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HIS History is a narrative of the events which have happened among mankind from the earliest period, including an account of the rise and fall of Nations, as well as of other great changes which have affected the political and social condition of the human race up to the present day.

History principally concerns itself with the doings of mankind from the epoch when civilization was so far advanced, that human beings began to unite in a community of states.

Chronology is a department of history which treats of the exact time or date of each event, with reference to some fixed time, called an era or epoch. The epoch employed among Christian nations for reckoning dates, is the birth of Christ, and is called the Christian Era. All dates preceding this are marked B.C.; that is, Before Christ; and all subsequent to it are marked A.D.; that is, Anno Domini, which means, In the Year of Our Lord; that is, After the Birth of Christ.

Nine periods are allotted to the history of the World, the duration and limits of which are thus determined:

I.

ANCIENT HISTORY.-From the commencement of the historical world to the great migration of nations; i. e., from the first year of the world to

the 5th century after the birth of Christ, or, in round numbers, 4,400 years.

First period: From Adam to Cyrus, the founder of the first Empire of the world that is clearly known. From the year of the world 1 to 3,425.

Second period: From Cyrus to Augustus, or to the overthrow of the Roman Republic. From 3,425 to 3,953 (528 years).

Third period: From Augustus to Theodosius the Great, or from the battle of Actium to the great migration of nations. From 3,953 to 395 after the birth of Christ (425 years).

II.

MIDDLE HISTORY.-From the great migration of nations to the discovery of the two Indies. From the year of Christ 400 to 1500 (1,100 years).

Fourth period: From Theodosius to Charles the Great, the restorer of the Western Empire. From 395 to 800 (400 years).

Fifth period: From Charles the Great to the end of the Crusades and the restoration of civilization in Europe. From the year 800 until 1300 (500 years).

Sixth period: From the close of the Crusades to Columbus. From 1300 to 1492 (200 years).

III.

MODERN HISTORY. - From the discovery of America to our own times.

Seventh period: From Columbus to the peace of Westphalia and the establishment of the new European system of States. From 1492 to 1648 (156 years).

Eighth period: From the peace of Westphalia to the French Revolution. From 1648 to 1789 (141 years).

Ninth period: From the commencement of the French Revolution to the present time.

The ages of the world, as well as their periods, diminish as they approach us, and in later times the history of the world becomes chiefly a European history.

Previous to the 5th century B. C. there are but few dates that can be fixed with tolerable certainty; that is to say, no uninterrupted series of dates can be accurately and positively assigned to events which. are known to have occurred. In the remotest,ages all dates are uncertain and all authorities, more or less, out of reckoning. There are, however, reasonably grounded theories that relate to the origin and age of the human race, and the condition of man in pre-historic times. Much important service is rendered in such inquiries by that branch of geology which deals exclusively with investigations into the nature of the crust of the earth, thus affording us. access to the secrets that for countless ages have lain concealed within its bosom. The different strata of the earth's crust are, so to speak, leaves in the genealogical history of nature inscribed by the Creator Himself, and are, therefore, among the most intelligible and reliable revelations that we possess. The formation of the earth's crust gives us, however, no information as to the period when men first began to understand each other in articulate speech, though it has preserved with its different strata the earliest products of human industry, together with the remains of gigantic species of animals that have long disappeared from the surface of the earth. The fashioning hand of man can scarcely be recognized in these weapons and tools of stone, mingled with all kinds of utensils made of bone or horn; but in later times the specimens begin to exhibit an improved style of form and workmanship.

In different parts of Denmark, exist peat moors, varying in depth from three to ten yards. In the lowest stratum of these turf-beds, the remains of

pine branches are often found, and among them weapons of stone which already exhibit a certain refinement and ingenuity of design. In the next stratum immense oak forests lie buried, containing swords and shields of bronze, hidden away among the massive branches; while the upper stratum preserves specimens of iron weapons found among the remains of beach-woods, which have existed in Denmark from Cæsar's time, over 1,900 years ago, to the present day, though all traces of the pine and oak forests have entirely disappeared.

As we constantly meet with analogies in nature, we may consequently assume that in proportion as she advanced in her process of improvement in different parts of the earth, and at different periods, human beings were to be found who differed from each other much the same as plants of one and the same species in different parts of the earth, while preserving their similarity of structure, and other characteristics. vary infinitely in color, size, etc. Assuming the number of races to be three, they

are

(1.) The Caucasian race, destined for freedom and mastery, to which belong the nations speaking Indo-Germanic languages; viz., the Europeans (with the exception of the Lapps and Finns), the inhabitants of Western Asia, Indians, and North Africans, and the people who have emigrated from Europe to America; this on account of its capacity for civilization forms the most important subject of history. It is distinguished by symmetry of limb, and beauty of bodily form and face, and embraces the most manifold transitions, from the white skin of the blonde North European, to the dusky, blackhaired Southerner and Hindoo.

(2.) The African Negro race, transplanted by the slave trade to America and the West Indies, with more or less black, curly, woolly hair, and prominent occiput.

(3.) The Mongolian race, in Eastern Asia, and in the northern polar regions of the Old and the New Worlds (Mongolians, Huns, Upper Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Calmucks, Finns, Lapps, Esquimaux, and others), with smooth black hair, flat nose, narrow, widely separated eyes, flat occiput, and a skin varying from yellow to light brown.

Besides these three races, principally appertaining to the ancient history of the earth, two subordinate races are taken into account, namely: