The footprints of time

Front matter

Class Book.

THE

FOOTPRINTS OF TIME :

Chapter I. Historical Progress In The Old World 29

Section I. The Dawn of History — Uncertainty of Tradition — Aid aiForded by recent studies — Ethnology, Philology, etc. — Primitive Home of Mankind — The three great races — The first Migrations — Commencement of Civilization — China — The Euphrates — The Hamites in Egypt.

Section II. Direction ofPre-historic Growth — Rudeness of early races — Character of the Primitive Man — Testimony of language — Imperfection of Turanian Growth — Seen in China — Superiority of Indo- European races.

Section III. Gradual Development — Condition of the first Men — Establishment of the Family — Patriarchal Authority — The Growth of Monarchy — Origin of the Priesthood — Development of both in Chaldea and Egypt — Influence of War and Commerce.

SectiOxNT IV. Ancient Monarchies — Five Monarchies on the Euphrates and Tigris — The Scythian, the two Hamitic, the Assyrian and the Medo-Persian Monarchies — Testimony of the ruins — Mysterious and Singular character of Egypt — Moses and the Jewish State — Tyre and its Commerce.

Section V. The Grecian States — Origin, intelligence and vigor of the Greek race — Their Mythology and Heroic History — Their opposition to the dangerous centralizing tendencies of Monarchy — Greek Republics — Colonization — Sparta and Athens — Commencement of Authentic History — Foundation of Rome — Chronological review during the time of the Roman Kings.

Section VI. The Roman Republic — Character of the Romans — Greeks and Romans compared — Roman constancy.

Section VII. Greece and Rome — The influence of each on the future of mankind— Chronological history from B. C. 500 to B. C. 133— The great career of the Roman Republic.

Section VIII. Decay of the Republic — Unhappy effects of conquest and wealth on Roman character — Death of the Gracchi — The Civil Wars — Marius, Sylla, Crassus, Pompey, Julius Csesar — The Senate Suspends the Constitution and ends the Republic — Death of Caesar.

Section IX. The Roman Empire — Impossibility of restoring the Republic — Triumvirate and wars of Augustus, Antony and Lepidus — Augustus Emperor of the World.

Section X. Influence of Christianity — The Jewish State — Influence on it of Egypt, Asia and Greece — The New Morality of Christianity — The persecution it provokes — Its growing influence on life and manners.

Section XI. The services of Great Men to Mankind — Difficulties of progress among the Ancients — Assistance rendered by Great Men — Office of early Poets — Of Legislators — Philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle — Orators, Demosthenes and Cicero — Influence of Great conquerors on progress — Alexander the Great — Hannibal the unfortunate ' — Caesar, the successful — Brutus, the Patriot — Augustus the Emperor — The elements of greatness in all men — Jesus Christ the Perfect Man.

Section XII. The Christian Era — Chronological history of the Emperors — The triumph of Christianity — The fall of the Empire.

Section XIII. Rise of Modern Nations — Incursions of Barbarians — Their settlement in Gaul — Spain, Africa, Italy and Britain — Mahomet and the great success of his followers — Charlemagne and the Popes — Failure to found a Western Empire.

Section XIV. The Feudal System — Results from the condition of the Empire and the character of the invaders — Rise and character of Chivalry — The Crusades.

Section XV. The Liberties of the People — Influence of the Crusades — Revival of Commerce and Learning.

Section XVI. The English People — Progress among the Ancients — Their imperfect Civilization — The completenes and certainty of Modern Progress — The Teutonic Races — The " liberties of Englishmen " and the English Constitution — They excel as Settlers and Civilizers of New Countries — How the English in the Colonies became Anglo- Americans by Improvement.

