iv PREFACE. 



The States articles, which are always important, are especially interesting 

 this year because of the peculiar movements in politics, which are set forth w r ith 

 more particularity there than elsewhere. The subjects of educational progress 

 and penal reform may also be studied through these records. 



Among South American articles the greatest interest attaches to Venezuela, 

 and we have given liberal space to an account of the revolution in that country. 



The articles on the great religious denominations are full and carefully pre- 

 pared as usual, many of them by writers belonging to the particular communion 

 treated. The Rev. Solomon E. Ochsenford furnishes the article on the Lu- 

 therans ; Dr. Abram S. Isaacs, editor of the " Jewish Messenger," that on the 

 Jews ; Austin E. Ford, editor of the " Freeman's Journal," that on the 

 " Roman Catholic Church " ; William H. Larrabee, that on " Methodists " ; and 

 Jesse A. Spencer, D. D., that on the " Protestant Episcopal Church." 



The work of Congress during the year, with the significant portions of the 

 debates on all important bills, is recorded, as usual, under the title of " Congress." 

 The peculiar value of this article lies in the fact that it is arranged topically, 

 and conveniently subheaded, so that all the information on any given subject 

 may be found at once and read continuously without break or cross-reference. 



The special articles in the present volume include one on " Christopher Colum- 

 bus," in which the whole story of his life and voyages is briefly but interestingly 

 told. This article forms a valuable introduction to the account of the great 

 fair. The subject of " Cholera in 1892 " is treated by an expert, Dr. Morris S. 

 French, of Philadelphia, who also writes of " Diphtheria." Another special 

 article on a subject important at this time is that on " Sugar," furnished by 

 James B. T. Tupper, Chief of Sugar Bounty Division, Office of Internal Revenue. 

 There is also an article on " Pipe Lines," illustrated with a map. The special 

 articles include, furthermore, one on the " American Society of Church History," 

 one on the " Free Evangelical Congress," one on the " Industrial Legion," one 

 on the " Knights of Industry," and one on " Profit-Sharing," besides that on 

 " American Cities," which this year treats of thirty-seven. 



Among the eminent dead of the year, whose lives are sketched in this volume, 

 with portraits and other illustrations, are Tennyson, the Poet Laureate of Eng- 

 land ; John Greenleaf Whittier, perhaps the most distinctively American of our 

 poets ; Walt Whitman, one of the most peculiar of all poets ; George William 

 Curtis, the graceful writer and orator ; Cyrus W. Field, originator of the Atlan- 

 tic telegraph ; Caroline Scott Harrison, mistress of the White House ; Ernest 

 Renan, the French scholar and author ; Cardinal Henry E. Manning ; Charles 

 H. Spurgeon, the most popular of all preachers ; and a long array of less noted 

 names which will be found among the " Obituaries, American and Foreign." 



The illustrations, besides the colored maps and tinted views, include three 

 full-page portraits Columbus, Tennyson, and Whittier many fine vignette 

 portraits in the text, and the usual number of miscellaneous engravings. 



An excellent index, covering not only the present volume but also the four 

 that precede it, closes the book. 



NEW YORK, April 15, 1893. 



