succession of victories - Enters the City of Mexico-Treaty of Guada lupe Hidalgo-Increase of territory-Discovery of gold in California— California applies for admission as a State-Raises the violent opposition of Slave States-Compromises of 1850-Taylor and Fillmore-Pierce's Administration-Repeal of the Missouri Compromise - Troubles in Kansas-Buchanan's Administration - Preparation for Secession- Real causes of the Civil War-The elections of Nov., 1860-Made the pre- text for Secession-South Carolina Secedes-Forts and property of the government seized in the South-Southern States successively Secede- Southern Confederacy formed-Want of energy in the Administration— Firing on Ft. Sumter-It electrifies the North-Call for troops-General mustering for war-Capture of Harper's Ferry and Gosport Navy Yard, Fighting in the border States-Experience gained in the general skir mishing-Reluctance to join the great issue-Battle of Bull Run- Washington saved, if the battle is lost-Immense preparations by sea The large armies have acquired much discipline and experience-Move- ment of McClellan on Richmond - Movement flanking Confederate positions on the upper Mississippi-Severe battles near Richmond— McClellan's failure-Success in the West-The rising fortunes of Grant at Donnelson, Henry, and Pitttsburg Landing-Advance of Lee-Pope's failure - Battles in Maryland — Lee's retreat — Bragg's advance and retreat-Battle of Fredericksburg-General results of the Campaign. CAMPAIGN OF 1864..... ..676 General discouragement in the South-Capture of Seaboard cities-Re. Opposed reconstruction policy of Congress and President Johnson-Fi- - - Legal form of Will-Statement of Testator - Disposition of Property — - THE FOOTPRINTS OF TIME. PART FIRST. CHAPTER I. SECTION I. THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 1. The early traditions of every nation that has undertaken to relate the story of its origin, have given us a confused! account of supernatural persons and events which the judg ment of more enlightened times has almost uniformly considered fabulous and impossible. It has always been an interesting inquiry how much of fact was veiled under this mythical dress, and a great variety of ingenious and contradictory explanations have been produced by the learned in all ages. In most cases, as in Greece, the national religion has been based on these legends which form its authority and explanation, and they passed with the people of all early times as facts which it was impious to question. So the wise good Socrates was supposed to have denied the existence of the national gods, and was condemned to death. This sacred guard placed over early traditions, increased at once the interest and the difficulty involved in their examination. and 2. During the present century the improved methods, larger range and more exact style of inquiry, and the assist ance and hints which one branch of study has given to others,, have produced the most surprising and satisfactory results. These inquiries are not yet complete; they seem, on the contrary, to have only commenced, and promise, ultimately, to satisfy all the useful purposes and legitimate curiosity of mankind; still, their conclusions, so far as they go, are unimpeachable. They prove themselves. The study of Ethnology, which gives an account of the races. of mankind; a critical comparison of all languages, ancient and modern; the patient study and ingenious deciphering of architecture and inscriptions found in ancient ruins, and various relics of human activity imbedded in the soil of different countries, have thrown down the barriers which the glowing imaginations of the poets and the want of authentic documents in early times had raised, and have given us a clue to many of the secrets of history, and a safe guide through some of the dark passages of man's primitive life. To show how this is done would require a treatise on Ethnology, another on Comparative Philology, a third on Antiquarian Research, and a fourth on the Geological Antiquities of Man. Each of these brings a large and valuable contribution to early history. We give only a brief summary of their conclusions. 3. The human race appears to have had its birth on the high table lands of central Asia, south and east of the Caspian Sea. The structure and growth of language, and the remains of early art, indicate an extremely infantile mental condition. and successive emigrations from the primitive home of the race. Families and tribes which had remained together long enough to build up a common language and strong general features of character and habit, at length separated and formed a number of families of allied races. 4. The first emigrations were made by the Turanian. nations, which scattered very widely. Turanian means "outside," or "barbarian," and was given by the later and better known races who found them, commonly in a very wild, undeveloped state, wherever they themselves wandered in after times. There are reasons for believing that the first Turanian migration was to China; that they were never afterward much interfered with, and that they early reached a high stage of civilization. It has certainly many very crude and primitive features. Having worked out all the progressive impulses dwelling in the primitive stock of their family almost before other races were heard of, and being undisturbed, their institutions stiffened and crystalized and made few improvements for thousands of years. Chinese history presents a curious problem not yet fully investigated. Another stream of Turanian emigration is believed to have settled the more north-easterly portions of Asia. Some time after the tide set down through Farther India, and to the islands of Malaysia. In still later periods Hindoostan was peopled by Turanian races; the ancestors of the Mongols and Turks were spread over the vast plains of northern and central Asia; and somewhat later still an irruption into Europe furnished its primeval people. The Finns and Lapps in the north, and the Basques of Spain, are the living representatives of the ancient Turanian stock, while the Magyars, or Hungarians, are a modern branch of the same race, which made an irruption into Europe from Asia in the ninth century. of the Christian era. The first appearance of this race in written history was in the establishment of a powerful empire at Babylon, which must have been cotemporary with the earliest Egyptian monarchy, and seems, from the inscriptions on the most ancient ruins, to have been conquered by, and mingled with, an Egyptian or Hamite family. It came to an end before the Assyrian Empire appeared, but seems to have reached a very considerable degree of development. 5. The other two great families of related languages, and therefore of common stock or race, are the Semitic and the Aryan. But previous to the appearance of either of these on this buried stage of history is a family, apparently related, distantly, to the Semites, but who might have separated from the common stock of both before them, called Hamites, who |