Chapter II. The Discovery Of America 134

The Northmen and Early Discoveries in America — Changes in Europe in the Fifteenth Century — Columbus and his Ideas — Queen Isabella of Spain aids him to set sail for the New World-Why he thought it India — Origin of the name America — Spanish adventure and settlement — Causes of their failure to be true Colonizers — English and French Explorations and failures during this Century — Villegagnon, Verrazzani, Jacques Cartier, Sir Humphry Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Chapter III. American Colonies In The Seventeenth Century 139

The Spanish in the New World— The difference between the Spanish, French and English as Colonists — Champlain and his Colony in Canada — The faults of the French leaders and Colonial System — The long troubles and dangers of the Canadians — Jamestown, Va. — Landing of the Puritans — Vigorous growth of all the English Colonies — They resist oppression — Parliamentary Government in England not a help to them — The Jesuits in Canada — Their influence over the Indians — English " Navigation Acts."

Chapter IV. American Colonies In The Eighteenth Century 146

War between the French and English Colonies — The French at length take firm root — The great superiority of the Anglo-Americans in Numbers, Industry and Wealth — The French in Louisiana — The Spanish in Florida — " Queen Anne's War" — A thirty years' Peace — The War of 1744 and the capture of Louisburg by New England — The Campaign from 1754 to 1760 — George Washington at Ft. Du Quesne — Braddock's Defeat — Cruel treatment of the Acadians — Death of Wolfe and Montcalm — Final Conquest of Canada.

Chapter V. The Thirteen English Colonies From 1763 To 1776 154

Population and Character of the Colonies — Their training in the French War — Unfavorable changes in Representation of the People in the English Parliament — Parliament resolves to tax the Colonies — Folly of that Measure — Resistance in the Colonies — Parliament repeals the tax but Claims the Right — New taxes laid — Indignation of Colonies

— Soldiers sent to Boston — The " Boston Massacre" — Colonies organize against tax on Tea — " The Boston Tea Party" — Boston Port Bill — First Congress — Battle of Lexington — Siege of Boston- ^-Battle of Bunker Hill — Boston evacuated.

Chapter VI

Anglo Saxon love of Liberty — Americans more resolute still to possess it — Radical Theory of the Declaration — Thoroughness characteristic of this New Race — It is shown from 1765 to 1766 — The Declaration.

CHAPTER Vn.

Causes of the delay in adopting them — Full text of the Articles of 1777 forming the Constitution for 12 years.

CHAPTER VIIL

THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 178

The Colonies free from British troops for four months after they are driven from Boston — The Battle of Long Island — Washington's masterly retreat — An anxious time for the Infant Nation — Success at Trenton and Princeton — The decisive Campaign of 1777 — Brandywine, Germantown, Burgoynes' Surrender — The French Treaty — French Money and Ships — The British evacuate Philadelphia — Washington's successful Campaign of 1778 in the Jerseys — The British in the Carolinas — Defeat of Gates — Americans and French fail at Savannah — Arnold's Treason — The skillful manouvering of Gen. Greene — Guilford Court House — King's Mountain turns the tide — Lafayette and Cornwallis in Virginia — Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown — Review of the War — Financial Difficulties — Resolution of the People — Statistics of the War — Peace at Last.

CHAPTER IX.

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1787 188

The helplessness of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Cor. federation — Vain efforts to sustain Public Credit — Distress of the Army and the People — Virginia suggests a Constitutional Convention — As sembling and Deliberations of that Body in 1787 — The Result — Adoption of the Constitution by State Conventions — Their Votes — Full Text of the Constitution and all its Amendiiients.

CHAPTER X.

PRESIDENTS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AND THE VARIOUS SEATS OF GOVERNMENT FROM 1774 TO 1789 212

Part Second

The Character of the Constitution — It provided for a Government Strong, Popular and v^ell Balanced — Its Thi'ee Coordinate Branches — The Division of Powers, and the Limits and Checks of Each — Has the advantages of a Monarchy and a Republic — Executive Reform in Europe — The English Constitution — Hov^ History has dealt vs^ith the American Constitution — The effect on Europe and the Spanish- American Colonies.

