of our day, and those v/ho deny that the presence and blessing of God attend them and crown their labors, must concede to them per- sonally and collectively a degree of power that is rarely possessed by two men. For our part, we prefer to believe that it is the Lord of Life whose power is working by their instrumentality. COMMERCE. LABOR— BANKS AND BANKING— THE MONEYED INSTITUTIONS OF THE OLD WORLD, PAST AND PRESENT.— SOLUTION OF OUR MONEY PROBLEM. an address by sydney myers before the chicago philosophical society. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Philo- sophical Society : Lord Bacon remarked that all matters in this universe are so connected together link by link, one thing to another, that it would seem impossible to give a full and clear dissertation upon one subject without entering into the consider- ation of all things. Believing this to be true, it strikes me that one should always approach the discussion of any subject in which great interests are involved with humility. My- theme to-night is " Commerce," which in its broadest sense involves all intercourse. Its history is coeval with that of man and its future is in the ages. In its narrower sense commerce involves the interchange of commodities, and the interchange of commodities involves two departments, the one of transportation, and the other of exchange of ownership. Before commodities can exist labor must be pursued, and until I can find a better definition in the books I have adopted as a definition for labor " the intelligent application of power to use." Our mission here is to confer benefits one upon another, to exercise all the faculties with which the Creator has endowed us, to do in this life ail the good we can, and to use our faculties physically, intellectually, and morally. If all were disposed and willing to exercise all their faculties to the full extent for the good of their fellows the 846 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 847 TRANSACTIONS OF COMMERCE would be easier settled. The shoemaker would secure am abundance of flour from the miller ; the bricklayer would offer his services to the shoemaker to build his house, and the laborer would come forward and carry the mortar. But it soon becomes necessary that the shoemaker, the butcher, the baker, and the builder should keep some record of how far they exercised their faculties for the good of their neighbors severally. We have first a verbal agreement on the part of one to compensate the other for services rendered as in our farming community. An exchange of labor takes place, and after a while perhaps some persons may come into the neighborhood who are forgetful of the services rendered, and therefore they take to keeping books. After a while these books become disputed and questions arise before the justices of the peace with regard to the validity of the entries, and then they say " give me your promissory note." From the promissory note, transactions becoming larger, the bill of exchange is brought into use. A large portion of the commerce of Eng- land is carried on by means of bills of exchange. After that comes the account with the great merchant, and after that come the accounts of numerous merchants who aggregate together their wealth, experience, and skill in that corporation sometimes called a bank. Again, another evidence of service, and which passes from hand to hand, is the obligation or promissory note of the bank. These promissory notes having at times been refused,, we have in this country advanced to a condition where the promissory note is secured by collateral. This is one of the great steps in advance in that department of commerce which involves the change of ownership. By the New York banking system for the first time the promissory note of the bank was- secured by something that was intrinsically valuable, superior in value to gold. There have been a few advances made in regard to the EXCHANGE OF VALUES within the last 700 years, at which distant period the Bank of Venice was established. The next event occurred 217 years ago, when a man named Palmstruck, a Swede, invented the bank note. He became so unpopular on account of his invention of FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. the bank note that he got into difficulties, and finally was obliged to leave his country. But soon afterward the government of Sweden decided that after all the bank note was not such a very bad thing, and they took possession of the bank which Palm- struck had abandoned, and that bank to-day is the great central bank of Sweden. The next step made was the establishment of the London Clearing House lOO years ago. The next step I believe to be the New York banking system, by which every promissory note was absolutely secured to the bill-holder. There was perhaps some- thing of circuit to be pursued in order to ultimately reach security ; but it was there. Every bill-holder was secured by the OBLIGATION OF THE STATE. After this soon followed the issue of the greenback and the 3 per cent, certificate. The impression may perhaps prevail that in other countries the bank notes are absolutely secured by some- thing of intrinsic value behind its promise. I think that this is a mistake. I do not know of any country where every bank note in circulation is absolutely secured by something that is not only its equivalent but superior to it in value. Upon the New York system has been ingrafted our national bank system, and the mode of securing the notes is the same in both cases. Accord- ing to Palgrave, who is considered a high authority on this sub- ject, the total note circulation in Great Britain at a recent date was ;^43,62o,ooo sterling. Of this amount _;^3o,ooo,ooo com- posed what is called the fiduciary circulation — based on faith, " the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." Behind ;^i4,ooo,ooo of the bank notes only is gold available for their redemption of the notes. The provincial banks have ;!^5,ooo,ooo in circulation, the Bank of England ^25,000,000, the banks of Scotland ^5,000,000, and the banks of Ireland ^7,000,000, making with the country and private bank circulation a total of ;!^43,62o,ooo, as before stated. Of the BANK OF ENGLAND circulation ^15,000,000 is fiduciary, making ^30,000,000 in all. This fiduciary circulation is authorized partly by the charter of the bank, and has been increased to some extent since the act of OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 849 5844. But it was authorized in this way — and I am probably reminding most of you of facts that are perfectly familiar to you, and I believe the proper office of a speaker, and perhaps of a writer, is to remind people of what they know, and help them to organize their ideas. This ;^i4,ooo,ooo was authorized either upon the charter of the bank or at various times subsequent thereto. During the Napoleonic and other wars, the British Government had contracted a debt to the bank. It was a book account, and is a book account to-day. It was not based upon consols or anything of that kind. It was simply a charge against the British Government of ;^i4,ooo,ooo. The law of 1844 permits the Bank of England to issue bank notes to the amount of this government debt, without having anything behind it. Now we may say that they have the government debt behind it ; but Ernest Seyd, in his recent work on the Bank of England, says that it is acknowledged by all good authorities in London and Great Britain that the bill holder has NO MORE CLAIM for the security of the note which he holds upon the indebted- ness of the British Government to the Bank of England, than has the depositor. Palgrave refers to but does not indorse an article which he designates as able, and from which he quotes, which was published in an issue of Blackwood's Magazine of rather recent date, in which the writer claims that the holder of the note, in case of the stoppage of the Bank of England, would not be a preferred creditor over the depositor as regarded the amount of gold which might be in the issue department of the bank. The system of the Bank of England, and I say it with due respect, but merely for the purpose of making an illustration, is very much like what would be a system of this kind a CHICAGO ELEVATOR, which, having a capacity for 250,000 bushels of wheat, should issue warehouse receipts for 1,000,000 of bushels, and which should be required to keep on hand 250,000 bushels as a reserve to redeem the warehouse receipts with. The price of grain rises, a demand for it is made, and it is flowing out of the country, and the owners of receipts require great quantities of wheat delivered. 54 850 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. After having delivered 250,000 bushels they suspend, or the government suspends the act by which they are required to deliver wheat on presentation of receipts, and by which they are restricted to the issue of receipts for 1,000,000 bushels on a reserve of 250,000 bushels. But the comparison is objected to^ and it is claimed the Bank of England never suspended and never refused to deliver gold, or in the other case that the warehouse never refused to deliver wheat. But the act by which they were REQUIRED TO REDEEM, and were restricted from making excessive issues, has been suspended from time to time by order in council, and then notes are issued ad libitum. These notes are transferred from one to another who owes the bank in its discount department, and they finally are worked in as the bank squeezes the merchants and compels them to cover their obligation and are canceled in the issue department, and when they have got no eucess of notes out, then they resume. I do not know whether I make myself clear in mixing up grain with notes, but I am trying to state the principle on which the Bank of England has issued that ;^i4,ooo,ooo of fiduciary circulation behind it, and how it acts when gold is demanded on it. A person having a Bank of England note is permitted to draw coin as long as it lasts. This is merely an illustration of the system upon what are called specie-paying banks are concucted — that is, upon the English system. THE BANK OF HAMBURG is conducted upon the European system, which is quite different — the system on which our large warehouses in Chicago are now conducted. The Bank of Hamburg receives coin and charges storage, and keeps on hand as much coin as it gives receipts for. It was in this way that the Bank of Amsterdam was conducted. When the Bank of Amsterdam took from the coin in its ware- house a certain moderate amount and loaned it to the Dutch East India Company, and when it was understood that the bank had not as much gold coin on hand as it had receipts out for, it was declared that the bank had failed. That bank compromised with its creditors, but when it was declared that it had failed it OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, U5 1 was in the normal condition of the Bank of England, and the banks established on the English system. THE BANK OF VENICE was peculiar in its organization, and its organization arose in a peculiar way. It is the first bank of which we have any record whatever. The Republic of Venice was carrying on a war with the Emperor of the East and with Greece at the same time. This was 1171, and they were pressed by land and sea, and needed money. The Council of Ten called upon the merchants to bring in their coin to the treasury, and assessed them all around according to their wealth. The government gave each individual credit on the books of the nation for the amount brought in. Soon one of the merchants, in the course of nature, died. He had credits in the Bank of Venice on which 4 per cent, interest was promptly paid. It became necessary, on his death, that this loan should be distributed among his five children, and five accounts were opened instead of one. A custom of transferring credits in the bank soon prevailed, and in such transfers all the great business of the merchants was soon transacted. The custom proaed exceedingly convenient and was soon approved and regu- lated by law, and under this system for 500 years Venice was prosperous. During that period they had but few failures, and the credits were transferred at the request of any person owning them. The credits were as high as THIRTY PER CENT. PREMIUM, over the coin which was in circulation. The government then undertook to reduce the premium by opening a branch office, receiving the coin of merchants, giving them credit for it and allowing them to draw out coin if they desired to send it abroad. They also allowed them to transfer their credits. The banks of Amsterdam and Hamburg were established on this principle, and are doing business successfully. The Bank oi' Venice did bnsiness for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, and during the Napoleonic wars, when the bank was thoroughly in operation, Massena, I think, a Marshal under Napoleon, ^52 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. entered Venice, found the books of the bank and preserved them, and when the government was restored the credits were paid and nobody lost anything. Mr. Myers then proceeded to quote from statistics published dn 1840, showing the AVERAGE FAILURES in business. Not more than three in 100 business men of Boston acquired independence, and only 5 per cent, continued in busi- ness for forty years. A full examination of the books of the Union Bank of Boston showed that only six accounts in 100 remained open after a period of forty years. Ninety-five in 100 business men died poor. In Philadelphia not over i per cent, retired with a competency without failure, and not two in 100 in New York acquired wealth without failure. This was in the United States from 1800 to 1.840. IN ENGLAND there was one failure for every 1,500 inhabitants. One-fifth of 1,500 adults was 300. One-half of 300 adults was 150 male. One-tenth of these men would be in business, and therefore one in fifteen men failed in business in England in 186 1. In Scotland there was one failure for every 6,000 persons, and by the same process of reasoning there was one failure in sixty. In the United States during the past fifty-nine years there had been ten panics, an average of one every 5 9-10 years. Professor Sumner, in his history of American currency, said that in England they had a panic once in every five years ; but that in this country the average was one in ten years. He (Professor Sumner) attributed this to the extra momentum the American people possessed. They were like General Taylor's troops on the occasion of the battle of Buena Vista; they did not know when they were whipped. (Applause.) After observing that investigation and earnest thought and study was the best means by which we could secure a system by which the business of the country would not be continually brought to a standstill, he said he did not believe the OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 855 FINANCIAL WISDOM of the world had been exhausted in the past, although by refer- ring back 700 years they found that under the old bank of Venice they succeeded in getting along for 500 years without a financial crisis. He believed that the subject of finance would soon be as generally studied in the United States by all classes as had been: the art of war, and that the press was about taking hold of it in earnest ; that it would detail its ablest writers for this especial work, and would concentrate and place before the people the gist and essence of all that had ever been said, written or done in connection with the subject. The people would study and discuss it in their shops, offices, counting houses, in harvest fields and in granges, on the platform and on the stump. The result of such a study would be as glorious in the case of finance as it had been in the study of the art of war, and they would live to see the day which would have a currency ABSOLUTELY CONVERTIBLE. Even Bonamy Price has said a currency which was absolutely convertible could ever be excessive. They would have a currency that was on a specie basis — that would be so valuable, that as Americans, they might be proud of it when they carried it abroad. They would have a currency that would not only be an equiva- lent of gold, readily exchangable for gold, but like the credits of the Bank of Venice be at a PREMIUM OF GOLD. Mr. Myers next referred to a paper he had prepared in 1872, previous to the stringency of that year. In the preparation of this paper he had endeavored to recognize the interest of all classes that might be affected by any legislation, and to produce a system which would be for the benefit of all and make the least possible disturbance in the community. He introduced the intro-convertible bond idea in two forms, one to relieve extraordinary pressure, such as occurred after the Chicago fire, after the Boston fire, and in the panic of 1873, the other to absorb the excess of currency in mid-summer and mid- winter, when not needed, and thus prevent undue speculation and ^54 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. inflation of prices, providing both a governor and safety-valve, and a guage to measure the actual needs of the country for more or less currency — divide the reserves among all the redemption cities and secure mutual redemption of national bank notes, and in the additional provision substituted for the fourth proposition to take the falsehood out of the greenback with the consent of the holder- FIVE PROPOSITIONS. Provided by act of Congress : 1. To permit any holder of $10,000, or multiples thereof, in any of the gold-bearing bonds of the United States, to retire the same temporarily, at the Sub -Treasuries or designated depositories in New York, San Francisco, New Orleans or Chicago, under regulations to be made by the Secretary of the Treasury, and receive an amount of United States legal-tender notes equal to the face of said bonds temporarily retired ; and upon presentation of a like sum in United States notes at the place where said bonds were temporarily retired, to receive the said bonds, or their equivalent in kind, less the interest which would have accrued during the time that the said bonds were temporarily retired. And provided further, that the Secretary of the Treasury be required to hold in reserve United States legal-tender notes to the amount of $40,000,- 000, to be used for the purpose of temporarily retiring United States bonds as aforesaid, but the said notes shall not be used for any other purpose, nor shall the whole amount of United States legal-tender notes, including those which may be held in reserve and those which may at any time be held in the United State Treasury, Sub-Treasuries, and depositories exceed $400,000,000 until expressly authorized by law. 2. Provide for the convertibility and rev-rtibility of United States legal- tender notes and gold-bearing certificates at Sub-Treasury or designated depositories in all the recognized financial centres (see sec. 31, national bank act*) in sums of $10,000, or multiples thereof, at the pleasure of the holder; certificates to be revertible at pleasure into legal-tender notes, at places of issue, to bear gold interest at the rate of $1 per day on $10,000 (equal to about three per cent, per annum, if dies non and the day of presentation for reversioa be excluded); these certificates to be available for all the purposes for which three per cent, certificates were available (see act March 2, 1867). Said United States notes, temporarily retired, to remain in the Sub-Treasury or depository, where received, until demanded on presentation of certificates issued at said Sub-Treasury or depository, from each of which reports of expansion and contraction shall be forwarded daily to the United States Treasury, both by mail and by telegraph, and said reports shall be open to the inspection of representatives of the press. The remaining sections were as follows : 3. Permit national banks, in redemption cities, to keep one-half of their lawful money reserved with redeeming agents in any or all of those cities named in section 31 of national bank act, and amend section 31 aforesaid, so as to include Savannah Mobile, Galveston, Leavenworth, Denver, Nashville, Vicksburgh, St. Paul, and Portland (O.), and permit the banks in said cities •'o count said balances as part of their reserve, as is now permitted as to one-half OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. .;.55 of their lawful money reserve kept with redeeming agents in New York City alone. 4, Amend section 21, national bank act (as amended by act of March 3, 1865, and by act July 12, 1870), so as to remove "^hose restrictions upon national bank circulation, which are based upon location, representative population, and reputed banking cities. 5. Permit any national bank (without necessarily reducing its capital or surrendering any of its franchises) to reduce its circulation and withdraw its securities prorata, until its circulation shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). The fourth section having been practically applied by act of Congress, he has added the following clause : Provide by act of Congress that all persons who shall deposii United ■States legal-tender notes, as provided in proposition 2, shall, by such act of •deposit, be deemed to have given their consent to the exchange herein provided ; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to replace all notes that shall be so deposited with a new issue and to destroy as much of the old issue of United States legal-tender notes as shall from time to time be so •deposited and replaced by the new issue, provided the total amount of legal- tender notes, at any time outstanding, shall not be increased or diminished by these provisions ; and provide further that the new issue of legal-tender notes shall read : " The United States is indebted to the bearer," etc., in place of the words, " The United States will pay the bearer," etc., and all new notes •shall have an additional indorsement on the back thereof, setting forth briefly the terms under which said notes are convertible as provided in proposition i. In conclusion Mr. Myers said: The design of these amend- ments is to induce the holders of legal-tender notes, for the con- sideration of privileges offered in proposition 2, to release the United States from the obligation to pay its legal-tender notes as implied by the present wording thereof, and to enable the people to realize that any holder of legal-tender notes is a shareholder in the debt of the United States ; and that under provisions of law "he may transfer these evidences of debt due from the United States to him in payment of private indebtedness, in the absence of any contract or stipulation to the contrary; or that he may, at "his option, excliange these legal-tender evidences of debt for obligations bearing interest payable in gold, and reconvertible into legal tender notes at his pleasure Import duties being levied upon foreign goods should be paid as now in money recognized as such by the world at large — the money in which a national government must pay money obligations. No nation or individual can pay debts with its or his own promises. He predicted as a result of these discussions the evolution of 856 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. a system superior to that enjoyed by any nation, not excepting Venice. That the delivery of amended greenbacks would trans- fer national debt as in Venice, and that as all other civilized nations were dissatisfied with existing systems, ours would prob- ably ultimately prevail in other countries. That when once aroused our people could and would bring to bear upon the sub- ject great intellectual power and in that orderly expression of public opinion called law, would secure the best possible results^ OCEAN IRON STEAMER, LEGAL AND COMMERCIAL FORMS, Notes, Bills, Orders, Checks, Drafts, Receipts, ani> General Legal Forms. DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL TERMS, -means dollars^ being a contraction of U. S., which was formerly placed before any denomination of money, and meant,, as it means now. United States Currency. ^ mcdins founds, English money. @ stands for at or to. ft> for pound, and bbl. for barrel. 'Wt ioT per or by the. Thus, Butter sells at 2o@3oc ^ lb, and Flour at $8@i2 fl bbl. ^/o for fier cent, and % for number. April I. — Wheat sells at $r.2o@i,25, "seller May." Seller means that the person who sells the wheat has the privilege of delivering the same at any time during the month of May. Selling shorty is contracting to deliver a certain amount of grain or stock, at a fixed price, within a certain length of time, when the seller has not the stock on hand. It is for the interest of the person selling " short " to depress the market as much as possible, in order that he may buy and fill his contract at a profit. Hence the " shorts " are termed " bears." Buying long, is to contract to purchase a certain amount of grain or shares of stock at a fixed price, deliverable within a stip- ulated time, expecting to make a profit by the rise of prices. The " longs " are termed " bulls," as it is for their interest tO' "operate " so as to "toss " the prices upward as much as possible, ^S1 85S FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. PROMISSORY NOTES. A promissory note is a promise or engagement in writing to pay a specified sum at a time therein limited, or on demand, or at sight, to a person therein named, or his order, or assigns, or to the bearer. The person making the note is called the drawer or maker. A note is void when founded upon fraud. Thus, a note ob- >tained from a person when intoxicated, or obtained for any reason which is illegal, cannot be collected. A note given upon Sunday iis also void in some States. Notes bear interest only when it is so expressed ; after they become due, however, they draw the legal rate of the State. Notes payable on demand or at sight, draw no interest until after presentation or demand of the same has been made, unless they provide for interest from date on their face; they then draw the legal rate of interest of the State. If " with interest " is included in the note, it draws the legal Tate of the State where it is given, from the time it is made. If the note is to draw a special rate of interest higher than the legal, but not higher than the law allows, the rate must be speci- fied. If the note is made payable to a person or order, or to a person or bearer, to a person or his assigns, or to the cashier of an incor- porated company, such notes are negotiable. When transferring the note, the endorser frees himself from responsibility, so far as the payment is concernt d, by writing on the back above his name, " Without recourse to me in any event.'' When a note is made payable at a definite peroid after date, three days beyond the time expressed on the face of the note {called days of grace) are allowed to the person who is to pay the ^ame, within which to make such payment. Notes payable on demand are not entitled to days of grace. If a note is payable at a bank, and it is held there on the day •upon which it falls due, until the usual hour for closing, ready for receiving payment thereon, no further demand upon the maker is necessary, in order to charge the indorser. The demand must, in all cases, be made upon the last of the days of grace ; a demand before that time passing for nothing as against the indorser. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 859 The days of grace, which must be computed according to the laws of the State where the note is payable, are to be reckoned exclusive of the day when the note would otherwise become due, and without deduction for Sundays or holidays ; in which latter case, by special enactments in most of the States, notes are deemed to become due upon the secular day next preceding such days. Thus, a note, due upon the twenty-fifth of December, is payable on the twenty-fourth, as the day when due is Christmas day ; if the twenty-fourth chance to be Sunday, it is due upon the twenty-third. In order to charge an indorser, the note, if payable at a par- ticular place, must be presented for payment at the place upon the very day it becomes due ; if no place of payment be named, at must be presented, either to the maker personally, or at his place of business, during business hours, or at his dwelling house, -within reasonable hours; if payable by a firm, a presentment may be made to either of the partners, or at the firm's place of business ; if given by several persons jointly, not partners, the demand must be made upon all. If the note has been lost, mislaid or destroyed^ the holder must still make a regular and formal demand, offering the party at the same time, a sufficient indemnity in the event of liis paying the same. NEGOTIABLE NOTE. $700. Cairo, 111., June i, 1875. Three months after date, I promise to pay to Charles Jones, or ordex. Seven Hundred dollars, for value received. John Smith. NOTE NOT NEGOTIABLE. $4oa Camden, N. J., Sept. 12, 1875. Six months after date, for value received, I promise to pay J. H. Foster, Four Hundred dollars. Stephen Mills, NOTE FOR TWO OR MORE PERSONS. $1,000. Clinton, La., July 5, 1874. We, or either of us, promise to pay to the order of James Grant, Ore Thousand dollars, for value received, J. R, Shaw^, Henry Smith, 860 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. NOTE ON DEMAND. $150. Chicago, Ills., March 10, 1870. On demand, I promise to pay John Anderson, or order, One- Hundred and Fifty dollars, value received, with interest. U. S. Grant. JOINT NOTE. $800.60. Boston, Mass., March 15, 1872. One year after date, we jointly, but not severally, promise to pay J. D. Smith, or order. Eight Hundred and 60-100 dollars, for value received, with interest at ten per cent. Peter Mason. Julius Hart. NOTE PAYABLE BY INSTALLMENTS. $700. Avon, 111., May 10, 1875. For value received, I promise to pay to Simon Butterfield, or order^ Seven Hundred dollars, in manner following, to wit : Two Hundred dollar* in one month from date ; Two Hundred dollars in two months ; and Three Hundred dollars in three months, with interest on the several sums as they become due. Caleb Jones. JUDGMENT NOTE. For value received, I promise to pay to Delos Anderson of Buffalo, or order, Three Hundred dollars, with interest, on the first day ef April next. And further, I do hereby empower any attorney of the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County, or of any Court of Record in New York, or elsewhere. to appear for me, and after a declaration filed therefor, to confess a judgment against me in the above sum, as of last, next, or any other subsequent term, with costs of suits, release of errors, etc., with stay of execution until said first day of April next. Witness my hand and seal, at Buffalo. N. Y., this first day of October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two. Signed, sealed, and delivered, gg oooo^ in presence of Henry Soper. SEAL. Hiram Dows, il©o©o^ Martin Foster. NOTE PAYABLE IN MERCHANDISE. $1,500. Chester, Ind., July 24, 1876. For value received, on or before the first day of October next, we promise to pay H. Miller & Co., or order, Fifteen Hundred dollars, in good merchantable White Wheat, at our warehouse in this city, at the market value: on the maturity of this note. Smith & Jones. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 86l DUE BILLS. FORM OF DUE-BILL PAYABLE IN MONEY. $ioo. Rochester, Ind., Oct. 2i, 1875. Due Walter W. Kelley, or order on demand, One Hundred dollars, -value received. C. Mason. PAYABLE IN FLOUR. Chicago, Ills., Feb. Ii, i860. Due on demand, to Sanford Burton, Four Hundred dollars, in Flour, at the market value when delivered. Value received. Chas. H. Wheeler. PAYABLE IN MONEY AND MERCHANDISE. $200. Keokuk, la., May 19, 18 — . Due, on the loth of June next, to A. B. Condit, or order, One Hundred dollars in cash, and One Hundred dollars in merchandise from our s^ore. Miller & Co. PAYABLE IN MERCHANDISE. $20. West Arlington, Vt., April 9, 18 — . Due Wright Marsh, Twenty Dollars, in merchandise from our store. J. W. Goodspeed & Co. ORDERS. FOR MONEY. Winona, Minn., Feb. 8, 18 — . Mr. H. L. Merriman : Please pay Chas. B. Wilson, or bearer. Five dollars, on my account. Patterson Smith. FOR MERCHANDISE NOT EXCEEDING IN VALUE A SPECIFIED SUM, Cincinnati, O., March 2, 1871. Messrs. Tower, Powell & Co. : Please deliver to the bearer, T. B. Sands, such goods as he may desire from your store, not exceeding in value the sum of Fifty dollars, and charge the same to my account. Thomas Peterson. FOR MERCHANDISE. Galesburg, Ills., June 5, 1876. Mr. B. H. Benson : Please pay James Chandler, Seventv-five dollars in merchandise, and charge to Weller & Mason. 862 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. FOR GOODS STORED. Mobile, Ala., May 5, 1873. Messrs. Scribner, Carson & Co. : Please deliver to H. Alston, or order, One Hundred barrels of Flour, stored by me in your warehouse. Walter Madison. RECEIPTS. FOR MONEY ON ACCOUNT. Received, Richmond, Va., Mar. 21, 1873, of Wm. Baxter, Fifty dollars on account. $50. J as. Allison. FOR MONEY ADVANCED ON A CONTRACT. $1,000. New York, N. Y., Dec. 23, 1855. Received of Geo. Hamilton, One Thousand dollars in advance, ow a contract to build for him a brick house at No. 85 Water St.. Pensacola. Richard Matz. IN FULL OF ALL DEMANDS. $100. San Francisco, Cal., Sept. 12, 1875, Received of Benj. Eustace, One Hundred dollars, in full of all demands to date. Peter Millingford. FOR RENT. $300. Phila., Penn., Jan. 2, i8~. Received of Walter B. Haskins, Three Hundred dollar.?, in f\iW for one year's rent on dwelling at No. 237 Warren Ave. D. C. Rowe. FOR A NOTE. $500. Washington, D. C, April 7, 1863. Received of Campbell Fields, his note at sixty days for Five Hundred dollars, in full of account. Charles Murray. IN FULL OF ALL ACCOUNTS. $160. Boston, Mass., Oct. 18, 1870. Received of H. H. Sawyer, One Hundred and Sixty dollars, iif ftill of all accounts. Brown, Bates & Co. FOR A NOTE OF ANOTHER PERSON. $2oa Memphis, Tenn., June 8, 1871. Received of Ed. Jansen, a note of Sam. Fowler, for the sum of Two Hundred dollars, which, when paid, will be in full of all demands tO' date. Herbertson & Welch. OUR GOVERNiAIENT AND HISTORY. BILLS OF EXCHANGE. 863- A Bill of Exchange is an order addressed to some person at a distance, directing him to pay a certain amount to the person in whose favor the bill is drawn, or to his order. A merchant in Chicago, owing a sum of money for goods to a merchant in Lon- don, instead of remitting .money or goods to the amount of the debt, goes into the bank and buys from the banker, who keeps an account in London, a bill of exchange for the amount, and sends it to his creditor; in this way the creditor gets payment from a person in his own city, generally a banker, who keeps an account with some American banker for the purpose of paying such drafts. Letters of Credit have come largely into use, of late years, with tourists abroad, though bills of Exchange are yet frequently used by persons who wish to travel in foreign countries. Thus, if A, an American, wishes to travel over Europe, he estimates the expense of the journey, and finds it to be, perhaps $3,000. To carry this with him, in gold, would be unsafe and troublesome. He therefore goes to a banker and gets a bill of exchange for a thousand dollars, which is the amount he thinks he may require while in England. The banker also having money deposited in Paris, perhaps, and also in Vienna, he takes a bill for a thousand on a bank of each of those places. With these bills in his pos- session, he commences his journey, with only money in his pocket sufficient to pay the incidental expenses of the trip, and draws on the London, Paris and Vienna bankers as occasion requires. The object of this arrangement is to secure travelers against loss, the bankers affording this accommodation to merchants and travelers for a percentage, which is paid them when they sell the bill of exchange. In issuing these bills of exchange, it is customary for the banker to issue a set of two or three, worded nearly alike. One of these is kept by the purchaser, to be presented by him to the foreign banker, the other two are transmitted by mail, at different times, to the same bank. Thus, if the first bill is lost, the second or third, that go by mail, will still be available, and the holder can obtain the money without being subjected to the delay of writ- ing to America for another bill. -864 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. DRAFTS. A draft may properly be called an inland bill of exchange. It is customary for the bankers in all large cities, to make deposits with bankers in other large cities, and also for the banks in the in- •terior towns to make deposits with some one bank in the nearest metropolis. Thus, the bankers of Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis, have deposits in New York, so that any person wishing to pay a certain sum of money to another person. East, has only to step into a bank and purchase a draft for the amount on New York, which he sends by mail to the creditor, who can usually get the amount the draft calls for, at the nearest bank. The banker, as with bills of exchange, charges a certain com- mission to pay him for his trouble, which is termed " Exchange." There being less liabilitity to lose these inland bills, only one is usually issued. The merchant in the interior town, or other per- son, wishing to send money to Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, or any other large city, can generally buy, of their home bank, drafts, thus, on the nearest metropolis, by the payment of the exchange. The object in purchasing a draft is to avoid the danger of loss when sending money from one part of the country to another. Such form is worded as follows, and is known as a blank draft : In making collections of money, drafts are frequently used, which are usually sent through the banks. A sight draft is used where the person upon whom it is drawn is expected to pay the •debt immediately. In the time draft the same is made payable in a certain number of days. SIGHT DRAFT. $200. Canton, 111, July 10, 1875. At sight, pay to the order of Higgins & Co., Two Hundred dollars, value received, and charge the same to our account. To J. D.Smith. Chicago. LELAND & CO. TIME DRAFT. $50 New Orleans, La., April 4, 1876, Thirty days after date, pay to the order of Cobitt & Co., Ji'ifty dollars, value received, and charge to our account. To Howe & Co., New York. JONES & CO. ■OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 865 ACCEPTANCE. The acceptance of a draft is effected by the drawee, or the per- son upon whom the same is drawn, if he consents to its payment, by writing across the face of the draft thus : " Accepted July 22, 1874. U. S. Grant." DAYS OF GRACE. Three Days of Grace are allowed upon Promissory Notes and Bills of Exchange in the following States, according to laws in force, January i, 1875 : Colorado, Maryland, Ohio, Dist. of Columbia, Massachusetts, Oregon, Florida, Michigan, Rhode Island, Illinois, Minnesota, South Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, Kansas, * New Hampshire, Vermont, Kentucky, New Jersey, Virginia, Louisiana, New York, West Virginia, Maine, North Carolina, Wisconsin. Note. — In States not enumerated here, the Commercial Laws of the States regulate in regard to Grace, Protest and Notice, LANDLORD AND TENANT. A person leasing real estate to another is termed a landlord ; the person occupying such real estate is known as a tenant. The person making the lease is known in law as the lessor ; the person to whom the lease is made, as the lessee. No particular form of wording a lease is necessary. It is important, however, that the lease state, in a plain, straightforward manner, the terms and con- ditions of the agreement, so that there may be no misunderstand- ing between the landlord and tenant. It is essential that the lease state all the conditions, as additional verbal promises avail nothing in law. It is held, generally, that a written instrument contains the details, and states the bargain entire, as the contracting parties intended. The tenant can sub-let part, or all, of his premises, unless pro- hibited by the terms of his lease. A lease by a married woman, even if it be upon her own prop- erty, at common law, is not valid ; but, by recent statutes, she, in many States, may lease her own property and have full control of the same ; neither can the husband effect a lease that will bind her after his death. His control over her property continues only so long as he lives. Neither a guardian nor a minor can give a lease, extending 55 866 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. beyond the ward's majority, which can be enforced by the lessee; yet the latter is bound unless the lease is annulled. If no time is specified in a lease, it is generally held that the lessee can retain possession of the real estate for one year. A tenancy at will, however, may be terminated in the Eastern States by giving three month's notice in writing; in the Middle and Southern States, six months; and in the Western States, one month ; though recent statutes, in some States, have somewhat modified the above. The lease that specifies a term of years without giving the de- finite number is without effect at the expiration of two years. A lease for three or more years, being signed by the Commissioner of Deeds, and recorded in the Recorder's office, is an effectual bar to the secret or fraudulent conveyance of such leased property; and it further obviates the necessity of procuring witnesses to authenticate the validity of the lease. Duplicate copies of a lease should always be made, and each; party should retain a copy of the same. A new lease invalidates an old one. A landlord misrepresenting property that is leased, thereby subjecting the tenant to inconvenience and loss, such damages can be recovered from the landlord by deduction from the rent. A lease on property that is mortgaged ceases to exist when the person holding such mortgage forecloses the same. A landlord, consenting to take a substitute, releases the first tenant. When there is nothing but a verbal agreement the tenancy is understood to commence at time of taking possession. When there is no time specified in the lease, tenancy is regarded as com- mencing at the time of delivering the writings. If it is understood that the tenant is to pay the taxes on the property he occupies, such fact must be distinctly stated in the Jease, as a verbal promise is of no effect. PARTNERSHIP, An agreement between two or more persons to invest their labor, time and means together, sharing in the loss or profit that may arise from such investment, is termed a partnership. This partnership may consist in the contribution of skill, extra labor, or acknowledged reputation upon the part of one partner, while the other, or others, contribute money, each sharing alike equally, or in fixed proportion, in the profits, or an equal amount of time, labor and money may be invested by the partners, and the profits equally divided; the test of partnership being the joint participation in profit, and joint liability to loss. A partnership formed without limitation is termed a general partnership. An agreement entered into for the performance of VIEW OF RUINS ON THE SOUTH SIDE, CHICAGO. ' 'J GirSTETSAL VIEVr OP KUINS OP THE NORTH DIVISION w >; H < H (^ en W k; ft o w O w OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 869^ only a particular work, is termed a special partnership ; while the partner putting in a limited amount of capital, upon which he receives a corresponding amount of profit, and is held correspond- ingly responsible for the contracts of the firm, is termed a limited partnership, the conditions of which are regulated by statute in different States. A partner signing his individual name to negotiable paper^ which is for the use of the partnership firm, binds all the partners, thereby. Negotiable paper of the firm, even though given on private account by one of the partners, v/ill hold all the partners of the firm when it passes into the hands of holders who were ignorant of the facts attending its creation. Partnership effects may be bought and sold by a partner ; he may make contracts; may receive money; endorse, draw, and accept bills and notes ; and while this may be for his own private account, if it apparently be for the use of the firm, his partners will be bound by his action,- provided the parties dealing with him were ignorant of the transaction being on his private account ; and thus representation or misrepresentation of a partner having relation to business of the firm, will bind the members in the parntership. An individual lending his name to a firm, or allowing the same to be used after he has withdrawn from the same, is still responsible to third persons as a partner. A partnership is presumed to commence at the time articles of copartnership are drawn, if no stipulation is made to the contrary and the same can be discontinued at any time, unless a specified period of partnership is designated in the agreement : and even then he may withdraw by giving previous notice of such with- drawal from the same, being liable, however, in damages, if such are caused by his withdrawal. Should it be desired that the executors and representatives of the partner continue the business in the event of his death, it should be so specified in the articles, otherwise the partnership ceases at death. Should administrators and executors continue the business under such circumstances, they are personally res- ponsible for the debts contracted by the firm. If it is desired that a majority of the partners in a firm have the privilege of closing the affairs of the company, or in any way regulating the same, such fact should be designated in the agree- ment ; otherwise such right will not be presumed. Partners may mutually agree to dissolve a partnership, or a dissolution may be effected by a decree of a Court of Equity. Dissolute conduct, dishonesty, habits calculated to imperil the business of a firm, incapacity,' or the necessity of partnership no- longer continuing, shall be deemed sufficient causes to invoke the 870 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. law in securing a dissolution of partnership, in case the same can- not be effected by mutual agreement. After dissolution of partnership, immediate notice of the same should be given in the most public newspapers, and a notice like- wise should be sent to every person having special dealings with the firm. These precautions not being taken, each partner con- tinues liable for the acts of the others to all persons who have no knowledge of the dissolution. GENERAL FORM FOR AGREEMENT. This agreement made this day of 187.. by and between .of and •of — Witnesseth : That the said for the consideration of (here state nature of consideration) to be {if money paid,) (if work or labor or delivery of property) to be performed or delivered as hereinafter provided, hereby agrees that Estate agreement of this party fully.) And for the consideration above mentioned the said iiereby agrees, that (state agreement of this party fully.) In witness whereof, we hereto subscribe our names and affix our seal this day and date first above written. Name [seal. Name [seal. AGREEMENT FOR SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY. This Agreement, made this day of 187.-, between of and _ of Witnesseth : That the said in consideration of the agree- ments on the part of_ hereafter named, agrees to and with the said ..that on or before the day of 187... he will deliver to the said at (state place of de- livery,) the following property (state kind of property). And the said ..in consideration of the aforesaid agree- ments and promises on the part of the said , hereby promises and agrees to and with the said , that he will pay to him (state price to be paid) said payments to be made as follows (state how and when.) In witness whereof, we hereto subscribe our names and affix ■our seals this the dav and year first above written. Name [seal/ Name [seal." OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 87 1 AGREEMENT FOR THE SALE OF REAL ESTATE. This agreement, made this day of 187 --, by and between of and of , Witnesseth : That for and in consideration of the sum of ■dollars, to be paid by the said to the said as follows (state manner of payment), the said hereby promises and agrees to convey by (state nature of conveyance, whether warranty or quit-claim), the following described real estate situate in county. State of (Give description of land.) And the said hereby promises to pay said the sum of dollars as above provided. And upon the payment in full of said amount, then said con- veyance is to be executed and delivered. In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names and aflSx our seals this the day and date above written. Name... [seal.] Name [seal.] Note. — To be executed and acknowledged as a deed for real estate. FORM OF LEASE. Agreement of Lease, made this.. day of , be- tween of and of- , Witnesseth : That the said agrees to pay to - - - . , dollars per for the rent of the house and prem- ises on (description of land.) The said agrees to use said premises for no other purpose than , and not underlet the same without the writ- ten consent of This lease to commence on the day of 187.-, and continue until the.... -----day of 187... The rent to be paid (^/a/i? how) to the said at A failure to pay the rent as agreed, or to comply with any of the stipulations of their lease by ., shall authorize the said to consider the same forfeited ; and he may take possession of the premises without notice and without process of law, or he may bring his action as allowed by law to recover possession. In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names and affix .our seals this the day and date first above written. Name. Name. seal, seal. 872 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. FORM OF DEED. This Deed made this day of 187 . ., Witness- eth : That for the consideration of dollars, we of county, State of.. , hereby sell and convey unto of county, State of ^ all the following describee* real estate, situate in - county,. State of (Here give a description of the land) together with all the estate, title and interest, dower, and right of dower of said grantors, or either of them. ^ And we hereby warrant the title to said premises against all' persons whomsoever (or if quit claim say), and we hereby quit claim all our right, title and interest in and to said premises to the grantees herein. Witness our hands and seals this day and date above written. Name [seal.] Name [seal.], The State of ) — County. j Beit Remembered, That on this .day of __ 187.., before me a within and for said county and State, personally appeared , who personally known. to me to be the identical person whose name — '-affixed to the foregoing deed as grantor, and she acknowledged the same to be her voluntary act and deed, and the said , having; been made acquainted with the contents hereof, and the nature of the above instrument having been fully explained to her, and having been examined by me separate and apart from her hus- band, acknowledged that she signed and executed the said deed freely and voluntarily, and without compulsion, and that she does not desire to retract the same. In witness whereof, I hereto set my hand and seal this the day and date last above written. Name [seal.] Note. — In all cases should have two witnesses to the signature. MORTGAGE DEED. This Deed, made this ...day of , 187.., Wit- nesseth : That for the consideration of dollars, we of county. State of , hereby sell and convey unto of all the following described real estate, situate in .county, State of to wit : (Here describe real estate. ) And we hereby warrant the title to said premises againsl all persons whomsoever. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 873: This deed to be void, however, on condition pay. (State nature of indebtedness, time and manner of payment.) (If homestead say), and the property conveyed being our homestead, we hereby expressly waive all benefit of the homestead and exemption laws, and consent that said property shall be liable for the payment of said indebtedness. Otherwise of force and virtue. Witness our hands and seals this the day and date above written. Name [seal. Name -.- [seal. . FORM OF WILL. In the name of God, Amen. I, (give name of testator) of (residence), baing of sound' mind and memory, do hereby make, publish, and declare this to be my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking and making void all former Wills by me at any time heretofore made. First — I order and direct my Executors, as soon after my decease as practicable, to pay off and discharge all the debts, dues and liabilities that may exist against me at the time of my decease. Second — I give and bequeath unto my wife (name). (Here state property bequeathed.) Third — I give and bequeath unto my son (name). (Here state property bequeathed.) Same form for each legacy. Fourth — I hereby nominate and appoint. (Here give name of person or persons selected as Executors.) In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this day of A. D. Name. The above and foregoing instrument was at the date thereof signed, sealed, published and declared, by the said (name of tes- tator), as and for his last Will and Testament, in presence of us,whOj. at his request, and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses. Name Residence. Name... Residence. Note. — Must be signed by the testator before acknowledged by him to be his will — and must be signed by testator in presence of witnesses — or acknowledged by him in presence of witnesses- Two witnesses are necessary. '874 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ARTICLES OF CO-PARTNERSHIP. This agreement, made and entered into this.. daj «of , 187 — , by and between -. of, . — , and , of. Witnesseth : that the said parties hereby agree to become partners in the business of at for the term of years from the date hereof, under the firm name of Said parties have each contributed the sum of (dollars as the capital stock of said firm. Both parties are to devote their entire time and skill for the ^common benefit. All expenses of the business and all losses are to be borne in common, and the profits are to be equally divided. Books of account are to be kept, in which shall be entered all money received or paid, all purchases and sales of goods, and all matters of account relating to the business of the firm, which shall at all times be accessible to both. No money or other property shall be withdrawn by either partner, or applied to his own use, except with the written con- sent of the other partner ; and in every such case the same shall be charged, and his share of the profits shall be reduced in pro- portion to the amount withdrawn. Once in each year a correct account shall be taken and stated «on the ledger of all stock property and assets of the firm, and of ;all debts and liabilities. At the close of the partnership a like account shall be taken and stated, and the stock and property, and the debts, shall be equally divided after payment of the liabilities of the firm. No debt or claim of the firm shall be released or settled with- out payment in full, unless by consent of both partners. Neither partner shall have power to bind the firm as surety in any case; and neither partner shall become surety for another without the written consent of the other partner. Witness our hands and seals this the day and date abova ^w ritten. Name - [seal.] Name [seal.] AGREEMENT TO CONTINUE A CO-PARTNERSHIP. As the partnership existing between the undersigned will ex- pire on the day of , 187.-, it is hereby agreed that said co-partnership shall continue upon the same terms and conditions as provided in the original articles of co- partnership for the further term of from the date of ihe expiration of said co-partnership as fixed by the said articles. Witness our hands (as in articles, giving date). OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 875 AGREEMENT for DISSOLUTION of CO-PARTNERSHIP. The undersigned hereby agree that the co-partnership existing between them, as is witnessed by the Articles of Co-partnership signed by us, be, and the same is hereby, dissolved, except for the purpose of final settlement of the business thereof, which may be settled by And upon such settlement, then said co-partnership shall be wholly dissolved. Witness, etc. (as above.) POWER OF ATTORNEY. Know all men by these presents, that I of , hereby make, constitute, and apppoint of , my true and lawful Attorney, for me, and in my name, place and stead, to (here state duty of Attorney) granting unto my said Attorney full power and authority to do and perform each and every thing necessary and proper to be done in the per- formance of his duty, as fully as I might or could do if personally present, hereby ratifying and confirming all the lawful acts of my said Attorney, done under and by virtue hereof. Witness my hand and seal this day of - A. D. 187... Name [seal.] Note. — To be signed and acknowledged as a deed for the con- veyance of real estate. FORM OF SUBMISSION TO ARBITRATION. Know all men by these presents, that whereas a controversy is now existing between (name), of (residence), and (name), of (residence), touching (here state nature of controversy) : Now, therefore, we, the said (here give names of parties), do hereby submit said controversy to the decision and arbitration of (here give names of three persons selected as arbitrators), of {here state residences), and do covenant each with the other that we will faithfully keep and abide by the decision and award that they, or any two of them, may make in writing — said award to be made and signed on or before (here give date). And it is agreed by the parties hereto, that the party that shall fail to abide by and observe said award, made in accordance with the foregoing submission, shall forfeit and pay to the other the sum of (here insert amount). Witness our hands this . day of. A. D Name. Name. 876 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, AWARD OF ARBITRATORS. The undersigned to whose arbitration was submitted the mat- ters in controversy between (here give names of parties) as more fully appears by their written submission hereto attached, report that on the day of A. D. 18 — , after having been duly sworn according to law, and having given both parties days notice in writing of the time and place of our meeting to consider said matter, we proceeded to the discharge of our duty; said (name of party) appearing in person (if by Att'y also, so state) and said (name of party) appearing in person (if by Att'y also so state.) And having heard the allegations and proofs of said parties, and the witnesses introduced by them, and having examined the matter in controversy submitted by them, do make and declare this as and for our award. Here state findings of Arbitrators. Witness our hands this day of A. D Name. -- Name. Name. PENNSYLVANIA OIL WELLS. