180 EPOCHS IN THE HISTORY OP THE CONTEMPLATION 



of mind and disposition, of the different races by which 

 Europe has been peopled. Her civilization has been 

 carried beyond the ocean to another hemisphere, where the 

 reflex of these contrasts is still preserved in colonies and 

 settlements, some of which have formed, and others it may 

 be hoped may yet form, powerful free states. 



The Roman state, as a monarchy under the Csesars, when 

 considered only in regard to superficial extent, ( 279 ) was infe- 

 rior in absolute magnitude to the Chinese empire under the 

 dynasty of Thsin and the eastern Han (from 30 years before 

 to 116 years after the commencement of the Christian era) ; 

 it was inferior in extent to the empire of Ghengis Khan, 

 and to the present area of the Russian dominions in Europe 

 and Asia; but with the single exception of the Spanish 

 monarchy at the period when it extended over the New 

 World, never has there been combined under one sceptre a 

 greater mass of countries so favoured in climate, fertility, 

 and geographical position, as the Eoman empire from Au- 

 gustus to Constantine. 



This empire, stretching from the western extremity of 

 Europe to the Euphrates, from Britain and part of Cale- 

 donia to Getulia and the limits of the Lybian Desert, not 

 only offered the greatest variety of lurm of ground, organic 

 productions, and physical phenomena, but also presented 

 mankind in every gradation from cultivation to barbarism, and 

 from the possession of ancient knowledge and long prac- 

 tised arts, to the first twilight of intellectual awakening. 

 Distant expeditions to the North and to the South, to the 

 Amber Coasts, and, (under ^Elius Gallus and Balbus) to 

 Arabia and the Garamantes, were carried out with unequal 

 success. Measurements of the whole empire were begin 