Chapter I

History of the Growth of its Branches — The Number of Heads of Departments having seats in the Cabinet — Relations of the Executive to other great Branches of the Government — Relations to the People — The Nature of a " Parliamentary Government " — How the American differs from the English System — Cabinet does not conduct Legislation in Congress — President not bound to follow their " Advice " — How Congress controls the organization and conduct of Executive Departments — The Civil Service System — Likely to be what the People prefer — The good Record of general Administration.

CHAPTER H.

THE PRESIDENT 232

The Great Powers really held by the President — He wields the Active Force of the Government — President compared with a King under " Parliamentary Government" — His relations with the Legislative Branch — He is powerful for good, powerless for serious evil — His general Duties — The force of Precedents in Administration — The Presidential Mansion and the President's Household.

Chapter VI. The Secretary Of State — Foreign Affairs 246

The Management of Foreign Affairs by the President, the Secretary of State and the Senate — Diplomatic Agents of the United States in Foreign countries — Their Titles and precedence — The "Protocol" of Vienna — The Foreign Policy of the United States — Embassadors Extraordinary — Ministers Plenipotentiary — Ministers Resident and their duties-Charge d' Affaires — Consuls and Consuls- General— Their duties in relation to Business and to American citizens abroad — The Passport System and its Management — Treaties, their uses and character— The purposes of Extradition Treaties — The Mexican Boundary Treaty of 1854 in full — Extradition Treaty with Mexico of 1862 in full.

Chapter VII. The Treasury 265

The importance of the Treasury to the General Government and the Nation — It has proved equal to all demands — The Treasury after 1789 — During the Civil War — Its Efficiency has made the Country prosperous and saved the Union.

Chapter VIII. The Secretary Of The Treasury

His Title and duties — Great Responsibility of this Secretary — His relation to the Public Credit and the Financial System of the United States — The Organization of his Department — The two Comptrollers and the Commissioner of the Revenue — The six Auditors as Examiners of Accounts — The Treasurer and Register of the Treasury — The Treasury and Sub-Treasuries — The Bureau of Statistics — Why it is joined to this Department — Need of ability and honesty in Treasury Officials.

Chapter IX. The Coast Survey 278

T'wofold object of this Survey — Necessity of Scientific ability in its officers — The Superintendent, his Assistants, and the requirements of Law.

Chapter X. The Revenue Of The United States 280

The History of National Revenue a history of Civilization and Progress — Character and history ofU.S. Revenue Laws — Sectional and political contests over the Tariff — The arguments for " Protection" and " Free Trade" — History of the Tariff — The Customs Revenue Service — The Commissioner of Customs — The Collector, the Naval Officer and the Surveyor of Ports — Mode of collecting Customs Duties — Manifest, Clearance, Passport, Sea Letter and Tonnage Duties — Revenue Cutters — Light House Board — Inspection of Steam Vessels — Life Saving Service — Internal Revenue System — The Commissioner of Internal Revenue — Collectors and Bonded Warehouses.

CHAPTER XL

THE UNITED STATES MINT 294

Congress alone may coin Money — The accepted theory of Money — Substitutes for the Precious Metals necessary — " Fiat" Money and Greenbacks — The experience and policy of the Government — Growth of the U. S. Mints — Table of Coins, their weight and alloy — Coining for individuals.

Chapter XII. The Finances And The Public Debt 299

National Finance understood only in very recent times — The Frugality of the U. S. Government in the beginning — The English management of the National Debt — Americans inherited English financial skill — Thrifty American habit of paying Debts rapidly — The great financial strain of the Civil War — The policy adopted — A mistake about " Legal Tenders" — The triumphant success of the policy otherwise.

Chapter XIII. The Public Debt 308

The Debt at different periods before the War — At the close of the War — Interest, the Sinking Fund and Loans — Character, titles and amount of Temporary Loans from 1861 to 1867 — How these were Funded in Bonds — Description and amount of all Bonds issued — The Public Debt each year since 1791 — The Process of Refunding to 1881 — Large payments on the Debt — Statistics of Reduction in Principal and Interest — The excellent result — Realized wealth of the United States, Great Britain and France.