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 879?^ IMPORTANT TO WORKINGMEN. The artisans of Philadelphia deserve the credit of a thoroughly successful scheme for the benefit of their class. Some years ago,, the first " Co-operative Building and Loan Association " was. organized in the City of Brotherly Love. Since then the work has gone quietly on, until now students of social science are amazed to hear that 600 of these societies exist in Philadelphia alone; that their aggregate capital is $150,000,000; and that many, very many, of their members, who have always worked and still work for day-wages, now own houses and land worth from ^10,000 to $15,000. Only a small percentage of these associations has failed. They are all organized on substantially the same plan. A share is issued to every applicant. One dollar per month is paid on each share. Each month, the money on hand is loaned to the shareholder who offers the largest premium and can give the best security. No loans are made except on real estate. The pre- miums bid sometimes amount to 25 or even 50 per cent. This is one source of income and the monthly interest is another. Fines,, small in amount, rarely incurred, but rigorously exacted, are still another. In eight and a half years,the amount paid in will amount to (102 months at$i) $102. Profits, interest and fines swell this to $200, the par value of each share. The shareholder then receives this sum, thus making a net profit of $98 on an invest- ment of $102, or, if he has borrowed money, his mortgage is can- celled /rt" tanto. A man can hold any number of shares. This fact enables the laborer to buy his home, A man who takes five shares in one of these societies will accumulate $1000 in eight and one-half years, by paying ^60 per year. If he borrows $1,500 as soon as he becomes a stockholder, at such a rate that he pays an average of $140 a year in premiums and interest (this is the usual rate on a loan of $1,500), and buys with this sum a house and lot, which are pledge to the society as security, he will pay, each year,$2oo — that is $60 on his shares and$f4o on his loan. At tlie end of eight and one-half years, his payments on his shares will cease, and he will have $1000 to his credit on the books, which will cancel his mortgage. He will then own his home, subject to a mortgage of only $500. If he now takes three more shares, his annual dues will be %i(i on them and about $44 interest — $80 in all. In eight and a half years more, his shares will be worth $600, which will cancel his mortgage and give him $100 cash. He has- FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. thus bought his house and lot in seventeen years, by paying $200 per year for half that time and ^80 annually thereafter. This is ^2,380 in all. If he had rented such a house, he would have paid ^200 a year rent, or $3,400 in seventeen years, and would own nothing. If he can afford to take eight shares at the beginning, his house will be paid for in eight and a half years. Thousands ■ of workmen have become small capitalists in this way. These societies are organized, controlled, and managed by workingmen. This explains their success, as it explains that of the great co-operative establishments of England and of Schulse- Delitsch's " Peoples' Banks " in Germany. A summary of the report of one building and loan society, " The Artisans'," shows that its receipts for the year 1875 were $88,622 ; the loans, $68,872 ; and the profits, $19,749. The total property is $252,1 12, and the mortgages held amount to $227,600. The expense of managing ihis business was only $873. LOADING STEAMBOAT WITH COTTON ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. FOOTPHINTS OF THE AGES. 88 1 ARE RICH MEN DANGEROUS TO THE REPUBLIC ? The Record of the Astor family cause some people to look with apprehension and dislike upon this massing of enormous wealth in the hands of one person. They fancy that it tends to make him too powerful for a republic like ours, and too influen- tial for evil in a community, so many of whose citizens are de- pendent upon their labor for their daily bread. They attribute to great wealth a snow-ball like quality of attracting to itself the lesser fortunes with which it comes in contact, and predict that if it be allowed full liberty, an epoch will arrive when a few rich men will own the whole country, and all the rest of its inhabitants be obliged to pay them tribute. In their view, the Legislature should mterfere to prevent this calamity, and by a compulsory division of such great estates as Mr. Astor 's, scatter its bulk, and thus destroy ■its weight and momentum. The conclusive objection to legislation of this kind is, that to be just it must be general, and a general law taking away from men the privilege of disposing of their property at their own pleasure, would discourage industry and enterprise. Human na- ture is such that with most of us selfish motives are powerful, and unselfish ones are weak. If no work were done in the world but what contributes to the welfare of others, comparatively little, be- yond that which necessity compels, would be done at all. Nearly all the immense advances of modern civilization are due to efforts of which the mainspring has been the love of gain. Paralyze, or even weaken, this mainspring by impairing the right of disposing of the gain when it has been acquired, and you arrest the onward progress of the world. Whatever evils may arise from the exist- ing liberty of accumulation, a greater evil would result from abolishing it. But, to our minds, the danger to the public from the perpetua- tion of great estates is more imaginary than real. By a gracious dispensation of Providence, men who are rich by inheritance find their abilities scarcely sufficient for the task of taking care of their riches, and have none to spare for that of oppressing their fellow men. The founder of a fortune, like the first Astor or the present Vanderbilt, must, of course, be a man of great force and ambi- tion, but his succes'sor never equals him in this respect. The in- centive dies with the attainment of the object which aroused it. A son who finds a large estate ready made to his hands cannot possibly exert himself to increase it with the energy that his father displayed in getting it. He inevitably subsides into a mere stew- ard or investment agent, and leaves the field of new enterprise to others. John Jacob Astor was a mercantile genius. His schemes embraced the whole globe, and he gathered in wealth from its four quarters. His son, who inlierited the fruits of his toil, has done S6 882 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. nothing all his lifetime but build houses and collect their rents. His son and his son's son will do no more. Neither commerce nor politics has anything to fear from them. What they will chiefly care for will be to hold on to what they have. This is the case with the Duke of Westminster, the great English landed pro- prietor, with the Orleans family in France, and the Austrian Es- terhazys. Even the present head of the Rothschilds has subsided into a humdrum banker, who never runs a risk, and is content to let younger and more adventurous houses take the lead in finance. Besides, the truth is that the accumulative power of money, unlike that of the snowball, diminishes as its bulk increases. It is impossi- ble to handle millions of dollars and make them yield the same in- come that thousands do. Where a small investor can safely get his seven, eight or ten per cent./^r annum, a large capitalist like Mr. Astor cannot, on an average, get five. The good things are all snapped up by men who, having less to look after, do it more thoroughly ; and the proverbial timidity of millionaires interferes with that promptness and soundness of judgment essential to a succssful investor. This is proved by the history of this very Astor estate. When John Jacob Astor died in 1848 it was worth ^20,000,000. With all the rise of the real estate, of which it is largely composed, it has only doubled in value in the twenty-seven years which have since elapsed, and the probability is that it will take as long to double it again. The Girard estate in Philadelphia^ and that of Thellusson in England, illustrate the same law. Neither of these great properties has grown at a rate at all approaching that of lawful interest compounded half yearly. The counterbalancing advantages, too, of great permanent for- tunes should not be left out of consideration. When money re- mains for a length of time in a family, it usually comes, at some period or other, into the possession of a generous, public-spirited owner, who uses it in a way that profits his fellow man. He may be a lover of art and gather a collection of pictures and statues which he will throw open to the public; or he maybe fond of books and form a library for the use of poorer scholars ; or he may — and heaven send such an one to us soon ! — have a taste for good architecture and build streets of houses which shall be at once grateful to the eye and convenient to dwell in. Or, finally,, the family may die out, and the last survivor may imitate the ex- ample of Peabody, and devote his wealth to public benefactions^ OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. THE STEAM ENGINE. Mt. Phillips, the eminent Professor of Geology, in the Univer- sity of Uxford, remarks that, " coal, since it has been applied to the steam-engine, is really hoarded power applicable to almost every purpose which human labor, directed by ingenuity, can ac- complish." He then goes on to remark, with the pride of a gen- uine Briton, " It is the possession of her coal-mines which has rendered Britain in relation to the whole world, what a city is to the rural district which surrounds it — the producer and dispenser of the various products of art and industry. Our coal-fields are vastly more precious to us than would have been mines of the precious metals, like those of Peru and Mexico." If the latter statement be true of Britain it must be true of the United States also, even to a much greater extent. According to Mr. Hunt, the keeper of the Mining Records of Britain, the coal area of the British Islands is 12,800 square miles,^ or one-tenth of the whole surface; according to the same author- ity, the proportion in the United States is still greater ; the coal area being two-ninths of the whole surface. Scotland possesses the largest coal-field in Britain — 1,600 square miles in the basin of the Forth and Clyde ; this field is very rich in iron as well as coal. Between the Tweed and the Trent, in the north of Eng- land, there are nearly 10,000 square miles. WHO DEVELOPED STEAM-POWER.'' It was in one of these districts that Watt brought forth his. almost, if not quite, perfect cotidensing engine. On the Forth and Clyde Canal was the theater for Symington's steam-boat. Near Newcastle — the Newcastle of coals — the Stevensons grew to maturity, connected with those great collieries ; and there, too, grew to full development of monstrous power and bird-like speed, their giant pet, the locomotive. On the Schuylkill and the Dela- ware successfully experimented Oliver Evans and John Fitch ; here, too, on or near the great anthracite coal-fields of Pennsyl- vania, Robert Fulton first saw the light, and noted the develop- ment of steam-power, to which he has allied his name for all time. We propose now to see what tiie steam-engine, well fed and watered, can do. In the language of Dr. Lardner, " Coals are by the steam-engine, made to spin, weave, dye, print, and dress silks. so 4 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. cottons, woolens, and other cloths; to make paper and print books upon it when made ; to express oil from the olive [aye, we may add, and from cotton seed too, which is largely taking the place of the oil from the olive, for which it is sold in all the markets of the world], and wine from the grape ; to draw up metals from the bowels of the earth; to pound and smelt it, to melt and mold it, to forge it, to roll it, and fashion it into every desirable form ; to transport these manifold products of its own labor to the doors of those for whose convenience they are pro- duced ; to carry persons and goods over water and land, from town to town, and country to country, with a speed as much ex- ceeding the ordinary wind, as the ordinary wind exceeds that of a common pedestrian." INTERESTING FACTS. " Such are the virtues, such the powers, which the steam- engine, with its rotary or continuously circular motion, as brought into being by Watt, has conferred upon coals. The means of calling these powers into activity are supplied by a substance which nature has happily provided in unbounded quantity in every part of the earth; and though it has no price, it has ines- timable value. This substance is water. A pint of water may be evaporated by two ounces of coals. In its evaporation it swells into two hundred and sixteen gallons of steam, with a me- chanical force sufficient to raise a weight of thirty-seven tons a foot high. The steam thus produced has a pressure equal to that of common atmospheric air; and by allowing it to expand by vir- tue of its elasticity, a further mechanical force may be obtained at least equal in amount to the former. A pint of water, there- fore, and two ounces of common coal, are thus rendered capable of doing as much work as is equivalent to seventy-four tons raised a foot high. "The circumstances under which the steam-engine is worked on a railway are not favorable to the economy of fuel ; neverthe- less, a pound of coke burned in a locomotive-engine will evapo- rate about five pints of water. In their evaporation they will exert a mechanical force sufficient to draw two tons weight on the railway a distance of one mile in two minutes. Four horses, working in a stage-coach on a common road, are necessary to draw the same weight the same distance in six minutes. " A train of cars, weighing about eighty tons, and transporting 240 passengers with their luggage, has been taken from Liverpool to Birmingham, and thence back to Liverpool, the trip each way taking about four and a half hours, stoppages included — the dis- tance being 95 miles. This double journey of 190 miles is effect- ed by the mechanical force produced from the combustion of four tons of coke, valued at 5/. To carry, in England, the same num- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY, 885 ber of passengers daily between the same places, by stage coaches, would require 20 vehicles and an establishment of 3,800 horses, with which the journey would be performed both ways in about twelve hours, stoppages included. "The circumference of the earth measures 25,000 miles; and if it were begirt with an iron railway, such a train as that described carrying 240 passengers would be drawn round it by the combus- tion of about thirty tons of coke, and the circuit would be accom- plished in five weeks." Capt. Savery contrived his engine, in 1698, with especial ref- erence to the drainage by pumping of the deep mines of England, and it was used mainly for this purpose. Indeed, it is necessary to recollect that, notwithstanding the extensive and various appli- cations of steam-power in the arts and manufactures, up to the time when Watt got his patent extended in 1775, the steam-engine had never been employed for any other purpose than that of rais- ing water by working pumps. The water of streams was used over and over again, in the manufacturing districts of England, by being pumped up, and thus re-supplied to water-wheels driving machinery. The motion required, therefore, was merely an upward force, such as is neces- sary to elevate the piston of a pump. " In the drainage of the Cornish mines now, the economy of fuel is much attended to, and coal is made to do more there than elsewhere. A bushel of coal usually raises 40,000 tons of water a foot high; but on some occasions it has raised 60,000 tons a foot high. Let us take its labor at 50,000 tons. A horse worked in a fast stage coach, pulls against an average resistance of about a quarter of a ton weight. Against this he is able to work at the usual speed through about 8 miles daily; his work is, therefore, equiv- alent to about five hundred tons raised one foot. A bushel of coals, as used in Cornwall, therefore, performs as much labor as a day's work of one hundred such horses." "When steam-engines were first brought into use, they were commonly applied to work pumps for mills, which had previously been worked or driven by horses. In forming their contracts, the first steam-engine builders found themselves called upon to sup- ply engines for executing the same work as before had been exe- cuted by a certain number of horses. It was, therefore, conven- ient, and indeed necessary, to be able to express the performance of these machines by comparison with the animal power to which manufacturers, miners, and others, had been so long accustomed. When an engine, therefore, was capable of performing the same work, in a given time, as any given number of horses of average strength usually performed, it was said to be an engine of so many horses' power. It was, however, a considerable period before this term came to have a definite meaning. Mr. Smeaton estimated that FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, a horse of average strength, working for eight hours a day, was cap- able of performing a quantity of work equal in its mechanical effect to 22,916 tons raised one foot per minute, while Desaguliers estimated the same power at 27,500 tons. The difference between these estimates probably arose from their being made from the iperformances of different classes of horses." " Messrs. Boulton and Watt caused experiments to be made 5with the strong horses used in the breweries of London, and from the results of these trials they assigned 33,000 pounds, raised one foot per minute, as the value of a horse's power. This is the unit •of engine power now universally adopted. The steam-engine is no longer used to replace the power of horses, and, therefore, no ■contracts are based upon this comparison. The term horse-power, .then, m:eans simply the ability of the engine to move 33,000 pounds vthrough one foot per minute." " The conversion of a given volume of water into steam is pro- ductive of a certain definite amount of mechanical force, this amount depending on the pressure under which this water is •evaporated, and the extent to which the expansive principle is tused in working the steam. It is evident that this amount of mechanical effect is a major limit, which cannot be exceeded by the power of the engine. " What is known as the duty or service of engines varies ac- cording to their form and magnitude, the circumstances under which they are worked, and the purposes to which they are ap- plied. In double-acting engines, working without expansion, the -coal consumed per nominal horse-power per hour varies from ) *to 12 lbs. An examination of the steam-logs of several govern, ment steamers, made a few years since, gave as the average con, sumption of fuel at that time, of the best class of marine engines, .about 8 lbs. per nominal horse-power per hour. Out of fifteen atmospheric engines working at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1769 — the date of Watt's earliest discoveries — the yearly duty of the ^poorest was shown to be 3,220,000 lbs., and of the best 7,440,000 lbs. In 1772, Smeaton began his improvements on the atmos- pheric engine, and raised the duty to 9,450,000, but when Watt, dn 1776, had obtained a duty of 21,600,000, Smeaton acknowl- -edged that Watt's engines gave a duty double that of his own. From 1779 to 1798, Watt increased that of his engines from 23,- 400,000 to 27,000,000. The engine which accomplished the last was under the care of Mr. Murdock, at Cornwall, and was by Mr. Watt pronounced /^/yVr/. [Mr. Murdock will be remembered as the ingenious producer of a model locomotive heated by a spirit- lamp, which so frightened the village parson upon a dark evening, as it moved rapidly down upon him on the side-walk.] Mr. Watt thought further improvement in the duty of his steam-engine could not be expected. Yet in twenty years afterward the best OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 887 engine had attained to an average duty of 40,000,000 lbs., and in forty years it was about 84,000,000 lbs. per year. How impos- sible, then, for even the most sagacious to foresee the results of mechanical improvement.'' COAL CONSUMED, We now revert again to fuel, or the food of what the men of the Newcastle collieries originally called the " Iron Horse." For this home of the Stephensons, near the close of the thirteenth century Henry III. gave a charter, granting license to the bur- gesses of Newcastle to dig for coal. In 1281 — just five hundred years before George Stevenson was born, at Wylam Colliery — Newcastle is said to have had a considerable trade in this article, and about this time the use of coal had commenced in London, by smiths, brewers, dyers, soap-boilers, etc. A notion got abroad that the smoke was highly injurious to the public, and in 13 16, ■on petition of parliament his majesty Edward I. issued a proc- lamation prohibiting its use, on the ground of its being an intol- erable nuisance. Notwithstanding this, and the fact that more rigorous means were resorted to, its use continued progressively to gain ground. Since the reign of Charles I., the use of coal in London has been universal, to the exclusion of nearly all other articles of fuel. The coals of Britain are almost wholly bitumin- ous, similar to the coals taken out of the Western Alleghanies and generally mined in the Mississippi Valley. The anthracite coal of Pennsylvania is nearly pure carbon, igniting with some diffi- culty, and giving out intense heat during combustion. It is al- naost exclusively used in the cities and towns of the Northern Atlantic States, and wherever wood is not cheaper, in that part of the Union. Its adaptation for use in blast furnaces makes it im- mensely valuable to the great home interest in iron, of the Key- stone State; and it yields a rich revenue to her citizens from the demand for it in the large manufacturing and commercial districts of the Eastern States, while it is in growing request wherever in the South and West a cleaner fuel is preferred to the smoky and sooty coals of the great central valley. Strangely enough, it was scarcely known to exist in this country fifty years ago, and now the tonnage engaged in transporting it — to a minor extent by the old canals — on the railroads of the East is of enormous magni- tude, as will appear from the reports of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, the Lehigh Valley, the Delaware and Lacka- wanna, the New Jersey Central, the Pennsylvania Central, and other roads. A half century ago, this coal, as discovered in Ire- land, and in South Wales, was considered to be incombustible refuse and was thrown away, but now it is there thought to be of the very highest value for furnace purposes. In this running and brief history of coal, we not only discover 888 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES^. the food iox our iron horse developed from the great store-houses of nature in a rapidly increasing measure, just as the creature is developed into a perfect life, but we also discover the work it is being called upon to perform. Its family is growing by thousands a year, while its habitat, the railroads, are multiplying in endless ratio. The iron steamers of the sea, too, and of the great inland routes of commerce, are, and are to be, insatiable in their demands for this great generator of strength for iron arms and sinews, Europeans, if not Americans, are demo?istrating that iron steam- ships can carry much cheaper than sailing vessels, the time taken for trips considered, because vessels propelled by steam are grad- ually superseding sailing vessels. It is probable that coal will ere long be included among those articles that are reckoned as contra- band of war. Now that steam is destined to play an important part in naval warfare, the coal by which steam is produced is cer- tainly entitled to a prominent place among munitions de guerre. Nearly all the coal consumed in London was taken there by coastwise vessels from Newcastle and elsewhere forty years ago (1832), while within that period the transportation into London^ by railways alone, has grown to be equal to that taken by vessels, and the amount carried by the latter is fifty per cent, in excess of what it was then ; meantime, its average price has; not increased there. In this no mention is made of the tonnage required on railways for distributing coal to the manufacturing and other dis- tricts of Britain. Herein may be seen outlines of a future traffic, huge in proportions, yet to be acquired by the railroads of the Western States of the Union, not to name others. The importation into the United States of what has been for many years known on the Atkntic coast as " Liverpool coal " has always been considerable; so late as 1865 the amount was 134,- 000' tons; an ugly fact in vi^w of our greater supplies. The productive coal measures of the United States exceed those of all the rest of the world, as at present known, and the greatest fields- of coal in the Union are in the districts of the Mississippi Valley,, already pointed out. Coal, for most purposes, is much better than wood ; but, in fact,, the two, although in appearance so different, are, in their ultimate composition, very nearly allied. They both have for their basis or chief ingredient the substance called by the chemists carbon^ and their chief other ingredient, the substance called hydrogeUy which, when separated, exists in the form of gas. The hydrogen is easily driven away or volatilized from either coal or wood, by heating in a close place ; and when it is caught and preserved, it forms the gas now used to light the streets and buildings of our cities and larger towns. What remains of coal after being so treated is the substance called coke, referred to in this article as used in running locomotives on the English railways ; and what OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 889 remains of wood, similarly treated, is the substance called charcoal j both being nearly pure carbon, but differing as to the states of compactness. This kindred nature of coal and wood does not surprise us when the fact is known that much of our coal is really transformed wood ; many coal-mines being evidently the remains of antediluvian forests, swept together in the course of terrestrial changes, and afterward solidified to the state now seen. The species df the plants or trees which formed them are often quite apparent. The extensive beds of peat moss or turf, now existing on the surface of the earth consist chiefly of vegetable remains in an early stage of change, which finally terminates in the formation of coal. The phenomenon of common fire or combustion is merely the fuel being chemically dissolved in the air of the atmosphere. If the fuel has nothing volatile in it, as is true of pure carbon, and nearly true of coke and charcoal, it burns with the appearance of red-hot stones; but if there be an ingredient, as hydrogen, which on being heated, readily assumes the form of air, that ingredient dilates before burning, and in the act produces the more bulky incandescence called flame. The two great purposes which combustion serves to man are to give light and heat. By the former he maybe said to lengthen considerably the duration of his natural existence ; for he converts a portion of the almost useless night into what, for many ends, serves him as well as day; and by the latter, besides converting winter into any climate — within doors — which he desires, he is en- abled to effect most important mutations in many of the substances which nature offers for his use ; and since the invention of the steam-engine, he makes heat perform a great and constantly in- creasing proportion of the work of society. From these consider- ations may be perceived the importance of having fire at com- mand ; and as the cheapest means of commanding fire, of having abundance of coal. By it our dwellings are lighted and heated, and thus made more comfortable ; with it the steam-engine may be fed, labor lifted from our shoulders and taken from our hands, and we may be enabled comfortably to go with railroad and steamer speed to the ends of the earth. From an admirable article by Robert Hunt, F. R. S,, we make the following extract on "coal as a reservoir of power." "The sun, according to the philosophy of the day, is the great store-house of force. All the grand natural phenomena are directly dependent upon the influence of energies which are poured forth without intermission from the central star of our system. Under the influences of light, heat, actinism, and elec- tricity, plants and animals are produced, live and grow, in all their ?gO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. infinite variety. Those physical powers, or, as they were formerly called, those imponderable elements, have their origin in one or other of those mysterious zones which envelope the orb of day, and become evident to us only when mighty cyclones break them up into dark spots. Is it possible to account for the enormous amount of energy which is constantly being developed in the sun ? This question may be answered by saying that chemical changes of the most intense activity are discovered to be forever progress- ing, and that to these changes we owe the development of all the physical powers with which we are acquainted. In our labor- atory we establish, by mechanical disturbance, some chemical phenomenon, which becomes evident to our senses by the heat and light which are developed, and we find associated with them the principal which can set up chemical change and promote electrical manifestations, We have produced combustion, say, of .a metal, or of a metallic compound, and we have a flame of a color which belongs especially to the substance which is being consumed. We examine a ray of light produced by that flame iby passing it through a prism, and this analysis informs us that colored bands, having a fixed angle of refraction, are constant for that especial metal. Beyond this, research acquaints us with the fact that, if the ray of light is made to pass through the vapor of the substance which gives color to the flame, the lines of the spec- trum which were chormatic become dark and colorless. SUNSHINE AND COAL BEDS. " We trap a ray of sunlight, and we refract it by means of a spectroscope, when we detect the same lines as those which we have discovered in our artificial flame. We pursue this very in- teresting discovery, and we find that several metals which give color to flame, and produce certain lines, when subjected to spectrum analysis, are to be detected in the rays of the sun. Therefore our inference is, that some substances, similar to the terrestrial bodies, with which we are familiar, are actually under- going a change in the sun, analogous to those changes which we call combustion ; and, more than this, we argue that the high probability is, that all solar energies are developed under those conditions of chemical change — that, in fact, the sun is burning, and while solar matter is changing its form. Force is rendered active, and as ray-power passes off into space as light, heat, etc., to do its work upon distant worlds, and these forms of Force are expended in doing the work of development on those worlds. This idea — theory — call it what you may — involves of necessity the waste of energy in the sun, and we must concede the possi- bility of the blazing sun's gigantic mass becoming eventually a globe of dead ashes, unless we can comprehend some method by which energy can be again restored to the inert matter. Certain it OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 891 IS that the sun has been shining thousands of years, and its in- fluence on this earth we know to have been the production of organized masses, absorbing the radiant energies, in volumes cap- able of measurement. On this earth, for every equivalent of heat developed, a fixed equivalent of matter has changed its form; and so likewise is it with regard to the other forces. On the sun, in like manner, every cubic mile of sunshine represents the change of form of an equivalent of solar matter, and that equivalent of matter is no longer capable of supplying Force, unless by some ■conditions, beyond our grasp at present, it takes up again that which it has lost. That something of this kind must take place is certain. The sun is not burning out. After the lapse of thousands of years we have the most incontrovertible evidence that the light of to-day is no less brilliant now than it was when man walked amid the groves of Eden. We may venture farther back into the arcana of time, and say that the sun of the past summer (1872) has shone with splendor equal to the radiant power which, myriads of ages ere man appeared on this planet, stimulated the growth of those luxuriant forests which perished to form those vast beds from which we derive our coal. Not a ray the less is poured out in any hour of sunshine ; not a grain-weight of matter is lost from the mass of the sun. If either the sunshine were weakened, or the weight of the vast globe diminished, the planets would vary in their physical conditions, and their orbits would be changed. There is no evidence that either one or the other has resulted. Let us see if we can guess at any process by which this stability of the solar system is maintained. " It was first shown by Faraday, in a series of experimental in- vestigations which may be regarded as the most beautiful example of inductive science with which the world has been favored since Bacon promulgated his new philosophy, that the quantity of elec- tricity contained in a body was exactly the quantity which was necessary to decompose that body. For example, in a voltaic battery — of zinc and copper plates — a certain fixed quantity of electricity is eliminated by the oxidation of a portion of the zinc. If, to produce this effect, the oxygen of a given measure of water — say a drop — is necessary, the electricity developed will be ex- actly that which is required to separate the gaseous elements of a drop of water from each other. As equivalent of electricity is developed by the oxidation of an equivalent of zinc, and that electricity is required for the decomposition of an equivalent of water, or the same quantity of electricity would be equal to the power of effecting the re-combination of oxygen and hydrogen, into an equivalent of water. The law which has been so perfectly established for electricity is found to be true of the other physical forces. By the combustion — which is a condition of oxidation — of an equivalent of carbon, or of any body susceptible of this 892 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. change of state, exact volumes of light and heat are liberated". It is theoretically certain that these equivalents of light and heat- are exactly the quantities necessary for the formation of the sub- stance from which those energies have been derived. That which takes place in terrestrial phenomena is, it is highly probable, constantly taking place in solar phenomena. Chemical changes, or disturbances analogous to them, of vast energy, are constantly progressing in the sun, and thus is maintained that unceasing out- pour of sunshine which gladdens the earth, and illumines all the planets of our system. Every solar ray is a bundle of powerful forces ; light, the luminous life-maintaining energy, giving color to all things ; heat, the calorific power which determines the condi- tions of all terrestrial matter; actinism, peculiarly the force which produces all photographic phenomena ; and electricity regulating the magnetic condition of this globe. Combined in action, these solar radiations carry out the conditions necessary to animal and vegetable organization, in all their varieties, and create out of a chaotic mass forms of beauty rejoicing in life. " To confine our attention to the one subject before us. Every person knows that, to grow a tree or shrub healthfully, it must have plenty of sunshine. In the dark we may force a plant tO' grow, but it forms no woody matter, it acquires no color ; even in shade it grows slowly and weak. In sunshine it glows with color, and its frame is strengthened by the deposition of woody matter eliminated from the carbonic acid of the air in which it grows. A momentary digression will make one point here more clear. Men and animals live by consuming the products of the vegetable world. The process of supporting life by food is essentially one of combustion. The food is burnt in the system, developing that heat which is necessary for life, and the living animal rejects, with every expiration, the combinations, principally carbonic acid, which result from this combustion. This carbonic acid is in- haled by the plant ; and, by its vital power, excited by sunshine, it is decomposed ; the carbonic forms the ligneous structure of the plant, and the oxygen is liberated to renew the healthful condition of the atmosphere. Here we see a sequence of changes analo- gous to those which have been shown to be a law of electricity." HOW WOOD AND COAL ARE DEVELOPED. Every equivalent of matter changing form in the sun sends forth a measured volume of sunshine, charged with the organizing powers as potential energies. These meet with the terrestral mat- ter which has the function of living, and they expend themselves in the labor of producing a quantity of wood, which represents the equivalent of matter which has changed form in the sun. The OUR GOVJERJ>rMENT AND HISTORY. 893 ^ight, heat, chemical and electrical power of the sushine have pro- duced a certain quantity of wood, and these physical energies have been absorbed — used up — in the production of that quan- tity. Now, we learn that a cube of wood is the result of a fixed measure of sunshine ; common experience teaches us that, if we ignite that wood, it gives out in burning, light and heat ; while a little examination proves the presence of actinism and electricity in its flame. Philosophy teaches us that the powers set free ia the burning of that cube of wood, are exactly those which were required for its growth, and that, for the production of it, a defi- nite equivalent of matter changed its form on a globe ninety mil- Jions of miles distant from us. Myriads of ages before man appeared — the monarch of this world — the sun was doing its work. Vast forests grew as they now grow, especially in the wide spread swamps of the tropics, .and, decaying, gathered into thick mats of humus-like substance. Those who have studied all the conditions of a peat-morass, will remember how the ligneous matter loses its woody structure in •depth — depth here representing time — and how at the bottom a bituminous or coaly matter is not unfrequently formed. Some such process as this, continued through long ages, at length pro- duced those extensive beds of coal which are so distinguishingly a feature of the English and American coal-fields. At a period in geological time, when an Old Red Sandstone land was washed by ocean waves highly charged with carbonic acid, in which ex- isted multitudinous animals, whose work in Nature was to aid in building up mases of lime-stone rock, there prevailed a teeming vegetation from which have been derived all the coal-beds of the British Isles. Our space will not allow of any inquiry into the immensity of time required for the growth of the forests necessary for the production of even a single seam of coal. Suffice it to say, that within one coal-field, we may discover coal beds to the depth of 6,000 feet from the present surface. The section of such a coal-field will show us coal and sandstone, or shale, alternating again and again — a yard or two of coal and hundreds of feet of shale or sandstone — until we come to the present surface, every one of those deeply-buried coal-beds having been atone time a for- est, growing under the full power of a brilliant sun, the result of solar forces, produced then, as now, by chemical phenomena tak- mg place in the sun itself. Every cubic yard of coal in every coal- bed, is the result of a very slow, but constant change of a mass of vegetable matter ; that change being analogous to the process of rotting in a large heap of succulent plants. The change has been so slow, and continued under a constantly increasing pres- sure, that but few of the gaseous constituents have escaped, and nearly all those physical forces which were used in the task of producing the woody matter of the plant have been held prisoners 8g\. FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. in the vegetable matter which constitutes coal. How vast, then must be the store of power which is preserved in the coal de- posits of these islands ! We are now rasing from our coal-pits nearly one hundred and ten millions of tons of coal annually. Of this quantity we are exporting to our colonial possessions and foreign parts about ten- million tons, reserving nearly a hundred million tons of coal for our home consumption. Not many less than one hundred thou- sand steam boilers are in constant use in these islands, producing, steam — to blow the blast for smelting the iron ore ; to urge the mill for rolling, crushing, and cutting, with giant power ;. to twirl the spindle and to urge the shuttle. For every purpose, from rolling cyclopean masses of metal into form to weaving silky textures of the most filmy fineness, steam is used, and this steam is an exact representative of the coal' employed, a large allowance being made for the imperfec- tions of human machinery. This requires a little explanation. Coal is a compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen,, the last two elements existing in quantities so small, as compared with the carbon, that they may be rejected from our consideration. The heat which we obtain in burning the coal is almost all derived from the carbon ; the hydrogen in burning produces some heat, but for our purpose it is sufficient to confine attention to the- carbon only. THE POWER OF COAL. One pound of pure coal yields, in combining with oxygen in. combustion, theoretically ^ an energy equal to the power of lifting. 10,808,000 pounds one foot high. The quantity of heat necessary to raise a pound of water one degree will raise 772 pounds one foot. A pound of coal burning should yield 14,000 units of heat^, or 772x14,000^10,808,000 pounds, as above. Such is the theo- retical value of a pound of pure coal. Many of our coal seams are about a yard in thickness ; several important seams are much thicker than this, and one well-known seam, the thick coal of South Staffordshire, is ten yards in thickness. This, however, concerns us no further than that it is useful in conveying to the mind some idea of the enormous reservoir of power which is buried in our coal formations. One square yard of coal from a yard thick seam — that is, in fact, a cubic yard of coal — weighs about 2,240 pounds avoirdupois; the reserved energy in that cube of coal is equal to lifting 1,729,200 pounds one foot high. We are raising every year about 110,000,000 tons of coal from our coal-beds, each ton of coal being about a square yard. The heat of that coal is equal to a mechanical lifting power which it is scarcely possible to convey to the mind in anything approach- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 895; ing to its reality. If we say it is 190,212,000 millions, we merely state an incomprehensible number. We may do something more than this, if we can convey some idea of the magnitude of the mass of coal which is raised annually in these islands. The diameter of this globe is 7,926 miles, or 13,880,760 yards ; therefore, the coal raised in 1870 would make a solid bar more than eight yards wide and one yard thick, which would pass from east to west through the earth at the equator. Suppose such a mass should be in a state of ignition, we can imagine the inten- sity of its heat, and its capability, if employed in converting water into steam, of exerting the vast force which we have endeavored to indicate. It was intimated last year in the House of Com- mons, by a member of the coal commission, that the decision of that body, after a long and laborious inquiry, would be that there existed in our coal-fields a supply for about one thousand years at our present rate of consumption. We have therefore to multiply the above computation by 1,000 to arrive at any idea of the re- serve power of our British coal-fields. What must it have been ere yet our coal deposits were disturbed ! At the time of the Roman occupation coal was used in this country. In the ruins of Roman Uriconium coal has been found. Certainly up to the present time a quantity of not less than three thousand million tons of coal has been dug out of our carboniferous deposits and consumed. All this enormous mass of matter has been derived from vegetable organizations which have been built up by sun- shine. The sun-rays which compelled the plants to grow were used by the plant, absorbed, imprisoned in the cells, and held! there as an essential ingredient of the woody matter. The heat, light, actinism, and electricity, which are developed when we burn a lump of coal, represent exactly the quantity of those forces which were necessary to the growth of the vegetable matter from which that coal was formed. The sunshine of infinitely remote ages becomes the useful power of the present day. Let it not, however, be supposed that we employ all the heat which is available in our coal. All our appliances, even the very best, are so defective that we lose far more than we use. A pounds of pure coal should evaporate thirteen pounds of water ; in prac- tice a pound of coal does not evaporate four pounds, even in the most perfectly constructed steam boilers, with the most complete steam engines, such as have been constructed for pumping water for the Chelsea and the other water-works upon the Thames. Numerous attempts have been made to burn our coal so as to secure a more effective result than this. Still, with the best we allow more than one-half of the heat latent in the coal to escape us. The subtle element eludes our grasp — our charms are power- less to chain the sprite ; he will not be bound to labor for us, but Qgb FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. passes off into space, regardless of the human Prospctfo, whose wand of science he derides. In conclusion, our philosophy has enabled us to determine the heat value of our coal fields, and to prove that all this heat has a solar origin. Our science has shown us that, although we can eliminate all this heat, we can not use it. There is an immense quantity constantly passing into space as radiant heat which we can not retain. The circle of action between the vegetable and the animal world is a beautiful and a remarkable provision. The animal burns carbon and sends into the air carbonic acid (a compound of carbon and oxygen) ; the vegetable breathes that carbonic acid and decomposes it ; the carbon is retained and the oxygen liber- ated in purity, to maintain the life and fire-supporting principles of the atmosphere. Changes similar to these may be constantly going forward in the sun, and producing those radiations which ajre poured forth in volumes, far beyond the requirements of all the planets of our system. Although there is probably some circle of action analogous to that which exists upon this earth maintaining the permanency of the vegetable and animal world, still there must be a waste of energy, which must be resupplied to the sun. May it not be that Sir Isaac Newton's idea — that the comets traversing space gather up the waste heat of the solar system, and eventually falling into the sun, restores its power — is nearer the truth than the more modern hypothesis, that meteorites are inces- santly raining an iron shower upon the solar surface, and by their mechanical impact reproducing the energy as constantly as it is expended. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL COLLEGE, IN 1876, Will comprise three hundred and sixty-nine members, as follows : i 1. New York 35 21. Texas 8 2. Pennsylvania 29 22. South Carolina [' 7 3. Ohio.- 22 23. Maine y 4. Illinois 21 24. Connecticut. 6 5. Indiana 15 25. Arkansas (, 6. Missouri 15 26. California " 6 7. Massachusetts 13 27. Vermont r S.Kentucky , 12 28. New Hampshire ? 9. Tennessee 12 29. Kansas '" ? 10. Virginia „ 30. West Virginia = "• ?/°[?"'- -- " 31- Minnesota :.": ". "":.":: 5 12. Michigan „ 32. Rhode Island 4 13. Iowa. 14. North Carolina __,'_ lo 34.' Del 33. Florida 4 15. Alabama 16. Wisoonsin 34. JJelaware _ 3 35. Nebraska 3 vvisoonsin .._. 10 36. Oregon.... % New Jersey g 37. Nevada '.".. 3 18. Maryland 19. Louisiana . so. Mississippi 38. Colorado 3 - 8 Total 3I9 Necessary to a choice i8-.. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 897 THE GRANGERS. In the year 1867 a movement was inaugurated by the farmers of the West, which bade fair to change the whole social and political face of the country. In an mcredibly short time the organization which was formed numbered its members by millions, and it can safely be said that one-fourth of all the voters in the country belonged to the Grange. Such sudden growth must be ascribed to the magnitude of the evils which it was intended to redress, or to the benefits which were to be derived therefrom. As money is the American idol, it is to the condition of the pockets of the members or originators of the society that we naturally look in seeking an explanation of so extensive and general a movement, and there is no necessity for going farther. In all the large countries of the world agriculture is the chief branch of industry, and in Europe the stability of a nation may be said to depend upon the extent of its agricultural pursuits France, which is in reality the richest nation in the world, although England possesses more nominal wealth, was a century ago the poorest. This was owing to the fact that all the land was held by .a few nobles and the king, who farmed out the revenue and lived up to the saying of Louis XlV, that "the King was the State." Then came that terrible reaction, the reaction of ten centuries of oppression, in which all who were born of noble blood were be- headed or compelled to leave the country. In 1793 the whole country had been confiscated and was then divided equally be- tween the inhabitants of the country who chose to dv/ell upon the land assigned to them. The law of primogeniture was repealed and on the death of a land owner his real property must be dis- tributed among all the children, male and female, thus preventing the repetition of the condition of the country in 1789, or that of Great Britain to-day, and giving to every man his farm. Here is the secret of the recuperative power of France. With a population as large as that of this country east of the Rocky Mountains, but an area less than that of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa combined, and a soil less fertile than that of those states, she is able to raise her own provisions besides raising and making wine for the whole world, which is exchanged for whatever can be grown and imported at a less cost than it can be produced at home. But France has to feed her immense cities, where manufactures of all kinds are carried on to enormous ex- tent, and thus by a mutual intercourse and exchange of commod- ities in the same country, the prosperity of the nation is assured. We often hear of emigration from the overcrowded nations of Europe, but where the energies of the population are divided rightly there is no over-crowding. That term is never applied to France, nor is there any emigration properly so called from 57 898 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. that country. But when we examine the condition of the United States, we find none of those elements which make France wealthy and strong. The five states mentioned above contain almost ex- actly one-fourth the population of France. The manufactures necessary to supply so sparsely settled a country are very limited, and are furnished from distant states. The three southern New England states can furnish manufactures to the whole section, and barely have sufficient labor to keep them employed continually. What then is the condition of things, how has it come about, and how can it be changed, are the questions to be answered. The pursuits of the West are wholly agricultural, and only one form at that, stock raising hardly entering in as a branch of em- ployment. This is also true of the South, the West confining it- self almost exclusively to the culture of grain, the South to that of cotton. The employment of the Northeast is manufactures combined vixXh agriculture and commerce. The result is the North- eastern section of the country is rich and prosperous, the rest of the country is comparatively poor and wanting in many of the necessary constituents of prosperity. This, then, is the condition of things. How has it come about 1 We may say with truth that the railroad is to blame. Previous to the introduction of this agency Indiana was a howling wilder- ness, and but for it all the country west of the Mississippi would be so to-day. Formerly all transportation was performed by cat- tle and horses, and it would have been an impossibility to ship grain from Illinois to Massachusetts, or even New York, but now it can be carried from St. Louis to Portland for less than it could be sent from New York to Boston fifty years ago. No sooner were the railroads commenced than the demand came up from the West for their construction to that region. Emigration from the East set in, and thus, in a few years, 20,000,000 souls have taken possession of land enough to sustain 200,000,000. In order to get the railroads, states granted lands, counties made loans, towns gave bonds, and millions, yes, billions of inoneywere sunk in building roads for the West by wealthy capitalists. At last all the railroads, yes, twice as many as were needed, were built. Then the counties and the towns were called upon to pay the interest and principal of the bonds and loans they had given. The people attempted to compel the courts to declare the roads strictly private corporations, and the aid they had ex- tended unconstitutional. But they were unsuccessful. The courts decided the railroads to be quasi public corporations. THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. in consequence of this condition of affairs in 1867, the idea of organizing that portion of the American people engaged in ag- ricultural pursuits into a society for the furthurance of their own OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 899." interests on some plan similar to the Trades Unions, began to be: discussed among a few men from different portions of the country,, gathered at Washington, D. C. The result was that in December of that year, they, together with a few others whom they induced to join them, organized themselves into what they termed The National Grange, of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. Their objects, as announced, were to unite the farmers together for mu- tual protection, and enable them to exert an influence in public affairs they had never enjoyed, and could not hope to enjoy with- out such union. The ideas of self culture and social enjoyment were also made a part of the good the members were expecting; to realize from this association. Again, it was hoped that by means of such a combination a powerful influence could be exert- ed on the markets for farm products, while at the same time farmt implements, 9.nd in fact all farm supplies, could be bought and distributed at a considerable saving. Thus early the principle oF co-operation, which has won so many and such brilliant triumphs^ in England wthin the last thirty years, became one of the leading, features of the move. After struggling forward for four years,, making very little, if any, real progress, in 1872 it received an im- petus which suddenly brought it into prominence as one of the- greatest social movements of the age. Several causes contributed' to this result. The high prices charged for freight from the north- west to the seaboard for farm products, by the railroads, was found to absorb almost the whole price received therefor, so that in some portions of Iowa farmers were even burning corn for fuel rather than, ship it to market. At the same time in many locaJities farmers, were called upon to pay high taxes, considerable portions of whicli went to pay principal and interest on railroad bonds which had beett issued in aid of the roads in the hope that by means of them they would be enabled to enjoy a better market for their products. To be called upon to pay principal and interest on these bonds while suffering complete prostration of their business consequent on the exorbitant rates for freight charged by these same roads, pro- duced a wide-spread feeling of discontent among the farmers who became ready to embrace any project that seemed to promise re- lief. Add to this the revelations of wholesale fraud in the con- struction of the railroads, as shown in the Credit Mobilier inves tigationsin the winter of 1872-3, coupled with official corruption! in Congress and State Legislatures, and one can readily see how the Grange movement should have so suddenly assumed such gigantic proportions. A single glance at the official reports of the society, taken in connection with the important events of the times will be sfficient to explain the whole phenomena. Organ- ized in Dec. 1867, no decided effort was made to push the new Or- der for at least three months, and even then the success was not de- cidedly flattering. During the whole of 1 868 only ten new granger 900 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. were organized. In 1S69 thirty-nine more were brought into be- ing, and in 1870 an equal number; 187 1 seemed to have been a little better. In this year are reported one hundred and five new granges, making a total of one hundred and ninety-three subordi- nate granges established in a period of four years. From this point the growth was rapid. In 1872 no less than 1,105 new sub- ordinate granges were instituted, and this rate of growth, in geometrical progression was continued until, at the annual meet- ing of the national grange in February, 1874, there were reported no less than 16,400 organizations with an average membership of fifty persons to each grange. The questions which force themselves on the attention of every thoughtful person are, will the grange survive a brief period of ex- istence and become one of the permanent institutions of our country ? and, will it succeed in effecting the reforms at which it aims.? We shall not attempt to answer either of these questions, but certain it is that it will require the exercise of all the wisdom possessed by its leaders to steer it clear of the dangers that await it, and correct the mistakes which were inseperable from its rapid growth and the excitement produced by the issues with which it has had to deal. THE NATIONAL GRANGE. FROM THE secretary's REPORT, NOV , 1875. In the history of organization our Order is the greatest achieve- ment of modern times. The Masonic Order, consisting of blue Lodges, chapters, commanderies, and other branches of its organ- ization, numbers twelve thousand nine hundred and thirty (12,- 930) on the entire globe. The Odd Fellows number seven thou- sand and fifty-one Lodges, encampments, etc., giving a total of nineteen thousand nine hundred and eighty-one in the whole world, and those Orders . .'rom thirty to one hundred years old ; while at the outside we have but three years' growth, and have issued twenty-four thousand two hundred and ninety charters, confined to the United States alone. It is quite reasonable to suppose that many of the Granges or- ganized under the excitement of last year should be weak, but our records at this date show only 686 that have consolidated, suspended, or had their charters revoked since the first introduc- tion of the order. State Secretaries this year report a membership of 762,263, while the increase of new Granges for the past month has been 92. The total amount of moneys received in the Secretary's ofiice and deposited in the fiscal agencies during the past three years is, in rough numbers, about $350,000, exceeding the united paid-up capital of all the purely agricultural societies in the United States for the past fifty years, or, in fact, since they first had an existence. INFORMATION FOR EVERYBODY. STATISTICS OF THE GLOBE. t j^/fN^HE earth is inhabited by about 1300 millions of mhabit- gylil ants, viz : 360,000,000 of the Caucassian race ; 550,000,000 of the Mongolian; 190,000,000 of the Ethiopian; 200,000,000 of the Malay races, and 1,000,000 of the American Indian. All these respectively speak 3,064 languages and possess 1,000 •different religions. The amount of deaths per annum is 33^333^333y o^" 9i'954 per •day; 3,730 per hour; 60 per minute, or one per second. This ■loss is compensated by an equal number of births. The average duration of life throughout the globe is thirty- three- years. One-fourth of its population dies before the seventh •year, and one-half before the seventeenth. Out of 10,000 per- sons only one reaches his hundredth year; only one in 500 his ■eightieth; and only one in 100 his sixty-fifth. Married people live longer than unmarried ones, and a tall man is likely to live longer than a short one. Until the fiftieth year, women have a better chance of life than men ; but beyond that period the chances are equal. Sixty-five persons out of one thousand, marry. The months of June and December are those in which marriages are most frequent. Children born in spring are generally stronger than those born in other seasons. Births and deaths chiefly occur in the night. The number of men able to bear arms is but one-eighth of the population. g^^ 904 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ESTIMATED POPULATION OF THE OLD AND NEW WORLD. Europe 280,000,000 Asia, including Islands 750,000,000 Africa, estimated from 100 to 200,000,000 America 69,000,000 Australia and Islands _. 