Influences Aiding Development
To return to the subject under consideration, that of nineteenth century progress, it may be claimed as due to several influences, materially to the extended use of the forces of nature in mechanical processes, in which it went far beyond any of the earlier centuries; scientifically to the rapid extension of observation and the vast collection of facts. While there was no superior faculty of generalization, this accumulation of scientific facts added greatly to the probability of the theoretical conclusions thence derived. Again, this activity in investigation, and the great increase of the numbers engaged in it, are legitimate results of the extension of education, and in a large measure of the replacement of classical by scientific instruction. The progress in ethical sentiment is doubtless largely due to the same cause, that of educational development. This has gone far to dispel the cloud of ignorance which formerly hung heavily over the nations, to ripen human intelligence, to broaden man’s outlook, to extend his interest far beyond the range of his immediate surroundings, and, by increasing his information and widening his mental grasp, to develop his sympathies and enhance in him the sentiment of the universal brotherhood of mankind.
The intense activity of the human mind in those late days, and the quickness with which men take practical advantage of any new suggestion of workable character, are strikingly exemplified in an example that is well worth relating. In the famous sociological novel by Edward Bellamy, entitled “Looking Backward,” in which the author describes an ideal community placed at a date near the end of the twentieth century, he pictures a number of advanced conditions which he evidently hopes will exist at that coming period. One of these is a newspaper on a new type, a spoken instead of a written paper. By aid of telephone connections running in all directions, the events of the day in all parts of the world are to be “phoned” to subscribers in their homes, while great orations, theatrical entertainments, concerts, etc., may be enjoyed without leaving their rooms.
A Telephone Newspaper
Whether suggested by this imaginative picture or not, it is said that something of this kind has been already introduced, a century in advance of its appointed time. We are told that the city of Budapest, Hungary, has had for several years a spoken newspaper named theTelephone Gazette, in which all the news of the day are transmitted by telephone to the subscribers, who are constantly growing in numbers. It has a corps of forty reporters and literary men for the collecting and preparing of material, and sends its news to clubs, restaurants, cafés, public and private residences, the hours of publication beginning at 8.30A.M., and continuing without interruption until 11P.M.Each hour is devoted to some special class of news, beginning with telegraphic dispatches from abroad, following with local and provincial news, etc., while at 8P.M.there are given concerts, lectures, recitations, or other forms of instruction or entertainment.
We have hitherto dealt solely with the progress of the nineteenth century. Now, standing like Bellamy at the dawn of the twentieth, it may be well to take a long look ahead, and strive to trace some stages of the probable progress of the coming time, looking forward from this summit of the ages and stating what this outlook into the dim and distant future brings to our eyes.
Limits of Nineteenth Century Progress
Before making this effort there is one thing that needs to be said. The progress of the nineteenth century, great as it has been in various directions, must be considered as confined within comparatively narrow limits of space, its effects rapidly diminishing as we pass into the remoter lands of semi-civilization and barbarism. The United States, Western Europe, and such British colonies as Canada, Australia, and Cape Colony have been the seats of most active progress; Spanish America, Russia, and Southeastern Europe have played secondary parts in this movement; Asia, with the exception of Japan, has taken very little part in it; and Africa almost no part at all, except in a few of its European settlements.
Progress in China and Hindostan
This is one of the important directions in which we may look for a declared exercise of twentieth century activity, that of the planting of the results of recent civilization in all the regions of the earth. This work, as above said, has been done in Japan, whose people have responded with wonderful alacrity to the touch of the new civilization. In the great empire of China the response has been much less encouraging, not from lack of intellectual activity in its people, but from self-satisfaction in their existing institutions and culture. At the close of the nineteenth century, however, this resistance to the thoughtand mechanical inventions of the West was rapidly giving way, and doubtless one of the triumphs of the twentieth century will be the rejuvenation of China, which we may look to see rivalling Japan on the path of progress.
Of the other great centre of intellectual activity in Asia, the populous land of Hindostan, its progress is likely to depend far more on its British overlords than on the people themselves. While as mentally active as the Chinese, the Hindoos are far less practical. The Chinaman is natively a man of business, and needs only to be convinced that some new method is to his advantage to take active hold of it. The Hindoo is a dreamer, remarkably lacking in the business instinct, and is so deeply imbued with the ancient religious culture of his land that it will not be easy to rouse him from the fatalistic theories in which his whole nature is steeped. National progress in that land must be the work of British energy. But it has already made such marked advance that India may be trusted to wheel into line with the West in the new century.