Chapter XIV. The National Banking System 318

The "Bank of the United States" from 1790 to 1836— The inconveniencies of a want of General Banking Laws — The National Banking System — Process of Organization — The Comptroller of the Currency — Banking Statistics.

Chapter XV. The Secretary Of War 314

The War Department and the Secretary's place in it — Organization of the Bureaus and division of Work — The Articles of War — Chaplains in the Army and Navy.

CHAPTER XVL

THE ARMY.... 833

Impossibility of dispensing with a Standing Army — The Military AcADMY and its management — The Signal Service Bureau — Its History, Uses and Methods — Soldiers Homes — National Cemeteries.

Chapter XVII. The Secretary Of The Navy , 340

The Secretary and his Department — Bureaus and division of Work — The Naval Observatory — Naval Surgeons.

Chapter XVIII. The Navy 347

Government Vessels and Squadrons — The Navy in the Civil War — The Naval Academy — Articles of the Navy — Cadets, Apprentices and Marine Corps — Letters of Marque and Reprisal.

Chapter XIX. The Secretary Of The Interior 358

Public Economy in the early Administration allowed few members of the Cabinet — Creation of the Interior Department in 1849 — The title and duties of its Head — Ten Glasses of Public Business under his care — The Bureaus and their Organization — The Census Bureau and its new Methods for 1880— Patents and Trade Marks— The Bureau of Education and its purposes.

Chapter XX. Indian Policy And Indian Affairs 368

Relation of the Government to the Indians — Want of harmony between Theory and Fact — Indian Treaties and Wars — Agencies and New Methods — Policy of the Future.

Chapter XXI. Public Lands 374

The Annexation Policy of the United States — Area of Public Lands — System of Surveying — Position and Names of Standard Parallels andBase Lines — Classes of Lands — List of U. S. Land Offices.

CHAPTER XXIL

HOW TO SECURE PUBLIC LANDS 387

Public Sale, Private Entry, Land Warrants, Agricultural College Scrip — The Homestead privilege — Preemption Laws — Laws to Promote Timber Culture — Privileges of Soldiers and Sailors under Land Laws.

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 444

The Attorney-General and the Objects of his Department— He supervises all the Legal Officers employed by the Government — Distribution of Duties among them.

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

Chapter XXVIII. Congress « , 448

The modern System of Legislation the result of long Growth — The imperfections of the English System — True principles first settled by the U. S. Constitution — The powers of Congress — The House of Representatives and Suffrage — Congressional Districts — The Ratio of Representation — The Senate and its part in Legislation — Its superiority to the English House of Lords and Senates of other countries.

Chapter XXIX. The Organization Of Congress 459

Presiding officers of the two Houses — Time and manner of organizing the House of Representatives — The Senate always organized — Subordinate officers and their Duties — Standing and Special Committees.

Chapter XXX. The Process Of Law-making 463

The President's Message — Reports from Executive Departments — Standing Rules for Conducting Business — The history of Bills — Comparison of Legislation in England and America — Advantages of the American System — " Unfinished Work " — Calendars — What is the "Previous Question" — Statesmanship not on the decline.

THE DISTRICT COURTS 502

Their Number and Rank in the System — Their Range of Powers — Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction — Prize Courts.

Chapter XL. The Court Of Claims -. 506

Its Object and Officers — Its Jurisdiction — Procedure. CHAPTER XLI.

OFFICERS OF UNITED STATES COURTS — JURIES 508

District Attorneys — United States Marshals — Clerks — The Anglo-Saxon origin and History of Juries — The Duties and Powers of a Grand Jury — Petit Juries, their Organization and Duties.

M CONTENTS.

