world is also of a higher standard than that which was attained in the past, the latter having been founded on universal abasement, while the former is established on universal advancement; but genius, talent, and virtue were found in as much abundance in the old world as they have yet been in the new. The knowledge of the modern world differs from that of the ancient world mainly in this, that it is more extensively diffused; the earth having become man's more fully now than it ever was before. He has bridged over its seas and scaled its mountains; traversed its wildest and most arid plains; explored its remotest inlets and islands, even unto the poles. The knowledge of the ancients permeated only through the countries which were known to themnamely, the southern portions of Asia, the southeastern countries of Europe, and the north-eastern corner of Africa. But now geography has mastered all the secrets of terra incognita, and the pushing civilisation of the age has made every part of the globe accessible by railways, bridges, and canals. The Suez Canal, the Thames Tunnel, the bridges over the Menai Straits and the St Lawrence, are stupendous works which have been multiplied in minor dimensions in every direction. The lightning-post has traversed every part of Europe and the United States, and is rapidly crossing Australasia, India, and the antipodes generally, all of which have been connected with Europe. The network of railways has received almost equal expansion; and the result of these advances is, that the standard of humanity has been raised everywhere by the acceleration of intercourse between the different races inhabiting the earth, and by the relief of material want by the utilisation of the surplusage of

one place for the benefit of another. It is a common saying, that all in Europe are now in the presence of each other; nor are America, India, and Australasia more distant on account of the seas that intervene between them. Within an interval of twenty-two days the latest new novel published in London or Edinburgh finds its way out into the hands of the Hindu reader on the banks of the Brahmapootra ; and day by day the electric wire doles out the most important items of intelligence from all the great centres of civilisation to the outermost confines of the globe.

Taking the two divisions of the world, the old and the new, together, the course of progress is seen to have travelled from east to west-from Asia to Europe, and thence across the Atlantic to America. It has since diverged towards the south and south-east-to Africa, Australasia, and the islands in the Indian Ocean; while the West, originally a borrower, is repaying to the East her deep debt of gratitude by communicating to her all her recent discoveries and refinements. The footsteps of this advancement it will not be an unpleasant or unremunerative task to trace. The point to start from is the line of demarcation between the histories of the old world and the new, which is broadly defined by the migration of nations from Asia to Europe, by which the Roman world was upset, and of which the cause has not yet been correctly understood, though it is generally assumed to have arisen from the necessities of a growing population. The races in Europe previous to this era were the Celts, the Goths, and the Slavonians; the first of which inhabited Britain, France, a part of Spain, a part of Italy, and the Alps; the second, Germany and

Scandinavia; the third, all the countries to the East. It is believed that the Goths migrated from Europe to Asia, but were brought back by the rushing hordes which a short time afterwards precipitated themselves westwards, and compelled all before them to reoccupy their own original quarters to escape being ridden over. The effects of this general hurricane were anarchy and confusion, followed by an intermixture of nations and the establishment of new kingdoms, the first kingdom established being that of the Suevi and the Vandals in Spain, which was overturned by the Visigoths; the second, the kingdom of the Franks in Gaul; the third, the kingdom of the Ostrogoths in Italy, which was subverted by the Lombards; the fourth, the kingdom of the Burgundians, which lay between France and Germany; and the fifth, the kingdom established by the AngloSaxons in Britain. Germany became the seat of the residuum of the barbarians, including the Goths; while the Scandinavians, a section of the latter race originally established on the shores of the Baltic, spread themselves out, first, as Normans, into France and Britain, and generally all over Europe; and next, as Varangians, into Russia, where they founded the Russian empire on the Slavonian stem. The immediate results of these changes were the dark and the middle ages; but their ulterior effects have made Europe to flourish anew, called forth the energies of new nations and countries, led to the discovery of new lands, and in the place of one Persia, one Greece, and one Rome, developed several nations, at one and the same time, almost to an equality of civilisation, power, and greatness. They have done even more than this, for they have destroyed the isolation of nations. All over the

world, Englishmen, Germans, and Americans are now domiciled almost in every place; and in Europe the different nationalities are constantly intermingling and verging to a fusion of blood and interests. At the same time, the products of the different countries are being freely interchanged, wildernesses are being converted into blooming gardens, mountains clothed with vegetation, climates and temperatures improved, and civilisation transferred from one extremity of the earth to another. The changes effected have been already so considerable, that, while the greatest difficulty was experienced in the past by the boldest men of one country in visiting another without a strong retinue, European females now make the circuit of the globe by themselves, without needing any special protection. The Hindu, who could not cross the Indus or venture on the ocean before without loss of caste, is now constantly passing backwards and forwards from India to Great Britain; and English sportsmen conduct their hunting expeditions in the wilds of Africa and South America, or ramble for pleasure across the steppes of Central Asia.

This is one side of the picture-namely, the favourable side; but it is not the only phase we have to consider. If an extraordinary degree of similarity and contiguity have been arrived at, absolute sameness, or anything near to it, has not been attained. Liberty has grown largely everywhere; but yet are not all countries equally free. The increased intercourse and connection of races have civilised them all round to a great extent; but still are not all races equally civilised. The civilisation of the American and the Russian is not quite on a par with the civilisation of the Englishman

and the Frenchman; and the civilisation of the Magyar and the Turk is yet lower in degree. The diversities that yet exist are, in fact, as astounding as the resemblances which have been attained. Each country has still a marked speciality to distinguish it from others, and this is observable even in those that are nearly akin. England and America, which ought to resemble most, are sundered alike by the Atlantic and the strong peculiarities and prejudices which distinguish them from each other. France and England are next door neighbours, approaching nearest in civilisation and refinement, but disunited more by their respective notions of liberty and their historic associations, than by the small channel that runs between them. Germany, Austria, and Russia are all despotic governments, but totally differing from each other in their despotism: the autocrats of Germany and Austria, for instance, can both, like the Czar, set large armies in motion by their orders; but they cannot, as he can, set their peoples also in motion. Whence do these diversities in the midst of so much resemblance arise? Civil and political liberty have been best attained in England and America, yet are not their governments similarly constituted. In a lower degree they have also been attained in Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy; but France, which has struggled for them most frantically, has not yet been able to secure them. In Germany the struggle for them has yet to come, and threatens more commotions in the future than any that has yet convulsed her. Russia will probably have to wait a hundred years more before she gets them. Turkey will have ceased to exist before the possibility of her securing them can arise. Why is this so?