2,000,000- Polynesia, estimate.. 1,500,000 NEGROES IN AMERICA. It is estimated that there are some 14,000,000 persons of African descent on this continent. In the United States they number 4,500^000; Brazil 4,000,000; Cuba and Porto Rico, 1,500,000; South and Central American Republics, 1,200,000; Haytip 1.350,000; British Possessions, 800,000 ; French, 250,000 ; Dutch, and Mexican, 400,000. There are about 300,000 Indians in the United States. LATEST STATISTICS OF THE GLOBE, 1876. For Europe, the area is 2,700,000 square miles; population 303,000,000. Asia, 13,000,000 square miles, and population, 799,000,000. Africa, 8,700,000 square miles, population, 206, 000,- 000. America, 12,000,000 square miles; population, 84,000,000, Australia and Polynesia, 2,500,000 square miles, population, 4,500,000. Total Area, 38, 900,000. Total Population, 1,396,500,000, WEALTH OF THE PRESIDENTS. Washington left an estate valued at over $800,000 ; John Adams died moderately well off, leaving about $75,000 ; Jefferson died so poor that if Congress had not purchased his library at $20,000 he would have been a pauper ; Madison was frugal, and left about $150,000; Monroe died so poor that he was buried at the expense of his relatives; John Quincy Adams left about $55,000; Jackson died worth about $80,000; Van Buren left some $400,000. It is said he did not draw his salary while in office, but at the expira- tion of his term of service drew the whole $100,000; Polk left an estate valued at $150,000; Taylor had saved something from his pay while in the army, and died worth $150,000; Tyler married a lady of wealth ; Fillmore was always frugal, and added to his savings by marrying a lady of wealth, and was worth about $200,000 ; Pierce's estate was valued at $50,000; Buchanan left $200,000; Lincoln about $75,000; and Johnston $50,000; Grant is supposed to be wealthy. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 905' OUR IMPORTS AND THEIR COST. The Chief of the Bureau of Statistics on Commerce and Navigation furnishes the following statement of the value and duty on the principal articles entered into consumption in the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871: Articles. • Value. Duty. Animals, living, of all kinds $5,287,669 12 $1,165,533 83 Articles worn by men, women, children, of what- ever material, made up in whole or part by hand, not otherwise specified 249,519 00 87,331 65 Beer, ale and porter 1,154,254 98 434,321 63 Books, periodicals, &c., print, and blank 1,706,304 71 426,576 20 Brass and manuf of. 54,384 17 10,889 43 Bricks and tiles 76,866 59 16,088 97 Bristles 721,518 00 87,214 2» Brushes 222,188 09 88,875 23 Butter 1,091,374 87 193,720 50 Buttons and button molds. 1,299,895 75 389,968 73 Candles and tapers, all kinds 5,891 65 1,088 94 Chalk of all kinds _ 18,367 00 37,487 00 Cheese 376,395 37 100,530 07 Chemicals, dyes, drugs and medicines 12,979,661 85 4,640,055 94 Chicory, root and gr'd ■_ 70,495 00 116,120 82 Chocolate, cocoa, &c 346,210 86 74,583 10 Clay and fullers' earth 106,527 00 54,917 04 Clocks, watches and watch materials _ 3,457,261 21 804,840 71 Coal and culm of coal 1,144,538 34 543,257 88 Coffee 29,428,698 27 10,069,098 77 Copper and manuf of 765,186 27 331,703 68 Cork and manuf of 237,549 52 100,180 49 Cotton, manuf. of 26,587,994 91 10,773,832 48 Diamonds, gems, &c 2,351,963 25 235,234 73 Earthenware, china 4,632,355 21 1,915,109 81 Embroideries of cotton, silk, wool, not otherwise specified 2,565,914 00 898,069 90 Fancy articles, perfumery, &c 3,798,816 97 1,718,583 09 Fire-crackers and fireworks _ . 170,264 25 196,929 80 Fish of all kinds 2,066,832 70 660,225 34 Flax and manuf. of (linens, &c.) 19,235,959 55 6,475,853 73> Fruits of all kinds 6,872,741 36 3,428,097 73 Furs and manuf of 2,194,462 58 434,972 73 Ginger, root, ground and preserved 171,182 51 79,411 70 Glass and manuf of 4,450,724 68 2,472,412 50 Gold and silver, manufacturers of, &c 233,277 07 77,082 44 Gums, arable, copal, mastic, myrrh, shellac, &c.-- 422,833 06 221,102 41 Gutta-percha, crude, and manuf of 16,173 00 5,109 90 Hair of alpaca goat, &c., and manuf of 34,559 70 25,003 13 Hair and manuf. of (lia,ir-cloth, &c.) 538,942 73 131,202 58 Hair, human, and manufactures of 535,852 00 149,608 00 Hats and bonnets of hair, straw, chip, &c 658,380 58 253 352 24 Hemp and manuf of 8,013,364 43 l,7i,009 47 Hides and skins 13,431,781 27 1,343,178 14 Honey 53,119 91 17,07150 Hops 12,81100 5,044 20 India-rubber and manufacturers of 2,044,936 95 361,365 31 Instruments, mathematical, philosophical, &c 15,519 00 3,521 20 Ink and ink powders 85,823 21 30,038 12 9o6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Ariicles. Value. Duty. Iron, manuf. of 31,852,034 88 13,766,121 33 Steel and manuf of. 11,404,084 85 4,892,562 63 Ivory and manuf. of. 174,942 00 20,379 70 Jet and jewelry, real and imitation 1,322,266 67 374,742 03 Lead and manuf. of 3,837,363 93 1,870,609 54 Leather and manuf. of 10,552,155 34 3,839,679 50 Macaroniand vermicelli 80,478 80 28,167 59 Marble, granite, stone and manuf. of 764,323 10 896,964 06 Matts, cocoa, coir, dunnage, &c., and matting 564,239 85 162,632 36 Meats, eggs, game, poultry, &c 1,128,395 84 240,612 77 Metals, bronze, nickel, &c., and manuf. of, not elsewhere specified 340,575 85 68,41185 Mineral waters . . 34,918 13 22,934 88 Music, printed, bound or unbound 47,547 00 9,509 40 Musical instruments and music strings 842,507 98 253,311 55 Nuts, almonds, cocoa, filberts, walnuts, &c 1,196,779 44 592,270 63 Oil-cloths for floors 63,406 55 27,840 31 Oils, fixed or expressed : Castor __. 30,340 49 39,313 62 Flaxseed or linseed! 34,814 49 14,122 57 Neats-foot and other animal 20,1 55 00 4,031 00 Olive, in casks 111,453 00 34,703 13 Olive, in bottles 357,868 08 143,475 75 Palm and cocoanut 87,388 40 8,738 84 Sealand whale 183,75138 26,882 45 All other fixed oils 115,479 66 38,776 46 Total $821,050 50 $299,093 83 Oils, volatile or essential : Anise 16,355 00 5,237 50 Bergamot 93,260 00 30,59158 Citronella 13,535 00 9,100 85 Orange and lemon 144,505 00 33,809 38 Roses, attar of 46,242 00 15,219 38 All other essential oils 132,415 41 82,403 23 Total... , $446,212 41 $176,36193 Olives 32,458 58 9,737 57 Paintings, statuary, &c., not by American artists 767,160 06 76,716 01 Photographs 48,006 35 8,60125 Paints and colors : Whitelead 483,392 81 250,135 36 Red lead 73,410 75 38,868 48 Ultramarine blue 115,816 00 33,293 82 Vermillion 43,935 11 10,983 78 All other paints and colors 597,276 84 233,084 75 Total $1,818,83101 $566,364 59 Paper and manuf. of 1,895,150 35 544,228 04 Pens, penhold'rs, pencils, crayons, &c 237,850 47 133,300 86 Pickles, sauces, catsup, &c 431,634 39 151,385 80 Pins, allmetallic 60,912 00 31,319 30 Plumbago or black lead 139,954 00 26,564 75 Potatoes 335,973 48 107,985 00 Rice and paddy 1,449,198 50 1,262,197 62 Salt m bulk and bags, cake, &c ., 1,158,208 56 1,176,587 37 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 907 Articles. Value. Duty. Seeds, plants, trees, shrubs, &c., &c. : Canary 56,953 00 37,776 24 Cardamon 13,932 00 2,778 50 Castor ._. 44,393 00 23,11180 Flaxseed or linseed 5,977,935 80 724,420 40 Garden, agricultural, &c 563,536 38 169,006 41 All other kinds of seeds, &c 159,382 75 64,675 73 Total $6,818,121 93 $1,030,769 08 Silk and manufactures of : Velvets. - 1,424,123 00 854,473 80 Ribbons 6,979,527 50 4,187,716 50 Dress and piece goods 13,235,849 60 7,941,509 77 Laces, braids, fringes, galloons, &c., 2,281,239 25 1,368,743 55 All other manuf. of 7,147,512 67 3,613,376 23 Total $31,068,252 02 $17,965,819 85 •Slate and manuf. of 138,865 00 49,671 80 Soap, common, castile, and toilet 399,560 84 147,434 13 Spices: Cassia 391,973 26 223,330 35 Cloves.. 64,547 35 104,197 45 Mustard 114,535 74 80,508 37 Nutmegs 390,175 10 366,415 00 Pepper, black and white 484,635 68 596,020 65 Pimento 55,288 87 111,073 20 Vanilla beans 113,212 00 44,292 00 All other spices 103,100 13 97,574 53 Total . $1,616,467 03 $1,522,411 35 Spirits and wines : Brandy 1,261,343 42 1,793,376 85 Spirits from grain and other materials 615,393 85 3,043,039 06 Cordials, liquors, arrack, &c 58,897 96 88,639 90 Wines of all kinds 5,876,613 14 4,478,973 91 Spirituous compounds. 19,125 59 29,168 55 Total $7,831,372 96 $8,432,078 27 Straw, manufactures of 1,360,323 14 408,018 63 Sponges 113,127 00 22,625 40 Starch, of corn, potatoes or rice 2,555 46 1,339 14 Sugar, &c. : Sugar of all kinds 58,382,938 21 29,690,521 58 Confectionery 11,735 06 7,160 38 Syrup of cane juice or melado 2,454,696 40 1,060,975 75 Molasses from sugar cane 10,953,039 03 2,826,462 45 Total $70,'803,398 69 $33,585,130 16 Tea 14,374,488 67 8,333,994 67 Tin, and manuf. of 13,538,612 76 2,846,695 39 Tobacco and manufacture of : Leaf, manufactured, stems, and snuff 2,784,155 74 2,342,954 11 Cigars... 2,422,552 94 2,458,622 62 Total $5,206,708 68 $4,801,576 73 9o8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Articles. Value. Duty. Umbrellas, parasols, &c., (not of silk) 94,276 50 47,138 25 Varnish 72,265 56 829,755 50 Vegetables, yams, &c., new and prepared 584,611 22 28,768 33 Vinegar 54,855'06 8,863 22 Wax, and manuf. of 10,870 76 3,157 53 Wheat, grain, flour, meal, &c. : Wheat 245,753 79 43,664 80 Wheatflour 157,805 28 81,56106 Rye..- 45,143 75 10,138 76 Barley 8,632,484 78 721,479 80 Oats -. 390,982 90 72,702 20 Indian corn... 100,902 91 10,553 48 All other kinds 911,828 73 167,055 36 Total- .' $5,424,897 14 $1,057,155 46 Willow or osier, and manufacturers of 245,507 75 83,930 9T Wood and manuf. of : Cabinet ware, household furniture, &c 942,973 87 330,040 69 Boards, plank and scantling ._. 6.555,192 03 1,311,038 41 Roughtimber 494,456 45. 98,89128 Otherlumber , 816,057 64 63,21153 Fire-wood 202,08152 40,416 30 Another 207,006 85 56,628 87 Total $8,807,857 86 1,900,322 05 Wool, and manufactures of wool, and worsted : Wool, raw of all kinds 9,906,081 08 4,515,103 72 Cloths 9,187,365 28 6,430,226 41 Shawls_. 281,669 00 151,052 53 Flannels.. 7,120 49 5,074 65 Blankets 19,426 95 17,292 98 Hatsofwool. 131,230 00 81,007 54 Hosiery 537.056 50 809,195 Shirts, drawers and other knit goods 21,729 00 12,559 27 Balmorals 3,465 75 2,690 21 Yarns.... 284,792 90 231,873 55 Dress goods 21,617,322 94 14,358,853 83 Clothing, ready-made and article of wear. 2,249,600 00 1,208,568 22 Bunting 4,167 00 4,898 40 Carpets and carpeting 4,931,621 90 3,320,097 31 All other manuf. of, not otlierwise specified 3,588,419 63 2,895,982 29 Total $52,766,068 87 $38,539,475 93 Zinc, and manuf. of 948,964 63 348,667 20 All other articles 3,412,115 57 291,784 86 Total $459,597,057 86 $201,985,574 93- Amount entered for direct consumption 270,967,025 96 109,089,585 94 Withdrawn from warehouse for consump'n.. 188,680,081 90 92,895,988 99 Free of duty , 59,162,460 46 Additional and discriminating duty 461,098 3& Aggregate total $518,759,518 32 $202,446,673 3S OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. ClOO DIFFERENCE OF TIME. AVhen it is 12 o'clock at noon at New York City, it will be morning at all places west of New York, and afternoon at all places east, as in the annexed table: Place. Morning. Augusta, Ga 11 28 28 Buffalo,N. Y 11 40 24 Chicago, 111 11 6 2 Cincinnati, O 11 18 16 Detroit, Mich 11 23 54 Ft. Leavenworth, Kan 10 37 8 Galveston, Tex 10 36 58 Honolulu, S. I 6 24 8 Jackson, Miss 10 55 32 Jefferson, Mo 10 47 32 Louisville, Ky, 11 14 4 Mexico, Mex 10 19 44 Milwaukee, Wis 11 4 16 Mobile, Ala 11 2 Nashville, Tenn 11 8 48 Natchez, Miss. 10 50 26 Place. Afternoon. Albany, N. Y 1 6 Augusta, Me 16 44 Berlin, Prussia 5 49 39 Boston Mass 11 50 Constantinople 6 52 Edinburgh.- _. 3 43 21 Hamburg, Ger 5 36 58 London.-., _._ 4 55 41 Place. Mornine New Orleans, La 10 Raleigh, N. C 11 Sacramento, Cal 8 St. Louis, Mo .-10 St. Paul, Minn 10 San Francisco, Cal 8 Santa Fe, N. M 9 Springfield, 111 10 Toronto, C. W 11 Utica, N. Y 11 Vera Cruz, Mex 10 Washington, D. C. 11 Wheeling, W. V 11 Wilmington, N. C 11 Wilmington, Del. 11 Place. AfU Montreal, L. C Paris, France 5 Portland, Me Quebec, L. C Rome, Italy '-. 5 St. Petersburg :.. 6 Stockholm, Sw. 6 Vienna, Austria 6 55 4 40 52 56 4 56 4 43 45 46 19 51 59 57 52 b8 38 55 12 31 30 47 53 33 16 43 21 54 12 moon. H. s. 1 44 5 26 15 10 11 45 59 57 18 8 18 1 37 STATISTICS OF RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES. The total number of Church organizations upon the 1st of June 1870, were CHURCH ACCOMMODATION. Baptist (regular). 3,997,116 Baptist (other) - - . 363,019 Roman Catholic 1,990,514 Congregational 1,117,212 Episcopal Lutheran -. Methodist Presbyterian (regular) - - . Presbyterian (other) 991,051 997,333 6 528,209 2,198,900 499,344 Total 21,659,562 VALUE OF CHURCH PROPERTY. Baptist (regular) $39,229,221 Baptist (other) 3,378,977 Roman Catholic 60,985 566 CongregationaT 25,069,698 Episcopal 36,514,549 Lutheran - . - 14,917,747 Methodist 69,854,121 Presbyterian (regular) 47,828,732 Presbyterian (other) 5,436,524 Aggregate value $354,429,581 Total number of Church edifices 63,074 9IO FOOTPRINTS OK THE AGES. A TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES, TERRITORIES, DOMINION OF" CANADA AND BRITISH PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA. Daily. Tri- W'kly. Semi- Wkly. W'kly. Bi- W'kly. Semi- M'thly M'thly Bi- M'thly Quar- terly. Total. 9 4 34 17 1 6 1 14 38 20 30 14 10 9 6 9 21 13 8 4 21 •t 7 7 21 89 8 25 5 (il 123 499' 26* 280 im 105- 90 66- 96 280 13* 104 93 289 46 15 56 138 New York 894 65- Ohio 411 33 584 Rhode I'^iand 26 5* 104 133 44 lift. 58 Wisconsin 201 102 3 1 5 1 5 108 4 3 7 4330 50 18 30 166 43 16 1 1 1 99 1 1 1 676 1 1 3 21 12 13 1 59 1 1 1 5983 73 New Brunswick, D. C Nova Scotia, D. C 26 32 213 Quebec D C 82 40 3 12 I 9 8 347 15 3 2 2 37 1 3 35;i 29 Totals 637 118 129 4642 31 100 715 I4I 62 6438 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY- 911 TABLE SHOWING THE AVERAGE CIRCULATION OF THE NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AND DOMINION OF CANADA. Alabama Arkansas - California Connecticut Delaware District of Celumbia . . Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa _ Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts .1 Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio • Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Territories New Brunswick, D. C. Nova Scotia, D. C Ontario, D. C Quebec, D. C British Colonies Total average Semi- Bi- Serai- , Bi. Quar Daily. W'kly. W'kly. W'kly. Wkly. M'thly M'thly M 'tlily lerly. TJtal. 19(i0 788{ 33871 3160 1488; 7375' 450 1 2095 4333 3400 1102 1539 3:348 3903 J496 4930 10430 2;354 1130 881 4511 910 000 901 2104 10714 094 0148 1204 7789 4410 1080 2483 028 903 1051 1207 2044 7i& 2307 1307 3040 3154 307 2717 838 350 3500 870 3394 450 480 309 500 400 348 000 1301 480 480 2997 1007 23;j 003 5000 900 1150 704 772 350 1000 232 400 1010 1100 1047 350 1057 1007 1080; 7a3| 400 ! 587 4(i4 038 734 1080 1000 1983 225 4000 575 300 4950 1181 1720 5000 "000 490 1700 443 986 310 2050 045 700 1590! 550 1273 944 653 1308 1032 1278 4200 035 1050 2249 1139 983 1034 17t)8 840 ia3i 4541 1439 1134 719 885 493 1760 1146 6:300 836 3888 1357 3938 3000 1054 1:383 721- 1405 1001 801 1200 9.33 1000 1105 1594 2087 738 1598 leoo 600 1500! :3519 410 10425 2000 3500 4000 500 480 1267 800 200 900 :300 2000 2000 400 700 10%' 438 7750 587 720 1670 1908 7900 1000 400 500 5:332 2500 2748 2071 950 000 1:383 1000 5000 14500 3273 6009 5500 4103- 1803 100051 5000 3880 383:3 2763 2075 8853 3318 2056 1179 3111 1021 4000 1500 6880 1000 2046 10899; 38700 650; 4140i 1400 5000 10175 900 5338 1305 980 25000 1389 1550 2009 900 700 2383 3367 1492 2717 2741 4031 1 7421 2000 1500 500 1504 3000 750 5000 1168 1.500 6174 980 1490 3162 500 500 :3400 475 1500 1070 650 1846 3000 1247 4323 om 1270 2907 1490 10l:J 1838: 1908 1330 23.57 2277 5709 1654 1131 753 2104 9ia 516 2194 1475 7411 814 3154 1352 3704 2489 i:354 1747 701 2523 1107 843 1317 858 1750 13.34 1897 1409 640 1845J; FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN GOLD COINS; THEIR VALUE, WEIGHTS AND FINENESS AS TESTED AT THE UNITED STATES MINT. NOTE.— The weight is given in Troy-onncea and decimals of the Btiine ; the fineness shows how many parts in ■1000 are fine gold ; the value is the intrinsic relative value, as compared with the amount of fine gold inU. S. coin. Countries. Australia Austria .- Belgium - Bolivia Brazil Central America Chili Denmark Ecuador England France Germany Greece Hindostan Italy Japan - Mexico Naples Netherlands New Granada — Peru Portugal Prussia Rome Russia Spain Sweden Tunis Turkey Tuscany United States Denominations. Pound of 1852 - Sovereign, 1855 and i860 Ducat Sovereign New Union Coin Twenty-five Francs Doubloon Twenty Milreis Two Escudos Four Reals Old Doubloon Ten Pesos Ten Thalers Four Escudos Pound or Sovereign, new ' " average. Twenty Francs, new " " average Ten Thalers - Ten Mark Krone (crown) Twenty Mark Twenty Drachms Mohur Twenty Lire Old Cobang Yen, (new, assumed) Doubloon, average " new. Twenty Pesos (Max.) " (Repub.) Six Ducacti Ten Guilders Old Doubloon (Begota) " (Popayan) Ten Pesos Old Doubloon Twenty Sols Gold Crown New Crow (assumed) Two and a-half Scudi (new). Five Rubles One hundred Reals.. Eighty Reals Ducat Carolin, 10 frs Twenty-five Paistres One hundred " Seguin Dollar Quarter Eagle Three Dollars Half Eagle Eagle Double Eagle Weight. 0.281 0.2565 o. 112 0.363 0-357 0.254 0.867 0-575 0.209 0.027 0.867 0.492 0.427 0-433 0.2567 0.2562 0.2075 0.207 0.427 0.128 0-357 0.256 0.185 0.374 0.207 0.362 0.289 0-535 0.8675 0.8675 1.086 i.ogo 1.245 0.215 0.868 0.867 0-525 0.867 I -055 0.308 0.357 0.140 0.210 0.268 0.215 O.III 0.104 0.161 0.231 0.112 0.05375 0.13437 0.16125 0.26875 0-5375 1-075 Fine- Value. 916.5 1 5-324 916 4-857 986 2.283 900 6-754 900 6.642 899 4.72 870 15-593 917-5 10.006 853-5 3.688 875 0.488 870 15-593 900 9-154 895 7.90 844 7-555 916.S 4.863 916 4.851 899 3.858 899 3-874 895 7.90 900 2.38 900 6.642 90 4.76 900 3-442 916 7.082 898 3-843 568 4.44 572 3-576 900 9-956 866 15-53 870.5 15 611 875 19.643 875 19.72 996 5-044 809 3-997 870 15-611 858 15-378 891-5 9.675 868 15-557 898 19.213 912 S-807 900 6.642 goo 2.605 916 3-976 896 4.964 869-5 3-864 875 2.237 900 1-935 900 2.99s 915 4-369 999 2.313 goo 1.00 goo 2.. 50 900 3.00 900 5-00 900 10.00 900 20.00 United States Trade Dollar. Weight, 420 grains : 900 fine. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 9^; UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN SILVER COINb^ THE BASIS OF VALUATION BEING $1.22!4 PER OZ. OF STANDARD FINENESS, AS TESTED AT THE UNITED STATES MINT. [NOTE.— Weight in Troy ounces Oneness in thousandths.] Countries. Denomination. Weight. Fine- ness. Value. Austria . Belgium . Bolivia .. Brazil ... Canada.. Central America . Chili China Denmark . iEngland . France ... 'Germany . Greece: Hindostan . Japan Mexico . Naples Netherlands .. Norway New Granada, Peru Prussia . Rome Russia Sardinia Spain Sweden Switzerland... Tunis Turkey Tuscany United States. OldRix Dollar OldScudo Florin, before 1858 , New Florin New Union Dollar Maria Theresa Dollar, 1780 . Five Francs New Dollar Double Milreis Twenty Cents Twenty-five Cents Dollar Old Dollar New Dollar Dollar (English) assumpd... Ten Cents Two Rigsdaler Shilling, new " average Five Francs, average Two Francs One Mark New Thaler - Florin, before 1857 New Florin, assumed Five Drachms Rupee Itzabu New Itzabu Ten Sen (new coinage) Dollar, new " average Peso of Maximilion Scudo Two and a-half Guilders .. Specie Daler Dollar of 1857 Old Dollar Dollar of 1858 Half Dollar, 1835 and 1838. Sol Thaler, before 1857 New Thaler Scudo iRuble.. Five Lire — New Pistareen Rix Dollar Two Francs Five Piastres Twenty Piastres -. Florin - - Dollar - Half Dollar Quarter Dollar Dime Half Dime Three Cents 1O.902 0.836 0451 °-397 0.596 0.895 0.803 0.801 0.820 0.150 0.1875 0.866 0.864 0.801 0.927 0.1825 ■0.178 c.8oo 0.320 o 402 0-595 0.340 0.340 0.719 0.374 0.279 0.279 0.804 0.8675 0.866 0.861 0.844 0.804 0.827 0.803 0.866 0.766 0.433 0.802 0.712 o.sg.-i 0.864 0.667 833 902 833 900 goo 900 918.5 925 925 850 908 900.5 901 goi 877 924-5 925 goo 835 900 900 900 900 goo gi6 903 901 902.5 830 944 877 896 901 909 650 900 750 900 goo 87s goo 0.166 899 0.092 0.323 0.5 1 1 0.770 750 899 898.5 830 0,220 0.859?^ 925 900 0.400 900 0.200 0.080 900 900 0.040 QOO 0.024 goo The values of United States Silver Coins are not given owing to their fluctuation. .236 1.002 1.002 .106 1. 107 364 19 •729 .417 .417 .376 -338 .98s 1.066 1.062 1.055 •953 1-033 1. 107 .98 1.062 .948 .383 .982 .727 .729 1.058 •794 .98 .203 1. 115 -395 • 625 .87 .276 914 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. CENSUS OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF THE WORLD. Outside of the United States, having a population of 100,000 and over, according to the latest authorities. Abbeokoota, Africa ..100,000 Adrianople, Turkey 100,000 Agra, India 125,262 Ahmedabab, India _ .130,000 Alexandria, Egypt ..180,796 Algiers, Africa 100,000 Amoy, China 250,000 Amsterdam, Holland 271,764 Antwerp, Belgium 123,571 Bahia, Brazil 1 25,000 Bangalore, India 140,000 Bangkok, Siam 500,000 Barcelona, Spain _. 189,948 Bareilly,' India 1 1 1,332 Baroda, India 140,000 Belfast, Ireland 174.394 Benares, India 200,000 Beyrout, Syria 100,000 Bhurtpoor, India 100,000 Birmingham, England -343.696 Bombay, India ..816,562 Bordeaux, France 194,241 Bradford, England .145,827 Breslau, Prussia 1 71,926 Bristol, England 182,524 Bucharest, Turkey 121,734 Cairo, Egypt 282,348 Calcutta, India .616,249 Canton, China 1,236,600 Cawnpore, I iidia 108, 790 Chang-Choo, China i ,000,000 Cologne, Prussia 125,172 Damascus, Turkey 120,000 Delhi, India .152,406 Dhar, India 100,000 Dresden, Germany ..156,024 Dublin, Ireland 245,722 Dundee, Scotland 118,974 Edinburgh, Scotland 196,500 Erzrooin, Turkey 100,000 Fez, Morocco 100,000 Florence, Italy .114,363 Foo-Choo .China 600,000 Fyzabad, India 100,000 Genoa, Italy .127 986 Ghent, Belgium 126,203 Glasgow, Sco land 477,144 Greenwich, England .167,632 Hamburg, Germany ..224,974 Han-Keoo, China 800,000 Havana, Cuba 205,676 Herat, Afghanistan 100,000 Lon don, Eneland 3,500,000 Hyderabad, India 200,000 Joodpoor, India 150,000 Konisberg, Prussia 106,296 Leeds, England .259,201 Liege, Belgium 111,853 Lille, France .154,749 Liverpool, England .493,346 Lucknow, India 300,000 Lyons, France 323,954 Madras, In dia. _ .427,771 Manchester, England .383,843 Manila, Philipine Is .160,000 Marseilles, France 300,131 Miako, Japan 500,00a Milan, Italy 196, log. Montreal, Canada .107,225 Moorshedabad, India 146,963 Moscow, Russia 368,103 Nagpoor, India . 111,231 Nanking, China 400,000 Nantes, France 1 1 1,956' Naples, Italy .418,968 Newcastle-on-Tyne, Eng 128,160 Ningpo, China 400,000 Odessa, Russia 119, 376 Ooroomtsee, Toorkistan 150,000 Osaka, Japan 373,000 Palermo, Italy 167,625 Patna, India 284,132 Pesth, Hungary 201,911 Portsmouth, England Ii 2,954 Prague, Bohemia 157,123 Riga, Russia „ 102,043 Rotterdam, Holland 118,837 Rouen, France .102,649 Saigon, Anam 200,000 Salfnrd, England 124,80^ Seville. Spain 118, 298' Shang-Hai, China ..395,000 Sheffield, England 239,947 Smyrna, Asia Minor ..150,000 Soo-Choo, China 2.000,000 Stoke-upon-Trent, England.. 130,507 Toulouse, France 1 1 3, 229 Triest, Austria 104, 707 Tunis, Africa .125,000 Turin, Italy 180,580 Valencia, Spain 107,703 Venice, Italy 118,172 Warsaw, Poland 243,5 12: Yarkand, Toorkistan 125,00©' OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 9i6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. IMPORTANT EVENTS. Before Christ. The Deluge 2348 Babylon built - -.2247 Birth of Abraham 1993 Death of Joseph 1635 Moses born -1571 Athens founded 1556 The Pyramids built 1250 Solomon's Temple finished 1004 Rome founded 753 Jerusalem destroyed 587 Babylon taken by Jews 538 Death of Socrates ^ 400 Rome taken by the Gauls 385 Paper invented in China 170 Carthage destroyed 146 •■Caesar landed in Britain 55 Caesar killed 44 Birth of Christ o After Christ. Death of Augustus 14 Pilot, governor of Judea 27 Jesus Christ crucified 33 ■Claudius visited Britain 43 St. Paul put to death 67 Death of Josephus 93 Jeru'^alem cebuilt.. 131 The Romans destroyed 580,000 Jews and banished the rest from Judea 135 The Bible in Gothic. 373 Horseshoes made of iron 481 Latin tongue ceased to be spoken 580 Pens made of Quills 635 Organs used 660 ■Glass in England - 663 Bank of Venice established 1157 After Christ. Glass windows first used for lights 1180 Mariner's Compass used 1200 Coal dug for fuel 1234 Chimneys first put to houses 1236 Spectacles invented by an Italian 1240 The first English House of Commons 1258 Tallow Candles for lights 1290 Paper made from linen 1302 Woolen cloth made in England 1341 The first almanac 1470 First book printed in England 1507 Luther began to preach 1517 Interest fixed at ten per cent, in Englandi547 Telescopes invented 1549 First coach made in England 15^4 Clocks first made in England 1568 Bank of England incorporated 1594 Shakspeare died 1616 Circulation of the blood discovered 1619 Barometer invented 1623 Death of Galileo , - 1643 Steam engine invented 1649 Great fire in London 1666 Cotton planted in the United States 1759 Commencement of the American War... 1775 Declaration of American Independence. 1776 Recognition of American Independence. 1782 Bank of Eng. suspended cash payment.. 1791 Napoleon I. crowned emperor 1804 Death of Napoleon 1820 Telegraph invented by Morse 1832 First daguerreotype in France 1839 Beginning of the American civil war 1861 End of the American civil war 1865 Great fire in Chicago 1871 DIFFERENCE OF TIME BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND OTHER CITIES OF THE WORLD. 12.00 ■12.12 T2.24 M2.27 1-37 3-19 4-31 4-43 4-SS 5-07 5-17 5-58 6.02 o'clock (noon) at Washington. P.M New York. " " Boston. "■ " Portland. " St.John(N.F). " " Angra(Azores). " " Lisbon. " Dublin. " " Edinburgh. " " London. " "• Paris. " " Rome. " " Berlin. 6.14 6.22 7.04 II.OI 12.54 2.48 4-51 II. lb 11.52 o'clock P.M Vienna. " " Cape Town. '* *■' Constantinople. " " Calcutta. A.M Pekin. " '• Melbourne. " " Auckland. " " San Francisco. "■ " Salt Lake. '■ " New Orleans. " " Chicago. " " Buffalo. " (noon) Lima (Peru.) NUMBER OF VOLUMES IN THE LARGEST PUBLIC LIBRARIES OF EUROPE. Place. _ "Royal Library, Paris... Royal Central, Munich Bodlean, Oxford St. Petersburg Copenh agen Vienna Vols. MSS. 700,000 80,000 500,000 16,000 420,000 30,000 400,000 16,000 400,000 20,000 350,000 16,000 Place. University, Gottingen Naples Dresden Berlin British Museum Vatican, Rome MSS. S,ooo 6,000 Vols. 300,000 300,000 300,000 250,0001 5,000 208,000 20,000 100,000140,000 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 917 REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES, INVENTIONS, Etc. j'Eolian harp invented, 1653. Air Gun invented, 1656. Air Pump invented, 1652. Algebra invented, 170. America discovered by Colum.bus, 1492. Anemometer invented. 1709. Animalculae discovered, 1677. Artillery invented, 1330. Australia discovered, 1601. Baloon first used in Paris, 1783. Bayonets invented, 1691. Bells introduced in Europe, 400. Brazil discovered, 1500. California discovered, 1535. C?.mera obscura invented, 1550. Canada discovered, 149^. Cape of Good Hope, disc, by B. Diaz, i486. Cape Horn discovered, 1616. Carbonic acid discovered by Lavoisier, 1776. Cedar brought to Europe, 1664. Chess invented, 680 B. c. Chloroform discov. by Scheele, 1774. Cotton first made at Kendal, 1390. Cotton spinning machine invented, 1767. Cotton bpinning frame invented, 1769. Cotton spinning gin invented, 1793. Dice invented, 1183 B. c. Diving bell first used, 1509. Electricity discovered by Dr. Gilbert, 1600. Engraving on wood invented, 1400. Engraving on copper invented, 1450. Engraving on steel invented, i8ig. Epsom Salts discovered, 1630. Flag signals invented, 1665. Florida discovered, 1497, Forbisher's Straits discovered, 1576, Galvanism discovered, 1789. Gas evolved from coal, 1739. Gravitation disc, by Sir Isaac Nevvfton, 1687. Greenland discovered, 1378. Grenades invented, 1594. Guillotine invented, 1783. Gun cotton discovered by Schoebein, 1846. Gunpowder invented by Roger Bacon, 1270. Helena St., discovered, 1502. Heliometer invented, 1743. Hudson's Bay discovered, 1610. Hydrometer invented, 200 B. c. Iceland discovered, 871. Iodine discovered, 1812. Jamaica discovered, 1495. Japan discovered, 1542. Kaleidoscope invented, 1814. Kamtschatka discovered, 1649. Life Boat (first) launched, 1790. Light, refraction of, discovered, 1621. Lightning conductor invented, 1757- Lithography inverted by Senefelder, 1796. Locomotive invented by Watt, 17S3. Loom (power) invented by Cartwright, 1785. Loom, invented by Jacquard, 1801. Loom, steam, introduced, 1807. Madagascar discovered, 1506. Madeira discovered, 1345. Mexico discovered, 1578. Microscope invented, 1590. Newfoundland discovered, 1000. Newspaper first published in England, 1663^ New Zealand discovered, i6.j2. Nile source discovered, Feb., 1863. N. W. passage disc, by M'Clure, 1850, Paper made by Egyptians, 200 B. C. Paper made of cotton, A. D. 1000. Paper made of rags, 1300. Paper mill first erected at Dartford, 1590. Photography invented by Daguerre, 1839. Pianoforte invented by Schroder, 171 7. Printing invented by Guttenburg, 1444. Printing press established in America, 1638. Railway first built by Stephenson, 1825. Sewing Machine invented by Howe, 1846. Steam Boat built by Robert Fulton, 1803. Steam Engine invented by Marquis of Worce- ster, 1663. Stenography, or short-hand, invented, 1412, Stereotyping invented, Edinburgh, 1735. Stocking Frame invented, 1589. Suez Canal completed by Lessep, 1869. Sun spots discovered, 1611. Tar (mineral) discovered, 1779. Telegraph patented by Professor Wheat- stone, 1836. Telescope first made by Metius, Alpmser, etc., 1590-1609. Thermometer (Fahrenheit) invented, 1726. Thimbles invented, 1695. Thrashing Machines invented, 1732. Twist-frame invented, 1769. Vaccination discovered by Dr. Jenner, 1780. Watches first made in Germany, 1777. World circumnavigated, Magellan, 1520. Zincography introduced, 1817. OUR PUBLIC LANDS. The public lands lying east of the Mississippi amount to about sixty millions of acres- Those lying between the Mississippi and the Pacific ocean amount to 998,683,562 acres, dis tributed as follows : acres. Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas 16,000.000 Dakota and Wyoming 145,236,284 Montana 86,904,605 Kansas 48,148,876 Nebraska t 42,523,627 Colorado and Idaho 117,800,000 New Mexico and Utah 124,140,000 Nevada and Arizona 136,000,000 Minnesota 36,776, 170 California, Oregon and Washington 201,000,000 Indiana 44,154,000 — 998,683,562 Adding the 60,000,000 of acres east of the Mississippi and the 400,000,000 of acres in the Territory of Alaska, we have in round numbers over 1,400,000,000 acres of land owned by the government. 9l8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. THE LONGEST RIVERS OF THE WORLD. Rivers. Missouri -. Mississippi Amazon Hoang-Ho Murray Obi Nile Yang-tse-Kiang Lena -- Niger St. Lawrence Volga Maykiang Indus Danube -Mackenzie Brahmapootra .. 'Columbia .. 'Colorado Susquehanna James Potomac Hudson Locality. North America. North America. Brazil China Australasia Siberia Egypt, Nubia,. China Siberia Soudan Canada Russia Siam Hindostan Germany North America. Thibet North America, North America North America. North America. North America- North America. Ris Rocky Mountains Lake Itaska Andes Koulkoun Mountains Australian Alps Altaian Mountains Blue Nile, Abyssinia Thibet Heights of Irkutsk Baseof Mt. Loma River St. Louis Lake in Volhonsky Thibet Little Thibet Black Forest River Athabosco Himalaya Rocky Mountains San laba Lake Otsego Alleghany Mountains.. Gr. Black Bone Mount'n Marsh nr. L. Champlain Discharge. Gulf of Mexico Gulf of Mexico Atlantic Ocean Yellow Sea Encounter Bay Arctic Ocean Mediterranean China Sea Arctic Ocean Gulf of Guinea Atlantic Ocean Caspian Sea Chinese Gulf Arabian Sea Black Sea Arctic Ocean Bay of Bengal Pacific Ocean Gulf of California Chesapeake Bay.. Chesapeake Bay.. Chesapeake Bay... Bay of New York Mis. 4,500 3,200 3,200 3,000 3,000 2,800 2,750 2,500 2,500 2,300 1,960 1,900 1,700 1,700 1,630 1,600 1,500 1,090 1,000 400 500 400 325 HEIGHT OF MONUMENTS, TOWERS, ETC. Names. Feet. Pyramid of Cheops Antwerp Cathedral Strasburg Cathedral St. Martin's Church at Landshut . Pyramid of Cephrenes . _ St. Peter's Church , St. Paul's Church, London , Salisbury Cathedral 'Cathedral at Florence , Cathedral at Cremona 'Church at Fribourg Cathedral of Seville _.. ■Cathedral of Milan , ■Cathedral of Utrecht. ., Pyramid of Sakkarah . _ . Cathedral of Notre Dame, Munich ■St. Mark's Church . Assinelli Tower, Bologna Trinity Church Column at Delhi Torcelain Tower, Nankin Church of Notre Dame. .. Bunker Hill Monument Leaning Tower of Pisa Washington Monument Monument Place Vendome. Trojan Pillar, Rome..,, 'Obelisk of Luxor, now in Egypt Belgium France Bavaria .. . Egypt Rome England England Italy Lombardy Germany Spain... Lombardy Holland Egypt Bavaria Venice.- Italy... New York ... Hindostan ,.. China Paris Massachusetts Italy Baltimore Paris Italy Pans ORIGIN OF PLANTS. 543 476 474 456 4; 6 448 404 400 384 372 370 360 355 356 356 348 328 3M 283 262 248 232 220 202 183 153 151 Substance. Where Originated. Apples Europe ■Cucumbers East Indies Chestnuts Italy ■Citrons Greece Celery - Germany Horse Radish, Southern Europe Nettles Europe Oats North Africa Onions Egypt Pears Europe Substance. Where Originated. Pines ...America Pears Egypt Peaches -- Persia Parsley Sardinia Quince Isle of Crete Radish .China Rye Siberia Spinach Arabia Tobacco Virginia OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. OCEANS, SEAS, BAYS AND LAKES. gig Oceans. Sg. Miles. Pacific, about -.- 80,000,000 Atlantic, " 40,000,000 Indian, '^ 20,000,000 Southern, ^^ _-.. 10 000,000 Arctic, " 5,000,000 Note — The seas, bays, gulfs, etc. , connect- •ed with each ocean, are included in the fore- going estimate. It may be proper to remark, however, that the exact superficial extent of the several oceans is not known with certainty, nor the exact proportion of land and water. Seas. L^ S^^'- ^'^ Mihs. Mediterranean, about 2,c Caribbean, China, Red, Japan, Black, Caspian, Baltic, Okhotsk, White, Aral, .1,800 .1,700 . 1,400 . 1 ,000 - 932 . 640 . 600 . 600 ■ 450 W'th. 120 Bayi. L^gth in Miles. Hudson's, about 1,200 Baffin's, " 600 Chesapeake," 250 Lakes. L'gth. Superior 380 Baikal 360 Michigan 330 Great Slave 300 Huron 250 Winnipeg 240 Erie 270 A t h abasca. 200 Ontario _iSo Maracaybo 150 Great Bear 150 Ladoga -12S Champlain -123 Nicaragua.. _ 120 Lake of the Woods _. 70 Geneva 50 Constance 45 Cayuga 36 George 36 HIGHEST MOUNTAINS OF THE WORLD. Names. Country. Feet. Miles. Kunchainy unga (Hiraaly as) Sorata, the highest in America lUimani Chimborazo Hindoo-Koosh Cotopaxi, highest volcano in the world Antisana St. Elias, highest in North America Popocotepetl, volcano Mt. Roa, highest in Oceanica Mt. Brown, highest peak in the Rocky Mountains Mont Blanc, highest in Europe, Alps Mt. Rosa, next highest peak of Alps Limit of perpetual snow._ Pinchinca Mt. Falrweather Mt. St. Helen's Demavend, highest of Elburz Mountains, volcano Mt. Hood M t . Ophir _ Fremont's Peak, Rocky Mountains Mt. Ararat ^ Long's Peak, Rocky Mountains Peak of Teneriffe Miltsin, highest of Atlas Mountains Mt. Perdu, highest of Pyrenees Mt. Lebanon Mt. .iEtno, volcano City of Quito Ruska Poyana, highest in the Carpathian Mountains, Monte Corno, highest of Appenines Orbelus, highest of Balkan Mountains Sneehattan, highest Dovrefield Mountains Mount Sinai. , _. Pindus, highest in Greece Black Mountain, highest in North Carolina Mt. Washington, highest in White Mountains Mt. Marcy, highest in New York Mt. Hecla, volcano Ben Nevis, highest in Great Britain Mansfield, highest of Green Mountains Peaks of Otter "" Mt. Vesuvius Round Top, highest of Catskill Mountains Peter Botte Thibet Bolivia Bolivia Ecuador Afghanistan Ecuador Ecuador British Possessions Mexico Hawaii British America Sardinia Sardinia Equator Ecuador. Russian Possessions- Oregon Persia Oregon Sumatra Nebraska Armenia Nebraska Canaries :. Morocco France Syria . Sicily Austria Ecuador Naples Turkey Norway Arabia Greece North Carolina New Hampshire New York Iceland Scotland Vermont Virginia Naples New York Mauritius 28,178 25,380 21,780 2i,r44 20,600 19,408 19,150 18, coo 17,735 16,000 15,900 15,766 15,380 15,207 15,200 14,796 14,4110 14,000 14,000 13,800 13,57"^ 12,700 12,500 12,236 12,000 10,950 11.000 10,050 9,912 9,630 9,523 9,000 8,115 8,000 7,677 6,476 6,234 5,467 5,000 4,379 4,280 4,260 3-932 3.804 3,764 2i 2j- 2-1- 2 if if if I 3-5 I 2-5 I 2-5 I 2-5 I 2-5 520 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. THE LARGEST ROOMS IN THE WORLD, Estimating' a person to occupy an area o_f 19. g inches square. Churches. Contain No. Persons. St. Peter's, Rome 54,000 Cathedral, Milan 37,000 St. Paul's, Rome 32,000 St. Paul's, London 25,600 St. Petronio, Bologna 24,400 Cathedral, Florence 24,300 Cathedral, Antwerp 24,000 St. Sophia's, Constantinople 23,000 St. John's, Lateran 22,900 Notre Dame, Paris 21 000 Cathedral, Pisa ...13,000 St. Stephen's, Vienna 12,400 St. Dominic's Bologna 12,000 St. Peter's, Bologna 11,400 Cathedral, Vienna 11,000 St. Mark's, Venice 7,500 Opera Houses and Theaters. Barnum's Hippodrome, New Vork 8,433 Stadt Theater, New York 3,000 Academy of Music, Philadelphia 2,865 Carlo Felice, Genoa 2,560 Academy of Music, Brooklyn Opera House, Munich 2,307 Alexander, St. Petersburg 2,332 Contain No. Persons. San Carlos, Naples 2,240 Adelphi Theater, Chicago 2,238 Imperial, St. Petersburg 2,160 LaScala, Milan 2,113 Academy of Paris, Paris 2,0921 Coven t Garden, London 2,684 Academy of Music, New York 2,526 Boston Theater, Boston 2,972 Music Hall, Boston 2,585 Grand Opera Hall, New Orleans 2,052 St. Charles Theater, New Orleans 2,178. Grand Opera House, New York 1,883. Booth's Theater, New York.. 1,807 Opera House, Detroit i,79°' McVicker's Theater, Chicago 1,786 Grand Opera House, Chicago.. 1,786 Ford's Opera House, Baltimore 1,720 National Theater, Washington. 1,709 De Bar's Opera House, St. Louis 1,696 California Theater, San Francisco 1,651 Euclid Ave. Opera House, Cleveland . 1,650 Opera House, Berlin 1,636 Opera House, Albany 1,404 Hooley's Theater, Chicago i,373 Coulter Opera House, Aurora, 111 1,004 Opera House, Montreal 928. TIME REQUIRED FOR THE DIGESTION OF FOOD. SUBSTANCE. Hrs.Min. Rice, Boiled i Eggs, whipped, raw i 30 Trout, fresh, fried i 30 Soup, Barley, boiled i 30 .Apples, sweet, mellow, raw i 30 Venison steak, broiled i 45 Sago, boiled i 45 Tapioca, boiled .2 Barley, boiled 2 Milk, boiled 2 Liver, beef, fresh, broiled 2 Eggs, fresh, raw .2 .\pples, sour, mellow, raw 2 Cabbage, with vinegar, raw 2 Milk, raw 2 15 Eggs, fresh, roasted 2 15 Turkey, domestic, roasted 2 30 Goose, wild, roasted 2 30 Cake, sponge, baked . 2 30 Hash, warmed 2 30 Beans, pod, boiled 2 30 Parsnips, boiled 2 30 Potatoes, Irish, baked 2 30 Cabbage, head, raw -.2 30 Custard, baked 2 45 Apples, sour, hard, raw 2 50 Oysters, fresh, raw 2 55, Eggs, fresh, soft boiled 3 Beefsteak, broiled 3 Mutton, fresh broiled 3 Mutton, fresh boiled 3 Soup, bean, boiled ,^.3. SUBSTANCE. Hrs. .Min.. Chicken soup, boiled 3 Dumpling, apple, boiled 3 Oysters, fresh, roasted 3 15 Pork, salted, broiled - 3 15 Porksteak, broiled 3 15. Mutton, fresh, roasted 3 15 Bread, corn, baked 3 15. Carrot, orange, boiled 3 15 Sausage, fresh, broiled 3 20- Oysters, fresh, stewed 3 30 Butter, melted 3 30 Cheese, old, raw — 3 30 Oyster soup, boiled 3 Tfy Bread, wheat, fresh, baked 3 30 Turnips, flat, boiled 3 30 Potatoes, Irish, boiled 3 30 Eggs, fresh, hard boiled 3 30 Eggs, fresh, fried-.- 3 30-' Green corn and beans, boiled 3 45 Beets, boiled 3 45. Salmon, salted, boiled 4 Beef, fried 4 Veal , fresh . broiled . 4 Fowls, domestic, boiled 4 Beef, old, salted, boiled 4 15 Pork, salted, fried 4 15 Pork, salted, boiled 4 3° Veal, fresh, fried 4 30 Cabbage, boiled 4 30 Pork, roasted 5 ^5 Suet, beef, boiled 5 3°- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 923; TABLES OF LEGAL WEIGHTS, LAND MEASURES, Etc. Legal Weights tf Bushel, in Pounds; VARYING IN DIFFERENT STATES, THUS : A rticles. Apples, dried Barley Beans, white — Buckwheat — Broom Corn Seed Corn, shelled Corn, ear Flax Seed Grass Seed, Blue " Clover... " Hungarian Millet .... " Red Top.. " Timothy . Hemp Seed Malt, Barley Oats Onions " Top Potatoes " Sweet Rye Wheat •A •> ^ .'ii •c '^ ^ is S f=; z 24 24 28 -.8 2S 24 22 2S 48 46 48 ^8 48 48 48 48 60 60 fee 60 60 60 60 60 S2 S2 40 42 50 52 48 52 46 4& 40 ^6 46 40 46 SO 56 56 56 ■^6 5b 5" 5b 5b 70 70 70 70 70 yo 70 70 ,0 .56 5b 56 56 5b 5b 50 14 14 14 ^^ 14 15 10 60 60 Co 6n 60 00 60 62 48 48 48 4848 48 48 50 50 45 50 50 b" 50 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 45 .. .. 45 45 45 44 44 44 44 44 44 38 44 4- 34 36 3a 38 38 34 34 S2 33 32 32 32 35 32 30 ■;7 57 S7 56 57 28 57 5b ?K 78 28 28 28 28 2=; 60 60 60 60 60 60 6o ss 55 54 55 55 55 55 55 =;6 S6 56 "^6 5b S6 5b 60 60 60 60 60 60 00 60 United States Land Measure t TOWNSHIP. 6 5 4 3 2 I 7 8 9 10 II 12 18 17 16 IS 14 13 19 20 21 22 23 24 30 29 28 27 26 25 31 32 33 34 35 36 N. W. N. E. S. W. S. E. Each section bas four quiirter sec* tions, designated as above, each containing 160 acres. t In Several States. The township is Fix milcc sq\;are, diTided into 36" squaie miles or sections, numbered as above, each con- taining 640 acres. SMALLER LAND DrVLSIONS, The following table will assist in making an estimate' of the amount of land in fields and lots : § 10 rods X 16 rods, ... 1 acre, t 5 yards X 968 yards . . . 1 '• }220feet X 19S feet • . . . 1 " •25 feet X 125 feet, - - . .0717" 4356sq. ft., .lOacre. 10890sq. ft., .25 " 21780 " .50 " 32670 ' .76 " § Or any two numbers whose product is 160. t Or any two numbers whose product is 4,8t0. J Or any two numbers whose product is 43.560. EXPORTS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES. ARABIA — Coffee, aloes, myrrh, frankincense, gum arable. ASIATIC ISLANDS — Pepper, cloves nutmegs, ginger, camphor, coffee, etc. BELGIUM — Grain, flax, hops, woolens, linens, laces, various manufactures. BRAZIL— Cotton, sugar, coffee, tobacco, gold, diamonds, wheat, dye-woods. CANADA. NOVA SCOTIA and NEW BRUNSWICK— Flour, furs, lumber, fish. CAPE COLONY — Brandy, wine, ostrich feathers, hides, tallow. CENTRAL AMERICA — Logwood, mahogany, mdigo, cocoa CHILI — Silver, gold, copper, wheat, hemp, hides, sugar, cotton, fruits. CHINA — Tea, silks, nankeens, porcelain, articles of ivory and pearl. DENMARK — Grain, horses, cattle, beef, pork, butter and cheese. EASTERN, WESTERN and SOUTHERN AFRICA — Gold, ivorj', ostrich feathers, EGYPT — Rice, grain, linseed, fruits, indigo, cotton, sugar. _ ECUADOR AND NEW GRENADA — Coffee, cotton, indigo, fruits, sugar, cocoa. FRANCE — Silks, woolens, linens, cottons^ wine, brandy, porcelain, toys. GERMANY— Linen, grain, various manufactures of silver, copper, etc. GREAT BRITAIN — Wollens, cottons, linens, hardware, porcelain, etc. GREENLAND — Whale oil, whale bone, seal skins. HINDOSTAN — Cotton, silks, rice, sugar, coffee, opium, indigo. HOLLAND — Fine linens, woolens, butter, cheese, various manufactures. ITALY — Silks, wines, grain, oil, fruits. IRELAND — Linens, beef, butter, tallow, hides, potatoes, barley, etc. JAPAN — Silk and cotton goods, japanware, porcelain. MEXICO — Gold, silver, logwood, cochineal, fruits. PERSIA — Carpets, shawls, wine, silk, cotton, rice, rhubarb, guns, swords, etc. PERU —Silver, gold, Peruvian bark, mercury, sugar, cotton, fruits. RUSSIA — Hemp, iron, linen, grain, timber, furs, tallow, platina. SPAIN AND PORTUGAL— Silks, wool, wine, oil, fruits, salt, etc. SWEDEN AND NORWAY — Iron, steel, copper, timber, fish. SWITZERLAND — Watches, jewelry, paper, laces, linen, cotton and silk goods, etc. TURKEY — Grain, fruits, cotton, oil, wines, carpets, muslin, swords. UNITED STATES — Easier n Siates — hnmhei , beef, pork, fish, cottons, woolens, etc Middle States— Flour, wheat, salt, coal, cottons, woolens, etc. _ Southern States— Q.oK.'iO'a, rice, tobacco, corn, lumber, pitch, fruits Western States— Corn, wheat, lead, coal, iron, salt, lime, beef, pork. VENEZUELA — Sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, indigo, fruits. WEST INDIES — Sugar, rum, molasses, coffee, .spice, cotton, indigo, fruits. 922 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. TABLES OF WOODS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, ETC. METALS. GROCERIES. WOODS FOR FUEL. WEIGHT OF A CUBIC FOOT. WEIGHT OF A CUBIC FOOT. Substance. Lbs. Oz. Platina 1,218 12 Pure Gold* 1,203 1° Mercury 848 12 Lead 709 8 Pure Silvert 625 13 Steel 487 12 Tin 455 " Cast Iron 45° 7 Copper — 547 4 Brass 543 12 Zinc 428 i^ *The value of a ton of pure gold is $602,799.21. f 1,000,000 gold coin weighs 3,685.8 lbs. avordupois. tThe value of a ton of silver is $37,704.84. $1,000,000 silver coin weighs 58,929.9 lbs. avor- dupois. EARTH, STONE, &C. Substance. Lbs. Oz. Sugar 100 5 Beeswax 60 5 Lard 59 3 Butter 58 14 Tallow 58 13 Castile Soap. 56 15 Substance. Lbs. Oz. Italian Marble i6g 4 Vermont Marble 165 Window Glass 165 Common Stone 157 Moist Sand.. 128 Clay 120 Brick 118 Mortar 109 6 Mud ..loi 14 Loose Earth 93 Anthracite Coal 89 Coke.- 62 LIQUIDS. Substance. Lbs. Oz.\ Honey 9° 1° 'Vinegar 67 8 Blood 65 14 Beer 64 10 Milk 64 8 Cider -63 10 Tar ----63 7 Rain Water 62 8 Linseed Oil 58 12 Brandy 57 12 Ice 57 8 Alcohol 49 10 MISCELLANEOUS. Substance. Lbs. Oz. India Rubber 56 7 Pressed Hay 25 Pressed Cotton 25 WOODS. Substance. Lbs. Oz. Lignum Vitae 83 Ebony 83 5 Mahogany 66 7 White Oak 53 12 Beech ..53 Ash.- — 52 13 Red Hickory 52 6 Apple -. 49 9 Maple. 46 14 Cherry ..44 11 Shellbark Hickory 43 2 Pitch Pine 41 4 Chestnut 38 2 Birch 35 7 Cedar 35 i White Poplar 33 i Spruce.- 31 4 Yellow Pine.. 28 13 Butternut •- .23 8 Cork .15 Difference in Weight of Wood. Substance. Lbs. Oz. English Oak 71 Beech ...60 Ash. .-.-58 American Pine 44 12 DRY. English Oak .-.. 43 8 Beech 53 4 Ash.- .-52 6 American Pine 30 i: Taking shellbark hickory as the highest standard of our forest trees, and calling that one hundred, other trees will compare with it in real value, for fuel, as follows : Shellbark Hickory 100 Pignut Hickory 95 White Oak 84 White Ash 77 Dogwood 75 Scrub-Oak 73 White Hazel 72 Apple Tree 70 Red Oak 69 White Beech 65 Black Walnut 65 Black Birch 62 Yellow Oak 60 Hard Maple 56 White Elm 58 Red Cedar 56 Wild Cherry 55 Yellow Pine 54 Chestnut 52 Yellow Poplar 51 Butternut 43 White Birch 43 White Pine 30 Number of Trees on an Acre. Various distances apart each way. At 4 ft. apart... 2,720 5 •' " - ^'749 ' 15 ' 18 " ' 20 " 430 325 200 135 no NUMBER OF SEEDS In a Bushel. Timothy 41,823,360 Clover 16,400,960 Rye- - 888,390 Wheat 556,290 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 923 TABLE OF HEAT AND GOLD. INTEREST, PAPER, ETC. HEAT AND COLD. Degrees 0/ Heat above Zero at which Substances Melt. Substance. Dez. Wrought Iron 3,1 Cast Iron 3.479 Platinum 3,080 •Gold 2,590 Copper 2,548 Steel 2,500 Glass 2,377 Brass 1,900 Silver 1,250 Antimony 951 Zinc 740 iead 594 Tin ..421 Arsenic ..365 Sulphur 226 Beeswax 151 ■Gutta Percha 145 Tallow 97 Lard 95 Pitch .gi Ice - 33 AGES OF ANIMALS. A nitnal. Yrs. Degrees 0/ Cold above Zero at •which Substances Freeze. Olive Oil .36 Water ..32 Milk 30 Sea Water 2; Vinegar 2i Wines 20 Spirits of Turpentine 14 Degrees below Zero at ivhich the following Freeze: Brandy 7 Proof Spirit 7 Mercury 40 Cold experienced by Arctic Navigators 70 ■Greatest Artificial Cold Degrees 0/ Heat above Zero at which Substances Boil. Ether ....... 98 Alcohol... . 17, Water '.".WAl Petroleum 306 Linseed Oil 640 Blood Heat „ g8 Eggs Hatch 104 Whale, estimated ..1,090 Elephant 400 Swan ,300 Tortoise 100 Eagle 100 Raven 100 Camel 100 Lion ..... 70 Porpoise 30 Horse 20 Bear ...20 Cow 20 Deer Rhinoceros Swine . 20 Wolf,. 20 Cat 15 Fox IS Dog ^ Sheep Rabbit _ Squirrel 7 Rates of Speed at which Birds Fly. per Hour. Birds. Mis. Hawk 150 Sparrow 92 Duck - go Falcon 75 Crow ..25 Fair winds make their flight three times greater. INTEREST. Money Doubles at Com..^ pound Interest as follows : A.t 3 per cent. m.. -23 years " 4 * '* ... .17 " " 5 ** " ... .14 " " 6 " s% .. .12 " " 7 t» u .. .10 " " 8 " 9 .t ... - 9 " . 8 •' •'10 " " ... - 7 " PAPER. The Sizes in Inches. Flat Writing Papers. Flat Letter 10 x 16 Flat Cap 14 X 17 Double Flat Letter 16 x 20 Flat Foolscap 13x16 Crown 15 X 19 Folio Post 17 X 22 Demy 16x21 Medium 18x23 Check Folio 17 x 24 Bank Folio ig x 24 Double Cap 17x28 Royal igx24 Super Royal 20x28 Imperial 23 x 31 Of the different sizes there are also several different weights of each size, as Demy 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28 lbs. per ream. Stationers usually rule, cut and fold the sizes required to make the various styles of let- ter and note papers — a flat sheet making one, two or four sheets of letter or note paper. Ledger Papers. Flat Cap 14 X 17 Crown 15 X 19 Folio 17 X 22 Demy 16 x 21 Medium 18 x 23 Royal igx 24 Super Royal 20x28 Imperial 23 x 31 Elephant 23x28 Book Papers. The usual sizes of these, from the different American and English manufacturers, differ but little from the above, except to fill special orders. Paper Counts. 2 4. sheets i quire. io>^ quires i token. 20 quires i ream. 2 reams 1 bundle. 5 bundles i bale. Units of Anything^. 12 pieces i dozen. 12 dozen i gross. 12 gross I great gross. 20 units I score. 924 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. TABLES OF MEASURES, WEIGHTS, ETC. WEIGHTS. Troy. 24 grains (gr.) i penny weight— dwt. 20 dwts I ounce — oz. 3.2 grains, one carat, diamond wt. By this weight gold, silver, and jewels only are weighed. The ounce and pound in this are the same as in apothecaries' weight. Apothecaries'. 20 grains - i scruple. 3 scruples i drachm. 8 drs - lounce. 12 ozs I pound. Avoirdupois. 16 drams (drs) - i ounce— oz. 16 ounces i pound— lb. 25 pounds - I quarter— qr.* 4 quarters 100 weight— cwt. 20 hundred weight i ton. ♦Formerly 28 lbs. were allowed to the quar- ter, but the practice is now nearly out of use, excepting in the coal mines in Pennsylvania, the Eastern fish markets, and the U. S. Cus- tom House. Grains are the same in each of the above weights. 5,760 grains, apothecaries' or troy wt 1 lb. 7,000 grains avoirdupois weight i lb. Therefore, 144 lbs. avoirdupois equal 175 lbs. apothecaries' or troy. Liquids. I gallon oil weighs 9.32 lbs. avordupois. I gallon distilled water, 10 lbs. I gallon sea water, 10.32 lbs. I gallon proof spirits, 9.08 lbs. Miscellaneous. IRON, LEAD, ETC. 14 pounds I Stone. 21K stones - I pig- 8 pigs - I fother. BEEF, PORK, ETC. 200 lbs I barrel. 196 lbs. (flour) I barrel. 100 lbs. (fish) I quintal. MEASURES. Dry. 2 pints I quart— qt. 8 quarts - i peck— pk 4 pecks - I bushel — bu. 36 bushels--- - I chaldro I U. S. standard (Winchester) bushel— 183^ inches in diameter, and 8 inches deep — con- tains 2150.42 cubic inches. Liquid or Wine. 4 gills I pint — pt. 2 pints - I quart — qt. 4 quarts i gallon — gal. 31X gallons - I I arrel — bbl. 2 barrels ..- i hogshead — hhd. U. S. standard gallon -.231 cubic inches. Beer gallon 282 " " 36 beer gallons i barrel. Time. 60 seconds i minute. 60 minutes i hour. 24 hours I day. 7 days - I week. 4 weeks i lunar month. 28, 29, 30, or 31 d-.ys i calendar " 30 days (in computing interest) i month. 52 weeks and i day — 12 cal. months i year_ 365 days, 5 h., 48 m. and 49 sec. i solar year^ Circular. 60 seconds i minute. 60 minutes - i degree. 30 degrees i sign. 90 degrees i quadrant.. 