Part Third

How Local Institutions saved English Liberties — The Shire, Parish, Hundred and Town — These Institutions transferred in their completeness to America — Losing vigor in England they improved in the Colonies.

CHAPTER L

Forms of Government in the Colonies — Changes in becoming States — The admitted States — Present State Governments — State Judiciary Systems.

CHAPTERII.

STATE SOVEREIGNTY 530

Feebleness of Central Government until 1789 — Nature of the Sovereignty given it by the Constitution — That Sovereignty still in the control of the States by the Senate and of the People by the House of Representatives — States Supreme in Local Questions — Value of this Supremacy.

CHAPTER II L

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE STATES 536

National and Federal features of U. S. Government — Structure and powers of State Governments — Origin of Counties in England and Forms they took in America — Towns and Town-Meetings — The "Town," the " County " and " Compromise " Systems of popular government — Comparison of them — County and Town Judiciaries — Home control more thorough in America than England.

CHAPTER IV.

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT » 544

Origin of term " Municipal " — Powers and officers of city governments — Comparison with England, France, Belgium and Germany wholly in favor of U. S. System.

CHAPTER V.

THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE 552

The Basis of Suffrage by the Constitution — German tribes and English popular liberties — The French Plebiscitum — United States Naturalization Laws.

Contents

CHAPTER VI.

THE SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.

,558

Chapter II. Under The Articles Of Confederation 663

The Peace — Troubles in the Army — Washington resigns — Financial difficulties — Adoption of the Constitution.

Section I. — first administration, Washington QQ6

Organization of the Government — Measures of first Four Congresses — Chronicle of events.

Section II. — adams' administration 671

Political conflicts begin — Trouble w^ith France.

Section HI. — ^Jefferson's administration 674

Purchase of Louisiana — Naval troubles with Great Britain and France.

Section IV. — madison's administration... 0...678

War v^ith England — Causes — Successes on the Sea — Disasters snc bad management on the Land — Final Successes — Peace of Ghent.

Section V. — monroe's administration 688

•* Era of Good Feeling" — Missouri Compromise — Internal Improvements — Florida Purchase — ^" Monroe Doctrine."

Section VI. — john quincy adams' administration — 691 Se-ctional divisions on the Tariff — Formation of new parties.

Section VII. — jackson's administration 694

Nullification in South Carolina — Jackson's vigor — Seminole war.

Section VIII. — van buren's administration 698

Financial disasters — " Log Cabin and Hard Cider" Election — Close ol Seminole war.

Section IX. — Harrison and tyler ,..700

Death of Harrison — Tyler's vetoes — Webster- Ashburton Treaty.

Section X. — folk's administration 702

Admission of Texas — Mexican War — Gen. Taylor's Battles — Victories of Gen. Scott — Enters City of Mexico — Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,

Section XI. — administrations of taylor and fillmore ..707 Beginnings of great events — California gold-Compromise of 1850 — Death of Clay, Calhoun and Webster,

Section XII. — pierce's administration 710

Repeal of Missouri Compromise — War in Kansas begun.

Section XIII. — Buchanan's administration 712

Failure of Southern aims in Kansas — ^"Dred Scott" Decision — John Brown's raid.

Section XIV.— the election of 1860 714

Struggles of Parties — Democrats divided — Election of Lincoln — Preparations for Secession.

Section XV. — the civil war 716

Real causes remote — The result practically unavoidable — The chivalric South, the plucky North — The Confederate Government.

Section XVI. — the first phase of the war 721

Preliminary Maneuvering — Ft. Sumter fired on — First great Battle a Southern success — Vigorous measures following on both sides.

Section XVII. — second phase of the war 726

" On to Richmond" — Advance of Federals in the West — McClellan retires from the Peninsula — Advance of Confederates — Ft. Donelson and Shiloh.

Section XVIIL— campaign of 1863 732

Gen. Lee at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg — Gen, Grant at Vicksburg and Chattanooga — Emancipation Proclamation,

CONTENTS.