Among the Dull-Minded Peoples
The future of the remainder of the world is less assured. The slow thinking peoples of the remainder of Asia, the fanatical populations of Mohammedan lands, the negroes of Africa, the natives of Brazil and Patagonia, the inhabitants of the islands of the Pacific, the peoples of the tropics in general, all are likely to act as brakes upon the wheels of progress, and the “white man’s burden” with these tribes and races during the twentieth century is certain to prove an arduous one.
Yet it is not well to be too pessimistic in regard to this problem. It must be remembered that the work of the nineteenth century in these lands has been largely one of discovery. The labor of settlement and development has only fairly begun; what the results will be it is not safe to predict. To make thinkers of these dull-minded savages and barbarians will perhaps be the work of many centuries. To make workers of them is a far easier task, and civilized processes may be active in all these lands long before the nations are in condition to appreciate them. One method of solving the problem is already under way. In the Hawaiian Islands the native population is rapidly disappearing and being replaced by a new one. In New Zealand it has in great measure disappeared and British immigrants have taken its place. The natives are diminishing in numbers elsewhere, as in Australia. The problem of civilization in many of the new lands is likely to be solved in this easy way. But in the thickly settled countries this radical solution of the problem is not to be looked for, and the white man has before him the burden of lifting these unprogressive populations into a higher state.
Conditions of Twentieth Century Development
To come back to the question of the general advance of the world during the twentieth century, we find ourselves facing a difficult and varied problem. That the great progress of the nineteenth century will be continued cannot well be questioned, but the directions this progress will take is far from easy to decide. In some of its phases progress seems approaching its limiting point, in others its rapidity is likely to decrease, while in still others it may be enormously enhanced. It is by no means improbable that the development of human institutions during the century at hand will be in quite different lines from those of the century just closed, less mechanical perhaps and more moral, less scientific and more philosophical, less political and more industrial, less laborious and more artistic.
In some branches of invention and discovery we seem approaching a termination. It is not easy to see, for instance, how telegraphy can advance in the future as it has in the past. Its powers seem nearing their ultimate measure of ease and rapidity. Yet it is dangerous to predict. Here at the end of the century comes wireless telegraphy, with untold powers. And by its side appears telepathy, mental telegraphy,—the direct action of mind upon mind in a manner analogous to that of telegraphing without wires—of which as yet we know little, yet which may have in it great possibilities of development.
Limitations to Progress
Other discoveries which seem approaching their ultimate condition are telephony, photography, illumination, and apparently labor-saving machinery in some of its fields, since the performance of some machines appears to have practically reached perfection. Transportation may well be one of these. The rapidity of railroad travel will, no doubt, be increased, yet natural limitations must check its indefinite increase. The same may be said in regard to steamship travel, it appearing that any great future increase of speed must be at an increased ratio of cost so considerable as to bring development in this direction to a speedy termination.
Of course, we are speaking only from our present point of view. It is quite possible that some new and luminous conceptions may break down the bars which now appear to be erected and open the way for new progress in all these directions. Yet it seems safe to assert, as a general principle, that development in any one direction can go on only unto a certain point, and that the limitations of nature must check it at that point.
GREATER NEW YORKOn January 1, 1898, Greater New York was created by the union of New York, Brooklyn, Long Island City, and Staten Island, into one municipality. The city now covers nearly 318 square miles, contains over three and one-half millions inhabitants, and, next to London, is the largest city in the world.
GREATER NEW YORK
On January 1, 1898, Greater New York was created by the union of New York, Brooklyn, Long Island City, and Staten Island, into one municipality. The city now covers nearly 318 square miles, contains over three and one-half millions inhabitants, and, next to London, is the largest city in the world.
DELEGATES TO THE UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS AT THE HAGUE, 1899This memorable Congress, held in 1899, in the Summer Palace at the Hague, the capital of Holland, was called at the suggestion of the Czar of Russia for the purpose of promoting peace by a reduction of the great armaments of the nations. This purpose failed, but a system of International Arbitration was adopted, which may prove still more useful in the prevention of war.
DELEGATES TO THE UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS AT THE HAGUE, 1899
This memorable Congress, held in 1899, in the Summer Palace at the Hague, the capital of Holland, was called at the suggestion of the Czar of Russia for the purpose of promoting peace by a reduction of the great armaments of the nations. This purpose failed, but a system of International Arbitration was adopted, which may prove still more useful in the prevention of war.