4 quadrants — 360 degrees i circle. A convenient method of finding the differ^ ence in time between two places, is to notice their distance apart in degrees of longitude, and allow 4 minutes to each degree, based on the following calculation : 1440 minutes i day^ or revolution of the earth. I revolution of the earth is 360 degrees. Therefore, i degree 4 minutes. Long. 3 barleycorns i inch — in. 12 inches ..i foot — ft. 3 feet I yard — yd. s]/2 yards i rod — rd. 40 rods I furlong — fur, 8 furlongs - i mile. Cloth. ai inches i nail. 4 nails -- I quarter, 4 quarters i yard. Miscellaneous. 3 inches i palm. 4 inches i hand. 6 inches i span. 18 inches - i cubic. 21.8 inches - i Bible cubic. 2/. q 8 VO v8 t^ d ^ ■^o" "^ "^ T ^ ~s ~a^ ~5 "o" s ~o" "8 n vo" "cO "2" C4 ro "o^ ■<*- ^ ■s VO 'i- D" uS IS VO 4 lO M ^ c? O s •? 8 8 Si VO 2 M ? Ov m ■^ t^ K 00 CO_ ro co' lO VO „ VO N t^ N t^ ro lO m M- H ■* ■* ■^ lO £o 00 ^ 00 H \o ^ 'S m VO ^ q 8 d 00 lO Ov ■<*• ? N CO ro ro ■* vq 4 VO t^ ■* l^ ^ ;* H N tn 00 m C^. q t-^ ■* CO « VO N Ov m t^ -t q cff N w5 m fO 6 \o m VO o> N H 00 N tj- t^ o q 8 VO •* (^ ^ ^ 00 « « " N m q ^ rh o' ro O - m u> 00 o H H '^ g s? « ? o "^ ro VO CJv 2 ;? 00 « VO Ov Ov ro ■ M „ IN „ N ^ CO * -|^ ^ ■>»• ° 4 ro C/3 g -^ " M " « m c^ m ro c« H " « rr. ro CO •vf Ov CO tv ro > 00 ►H M H « « N « CO m o 8 >^ 00 „ „ „ « „ N ro ro ■>^ in ro < ro < " CO ,'P t> " " *^ " C) « « cr- fo ■s "2 C4 Q t^ " « " Ct " « ro CO ro m ro VO " - " " " (. N c m tv vq VO " H " c« 0, " N ro ro CO ? !? " " " " « " " m if M o " " « " Ci « « ro ro ■«■ o " ," " " N N " " " ro ■* H - " " « " « " CO 1^ m " " " H « « « o s ro M H " " " « " « N ro lO ro i« 2 o - " M " " 0. «■ N n o - " H H « « « n ro CO M " " " " M " « « ■s ro 00 K H « - " " « M « S " " H " . H " « « ^ vq o (3 " " " ^ " « M « Ov t> " " " ^ ^ " " M^ Ov " " ^ " ^ *^ « « 00 K 00 " " " " " " " m CO 00 " " " " " " « vg VO t^ M M M M H " « t- t^ " " " " " " H ■V}- vO H 1 1 JH < «©• «©• «§■ ^ IT S ^ "o" jj ■M A J CO ■<*- m- ^ r^ 5 4? ^ < 00 VO m ■* \o t^ 8 %. H o o ■vt- v8 a 8 8 o q H " co' d a H d d >- CO >- "^ o t H "t^ ~^ "n" "oi T^ ■^ w 1 o> \o ~fn rOi m ~^ "o^ 00 . oo 1 r^ vo 1 tit ■»J- ro ro N r^i t^l " " t^ tv r. Tf " VO t>. oo as c> o Ov r^ t-. t^ ^ tv oo c^ o. M M m -*■ lo o M3 H « ro ^ in VO t^ 00 ro ro ^ >d 00 ro o- ^o 2 "S ■* g, ^ 'J- T^ * S o v8 Ov « " « % ^ ro v8 VO t^ 1 00 IT) " ^ s t^ m t^ -^ S r^ ^ 00 r-x ^ o s S O VO vd 00 8 '6 W3 ■>h o ■<1- VO n i^ -*■ ■>i- 8 o 6 \o 11 o M ro (S rr O ro I 8 o •>»■ O ■" m !>. M ^ s ?r t^ rr m ro S •o ^ CO Z' hs « N N m 00 ■a- i^ VO 4 ri ■^ Th m ■" 00 S Z' >o o S * t>^ t^ 8 ■d . 00 ~S H IH n m m •^ lO un \0 MD <)- *l ~o^ M 04 1 CS "^ "? IT) "vo" VO r^ 00 M VO ■^ Eh' q , vd , 00 "^ *^ « « m "*" ■- 00 o H " w n « m f^ -+ ^ ^ 8 > H H H « M ro ro ^ ^ tr, m O o q o f_, M M w N N CO ro fr: m CO \r. HI „ C^ N rr- ro ro •* -^ r4 tN. m s ^ ^ ■4- ■^ J_, H M w « C4 C4 ro CO ^ H ■^ M ^ C4 N N ro ro * Th o> o " ro ". °°. JT o " ^ " " " " « " " c^ Ch ro " " " N N ro ro ro ■<^ VO i 2 " " " " « N « N c^ r^ 2 " " *^ N N N ro ro ro ro ro K " " " " « M " ^ ^ -<*- ^ " ^ ^ N N " « ro .-o ^ VO " " " " « " " " ?! s " " " - « N " ro ro =S 0^ " ^ " ^ " N N N o i Ov " " " " « « « « ro « CO " " " " " *^ « " "S '^ 00 " " ^ " « « N N s «> o " " " " " " « VO ^ t^ " " " " " " N N Ov ? M 1 1 H r TT " 1 "t5~ "fO ^ ~c^ ~o" T "^ VO 1^ ot" "Ov 1" «©■ »■ «©■ «©■ ««• <«■ €«• m^ i» «» «^ ^ ^ «■ <& ^ ^ s& S «J ^ 5, s m- » "^ < » < ^ <92 8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Co OS » €© O o » o o ao o us O o © us o o •0 © © us © © •J i © © © © si © 1(3 © as 3 O o On q -^ 'q q q ^! VO q q ■-^ q VO -^ q q q q 1 q q q q H^ VO M VO O^ q q q q q VO •<* q q q VO T v6 ,.[» -*= q q q M -^ o -*1 -t- q q « L 1 ■ vb iq l~ i8 r • VO O VO o 1 00 VO t VO Ov vO q 8 O qv t^ vq VO ? qv 00 00 VO ■ VO vq in VO O- Mko VO q q q VO VC o °. q VO O -In "q 8 qv is Art 8 8 8 8 8 4 \b 00 d « ^ 'to \o Q r^ lA, t^ ds ^ f^ g MD ro g ro in lo CO O Q O o o in 5 IT) q f 8 "^ i 8 (N 4 in VO CO m in c in t^ ON in N rn in VO f-^ "^ ^ 1?, o rn in VO 00 O ci m 4 uS t^ vo in "rn 'S ■-; N ro ^ in N rn ■* in lO siiii ci rn 4 in M3 " C) S ^ 8 " « rr 4 >" ,° m m " N rn ro * "^ 8 f S 8 ^ H pi rn -^ ^ in "m "iT •■^ r^ en Ov "^ " H N fj tn 8 a § ?, § m m VO 00 00 N VO q in VO Q 'r-^ O vq rn VO 5 >n in O "m vo "fJ- f^ in vq rn q 01 M ^ la ® CO T3 c 2 O 1) Guv S c • •-^ -dH „ 'A .ti . fe < e per week, day. Thus S8.00 per n under the the column tate of the Un 30,000,000,000 as much as it the rat or per ng for colum reach c^ Co ^ ^a to how lour work hanc 11 we Uj 0! lU -« =t= rson t ov ve t .. u C>?" ^ umns nt pe whe he le -ight 1) C g- Q= the col amou I hour 1 in d the eal an 870 it alone ^xaSS >H M UJ °:?&i JJ (3 « top dicat anio the f ace t o'S 850, the val 16,0000,000 1th of New je figures smaller figu jired to fin commence hours," a 'r :: V '- w €©. rt he la le the is d k, we d of In to over The we OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 929 PRACTICAL RULES FOR EVERY DAY USE. Hoiv to findtke gciin or loss per cent, xuhen 'ihe cost and selling />r ice are given. Rule.— Find the difference between the ^cost and selling price, which will be the gain or loss. Annex two ciphers to the gain or loss, and ■divide it by the cost, price; the result will be the gain or loss per cent. H01U to change gold into currency. Rule.— Multiply the given sum of gold by •the price of gold. How to change currency into geld. Divide the amount in currency by the pric*:^ of gold. How to find each partner'' s share of th gain or loss in a copartnership business. Rule. — Divide the whole gain or loss by the entire stock, the quotient will be the gain or loss per cent. Multiply each partner's stock by thi; per cent., the result will be each one's share of the gain or loss. How to find gross and net weight and ^rice of hogs. A short and simple method for finding the net weight. or price of hogs ^ -when the gross weigh t or price is g iven ., and vice versa . Note. — U is geaerally assumed that the gross weight of Hogs diminished by 1-5 or 20 per cent, of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increa-sed by J^ or '25 per cent, of itself, equals the gross weight. To find the net rveight or gross price. Multiply the given number by .8 (tenths). To findthe gross weight or net price. Divide the given number by .% (tenths). How to find the capacity of a granary^ iin or wagon-bed. KuLK. — Multiply (by short method) the number of cubic feet by 6308, and point off one -decimal place — the result will be the correct answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel. For only an approximate ansiver., multiply the cubic feet by 8, and point off one decimal place. Hoiu to find the contents of a corn-crib. Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 54, short method, or by 4^^ ordinary meth- od, and point off ONE decimal place — the re- sult will be the answer in bushels. NoTK.^In estimating corn in the ear, the quality and the time it has been cribbed must be taken into consid- eration, since corn will shrink considerably during the ■winter and spring. This rule generally holds good for (-orn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided it is t.ijund and clean. How to find the contents of a cisternor tank Rule. — Multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth, (all in feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), and point off ■ONE decimal place — the result will be the con- ents in barrels of 31J4 gallons. 59 Hotv to findthe contents of a barrel or cask. Rule. — Under the square of the mean di" ameter, write the length (all in inches) in re" VERSED order so that its units will fall unde'' the TEN.s ; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430 ; point off one dec- imal place, and the result will be the answer in wine gallons. flow to meastire boards. Rule. — Multipl;, the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and divide the product by 12 — the result will be the contents in square feet. How to measure scantlings foists., planks^ sills, etc. Rule. — Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together (the width and thick- ness in inches, and the length in feet), and divide the product by 12 — the result will be ^quare feet. How to find the number of acres in a body of land. Ru_E. — Multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide the product by 160 (carry- ing the division to 2 decimal places if there is a remainder) ; the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths. When the opposite sides of a piece of land are of unequal length, add them together and take one-half for the mean length or width. How to find the number of square yards in a floor or Wall. Rule. — Multiply the length by the widtli or height (in feet), and divide the product by 9, the result will be square yards. How to find the number of bricks requi- red in a building. Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 22^. The number of cubic feet is found by mul- tiplying the length, height and thickness (in feet) together. Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide and 2 inches thick ; hence, it re- quires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot withnut mortar, but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills i-6 of the space. Hoiu to find the number of shingles re- quired in a roof. Rule. — Multiply the number of square fee' in the roof by 8, if the shingles are exposed ^% inches, or by 7 1-5 if exposed 5 inches. To find the number of square feet, multiply the length of the roof by twice the length of the rafters. To find the length of the rafters, at one- fourth pitch,multiply the width of the build- ing by .56 (hundredths) ; at one-third pitch, by .6 (tenths) ; at two-fifths pitch, by .64 (hundredths); at one-half pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be ta- ken into consideration. Note.— By %, or ;.^ pitch is meant that the apex or comb of the" roof is to be Ji or K the width of the build- ing higher than the walls or base of the rafters. 930 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. PRACTICAL RULES-Confmued. Partners and others by adopting the fol- loTving simple and i7igenious contrivance^ may always carry ivith them the scale to construct a correct yard measure. Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little ringer of the left hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink. To find how many rods in lentgh will Tnake an acre, the width being given, Ri;le. — Divide 160 by the width, and the quotient will be the answer. How to find the number ofi acres in any plot of land, the number of rods beinggiven. Rule. — Divide the number of rods by 8, multiply the quotient by 5, and remove the decimal point two places to the left. The diameter being given, to find the circumference. Rule. — Multiply the diameter by 3 1-7. How to find the diameter when the cir- cumference is given. Rule. — Divide the circumference by 31-7 To find how many solid feet a round stick of timber of the same thickness ikroughotit, will contai?t when squared. Rule. — Square half the diameter in inchesi multiply by 2, multiply by the length in feeti and divide the product by 144. General ritle for measuring timber, to find the solid contents in feet. Rule.— Multiply the depth in inches by the breadth in inches, and then multiply by the length in feet, and divide by 144. To find the number of feet of timber in rees wit/i the bark on. Rule. — Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumfereace, in inches, by twice the length, in feet, and divide by 144. Deduct i-io to 1-15 according to the thickness of the bark. Howard s new rule for computing interest^ Rule. — The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal point two places to the left ; for ten times that time, remove the point one place to the left ; for i-io of the same time, remove the point three places to the left. _ Increase or diminish the results to suit the time given. Note— The reciprocal of the rate is fonnd by Invert- ing tlie rftte ; thus 3 percent, per moalh, inverted, be- comes Ja of a month, or 10 days. When the rate is expressed by one figure, always write it thus : 3-1, three ones. Rule for converting English into A meri— can currency. Multiply the pounds, with the shillings and pence stated in decimals, by 400 plus the premium in fourths, and divide the product by go. GENERAL RULES. The circumference of a circle equals the diameter multiplied by 3.1416, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter. The area of a circle equals the square of the radius multiplied by 3.1416. The area of a circle equals one-quarter of the diameter multiplied by the circumference.. The radius of a circle equals the circum- ference multiplied by 0.159155. The radius of a circle equals the square roo of the area multiplied by 0.56419. The diameter of a circle equals the circum- ference multiplied by 0.31831. The diameter of a circle equals the square root of the area mul iplied by 1. 12838. The side of an inscribed equilateral triangle equals the diameter of the circle multiplied by 0.86. The side of an inscribed square equals the diameter of a circle multiplied by 0.7071. The side of an inscribed square equals the circumference of the circle multiplied by 0.225. The circumference of a circle multiplied by 0.282 equals one side of a square of the same: area. The side of a square equals the diameter o a circle of the same area multiplied by o.8862_ The area of a triangle equals the base multiplied by one-half its altitude. The area of an ellipse equals the product of both diameters and .7854. The solidity of a sphere equals its surface multiplied by one-sixth of its diameter. The surface equals the product of the diam- eter and circumference. The surface of a sphere equals the square of the diameter multiplied by 3.1416. The surface equals the square of the cir- cumference n:^ultiplied by 0.3183. The solidity of a sphere equals the cube of the diameter multiplied by 0.5236. The diameter of a sphere equals the square root of the surface multiplied by 0.56419. The square root of the surface of a sphere- multiplied by i.772454equalsthecircumference. The diameter of a spHere equals the cube root of its solidity multiplied by 1.2407. The circumference of a sphere equals the cube root of its solidity multiplied by 3.8978. The side of an inscribed cube equals the radius multiplied by 1.1547. The solidity of a cone or pyramid equals the area of its base multiplied by one-third, of its altitude. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY 9:^-^- PRACTICAL RULES-Gonhnued. Ho-v to keep accojtnts. Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business, should keep a record' of his transactions in a clear and s5'stemat:o manner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity of acquiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we- here present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easily comprehended, and well adapt- ed to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics and laborers. 1875. JOHN SMITH. S>r. Cr. January February March April May July To 7 bushels Wheat at $1.25 By Shoeing span of Horses To 14 bushels Oats at $.45 To 5 lbs. Butter .._ at By new Harrow By sharpening 2 Plows By new Double-Tree To Cow and Calf , To half ton of Hay _ By Cash By repairing Corn-Plant?r To one Sow with Pigs By Cash, to balance account 8 75 6 30 I 25 18 2 48 00 6 25 25 4 17 50 35 $88 05 $88 1875. HENRY JONES. l>r. Cr. March 21 " 21 " 23 May I " I June rg 26 July 10 -9 August 12 12 September i By 3 days' Labor at $1.25 To 2 Slioats at 3.00 To 18 bushels Com at .45 By I month's Labor To Cash By 8 days' Mowing at $1.50 To 50 lbs. Flour. - To 27 lbs. Meat.... at $ .10 By 9 days' Harvesting at 2.00 By 6 days' Labor at 1.50 To Cash To Cash to balance account 18 $67 75 $67 75 How to reckon the cost 0/ hay. Rule. — Multiply the number of pounds by half the price per ton, and remove the deci- mal point three places to the left. How to measure grain. Rule. — Level the grain ; acertain the space it occupies in cubic feet ; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point off one place to the left. Note. — Kxaotneaa reanires the artSltion to every three hnndred bushels of one extra bushel. The foregoing rule may be used for finding the number of gallons, by multiplying the number of bushels by 8. If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2, to find the number of bush- els of shelled corn, because it requires 2 busn- elsof ear corn to make i of shelled corn. Rapid rules for measuring land ivithout instruments. In measuring land, the first thing to ascer- tain is the contents of any given plot in square yards; then, given, the number of yards, find out the number of rods and ac ts. The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now, an ordinary-sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on the average with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes. To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to walk in a straight line ; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line straight ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote ; and, in walking, keep these objects constantly in line. ^932 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. PRACTICAL RULES-Gontinued. rj.S. GOVERNMENT LAND MEASURE A township — 36 sections, each a mile square. A section — 640 acres. A quarter section, half a mile square — 160 acres. An eighth section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter of a mile wide — 80 acres. A sixteenth section, a quarter of a mile square — 40 acres. The sections are all numbered i to 36, com- mencing at the north-east corner. The sections are divided into_ quarters, which are named by the cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The description of a forty acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of the south- west quarter of section i in township 24, north of range 7 west, or as the case might be ; _and sometimes will fall short and sometimes overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain. The nautical mile is 795 4-5 feet longer than :the common mile. The table of greatest tension load for safety, a bar, one inch square, is stated as follows : .'Best Swede's Iron 76,400 Brass 19,600 Hemp Rope 19,600 Ivory 15,700 "Oak .... 71850 Elm or Ash 6,070 SURVEYORS' MEASURE. 7 92-Too inches make i link. 25 links " I rod. 4 rods... " 1 chain. 80 chains " i mile. Note. — A chain is 100 links, equal to 4 rods or 66 feet. Shoemakers formerly used a subdivision ot the inch called a barleycorn ; three of which made an inch. Horses are measured directly over the fore feet, and the standard of measure is four inches — called a hand. In Biblical and other old measurements, the term span is sometimes used, which is a length of nine inches. The sacred cubit of the Jews was 24.024 inches in length. The common cubit of the Jews was 21.704 inches in length. A pace is equal to a yard or 36 inches. A fathom is equal to 6 feet. A league is three miles, but its length is variable for it is strictly speaking a nautical term, and should be three geographical miles, equal to 3.45 statute miles, but when used on land, three statute miles are said to be a league. In cloth measure an aunze is equal to i}i yards, or 45 inches. An Amsterdam ell is equal to 26. 796 in. A Trieste ell is equal to 25.284 inches. A Brabant ell is equal to 27.116 inches. GREAT FIRES OF THE WORLD. Cities. Date. Rome - city nearly destroyed Moscow - — •London 2-3 of the city destroyed New York - New York - Pittsburg -Charleston Nantucket Albany - St. Louis Philadelphia ^ San Francisco San Francisco Stockton, Cal. Nevada, Cal Montreal, Canada Syracuse - Chicago Chicago — Chicago Chicago - Chicago Wisconsin.- - - 'Great Chicago Fire ■Great Fire in Quebec -. — ---- Boston 9, 10. II. 18 and 20 Virginia City, Nev nearly destroyed A. D. September, September, December, JuIj:, April, April, July, August, May, July, May, June, May, March, July, November, September, October, August, November, January, October, October, Loss. i8i2|$ 150,000,000 1606 183s 184s 184s 1850 1851 1851 1851 185 1 1852 1856 1857 1859 1866 1866 1868 1871 1871 November, October, 1872 1875 15,000,000 6,000,000 10,000,000 3,000,000 800,000 3,000,000 3,000,000 1,000,000 3,500,000 3,000,000 1,500,000 1,300,000 5,000,000 I, coo ,000 500 000 500,000 500,000 500,000 3,000,000 6,000,000 206,000,000 3,500,000 125,000,000 2.000,000 OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 933 THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES. There are now five cables connecting Europe and America ; three running from Newfound- land to Ireland, one from Brest, France, to Duxbury, Mass., by way of St. Pierre, and the direct cable from Ireland to Rye Beach, New Hampshire. The cables from Newfoundland are about 1,900 miles long, the direct cable 3,060 miles, and the French cable 3,330 miles in length. DEAD LETTERS. The statistics of the Dead Letter service are of quite romantic interest. The number of dead letters handled during the year 1875 was about 4,500,000. Of these, 31,750 contained money aggregating $61,000; 14,225 letters contained drafts, notes, and bills of exchange of the value of $2,997,847 ; 135,027 letters contained samples of merchandise, postage stamps and miscellaneous articles ; 3,740,000 contained nothing of value. THE RAILROADS OF INDIA. In 1875 there were in operation in India, 6,273 miles of railroad. Of these 727 are double and 5,546 single ; 5,686 are constructed five feet, 6 inches gauge, and 587 on the metre guage. A further length of 2,158 miles is in course of construction. The largest and most expensive railway bridges in the world have been erected in India They are chiefly constructed with iron girders on piers and vary 1,000 feet to 9,000 feet in length and from $16,000 to $460,000 in cost. THE SUEZ CANAL. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, shortening the route to India from England and America more than 5,000 miles. It was commenced in 1859 and com- pleted in i86g. Length, 100 miles • average breadth, 329 feet ; depth, 26 feet. Cost in gold, $65,000,000. Distances: English Channel to Calcutta, via Cape Good Hope, 13,000, via canal, 8,000. New York to Calcutta, via Cape Good Hope, 14,560 miles, via canal, 9,500. The English government purchased the interest of the Khedive of Egypt in the canal in 1S75, for $20,000,000. GOLD AND SILVER COINAGE. The report of Dr. Linderman, Birector of the Mint, shows that the amount of gold and silver deposits and purchases for theyear ending June 30, 1875, was, gold deposits, $43,152,584.50; silver deposits and purchases, $18,304,406.07 ; total, $61,456,990.57. The total gold coinage was, 1,739,062 pieces, of the value of $33,553,965 ; total silver coinage was, 22,823,216 pieces, of the value of $10,070,368 ; coinage of minor pieces was, 14,629,500, value $230,375. The to- tal coinage was, 34,191,778 pieces, of the value of $43,854,708. CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. There are enrolled in the public schools of the United States, 8,000,000 children. In the last fiscal year, 1875, the average daily £ttendance was, 4,500,000. Thirty-seven States and eleven Territories report an increase in the public school income of $1,232,000, and in attend- ance of children, 164,000. The total sum raised during the year by taxation was, $82,000,000 and the cost of public education was about, $74,000,000. ' CONVERSATION OF MEN OF GENIUS. Tasso's conversation was neither gay nor bril.iant. Dante was either taciturn or satiri- cal. Butler was either sullen or biting. Gray seldom talked or smiled, Hogarth and Swift were very absent-minded in company. Milton was very unsociable, and even irritable, when pressed into conversation. Kirwan, though copious and eloquent in public addresses, was meagre and dull in colloquial discourse. Virgil was heavy in conversation. La Fon- taine appeared heavy, coarse and stupid — he could not speak and describe what he had just seen ; but then he was the model of poetry. Chaucer's silence was more agreeable than his- conversation. Dryden's conversation was slow and dull ; his humor saturnine and reserved. CoRNEiLLE, in conversation, was so insipid that he never failed in wearying ; he did not even speak correctly that language of which he was such a master. Ben Jonson used to sit silent in company, and suck his wine and their humors. Southey was stiff, sedate and wrapped up in asceticism. Addison was good company with his intimate friends, but in mixed company he preserved his dignity by a stiff and reserved silence. Fox, in conversation, never flaggedy his animation and variety were inexhaustible. Dr. Bentley was loquacious, as was also Grotius. G0..DSMITH "wrote like an angel, and tafked like pogr Poll. Burke was enter- taining, enthusiastic, and interesting_ in conversation, Curran was a convivial deity. Leigh Hunt was " like a pleasant stream" in conversation. Carlyle doubts, objects and constantly demurs. In our own country Marg.\ret Fuller was a fluent, inspiring talker, discoursing always to a group of admiring friends. Emerson has the charm of a good listener, and is. quite as willing to be talked to as to talk. Dr. Holmes is quick, vivacious and sparkling. Lowell is famous for the rarest wit and good fellowship not often found even among poets. Whittier talks in his own quiet, gentle way, and is rather a companion for quiet hours, than the dinner table or the drawing-room. And we may add, in conclusion, great talkers are. very seldom good conversationalists. 534 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. WONDERFUL GOLD AND SILVER MINES. The Consolidated Virginia Mine of Nevada yields between $1,700,000 and $1,800,000 in gold and silver per month, of which is distributed to the stockholders a monthly dividend of $r,o8o,ooo. There would be no difficulty in increasing the product to $2,000,000 monthly, but it is deemed prudent to work the mine to the capacity of ten dollars per share monthly, in order that this magnificent return to the share holders may continue for years to rome. The people of Nevada have become so accustomed to immense yields in the mines of the Comstock — the dividend in the aggregate almost equaling the entire market value of the mine from which they are disbursed in one or two years — that even the gigantic achievements of the Consolidated Virginia excite in them but little wonder. Nevertheless, the monthly yield of the mine is the most wonderful of all the world's history of gold and silver mining. When it is considered that a single mine is producing bullion at the rate of about $20,ooc,ooo yearly, and dividing among its stockholders nearly $ij,ooo,ooo per annum, the wealth and magnitude of the deposit may be better realized. When it is remembered that a single mine is turning out gold and silver at the rate of $60,000 daily, the mind becomes -almost bewildered in contemplating the possible product of the Comstock, when a dozen other mines shall be added to the list of dividend-paying companies. HISTORY OF LETTER-PRESS PRINTING. John Guttenberg invented letter-press printing about 1455. William Caxton carried the new art to England in 1474, and printed "The Game of Chess," the first book in London. The introduction of printing at other important points was as follows: Paris, 1470 ; Florence, 1471 ; Antwerp, 1476; Geneva, 1478 ; Vienna, 1482 ; Stockholm, 1483; Copenhagen, 1493 Cracow, Munich and Amsterdam, 1500; Edinburg, 1507; Dublin, 1551 ; and Mexico, i66g. Seventy years later, in 1739, the first printing press in the American colonies was set up at 'Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was procured by subscription from Amsterdam, and was given to the college, with a fount of type of forty-nine pounds ; so that it may be assumed to be the beginning of the present "University Press." William Penn brought William Bradford, printer, to Pennsylvania in 1686, and established apress in Philadelphia. In 1692, Mr. Bradford was invited to establish a printing press in New York, with the inducement of forty pounds a year and privilege of printing on his own account, which he accepted, and the first printed issue in that province is a proclamation, bearing date of that jrear. The first printing west of .the Mississippi was done in i8o3, by Jacob Hindle. Michigan had a press in 1809, and Alississippi in 1810. THE WHISKY TRAFFIC. The whisky traffic amounts to $1,583,491,815 annually. This is twice as much as the ■flour, and the meal, and the cotton goods, and the woolen goods, and the boots, and the shoes, and the clothing, and the newspapers of the country cost. Or, to put it in another form, we could, by dispensing with whisky, board and clothe very decently another nation as big as ours, and have just as much for ourselves as we now do, and have none of the evil effects of whisky to combat. Men might see the magnitude of this whisky leak better if they were to remember that one-half of the tax they pay is on account of the whisky traffic. If, therefore, as you walk up to the clerk's desk and count out $200 to pay a year's tax, could you do away with whisky, the clerk would count out $100 and hand it back to you. If the money that is expended on account of whisky were appled to the payment of our immense National Debt, iit would be entirely liquidated in less than three years. WHISKY'S WORK IN NEW YORK. Eight thousand places are licensed for the sale of liquors in this city. Most of them ■dispense the vilest poisons. Many are music-halls, worse than the old Broadway concert- saloons, and frequented by the same class of scapegraces who were ruined in those dens. To some are attached small gambling-rooms, where scores of habitual criminals and vagrants gather nightly to prey upon one another, and concoct all manner of deviltries. At night the windows of these places have the fascination of basilisks' eyes to thousands upon thousands of the restless, thirsty, discontented poor. Some have money to buy a pint or a glass of the stuff in bottles labelled before him, but can illy afford it. Others have not enough to pay for a night's lodging. Upon this multitude descends the terrible temptation to steal that they may drink — that they may buy an hour or two of blind forgetfulness. Every day's arrests show part of the direct result of this temptation. If Mayhew's estimate be correct, that in- toxicating liquors are an agent in three-fourths of the crimes committed in large cities, then the effects of bad liquor and of longing forbad liquor in New York city, are, according to the police statistics, something fearful. Of the 8^,514 arrests in 1872, including 63 for homicide, 459 for burglary, 31 for arson, 67 for forgery, 119 for highway robbery, 1503 for grand larceny, 36 for robbery, the rest for every kind of criminal offences, nearly 70,000 were traceable to persons cnore or less addicted to drink. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 935 MODES OF SALUTATION. In the United States, one friend meeting another asks, " How do you do" ana then passes on itisianier to some other topic, being careful not to pause a moment for an answer to his inquiry as to his friend's health. A pump-handle shake of the hand generally precedes ihe inquiry. In England, the usual mode of greeting is a hearty shake of the hand, with a "Good morning, sir ; how do you do?" The usual salutation at Cairo is, "How do you sweat ?" a dry, hot skin being a sure indi- cation of a destructive ephermal fever. Greenlanders have none, and laugh at the idea of one person being superior to another. Islanders, near the Philippines, take a person's hand or foot and rub it over their faces. Laplanders apply their noses against the person they salute very strongly. In the Sraits of the Sound they raise the left foot of the person addressed, pass it gently overthe right leg, and thence to the face. The inhabitants of the Philippines bend very low, placing their hands on their cheelcs, and raise one foot in the air, with the knee bent. The Dutch, who are considered polite, have a morning salutation, common among all (Classes, " Smaakelykeeten," " May you eat a hearty dinner.' Another is, "Hoe waart uwe ?" "How do you sail ?" adopted, no doubt, in the earlier periods of the Republic, when they Ti'ere all navigators and fisherman. Some author has observed, in contrasting the haughty Spaniard with the frivolous French- iman, that the proud, steady gait and indexible solemnity of the former were expressed in his mode of salutation, "Comic esta?" "How do you stand?" While the "Comment vous portez-vous?" " How do you carry yourself ?" was equally expressive of the gay motion and incessant action of the latter. In some parts of Africa a young woman, an intended bride, brings a little water in a cal- .abash, and, kneeling down before her lover, desires him to wash his hands. When he has done :this the girl, with a tear of joy sparkling in her eye, drinks the water. This is considered the .greatest proof she can give him of her fidelity and attachment. The Japanese take off a slipper, and the people of Arracun their sandals, in the street, .and their stockings in the house, when they salute. The Negro kings on the coast of Africa salute each other by snapping the middle finger (three times. The inhabitants of Carmine, when they show particular attachment, open a vein, and .present their blood to the friend, as a beverage. In Otaheite they rub their noses together THE PENSION BUREAU. Thirty Millions of Dollars Paid Amtually to 234,821 Pensioners. Commissioner of Pensions, in his annual report for 1875, says that the number of pension- rers added to the rolls during the last fiscal year was 11,557, and the number dropped, by reason of death, reenlistment, remarriage, expiration of minors' pensions, or the discovery of fraud, was 12,977, making a net decrease of 1,420. The number of pensions increased was 15,561. The total number of pensioners borne on the rolls on June 30, 1875, was 234,821. Thirteen widows of Revolutionary soldiers who were married prior to the year 1,800 and 366 married subsequent to that date, are still borne on the rolls. In 1871 the average rate of pension paid to the army invalid pensioners annually was $8g.i8 ; in 1872, $90.26; in 1873, ^96. 46 ; in 1874, $98.14; and in 1875, $103.91, or $8.65 per month. The rates vary from $1 to $50 per month. The total disbursements of the Pension Bureau during the last fiscal year were $29,683,1 16.63 leaving a balance from the appropriations of $371,883.31, which has been covered into the Treasuary. The appropriations for the current fiscal year were: for army pensions, $29,500,000, .and for navy pensions, $500,000. The Commissioner is of opinion that unless there is some further liberalizing legislation by Congress, an appropriation of $29,000,000 will be sufficient 'for the payment of pensions for the next fiscal year. BIBLE CURIOSITIES. The Bible contains 3,586,489 letters, 773,692 words, 31,173 verses, 1,189 chapters, and 66 books. The word "and " occurs 46,277 times. The word " Lord " occurs 1,855 times. The word " Reverend" occurs but once, which is in the 9th verse of the 11 ith Psalm. The middle verse is the 8th verse of the iiSlh Psalm. The 2tst verse of the 7th chapter of Ezra contains all the letters in the alphabet except the letter J. The finest chaoter to read is the 26th chap- ter of the Acts of the Apostles. The igth chaDterof II. Kings and the 37th chapter of Isaiah are alike. The longest verse is the 9th verse of the 8th chapter of Esther. The shortest verse ris the 35th verse of the nth chapter of St. John. The 8th, 15th, 21st and 31st verses of the a[07th Psalm are alike. Each verse of the 136th Psalm end alike. There are no words or mames of more than six syllables. 936 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. THE WOMEN OF EUROPE AND AMERICA. The French women, in face and physique, are deficient as models of female form and'! beauty. The average height is about two inches below that of our womjen. They have short arms and legs, with rather long bodies, not remarkable for symmetry ; are generally brunettes, with high cheeks, low foreheads, heads thick at the base of the brain, heavy lower- jaws, large mouths, black hair and burning black eyes. The French woman considers her life one of chance or fate, aud her bearing impresses you with an idea that she is peculiarly a child of romance and destiny. In all that pertains to the most profound depths of woman's art, she has no equal. In el- egant simplicity of apparel she is without a rival. In action and gesture she is graceful and eloquent. An artist born, she does everything she undertakes with more grace and skill thare any other woman in the world. She wears her love and changes it as easily and with as. charming elegance as she does her silks and laces. Her knowledge of men and her tact in fooling them " to the top of their bent," are remarkable, and only a man of ice and iron can. keep her out of his pocket. Of all the nationalities that meet in the gay capital, her favorite is the Russian, because she regards him as the most easily duped and the most lavish of his money. The American stands next in her favor, and the Englishman third. The women are certainly superior to th'^ men of France, and seem to admire all foreigners, except Germans, more th^tn they do French- men. They shrug their shoulders when asked their opinion of the German and intimate that he is a hard master. In the dance they are wonderfully graceful, and as active as cats, though they do not al- ways light on their feet when they fall. They are perfect mistresses of light, frothy, gossip»- ing conversation, being always gay, playful, vivacious, and very often brilliant and witty. They are not distinguished for domestic virtues. The French home, especially in cities, is- seldom cheered with the light of children's joy and love. As to the peasant women of Germany, it is hard to contemplate them as a class, and be- lieve they are descendants from a mother who once shared the delightful fruits and beautiful flowers of Paradise with man. All trace and memory of such a lot seems to have been lost in' a bitter inhtritance of unwomanly toil. Time out of mind, Germany has been the battle ground of Europe in time of war, and a vast camp even in time of peace. Her army is now on a peace footing, yet 1,500,000 of her young men are soldiers constantly employed in drilling, and fighting sham battles. The land is poor, and yields the necessaries of life with reluctance. To arm, support, and clothe a vast army, maintain an idle aristocracy in luxury, and feed a dense population, the- women are forced to work in the fields like dumb animals. The best products of their toil go to maintain the army and the aristocracy. Compelled to do the work of men, and live on coarse, scanty food, they become coarse and clownish, and dejected in appearance — objects of pity rather than admiration. Their condition is a shocking example of the inhumanity and cruelty of unrestrained power in arbitrary governments. Elegance of attire, grace in motion, social culture and tact, love, romance, and poetry,, are as foreign to the life of many a German woman, as if she was a beast of burden. In rugged, homely virtues they command our profoundest veneration. As wives, they are faithful, patient, obedient. As mothers, they are kind and devoted to their children, and more, assiduous than any other mothers in training their offspring in the practical labors and duties of life. German children do credit to the natural beauty of the race, and it is saddening to look upon a bevy of pretty German maidens, and think how soon their gayety and their robust chaima must be blighted by drudgery'. But the sons of these hard-worked Gerrnen mothers develop into the finest and most stalwart specimens of physical manhood you will see anywhere m Europe. That the German women are« not eminent for good looks and social attractions is- because they are crushed and almost unsexed by the cold and iron hand of oppression, which in all governments falls heaviest on the weakest and those who are least qualified by nature ta- bear it. The women of England are the life and light of those happy homes which are the great social feature of English life. The English women are loyal and obedient, and never doubt for a moment that the Englishman is, and of right ought to be, the veritable lord of creation. They like their own countrymen better than they do the men of any other race or country. To the«i they look for chivalry, support, and protection. And an Englishman's home with his wife and children, is his castle, which he will protect and defend with the last drop of his blood. Consequently the English woman's life is in her home and children, and she generally thinks that the more she has of them the greater blessing she is toher lord and to the na- ..lon; He is proud to be the father of a numerous progeny, and points to his sturdy, well- bred youngsters as the best indication of his manhood and patriotism. Statesmen, historians,, philosophers, novelists, and poets have loved to indicate the English home, adorned with wo- men and children, as the chief source of the power and glory of the British Empire. Onet; of her poets .says : " Without your hopes, without your fears, Without the home that plighted love endears, Without th- smile from partial beauty won, O, what were man? a world without a sun. GUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. g^f The English woman's features are apt to be interesting as indications of strength of chap< acter rather than as models of harmony and beauty. She has a high forehead, with the vol- ume of the brain above the base, which is not very heavy, Umbs rather long and big- boned, a substantial body, and almost perfect bust. In action and gesture she is not remarka-" ble for elegance and grace. In conversation she is earnest and sympathetic, but there, as in dress, she has infinitely less of womanly art, and tact than the French woman. In her relations with Government she has such faith in the men and the wisdom of Par- liament, that she yields a cheerful obedience to the laws of primogeniture, and appears to glory in the thought that her legal existance is merged in that of her husband. The girl who is reared under the kindly influence of an average British home has developed to a high degree the best and most lovely traits and qualities of woman's nature. She is modest and timid to a fault with strangers, but when by manly courtesy you have gained her" confidence, she is as natural and kind as a child. Generally she has a soft and rather plain-- tive voice, with soft blue eyes, and when the light of her pure life beams upon you, she in- spires you, if not with "the grand passion," at least with sentiments of the sweetest and' purest friendship that can animate the heart of man. It is from this domestic life of the" English woman that novelists have drawn their most beautiful characters, and poets their most inspiring themes. The people of the United States are now so heterogenous and inhabit so vast a country that it k difficult to find any prevailing type of American women for a comparison with those of other lands. In the descendants ot the old colonial stock, the national type of the American woman was as distinctly marked as that of the wives and daughters of the English squire, especially in the agricultural States of the West and South. The New Englanders were always so com- mercial and migratory that with them home and family traditions were less appreciated than in the agricultural states. It is in the domestic relations of hospitable, rural homes that woman's- influ«:nce is chiefly felt and best developed. In our early history as a people, the American home was the abode of honor and manly courage in the men, and virtue and womanly dignity were the invariable traits of the wo- men. Old men sigh now and say that the State is corrupt because the family has been cor-- rupted ; that life in hotels and city boarding houses has to a great extent destroyed the influ- ence of the family altar. But the traveler abroad soon finds that in spite of the degeneracy of our social life the women of America are still the most virtuous in the world. He will also find that from the agricultural and planting regions have sprung a numerbuS- type of women superior to any that ever existed in any other age or country in the world. From a mixture of the noblest Caucasian races they have derived a symmetry of form, a grace of action, and a beauty of feature which are now the wonder and the envy of Europe. An earlier and higher social culture renders the American girl in good circumstances the' brighte.st and happiest human being on the face of the earth. From the nature of our political insti- tutions and social customs, self-reliance, individualism and social tact are developed, to excess^ perhaps, in our daughters. An American girl of 12 years knows more of social life than an English girl of 20 — is better versed in the ways of the world, the art of entertaining, and all that can assist her in achieving social triumphs. The great trouble is, that the American women are becoming too much women of the world ; that social triumphs are turning their heads ; that home life is too much neglected, to the great danger of domestic virtue, and the great detriment of that corner-stone of free gov ernment, a happy, well-ordered family circle. RULES OF CONDUCT. We cannot tlo better than quote the valuable injunctions of that excellent woman, Mrs* Fry, who icombined in her character and conduct all that is truly excellent in woman : i. I' never lose any time, — I do not think that time lost which is spent in amusement or recreation some part of each day; but always be in the habit of being employed. 2. Never err the least in truth. 3. Never say an ill thing of a person when thou canst say a good thing of him ; not only speak charitably, buty>^/ so. 4. Never be irritable or unkind to anybody. 5. Never indulge thyself in luxuries that are not necessary. 6. Do all things with consideration, and when thy path to act right is most difficult, feel confidence in that Power which alone is able tcf assist thee, and exert thy own powers as far as they go. SURVEYORS' SQUARE MEASURE. 625 square links make i square pole. 16 square poles " i square chain. 10 square chains " i acre. 640 acres " i square mile. Note. — In most of the Western States where all land was laid out by the GovernmentV all titles except in city lots are passed by description as under the Government survey, and- there a square of si.x miles or 36 square miles make one township. m CUBIC OR SOLID MEASURE. 1,728 cubic inches make i cubic foot. 27 cubic feet " 1 cubic yard. In measuring wood, 128 cubic feet make one cord A cord foot is one foot in length of a pile of wood cut four feet in length and piled four feet high, being 16 cubic feet ; 8 cord feef- make i cord. 938 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Co OS Co m c cj o O Q Q w « ►i; i^ i^ 1-1 ':r oj .^ r rt o srT"^"^'-^ -* . O m.2 S ^ cu:c§rtrt.5-T3rt«;«rt'§g§3;>,.2«°;5tJj3oS:3.S'orC.H|rrt ^ N '5a"?^j3>&o^oSrteJ':2-5;^Njiii5rt«i^'t3SrtOa2uo <:^>-.>-Ti-,KJH3>-lSa!z;CL,pi;i:i^p^wc/^ty^H>Kl E^ f^ ■* u-)^ t>^00 n m m m H « CO -=t iO\0 t-HCO H « m -^lo^ 1^00 H N fO io\o vo vo vo H C-^CO C M N M w 10 10 to 10 m t^OO H n m io\o ^ 'O vo X 00 o> ^2^2- MNWtNWOICNn-IfO'*-'^-^-^ -^ 'T -^ Tj- ID r^oo •-. N ro V •-< ^ r^oo ON ^ mo t^ ( 1 irivo vo \0 'O M r^NO i>. O H --^ xTico ON 0) roMD r^ •-• ■^ moo O' N roo t^ o »-* tj- inco o> c OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 939 THE GREAT BATTLES AND SIEGES OF THE WORLD. Battles. Date. Actium Adrianople Agincoiirt Alexandria Alma Antietam Arbela *. Ascalon Austerlitz Balaclava Baltimore Bannockburn . Bayonne Blenheim * ... Borodino Bosworth Field Boyne Breslau Bridgwater Bull's Run Bunker Hill.... 'Canrae Carthage Cawn pore ■Chalons * Charleston Chillanwallah . Corranna Crecy . ■CuUoden Dresden Edgehill Flodden Field . Fort Sumpter .. Germantown Gettysburg.. Gravelotte . _ Hampton Roads Hastings * Inkerman Issus Jena Lake Champlain Lake Erie Leipzig Lexington Lodi Lucknow Lutzen " 2nd Magenta Marathon * Marengo Marston Moor.. Metaurus * Monterey Montmorency .. Naseby ._ Navarino New Orleans Oporto Orleans * •Otterburn Pharsalia Philippi Plassy Poictiers Prague --- Pultowa * 3 logg Sep. 2, B.C. 31 July 3, 323 Oct. 25, 14 Mar. 2:, 1801 Sep. 20, Sep. 17 B.C. Aug. 12 Dec. 2 Oct. 25 Sep. 12, 1814 June 24, 1314 Mar. ig, 1794 Aug. 13, 1704 Sep. 7, 1812 .A.ug. 22, 1485 July Nov. 22, 1757 July 25, 1814 June 21, 1 June 17, 1775 B.C. 216 B.C. 146 Dec. 6, 1847 A.D. 451 May 12, 1780 Jan. 13, 1849 Jan. i6, 1809 Aug. 26, 1346 April 16, 1746 Aug. 27, 1813 Oct. 23, 1642 Sep. 9, 1513 April 12, 1861 Oct. 4, 1777 July 1-3, 1863 Aug. 16, 1870 Mar. 9, 1862 Oct. 14, 1066 Nov. 5, 1854 Oct. 2, 333 06t. 14, 1806 Sep. II, 1814 Sep. 10, 1813 Oct. 16, 1813 April 19, 1775 May 10, 1796 Mar. 25, 1858 Nov. 6, 1632 May 2, 1813 June 4, 1859 Sep. 28 B.C. 490 June 14, 1800 July 2, 1644 B.C. 207 Sep 24, 1846 .Ausr. 10, i-'59 June 14, 16:4 Oct. 20, 1827 Jan. 8, 1815 May II, 1809 May 8, 1429 Oct. 10, nSS, Victors. Augustus. Coustantine. English. English. Allies. Federals. Greeks. Christians. French. Eng., Turks. English. Scotch. French. Marlboro'. French. Henry VII. William III. Austrians. Americans. Beauregard. English. Hannibal. Scipio. English. Aetius. English. Sir J. Moore. English. French. ParliameHt. English. Beauregard. English. Federals. Prussians. 'Monitor." VVm.the Con. Eng., French. Alex. Great. French. Americans. Allies. Americans. Napoleon. English. Swedes. Napoleon. French. Greeks. Napoleon. Cromwell. C. Nero. Americans. French. Parliament. Eng.. F., R's. Americans. English. Joan of Arc. Scots. B.C. 4S J. Caesar. B.C. 42lAntonius. June 23, i757|English. Sep. 19, 1356I " _ May 6, 17571 Prussians. July 8, 17091 Russians. Battles. Quatre Bras . Quebec " 2nd.. Ramilies Romans * Sadowa Salamanca . . Salamis Saraeossa Saratoga * Savannah Sedan * Seringapatam . Silistria Sinope Skalitz Smolensko Solferino Span. Armada * Syracuse * Talavera Tchernaya Thermoplyae .. Toplitz Toulouse Tours * ... Trafalgar .. Ulm Valmy* Vera Cruz Vionvills Vittoria Wagram ... Warsaw ... Washington Waterloo* Wilna Woerth Worcester Yorktovvn Zama Zela Zurich Zutphen Sieges. Acre Badajoz Constantinople . Delhi Gibralter Jerusalem Kars Londonderry or Derry Metz Naples Ostend Paris Rome Sarngossa Sebastopol .. Toulon Vicksburg Vienna Warsaw Date Victors. June 16, I8IS Allies. Sep. 13. 17.W English. Dec 31, 177^ *^ May 23, 1706 " A .D. Q Arn inius. lulv 3, 1866 Prussians. July 22, 1812 Wellington. i.e. 480 Greeks. Aug. 14, 1808 Spanish. I-'eb. 20, i8co French. Oct. 17, 1777 Americans. Dec. 29, 1788 English. Sep. 2, 1870 Germans. l-'eb. 6, 1792 English. June IS, lK<;4 'I urks. Nov. 30, i8s3 Russians. luly 27, 1S66 Prussians. Aug. 18, 1812 French. June 24, 1859! Fr. & Sard. July, B.C. 413 July27-8,i8c9 Aug. 16, 1855 B.C. 480 Aug. 2, 1762 April 10, 1814 Oct. 10, 732 Oct. 21 1805 Oct. 20, 1805 Sep. 20, 1792 Mar. 29, ib47 Aug. 18, 1870 June 21 1813 July 5-6, ifcog Nov. 4, 1794 Aug. 25, 1814 June 18, 1815 June 18, 1831 Aug. 6, 1870 Sept. 3, 1651 Oct. 19, 1781 B.C. 202 B.C. 47 June s, 1799 Sep. 22, 1586 July 12 1191 Crusaders. April 7, 1812 English. April 6, 1493 T utks. Sep. 20, 1857 English. July 24, 1704 July 23, irgg Nov. 28, 1855 July 30, i*8g Oct. 27, 1870 Feb. 8, 1806 July, 1601 — Sep., 1604 1870—18 July 3, 18 ^^ Feb. 20, iScg Sep. 26, 1854 Allies. —Sep. 9, 1855 Dec. ig, 1793 Napoleon. July 4, i863|Gen. Grant, July 14, — King of Sep. 12, 1683 1 Poland. Nov. 4, 1794 'Prussians. Defeat of Gylippus. Wellington. Fr. & Sard. Persians. Austrians. English. C. Martel. English. French. Americans. Geimans, Wellington. French. Russians. English. Russians. Prussians. Cromwell. Americans. Scipio. J. Caesar. Allies. Eng., Dutch. Crusaders. Russians. Inhabitants, Germans. French. Spaniards. Prussians. French. * The 16 decisive battles of the world. 940 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. FACTS ABOUT THE PECULIARITIES OP THE EARTH, AIR, WATER, WINI?,. VOLCANOES, EARTHQUAKES ; THE HUMAN SPECIES AND ANIMALS. The powers of nature may be concentrated into two primitive forces, namely: Attraction and Repulsion. Relate nature, and you include all the facts environing on, and enveloped in, the material. Newton watched the apple fall, and by that fact guaged his theory as applied to the gravitation of greater bodies. Then Repulsion was set down as the cause of elasticity, and declared as the opposing element of Attraction. Apply Attraction, ivholly^ leave out the grand figure of Repulsion, and as a result you would have the earth accompanied with its millions of neighbor planets and earths, one solid mass/ Light cannot be said to consist of the same matter as elementary heat. It may be reflected as well as projected, and the light from the moon is only as from a mirror, while the great sun projects its light from a distance of 95,000,000 miles from our earth in the space of only eight minutes. Evolution of Calorific bodies is probably a greater source of converging heat, than by the solar rays. Oxygen and Nitrogen composes the air we breathe, in the ratio of 21 to 79. One could not support combustion without the aid of the other. The flame is not the hottest part of the fire, but is a " burning smoke." Air is perceptable to the touch, and also has weight — to evacuate a bottle of its air, lightens the bottle. Air is capable of elasticity or expansion — » bladder when filled with air and indented or pressed together, recovers its former shape when the weight becomes removed. At the height of ten miles the atmosphere is only about one-eight of its density at the- height of one mile. A light breeze traveling at the rate of three and a quarter miles per hour, exerts a pressure three-quarters of an ounce to the square foot A moderate breeze traveling 6)4 miles exerts 3?^ oz. pressure. A fresh breeze " 16}^ " " i lb. $ " " A stiff breeze " 32>^ " " 5 " 3 " " A strong gale " 56X " " 15 " 9 " " A hurricane " 793^ " " 31 " 4 " A violent hurricane '' 97X " " 46 " 12 " '' Sound travels through the air about 1,100 feet per second, varying in speed with the con- dition and temperature of the air. The lowest audible tone is 32 vibrations per second. The highest audible tcne is 16,384 vibrations per second, although 24,000 is said to be appreciable, but rather by feeling than bearing. Air increases in elasticity 1-480 of its volume for every degree of Fahrenheit scale increase of temperature. The elasticity of steam is doubled by every 30 degrees increase of temperature above 212 degrees. . ... The highest mountains are not capped with snow. The extreme limit of snow is little over 16,000 feet above the sea level, and above that limit there is no moisture in the atmosphere. The speed of a steamboat through salt water is about three-sevenths of the speed of the circumference of its paddles. The initial velocity of a 24 pounder cannon ball is about 16,000 feet per second. Sound travels through air about 1,100 feet per second, through a denser medium, faster, and through one more attenuated, slower. Sound travels through water about 5,000 feet per second; through iron or steel, about 17,000 feet per second. Light travels through space about 200,000 miles per second. Roemer, in 1676, calculated the speed of light at 192,500 miles per second, but the best authorities now agree on 186,000. miles. J- 1. The speed of electricity varies with the conductor anJ the conditions surrounding the conductor ; the lowest measurement making speed of 2,300 miles per second, and the highest 200,000 miles per second. . x. t_ ■ i_ c A horse-power is calculated to be just sufiicient to raise 33,000 pounds to the height of one foot in a minute. . t • ,. , c Water is formed of Oxygen and Hydrogen, as 89 is to 11. Ice, is the natural state ot water. The force of vapor is, in many instances, thirty times greater than that of gunpowder. It constitutes a great portion of the food of vegetables. As Oxygen is a constituent of air„ as well as water, water contains air. Between the freezing point (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and the boiling point (212 degrees Fahrenheit) of water, the water will expand as follows: Brass i^SSa Gold 1-682 Tempered Steel 1-807 Forged Iron . . 1-819 Plate Glass 1-1122 Mercury 1-54 Lead 1-351 Copper 1-522 Silver 1-524 Untempered Steel 1-927 Platina 1-1167 ,,,,., j At the level of the sea, water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit; alcohol boils at 173 degrees. Fahrenheit; sulphuric ether boils at 97 degrees Fahrenheit; oil turpentine boils at 314 degrees. Fahrenheit; chloroform boils at 142 degrees Fahrenheit. , , ,, • , To reduce the scale of one thermometer to that of another, use the following rules: From 5-9 of the degrees Fahrenheit, subtract 32 degrees to find degrees Centigrade. To 95 of the degrees Centigrade, add 32 degrees to find degrees Fahrenheit. To 9-4 of the degrees Reaumur, add 32 degrees to find degrees Fahrenheit From 4-9 of the degrees Fahrenheit, subtract 32 degrees to find degrees Reaumur. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 94t Mercury freezes at 39 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. Winds are regular and irregular; trade winds; monsoons; hurricanes; whirlwinds; and •water-spouts. Regular winds belong to the class which blow constantly in one uniform direction. Irregular winds follow no uniform course, but are interrupted, as in this country, where, for instance, at two different points within ten miles apart, they flow from different directions at the same time. Trade winds belong to the coasts. The tropics sometimes have two opposite periodic winds alternating toward the north and south, and are called monsoons. A current of air, like a current of water, increases its velocity when its passage is straightened or narrowed. These gusts are called hurricanes, and their direction is either to the north or south, northeast or southwest. Their origin is generally in a small, black cloud, when the rest of the sky is serene, or on the sea, when its surroundings are calm. Other hurricanes, much more violent than these, seem to proceed from the coast, having a swift, whirling motion which no human power can resist. A sudden rarefaction, or any other contrary meeting of air currents, in the same spot, and at the same time, are called whirlwinds. The watkr-spout means a whirlwind at sea, where the vacum produced by two or more meeting currents, causes the water to rise up in •cylindric form, or in the shape of a cone. The trite theory that the earth is a shell, carrying within its great centre the ready lighted fires and stores of fuel for its final destruction, as well as its present warmth, is illus- trated, and perhaps in a measure substantiated, by the fact that within the bowels of the mountain is harbored the smouldering sulphur and bitumen, the elements which, if ignited by subterraneous fires, causes volcanic eruptions. The volcanoes' mouth, often more than half a league in circumference, vomits forth torrents of smoke and flame, streams of lava, and showers of stones and cinders, which sometimes bury beneath its awful depths, entire cities, with their teeming numbers of human souls. Where great ships, freighted with a nations commerce, now plough the bosom ofour oceans ; where toilers and terrors of the sea now make their homes; and where the mighty cables of ingenuity link together sister continents, and with their transportation of fresh intelligence waxe the caverns of the deep, this basin, so deep as to prevent thismighty water from running over, once was the site of volcanoes. Islands, now fairly groaning beneath the weight of humanity, animals and commerce, doubtless sometime ranked as low as other ocean bottoms, where sea-kings and monarchs made their beds Valleys were once sea bottoms, mountains, sea viUeys, where the screeching er.gine now carries with it an air of progress and civilization, once rocked and lashed a mighty sea, which only volcanic forces could have heaved back, raising the e=irth to its present level. Earthquakes are of two kinds; one caused by subterraneous fires, and the explosion of volcanoes. The other kind of earthquake is produced by the explosion of inflammable matters; sulphurous m^terials; fermentation produced by Alteration of water; these matters follow the (always) perpendicular strata, as though searching for a place ef escape, and, meet- ing in these caverns, subterraneous air or vapor, produces in its passage a noise and motion, proportioned in its force to-the resistance it is compelled to meet. The Human Species means man in all the sublimity of the term, and created in the image of his Maker! It combines that grand combination of soul and body, which, divided again, results in two separate natures, — the God-like and the mortal man. The basis of divine man is ths soul; the beginning of mortal, the infant, or the spring of life. Youlh-hood is life's beautiful summer. Middle-age is the Indian summer of life — the sublimest period of man's existence, while the crowing sheaf is the pure white winter or old age. The human species is the perfection of the Master's handiwork! Man is a cosmopolite; that is to say, his organization is fitted for all climates. He lives under the equator, and in the temperate zones, as well as in the vigorous climes of the north and the south. He does not appear, however, to dwell beyond the 5sth degree of southern latitude, and the 65th of northern. In the human species we may establish three principal races, each of which contains varieties more or less strongly marked. These are th.s wkite or Caucasian; t\ic yellow or Mongolian ; and the black or Melanil^ : Animals. Without the animal, God's creation would be incomplete, and for our several uses, and in some cases seemingly to supply us with the curious, He has created the following species of quadrupeds; The Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Camel, Dromedary, Cameleopard, Lion, Tiger, Panther, Leopard, Ounce, Zebra, Horse, Ass, Ox, Buffalo, Sheep, Goat, Hog, Guinea Hog, Dog, Hyena. Jackal, Porcupine, Genet, Civets, Cat, Antelope, Guinea Stag, Chamois, Ibex. Musk. Rabbit, Ferret. Rat, Mouse, Fat Squirrel, Garden Squirrel, Ichneumon, Badger, Sable, Erminf Jerboa, Maki, Monkey. Pangolin and Phatagin, Rein-deer, Stinkards, Sloth, Kangaroo, Stag, Bear, Roebuck, Hone, Hedghog, Otter, Marmot, Mexican Shrew, Mole, Bison, Tapir, Alco, Gaschis, Conanda, Racoon, Cablai, Tajacon, Conandon, Agonti, Coati, Opossum, Pacos, Indian Hog, Cavy, Armadillo. Beaver, Wolf, Fox, Weasel, Polecat, Lynx, Seal, Walrus, Elk, Glutton, Dormouse, Pouch and Desman. Of the two hundred species of quadrupeds which Buffon supposes to exist, he calculates, that about ninety are original inhabitants of the old continent, and about seventy of the new, and that forty are common to both. Our government and history, what the nations owe. 94J The aggregate of all national debts is not far from K^f 2° J ' ------ — _-._.„.„ — ^ .-. ..v^... ,p..j, 750,000,000. Of this aggregate, between 96 and 97 per cent, is owed by twenty countries, and more than one-half bv tour countries namely, France. England, United States, and Italy. The following table will' exhibit the debts and asnual interest charge in millions of dollars, and the rate per cent paid ot the twenty countries owing the largest debts : COUNTRIES. Debts, millions of dollars. Interest. millions ol dollars. Rate. France England 4.500 3.9C0 2,200 1,950 1,835 1.750 1,700 1,000 675 050 410 400 375 345 317 230 ^85 180 150 150 165 13.336 103 76% 55 75 673€ 45 4736 293^ 1536' 1134 3736 loS^ 20 i33 = United States, 5 per cent. ; Russia, 5 per cent. ; B^aiif, cent., Italy, 6 percent. ; Portugal, 6 percent; Hungary, ^y^ percent.; Egypt 8 p, vv.v; Turkey 10 per cent. ; Peru, 10 percent; Spain, 15 per cent.; Mexico, 18 per cent.'' »>„.n1 P 7''^'^i"^^'^^"^''^"'^' the same as France, Russia, and Brazil, and better Ind Mexico Hungary, Spain, and Turkey, in Europe, and still further above Peru «,. £^""^. r* P^'' 'T ^^^" Great Britain has reduced her debt $50,000,000; Russia. f ^v^T'?"" ' ^^'■'"^"y' $40,000,000 ; and this country about $30,000,000. Italy has increased a^d'ln'dfa ry'rxC;,or" '" *"°'°°°'°°° = ^-'"^ ^^^ $220,000,000; Turkey by l55,ooo,ooo;. Some small portion of the grand aggregate of national debts has been incurred for the nthL°^nnhH.'"°''^ ^^ '^% P^^^^i'^e \"'"''""^"' '" '^^ ""'"•"'=''°" °f railroads, canals and other public works. But by far the greater part has been incurred for the purpose of ntdnn".f s^rr"^;"' °^ "f,^''"^ deficits in ordinary budgets. It is within bounds \o say that flf^n . .f^"^ r ?i.'^^ amount of twenty thousand millions-an amount equal to more ^ ?l! K ^°^'^^ value of all the property in the United States-iepresents wealth that has been utterly destroyed in the prosecution of wars of ambition, conquest or revenge, or m the maintenance of vast military and naval establishments, or in the support of splendid' „g44 . FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. THE GREATNESS OF LONDON. In few cities are there more than half a dozen railway stations. In London there are at least one hundred and fifty. Some of the railways never pass beyond its limits, and of one, the Tottenham & Hampstead, PuncA says : " No one ever travels by it, as no one knows where it begins or where it ends." The Metropolitan and other intramural railways run trains every three or five minutes, and convey from twenty to fifty millions of passengers annually. Claphamis the great south-western junction, and through it seven hundred trains pass every day. Its platforms are so numerous, and its underground passages and overground bridges so perplexing, that to find the right train on changing, is one of those things "that no fellow can understand." As a proof of the expansive nature of London traffic, it was supposed that when the Metropolitan Railway was opened, all the city to Paddington omnibusses would be run off the ground; but, although it carried forty- three millions of passengers last year, it has been found necessary to increase the number of omnibusses on the southern route, and they yield one per cent, more revenue than before the opening of the railway. Besides the railways, there are some fourteen or fifteen thousand tramcars, omnibusses and cabs traversing the streets. There are lines of omnibusses known only to the inhabitants of their own localities, such as those across the Isle of Dogs from Poplar to Milwall; from London bridge, along Tooley street, to Dockhead, &c. The London Omnibus Company have five hundred and sixty-three omnibusses, which carry fifty millions of passengers annually. It is more dangerous to walk the streets of London than to travel by railway or to cross the Atlantic. Last year one hundred and twenty-five persons were killed, and two thousand five hundred and thirteen injured by vehicles in the streets. _ Supposing every individual man, woman and child made one journey on foot per diem, which is considerably above the average, the deaths would be one in eleven millions, while the railways only killed about one in fifty millions of passengers, and the Cunard Company of Atlantic steamers boasts of having never lost a passenger. Other instances of the immensity of the population of London are that three-quarters of a million of business men enter the city in the morning and leave it in the evening for their suburban residences. There are ten thousand policemen, as many cab-drivers, and the same number of persons connected with the post office, each of which classes, with their families, would make a large town. When London makes aholiday, there are several places of resort, such as the Crystal Palace, the Zoological Garden, Kew Garden, &c., which absorb from thirty to fifty thousand each. The cost of gas for lighting is two million five hundred thousand pounds annually ; the water supply is one hundred millions of gallons per diem. In the year 1873 there were five hundred and seventy-three fires ; and for the purpose of supplying informa- tion on the passing events of the day, three hundred and fourteen daily and weekly newspapers are required. What London will eventually become it is idle to predict. It already stands in four counties, and is striding onward to a fifth (Herts). The probability is, that by the end of the century, the population will exceed five millions, and will thus have quintupled itself in the century. Should it progress at an equal rate in the next, it will in the year 2000 amount to the enormous aggregate of twenty-five millions; and the question that naturally arises is, how could such a multitude be supplied with food ? But the fact is, that the more its population Increases, the better they are fed. In the Plantagenet days, when the population was not a third of a million, famines were of frequent occurrence. But now, with the command of the pastures, the harvests and the fisheries of the world, starvation becomes impossible. ENGLAND'S RULERS. The following is a correct table of the reigning sovereigns of England, together with the date of the beginning of their reign : DANES AND SAXONS. Edward II 97S Ethelred II 979 Sweyn 1013 Canute 1014 Ethelred II, again 1014 Edmund II 1016 Egbert 827 Ethelwolf 837 Ethebald H 857 Bthelbert 860 Ethelred 1 866 Alfred the Great 871 Edward 1 901 Athelstan 9»S .Edmund I 940 Edred.. 946 Bdwy 955 Edgar , 957 NORMANS. William 1 1066 I Henry I "oo WilUiam II 1087 | Stephen "35 PL ANT AGE NETS. Edward I "72 Edward II 130T Edward III 1327 Canute, again 1017 Harold 1 1035 Hardicanute 1040 Edward (Confessor) 1049 Harold II 1063 Henry II 1154 Richard 1 1189 John 1 199 Henry III 1216 Richard II '277 946 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES, LANCASTER. ^^::-::: ■:::::::::.::::.::::::: li^ I "^"^^"^^ ••■■■ ^^- YORK. iS^::::;:;:::::::::;:;::;::::; if, \ ^''^^^^^ ^483 TUDOR. Henry VII 1^85 I Mary ,„ i^7^:::::;:::-:;::::;::;::;::: H?, \ ^"'^^'^"•^ ^Sl- STUARTS. James 1 1603 | Charles I 1625 Interregnum — Commonwealth. STUARTS (RESTORED). CharlesTI iggo I William and Mary 1680. JamesII 1685 | Anne .' °ll HANOVER. ^^°^S«I ^714 I GeorgelV 1820 Georgell 1727 William IV 18,0 George m 1760 | Victoria 1837 EMIGRATION. We give the following table which embraces the statistics for ten years. The arrival of aliens were as follows ; iif, 233-418. ]i% 242,731- ^i^ 213,686. ii^„ 258,989. ^870 213,170. ^°7i 229,639. ^^72 •■..■ -"•• ..., 294.581. ^873 ,. 266,818. ^874 • 140,041. Of the aliens who arrivedhere during the past year, Germany furnished^ 25",ssq, Ireland" 19,924, England 10,793, Austria 4,970, Sweden 3,303, Scotland 3,070, Russia 3,123, Norway 2,602, Italy 2,S7S, France 2,376, Denmark 1,854, Switzerland 1,439, and twenty-six other countries the balance. Of the 84,560 aliens, arriving during the past year, 37,527 were male adults, 28,905 female adults, 18,128 children under 12 years of age. IMPORTANT LAND DECISIONS. Decisions of the Secretary of the Interior has established the following principles : HOMESTEADS. The possession of an executor or administrator is, under the Homestead law, the posses- sion of the heirs or divisee, subject to the right of administration vested in the officer, and the time allowed by the Court for said settlement of the estate must be counted for the heir or devisee in making final proof. The provisions of Sec. 2,291 of the Revised Statutes are sub- stantially complied with by continual cultivation for the period of five years by the heirs or devisee, personal residence not being required in their case. At a hearing to determine the abandonment in the case of the deceased homestead claimants, a certified copy of the will and and other matters connected therewith may be introduced. PRE-EMPTION. A mortgage unsatisfied at the date of proof and entry, defeats a pre-emption claim ; also' decisions of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to the effect that soldiers now in the regular army, under Sec. 2,293 o^ 'he Revised Statutes, perform the preliminary acts relating. to homestead entries therein mentioned. TIMBER CULTURE. The planting of seeds or cuttings is not a compliance with the Timber Culture act, but the General Land Office does not inquire how the required trees are produced. If seeds or cuttings produce healthy-growing trees, the law is complied with. A timber-culture settler may relinquish a portion of the land embraced in his entry, and hold the remainder. MINERAL LANDS AND RAILROAD GRANTS. The question, "Can lands containing valuable deposits of mica, inuring, if agricultural, to the Union Pacific Railroad, be patented under the mining laws ?" was answered : First — Lands containing valuable deposits of mica may be patented under the Mining law of May lov 1872. Second — All minerals, except coal and iron, are excepted from the grants to railroads.. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. • 947 CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. The number of cotton mills in operation in the United States is 875, of which 181 are in the southern, and 694 in the northern states. Massachusetts has the largest number in the north, and Georgia in the south. The former has 206 and the latter 47. In 1875 the north useS i,og7,ooo_ bales against 1,094,387 bales in 1874. The southern mills during 1875 used 143,079 bales against 128,526 bales in 1874. The kinds of good manufactured are given in round figures, as follows: if75. 1874. Threads, yarns, twines, lbs 83,000,006 79,000,000 Plain sheetings, etc , yards 726,000,000 707,000,000 Fancy goods, yards 247,000,000 306,000,000 Print cloths, " 749,000,000 588,000,000 Ginghams, " 35,000,000 33,000,000 Ducks, " 28,000,000 30,000,000 Bags, number 10,000,000 6,000,000 In comparing the cost of production between the American and English manuacturers, it is stated that the American cotton costs the Manchester spinners one cent per pound more than the Lowell, which is more than the difference in the cost of wages, and therefore we caa compete with England in markets where the cost of transportation is the same. OCEAN TELEGRAPH CABLES. Up to 1847, no substance suitable for the insulation of a submarine wire was known. In 1846, Mr. James Reynolds, of New York, invented a machine for covering wire with India rubber, and during the year 1847 covered a large amount of wire with this substance; but im consequence o{ drying it (vulcanization of rubber being then unknown), it proved a failure. Early in the spring of 1848, Mr. Craven brought a piece of wire covered with gutta percha to Mr. Reynolds, and asked if he could cover wire with gutta percha with his machine. Mr. Rey- nolds undertook to do so, and immediately poceeded to manufacture gutta percha covered wire. He covered the cable which was laid across the Hudson river between NewYork and Jersey City, which was the first gutta percha cable ever made and the first submarine wire ever constructed and successfully operated for the transmission of intelligence over a distance of half a mile. The first submarine cable ever laid in the sea, was laid between Dover and Calais, in 1850. It was a single strand of gutta percha, unprotected by any outside coating, and worked only one day. The next cable was also laid between Dover and Calais, in 1851. This cable con- tained four conducting wires, was twenty-seven miles in length, and weighed six tons per mile. This cable is still working, after having been down twenty-three years. The next long cable was laid in 1853, between Dover and Ostend, a distance of eighty miles, and contained six conducting wires, and weighed 5% tons per mile. It is still in working order. In 1853 a cable of one conducting wire was laid between England and Holland, 120 miles, weighing i}i tons per mile. This cable worked for twelve years. From 1853 to 1858 thirty-seven cables were laid down, having a total length of 3,700 miles, of which sixteen are still working. Thirteen, worked for periods varying from a week to five years, and the remaining eight were total failures. On the 6th of August, 1858. the first Atlantic cable was laid between Ireland and New- foundland. The weight of this cable was one ton per mile, and its cost was as follows: Price of deep sea wire per mile, $200; price of spun yarn and iron wire per mile, $265 ; price of out- side tar per mile, $20; total cost per mile, $485. Price, as above, for 2,500 miles, |i, 212,500; price of twenty-five miles shore end at $1,450 per mile, $36,250 ; total cost, 1,249,235. This cable worked from August 10 to September i, during which time 129 messages were sent from. Valentia to Newfoundland, and 271 from Newfoundland to Valentia. The next long cable which was laid, was from Suez to India, a distance of 3,500 miles, in 1859, This cable was laid in five sections, which worked from six to nine months each, but was never in working order from end to end. The total length of all the cables which have been laid is about $70,000 miles, of which over 50,000 miles are now in successful operation. The 20,000 miles of cables which has thus far failed, represent fifty-eight in number. Including the original 1858 cable, five cables have been laid down between Ireland and Newfoundland, of which only three are now in working order. These three were laid in 1866, 1873, and 1874. The cable of 1865, of a similar type as the above, has not been working for ver two years. The maximum speed of signaling through 2000 miles of the Atlantic telegraph of 1858 was two and a half words a minute. The conductor of the Atlantic cable of 1858 consisted of a strand of seven copper wires of No. 22^ guage, weighing 93 pounds per mile, while those of 1865, 1866, 1873, and 1874, have each 300 pounds per mile. The highest rate of speed obtaine Pewter is a compound of lead and tin. Brass is a compound of copper and zinc, German silver is a compound of copper, zinc and nickel. Britannia is a compound of tin, antimony and copper. STRENGTH OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES. With fifty-four inches between supports, a rod of cast iron, one inch square, will break under a load of 550 pounds. A cube of cast iron, one inch each way, will be crushed under a pressure of ninety tons. A bar of cast iron, one inch square, will break under a tensile strain of g}i tons. These figures show the capacity of best material. Very inferior iron would probably have not over one-half the above resisting power. The actual cohesive force of different substances is as below. The size of the rod tested being in each case, one inch square, and the number of pounds show the actual breaking strain : tbs. Hard Steel 150,000 Soft Steel 120,000 Best Swedes Iron 84,000 Ordinary Bar Iron 70,000 Silver 41,000 Copper 35,000 Gold 22,000 Whalebone 7,500 Bone 5,750 Tin 5,500 Zinc 2,600 lbs. Locust Wood 20,000 Cast Iron 19,000 Oakwood 17,000 Ivory 16,000 Elm Wood i3,c» o Ash Wood 12,000 Horn 8,750 Pitch Pine Wood 7tSoo Poplar Wood ... 5,500 Cedar Wood 4,800 Lead 860 There are 3,064 known languages on the earth, and nearly 1,000 different forms of leligion. BRIDGES'. Bridges are of unknown antiquity. The Chinese invented suspension bridges, and one built in A. D. 65, is still in use. The Persians built the first stone bridges. Caissons were first used in bridge building on the Westminister bridge, London, which is 34250 feet in length, and has 15 arches or spans. The first iron bridge ever erected, was over the Severn at Coalbridgedale, in Shropshire, England. It has a span of leo feet, the arch being nearly semi-circular. Among the most noted bridges are the Southwark bridge, London. It is of iron, having one span of 240 feet, and two of 210 feet each. There were 5,780 tons iron used in its con- struction. The new London bridge which was finished in 1831, is of stone, 928 feet long, on five elliptical arches, the center one having a span of 152 feet. High Bridge, of New York, is of stone, 1,460 feet long, on 15 arches, those over the river being 80 feet open, and 100 feet above the water. The parapet is 114 feet above high water. The bridge across Menai Straits (Wales) is of wrought iron, 103 feet above high water, has two spans of 230 feet each, and two of 459 feet each. The Victoria Bridge at Montreal, is 10,284 feet from bank to bank, and, rests on 24 piers. The roadway over the river is a tube of iron 6,660 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 22 feet high. The St. Louis bridge is of chrome steel, on three arches, the center one having a span of 520 feet, and being at the greatest 55 feet above high water, the side spans being each 502 feet, 50 feet above high water. The total length of the bridge proper is 2,045 feet, and of the approaches, 4,175 feet. The tunnel leading to the bridge on the St. Louis side, is 4,900 feet in length The Schuylkill bridge, Philadelphia (suspension,) has a span of 340 feet. The suspension bridge at Fribourg, Switzerland, has a span of 870 feet, 175 feet above the river. The railway suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, has a span of 821 feet, 245 feet above the river. The suspension bridge at Cincinnati, has a span of 1,057 ket, 103 feet above low water mark. The proposed suspension bridge between Brooklyn and New York, is to have a clear span 'rf- ^»5Q5 feet, and be 135 feet above the water. p o OJ 1-^1 5] E:d o 5' CD H. 3 c CD a* ffi CO o « o ■ . CC uq no tT3 ct> pa ?0 CD JO 5' S cp; p 267 " Peoria, 111.. 548 Fort Laramie 896 Fort Benton 2,663 Salt Lake 4i35i Virginia City, Nev 6,505 Omaha, Neb 968 THE CALENDER. In the year 46 B. C, Julius Caesar instituted and decreed the Calendar called, in his honor, the Julian Calendar. Under this decree the year was of exactly 365 days and 6 hours, and for three years 365 days was the true and legal year, but the fourth year was composed of 366 days. This extra, day was inserted between the 6th and 5th days before the Calends, or incoming of March, which corresponds with the 24th and 25th days of February of our year. As the 24th of February was called " sexto Calendas Martii," the interposed day was called ■"' bis sexto Calendas Martii," or the double sixth day before the Calends of March, and from this we derive-the term "bis sextile," to designate leap year. As the true year, however, is somewhat short of the estimate then made, being only 365 -days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 49 7-10 seconds in length, it was found that in the year 1582, a. D., the error in time from the date of the institution of the Julian Calendar, amounted to •nearly 12 whole days. Accordingly, Pope Gre.gory decreed that 10 entire days should be • stricken from the Calendar, and that the day following the 3d of October, 1582, should be the 14th of October, 1582. Ten days were stricken out instead of the entire 12, in orderto bring the Vernal Equinox forward to the same date at which it occurred in A. D. 325, at the sitting of ■the Council of Nice, which was on March 21st. The Pope also decreed the future succession of leap years, as explained in the preceding section under the proper table. _ The pericK.1 between 46 B. c, and A. D. 1582, is called the Julian Period, as the Julian Calendar was then used. The Calendar now in use is called the Gregorian Calendar, in honor of Pope Gregory, its founder. Roman Catholic countries generally adopted the Gregorian Calendar immediately on the promulgation of the decree. Great Britain did not legally correct the Calendar according to this system until A. d. 1752, when the difference or error amounted to 11 days, (since the sitting of the Council of Nice,) and it was therefore enacted that 11 days should be stricken from the Calendar, and the day following the 2d of September, 1752, should be the 14th of September. Under the old Julian Calendar, or system of notation, the year began on March 25th. Under the new, it begins on January ist. Russia still uses the Julian Calendar, and in consequence their dates are now 12 days ibehi d ours. OUR GOVERNM'ENT AND HISTORY. 955 RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. The Baptists claim that their peculiar doctrines have been preached since the third cCentury. Congregationalism received its present form and discipline from John Robinson, in England, in 1602 The Dutch Reformed Church was organized in the Netherlands in 1561. Episcopalians claim direct and unbroken apostolic succession from St. Paul, on his mission to England about A. D. 60. The Greek Church is a portion of the Church of Rome, from which it withdrew in A. D. 85^, as a protest against the assumption of superiority by the Bishops of Rome. Methodism originated with John Wesley in 1729, in England, but class meetings were not instituted and the society as such really organized until 1739. The Moravians, or United Brethren, organized as a distinct branch of the church and adopted rules of discipline in 1457, in Bohemia. Mohammedanism dates from the hegira or flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina, in September, 622, although this Mohammed claimed to be prophetically inspired, and had preached his doctrines for several years before. He was born in August, 570, and first announced his mission in 611. Mormonism was founded by Joe Smith in New York, in September 22, 1837, ^^e" be claimed to have found the Book of Mormons. He claimed to have had his first vision in 1820. The settlement at Nauvoo, 111., was the first considerable congregation of his disciples, and the temple there was completed in 1841. Joe Smith was shot and killed, June 27, 1844. Presbyterianism is the same as the Church of Scotland, and has been recognized ever since the principles of the Reformation were introduced into that country in 1527. Roman Catholicism claims direct and unbroken apostolic succession from St. Peter, to whose care they claim, Christ specially delivered his church. The Shakers originated in England, under the prophetess, Ann Lee, in 1770. This denomination is now confined to this country. Swedenborg, the founder of the sect bearing his name, commenced his instructions, writings and ministrations in 1743. Unitarianism was first preached towards the close of the second century. Universalism claime to have been continuously preached since A. D. 150, when the so-called Sibylline oracles, which teach the doctrine of the final restoration of the lost, were ■writtes for the purpose of converting Pagans to Christianity. There have been in all, 223 popes or bishops of Rome, of whom the following noticeable ;facts outside their religious histories, may prove interesting: John X died in prison, A. D. 927. Benedict IX was deposed, 1044. Benedict X abdicated, 1058. Adrian IV was the only English pope, and occupied the pontificate, 1154-1159. ' Celestinus V abdicated, 1294. Gregory XII abdicated, 1406. John XXIII was deposed 1416. Pius IX, the present pope, ascended the papal throne, 1846. In the Roman Church, absolution is declared as absolute to the individual. In the Greek Church it is prayed for to those who are penitent, and in the English Church it is declared to all who are penitent. ESTIMATES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. In calculating capacity of cisterns and tanks, 32 gallons are allowed to the barrel. A barrel of flour contains 196 lbs. (or 7 English quarters) of flour. A barrel of pork, beef or fish contains 200 lbs. of meat besides the brine. A quintal of fish is one hundred weight of dried fish that is, in America, 100 lbs. In England, 112. A barrel of salt contains 10 English quarters, or 280 lbs. salt. A bushel of salt is 70 lbs., -or one quarter of a barrel. A keg of powder contains 25 lbs. of powder. A firkin of butter should contain one English cwt. (112 lbs.) of butter; but any keg of [butter that approximates to that weight is now called a firkin. Forty feet of round, or 50 feet of hewn timber is called a ton or load. One cubic yard of earth is called a load. Glaziers and stone cutters calculate their work by the square foot. Painter, plasterers, pavers, ceilers and paper hangers calculate by the square yard. Flooring, roofing, partitioning, slating, tiling, and some kindred kinds of work are calcu- lated by the ' 'square," which is 10 feet square, or 100 square feet. Twenty -four and three-fourths cubic feet make i perch of stone or masonry, when strictly speaking; but the custom is so general as to be legal for masons to charge for i63^$ cubic feet to the perch, unless the true perch of 24% cubic feet is distinctly stated, as in the case in all government advertisements for contracts of such work. 956 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES- One thousand shingles are estimated to •' the square," when exposed 5 inches to ihe weather. Bricklayers calculate every wall as 12 inches thick when estimating by square or square yard. Joiners, bricklayers, plasterers, and kindred trades, calculating their work, allow only oae- half of the actual openings for doors, windows, and vacant places. In calculating stone or brick work, the outside line is taken as the length, and no allowance is made for corners. When grain is sold by measure, struck measure is meant and used. Old laws define this to mean that after the measure is heaped full, the excess is struck off with a round stick or roller, straight, and of the same diameter from end to end. This process would leave the vessel just evenly full. Corn in the ear, fruit and feed are usually sold by heaped measure, which would make a Winchester bushel hold a little more than 5 pecks. Fifty-seven and one-quarter cubic feet make one chaldron. Four hundred and twenty-one and seven-eighths cubic feet, or a cube of 7^^ feet, make e ton (English, 2240 lbs.) hay in the mow. Hay, as usually delivered, weighs 5 lbs. to the cubic foot. Hay well pressed weighs 8 lbs. to the cubic foot. Straw, loose, weighs 3^ lbs.; well pressed, 5% lbs, to the cubic foot. A gallon of water weighs 8J/3 lbs. A gallon of oil weighs 7^^ lbs. A gallon of molasses weighs 11% lbs. A gallon of alcohol weighs 6 19-20 lbs. A gallon of spirits turpentine weighs 7 5-16 lbs. The United States government, which, under the Constitution alone has the power l® regulate the matter, has made no provision for the weights per bushel of any articles, and as almost all grains, seeds and roots are now sold by the v/eighed bushel, and the customs of each State being different, much misunderstanding has arisen when buyers and sellers are resident of different States. In the following table, the most useful weight of the article is given, and some of the principal variations from it are noted ; Barley 48 lbs...*.. California, 50 lbs. Vermont and Mass., 46 lbs.. Pennsylvania, 47 lbs. ^- Beans 60" New Jersey, 63 lbs. New York, 62 lbs. Blue Grass Seed 14 " Buckwheat .52" California and Illinois, 40 lbs. Connecticut, 45 lbs. Indiana and New Jersey. 50 lbs. Massa- chusetts arid Vermont, 46 lbs. Minnesota,. Wisconsin and Oregon, 42 lbs. New York and Pennsylvania, 48 lbs. Castor Beans. 46" •.. Clover Seed 60" New Jersey, 64 lbs. Ohio, 62 lbs. Flaxseed 56 " New Jersey and New York, 55 lbs. Hempseed 44" New Jersey and New York, 48 lbs. Com 56" Ear Com 70 " Indiana, Iowa and Missouri, 68 lbs. Oats 32" Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin, 35 lbs. Ken- tucky, 33^^ lbs. Maine, Mass., New Hamp- shire and New Jersey, 30 lbs. Oregon, 34 Ite. Connecticut, 28 lbs. Onions -57" Indiana, 48 lbs. Rhode Island 30 lbs. Massa- chusetts, 52 lbs. Ohio, 56 lbs. Peas 60" ..... New Jersey, 64 lbs. Potatoes 60" Rye 56 " Salt 70 " Timothy Seed 45" New York, 44 lbs. Wisconsin, 46 lbs. Wheat 60 " Connecticut, 56 lbs. Bran 20 " Coal 80" Bituminous; 70 lbs. Cannel. Many of the weights, it will be observed, are based on the English ton; for instance: ryft and corn are 2 quarters, or 56 pounds to the bushel. ,/-,,• A book is described as a folio, quarto, etc., according to the number of folds it takes 8» reduce the paper on which it is printed to the size of a page of the book. A sheet folded once, or in 2 leaves, makes a folio. twice " 4 " four times 8 " six " 12 " " " quarto. " " octavo. " " duodecimo. eight " 16 " twelve £4 " "■ " 16 mo. " " 24mo. sixteen 32 " " " 32mo. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 957 TABLES. AMERICAN. xo mills.... make i cent. 30 cents " I dime. sodimes " i dollar. 10 dollars " i Eagle. ENGLISH. 4 farthings make i penny. 12 pence " i shilling. 20 shillings " i pound. 21 shillings " i guinea. 6s 8d " I nohle. I2S " 1 angel. i3S4dor%L " i merk. 5s " I crown. FRENCH ^tomillimes make i centime. soocentimes " i franc. According to the table of mortality, the reasonable expectation, or rather the average -duration of life, would make probable that at any certain age there was still unexpired of a man's life as below : At 40 years 15.60 years. " 45 " 13-75 " 50 " "-95 " 55 " 10-30 " 60 " 8.7s " 65 " 7.40 "70 " 5.80 At birth M-^S years. " 5 years 31.05 " *' xo " 30.00 " "is " 26.75 " " ao " 23.75 " "2 " 21.40 " "30 " 19.50 " " 35 " 17^50 " The River Jordan is 180 yards wide, and 3 feet deep at its mouth. The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long, and 6 miles broad at its greatest with. Palestine is about 200 miles long and about 60 miles wide on the average. From Dan to Beersheba, by an air line, is 125 miles. From Jerusalem to Jericho, is 15 miles. The great pyramid at El Guzeh, in Egypt, is 746 feet square at the base ; and 450 feet 9 Mches high. The second pyramid is 690 feet 9 inches square, and 447 feet 6 inches high. The third is 354 feet 6 inches square, and 203 feet high. At some distance from these are six smaller pyramids. The Sphinx is the figure of a human headed, recumbent lion, hewn out of solid rock. The defects, and portions of the legs, are supplied with stone casings. It is 188 feet g}4 iaches long. A slow river runs as the rate of 2 miles per hour, A rapid river runs at the rate of 6 miles per hour, A man is supposid to walic 4 miles per hour. A clipper ship sails 10 miles per hour. A horse trots when on the road, 12 miles per hour. A horse runs wh»n on the road, 20 miles per hour. A steamboat runs 22 miles per hour. A hawk, it is said, can fly 150 miles per hour. A three-penny nail is i inch long. \ A four-penny nail is ij^^'inch long. A five-penny nail is i^ inch long. A six-penny nail is 2 inches long. An eight-penny nail is 2^ inches long. A ten-penny nail is 2K inches long. A twelve-penny nail is 3 inches long. A twenty-penny nail is 3X inches long. The number of kernels in one pound of different articles, will average as follows : Wheat, .50,500; rye, 23,000; barley, 15,400; oats, 20,000; clover seed, 250,000. BALLOONING. June 5, 1783, the first balloon on record was sent up from near Lyons, France, by Stephen Joseph Montgotifer. This was inflated with hot air. August 37, 1783, a balloon inflated with hydrogen was sent up from Paris by the brothers Robert. Towards the close of the same year, a young man by the name of Pilate de Rozier, made an ascent in a hot air balloon, but only to the height of 300 feet, the balloon being held down with ropes. November 21st, 1783, the same Rozier with the Marquis d Arlandes, made the first balloon ascension properly so-called. They ascended to the height of 3,000 feet, traveled about six miles, and descended safely in about twenty-five minutes. This was in a hot air balloon. December ist, r783, Messrs. Charles and Robert ascended from Paris in a balloon inflated with hydrogen, were up nearly two hours, and landed near Nesles, twentj'-five miles distant. June 28th, 1784. The first lady who ever made a balloon ascension was Madame Thible, who went up on this date with M. Fleuraat, They started from Lyons and attained the .Ssejghtof 13,500 feet. fci tcj S = c* oj '^ g n a -C ^ o o o S ^ ^ ^ -5 ^ ^ .. a « OJ -t^ -5 a a .3 o fcb o i_) bO s ^ m "a o 73 03 sb J3 ■g* b -a .^ & o .f J_^ a c ^ 7 so" TS at CO 13 OJ '3 g _bC X! •£,., ^ ■" - bJD^ a « 2 ^ g fe ^ =^ -S S •^ '>: bo , -uma was struck down by javelins from his own subjects. The poor monarch, in despair and wretchedness, lingered a few days and then died. When the people heard of his death they were stricken with remorse, and for a few days abandoned the conflict. But matters could not rest here, and so the conflict was renewed again, and Cortez was obliged to get out of the city. The desperate Mexicans followed him, whereupon a great battle was fought, in which Spanish arms and valor conquered. In the crisis of the struggle the sacred Mexican banner was struck down and captured. Dismay seized upon the warriors, and they fled in all directions. Cortez marched again upon the capital, laid siege to it, and after many months of conflict the famous city yielded. And so the empire' of the Montezumas was overthrown^ and Mexico became a Spanish province. The Spaniards, as a nation, seemed to think that America mtast abound in untold wealth of every kind, and that all they had to« do in order to obtain it was to march into the country and search out its hidden treasures. Accordingly, one expedition after another was fitted out to find these splendid cities in the interior^. and secure their priceless treasures. The most renowned of these was that of Ferdinand de Soto, the discoverer of the Mississippi. De Soto had served with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and was a man of means and influence. When he an- nounced his intention of exploring the new country, hundreds of young men, some of them nobles and wealthy, made haste to join the expedition. De Soto picked out six hundred of the most gallant and daring, and made up his company. The most ex- travagant preparations were made, and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. The young knights were clad in costly suits of armor^ g'JO FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. ■ornamented with scarfs and silk embroidery. The fleet consisted of ten vessels, laden with everything which could be needed. They sailed away and touched at Cuba, where De Soto left his wife, a high-born lady, and where he was joined by more men from the island. The wife was to govern Cuba, while her husband found and conquered new empires. The ships cast anchor in Tampa Bay, and the young men saw nothing before them but silent forests and gloomy morasses. Some thereupon turned back, but the majority kept on. De Soto and his party plunged boldly into the woods and marched northward, wading through swamps, swimming rivers, and fighting Indians for three months. Arriv- ing at the country of the Apalachians, on the left bank of the Flint River, they determined to winter. For four months they stayed here and sent out exploring parties in every direction. Early next spring the Spaniards began their march to the north and east. They encountered an Indian guide, who told them of a populous empire farther on, where the land was full of gold. A Spanish soldier who had been over the ground before denied this story, but De Soto would not believe the denial, and said that he would find gold or see poverty with his own eyes. On the party went through swamps and woods. The Indian guide became crazy, and lost the whole company in the forest. By May they had reached South Carolina, and thence turned westward. Wandering on, they came to the Indian town of Mobile, where a terrible battle was fought with the savages, in which De Soto killed or burned to death about two thousand five hundred Indians, and lost himself eighteen killed, one hundred and fifty wounded, eighty horses, and all his baggage. Nothing daunted, they turned again northward. The country grew poorer, and when winter again set in, the party was on the point of starvation. They found some ungathered maize and an Indian village, and there they encamped. Here they were again attacked by the Indians and driven away. Turning westward they came up to the Mississippi, built barges and crossed it, into the land of the Dakotas. It was the first time this noble river had beeh seen by white men; but De Soto and his company seemed to care but little for it, only as an obstacle to be overcome in their crazy and useless search. The party went on and on — first north, then west, then south, and finally growing desperate, turned again toward the Mississippi, which they reached in the vicinity of Natchez. By this time the proud and haughty spirit of the old Spanisk cavalier was thoroughly subdued and broken. How pride and obstinancy and a desire for success had kept him up so long will always remain a great wonder. Several times he might have received assistance from Cuba, but he spurned it and pressed on in his mad, wild chase after imaginary riches. But now De Soto's head was bowed, and he saw that his expe- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 97 1 dition had been a failure. He became a prey to melancholy, a violent fever set in and he died. His followers took the body in the night, rowed out to the middle of the river, and let it sink in the waters, which will always be associated with his name. The remainder of the company, after making one more effort to find their empire, came back to the Mississippi, built seven brig- antines out of their remaining materials, launched them and set sail for the Gulf of Mexico. After fifty-five days of buffetings and perils by land and sea, and from hostile Indians, three hun- dred and eleven famished and heart-broken fugitives, out of all that magnificent company that had sailed from Spain, reached the settlement at the mouth of the river of Palms, and brought one of the most marvelous and foolhardy expeditions of history to an end. Several other expeditions, similar in character and purpose to this one of De Soto, were made by the Spaniards, notwithstanding the fact that none had been successful but those of Cortez and Pizarro. One under Pamphilo de Navarez started out with two hundred and sixty soldiers and forty horsemen, wandered through woods and swamps, came back to the sea, built ships and em- barked, were overtaken in a storm, and only four men were left to tell the tale of suffering and hardship. A similar fate overtook Lucas de Ayllon and his party, who came to kidnap the Indians and carry them back to Spain as slaves. Ferdinand Magellan, on the other hand, who was a Portuguese by birth, but in the service of the Spanish king, determined to find a southwest passage to Asia, struck boldly across the sea, came to the coasts of South America, sailed down them, exploring as he went, at last came to the straits which still bear his name, went through them and out into the broad Pacific, and actually reached China and Japan ; thus for the first time circumnavigating the globe. But, with all their exploration, the only real and permanent colony established by the Spaniards in America was at St. Augustine, in Florida, in 1565 — forty-two years before the settle- ment at Jamestown by the English. THE FRENCH IN AMERICA. The particular object of the early French explorations of the New World seems to have been the discovery of a north-west passage to Asia. Before this, however, attention was drawn to the fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland, and as early as 1504, the fishermen of Normandy and Brittany, began to ply their vocation in those waters. But it was not until 1524 that the first French expedition left Europe under the command of John Verrazzani, a native of Florence. In a single ship called the Dolphin, he held on his course for fifty days through tempestuous weather, and at length reached land in the vicinity of Wilmington. After 972 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. sailing a hundred and fifty miles south in the hope of finding a harbor, he turned north, explored the whole coast of New Jersey^ entered the harbor of New York, and finally anchored for fifteen days at Newport, R. I. Continuing his voyage north, he exam- ined the long and broken line of the New England coast, and at last reached Newfoundland, from whence he returned to France and gave a very glowing account of his discoveries. Still, ten years elapsed before the second voyage was made under James Cartier. Coming directly to Newfoundland, he crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence, entered the river itself, sailed up it for a distance and then went back to France. Before returning, however, he landed, set up a cross bearing a shie>d with the lily of France, and proclaimed the French King monarch of the country. Cartier's report having aroused the greatest enthusiasm, a third expedition was sent out to found a permanent colony. It was furnished with three ships and had volunteers from some of the noblest families in France. The whole com- pany repaired to the cathedral before sailing and received the bishop's blessing. They arrived at Newfounland, entered the Gulf of St. Law- rence and proceeded up the river to the Island since called Orleans. The name of St. Lawrence was now given to the gulf and river, because the expedition entered these waters on the day of the festival of St. Lawrence the martyr. The fleet having anchored, Cartier proceeded still farther up the river to an Indian settlement on the Island of Hochelega. Ascending a hill at the foot of which the Indian settlement lay, on a beautiful day in September, he gazed with admiration at the magnificent region spread out before him and called the hill Mont Real ; a name now known as Montreal. But the enthusiasm of the company was speedily quenched by the rigors of a Canadian winter, and when spring opened they all were glad to get back to France with- out making any settlement. It was sometime before there was another attempt to colonize, and when it was made in 1541 under Lord Roberval the attempt was a failure, like those which had preceded it. A period of fifty years followed in which the government of France made no further attempt. Meantime some persecuted Huguenots under the patronage of Coligni, came to the coast of Florida, passed northward to Port Royal in Carolina, landed and built a fort and remained about a year, when the company grew mutinous, killed their leader, constructed a rude brig and put out to sea, where they were driven about for a long time and finally were picked up by an English ship and carried to France. A second party under the same auspices were sent out and succeeded in making a settlement near the present city of St. Augustine in Florida,. OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 973 but they soon quarreled among themselves, and was finally dis- persed or killed by the Spaniard Melendez. A hundred years had passed and still no French colony had succeeded in permanently establishing themselves in the New- World. The time had now come, however, when such an attempt was destined to flourish. A colony sent out from France under De Monto as leader in 1604, consisting of two ship loads, made their way to the Bay of Fundy, discovered a harbor on the north- west coast of Nova Scotia, landed, built a fort at the mouth of St. Croix river, and called the whole country Acadia. Here they remained and prospered until finally broken up by the English in King William's War, 1755. About the same time with the settlement of Acadia, Samuel Champlain was commissioned by a company of merchants in France to come to America and establish a trading-post upon the St. Lawrence. Under this commission Champlain crossed the ocean, entered the gulf, sailed up the river, and with admirable prudence and good judgment selected the spot on which Quebec now stands as the site for a fort. After going back to France and giving an account of his expedition, he returned to his settle- ment and laid the foundations of the present city. In company with two others he joined a company of Huron Indians in a march against the Iroquois, and ascended the Sorel River until he discovered the long and narrow lake which has since borne his name. In process of time he completed a strong fortress for his colony, and to him more than any other man, the permanence of the French colonies on the St. Lawrence is to be attributed. Champlain died, and his settlement in Canada was called New France. After his death settlers came over in considerable num- bers, and Quebec became an important place. The principal business of these northern settlers was trading in furs, and the French sought to gain the exclusive possession of it. But to do so required the friendship of the Indians inhabiting the country north and west of the great lakes. Accordingly some Jesuit Missionaries, whom Champlain had brought over frorn France, undertook the task of converting the Indians. By joining the Hurons and Algonquins against the Iroquois, Champlain had gained the deadly hatred of the latter, and this hatred the French were never able to overcome. So avoiding the Iroquois, the missionaries began to labor most zealously for the salvation of the other tribes. By the year 1536, thirteea Jesuits were at work among the Indians in Canada. But the Jesuits desired to extend their labors, and so two of their number, named Father Brabeuf and Daniel, accompanied a party of Hurons to their homes, a distance of nine hundred miles, and established six missions on the shores of Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe. Here 974 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. they remained and labored for fifteen years, and had the satisfac- tion of seeing many of the dusky children of the forest enrolled among their converts. Among the number was Ahasistari, the chief of the Hurons, who became quite enthusiastic for the con- version of others after his own baptism, and exclaimed, " Let us- strive to make the whole world embrace the faith in Jesus." The reports of the success of the missionaries in America gave great satisfaction to the Catholics in France, and money and support were freely given them to prosecute their work, A col- lege for the education of missionaries was founded in 1635 at Quebec, two years before the establishment of Harvard at Cam- bridge. A nunnery was also established at Montreal for the education of Indian girls. By the close of 1646, the French had established a line of Missions across the continent from Lake Superior to Nova Scotia, and between sixty and seventy Jesuits were laboring for the conversion of the savages. Of course, this conversion was only formal and external, and did not change either the habits or lives of the disciples, and when the mission-7 aries went away they all fell back into their old ways. In 1648, war blazed out between the Iroquois and Hurons, which very much disturbed Missionary operations. Brabeuf and Daniel were taken prisoners and put to death, Ahasistari, the Huron chief, sharing their fate with them. The Jesuits now turned their attention to other tribes in other parts of the country. A Mission was established among the Indians of Maine; another at the head of Lake Superior among the Chippewas; and another at Green Bay. The Missionary at the latter place was the famous Father Marquette, who, in company with a fellow-priest named joliet, and some Indian guides, struck across the country, found the Wisconsin river, sailed down that into the Mississippi, and stopped not until he had reached the mouth of the Arkansas,, when, fearing he might fall into the hands of the Spaniards, he- returned to Green Bay, thence to the country of the Illinois, and finally died and was buried on the banks of the river which still bears his name. The memory of this truly good man was long cherished by the Indians. The work of exploration begun by Marquette, was taken up' and carried on by Robert de La Salle, a fur-trader of Fort Frontenac, at the outlet of Lake Ontario. He ascended the lake to Niagara, passed around the falls, and built a vessel of sixty tons on Lake Erie. Going on, he passed through the straits into Lakes Huron and Michigan and entered Green Bay, trading as he went. Exploring Lake Michigan as far as the mouth of St. Joseph, he crossed over the country and built a fort near the site of Peoria. Then building a large barge on the Upper Illinois, he embarked therein and floated down the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico, naming the country Louisiana, in honor of Louis- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 975 XIV. Afterward the French formed a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi and claimed the whole country ; which colony was the germ of the present city of New Orleans. France had formed the magnificent plan of an Empire in America, which should extend from Canada and the Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. But the climate and the difficulties of various kinds, and the wars with Indians and the English thwarted the design, and gradually her possessions were taken from her until not a shred remained. At one time however about sixty military posts were in existence, reaching from Canada to the Gulf, along the IlHnois, Maumee, Wabash and Mississippi rivers. The most touching story in this process of subjugation, is the capture and ruin of Arcadia, on the coast of Nova Scotia. This was the oldest French colony in America, and the most peaceful and prosperous. The population was about 17,000. They lived by themselves and cared but little for the outer world. But the conquest of America by the English, demanded the dispersion of this colony. A large force was sent against it which captured the forts and nominally reduced the country to submission. But the English, envious at the prosperity of the French, pretended to fear an insurrection, and" so it was determined to break the colony up and scatter the people along the Atlantic coast. The peaceful hamlets were destroyed, the people forced into the larger towns, and thence forced at the point of the bayonet into ships. Fami- lies were broken up never again to be reunited. Many of the Arcadians fled to Canada, and others went into the wilderness, but seven thousand were torn away and scattered among the English colonies. The property was confiscated, the towns burnt, and the whole land laid waste. And for what? Nothing but to satisfy the exigencies of war. The history of civilized nations furnishes no parallel to this wicked and wanton destruction of a peaceful, inoffensive people. Not a single crime is charged against them, only that they were French. Longfellow's beautiful poem called " Evangeline " puts this history into verse. THE DUTCH IN AMERICA. The Dutch settlements in America resulted from the voyages- of Sir Henry Hudson, who was commissioned by some English merchants to find, if possible, a passage through the continent to the Indies. He made two voyages, which were both unsuccessful, and when he applied for more means to make a third attempt, the English merchants refused to grant them. Thereupon he went to Holland, and was fitted out with a small ship called the Half Moon, in which he continued his enterprise. While searching along the coast for his passage-way, he found himself on the 3d of September, 1609, safely anchored in the bay of Sandy Hook.. ^•^6 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. Passing through the Narrows, he entered the noble river which now bears his name, and sailed northward. He reached the point of Kinderhook, moored his vessel, took some boats, and went up beyond the present site of Albany. On his return voyage the vessel stopped in an English harbor, and was there ■detained by the EngHsh, who claimed the crew, and consequently the results of the voyage. All that Hudson could do was to for- ward to the Dutch East India Company an account of his voyage and of his discoveries, made under the flag of Holland. The same year several ships came over from Holland, and a settlement was made on Manhattan Island, and called New Amsterdam, Extending their discoveries north and south, the Dutch made a feeble claim to the coast country from Cape Cod to Cape Hen- lopen, and called it New Netherlands. They built