Section XIX. — campaign of 1864 737

Grant and Lee in Virginia — Sherman in Georgia — Hood and Schofield.

Section XX. — concluding campaign 742

Capture of seaboard cities — Sherman in the Carolinas — Grant in Virginia • — Retreat of Lee — Data of the War.

Section XXI. — the twentieth election 74§

Second Inauguration of Lincoln — His assassination — Administration of Johnson — Reconstruction.

Section XXII. — grant's administration 751

Practical success of Reconstruction — Readmission of States — Successful Finance — The Centennial.

Section XXIII. — administration of ha yes 764

The Electoral Commission — Arrangement with the South — Resumption and Refunding — The situation in 1880.

Section XXIV. — garfield and Arthur 770

Executive session of Senate — Shooting and death of Garfield — Succession of Arthur.

Section XXV. — Cleveland's Administration

The twenty-fifth election — Civil Service Reform — The disath of Gen. Grant — Prosperity of the country.

Legal form of Will — Statement of Testator — Disposition of Property — Appointment of Executors — Statement of Witnesses — Agreement to continue Copartnership — Agreement to dissolve Copartnership — Power of Attorney — Form of Submission to Arbitration — Form of Award to Arbitrators — General Form of Agreement — Agreement for sale of personal property — Agreement for sale of Real Estate — Form of Lease — Form of Warranty Deed — Form of acknowledgement of execution of Deed — Mortgage Deed — Negotiable Note — Non-negotiabl-* Note- Note transferable by delivery — Due bill — Receipt

THE FOOTPRINTS OF TIME.

Section I. The Dawn Op Histoby

1. The early traditions of every nation that has undertaken to relate the story of its origin, have given us a confused account of supernatural persons and events which the judgment of more enlightened times has almost uniformly considered fabulous and impossible. It has always been an interesting inquiry how much of fact was veiled under this mythical dress, and a great variety of ingenious and contradictory explanations have been produced by the learned in all ages. In most cases, as in Greece, the national religion has been based on these legends which form its authority and explanation, and they passed with the people of all early times as facts which it was impious to question. So the wise and good Socrates was supposed to have denied the existence of the national gods, and was condemned to death. This sacred guard placed over early traditions increased at once the interest and the difficulty involved in their examination.

2. During the present century the improved methods, larger range and more exact style of inquiry, and the assistance and hints which one branch of study has given to others, have produced the most surprising and satisfactory results. These inquiries are not yet complete; they seem, on the contrary, to have only commenced, and promise, ultimately, to satisfy all the useful purposes and legitimate curiosity of mankind ; still, their conclusions, as far as they go, are unimpeachable. They prove themselves.

The study of Ethnology, which gives an account of the races of mankind; a critical comparison of all languages, ancient and modern; the patient study and ingenious deciphering of architecture and inscriptions found in ancient ruins, and various relics of human activity imbedded in the soil of different countries, have thrown down the barriers which the glowing imaginations of the poets and the want of authentic documents in early times had raised, and have given us a clue to many of the secrets of history, and a safe guide through some of the dark passages of man's primitive life.

To show how this is done would require a treatise on Ethnology, another on Comparative Philology, a third on Antiquarian Eesearch, and a fourth on the Geological Antiquities of Man. Each of these brings a large and valuable contribution to early history. We give only a brief summary of their conclusions.

3. The human race appears to have had its birth on the high table lands of central Asia, south and east of the Caspian Sea. The structure and growth of language, and the remains of early art, indicate an extremely infantile mental condition and successive emigrations from the primitive home of the race. Families and tribes which had remained together long enough to build up a common language and strong general features of character and habit, at length separated and form^ed a number of families of allied races.

