AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 61 



War is an evil, perhaps one of the greatest of evils that can 

 aflaiict humanity. However, it is a result of the deficient intel- 

 ligence of mankind. 



" War is a game 

 Which, were their subjects wise. Kings 

 Would not play at." 



Still, while from the ordinary course of human and perverted 

 impulse, wars must exist, whatever lessens the duration of war, 

 lessens its worst evils. In this respect, then, even the discovery 

 and application of gunpowder must be ranked among the agencies 

 of Modern Progbess. 



The Cape of Storms was doubled in 1497. The riches of India 

 having become known, a wish was entertained to discover a wes- 

 tern route thither, and in searching for this western route, Colum- 

 bus discovered America. The names of Sebastian Cabot, De 

 Solis, Aubert, Jacques Cartier, Vespucius, Cortez, and others, are 

 associated with the early determination of her coast line, both on 

 the Atlantic and Pacific. The year 1492 forms the commence- 

 ment of the modern and most important era in the history of the 

 world. Let me call your attention to the fact, that after that 

 date, nearly a century elapsed before Elizabeth, of England, 

 attempted to form a permanent British colony in North America, 

 and that whether we speak of England or of Spain, of the nor- 

 thern or southern divisions of this mighty continent, the indica- 

 tions afforded by the past are, that no European nation is destined 

 for more than a brief period in her early history to obtain more 

 than a temporary footing. 



And of this great country and people, how shall I speak. The 

 mind staggers under the effort adequately to conceive what the 

 United States has done and is doing in her onward path. We 

 must premise that it is not 300 years since on this northern con- 

 tinent, extending nearly from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and 

 from the Canadian lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, 2,000 miles in 

 length, with an average breadth of 1,000, there was then one vast 

 forest. As to her extent and resources, we must remember that 

 the valley of the Mississippi alone is wide, large, sufficiently deep 

 to absorb all the nations of Europe into her capacious bosom, and 

 afford them sustenance and fuel for ages to come. So prodigal is 