a fort on Man- ;hattan Island, and another one up the river, just below Albany, and employed themselves in the fur trade. The first settlers, consisting of about thirty families, were Dutch Protestant refugees from Flanders, and were called Walloons. They came to America to find repose from persecutions, and accord- ingly, between them and the early settlers of Plymouth a good understanding and an active sympathy e^cisted. In 1626, the first regular governor was sent over from Holland, Peter Minuits by name, and civil government began in the New Netherlands. On Minuits' arrival, he purchased from the Indians the whole of Manhattan Island, about twenty thousand acres, for twenty-four dollars. Under his administration, the colony was one of the most prosperous in America. The Dutch settlers were peaceful and happy, and trade flourished greatly. Minuits was succeeded by Wouter Van Twiller, who has been described by Irving as fat, lazy, stupid and incompetent. About all that was done under his management was to attempt the settle- ment of a portion of Connecticut, in the vicinity of Hartford. The English, however, cut off their communication with the sea, and the settlement was abandoned. Twiller was succeeded by Sir William Kieft, a man of greater abilities and energy, but cruel and arbitrary. Kieft plunged the colony into war with the neighboring Swedes, in the present State of Delaware, and also with the surrounding tribes of Indians, which caused the colony much trouble and distress. After a good deal of treachery and bloodshed on both sides, a treaty of peace was made, and the people were glad. Kieft was succeeded in 1647 by Peter Stuyvesant, the last and greatest of the Dutch governors. His first care was to reconcile the Indians, and a state of peace followed. But encroachments were constantly being made upon Dutch territory by surrounding colonies. The Swedes in Delaware again becoming troublesonie, Stuyvesant marched into the country and reduced it to submis- OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTOR 977 sion ; thus practically blotting out the Swedish claim to any part of the New World. While Stuyvesant was absent, the Indians rose again and commenced their work. When these had been quieted the English began. Stuyvesant was in despair. About this time, in 1664, Charles II. of England granted to his brother, the Duke of York, all the territory between the Connecticut and Delaware. The Duke made haste to secure his territory, ap- peared before New Amsterdam with a large fleet, and demanded its surrender. Stuyvesant tried to rouse his people into resist- ance ; but resistance was hopeless, and so the town surrendered, and on the 8th of September, 1664, New Netherland ceased to exist. New Amsterdam was changed to New York, and Fort Orange, up the Hudson, was called Albany. THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA It seems strange at first sight, that when so many different nations were occupying portions of the New World at the same time, all of them should fail or be driven off" but the English. At one time in the early history of the colonies, the French nation •occupied or controlled by far the larger and best portion of the ■continent; but not one settlement remained permanently. The Dutch and the Spaniards also obtained good footholds, but they iDOth retired before the English. Two causes, or possibly three, may account for this fact. One is the decree of an overruling and superintending Providence ; another is the superior energy and strength of character displayed by the English; and, lastly, the English were really the first discoverers of the continent. Al- though Columbus had applied in vain to the English court for assistancce, yet after he returned from his successful voyage, the English were not slow to enter upon the work which his voyages had thrown open to all. Five years after Columbus sailed from Spain, John Cabot sailed from Bristol, to find that northwest passage to Asia, which in reality was the object of all the dis- coverers and explorers of that century. On the 24th of June, 1497, Cabot struck the coast of Labrador, and explored the shore line for several hundred miles. This was the real discovery of the American continent, and it was made fourteen months before Columbus reached the coast of South America, and two years before Amerigo Vespucci came in sight of the mainland. So that, after all, the English were the first discoverers of the coun- try, and John Cabot was the first man who went on shore, and planted his flag and took possession of the land in the name of his sovereign king. This fact gave the English a priority of claim over the continent, and made them bold to drive off or conquer all other peoples who came in at a subsequent date. John Cabot made but one voyage, but Sebastian Cabot, his 9^8 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES son, took up the work his father had left unfinished, and carried it forward with still greater success. Striking the continent at about the same place as his father did, he proceeded northward until the icebergs stopped his course, then turned southward and examined the coasts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine, then passing on he reached the point of Cape Hatteras, from which he sailed homeward. Although the Cabots had done so much for England, giving her in reality the possession of a new world, still the nation was slow to appreciate the work of these men, and slow to profit by it. About this time the Pope of Rome issued a Papal bull giving all islands and countries west of the Azores to Spain ; and Henry VII., not daring to defy the Pope, pressed not the nation's claims. After the Reformation in England had been accomplished, how- ever, the spirit of discovery reappeared in that bold sailor, Martin Frobisher, who made a voyage to the extreme northern part of the continent, explored the same, but being hindered by the icebergs^ returned to England. After him, Sir Francis Drake sailed south, passed through the Straits of Magellan, and explored the Pacific coast as far as Oregon. Up to this time no attempt had been made at colonization, but Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh in 1583 jointly com- manded an expedition for that avowed purpose, sailed to New- foundland,' landed, proceeded farther south, when disaster com- pelled them to relinquish the enterprise and return home. Raleigh, nothing disheartened, fitted out a second expedition, landed at Roanoke Island and left a colony. The colony started out well, but trouble arising with the Indians, during the absence of the fleet the whole company were murdered. Never did a man work more heroically or perseveringly to build the "city of Raleigh " on Roanoke Island than did Sir Walter. Three or four times did he plant colonies on the spot, and used up his entire fortune of 40,000 pounds in trying to sustain them ; but the war with Spain in which England was now engaged, and constant trouble with the Indians, prevented success. Two of the colonies were murdered outright, and the others returned to England. Sir Walter died without seeing the wish and hope of his life realized. In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold shortened the route from Eng- land about two thousand miles by striking straight across the ocean instead of first sailing south to the Canary Islands. He landed at Cape Cod, and finally began a settlement on an island in Buzzard's Bay, but it was short-lived. The year 1606 had arrived, and still there was no English settlement on the American shore. The time had now come, however, for definite and settled action. Two large companies were formed, called the London and Plymouth Companies, and OUR GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY. 979 to these King James granted nearly the whole of the continent ; the Plymouth company taking the northern half, and the London the southern. Two attempts were made by the Plymouth com- pany to colonize their section, but the first expedition was cap- tured by a Spanish man-of-war, and • e second, after a short stay at the mouth of the Kennebec River, abandoned the enter- prise and went back. It was reserved for the London Company to effect the first permanent English settlement in America, This was at a place since called Jamestown (after James I.), in the present state <^'' Virginia, so called in honor of Elizabeth, the virgin queen. Elizabeth had given this name, however, to the whole section of territory discovered and described by Raleigh, long before the present expedition set out. The leader of this colony was the famous Captain John Smith. It consisted of three vessels, carrying a hundred and five persons. They started for Roanoke Island, but were driven by a storm farther north, entered Chesapeake Bay, and sailed up the James River fifty miles, where they landed on a peninsula covered with verdure and beauty, and laid out the first and oldest English town in the New World. This was on the 13th of May, 1607, a hundred and trM.K2s^T AXD HISTORT. 999 no one of these doctrines can be presented as a truth, which needs only to be stated, not demonstrated; no one who writes upon them can properly laj down any so-called principles without, at the same time giving the ground" upon which each one ot them claims to rest. To go no further back, Mon- tesquieu and Hume, about the middle of the iSth Century, laid down the dictmn, which stated in the v-ords of Hume, is as follows: "It seems a max- im almost self-evident, that the prices of everything depend on the propor- tion between commodities and money, and that any considerable alteration on either has the same effect of heightening or lowering the price ; or, more plainly, that 'an increase in the quantity of the local currency of a particular country will praise rices in that country, exactly in the same manner as an in- crease in the general supply of precious metals raises prices all over the world." From that time to the present hour, there has been a sharp and never ceas- ing conti-oversy upon every phase of the subject. There is a large school which utterly denies this proposition. It is con- tended by this latter school that money has a fructifying influence upon in- dustry, and that an increase in its volume may increase production, trade and commerce, and so far from necessarily increasing prices, in some cases act- ually reduce them; that if the theory were tiaie, no increased production in a country, were it two, five, ten or twentj^ fold, without a corresponding increase in the volume of money, covild increase the aggregate value of these pi-oduc- tions a single dollar. There are those who contend that "money should be a thing of a country, of a people, and not of the world!" and that the financial and business affairs of a country shovild in no wise be based upon the precious metals, which are, it is contended, liable to export beyond the control of the people or the authorities of a state. There has long been a considerable num- ber of writers in Great Britain holding these opinions, but it is in this country, and within a comparatively recent period, that such views have taken most decided and original shape. By no means all of these writers contend for an arbitrary volume of such money, only limited by the wants of the state or of the people at a particular time. Several of their plans have contemplated the conversion of this money, by means of funding to any extent which a curtail- ment in the monetary wants of the people, may demand. Probably the ear- liest ad \ocate of such a system as is here referred to, was Edward Kellogg, who, in September, 1843, published in New York a pamphlet entitled " Cur- rency, the evil and the remedy." He proposed as a remedy for usury, that the United States government should establish a national safety fund which should lend money on mortgage of real estate at 3 per cent, per annum, in the foriai of "circulating medium or safety fund notes," which notes were to \ie payable or fundable at the pleasure of the holder in " treasury notes" or bonds, bearing interest at the rate of 2 per cent, per annum, and payable on and after one year from a given day in circulating medium or safety fund notes. This idea was elaborated by him in subsequent works ; and immediate- ly before and after the passage of the act of Feb. 25, 1862, providing for the issue of United States legal-tender notes, it was strongly urged upon the gov- ernment by prominent financiers, that these notes should be made interconver- tible at the pleasure of the holder with United States bonds. This scheme of finance called the "3-65 bond plan," has attracted much attention. Its friends maintain that the interchangeability of national paper money with govern- ment bonds beai-ing a fixed rate of interest, will give an automatic, self-ad- justing volume of currency at all times, commensurate with the wants of the people and of business; and that it will preclude the possibility of financiat crises by introducing a cash system of business instead of the credit one which at present exists. In entire consistency with the history of all finan- cial schemes and theories, old as well as new, this plan is opposed with a vigor nearly if not quite equal to tliat with which it is advocated. 1000 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. THK GKifiAT iSiMliillON'. 1001 HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE IITED STATES CENTEIIAL EMI ■EARLIER INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS. ^a^^ipE find some reference in a,ncient history to large collections ^IW °^ merclumts at Tyre and Sidon, and in the present cen- XI tury in B]urope and Asia, bringing together the people, and sellers and buyers from long distances, thus being to a cer- tain extent of an international character. In 1699, an Exliibition was lield at Leyden, in Holland. In. 1756 and 1761, prizes were offered by the Society of Arts in Eng- land. France, in 1797, founded the first of her National Fairs, at which were 110 contributors. The second took place in 1801, witli 229 Exhibitors. This International Exhibition was held in the Grand Court of the Louvre. The report of the jury indicated the value of these h^xhibitions as follows: " Tliat not an artist or an inventor, who, once obtaining thus a public recognition of his ability, has not found his reputation and business largely increased." The par- ties receiving tlie Gold Medal on this occasion dined with Napo- leon, then First Consul. These Exhibitions were kept up for sev- eral years; the Eleventh in 1849, had 4,494 exhibitors. To Prince Albert is certainly due the credit of originating and completing the first of all international exhibitions. His own words were that the intention w^as " to give a true test and a liv- ing picture of the point of development at which the whole of mankind had arrived in tJiis great task, and a new starting-point from which all nations will be able to direct their further exer- tions." How well his idea has been carried out, the history of the ])ast twenty years stands in evidence. Designs for the building were advertised for in regular form, and there were not less than two hundred and thirty-three competitors; but, at the last mo- ment, Joseph Paxton, gardener of the Duke of Devonshire, sug- FLOKKXCK K.XHLIirilON ULriLKING, 186 L M^T^'^HrsrtR l-illlLITTOX BUILDIIfG, 18o7« THE GREAT EXIIIDlTlOIir, 1003 gested the plan of the Crystal Palace, which resulted in the fairy- like structure of iron and glass erected in Hyde Park in 1851. The entire amount of space covered by this building was twenty acres, of which it was estiraated that one-half would be occupied by exhibitors, the balance being devoted to passage, etc. The total number of exhibitors was between 15,000 and 16,000, nearly one-half of whom represented Great Britain. The special result of this Exhibition to American industry was, the introduction of Colt's Fii-e Arms, India Rubber Manufactures, McCormick's Reapers, and American Pianos into Europe, for the first time. It has been estimated that the sales of these articles since that date have been to the extent of several millions of dol- lars in value. It must not be forgotton that it was during this' Exhibition the yacht America made her famou.s voyage, and won the Interna- tional Prize from all competitors. The New York Industrial Exhibition of 1853 did not prove satisfactory, and the building was sometime afterwards destroyed by fire. The General Report of the English Con^mittee says: " There can be little doubt, that in nearly all essential points, the Exhibition will prove, to the intelligent and industrious artisans and enterprising manulacturers of America, much more of an in- structor in what has to be done, than an exposition of what has been done by thtim; for the latter can be alone fairly judged of in the manufactories." Dublin had an Exhibition in 1853, which proved very successful. At the Paris Exhibition of 1855, the United States was well represented. Of the 131 exhibitors from the United States, the proportion of rewards was greater than any other country; as we received tAvo Grand Medals of Honor, awarded to McCormick for his Reaper, and to Goodj^ear for his improvements in the treatment of India Rubber; and in addition, there were granted 3 Medals of Honor, 17 First-class Medals, 28 Second-class Medals, and 30 Honorable Mentions, accompanied by a Di])loma. Of the Grand Medals of Honor, Great Britain re(;(-ivo(l l)ut one, although rejiresented by 1,549 exhibitors. The Government of Great Britain expended nearly $200,000 in its own Department at tliis Exhil)ition. It remained open 200 days, and the total recei})ts were abovit $650,000. The First Italian Exhiliition of Art and Industry was opened at Florence, in September, 1861. It proved to be a great success, especially in bringing forward the moi'e prominent branches of Italian industry. In 1862 the Second International Exhibition was held in Lon- don, and \Hi.s opened bj^ the Duke of Cambridge, and the musical 1004 FOOTPKIXTS OF THE AGES. * "i-fc MUJN'iOH EXHrElTlOJN- 15UILi)l]^^G, 1854. '■& TAEIS EXHIBITION" BUILDING, 1867. THE GKEAT KXUlBITIOJf. 1005 services were performed by 2,000 voices and a band of 400 instru- ments — tlie poet Tennyson preparing- an ode for the occasion. The Exhibition opened May 1st, and closed November 15th, being open for visitors 171 days, during w^hich time it was visited by 6,325,000 persons, and the gross receipts were 12,298,155. Altliough the United States was represented by only 132 arti- cles, yet it received the largest number of awards in proportion, of any nation represented, viz.: 56 Medals, and 29 Diplomas. When it is borne in mind that this was in 1862, M^hen our country was involved in civil war, and that the American section of the Exhibition was entirely controlled by private fundfe, the result is certainly most creditable; the special objects of interest, from the United States at the Exhibition of 1862, were McCormick's Reapers, Sickles' Steam Steering Apparatus, Ericsson's Caloric Elngine, Sewing Machines, Pianos, Maizena or Corn Starch, Flour, Street Railway Cars, Steam Fire Engines, etc., etc., Axes, Ploughs, Model Hovises, Shirtings and Sheetings. The attractions of the Paris Exhibition of 1867, led to its being visited by more of our countrymen than any former Exhibition. The city of Paris itself has always been styled " the Mecca of Americans," and many took this opportunity to visit and enjoy its pleasures. The Exhibition building was located in the Champ de Mars, a, large square in the immediate vicinity of the Military School. Early in 1866, steps w:ere taken by the commission in charge of the Exhiljition to beautify and improve this place, and at its opening the barren waste was made to blossom as the rose: trees, shrubs and flowers were planted in appropriate positions, and diversified with lakes, foimtains and cascades. The regular admission to this Exhibition was fixed at 1 franc or 20 cents gold, but on special occasions a higher price was charg- ed, and on Sundays the admission was reduced to 10 cts.; the largest number of any one day, as ofHcially reported, was 128,000; and the total number of visitors, during the entire Exhibition, was estimated at nearly ten millions. The Vienna ExJnIntion was opened May 1st, 1873, and closed Oct. 31st. The main bTu'lding, of brick a,nd glass, erected on the Prater (a beautiful Park about 5 miles long), was 2,985 feet long, 82 feet wide and ^H- feet high, with a central dome, and opening- out from this Hall were 32 transverse galleries, 250 feet long, and 49 feet wide, the whole presenting a form which was comjDared to a gridiron,or to a fish's spine, with the projecting bones. There was also a machine annex of brick, 2,614 feet long, and 155 feet wide, and a large fine art hall and numerous smaller btiildings. The exhibits w^ere classified into 26 groups folloAving nearly the plan of the divisions in the great expositions of London and Paris. The industries of nearly all the world were represented. There were Wi THE (ilMOAT JiXHIKITIO:??. 1007 643 exhibitors from the United States, of which 349 were award- ed prizes. Total number of visitors was 7,254,687. The exhibi- tion cost more than 112,000,000. It was not a financial success — deficit $9,000,000. The industrial benefits to Austria were very gTeat, and the advantages gained by foreign exhibitors were most important. II THE UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. The patriotic impulses of the people of the Great Republic originated the idea of some adequate celebration of the one hun- dredth anniversary of the National Birthda3^ ^^ 1^66 a number of gentlemen oi-iginated the plan of celebrating the great event by an exhibition of the progress, wealth, and general condition of the Republic, in which all the nations of the world should be invited to participate. In 1871 Congress passed a bill providing for a Cen- tennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Inde- pendence Avas adopted and^ signed. By this bill a commission was created of one commissioner and one alternate from each State and Territory. A Board of Finance was authorized to issue stock to the amount of ten million dollars in shares of ten dollars each. Congress appropriated $1,500,000, to finish the building. Gen. Joseph R. Havvley Avas made president of the commission; and on June 5, 1874, the President of the United States, Gen. Grant, invited the nations to participate, and eA^ery civilized na- tion except Greece and some petty South American Republics, was represented at Philadelphia. This entire enterprise Avas un- dertaken by a few eminent citizens, and everything Avas arranged, pi'ovided for, and ready when the first parcel of goods came. Ill \ DESCRIPTION OF THE CENTENNIAL CITY. Philadelphia has an ar(}a of 82,603 acres, or 120;^- square miles, the largest of any city in the world. Its jjopulation in 1876 was 817,448. It Avas founded by AVilUam Penn, in 1682. The name means " brotherly love." It is sometimes called the " Quaker City," the " Marble City," the " City of Homes," &c.; Avhich latter appellation is a well-merited (•omj)liment, from the fact, that from its noAv about nine hundred thousand inhabitants, it can boast of not far from tAvo hundred thousand comfortable dwellings, hun- dreds of which may well merit the name of palaces. Thousands of mechanics and operators i-eside in their own houses, earned by their own hard and honest toil. Thev are eoiistructed of the solid CORK EXHIBITIONS" BUILDIiVG, 1853. YiENNx. 1 \UI^I^Io^ iiijuin^, 1873. THE GEKAT KXHIBITION. 1009 and bright red Philadelphia brick, with white marble door-steps, facings and window-sills; contain a vestibule, four to six and eight rooms, neatly papered; they are furnished with gas and bath, and a yard in the rear sufficiently large for the cheerful grass-plot and flower-beds. To those who do not own their dwellings, these neat and cheerful homes are usually rented at from ten to twenty dol- lars per month, according to their locality. Philadelphia has also been called the " City of Street Railroads;" having about three hundred miles of street-railways, and running over two thousand passenger cars; its generally level surface and the rectangular lines of its streets and sqxiares, with an occasional large arterial avenue crossing through the heart of the great city, from some point north-west to south-east, or in the opposite direction, render it more available than any other city for this desirable vehicle of transit. In whatever part of the vast city you may locate or traverse you will hear the lively hum of the street-cars, and whatever point you may desire to reach, spring on board, apprise the conductor, and he will either convey you to the place desisted or transfer you to a car that will. A stranger who visited Philadelphia for observation and infor- mation, thus gave his experience to a friend who was about to follow with a similar object: " Every street in Philadelphia is ribbed with rail-tracks, and if you wish to view the entire square-toed metropolis, without the trouble of walking, jump into a street-car at the Delaware head of the citj^, and ride up one street and down another, till you see up and down it, north and south, out to the great western or county line; and then perform a similar car-feat across from north to south, and you have interviewed a great city in a sitting posture." IV CENTENNIAL GROUNDS, FAIRMOUNT PARK. Fairmount Park, on the banks of the Schuylkill, was selected as the site of the celebration, and two-hundred and thirty-six acres on Landsdowne Plateau, lying over one hundred feet above tide water, were enclosed for the purpose of the Exposition. Who can describe, what pen portray or mind conceive of tlie diversified and natural beauties of this wondrous landscape? Well may the beholder stand with uncovered head, while gazino- upon the handiwork of the Creator, where every spot seems hal- lowed with historic associations dating back for nearly two lum- dred years. The scene thus extolled might well be called the "Eden of America;" embracing as it does, nearly three thousand acres of ground — ^forming hills and dales, leafy woodlands, rip- pling brooks and placid river, rocky ravines and wilder nooks and 1010 FOOTPKIXTS OK TIIK AiiSCS. J^i > BUITH BBOS.. EMG9., VB(l^. THE HOtrSK WHEKE THE "dECLAKATIOx"" WAS WRITTEN IJf 1770. OAEPENTETl's ilALL IN 1776. THE GIMOAT KXIIIDITIOX. lOil crannies, extensive drives and sequestered valleys, numerous cas- cades and sloping terraces. Though not so artistically adorned as other and older parks, nature has lavished her gifts so abund- antly, that scarcely an additional attraction seems to be needed. This Park, so inse])arably connected with our Centennial enter- prise, is three times as large as the Central Park of New York, and is divided by tlie Schuylkill river into two sections — East and West Parks. The eiitire Parl-c contains nearly 3000 acres. Particular praises must l)e lavished upon the lovely Landsdowne Valley. Strangers were almost invariably tempted to forget the great Exhibition which tliey came to see, over their delight with this fairy spot. The little brook which meanders through the valley dashes and splashes in crystal purity over the rocks, and gurgles into the lit- tle pools on its tortuous way with a music of which the sweetness will forever be vainly imitated by aggressive art. Three large bridges and a number of smaller rustic ones span the brook on its way through the ground. This lovely retreat in the midst of the great exhibition buildings filled with the wonders of the whole world, is a blessing inestimable to the crowds who, weary of feast- ing in splendor, seek some relief in the calmer pleasures of a quiet ramble. V STATISTICS OF THE WORLD'S PARKS. Park of the Hague, 200 acres. Alameda, City of Mexico, 12 acres. Park at Munich, 320 acres. Peel, Manchester, 32 acres. Petit Park, Versailles, 1,280 ac/es. Palais Royal, 10 acres. Tuil- eries, 50 acres. Luxembourg, 160 acres. Champs Elysees, 225 acres. The Bois de Boulogne, 2,158 acres. Orosse Garden, Sax- ony, 8oo acres. Schwebgingen, near Heidelberg, 300 acres. Schloss Garden, Stuttgard, 560 acres. Hof Garden, Munich, 500 acres. Tliier Garden, Berlin, 200 acres. Djurgard, Stockholm, 480 acres. The Pra,ter, Vienna, 2,500 acres. The Summer Gar- den, near St. Petersburg, 480 acres. Boboli, Florence, 200 acres. Szarsco Selo, near St. Petersburg, 350 acres. Sweetzingen, near Mannheim, 100 acres. Richmond Hill, 2,468 acres. Lambeth, 250 acres. Kew Garden, 684 acres. Arboretu^m, Derby, 50 acres. Meadows, Edinburgh, 200 acres. Phoenix Park, Dublin, 1,752 acres. Birkenhead, Liverpool, 185 acres. Kensington Gardens, 35 acres. Buckingham Palace, 40 acres. Hyde Park, 389 acres. St. James's Park, 59 acres. Green Park, 55 acres. Regent's Park, 450 acres. Norfolk, Sheffield, 20 acres. Primrose Hill, 50 acres. Greenwich Park, 200 acres. Baxter, Dundee, 37 acres, Victoria, 300 acres Crystal Palace, Edinburgh, 200 acres. Bat- NEW toeb: exhibition building, 1853. 7ATLDB-5M1THPII1** BUBLIN EXHIBITION BUILDING, 1853. THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1013 tersea, 175 acres. Albert Park, 409 acres. Kensington Park, 262 acres. Chiswick Gardens, 33 acres. Windsor Little Park, 500 acres. Windsor Great Park, 1,800 acres. Hampton Court, 1,872 acres. Green, Glasgow, 121 acres. Prince's Park, Liver- pool, 90 acres. Washington, South Park, 150 acres. Hartford, Central, 46 acres. New York, Central Park, 862 acres. The other New York public grounds are — The Battery, 30 acres; City- Hall Park, 10|- acres; Washington Parade Grounds, 9^ acres; Union Square, 4 acres; Stuyvesant Park, 4 acres; Tompkins' Square, 10|- acres; Madison Square, 7 acres; St. John's Park, 4 acres; Gramercy Park, 1^ acres; Brooklyn, Prospect, 550 acres; Baltimore, Druid Hill, 700 acres, and Patterson's Park, 35^ acres. San Francisco has twelve squares of small extent — one improved. Cincinnati, Washington Park, 4^ acres; Lincoln Park, 7 acres; Hopkins, 1^ acre; City Park, 1^ acre; and Longworth's Garden of Eden, 156 acres. St. Louis, Tower Grove Park, 277 acres; it has also fourteen others, containing 119 acres, and Shaw's Garden, the "Wonder of the West," 276 acres. Chicago, Lincoln Park, 50 acres; Washington Park, 2^ acres; Lake Park, 40 acres; Dear- born Park, 1^ acres; Ellis Park, 3 acres; Union Park, 23 acres; Jefferson Park, 5|- acres; Vernon Park, 4 acres; South Side Park, about 1000 acres; Central Park, 185 acres; Humbolt Park, 225 acres; Douglass Park, 180 acres, and other small Parks. Boston Com- mon, 48 acres. New Haven, Wooster, 5 acres; the Green, 16 acres; the Brewster, 55 acres. Philadelphia, Hunting Park, 45 acres; Fair- mount Park, 2,991 acres. The other Philadelphia parks or squares are — Logan Square, 7 acres 3 roods; Franklin Square, 7 acres 3 roods; Rittenhouse Square, 6 acres 2 roods; Washington Square, 6 acres 2 roods; Independence Square, 4 acres 2 roods; Jefferson Square, 2 acres, 2 roods. The first parks or public inclosures laid out in North America for the pleasure and convenience of the people, were dedicated at the settlement of Philadelphia, in the Northeastern, Southeastern, Northwestern, Southwestern and Centre Squares, in 1681. VI. OPENING CEREMONIES OF THE EXHIBITION. May 10, 1876, proved an auspicious day for the inat.guration exercises, and these were attended by over one hundred thousand enthusiastic people. The band, under Theodore Thomas, played the national airs of the various countries represented in the Fair. This was followed by a Centennial March composed by Richard Wagner, of Germany. Bishop Simpson, of the M. E. church, offered prayer. A chorus of eight hundred voices, with organ and orchestral accompaniments, sung John G. Whittier's Centen- 1014 FOOXPillNTS OF TllJi A'ti':;?. INDEPENDBNCE HALL IN 1876. n-jjt THE COLLEGE. THE GEEAT EXHIBITION. 1015 nial Hymn to music, by John K. Paine, of Massachusetts. John Welsh, President of the Board of Finance, presented the buildings to the Commissioners, who accepted them through Gen. Hawley. A cantata by Sidney Lanier, of Georgia, music by Dudley Buck, was rendered. General Hawley presented the buildings to Presi- dent Grant, who declared the exhibition opened. The American flag was run up to the peak of the Main Building, a hundred guns were fired, and President Grant, and Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, taking their stand od. the platform of the great Corliss engine, moved the levers, and set in motion fourteen acres of ma- chinery. And in this dignified manner the opening ceremonies were terminated. VII. DESCRIPTION OF BUILDINGS AND THEIR LOCATION. The chief edifices were the Main Btiilding, the Art Gallery, and Horticultural, Agricultural and Machinery Halls. Says one in describing their relative positions at the opening of the show: The first which one reaches in coming from the city is the Main Exhibition building; but the only point from which a com- prehensive view may be taken of them all, is from the summit of George's Hill, on the western margin of the Exhibition grounds, and here the spectator will find the Machinery and Agricultural Halls in the foreground, and the Main Building and Art Gallery in the distance. Looking at them from this point, it will be seen that the northern faces of the Main and Machinery Buildings are in a line; that they are divided by an avenue, but connected by a covered way ; and that the length from the extreme of one build- ing to the extreme of the other is very great, — more than two- thirds of a mile. Running along the northern length of these buildings is a boulevard one hundred feet in width, which is tra- versed by a double line of narrow-gauge cars, for the accommoda- tion of visitors. Three hundred feet back of the Main Building, their centres being in a line, stands the Art Gallery. Next north- ward, and on the further side of Landsdowne Valley, which is cross- ed by a bridge, is the Horticultural Building; still back of it, northernmost of the principal structures, is the Agricultural Build- ing, and midway between this and the Machinery Hall is the building for the exhibition to be made by the United States Gov- ernment. In addition to these buildings, the demands for space were so numerous that annexes were erected both to the Art Gallery and Machinery Hall. Besides the five principal buildings here were nearly two hundi'ed smaller structures tastefully scat- ered over -the extensive grounds. From the numerous descriptions we select the following-, which contain the most. condensed and satisfactory items for our readers; II .III 'i^^ P^ !,IiiiIi{.I.iimI III I f I'li I I ''"'ili', 111 I ,|l| I 'imii'' I 1 I'll' I I I I'li, I III ' I' I ,1 i|l' h ,li„! , ft '!« ', I 1,1 III ' 'i II III! " iiVi> ;■"" PL ^''W'l'liul'i iiillHi il III ijii|ii;"ii "I' 'I 'Ill III I'j nil I'll I i^' I 'I I'll" ( ^M't^^ '"''"■''''' ,1 ]' i| ii',i I I THE GREAT EXHIBITIOIf. 1017 The Main Exhibition Building was constructed of iron and glass. It was 1,880 feet long, and 464 feet wide; while at the centre of each side and end was a projection two hundred and sixteen feet in length, containing an entrance and an imposing arcade and facade. The larger part of the structure was one story high, the cor- nice being forty-five and the ridge seventy feet from the ground; the central pavilion, however, rose to a height of ninety-six and its towers of one hundred and twenty feet. The enclosed area' was 21.47 acres. The eye of the visitor wandered over this expanse, bewildered by its extent, the impossibility of grasping its vast dimensions, and the forest of supporting columns and girders. Through the centre of the building ran an aisle one hundred and twenty feet wide and over one-third of a mile long; this was flanked by two others, one on each side, one hundred feet in width. Be- tween the nave and each avenue were three aisles, each forty-eight feet wide, and between each avenue and the wall of the building were two aisles, one forty-eight and the other twenty-four feet in width. Crossing these longitudinal avenues were a central tran- sept one hundred and twenty feet wide, and on each side an avenue one hundred feet wide. The narrowest aisles were ten feet in width. The roof was of tin, light being introduced at the north and the south sides and by skylights over the central aisles. The foundation consisted of piers of masonry on which rested the columns supporting the roof. These were six hundred and seventy two in number, varying from twenty-three to one hundred and twenty-five feet in length, and weighing in all two million two hundred thousand pounds. The whole building was gayly but harmoniously painted. The entire cost of erection was one million five hundred and eighty thousand dollars. The Machinery Hall, being located on the same line with the Main Exhibition Building, was practically a continuation of that immense structure, and a walk through both from end to end was about three-quarters of a mile long. This Building was 1402 feet long by 360 feet wide, with an annex on the south side of 208 by 210 feet, together covering an area of fourteen acres. A steam- engine of fourteen hundred horse-power drove the shafting and belts, which reached to every avenue and aisle, and so ran the immense number of machines which were exhibited over this vast area. An elevated tank, constantly supplied with water pumped up from the river, served to operate all sorts of hydraulic machines, and the overflow formed a waterfall thirty-six feet high and forty feet wide. Beneath was a reservoir, one hundred and six by sixty feet, around which the pumps were grouped and into which they constantly poured great jets of water. A chime of 13 Bells, re- presenting the 13 original States, were hung in the northeast tower of the building. The cost of this bviilding was $542,300. • THE GKBAT EXHIBITION. 1019 The Memorial Hall, or Art Gallery, was a permanent edifice erected by the city of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania at an expense of a million and a half of dollars. The style of archi- tecture is the Modern Renaissance, The only materials used are granite, iron and glass, thus rendering the structure fire-proof, and ensuring the preservation of the treasures of art which it contains. The building is three hundred and sixty-five feet long, two hundred and ten feet wide and fifty-nine feet high. It is surmounted by a graceful dome, rising one hundred and fifty feet and terminating in a colossal ball, which supports a figure of Columbia standing with outstretched hands, as if protecting all. In front are three huge doorways, each forty feet high and fifteen feet wide. The doors are of iron, with bronze panels, containing the coats-of-arms of all the States and Territories. On either side of the main en- trance, reaching to the pavilions at the corners of the building, are arcades, with promenades looking outward on the Exhibition grounds and inward upon gardens ornamented mth fountains and statuary. From the main entrance a broad hall leads to the centre grand hall, from which extend the galleries, each ninety-eight feet long, eighty-four feet wide aud thirty-five feet high. Together they are capable of holding eight thousand persons, and furnish seventy-five thousand square feet of wall-space for the display of paintings. The appli(;ation for room in the Memorial Hall so greatly exceeded its capacity that an annex was, at the same time, built in the rear, which afforded sixty thousand additional square feet of wall-space. The Horticultural Hall Avas erected by the city of Philadelphia to remain as a permanent ornament of the park. It is approached on either side by ornamental Ijridges, which span romantic ravines extending to the river. The length of the building is three hun- dred and eighty-three feet; width, one hundred and ninety-three feet; and height, to the top of the lantern, seventy-two feet. The style of architecture is the Moresque of the twelfth century. Both entrances are very attractive, being by flights of marble steps leading up from terraces, at the centre of each of which stands an open Kiosque or summer-house twenty feet in diameter. The centre of the building is occupied by a conservatory, two hiuidred and thirty feet by eighty feet. A gallery five feet wide and twenty feet from the.. ground extends entirely around, and affoi-ds a fine view of the interior. (3fF from the conservatory are four forcing-rooms, each one hundred feet by thirty feet, two of which are noticeable in the picture for their curved roofs of iron and glass. From the vestibules, ornamental stairways lead to the in- ternal galleries of the conservatory, to the external galleries which overlook the forcing-rooms, and to a grand promenade formed by the flat roofs of the vestibules. Thirtv-five acres of srround sur- 1020 POOTPBINTS OF THE AGES. THE GKEAT EXMIBITION. 1021 rounding the building were devoted to horticultural purposes. This building cost 1300,000. The Agricultural Hall was simply a series of arches constructed on the principle of the Howe truss, and presented upon the out- side an exceedingly novel appearance. The interior resembled that of a grand Gothic cathedral, with the vistas continually broken by the bases of the arches and the slender wooden pillars which upheld them. The central nave was eight hundred and twenty feet long, one hundred and twenty-five feet wide, and seventy-five feet high. It was crossed by three transepts, the central one being one hundred feet, and the end ones each eighty feet in width; the space between the nave and the transepts, and also at the four corners of the building, being roofed and enclosed. The grand plan of the building is a parallelogram of 820 by 540 feet, covering an area of about 10 acres. It cost $260,000. The general arrangements for the Exhibition were of the most ample character. There were seven large restaurants on the grounds, besides several buffets in each of the principal buildings. Seven miles of substantial roads and walks led to the principal points of interest. The system of drainage was complete, there being two miles of pipes underlying the Main Exhibition Building alone. A reservoir containing forty million gallons of water was close at hand, while special pumping-engines raised from the river six million gallons daily. The railroad tracks were laid within the enclosure, and heavy machines were thus carried di- rectly into the broad aisles of the building assigned for their dis- play; while facilities were afi^'oi-ded at various platforms, scattered at convenient points over the grounds, for unloading sixty cars at once. The several railroads, with trains capable of carrying twenty- four thousand passengers per hour, seven difterent lines of street cars running on "one-minute time," besides numerous omnibuses and transfer coaches, conveyed visitors to and fro between Phila- delphia and the Exhibition. For the accommodation of travelers, the Philadelphia and l»eading and the Pennsylvania railroad com- panies erected commodious stations neai- the grounds. The depot of the latter was close to the main entrance. Three tracks were here laid in a circle one thou.sand feet in diameter for the trains arriving from the East, West, and South respectively. The trains stopped so as not to overlap, and discharged and received passen- gers upon long, covered platforms. There were thirteen entrances to the Exhibition grounds, at each of which the visitors passed through self-registering turn-stiles. The Jury Pavilion was an ornate two-story wooden structure costing$30,000, lo2 by 113 feet in size. Here the judges assem- THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1023 bled, and awards were made. We give the rules adopted by the Commission: First — Awards will be based upon written reports attested by the signatvires of their authors. Second — Two hundred judges shall be appointed to make such reports, one-half of whom shall be foreigners and one-half citizens of the United States. They will be selected for their known qual- ification's and character, and will be experts in departments to which they will be respectively assigned. The foreign members of this body will be appointed by the commission of each country, and in conformity with the distribution and allotment to each, which will be hereafter announced. The judges from the United States will be appointed by the Centennial Commission. Third — The sum of $1,000 will be paid to each commissioned judge for personal expenses. Fourth — Reports and awards shall be based upon merit. The elements of merit shall be held to include consideration relating to originality, invention, discovery, utility, quality, skill, work- manship, fitness for the purposes intended, adaptation to public wants, economy and cost. Fifth — Each report will be delivered to the Centennial Com- mission as soon as completed for final award and distribution. Sixth — Awards will be finally decreed by the United States Centennial Commission, in compliance with the act of Congress, and will consist of a diploma Avith a uniform bronze medal, and a special report of the judges on the subject of the award. Seventh — Each exhibitor will have the right to reproduce and publish th(^ report awarded to him, but the United States Centen- nial Commission reserves the right to publish and dispose of all reports in the manner it thinks best for public information, and also to emljody and distribute the reports and records of the Ex- hibition. VIII. GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE EXPOSITION. To every visitor the Fair presented certain features that made a deep and durable impression; and these depended much on the character, culture, and nationality of the observer. A great traveler, like Bayard TaylOr, naturally compares this with former World's Fairs, and so says: "Taken as a whole, the Exhibition surpasses all its predecessors in beauty of position, convenience of arrangement, and variety of interest. I cannot guess what first impression those may receive who see a World's Fair here for the first time. But, having already given the points THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1025 of comparison between this and the preceding five Exhibitions, I looked upon it yesterday without reference to them. I found that its prominent characteristic was the broad cosmopolitan stamp which extended even to the details. Whatever might have seemed specially American, if standing alone, took its place as one of many forms of human skill or industry. Thus, also, the manifestation of one nationality balanced that of another ; and it would be hardly possible to say, without inspecting the crowd rather closely, whether one was in England or France, Germany or America. The singalar collection of State buildings is now so flanked by (so called) Turkish, Tunisian, Moorish, and other structures of foreign fashion, that its grotesqueries no longer strike the eye. But nearly all the more prominent objects are in nega- tive if not in positive good taste, and stamp their character upon the scene. Wherever we tvirn, there is such an aiiimated, popu- lous, and cheerfully-colored picture that we are constantly be- guiled from the serious work of our visit. There is now no sign of rubbish anywhere ; the paths, avenues, and bridges are complete ; and if here and there an enforced slope of turf looks thin and feeble, or a alump of shrubbery grows but languidly, it seems no more than the hot Summer has effect- ed in many old pleasure-grounds. The many full-grown trees scattered throughout the enclosure greatly increase the impres- sion of permanence, and the variety of surface produced by the two dells which, falling toward the Schuykill, divide the blossom- starred plateau of the Horticultural Building from the Main and Agricultural Halls, is now seen to be one of the greatest charms of the spot. The locality is beyond all question the most beauti- ful which has ever been chosen for an International Exhibition ; and the more the disposition of the main and subordinate build- ings is studied, the more their admirable combination of conven- ience and jjicturesque alternation will be appreciated by the visi- tor. Perhaps there are fewer luxurious effects of gardening art — fewer surprises and rapid changes of scene than in Paris in 1867 — but, on the other hand, there is greatly more space and freedom. Considering how much there is, it is amazing that every single feature of the Exhibition is of such easy reach. People, when they first arrive, stare much and speak little, bestowing their amazement vxpon great things and small with stx-ict impartiality. The vast extent of the show at first solem- nizes them. If they ask for information, their speech is timid and tentative, as if they are not quite sure wlvether you will under- stand the English language. It was a relief to hear a buxom girl exclaim, with honest impulse if defective grammar : "Oh, look'ee there ! What's them things ?" By noon, however, when 20,000 persons are sure to be present, the habits of individual communi- ^y-lf\ ,' ^f J U- (ST ^%\_^V^*^,^ — «5^ai^,_l ' jScheffer and Rotterdam Schnaaps — are on their way, specimens of ' diamond-cutting and similar wondrous arts, fabrics of wool, cot- ton, silk and paper, and canvases from the choicest galleries north of the Pyrenees and the Alps. Worried though Turkey •just now is, the ports of Constantinople, Trebizond and Smyrna ■ are full of the tumult of preparations for shipping goods through the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic. The odor of attar of roses is upon the deep, and the costumes of Sclaves and Rouman- 'ians, Albanians, Armenians and Circassians, Koords, Gypsies, Druses, Arabs, Tartars, Syrians — all the motley nationalities of which the Osmanlis are made up — will blend their colors with the iapproaching kaleidoscopic scene. Siam has appropriated 1100,- 000 to bear the expenses of her display of vases and urns, fine cloths and glass wares. The Japanese are early in the field with materials for their building on the Exhibition grounds and have devoted 1600,000 to make their part in the festival a brilliant suc- cess. To the porcelain articles, lacquer-work, wood and ivory carvings and gorgeous specimens of lithochrome printing which have distinguished this singular people at European and native fairs, they will add on this occasion many extraordinary objects which have never before quitted the shores of their islands, nor even the seclusion of certain residences there of the highest rank. The land of the Shah, whose jewels lately dazzled London, has also in preparation its tribute of silks, shawls and felts, satins, sarcenets and somewhat inferior brocades and velvets. If one may trust the reports current in the no longer staid Quaker City, the pla- teaux and mountain recesses of Persia are streaked with caravans; the sites of Persepolis, Shahpur and Istakhar are turned into noisy THK GREAT EXHIlilTION. J081 fjncampments, and the Straits- of Armuz and the Gulf are loud with the shout of Tajik mariners under white sails that bend for- ward over costly cargoes toward the western world. Even Tunis will render store of precious metals, leather, senna, spices and cochineal and web-like muslins; and the rising empire of Brazil, 4^i whose growth and progress we have taken too little heed, is to lliiig into this peaceful arena a full assortment of its agricultural ])roducts, manufactures and arts. Italy has dedicated many of her most glorious paintings and groups of statuary to the exhibi- tion of the arts. And for the first time since the days of the Jes- uits' ascendency in America the walls of the art galleries of Mad- rid and Lisbon will loan a generous portion of their long-secluded treasures to the gaze of eyes beyond the Atlantic sea. Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Peru, Bolivia, Hay ti, Venezuela, Mexico, Ecua- dor, Nicaragua, Liberia, Guatemala and Salvador, Honduras, the United States of Colombia, Hawaii, the Argentine Confederation, Orange Free State — these are among the countries which are to be represented at the biggeat World's Fair that will ever have been held. IX. THE EXHIBITS. THE MAIJSr BUILDING. The Main Exhibition Building contained twenty-one acres of wonders in its collections in Mining, Metallurgy, Manufactures, Education and Science. The United States had nearly seven acres assigned them on the Eastern side. We had no reason to be ashamed of our part in the display. Our jewelers and silver workers won universal ad- miration for the beauty and originality of their designs. Let us notice this mantle made from Mexican onyx, for the Emperor of Germany, by a New York house, which is a marvel of beauty, not only in regard to the material, but also in design and finish. In front, are two columns with silver trimmings; on the top stands a neat clock, with antique design in silver, in bas-relief. This mar- ble is light colored, dappled with different shades in the most ex- ■quisite manner, and extremely rich and delicate in its appearance. The price of this household treasure was $2,500. Tbis necklace, blazing with a score of brilliant diamonds, is worth $42,000; these sets of furniture which almost belong to the realm of fine arts, are fit for palaces of the proudest monarchs; we have reason to take pride in the high rank of our skilled labor in its most artistic aspect. One of the most exquisite pieces of workmanship, is a vase •called '•' The Century Vase," made by the Gorham Companj"-, the i032 FOOTPRINTS OF THK AGES. i A S(i':.NK I.N FAIU?\f()UNT I'ARK. feir^.A llIK GIRAED AVENUE BRIDGE THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1033 celebrated manufacturers of silver ware. It is about five feet long, and four feet high, and contains two thousand ounces of solid silver. It is an epitome of our history during the last cen- tury; so suggestive and appropriate are the designs. The Bryant vase was hammered by hand out of flat silver. The exhibit of chandeliers was very full and creditable. In- deed, the variety of styles and the luxuriousness of the work were so marked as to show that the American manufacturers had in this direction fairly outstripped their foreign competitors. In porcelain and pottery ware the European far surpassed the American workmen; but in pure white glass, the United States factories had no superiors. Their cut-glass was thin, transparent, ringing, and the engraving beautiful and artistic enough to satisfy the most exacting. The Eastern factories exhibited a great variety of textile fabrics «uch as thread, yarn, silks, sheetings, prints, hosiery, carpets, and cotton and woolen goods; and also of paper, blank-books, and stationery of all descriptions. The fine, soft blankets from the West had no rival. Tall and elaborately executed marble and granite monuments and sarcophagi from Maine were brought into direct and by no means unfavorable comparison with shafts of Scotch granite, so •extensively imported into the United States. Marble mantles and etageres, of exquisite beauty, proved the richness of our quar- ries and the promise of our stonecutters. The section devoted to chemical products was exceedingly gratifying to Americans. The European manufactvirers were fairly outdone, and every competent observer felt that there was henceforth no need to go abroad in order to secure even the rarest ■chemicals. Those extremely scarce and costly substances, caf- feine and chloride of propylamine, were represented by masses of beautiful crystals. The more common salts of gold, silver, iron, lead and mercury, were exhibited in great purity. Massive jars of the citrates were brilliant with opaline lustre. One large case represented the products of coal tar, and another of cryolite, among which was a block of alum crystals weighing nine tons. Huge bottles of pure carbolic acid, glycerine, quinine and various pharmaceutical extracts and preparations, blocks of refined cam- phor, of stearic and oleic acids, of blue vitriol and varioxis dyes and paints, attracted the wondering eyes even of the careless vis- itor; while perfumeries of every conceivable kind glittered in ••^ases rich with crystal and gold, or, flashing in tiny fountains, loaded the air with their fragrance. The iron ores and manufactures were naturally predominant, those of Pennsylvania taking the lead, though there were fine ex- liibits from other St'.ites. Few ornamental articles were shown; %0H FOOTPKINTS OF THE AGES. COLUMBIA BRIDGE FBOM THE RUSTIC BRIDGE IN WEST PARK. i VIEW OF THE SCHUYLKIM, FROM LAUKEI, HILi:^ THE GBEAT EXHIBITION. 