4. The first emigrations were made by the Turanian nations, which scattered very widely. Turanian means ''outside," or "barbarian," and was given by the later and better known races who found them, commonly in a very wild, undeveloped state, wherever they themselves wandered in after times. There are reasons for believing that the first Turanian migration was to China; that they were never afterward much interfered with, and that they early reached a high state of civilization for that

SUCCESSIVE MIGRATIONS. 31

time. It has certainly many very crude and primitive features. Having worked out all the progressive impulses dwelling in the primitive stock of their family almost before other races were developed, and being undisturbed, their institutions stiffened and crystalized and they made few improvements for thousands of years, Chinese history presents a curious problem not yet fully investigated.

Another stream of Turanian migration is believed to have settled the more north-easterly portions of Asia. Some time after the tide set down through Farther India, and to the islands of Malaysia. In still later periods Hindoostan was peopled by Turanian races; the ancestors of the Mongols and Turks were spread over the vast plains of northern and central Asia; and somewhat later still an irruption into Europe furnished its primeval people. The Finns and Lapps in the north, and the Basques of Spain, are the living representatives of the ancient Turanian stock, while the Magyars, or Hungarians, are a modern branch of the same race, which made an irruption into Europe from Asia in the ninth century of the Christian era. The first appearance of this race in written history was in the establishment of a powerful empire at Babylon, which must have been cotemporary with the earliest Egyptian monarchy, and seems, from the inscriptions on the most ancient ruins, to have been conquered by, and mingled with, an Egyptian or Hamite family. It came to an end before the Assyrian Empire appeared, but seems to have reached a very considerable degree of development.

5. The other two great families of related languages, and therefore of common stock or race, are the Semitic and the Aryan. But previous to the appearance of either of these on this buried stage of history is a family, apparently related, distantly, to the Semites, but who might have separated from the common stock of both before them, called, from one of the sons of Noah, Hamites, who founded the very ancient and mysterious Egyptian monarchy. A section of this race conquered the Turanians of Babylon, and established the largest dominion then known to men. The Chedor-Laomer of Abraham's day was one of its mightiest sovereigns, and ruled over a thickly-settled region a thousand miles in length by five hundred in breadth. Faint traces of it are found in profane history, and the Bible narrative is sustained and largely amplified by inscriptions on ancient ruins. A second Hamite empire in Babylon is believed to have followed this, continuing four hundred years, carrying agriculture and the peaceful arts to a high state of development.

6. Egypt was peopled by the Hamitic race which founded two kingdoms, afterwards united. Here, social, political, and industrial institutions developed very early in great strength. Their language, the pictorial representation of their social, political, and religious affairs, and the grand and gloomy majesty of their works of art, imply a long period of growth before they reached the maturity in which we find them when written history commences. Their institutions, even in the earliest historic times, showed signs of the decrepitude and decay of age. The vastness and the grim maturity of their monuments and language seem to lend much support to their claim of an immense antiquity. The future study of their remains of art and literature will settle some important problems in the chronology of the human race. The children of Ham were clearly the first to lead off in the march of civilization.

The Semitic family, deriving its name from Shem, or Sem, one of the sons of JSToah, is not as large nor as widely spread as the Turanian and Aryan, but has exerted an even greater influence on human destiny. It never strayed much from Asia, except to people small portions of Africa. They early appear in Western Asia as the successors of the second Hamitic empire in Babylon and Assyria. Settled in Phenicia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean sea, they became the first maritime and commercial people, and, with their colony established in Carthage, in the north of Africa, exerted a powerful influence in promoting the civilization of the ancient world. The Semites early peopled the Arabian peninsula, and established a state in Ethiopia, as some believe before Egypt had attained its full development. The Ethiopians established a flourishing commerce on the Red Sea, with the eastern coasts of Africa, and with India, and con-^ tributed greatly to the resources of ancient Egypt.

They have always been a religious race, and gave to the world the three great systems, Judaism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity, as well as some of the most debasing superstitions and forms of idolatry ever known. The larger part of the population of Asia is still Turanian, and the Semites now occupy about the same area as in prehistoric times; but the Hamites have