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Report on General Literature. 



at the promineut events of merely the past ten years. In 

 warfare, there have been our own rebellion ; the revolution 

 in Cuba ; the overturn of an empire in Mexico ; war 

 between Chili and Peru ; a contest between Brazil and 

 the Argentine republic ; the Abyssinian war ; the re- 

 bellion of Crete ; the wars of the Italian consolidation ; 

 the Spanish rebellion ; the Schleswig-Holstein war ; the 

 war of Prussia with Austria ; the terrible Franco-Prussian 

 contest; and rebellions in China and Japan: in all, 

 fourteen wars and rebellions, many of them destructive to 

 an extent hardly known in former periods. In political 

 progress, there can be enumerated the abolition of slavery 

 in America; a reform bill in England; dynasties cast 

 out in France and Spain ; a consolidation of Italy into one 

 state ; the consolidation and growth of the German power ; 

 the overturn of the temporal power of the Papacy ; loss 

 of territory to Denmark, France and Austria; a loss of 

 influence of the papal see in France, Italy, Austria and 

 Spain ; and the extinction of serfdom in Russia. In ma- 

 terial advance we can mention, as merely the most salient 

 features, three lines of Atlantic telegraph ; the completion 

 of submarine telegraphs to India and the West Indies; 

 new lines of ocean steamers on the Pacific ; the Pacific rail 

 way ; the completion of the Mount Cenis tunnel ; and the 

 opening of the Suez canal. In discovery and invention, a 

 vast amount of improvement in all the arts and sciences, 

 and more particularly to be mentioned, the application of 

 spectrum analysis. These are vast events for only ten 

 years ; and there is no reason to suppose that future years 

 will show any less ratio of agitation or improvement. 



What, then, should be the manner of the history of the 

 future ? There are men now among us, who, having made 

 history a study, can give a fair synopsis of all important 

 events from the time of Christ. Even an ordinary aca- 

 demic education, at present, brings to the scholar a tolera- 