1035 but there was a great variety of iron and steel rails, safes, kitchen utensils, galvanized iron and tin-ware, and of axes. Great Britain and Ireland presented a very interesting array. Gorgeous tapestries of huge dimensions; exquisite lace and embroidered curtains; engravings and chromos; case after case of the best editions of standard works, which would warm the heart of a book-lover; brass and silver musical instruments, which re- flect like a mirror; guns and cutlery of the finest finish; cloths of all kinds, costly furs and robes, ladies' silk dresses and plain and figured velvets of the richest material ; shawls of almost every con- ceivable quality and pattern: furnished bedrooms, in the styles of Queen Anne, and India, respectively; so rich, and yet so quiet, the decorations and furniture so happily blended, as to make them look like the chambers of peace. A splendid collection of cut glassware, which is a study for an artist. A goblet, so light and fragile that it makes one feel un- comfortable to take it up, and which is figured with a spirited de- sign of St. George and the Dragon, cut almost as delicately as a cameo, worth $140. A pitcher, covered with mythological de- signs cut in the same exquisite manner, priced at $250. Hundreds of pieces of these costly articles, worth a fortune. Extensive treasures in porcelain, which might be studied for days together; samples of all sorts of tile for floors, wainscoting, panels, mantels, and many other uses; a life-size statue of Thomas Carlyle, repre- sented as seated in his easy arm-chair; a most beautiful work of art, called " Milton's Shield," oval in form, about 4 feet long, and three feet wide, of silver, and covei-ed with designs illustrating "Paradise Lost" (In the centre we see Satan, in guise of a serpent, tempting our parents in Paradise. On the right, the archangel Michael, with spear and shield, hurling the lost spirits over the battlements of heaven; on the left, Satan encouraging his hosts to battle; and at the bottom, Michael, standing triumphant over Satan and his hosts), possessing artistic merit in the highest de- gree, valued at $8,000; scientific apparatus, sporting implements, small arms, traveling equipments, hardware of every description, brushes, combs, hosiery, clothing, umbrellas, inks, perfumery, paints, — an almost endless catalogue of articles in every branch of industry, — all illustrating how really England is the workshop of the world. Canada made nearly as large an exhibit as the mother country. Her excellent school system formed the principal feature. Nova Scotia presented a small sloop rigged with ivory and white silk, by a person who not only was never at sea, but also is not a me, chanic. The gold mined in British Columbia from 1858 to 1875 was represented by a pyramid, and the total value was $38,166,- 970. The geological products of the Dominion were illustrated ON TRE WISSAHICKON PARK. THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1037 by maps, samples of ore, petroleum, a block of plumbago six feet by four, beautiful marble mantles from Montreal, and red granite from New Brunswick. The variety of rugs and blankets, furs and woolen goods, attested that the art of keeping warm was success- fully pursued ; while the furniture, boots and shoes, sewing-ma- chines, pianos, etc., rivaled those from far more favored lands. The models of vessels from the principal ship-yards, and the mag- nificent collection of furs from the Hudson Bay Company, com- pleted this extensive department. The Australian colonies — New Sotith Wales, Queensland, Vic- toria, South Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. — were fully represented. Their samples of manufactured goods, chemicals, furniture, jewelry, earthenware, and even of stained-glass, gave an enlarged view of the progress of art and industry in that far-off quarter of the globe. The photographs were especially remarka- ble, the climate of Sydney being, it is said, the best adapted in the world to the photographer's art. Large gilt models indicated the production of gold; that in the Queensland section was an obe- lisk representing a mass of gold weighing sixty-five tons and worth 135,000,000, found since 1868. In New South Wales and Queensland, however, the mining of tin has, in some degree taken the preference, the production of that metal, since tlie date of its discovery in 1871, having been seven thousand tons. The relation of the geologic structure of the land to its products was aptly illustrated by means of blackboards containing the names of the various formations, kinds of rocks, etc., and their correspond- ing agricultural productions. Beneath these tablets hung photo- graphs of the country and its inhabitants ; while below were placed samples of the rocks, grain, timber, metals, and botanical specimens. Victoria exhibited models of the famous nuggets of gold which had been found, and wax fac-similes of fruit which had been grown within her territory. South Australia showed fine specimens of her native birds and animals. New Zealand dis- played the products of her soil, and also drawings and photo- graphs of the land in different sections, ^\'ith the native inhabi- tants, their costumes and dwellings, and the prominent towns and buildings. New South Wales and Australia made a remarkable show of wools and woods. India displayed a set of furniture from Bombay, carved in black wood ; a collection of their musical instruments ; one of their famous Cashmere shawls, woven by hand, valued at $1,155 ; elegant pieces of tapestry, inlaid marble vases, and silver table service; one of their native plows made of a rough log with a brad in it, having a rod of iron like a crow-bar projecting in front to scratch the ground, a rough, crooked beam, and a small stick 1038 FOOTPBINTS OF THK AGES. THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1039 leaning backwards for a handle, and a rude yoke made to tie to the front of the oxen's heads. Germany showed porcelain from the Royal Works at Berlin ; chemicals from the Chemical Union; cotton and mixed goods from the Gladbach District ; musical instruments from Saxony ; clocks from the Black Forest ; linen goods from Wurteniberg ; agate wares from Idar-Oberstein ; the Rhenish exhibit of cloths ; the Bavarian contribution of toys and small wares ; German books and collattral printing industries, representing over one hun- dred and fifty individual firms and organizations. The German idea of an exhil^ition is not a show of things that please the eye or giatify an artistic taste, but a collection of all-important natur- al industries, including articles made for the use of peasants as well as of princes. If the Berlin porcelain were taken out of the German section, and the Elkinton silver, the porcelain, and the Doulton ware out of the English, in respect to beauty the areas occupied by those co\xntries would rank with that of France very much as a potato-field does with a flower-garden. In Germany and England, as in the United States, there are a few industries in which the artistic element has been developed to a high degree, but in France the quick perception of beauty characteristic of the Latin races is manifested in a very wide range of manufactures, so that articles which . from their uses are elsewhere wholly com- monplace, are elevated almost into the domain of art. France displayed a predominance of articles of real beauty, such as bronzes, porcelains, faience, laces, jewelry, an innumerable host oi articles de fantaisie^ many elegant things, such as women most covet^ — lace shawls of the finest workmanship, silks in a profuse variety of color and pattern, rich brocades and velvets, lovely em- broideries, costly Paris dresses, heavy ^vith flowers and real point lace ; silk stockings with lace inserted at the instep ; the dainti- est of shoes and slippers, jewelry, fans, ribbons, artificial floAvers, and a thousand quaint and pretty articles for the writing-desk, the mantel, and the boudoir-table, all admirable in their way. Switzerland abounded in specimens of her watchmaking indus- tries. One tiny watch weighing less than a gold dollar, a,nd only three-fourths as large, attracted much attention. The material cost less than seventy -five cents, yet the product was worth two thousand dollars ; a pithy commentary on the value of skilled la- bor. Out of a snuft"-box lid, by touching a spring, leaped a jew- eled singing-bird ; while a pencil case contained a watch, a baro- raeter,and a thermometer. The lace curtains made by hand were wonderfully delicate in pattern and execution. The carved wood- work, so familiar to all foreign tourists, was represented by a large collection of Alpine birds, rock-poised chamois, cucktoo clocks, THE GREAT EXHIBITIOK. 1041 brackets, models of Swiss chalets, etc. The Educational section contained the maps, text-books, models and apparatus used in Swiss schools, with specimens of the work of pupils. Belgium exhibited laces, silks, tapestry, fire-arms, musical in- struments, linen goods, blankets, inlaid wood-work, sewing ma- chines, clothes, glassware, and a beautiful carved oak fire-place, all showing the varied industries of the country, and the skill of her artisans. Brazil was represented by a volume of 500 pages, descriptive of the institutions and resoures of the country, in English, Por- tuguese, and German, all printed at Rio de Janeiro, and very handsomely printed too. Her pavilion was of Moorish architecture and brilliantly colored, where were grouped artificial flowers made from brilliantly-color- ed feathers of Brazilian birds /collections of butterflies and insects; specimens of cofi"ee, cocoa, rice, ginger, and many tropical fruits; and samples of logwood, mahogany caoutchouc, Brazil-wood, rose- wood, castor tree, and other products of the Brazilian forests. Books, maps, and excellent art sketches were followed by tiers of leather in hides and saddles. In the Netherlands were fine assortments of soaps, glassware, blankets, marbles, tapestries, and beautiful lacquer- work. The engineering works were shown by which Holland is drain- ed, and casts of the surface of a portion of the country. There were model dwellings, collections of sheet music, fine Smyrna carpets and rugs, clay pipes, cologne water, lacquered work on wood, chemicals, a fine assortment of school-apparatus, and a large S(;reen of surpassing beauty, ornamented Avith four scenes from Goethe's Faust, and four from poems of Schiller, — the one unap- proachable and perfect gem of the Holland exhibits. Mexico gave us silver and iron ore. Galena marbles of great beauty, coa»l, native woods, medicinal plants, and other samples of the natiiral wealth of the country. Austria made a very extensive display of delicate, green, cut- glass; a collection of the finest Bohemian glassware; a goblet made by a new process just discovered. (It reflects the most brilliant colors, and is thought to be an important discovery, as its cost is comparatively moderate.) A magnificent vase of cut-glass, of large size and elaborate workmanship, worth $640; an immense collection of costly pipes and an extremely fine display of jewelry. The Russian department was superb, and exhibited school-ap- paratus, books, maps, the finest cutlery, satins, laces, velvets, bro- cades, and other fabrics of choicest color and texture, rich display of furs, statuary, carving in gold and silver, porcelain, silver plate, and embroidery in gold and silver, — all evincing the most con- summate skill and exquisite taste, — a silk handkerchief with ele- 1043 FOOTPKINTS OF THE AGES. rH> J I DGFS' HALL. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDING. THE GREAT EXHIBITIOX, 1043 gant colored border, thi'own across a golden basket or server, — the imitation of the glistening silk being exqnisite beyond descrip- tion, — a sleigli scene moidded in silver, — three horses, graceful and fleet, and at their utmost speed, are drawing a sleigh with two occupants, — a malachite table, the top x-esting on gilt standard — a kind of marble green, figured and grained with black, — the top of the table is made by fitting together different pieces, selected for their beauty, and joined so perfectly, that the joints are hardly discernible, — in the middle is fitted a 2:)iece like a star, and around it a circle of patterns mottled like shell-work, making a most charming combination of colors and designs, a mantel of the same material, a perfe(;t gem of the kind, priced at $540, a gilt clock for mantel-piece, on which a falconer is seated on a spirited charger with bow in case, and arrow in qiave'r. The lumter has reined up his steed, and the falcon rests on his outstretched hand, with wings outspread. Spain's exhibit contained samples of ores, coal, building-stone and marble; specimens of iron, wool and cotton fabrics, boots, shoes, gloves, hardware, chemical products and pottery. The de- signs of the shawls, silks and brocades, as well as the porous water-coolers and the "pilgrim's bottles," had a singular Eastern look betraying the lasting stamp of the Moorish conquest, Egypt, "The oldest nation in the world sends its morning greet- ing to the youngest." She sent a ' model of the largest pyramid, photographs of noted ruins and of street scenes, brass dishes and a great salver ornamented with etching, costly rvigs or carpets, in- laid and carved stools and -low tables, elegant inlaid furniture, — one piece an ebony cabinet, prol\isely inlaid with pearl, valued at #4,000, two carved Arabic doors and another ebony cabinet, drom- edary saddles and some ancient Arabic gravestones found in Abyssinia, Turkish weapons, a Damascus sword, with a magnificent elephant saddle of crimson velvet richly embroidered with gold, wortli $5,000, Arabic ornaments for mosques, gorgeous embroid- (uy, striped gauze undershirts for ladies' wear embroidered with gold thread, a crimson velvet cxtrtain to use in place of a door, idso rich with gold, a white velvet table-cover in gold and floral embroidery, a crocodile and some rhinoceros horns, two lamps for tlie mosque, valued at |5,000 each, engraved with burnt coloi'S, jewelry made at Ari-ooan and Soudan, books in Arabic, plants dried, parchments, hardware and a piece of chain armor. Turkey was Oriental in her arms, ornaments, embroideries in cloth of gold, spangles, articles from olive-wood of Jerusalem, to- bacco and pipes, and a collection of coins five thousand in number and two thousand six hundred years old. Denmark "iexcelled in terra cotta ware, in furs and sldns; while THE GLASS WORS. bowel's newspaper pavilion. THE GEEAT EXHIBITION. 1045 the fishennaii in his boat and the Danish winter-house proved A'ery attractive. Tunis pitched in the park Bedouin tents vs^ith all the applian- ces of Arab life in the desert: ■ There were, also, saddles, cush- ions, slipi)ers and fezzes. There was a mosaic of a large lion, which Avas found near the temple of Astarte, and carried the mind back to the palmy days of Carthage. Portugal exhibits a selection of topographical and geological maps and cliarts of the kingdom. There is also a display of glass- ware, pottery, porcelain, line dyes, cotton a,nd woolen goods. A good display is made of silk fabrics, and excellent specimens of wood carving is shown. Also a collection of tin-ware, showing tlie fine quality of the native Tin of Portugal. Tlie Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands, sent a case of articles by Queen Emma, of fans, brushes, and native millinery; also, beau- tiful specimens of coral, a stalk of sugar-cane 26 feet long, various products, and views of native scenery. Japan was a great bazaar filled with attractive goods. The lacquer-work was very marvelous — little cake ti-ays marked 50 cents, large glittering cabinets marked $1,000, and between these extremes articles innumerable. The art of lacquering is believed to be more than a thousand years old. The finest modern ware is made in Tokio and Kiyoto, and the less ai-tistic ware is produced throughout the empire, the business appearing to be almost as widely practiced as that of cabinet-making in this country. Lac- quer, it may be remarked for the benefit of people who have no encyclopedia handy, or who are not so fortunate as to possess the very excellent catalogue of the Japanese section, is the sap of a tree called " Rhus Vernicifera," and is applied, layer upon Idyer, to a wooden surface with brushes and spatulas. The figures in relief are either carved or built up on the plain surface by suc- cessive applications of the liquid. The pretty gold-sprinkled lac- quer is made by sifting small pieces of gold-leaf upon a freshly- painted surface, which is then coated with a choice quality of lac- quer prepared with gamboge, and afterward polished when hard. China's most interesting and valuable exhibit belonged to the richest man in the Empire, Hu Kisang Yung, of Hong Chow, who is worth $30,000,000, and lives in a house that cost $3,000,- 000, and was represented by a large collection of antique china and bronzes. There was a bronze urn 3,800 years old ; and rare porcelains dated back from three to 1,200 years. Necklaces of gold, and ivory, fans, boxes, trinkets, useful articles, exquisite carvings and wonderful lacquer-work, M^ere among the contribu- tions of China. Chili made a magnificent display of geologic specimens from the Andes (placed within a padoga of the Peruvian aborigines), of THE GKKVr EXHIBITIOiS". 1047 stuffed hides of the puma and ag-osto, of Indian relics and cos- tumes, of ropes, of unexpectedly fine book-binding, and drawings of her public works. The Argentine Republic offered thirty thousand specimens of its ores, leather, manufactures, etc., select- ed, from an exhibition made for this purpose by jts fourteen prov- inces at Buenos Ayres the previous year. Peru displayed speci- mens of the precious stones and metals which so often tempted the Spaniard to that El Dorado of the sixteenth century ; many cui'ious relics of the times of the Incas ; and samples of cotton, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, pimento, pepper, indigo, Peruvian bark, and caoutchouc. Orange brought thither from Soiithern Africa diamonds in the ixDugh from her diamond fields, koodoo cowhides, antelope and jackal leather, rhinoceros thongs, ivory tusks, elegant cases of os- trich feathers and tropical birds, and various curious articles of native manufacture. Italy displayed her goods with the purposes of a shopkeeper. It would recpiire hours to describe the exquisite marble, bronze and terra cotta statuary, the wonderful carving in black walnut and ebony, the latter often inlaid with pearl, — centre tables inlaid with marvelous skill, the top of one resting on the stooping body of a negro carved in ebony, — ^jewelry, porcelain, cameos, silver lilagree work, specimens of mosaic, ancient armor, books, velvets, and a table in mosaic worth $1,500; a violin 171 years old, used by Pagininni, valued at $1,000; a table on which is the " Cathedral of Milan" inlaid in mother of pearl, with its wonderful imitation of sunlight; also, a table and settee carved in stone, covered by a maze of elaborate designs of game, guns, fruit, &c., of excpiisite beauty; and hundreds of other articles, which show the wonder- ful ingenuity and artistic taste of this people — leghorn hats, gloves, shoes, coarse woolen blankets, bxittons, bed-spreads, hats, brushes, soaps, candles, chemicals, perfumery, paper and books. Sweden and Norway made a capital impression by the quality and order of their exhibits. Says an observer : "■ What attracts the first notice of visitors, are the admirable groups of costumed figures illustrating peasant life. They are }uodels in plaster, the faces and hands are painted, so that they are exceedingly lifelike. The costumes have all been actually in use by peasants, having been ptirchased directly from the wear- ■idva. The artist who made the figures is Prof. Loclerman of Stock- liolm, a sculptor of established reputation. Such great care is taken to secure absolute correctness in details that, when the hand of one of the figures was broken in transit, it was supplied by a cast taken from the hand of a Swedish girl in the employ of the Commission here. Most ox the groujas were made up from paintings. The expressions of the countenances and the attitude THE GKEAT EXHIBITION'. 1049 ■of the figures are remarkably natural. One of the groups repre- sents a hunter and his family gathered in front of a dying elk that has just been shot. The face of the hunter expresses self-satisfied pleasure at the success of the chase, as does that of his son, but the two women obviously sympathize with the dying beast, and the little g'irl hides her face in terror in her mother's apron: Anoth- ■er admirable grovip is that of a Laplander in his sledge, drawn by a reindeer, who stops to chat with a fur-clad woman carrying a ba- by slung to her neck in a sort of trough. I only call attention, in conclusion, to that of the dead child and one representing the in- tercession of the wife of an old clockmaker in behalf of the suic ■of a stalwart young fellow who has come to ask the hand of the blushing daughter.''' They showed wonderful progress in education, engineering, ;and manufactures. Their relics were very curious, going back to the age of the Yikings" when men were apparently stronger than now. Norway was strong in cod-liver oil as well as in iron })roducts and furs. Both countries had reason to be proud of their industries. Iii the annexes to the Main Building on the ■southeast side were nrinerals from all parts of the country, to- gether with much of interest which was excluded for want of room in the larger structure. Ma< u i^ euy Hall. As has been said : " There is hardly an industry to. the progress ■of which America has not largely contributed. The cotton-gin, without Avhich the machine-spinner ajul the power-loom would be helpless, is American. The pt>\ver-shuttle, which permits an un- limited enlargement of the breadth of the web, is American. The ])Ianting-machine is American. Navigation by steam is Ameri- ■oan. The mower and I'eaper are iVmerican. The rotary printing-- ]iresses are American. The hot-air engine is American. The •sewing-machine is American. The manufacture of wool-cards is American. The whole India-rubber industry is American. The hau(l-saw originated in America. The machine-nuiiiufacture of hoi-se-shoes is American. The sand-blast, of which the large ca- ])abilities are not yet developed, is American. The gauge-lathe is American. The only successful composing-machine for print- •ers is American. The grain -el e\'ator is American. I'he artificial manufacture of ice, under the name of the Carre process, was in- vented by Professor Alexander S. Twining, an American. The electro-magnet was invented and first practically applied in trans- mitting telegraphic signals by Professor Joseph Henry, an Amer- ican. The telegraphic instrument introduced a few years later in- to public use, and which has since obtained universal acceptance, was invented bv Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, an American. EHODK ISLAND STATE BUILDIXG. THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1051 The total number of exhibitors from all coxmtries was as fol- lows: United States, 1,030; Great Britain, 92; Canada, 198; France, 98; Germany, 46; Austria, 8; Switzerland, 2; Belgium, 28; Netherlands, 10; Sweden, 52; Norway, 13; Italy, 11; Brazil, 24; Argentine Republic, 7. Total, 1,619. The great Corliss engine at the middle of the building was the centre of attraction. Some of its arithmetical data are worthy of recoi'd — a driving-wheel thirty feet in diameter and weighing fifty-six tons ; pistons with a stroke of ten feet, and cylinders with a diameter of forty-four inches; and twenty boilers, of seventy horse-power each. To transport it from Providence to Philadel- phia required a train of sixty-five cars. With its irresistible grip this tremendous machine carried 8 miles of shafting and moved 14 acres of machinery, and all so quietly as to give only a mere murmur oT motion. Of the 558,440 square ft. in the Machinery Building, 80,479 were taken up by foreign countries, thus: Russia had . Brazil Denmark Italy Sweden . Spain . Belgium Imagination strives to picture the images and conjure up the sounds that made this enormous interior wonderful. The most ponderous, intricate and delicate mechanical contrivances invent- ed by man and applicable to the needs and fancies of every peo- ple were ranged along these naves and aisles. All the machines, tools and appai-atus of mining, metallurgy, chemistry and the ex- tractive arts— hoisting machinery and machines for pumping, draining and ventilating the deepest mines of gold, silver and coal; machines and tools for working metal, wood and stone; im- plements of spinning, weaving, felting and paper-making; all va- rieties of sewing machines; apparatus for type-setting, printing, stamping, embossing, and for making books and paper-working; motors for the generation and transmission of power; liydraulic and pneumatic apparatus; railroad machinery, from locomotives down; mill machinery, and machinery vised in grinding or prepar- ing agricultural products; every invention of aerial, pneumatic and water transportation; and boilers, engines, cranes, pumps, and minor machinery especially adapted to the requirements of the Exhibition — all articles that can be conceived of as coming under these general descriptions were displayed, and most of them in full motion and at work, affording exhibitors of manufac- 8q. Ft. 1,500 4,000 585 585 3,168 2.448 France Great Britain Canada Germany Austria Total Sq. Ft. . 10,139 . 36,725 4,300. . 7,018 1,536 9,375 . 80,479 THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1053 turing machinery facilities for practically illustrating the processes of manufacture of various articles and fabrics, such as woolen cloths, linens, paper, calicoes, watches, &c., &c. Thus, there were machines for sawing, planing, matching, molding, paneling, tenoning, mortising, dove-tailing and polishing lumber; for making the hubs, spokes, felloes and rims of wheels; for picking, carding, drawing, spinning, doubling, twisting, warp- ing, weaving, dressing and finishing cotton; and for planing, turn- ing, slotting, shearing, punching, pressing and shaping iron. Paper was making on a Fourdrinier machine; paper collars were drying; boxes and bags were manufacturing; sheets were being folded, stitched and bound into books; thread was being doubled and twisted, wound, measured, and the spools printed automati- cally; carpets, floor-cloth eight yards tvide, cotton-sheeting three yards wide, seamless bags, corsets, etc., were weaving; envelopes were being folded, gummed, finished, and dried ready for use by single machines; portraits, book-marks and figured silks were weaving on Jacquard looms; chromo pictures were making, chro- motype illustrations were printing in five colors; a candy estab- lishment was turning out chocolate sugar-plums; Waltham watch- makers were producing tiny wheels and screws of almost micro- scopic fineness; clay was being tempered and pressed into brick; newspapers were folding by machinery; and a tobacco factory ex- hibited its hands making cigars, singing meanwhile their planta- tion songs. One machine was voraciously biting oil" wire into small bits and transforming them into pins, while another assort- ed the promiscuous pile and stuck the pins into paper ready for market. In addition to these, there were steam fire-engines of marvelous beauty; a planing-machine weighing eighty-one tons, and having a traverse of forty-four feet; weighing scales; twenty or more sewing machines with bewildering attractions of pavilion and work; knitting, button-hole, braiding and embroidery machines in operation; steam and hand, single and duplex, rotary, plunger, and force pumps in great variety; thirty or more steam engines of various patterns and sizes; hat-molding machines; steam, water and gas-fitting- apparatus; gas metres; bolts, nuts, screws, saws, axes, planes, nails, locks and all sorts of hardware; cracker and candy machines; trip-hammers; steam-gaug'es; soda water appa- ratus; hay and cotton presses; cheap Yankee clocks; type casting, type writing and type setting machines; wire-making a])paratus; brick machines; mine ventilators; steam fan-blowers; rock borers; stone-dressing and sawing machines; copying and printing presses; water-wheels; hydraulic rams; pile-drivers, fifteen locomotives, old and new; fire extinguishers; flour- mill machinery; grindstones 1054 FOOXPRIJSTTS OF THE AGES. *j- Ar* ill vi^* V /It \v Ji, n THE GKEAT EXHIBrnON. 1055 neatly erected in the form of a monument; and paper boats, light and strong. The productive industry of Nevada is mining, and she vpas rep- resented by a quartz-mill in operation. The process is curious: The rock goes to the stamps through a self-feeding hopper, and comes out in the form of a powder dissolved in a small stream of water that runs through a trough into the amalgamator — a big, round, sheet-iron box heated by steam. Here the quicksilver is added, and the mixture passes into another circular tank, where it is stirred by revolving arms. The quicksilver seizes upon the sil- ver and carries it oif into an iron pot, whence the two commingled metals are put into iron pans and heated in a retort, when the former passes off in fumes and is collected, to go through its labor of releasing the silver from the dross again and again. France, Germany, Belgium and the United States, were repre- sented in the plate glass department; but we are far behind for- eign countries, especially Belgium. Glass is obtained by melt- ing together in large pots, sand, soda-ash and limestone. Now for the operation of casting the glass and carrying it into the annealing furnace. When the glass has been properly melted in the pots, the pots are taken out of the melting-furnace and the glass is poured from them on to a large cast-iron table, the sur- face of which is perfectly planed. An iron roller is then passed over the glass, and the rough plate is produced. It is really very much like rolling delicate pie-crust. But the plate of glass thus obtained would be, if allowed to cool in the open air, in a brittle state. It must, therefore, be annealed, a process which consists in its remaining for some days in the annealing furnace, in which it is allowed to cool very slowly and gradually. These annealing furnaces are composed of a flat slab large enough to receive one or more sheets of glass, covered by a very low vaulted roof, and hav- ing a door in front. Al^er the glass has been put into the fur- nace, the door is shut and hermetically sealed with fire-clay. The furnace is then heated by two or three fires, whose flames, having " licked" the glass, escape by a chimney, which generally has its opening in OTie of the corners of the vault. In a population of nearly forty millions, it stands to reason that the demand for plate-glass must be enormous. Every decent house, every store-front, bears ample testimony in that direction; and yet, we are to fold our hands, make no use of the resources which nature has lavishly placed at our command, and purchase from abroad what we ought to produce at home. Considering the cheapness of coal, sand and limestone, all found in abundance and of a superior quality in this country, and delivered at much lower prices than in Europe; when we consider that soda-ash can be imported from England at the mere nominal duty of one cent 1056 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. TUE GKEAT EXHIBITION. 1057 per pound, and that it costs no more here than in Belgium; when, moreover, we consider the enormous import duty of fifty cents a square foot, it is astonishing- that American capital should lie idle in the banks, and American workmen and their families crying- out for bread, when our natural opportunities and resources point to so profitable a way for the employment of both the one and the other in the manufacture of a staple article, for the purchase of which we are now compelled to send millions of money annually to Europe. The tenor of the report of the Commissioner of Belgium to his government is that the United States have it in their power to render themselves absolutely independent of foreign producers of plate-glass just as soon as they make up their minds to do so. What a monster was that Krupp gun, weighing sixty-two tons, and throwing a twelve-hundred-pound ball several miles, more or less. Here is a wonderful machine for making envelopes for letters. A roll of white paper goes in at one end of the ingenious piece of mechanism, and comes out ready to receive the letter, and at the rate of one hundred and twenty per minute, in packages of twen- ty-five each. And here a girl works another almost as marvelous. A pin-sticking contrivance yonder enables one person to stick on paper one hundred and eighty thousand pins per day. There i& an iron planer that plows grooves in solid iron or takes off wide shavings of the metal. But where shall we close our catalogue of wonders that crowd Machinery Hall? We must pass on to take some glances through MEMORIAL HALL. The best American artists were not represented in the Exhibi- tion, owing to professional jealousies. There were, however^ several good pieces; and among these Rothermel's Battle of Get- tysburg excited much attention. This great painting barely es- caped destruction in the great fire that prostrated Chicago. The English collection reflected immense honor on the " mother country.", We noticed a solidity of execution, an honest, sturdy apprehension of Nature, and a restriction of means to effects, which have their origin in the blood of the English people rather than in the teachings of any school. Many as are the transition phases between West and Maclise, or Fuseli and Millais, English art invariably seems strong and positive in intention, if not always in execution. Even if the collection were made up of the very best works of each artist represented, it could scarcely have been more instruc- tive. The single Fuseli and the single Barry illustrated in the most satisfactory manner the beginning of this century. The for- -"1 PARIS KESTAUEANT. THE GRAXB EXPOSITION" HOTEL — EITROPEAK PLA.1S". THE GREAT EXHIBITION". 1059 mer's "Thor" sliows the influence of Micliel Angelo and the Elgin marbles — with a long interval between. It throws a clear light upon the quarrels and struggles of Haydon, and partly ex- plains many passages in the literary history of the time. Barry's " Temptation in Paradise " is a most interesting record of a man whose career ^Teatly reseml)led that of Haydon — an artist whose ideas were better than his ^vork, and who quarreled bitterly with a generation which could not understand them. It was painted after his return from Italy in 1770, and must be nearly a century old. Although the flesh-tints are somewhat hard and cold, the picture is cliaracterized by a noble simplicity of style. The two pictures by West are more satisfactor}^ than his large works. His "Death of Genei'al Wolf" has a liistoric interest, as an innovation whicli .ought to balance many deficiencies. It is the first instance of using modern costume in historical painting, and the step was no less bold than right, when West took it. The picture is well composed, and the action is spirited; the coloring, moreover, is much better than those might anticipate who know the artist chiefly through the assaults made upcm him. There can be no question of his native talent, and he seems to have been chiefly held back from higher artistic success by the early ignor- ance of his colonial years, followed by a too-early fame in England. Of the succeeding generation, there were two Wilkies, five small Landseers, one Turner, one Constable, one Northcote, one Opie and one Leslie. We were sorry to miss Haydon, whose name would have made the list tolerably complete. Wilkie's " Reading the Gazette " is in his characteristic style. It has all his firmness of drawing, power of facial expression, and solid sim- plicity of color. Constable's picture interests every one, as a specimen of the revival of true landscape art in England. He never blends earth and sky, even in his distances, as so many of our American artists are accustomed to do — probably because tliey see so much of it. His air is air, and his earth earth; his iiK'adows caji be walked upon and his trees climbed. Turner ex- })r<^sscs tlie opposite form, of landscape spiritualized, or interfused with moods of the imagination. Hence he cannot be properly un- (loistood from any single picture. His " Dolbaclden Castle" is not one of his most famous works, yet it expresses much of the subtle quality of his genius. Etty is celebrated in England for his painting of flesh. His '• Sleeping Nymph and Satyrs," is a good example of his style; yet, while his coloring has a great deal of warmth and A^itality in liglit, the shadows have an unpleasant brownish tint. Sir Francis Grant had three portraits, and the examination of them convinced us that the Royal Academy might have had a worse artist for its .President. THE GREAT EXHIBITIOIT. 1061 There was always a dense crowd around two of Frith's paint- ings, " The Railway Station " and the " Marriage of the Prince of Wales." Their hard, honest, careful realism, is instantly under- stood by the multitude. The appositeness, the individuality and the finish of each figure seems to detach it for the spectator's eye, while it keeps its proper place in the group. This, combined with the restricted realism of the color, makes the engravings of Frith's pictures almost equal to the original paintings. The " Banquet Scene from Macbeth," by Maclise, is far more ambitious in its aim than Frith's spacious illustrations of the life of our day, yet by no means so successful. It is melodramatic in the highest degree, and the tawdriness of its color is not atoned for by a certain amount of professional skill. Allston's little picture of " Spalatro's Vision of the Bloody Hand," in the American collection, is a much more effective attempt to represent the horror inspired by seeing the invisible. The heads of Millais and Holman Hunt are equally excellent and interesting. The former gives us one of those clear-eyed, pink-cheeked young English girls, just approaching maidenhood, whom he loves to paint. The latter sent his own portrait, a rug- ged, irregular face, with not a line omitted or smoothed, — a singu- larly frank, independent, and lovable countenance. The two pictures show that if the artists formerly united in the same move- ment, and preached the same doctrines, it has in no way interfered with the character of their work. They have been alike in their aims, not in their choice of means; neither could have done the other's work. We have not space here to make a careful examination of the works of the younger artists; but the well-known names of Bough ton (half of whom we claim as an American), Orchardson, George Leslie, Prinsep and Eyre Crowe, will call attention to their pictures. There were also three striking works by Alfred Elmore, an artist whom we hardly know in this country, as yet. His " Lenore," from Birger's ballad, is very weird and powerful. Germany showed one hundred and forty-five oil paintings, none of ^em of any great merit. The large battle pieces illustrating the late Franco-Prussian war excited most attention. France had two hundred oil paintings and only about two dis- tinguished names. The great classical work of the French Art Exhibit was " The Death of Julius Caesar," by A. F. Clement, Paris. This scene occurred on March 15th, 44 B. c, when Csesar was fifty-six years of age. He had been warned by a soothsayer to beware of the ides of March, and on that day, when making his daily visit to the Senate house, a written account of the conspiracy was placed in his hand^ to which he paid no attention. It was agreed between 1063 FOOTPRINTS OF THB AGBS. SWl I) SH M HOOI. HOC'SE. THS SOUTH. THE GREAT EXHIBITIOir. 106$ the conspirators, about sixty in number, that Lucius TuUiuU Cimber should present a petition to him, and his refusal to grant the same should be the signal of attack. The assassins rush- ed upon him with their daggers, and he fell at the foot of Pom- pey's statue, pierced with twenty-three wounds. The picture represents the moment, when, seeing Brutus among his murder- ers, he makes the exclamation, "Et tu Brute!" "Rizpah Defending the Bodies of her Sons" (3 Sam. 21:10) -attracted great attention, but less admiration. People looked upon a mighty canvas with its great gallows decorated with shields and spears, the trophies of battle, and along whose ghastly transom the naked bodies of five men are suspended, while on the ground be- low them, a woman, powerfully built and wrought up to fury, threatens with a club an eagle who seems to be attacking her with beak and talon, and they were filled with horror. This we judge, was the artist's purpose. And those who have visited gal- leries in France must have observed how swift are the transitions from scenes of barbarity to those of grossness. You pass from lust to murder, as if these were the natural elements of that peo- ple's life. The painter of Rizpah, Mr. Becker, is a strong young man, fresh from his studies. He yearned to startle Paris at her annual salon, he felt able to do it, and he accepted this subject because it gave hioa all he wanted, something bloody and terrible, and with action enough to give him difficulties to overcome — the study of the nuda, a mass of drapery, and drapery in motion, and a fierce eagle to show that his studies had not been confined to the Academic models. The Austrian department had a marvel of art, the finest picture shown. It was Makart's " Venice Doing Homage to Catharine Cornaro." Catharine Cornaro, descended from a family which had furnished several doges to the republic, was born in 1454, and was one of the most renowned beauties of her day. When, for political reasons, it became desirable that the young Prince of Cyprus, Jacopo IJ. Lusignano, should be more closely bound to the republic, the authorities of Venice recornmended his marriage with Catharine Cornaro, whose family had, in course of time, be- come reduced in wealth. The republic, adopting her as its daughter, richly endowed her for the forthcoming marriage. But the glory and pleasures of the throne were, in her case, of brief duration. The king died, and Catharine, wearied with the vexa- tions to which she was submitted by the Venetian authorities, returned to Venice, after having abdicated in favor of the repub- lic. Drawing towards her the society of scholars, poets and artists, she spent the remainder of her days at a country seat, Asolo, in the neighborhood of Venice, where she died in 1510. The period chosen by the artist is when the widowed queen. 1064 FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGES. r r*' • )U l\ ^ ' ' " _ ' •'feX ■} SS to 'I = ~^A - hi • ^ THE EXGl-lSII HUH. I>rXGS. THE GREAT EXHIBITIOIT. 1065 having resigned her crown, had returned to Venice. Arrived at the piazzetta^ she has just stepped out of her richly-decorated gondola, in which, accompanied by the members of her immediate family and the ladies" of her court, she has made a triumphal tour of the Canal Grande. The gondolier, leaning against the prow of the boat, seems happy in the honors paid his mistress. Senator Loredano (the large figure in a scarlet court dress, and standing directly behind her), after welcoming her in the name of the re- public, has conducted her to the throne, decked with richest mate- rials, where, with graceful majesty, the widowed queen receives the homage of a grateful people. Crowds are hurrying towards the spot. All ranks, all conditions of life, share in the demon- stration; nor age nor sex refrain from taking part. The earnest scholar and the young, pleasure-loving nobleman, the sober-minded merchant from the Rialto and the merry gondolier, the lady of noble birth, whose marble palace is mirrored in the waters of the canal, and the poor fisherwoman of Chioggia — all, all have come to do homage to the queen who has given a kingdom unto her native city. Unconsciously, perhaps, the artist has lent added significance to the festal scene. Involuntarily the spectator becomes impressed with the idea that it is not simply the widowed queen, the grate- ful daughter of the republic — but beauty itself, clad in grace and majesty, to whom humanity is thus rendering homage. And this lends the picture that deeper significance which, in a measure, must needs characterize a truly great work of art. The hints that Makart drew from his historical reading were, in all likelihood, scant enough. He had probably heard of the " fair daughter of the reptiblic." On some lovely moonlight night, while yielding to the magic spell of San Marco's beauty, his fine fertile fancy may have created the picture. Judged from the painter's standpoint, the first feature to chal- lenge attention is the light and facile touch with which Makart has handled so great a subject. On this great canvas, crowded with figures which the artist was obliged to group and yet indi- vidualize, the eye of criticism seeks in vain for a pose or an ex- pression that is merely conventional, local, cramped by technical requirements, or in the slightest degree out of keeping with the tone and character of the entire work. The apparent ease with which Makart has solved this really difficult problem is a great trivimph of art. Since Paul Veronese, Rubens and Titian, the world has not known such a master of color. Italy's space was poorly filled. Copies of the great masters were there and some pictures, originals, of comparative excellence. In statuary there were finely execiited pieces, but nothing of much 1066 FOOTPBINTS OF THK AGES. "CenlennialilnlcmalionafiExMMllomFairmountlkk^P^^^ "JrITISH executive ConiTTiiJsioTier and Deletes I\esiclence"& Sta ff Office ^TAD • i876:ww>>w StofTQiiarters $ ^Thomas-ifaiTis^^ht.HiGHHOLBomA GROUND PLAN FIRST FLOOR PLAN CO^MISSiONERS & DELEGATES' RESIDENCE SLc CRQUND PLAN FiRSr FLOOR PLAN in^ KMGLISH BUILDINGS. THE GREAT BXHIBITIOW. 1067 strength of conception or power of imagination. Her sculptors axe perfect mechanics but not great designers. Among the American sculptures there were designs by Rogers, Reinhart, Richards, French, Caverly, Volk, Brown and others. In applied art our countrymen made about three hundred and fifty entries, — photographs, lithographs, heliotypes, engravings on wood and steel, crayon sketches, students' work from the schools of de- sign, objects in carved wood, and many other proofs of the genius of Americans. Horticultural Hall. The city of Philadelphia made a liberal grant of money to pro- vide for the Horticultural department of the Exhibition an ex- tremely ornate and commodious building, which was designed to remain as an ornament of Fairmount Park. This structure is lo- cated on a terrace bordering the Schuylkill River, a short distance north of Memorial Hall, and has a commanding view of the Schuylkill River Valley and the Northwestern portions of Phila- delphia. Romantic ravines, running down to the river, separate it on the south from Memorial Hall, and on the north from Agri- cultural Building. The Horticultural Building is designed in the Moresque style of architecture of the 12th century, the chief ma- terials externally being iron and glass, supported by fine marble and brickwork. The building is 383 ft. long, 193 ft. wide, and 73 ft. high to the top of the lantern. The main floor is occupied by the central conservatory, 230 ft, by 80 ft., and 55 ft. high, sur- mounted by a lantern 170 ft. long, 20 ft. wide, and 14 ft. high. Running entirely around ,this conservatory, at a height of 20 ft. from the floor, is a gallery 5 ft. wide. On the north and south sides of this principal room are four forcing-houses for the propa- gation of young plants, each of them 100 ft. by 30 ft., and cover- ed by curved roofs of iron and glass, which, appearing upon the exterior of the building, present a very fine feature. A vestibule 30 ft. square separates the two forcing-houses on each side, and there are similar vestibules at the center of the east and west ends, on either side of which are apartments for exhibitors, reception- rooms, ofiices, etc. Ornamental stairways lead from these vesti- bules to the internal galleries of the conservatory, as well as to four external galleries, each 100 ft, long and 10 ft. wide, which surmount the roofs of the forcing-houses. These external galleries are connected with a grand promenade, formed by the roofs of the rooms on the lower floor, giving a superficial area of about 18,000 square yards. The east and west entrances to the Horti- cultural Building are approached by flights of blue marble steps, from terraces 80 ft. by 20 ft,, in the centre of each of which stands an open kiosque 20 ft. in diameter. Each entrance is beautified 1068 >'(M:)Ti'iaN'i'S 01" THE -AGBS. MICHIGAJT STATE BUIIiDING. i THE GREAT EXHIBITIO]Sr. 1069 by ornamental tile and marble work, and the angles of the main conservatory are adorned with fountains. Extensive heating* ar- rangements are provided in the basement, which is of fire-proof construction, with siifficient furnace capacity to meet all Jequire- ments. Everything that taste could do was here lavishly done to make the display attractive. All was beautiful within and without. Here are orange and lemon trees laden with blossoms; green and ripe fruit; camphor, mahogany, guava and India-rubber trees; sago, date and fan-palms; bananas, with heavy stems of pendant fruit; cream-colored azalias from Belgium; a Japanese maple, with crimson shadings; a flamingo, all a-flame with its leaf-like, scarlet blossoms; Norfolk Island pines; pitcher-plants from the South Sea Islands; and, in an annex, the finest exhibition of rho- dodendrons ever made in this coinitry. Agricultural Hall, No such collection was ever seen since time began, as that which filled this extensive hall of the farmei'S. Holland made a compact and well-ordered disj^lay, containing two very interest- ing collective exhibits made by agricultural societies, the finest samples of fruits and vegetables put up in glass jars to be found in the Exhibition, fishing nets and models of fishing craft, a mar- velous variety of the cordials and fancy liquors for which Amster- dam is famous, and numerous piles of the hard, round, little red or tin foil covered cheeses of Edam. The Russian exhibit was comparatively large, and well repre- sented the farming industry of the Empire as far as its products are concerned, and also the industries engaged in making the va- rious preparations of food. There ,were grains of all kinds in sacks with glass covers and in sheaves, flax, wool, and dried fruits, canned goods, cakes, candies, biscuit, wines, liquors, cigars and cigarettes, and so on through a long catalogue. The agricultural implements consisted only of a mower, a thresher, and two or three fanning mills. In the Portuguese section were first wines, and then wines, and then more wines — case after case, with long rows of bottles mark- ed as low as nine and even six cents a liter (a little more than a quart), and 25 and 30 cents appear .exceptionally high rates. There were canned fruits and vegetables, marmalades, jellies, preserved fruits, honey, cheeses in tins, sausages enveloped in tin foil, dried fish, canned lampreys, an abundance of flour prepara- tions of the macaroni and vermicelli order, and crackers and fancy biscvtits coated with sugar and studded with lots of fruit or broken kernels of savory nuts, an excellent display of wheat, oats, Indian corn, and millet, and of beans many more varieties than SPANISH BUILDING. TBOB GREAT BXHIBITIOBr. 1071 are known to our farmers. The Latin races all make more use of the bean for food for man and for domestic animals than we do, and consequently give more attention to its culture. Her colonies sent coffee, palm oil, vegetable fibers, sugars, drugs, nuts, and dried fruits of unfamiliar names and appearance, hard woods, cotton and spices, savage arms and implements from Africa, rude looms, drums of astonishing devices, carved gourds, two stalwart figures of chiefs carved in wood and clad in scant costume of cotton cloth and a profusion of tinsel finery — a little museum, in short, of African curiosities. Liberia to the coffee culture has added indigo and sugar, and the manufacture of a very pure article of palm oil soap. Among the other articles of trade and commerce are palm oil, cocoa, ginger root, arrow root, camwood and ivory, specimens of all of •which were exhibited, together with samples of iron ore, and sim- ple iron manufactures from native beds of very fine ore yet unde- veloped, except in the very slightest degree. Some specimens of rude implements from this ore were shown, which were made by the native Africans, the cride rich ore having been hammered into form with stones. Liberia appropriated $10,000 for the ex- hibition, but was unable to raise the money, and but for the en- terprise of E. S. Morris & Co., of Philadelphia, who largely import the products of the country, she would have made no exhibit. These gentlemen are Christian philanthropists as well as mer- chants. The culture and trade of the coffee berry has been stim- ulated by Mr. Morris, the agent and commissioner of Liberia. Schools have been established, the condition of membership being that every pupil shall plant a certain number of trees. Ten of the boys are now in the United States, preparing at a school near Philadelphia, to become teachers of their race in Liberia. Their expenses are paid by a member of this firm. Every good man will sincerily desire the success of E. S. Morris & Co. Canada made a choice exhibit of farm machinery, and an excel- lent display of grains of great variety and the finest quality. France offered wines and brandies; Italy, oils and preserved fruits; Germany, beer and wines; Brazil, a palace of cotton and a monument of coffees, together with very magnificent woods, and other nations brought specimens of characteristic products of their soils and resources. Our own country was very fully and satisfactorily represented in this department. " Rivaling this exhibition of the world's products, the United States displayed the proofs of the wealth of her soil and the skill of her manufacturers — seven hundred exhibitors, covering about two-thirds of the entire building. The various State collections were of especial interest, Iowa showed samples of the rich JAPANESE BUILMKG. THE GKEAT EXHIBITION. 1073 prairie-soil of thirty counties, arranged in as many glass tubes, six feet high, and also specimens of woods and seeds, and wax models of fruits. Delaware had great sections of tree-trunks. Oreo-on showed her woods, medicinal roots, cereals, grasses, and her wonderful dried fruits. Indiana exhibited her timber and grains; Ohio brought specimens of seeds and grains; West Vu'- ginia presented timber, grasses, grains and seeds; Massachusetts and New Hampshire competed even with the fertile West m grains; Michigan State Agricidtural Society had a collection of forestry and farm products; Illinois illustrated her agricultural, horticultural and geological resources; and California and Cen- tral New York displayed their native wines. In order to illustrate the progress of her fisheries, Gloucester had a large tank, in which floated models of the fishing-smacks of 1776 and 1876, while on the wharf were arranged all the para- phernalia of fishing-tackle. _ There were several beautiful cases of stufi"ed American birds and animals. Thirty-five large aquaria illustrated the different varieties of fish and the processes of fish-hatching. Above all, however, towered selections from Professor Ward's world-wide collection of zoological specimens, casts of fossils and magnifi- cently mounted objects, constituting a museum by itself. The various manufacturers of starch, flour, meal, candies, to- bacco, condensed milk, confectionery, canned fruits and vegeta- bles, meats and sauces, the pork-packers and the seedsmen, m displaying their goods, showed the same fertility of resource, so characteristic of the United States in the main Exhibition Build- ing. Even guano and tobacco became radiant with ribbons and gorgeous with gilt and glass; while hams were hidden in wrap- pino-s of gold and crimson. In agricultural implements the United States naturally excelled. Three "hundred plows of every sort, one hundred reapers and mowers, thirty threshers, and exhibits of drills, barrows, cultivat- ors, rollers, spades, shovels, forks and scythes, bewildered the eye with the brightness of burnished steel, gold-plating and rosewood. Almost every operation of the farm was represented by some im- plement or ingenious device. The United States Government Building. The origin of this magnificent display was an Executive Order by the President of the United States, which is here given. It will be seen that the object was a collective Exhibition, that shall illustrate the functions and administrative faculties of Govern- ment in time of peace and its resources as a war power. Whereas, it has been brought to the notice of the President of the United States that in the International Exhibition of Arts, Alanufactures, and products of the Soil and Mine, to be held in the NEW YOBK BUII-DIIfa. THE GREAT EXHIBmOK. 1075 CSty of Philadelphia, in the year 1876, for the purpose of cele- brating the one hundredth anniversary of the Independence of the United States, it is desirable that from the Executive Departments of the Government of the United States in which there may be articles suitable for the purpose intended, there should appear such articles and materials as will, when presented in a collective ex- hibition, illustrate the functions and administrative faculties of the Government in time of peace, and its resources as a war power, and thereby serve to demonstrate the nature of our institutions and their adaptation to the wants of the people. Now, for the purpose of securing- a complete and harmonious arrangement of the arti- cles and materials designed to be exhibited from the Executive De- partment of the Government, it is ordered that a Board, to be composed of one person to be named by the head of each of the Executive Departments which may have articles and materials to be exhibited, and also of one person to be named in behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, and one to be named in the behalf of the Department of Agriculture, be charged with the preparation, ar- rangement, and safe keeping of such articles and: materials as the lieads of the several departments and the Commissioner of Agri- culture and the dii-ector of the Smithsonian Institution may re- spectively decide shall be embraced in the collection; that one of the persons thus named, to be designated by the President, shall be chairman of such Board, and that the Board appoint from their own number such other officers as they may think necessary, and that the said Board when organized shall be authorized under the direction of the President to confer with the executive officers of the Centennial Exhibition in relation to such matters connected with the subject as may pertain to the respective departments having articles and materials on exhibition, and that the names of the persons thus selected by the heads of the several departments, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and the directors of the Smith- ^jonian Institution, shall be submitted to the President for desig- nation. Bv order of the President: "(Signed) HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. Washingtoj^, Janvjwy 23fZ, 1874. The whole area occupied by the structure was 102,000 square ft, A most complete exhibit of our nation was made. The several departments at Washington put forth great eiforts. The War De- partment offered for inspection its armament and uniforms from 1776 to 1876. The Engineers' Bureau sent a complete set of maps, photographs and charts for the pui-pose of showing the system of river and harbor improvements, models of forts, engineering ma- clilnery, pontoon bridges, wagon trains, mining tools, instruments PENNSYLVANIA STATE BUIIJ:)IN"G. THE GRBAT KXHIBITIOX. lOTT for recormoisance and a complete outfit of photogropliir- rprpiisit(\s; also, the model of a lighthouse, of a boat for removijig snags iVnm rivers and a dredging boat. The Ordinance Bureau had everything pertaining to the arms and ammunition of the army; the process of making guns was shown, all parts of the Springfield rifle and carbine being made and put together; machines in operation showing the mode of making metallic cartridges; a 20-inch Rodman smooth-bore weigh- ing 115,000 lbs. was mounted in the open air and worked by a de- tachment of soldiers; models showed the system of field siege and coast artillery. The Gatling gun was an object of special in- terest; complete sets of shot, shell, grenades, cartridge bags, gun- powder for rifles, cannon and mortars, all formed an attractive exhibition. The Medical Bureau sent a post hospital of twenty-four beds, and a complete series of army medical supplies, stores, clothing, /, surgical instruments, models for barracks, ambulances and medi- ■ cal wagons. * The Quartermaster's Department had all the appliances for a campaign, such as clothing, camp and garrison equipage, tents, flags, musical instruments, army wagons, &c. The Signal Service erected a tower seventy-five ft. high, which closed like a telescope into a compass of twenty-five ft. In half an hour it can be run up and securely fastened. The signal system by torch and lantern by night, and flags by day was fully ex- emplified. The Navy Department sent models of every ship of importance in tiie American Navy from the time of the Revolution to the pres- ent year; also models of rams, torpedo boats and monitors: a com- plete steel launch, cutters, ship boats, and distilling apparatus. An interesting instrument is the sounding machine. In signals there '; were colored lights; sets of mortars and paper bombs, nautical compasses, charts, books, plans of derricks, cranes, &c., were shown. The astronomical instruments used in observing the transit of ; f Venus attracted attention, I The Smithsonian Institute made a large display of fishes, and 1 ';; the subject of fish culture was explained fully by Professor Baird. i i The animal kingdom was largely represented, and all appliances s • for hunting, trapping, the lasso, rifles, &c., were exhibited. The ■ j Miiioral Department was undoubtedly the finest ever shown in :; :: America. The Department of the Interior had about five thousand models taken firom the Patent Ofiice of revolutionary curiosities- — Wash- ington's Commission as General of the American Army, a full dis- play of his camp equipage, clothing, sword, &c. The practical OHIO STATK BUnj>lX(;. THK GKEAT EXHIBITION",. 1079 ■working of the system of issuing patents was explained by th© requisite clerks from Washington. The Pension Office had volumes containing accounts of Revo- lutionary officers, also Bibles containing their genealogy. The Census Bureau showed the books of its office complete from 1790 to 1876. The Indian Bureau in conjunction with the Ethnological De- partment of the Smithsonian Institute aided in exhibiting the In- dians in their mode of life. Every tribe contributed to the Exhi- bition. An Indian residence 100x40 wdth posts made of carved cedar and furniture of the same material was an object of curios- ity. Ancient relics, old fish hooks, iron implements, stone arrow- heads, carved bones, quaint ornaments, were shown. The Bureau of Education had a fine exhibit of the different systems of schools, and model school-houses were erected on the grounds. The Adobe House of New Mexico, the Sod House of Nebraska, had their models. As far as possible it was intended to represent the ideas and methods of instruction as brought here by the early colonists; such as the Spanish in the South, the En- glish in Virginia, NeAv England and Pennsylvania, the Dutch in New York and the Swedes in Delaware. The system of instruc- tion of tlie present day was fully illustrated, embracing the clas- sification into the elementary, the common and normal schools, the training schools, college of science, agriculture and classical training, the theological, medical and naval schools; colleges for .studying law and dentistry; institutes for music, art, painting and sculpture, etching, engraving and the like. The other divisions »f the system into institutes for the blind, deaf, dumb, orphans, reformatory schools; instruction given in jails and prisons, and the like, were explained. The Hay den exploring expedition made a most interesting ex- liibition, and our new National Park was reproduced exactly by a inodel on the scale of one mile to an inch; also models of the injins of the cliff builders, a tribe who built their houses in inac- cessible localities. The Post-Ofiice Department showed a model post-office in op- ♦^ration; a machine for gumming, making and stamping envel- opes automatically; a railroad postal-car, with mail-catchers; and .specimens of all stamps, envelopes, etc., issued by the Depart- ment. The Agricultural Department exhibited a collection of all the limber trees in the United States; botanical specimens; maps showing forest areas, value of farming-lands, and amount of pro- «Kiction in all parts of the country; collections of birds and insects beneficial and injtirious to vegetation; specimens of cereals and fextilii fabrics, raw and manufactured; a series of water-color coNNECncxrr state building. THE GREAT EXUimxiOJS". lOil ■drawings, showing- microscopic fungi, the poisonous and edible mushrooms, starch granules of plants, and methods of distinguish- ing vegetable and animal fibres, and mineral, vegetable, and an- imal fertilizers; the tanning and dyeing materials, and the resins of the United States; and the various products manufactured from flour, meal, bran, hominy, etc. The Women's Pavilion-. The women of America paid for this building, that they or their asters throughout the world might have an opportunity to exhibit their work. Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, President of the Women's Centennial Com- mittee, gives the following information concerning women's wofjc ill connection with the Centennial Exhibition: — " Eight thousand one hundred and seventy shares of stock in the Centennial have been subscribed through their organization' up to the present date, thus securing the sum of $81,700. Besides \ this amount $8,600.87 have been contributed as a, free gift to the general purposes of the Exhibition; $3,620 have been paid by the women's organization to the treasurers of the Board of Finance on account of the sales of medals. This brings the contributions from the women of the country to the general exhibition to $93,- 980.87 ; $33,000 have been contributed for the building of the Women's Department. Besides this amount, the committee has received information that the ladies of Indianapolis, Ind., had an additional subscription of $2,500 to the interior of the Women's Department, making a total of $35,500. Since the above $500 additional has been received and paid on stock." A critical observer said frankly, after speaking of obvious de- fects and drawbacks: The chief feature of woman's Centennial work is the indefatio-a- ble, unfaltering spirit which has run through her entire effort. He who pronounces the Women's Department a failure has failed him- self to catch its real meaning. It expresses the practical woman just as she is, with all her one-sided, limited development; her instinctive reachings, imperfect realizations, and accidental suc- cesses. It has been of inestimable value to her as showing the ex- act measure of her capacity as well as her points of deficiency. It has surely rendered it inipossible eyer .again to impugn woman's practical ability. She has shown conclusively that she is able to carry forward successfully anything she chooses to undertake, from the raising of $95,000 to aid her brothers in the dark, early days of Centennial preparation, to the erection and furnishing of her owa industrial domain, managed entirely by herself, even to the func- tion of engineer. Miss Allison, the presiding genius of the engine room, is per- KKW JERSEY STATE BUILDING. THB GREAT EXHIBITION. 1083 haps a fair type of what may be expected in the future, when the ideal and aftistic shall penetrate even to the engine-room. To the novelty seeker, Miss Allison's little brick engine-house and the kindergarten building were two of the most interesting fea- tures of the Pavilion. How gi'eat progress marks the career of a woman in the medi- cal department! The Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, offered a complete Materia Medica^ prepared Avith a high degree of accuracy. In needle-work the superiority of our American work was very manifest. In wood carving and china painting, the Cincinnati School of Design came to the front. This showed a field for the sex where they can profitably combine viseful work with the beautiful and artistic. A remarkable specimen of handwork in wood was a set of three pieces, screen, table and organ, by Christina Olson of Sweden. This woman began as a young girl to manifest a decided talent in furniture manufacture. In her father's workshop she found her chief pleasure, and although dis- couraged in every way by her friends, she succeeded at the age of sixteen in making a bureau. Every opportunity after that found her devotedly at her work, until her father's death forced upon her the stern realities of the trade, with the necessity of support- ing both herself and her mother. At the age of twenty she came to this country, and while employed at the drudgery of domestic service found sufficient spare time to make a side-board which ex- cited the admiration and wonder of all who saw it. The only tools she had with which to execute her work were made by her- self out of skirt-wire and other available material found about the house. The articles here exhibited are the product of four years' labor. They are made of various kinds of wood, laid to- gether in a kind of mosaic, comprising in all some 3,000 pieces. They are really very beautiful, and, as illustrative of woman's power to overcome difficulties, constitute a most valuable acquisi- tion to the Woman's Pavilion. Mrs. Stiles' " combination desk" when closed, occupies only 18 inches of space by 6 feet wide. Opened, it presents a double front capable of accommodating half a dozen persons at the same time, -and spreads over a space of 7 by 6 feet. Tliis beautiful piece of mechanical construction has brought to its inventor a great many complimentary notices and a prospective fortune — better than all. Mrs. Mountain's life-preserving mattress has been found so effi- cient in its way that the Board of United States Supervising In- spectors of Steamboats have adopted it for general use as an aux- iliary life-saving appliance. Another invention is the Coston Telegraphic Night Signals, which, although not original with Mrs. Coston, owe to her their MASS AU I ! Ii\S K 1 1'S i , L' ! r J. t X THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 10 "5 perfection and introduction into public use. Her husband died leaving- her a rough chart of the idea, and it was not until after many fruitless experiments in combining the chemicals and other materials to be employed, with year after year of patient toil, that she was able to present the idea perfected to the world. She has now the g;ratifi cation of seeing 300 sets of her night-signals dis- tributed through the United States Navy, honored by Government approval. An exhibit of the invention was also made in the Gov- ernment building. The first picture sold at the Exhibition was a woman's^ and brought one thousand dollars. Queen Victoria's response to the invitation of her American '\ sisters was at least substantial. The English cases had a fine \ table napkin woven by the Queen's own hands, together with ^^ etchings by herself, some embroidery by her daughters, and sam- , H, pies of work from the Royal School of Needlework. These speci- mens of Royal handiwork are peculiarly valuable to us; first, as showing the substantial sturdy common sense of our mother coun- try; second, as furnishing an opportunity for comparison with the same class of work at home. One saw in these exhibits traces of that strong sentiment of practicality which characterizes old Eng- land, and gives a tone of gravity even to the princes of her realm. The ladies of Japan contributed exquisite needlework, show- ing the portraits of the Royal family. They also sent cases of gold embroidery and oil paintings of real merit. The " N'erc Century for women" was " edited" and " compos- ed" by women. The labors of man's help-meet were scattered up and down all the buildings, and appropriately beside those of man. Among the two hundred buildings of the Exhibition, the Jap- panese Hotel was ver}^ interesting. The materials were brought from Japan and the house was constructed by native workmen. The British Buildings were three in number: two of them in the style of architectu^re of the sixteenth century, with tile roofing, and surmounted by stacks of red brick chimneys, one in the style of the residence of a squire of that period. Nearly every article entering into the construction of the buildings was manufactured in Great Britain. The rooms were furnished in paneled dados, the walls above hung with English paper, the woodwork stained and varnished, and the furniture (brought from England) througli- out in harmony with the style adopted. The French Government Buildings, two in number; the German Pavilion; the Spanish Building and Guard-house; the Portuguese, Brazilian, Japanese, and Cliiiiiin Bnihlings. Near these buildings was the Caimadtak Log Housk. In additiou to these were &. Shoe and Leather Building, tliree ARKANSAS. STATE BUILDING. THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1087 hundred feet long, containing the exhibits of five hundred and ninety-five American firms, and representing the condition of this industiy with great clearness and fullness; a Carriage and Stove building, three hundred and forty-six feet long, crowded with speci- mens of wagons and heating-apparatus from all parts of the world; The Pennsylvania Educational Hall, one hundred and forty-eight feet in length, exhibiting all the educational interests of that State; the New England Farmer's Kitchen, a log-house of one hundred years ago, furnished with relics of the Pilgrim fathers; a Swedish school-house, illustrating the educational methods of that country; a Turkish bazaar, where guests were served coffee and tobacco by Oriental attendants in Eastern style; a Tunis Cafe, with native music and dancing; a Hunter's camp, illustrative of sporting life in the backwoods; a Glass-ware Building, exhibiting all the processes of glass-blowing; the Brewers' Building, containing a model French brewery; the French Pavilion with beautiful charts and models of public works; the Nevada Quartz Mill, showing all the processes of manipulating ores and extracting the precious metals; the Tribune office,a quaint little structure full of papers and news; and a woman's school-house, illustrating the kindergarten methods of teaching. In the Bible Pavilion were exhibited portions of the Bible print- ed in more than 100 lano-uag;es. One characteristic feature of the nineteenth century is the formation of Bible societies for the pub- lication and distribution of the books of Holy Scripture. The six- teenth century was prolific in new versions of the Holy Bible, and the seventeenth century saw a large circulation of copies, no less than 472 editions of the authorized English version having been published before its close. But it was reserved for these later years to behold the hearty union of Christian men standing on the broad platform of the Bible, and leagued together for the single purpose of disseminating the Scriptures in the received versions where they exist, and in the most faithful where they may be re- quired. First among these associations was the British and For- eign Bible Society, founded in 1804, which at the close of its seventy-first year, having extended its operations to almost every country in the World, had put into cii'culation nearly seventy-four million copies of the Bible, and of integral parts of the Bible, in above two hundred languages and dialects, and had expended nearly eight millions sterling in translating, printing, and dissem- inating the scriptures. It has its agents and correspondents, col- porteurs and depots, in every part of Europe, and besides this, Syri- ans and Persians, Indians and Chinese, Abyssinians and Kafirs, the islanders of Madagascar, New Zealand, and the South Seas, Mexicans and Esquimaux, with many others, can say that through ■VVS.--.T VIf;GIXIA STATE BUILDING. THE -GKEAT EXHIBITION. lOi'9 its means they hear in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. Since the era of Bible societies began, the Christian scholarship of the world has produced not far froni two hundred and fift}'^ ver- sions of the Bible or parts of the Bible; and probably two hun- dred languages and dialects have thus for the first time been en- riclied with the literature of this book. Many of them had never before been reduced to writing. Few persons appreciate the difficulty of rendering the Scrip- tures from the original Hebrew and Greek into languages which , have not been previously pervaded and molded by Christian thought; yet in laying foundations for generations that are to fol- low, one may well devote to the work the energies of a lifetime. The translation of the Bible into Arabic by Dr, Eli Smith and Dr. Van Dyck required the labor of sixteen years. Dr. Shaufflor, of Constantinople, completed in 1874 the translation of the Osmanlee version of the Scriptures which he began as long ago as 1860. Fifteen years of continuous labor were spent by Dr. Schereschew- sky in rendering the Old Testament into the Mandarin colloquial. After nearly forty years of study and of missionary labor, Dr. Williamson and Dr. Riggs have their Dakota version of the Bible almost complete, and one of them estimates that he has spent on an average full thirty ininutes on each verse he has translatod. These are illustrations of the labor expended by Christian mission- aries in the preliminary work of preparing new versions of Scrip- ture. The American Bible Society, having secured a very eligible situation in the book department of the Main Exhibition Building, had a case constructed for the display of a collection of Scriptures in most of the languages in which the Word of God has been circulated since the work of publishing and distributing the Bible began. One entire compartment was devoted to specimen copies of books in various styles of binding, while in contrast with this, an- other part of the case contained a valuable collection of printed ; Bibles, illustrating the work of four preceding centuries. 1 One shelf was filled with a series of bi-lingual volumes, showing 1 at one opening the combination of English Scriptures with Ger- i man, French, Spanish, Italian, etc. Three shelves were devoted I to the languages of Europe, one to those of Africa^ and threes to 1 those of Asia; one of these being filled with specimens of the ver- sions prepared and printed in the dialects of China. The Scrip- tures in languages peculiar to the Islands of the Pacific filled one shelf, and on the other was a series of translations made for the aborigines of iVmerica. The different States were represented by Buildings: d;ela\varh; state jtuti^DlKG. THE GREAT EXHIBITION. ' 1091 New Hampshire Building — was a small and plain, but taste- ful, frame cottage, 50 ft. square, and, like all the state building-s, was intended as an office for the commissioners of the State and a rendezvous for visitors from the state to which it belonged. All the State Buildings had large registers in which visitors from the respective states were requested to record their names and ad- dresses. Vekmont Building — was a handsome cottage, 35 by 40 ft. in size, and the interior was fitted up simply but tastefully, in stain- ed pine wood. Massachusetts Building — was one of the handsomest cottages in the grounds. It was built of wood painted in dark, rich colors. Size 70 by 87 ft. Rhode Island Building — was a small but tasteful frame cot- tage situated on the slope of George's Hill. Pennsylvania Building — was a handsome Gothic cottage, 57 by 97 ft. Dej-aware Building — was a handsome frame cottage of two stories in the Norman Gothic style with a tower. Maryland Building — was built of wood; size 70 by 85 ft. in the large hall. In this building were exhibited the agricultural products of the state, its mineral ores, marbles, building stone, tim- ber, its oyster fisheries, &c., &c. ViJiGiNiA Building — was erected by a private gentleman as the state declined to make any appropriation to the Exposition. Tennessee — was represented only by a canvas tent erected by a private individual. Arkansas Building — was constructed of wood, octagonal in shape, about 80 ft. in diameter, with a double dome in the center. It was painted in bright colors within and without. Il!.inois Building — Avas a handsome two-story frame cottage. Iowa Building — was a neat and tasteful cottage situated on the slope of George's Hill. California and Nevada Building — was a large wooden pavil- ion containing a handsome hall, the pillars of which were finished in imitation of the native woods of the Pacific coast. A special ex- hibit was made of the agricultural and mineral resources of these states. Michigan Building — all the fittings and endowments of Michi- gan material and the workmanship of Michigan hands. Indiana Building — made, as far as possible, characteristic of Indiana homes. Missouri Building — a handsome structure two stories high, sur- mounted by a dome. Ohio Building — a very attractive structure, built of stone, fur- KANSAS AND COT.ORADO BUILDING. THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1093 nlshed by different stone companies; domestic Gothic style of ar- chitecture, and very substantial. Connecticut Building — of the Dutch Colonial style of archi- tecture. Inside wood-work chiefly white pine and smoke-stained wood. Lower part of the outside of the building of scallop-fashioned shingles, and the upper part lathed and plastered. A massive stone chimney protruded from the roof, and the front was relieved by an old-fashioned porch. New York — a large and one of the most beautiful of the State Buildings. West Virginia, built of native woods; Mississippi, made of native timber and ornamented with Spanish moss; New Jersey, with its tasteful turret and red-tile roof; Kansas — 133 by 132 — a large and handsome structure, surmounted by a tower; New England Log House and Modern Kitchen, on Agricultural avenue, not far from Horticultural Building; intended to illustrate the New Eng- gland kitchen of one hundred years ago and of the present time, — meals cooked and served by young ladies in appropriate cos- tumes. In the Michigan building was a Cottonwood log, about ten inches in diameter, cut off by beavers. It was cut almost square off, and looked as if done by a small gouge from all directions. In the Wisconsin building, an oil portrait of Joseph Crele, who died at Portage City in 1866, aged one hundred and fifty-one years, shows a face which must have been fine looking when young; white hair, dark eyes, that have a languid look, as if the fires of life were burning low; mouth sunken completely out of shape; brow, cheeks and neck a succession of furrowed wrinkles, looking as if Time in his flight had passed by and forgotton him. But even such a very old man was outstripped in the race of life, for there was a portrait in oil of Meshoweba, an Indian squaw, who died several years ago in Wisconsin, and who must have been 160 years of age. She had two sons in the Revohi- tionary army, and was then well advanced in years. She follow- ed our army, doing the cooking for a squad of soldiers, and was present at Yorktown at the surrender of Cornwallis. For many years she was carefully provided for by the Indians of Wisconsin. The picture shows her wrapped in a white blanket, with head bare; an old, old face, having the Indian features; broad cheek bones, straggling, coarse gray hair, but eyes black and clear; her face and neck look like leather, and as if moulded into wrinkles; and yet, many squaws are as old looking as she. Educational Progress. The children of the nations engross much attention in their re- spective countries, and the advancement in their education is SINGER MANUFACTUKING CO. BUILDING. THE GREAT EXHIBITION". 1095 marked from the land of the Rising Sun, Japan, to this New World. The Japanese system was presented with a detail and accuracy only excelled by Sweden. All the appliances which Japan brings to bear on her little children, to lift them to an English or American level, were ex- hibited from the code of rules which govern the Mombusho, or supreme Bureau of Education, down to the brilliant-colored primers for the babies, with the printed word cow and the real brindle beside it. The Mombusho, is an office for administering the educational aifairs of the whole empire. The Minister-General of Instruction is assisted by vice-ministers and inspectors. He has absolute power in appointing or discharging all officials of second grade, and his advice is usually followed with regard to those of the rank next his own. It is also his duty to establish systems of ed- ucation of all kinds whatever; according to his own judgment to improve the educational code, when he thinks it necessary; to re-organize school districts, control local questions, raise funds, and publish educational information. After this czar of an executive officer come other authorities graded in rank, ministers, inspect- ors, &c. The money for the support of the schools is raised by taxation. The amount in the first year of the establishment of public schools (1871) was nearly $500,000, which sum was steadi- ly increased until now. Education is not everywhere compulsory, although in some districts local laws require it to be so. In Tokis there is a school for women ranking with Vassar col- lege, and there are large schools solely for instruction in foreign languages; in one, Gaikoka-Gogakko, French, English, German, Russian, and Chinese were taught; in another English alone, '• as of supreme importance." The hundred and ninety boys stiidy here the language which they learn to handle so easily and ef- fectively. The Japanese, indeed, whose own tongue is soft and liquid as the Italian, appear to be as facile linguists as the Poles. They learn, however, no Latan and no Greek. Girls and boys study together in the lower schools, but they are separated in ttie upper. It was Charles XIV., born himself a poor lad, that first, I be- lieve, convinced Sweden that her poor children were the wa1om Taxation of Public Funds . . $58,855,507 " Endowments 144,533 " Other Sources, including Tuition 5,030,633 $2,320,250 3,356,003 11,999,054 $570,282 163,249 12,962,615 $64,030,673 $17,675,907 $13,696,146 The total number of libraries returned was 163,353, containing 44,539,184 volumes. Of these, 107,673 were private libraries,, containing 25,571,503 volumes. In the opinion of the superin- tendent of the census, these results are " manifestly far below the truth." The newspaper and periodical press comprised, in 1875, 7,850 publications, divided as follows: Daily, 1,718; tri-weekly, 80; semi-weekly, 107; weekly, 5,957; bi-weekly, 24; semi-monthly, lOG; monthly, 802; bi-monthly, 8; quarterly, tj8. Bureau of Lost Aeticles. The assortment of pocketl)ooks was large and varied, compris- ing all known styles, from the plethoric wallet of the cattle dealer to the miniature, pearl-covered portmonnaie of a Yassar school- THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1103 girl, filled with incongruous bundles of paper " of no value except to the owner," and of no cash value to any one; wallets stuflFed with memoranda, without dates, names, or location; others filled with receipts of various kinds, interspersed with fractional cur- rency, railroad tickets, and occasionally a few small bills, and still others with nothing but a few pennies or postage stamps, and an equally large collection absolutely empt}^ Over |3,000 in cash were picked up in the Centennial grounds by the guards, and all but the small amounts remaining in several hundred unclaimed wallets, aggregating not over $100 at the most, and about $70 found in small rolls of bills, returned to the owners. A curious commen- tary on one diiference in the characteristics of the two sexes is found in the fact that fully nine-tenths of the pocketbooks, and not less than four-fifths of the other articles, were evidently the property of ladies. Three special cases were thoughtfully reserv- ed for the wearing apparel so liberally scattered about the grounds by the better and fairer half of humanity. Among the simpler and more familiar articles may be mention- ed lace and linen collars, linen and paper cuffs, with gold or brass sleeve-buttons, shawls of all kinds, mantillas of various patterns, sun-bonnets, summer hats, handkerchiefs, eye-glasses, overshoes, waterproofs, traveling robes, veils, sacques of all varieties, scarfs, neck-ties, ribbons, switches and furs. Among a numerous as- sortment, which may not be mentioned, are all sorts of articles of underwear, including balmorals, garters, crinolines, bustles, and — but limited space and knowledge prevents a completion of the list. The collection of fans would bear comparison with any display of an evening concert. If tlie Japanese sold more fans than have been left on the grounds, they must have proved a strong competition to the sale of thermometers. In the extensive stock of ladies' wear on hand, with one exception, every portion of visible and invisible feminine attire has been lost at the Centen- nial Grounds, and the list includes every ornament not clasped by a lock which would puzzle the manufacturer to unfasten. The mis- fortunes of male visitors seem to have been confined to the loss of empty wallets and umbrellas. Over two thousand umbrellas were carried by the guards to headquarters, but with them were about 1,000 parasols. Many of both were returned, but enough still re- main. Some of the sunshades were quite valuable, but the um- brellas were without exception so dilapidated by wear or so cheap in material or construction that no man or woman not born for the gallows would dream of appropriating them. If among the millions of visitors at the Exhibition one or two thousand lost um- brellas of no use to any one, how many of actual value must have been forgotten by careless owners'? If the guards returned pack- ages of money and valuable jewelry to lieadquarters, would they THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 1105 not have been likely to return silk and pearl-handled umbrellas? If the guards did not pick up the good umbrellas presumed to have been mislaid, who did? Judging from the number of useless um- brellas delivered at the adjutant's office, and the liability of all umbrellas being lost, it must be assumed that fully 500,000 rain- shedders are now in the hands of persons who never paid for them. Only one conclusion is possible — umbrellas are popularly ostra- cised from the protection of the eighth commandment. Several thousands of gloves of all imaginable kinds, from the six-button kid to the merino mitten, were in a separate compart- ment and no two alike. Among other lost articles were several dozen spectacles of dif- ferent styles, three or four opera-glasses, any number of scrap- books, memorandum books, diaries, novels, works of reference. Centennial catalogues, guides to the park and city, cigar cases par- tially filled, camp-stools, canes, "Aids to Memory," a few linen dust- ers, railroad tickets, and any quantity of small satchels, lunch baskets, etc. The amount of jewelry picked up by the guards would make the eyes of a diamond broker twinkle, but all the most valuable trinkets were returned. Among the richest articles of personal adornment and use were a number of diamond rino-s, brooches, etc.; emerald, spathine, and opal earrings; several gold and silver watches, and a large assortment of lockets and charms. Some of the diamond rings were valued at |550, and from this amount the jewelry dwindled down to about twenty-five cents. One of the first of the lost articles brought into, or rather to the door of, the adjutant's office, was a gray mare, large as life, and evidently much disgusted at being left to her own resources. The owner of the animal was, however, discovered on the same day. To this department were also brought the lost children not reclaim- ed at the precinct guard-houses, where they are first taken. All were handed over to their parents or sent under the care of guards to their homes or hotels on the same day. Over 500 children were returned to their parents, and as these were only the " worst lost cases," it is estimated that several thousands were missed and re- claimed soon afterward at the stations. The ages of the little folks ranged all the way from two to eight years, and with few excep- tions, they bravely resigned themselves to await the long-delayed coming of their parents, in full faith that the jDromise of the kind- hearted adjutant to send them home, if not soon called for, would be fulfilled. Celebration op the Fourth of .July, 1876. The patriotic people of this country did not forget the hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration. It was celebrated with great enthusiasm in all parts of the land. At Philadelphia the festivities began on the third; and at midnight at Independ- THE GREAT EXHIBITION". 1107 encc Hall, the second century of the Republic was ushered in by the noise of cannon, clangor of bells and the shouts of thou- sands of freemen. The Fourth was the occasion of a grand mili- tary pagf>aiit, and one hundred thousand persons crowded Inde- pendence Stpiare to participate in the exercises of the day. General llawley gave words of welcome and introduced the Vice- Presiilent of the United States, Hon. T. W. Ferry, who made an appi'opriate address. The Right Rev. William Bacon Stevens of- fered prayer, which' was followed by the singing of a hymn com- posed by Oliver AVendell Holmes. WELCOME TO THE NATIONS. \ Briglit on the banners of lily and rose, J^o, the last sun of ovir century sets! Wreath tlie black cannon that scowled on our foes, All but her friendships the Nation forgets! All but her friends and their welcome forgets! These are around her: But where are her foes? Lo, while the sun of her century sets, Peace with her garlands of lily and rose! II. Wehxime! a shout like the war-trumpet swell, Wakes the wild echoes that slumber around! Welcome! it cjuivers from Liberty's bell; Welcome! the walls of her temple resound! Hark! the gray walls of her temple resound! Fade the far voices o'er hillside and dell; Welcome! still whisper the echoes around! Welcome! still trembles on Liberty's bell! III. Thrones of the Continents! Isles of the Sea! Yours are the garlands of peace we entwine; Welcome, once more, to the land of the free, Shadowed alike by the palm and the pine; Softly they murmur, the palm and the pine: "Hushed is our strife, in the land of the free; " Over your children their branches entwine, Thrones of the Continents! Isles of the Sea! " With singular propriety, Richard Henry Lee, grandson and Tiamesake of the patriot who offered in the Continental Congress the famous resolution of June T, 1776, then read the Declaration GEN. JOS. U. H A WLEY, PRESIDENT OF THE CENTENNIAL COMMISSION. THK GREAT UXHIBITIOK. 1109 ol" Independence from the original parchment. As the immense throng caught sight of the faded but precious document there went up shout after shout. The enthusiasm was contagious, and the 4,000 distinguished guests upon the platform, as by a simultane- ous impulse, sprang to their feet and joined in the acclamations." A '^ Greeting from Brazil " was sung by the great orchestra and chorus, and Bayard Taylor pronovmced an ode. Hon, William M. Evarts delivered an oration and the multitude dispersed. At night the city was ablaze with fire-works. A grand temple-piece repre- sented the rise of America. The thirteen original States were em- blazoned on thirteen central columns. "E phiribus Unum, July 4, 1770 — July 4, 187G," appeared above the dome. The Goddess of Liberty rose over the whole pile, while the eagle soared aloft hav- ing the national colors in its beak. X. >' Winding up of the Exhibition. According to the original design, the Centenoial Exhibition closed on the 10th of November. During the latter part of the Fair, immense throngs were crowding the aisles and approaches to the various buildings, and financially made it a success. It was to many merely a show of curious and wonderful things and people. To othei's it was an educator of no small value, and as these pon- der and study the memorable objects that were impressed on their minds they will find themselves to have been at the best school they ever attended. The results of this comparison of national progress and products must tend to harmonize mankind and cre- ate deeper respect for one another. There is a marked contrast between the expressions of foreign visitors, depending on their point of view, whether they regard American progress with pleasure or regret. The men of science express delight. Sir William Thompson, for instance, fairly over- flowed with hearty and specific compliment to his co-workers in science on this side of the Atlantic. He was " vividly impressed" during his stay at Philadelphia, alike by the originality and thor- oughness of American scientific research. The advances made here in hydrography, in coast survey, in ingenious devices as dis- played by the Patent Office Museum, in the science of weather predictions, in astronomical apparatus, are alluded to as things that benefit mankind. Not the least particle of national jealousy appeared in his address before the Glasgow meeting. On the other hand, Mr. Isaac Lowthian Bell, in a speech delivered in one of the Northeastern counties of England, scarcely conceals the gloom with which he regards American progress in iron manufac- ture and the prospect of the loss of our market to England. He regards the loss as permanent. Having examined the American 1110 POOTPBIJSTTS Of THE AGES. iron exhibits at Philadelphia, and noted the adA^anta^re;? of tht.' United States. in the position and abundance of ores and fuel, he sees no hope for the competition of the English ironmaster. The owner of the Ijondon Times^ Mr. Walter's, opinion of the Centennial Exposition was very high. It was certainl}^ the equal, and, in many respects, the superior of any of the other World's Fairs. He expressed himself as delighted with the good manners exhibited by the people he had met at the Exposition. Many of them bore traces of the farmer in their dress and talk, but in no case had he seen signs of the boor. Yankee curiosity was to be noticed on all sides, but the caricatured Yankee inquisitiveness did not manifest itself. Statistics of Attendance. The Exhibition had to make its way slowly into public com- prehension and favor. The American people had little knowledge of what a World's Fair really was, and asked themselves the ques- tinn, '■'Will it pay to go to the Centennial':"' many times before they decided to go. There was an ignorance and an indifference throughout the country concerning the grand undertaking that threatened to mar its success. On the opening day Philadelphia furnished nine-tenths of the visitors. There wei-e 76,172 paying admissions — a very fair beginning — Vut the attendance fell next day to 14,722, and the day after to 10,252. On the 16th of May it was only 7,056. The highest figure reached in that month was 41,111, on the 30th, and the average for the month was 19,946. The highest attendance in June was 39,386, the lowest 20,343, and the average 26,756. By the end of the month the glowing- accounts of returning visitors, few in number though they were, had leavened the whole lump of public indifference and created a general desire among all classes to make a pilgrimage to Phila- delphia. The ceremonies on the Fourth of Julj'^ brought a nu- merous multitude in spite of the severe heat that prevailed. On the 3d the paying visitors numbered 41,786, on the the 4th 46,- 290, on the 5th, 51,825, and on the 6th, 46,088. Then the attend- ance ran down rapidly, so that on the 3 1st it was only 15,207. The average for the month was 24,481. The heated term was of unprecedented length and severity. In August the largest attendance was on Jersey Day — 55,930; the smallest attendance was 22,141, and the average 33,655. September brought the hoped-for throng. On the 1st, 34,182 visitors entered the gates ; on the 5th, 50,209, and, except on one rainy day, the total never dropped below 50,000 thenceforth. Connecticut Day, the 7th, scored 64,059 ; Massachusetts Day, the 14th, 78,977; New York Day, the 21st, 117,941 ; and Pennsyl- vania Day, the 28th, brought the enormous number of 257,169 THE GREAT EXHIBITION. neople within the inclosure. The ^^^^age for the month was Si 961 In October the average ran up still higher, being 89 789, M,jOi. i'l y^ fin 865 and the highest reached on Uela- the lowest hgure was t»0,ooo, anu .nc ug T?V.r>rqA Tciland ware and Maryland Day, the 19th, was 161,oo5. ^1^°^^^ ^f J.^,^ Dav the 5th, registered 89,060; New Hampshire Day the 12th wTsll' and' Ohio Day, the 26th, 122,300. During November the attendance was close upon 100,000 every day The bright weather, the near approach o£ the end, ancl tne attraction Sf a superb display of fireworks in the evening, swelled the paid admissions one day to 176,000. Geneeal Hawley on the Exhibition. "People ask me if the Exhibition has equaled our expecta- tions I answer by saying that it did not go beyond or even up t^ our dreTml, grand as it^s, but that it was better than we had to our areauift, ^ k^Lvp it nnened The estimates of the reason to expect a year before it openea. x ii« commissioners as to the attendance ^an from 5,000,000 to 10,000 000. The paid admissions have been about 8'000,000. feo tar as the financial side is concerned, we have reason for gratification. If he aomrent prosperity which prevailed when the enterprise was wSad coLnSed, it is impossible to say how great the attend- ance would have bee^i. We are well aware that mere extent and muTtirudes of visitors do not make a great Exhibition, and we but Accept the judgment of foreigners and Amencans qualified by knowledge of o'ther Exhibitions, when we say that it is the largest, bLt situated, best arranged, best managed and most successful Fxhib tion ever held. We were early met by the objection urged by ChaAes Sum er and others, that ^lonarchical countries would not take part in an affair, which had somewhat ot a character of a femirv celebration of the success of republican ideas, but our in- Stions were accepted by foreign nations m the kindest spirit Ind they evidently exerted themselves to make fine displays. Of course commercial motives influenced their action more or less; bu it is delio-htful to believe that something was due to genuine o-ood wilf Uncle Sam appears to be one of the most popular members of the brotherhood of nations. '' It must be that such a gathering as we have had ^--^^ll ^a^^^ laro-e influence upon international commerce and fiiendship. Reflect that commissioners from thirty g-f "";^-^,^^^^^^^ reports of their examinations, and especia ly on ^fie Ameiica i Sures, and that these reports will be published as official docu- ments. In addition, 125 foreign judges, specially qualified by refexaminations, are reporting their observations to t^^^^^^^ trymen. Furthermore, every newspaper m the ^^o^-l^ has pub iXd descriptions and accounts of the Exhibition, so that to use a commercial phrase, the United States, have been advertised to Ills FOOTPEIN'TS OF THB AGES. an immense extent. The world knows a great deal more about us than it ever did before. With scarcely a single exception our foreign guests have manifested satisfaction and pleasure at their stay in the country. Many have had false impressions lemoved as to the character of our people and their moral elevation. The perfect good behavior of the 8,000,000 visitors is beyond praise. The American people never in the hundred years of their history ap- peared to so great an advantage as this summer. " In one respect only the Exhibition did not quite come up to our anticipations. We were anxious to see Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and other Southern States with unbounded nat- ural resources, present themselves here as Kansas, Colorado, Ar- kansas, and others have done, and we hoped to see them in gen- eral joining more heartily in the social and semi-political features of the year. Maryland, Delaware, Mississippi, Arkansas, Ten- nessee and Kentucky, among the Southern States, expended money in assisting to make the Fair, and found their advantage in it. It would have delighted us if all had done the same. Had the Governor of Virginia appointed a day for his people to meet here, he would have received the warmest greeting ho ever sa,w in his life. The masses of the American people desired to make long strides in the Centennial year toward perfect reconciliation. Divine Providence gave us a splendid opportunity to shake hands. There has been a great deal done, but I wish there had been more. It has been four and a half years since the commission or- ganized. It has had many dark days. It began with no funds, and with no machinery for raising any. The jealousy of states and localities was verj;- discouraging. The American people two and three years ago were in a fault-finding mood. It was a time of investigation, criticism, and general dissatisfaction. The press was indifferent or unjustly critical toward the Exhibition project. This was, I am bound to say, because the project proposed to put us before the world in an attitude where we should be closely ex- amined, and there was great skepticism as to whether the Exhi- bition could be well managed. In the end we gained public con- fidence, and the press became our Avarm and indispensable sup- porter. " I feel great satisfaction in reflecting that we have demonstrat- ed two things — that an almost voluntary association can conduct all the material concerns of such an exhibition with ease and ac- curacy, and that the enterprise has come to the last day without a single occurrence above microscopic size that could make a scan- dal if exposed to public view. It is my testimony, after four and a half years' presiding over the commission, that its members, al- though selected with no just idea of what their work was to be, have proved to be a very capable and entirely honest body of THB GEBAT EXHIBITION. 1113 men. Many of them are gentlemen of rare qualifications and ex- perience. We have labored with a sincere desire to make the Exhibition one that our fellow-citizens would have no reason to feel ashamed of. We are ready to say that we are very proud of our success in the material and moral aspects of the whole enter- prise." In another place this gentleman said he had not seen a drunken man nor an altercation on the ground; so that the grandest ex- hibition after all was the American people. Many events occurred to give variety to life at the Exhibition, and to afford from time to time fresh and novel attractions. The advent of the benignant, inquiring, and eccentric Emperor of Brazil, who Avent about in a rusty black coat investigating evei'y- thing and permitting nobody to bore him; the visit of the young Prince Oscar of Sweden in his fine frigate; the encampments of the Pennsylvania National Guard of the Connecticut soldiers, and of the gallant young cadets from the West Point Military Acad- emy; the excursion of the cadets of the Virginia Military Aca,demy ; the three week's regatta on the Schujdkill with its exciting contests at the oar between the representatives of Great Britain, Canada, and the United States; the orations on the history and resources of the several states; all these were inter- esting occurrences. Who that witnessed the impressive inaugui'al ceremonies will soon forget the scene ? — the vast sea of people filling the great plaza between Memorial Hall and the Main Building; the crowd of dignitaries on the platform, at their head the President of the imperial republic and the republican ruler of the only American emjaire; the great orchestra plajang the score sent across the sea by the famous German composer, and the mighty chimes singing the songs of the venerable Quaker bard of the North and of the young poet of the South — music which the lofty walls of the adjoining palace of industry caught and flung back to the ap- plauding multitude; the procession of officials through the build- mgs, and finally the touch of the hands of President and Emperor upon the levers of the monster motor in Machinery Hall, which caused 10,000 wheels, shafts, and spindles to start with busy life. The Exhibition was more nearly comjjlete at the opening than either of its predecessors in Europe had been. Clostng Ceremonies. On the morning of November lOth, 1S76, a Federal salute of thirteen guns was fired from George's Hill at sunrise b}'' the Key- stone Battery, and simultaneously from the United States steamer Plymouth in the harbor. The rain made it necessary to adjourn the exercises to the 1114: FdOTPEIIfTS OF THE AGES. Judges' Hall, where was a collection of men and women sneh as has been seldom seen in this land. President Grant, accompanied by Secretaries Fish and Cam- eron, arrived at the appointed time. The Foreign Commissioners were assembled, and some of the Foreign Ministers, conspicuous among them Sir Edward Thornton, in full official uniform, were present. The gallery, running around three sides of the hall, was required for as much of Theodore Thomas's orchestra and chorus as could find place in it, so that only the floor, accommo- dating at most 800 persons, remained for the official participants and their guests. A detachment of the 1st City Troop of Phila- delphia — super!) figures in their antique uniform — kept an open space clear in front of the platform and down the middle of the hall to the entrance. On the entrance of the President the band played " Hail to the Chief," which Was followed by Wagner's Centennial March. The selections throughout were most appropriate, yet none was more felicitous than that which followed the Rev. Mr. Seiss's prayer, a Chorale and Fugue by Bach. The Chorale is one of those stately, dignified hymns of the Lutheran Church, so full of religious sentiment, and, Avith the Fugue which followed, was wonderfully in harmony wnth the spirit of the prayer. These numbers, so fai-, had been for the orchestra, but in the beautiful chorus, " To Thee, Cherubim and Seraphim," from the great "■ Dettingen Te Deum," by Handel, the chorus was heard for the first time. The effect was capital. The singers, in spite of their distance from him. were as much under Mr. Thomas's control as his orchestra, and the piece went smoothly and with great spirit. The finale of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was the most trying number on the whole programme. But everything went to perfection, and the orchestra played like one man. The glorious " Hallelujah Chorus," which was ad- mirably sung, and which was in the highest degree appropriate for such an occasion, was the last of the pieces which properly be- lon_o-ed to the musical part of the ceremonies, though "America'' and " Old Hundred" were afterwards given, the audience joining in the singing. A pleasant incident occurred jvist before the exercises com- menced. Mrs. Gillespie, President of the Women's Centennial Commission, was seated on the right, between Col. Thomas A. Scott and Bishop Simpson; but suddenly a message came to the Master of Ceremonies, and she was conducted to a place of honor in the front rank on the platform, beside Mr. Welsh. Afterwards, when Gen. Hawley referred in his address to the women's share in the undertaking, turning to her as he spoke, the applause which followed was an unmistakable tribute to her efficiency. ■- -- s ^ o I -S c M o _ ja "-' „ E c ja oJ " tj .2 "t^ -t-* -e 'C Q «« m CO -^ "O CD l^ 00 Ol o 5^JM«M O rHOa 00 05 O W ;a ^ sa lOOiCioOOiO'LriOiOCOO^CtDOcfiC'CDCDCCit-t-t-t^t* F4 Cj'S "3 22 ot * ij '"' .S J M .S o^e^;a a t' c g-s d g; ^ s .2 S <» c o ' WIS g Mtcg „ ■3 +J -k^ O £ C ■^ ■HMeO-^'ajCOt-QOOJOr-ltMCOr^iCCOt— 00O5 ■a ■rs rH PI ^ 1-1 a -; f: c4 n" f^, C ^ S ■^ r-l lil 61) c; H^< >, 5 ^ ■^ a! 33 fe; '3 C3 >^a. C Mi3 « 03 > ® s 3 c3 ;t i3 i5 £ w o o w'w tB ol W o E-i 6 fe -11 10 CD t' 00 THE GREAT EXHIBITIOIT. 1115 Speeches were made by Hon. D. J. Morrell, by Mr, J. Welsh, Hon. A. T. Goshorn, and Hon. J. R. Hawley of commendable brevity and interest. After Gen. Hawley's address, the chorus and orchestra rendered the national hymn America, in Avhich the audience joined. As this patriotic air was being sung, the orig- inal flag of the American Union, first displayed by Commodore Paul Jones on the Bon Homme Richard, was unfurled from a window overlooking the space immediately adjoining the platform. Part of the aiidience cheered and others sang, while all eyes turn- ed to the ancient relic until the hymn was concluded. The un- furling of the flag was the work of Miss Sarah Smith Staflord of Trenton, N. J., the daughter of Lieut. James Bayard Stafford of the Continental Navy, who was with Paul Jones in the famous en- gagement of the^Bon Homme Richard with the British frigate Sera- pis. The flag has remained in the possession of the lady's family ever since the Revolution, and for many years has been commit- ted to her special custody. Upon the conclusion of the singing and the subsidence of the enthusiasm which accompanied it, Gen. Hawley announced that the President of the United States would give a telegraphic signal for stopping the great Corliss engine, and at the same moment would announce the close of the Exhi- bition. President Grant accordingly rose and gave the required signal by a wave of his left hand, accompanying the act with this declaration: "I declare the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 closed." Simultaneously with the utterance of the ofticial announcement, it was instantly communicated by telegraph to the exhibitors in Machinery Hall, by a system of gongs in that build- ing, to exhibitors and visitors generally by a gong in the General Telegraph Office on the grounds, and by an independent wire cabled direct to London. The announcement and the act were received in solemn silence; for the end of such a memorable un- dertaking, coming, as it were, by a single electric spark, made its own deep impression. After this, the first verse of Old Hundred, sung as a doxology, was a fitting close to the ceremonies of the day, and thus ended the grandest World^s Fair ever held. <^^ Uh. pac. M ^iag"", JDululh/ ^'^ V — ,_ _/ ^h/* ZL.Kampeikk L.<^N /7\/ P B R^ -^^ A ^^ W ! ' I' "cvVU' o "■"■'^Af'-^'- " ^~ ~-"^''^ / \%CX''' " ^:5i^'^'^ a^^' /JW. E ^L/ BTT^T /O R Yi K; Oreii\ula W( ^ j -5? i? OUll COUNTRY GOODSPKED'S CENTENNIAL RAILRQAD MAP OF THE UNITED STATES. 1876-7. Dill iT G J (ipikTn PTi" mT< Tj)Ti? I ISTG SOUTH-EAST SECTION. 1 Mfiin 111111(11111;. 1 7 I'll 107 , 118 9 I'ciin'a KJiiciilluniil Huilding. 122 in Cingor JBTiiiEl^^slii'i°S'^l^^°S- ^^'^ 11 I.aniy.-uo llcsliiuraiit. 117 12 I'aipip West I'liliit 0. IG. l:l MilU Piiiry A»socllltlon. 116 14 lillilo Suclctv. 127 15 Trasa Hcadquirtora t Cent. Com. 1-14 16 I'hlliul.liilila Citv Building. 1!) (jcrmiin nyverriment. 19 20 Um'/.il Emiiiro Building. 1 21 Kettrt'dgo Cornlco Eai' riKliiiig. 173 186 Pmctlral Farmeti' odlci 187 Amertenn Boalaurnnf 188 Ulneral Annex 40 191 l^nJlco BiBiicii. ■"■,., ,,u 102 ProlerllT. Fire ABnoclatlon. n» 193 Mett Fonnlnln. 180 I'H Bmillng BallPcad Dopoti. 105 PennnyWanla Kallroad DepoU 196 Tmufc-Centlncutttl Uot«l. isrr aioir nutti. A NECESSITY IN EVERY HOME: THE BIBLE, A DICTIONARY, AND FOOTPRINTS OF THE AGIS. FOOTPEINTS OF THE AGES: Our Government and History. Goo«l CaoTassers are wanted in every part of the land to introduce this unequaled work. ADDRESS THE PUBLISHERS, 1^ ^^<^ O. • • « o ^v jP-?!, .0 .*1*^*. %?■ V ♦?/i^ * • o* s*-^^. v^ .»iJ^ °o ^^, 'o e » « A %^ * • • L c <» " « . ^o^c,^' '5v^^^- ^^ ♦'TV.' .CT ^3, iPv!, ^0 '^Pu "" aV .0 ^<^. "••• ^^'^ ■ a tf. ♦'.TV* .0^ ^^ ^•.** ^ 'o . » * A 0- •-*. 1~ .f ,^^ ^. ^oV