KEY TO THE UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS, NAMES OF DELEGATES AND GOVERNMENTS REPRESENTED1.—L. Bourgeois (France). 2.—Baron de Staal (Russia). 3.—Comte de Munster (Germany). 4.—Chevalier de Karnebeek (Holland). 5.—General J. C. C. Den Boer Poortugael (Holland). 6.—A. Beernaert (Belgium). 7.—Phya Suriya (Siam). 8.—De Bille (Denmark). 9.—Comte Weisersheimb (Austria). 10.—A. D. White (United States). 11.—E. M. Rahusen (Holland). 12.—Baron Hayashi (Japan). 13.—Yang Yu (China). 14.—Hoo Wei-Teh (China). 15.—A. Roth (Switzerland). 16.—Sir J. Pauncefote (England). 17.—J. Motono (Japan). 18.—Comte de Grelle Rogier (Belgium). 19.—A. Beldiman (Roumania). 20.—Raffalovich (Russia). 21.—J. N. Papiniu (Roumania). 22.—Seth Low (United States). 23.—Baron d’Estournelles (France). 24.—A. G. Schimmelpenninck (Holland). 25.—Tadema (Holland). 26.—Von Schnack (Denmark). 27.—G. Merey de Kapos-mére (Austria). 28.—Phya Visuddha (Siam). 29.—Corragioni d’Orelli (Siam). 30.—S. Ardagh (England). 31.—Stanford Newel (United States). 32.—C. Coanda (Roumania). 33.—E. Rolin (Siam). 34—H. Howard (England). 35.—C. Descamps (Belgium). 36.—C. de Selir (Portugal). 37.—Voishave Weljkovitch (Servia). 38.—Kreyer (China). 39.—V. de Khnepach (Austria). 40.—Abdullah-Pasha (Turkey). 41.—Louis Renault (France). 42.—A. Cour (England). 43.—T. Mahan (United States). 44.—Guido Pompilj (Italy). 45.—Mourey Bey (Turkey). 46.—Mirza Rizakhan (Persia). 47.—Ovtchinnikow (Russia). 48.—A. de Castilho (Portugal). 49.—E. Odier (Switzerland). 50.—Miyatovitch (Servia). 51.—Uyehara (Japan). 52.—Comte de Villiers (Luxembourg). 53.—Nago Arigo (Japan). 54.—S. Heine (Russia). 55.—Comte Barantzew (Russia). 56.—A. Kunzli (Switzerland).
KEY TO THE UNIVERSAL PEACE CONGRESS, NAMES OF DELEGATES AND GOVERNMENTS REPRESENTED
1.—L. Bourgeois (France). 2.—Baron de Staal (Russia). 3.—Comte de Munster (Germany). 4.—Chevalier de Karnebeek (Holland). 5.—General J. C. C. Den Boer Poortugael (Holland). 6.—A. Beernaert (Belgium). 7.—Phya Suriya (Siam). 8.—De Bille (Denmark). 9.—Comte Weisersheimb (Austria). 10.—A. D. White (United States). 11.—E. M. Rahusen (Holland). 12.—Baron Hayashi (Japan). 13.—Yang Yu (China). 14.—Hoo Wei-Teh (China). 15.—A. Roth (Switzerland). 16.—Sir J. Pauncefote (England). 17.—J. Motono (Japan). 18.—Comte de Grelle Rogier (Belgium). 19.—A. Beldiman (Roumania). 20.—Raffalovich (Russia). 21.—J. N. Papiniu (Roumania). 22.—Seth Low (United States). 23.—Baron d’Estournelles (France). 24.—A. G. Schimmelpenninck (Holland). 25.—Tadema (Holland). 26.—Von Schnack (Denmark). 27.—G. Merey de Kapos-mére (Austria). 28.—Phya Visuddha (Siam). 29.—Corragioni d’Orelli (Siam). 30.—S. Ardagh (England). 31.—Stanford Newel (United States). 32.—C. Coanda (Roumania). 33.—E. Rolin (Siam). 34—H. Howard (England). 35.—C. Descamps (Belgium). 36.—C. de Selir (Portugal). 37.—Voishave Weljkovitch (Servia). 38.—Kreyer (China). 39.—V. de Khnepach (Austria). 40.—Abdullah-Pasha (Turkey). 41.—Louis Renault (France). 42.—A. Cour (England). 43.—T. Mahan (United States). 44.—Guido Pompilj (Italy). 45.—Mourey Bey (Turkey). 46.—Mirza Rizakhan (Persia). 47.—Ovtchinnikow (Russia). 48.—A. de Castilho (Portugal). 49.—E. Odier (Switzerland). 50.—Miyatovitch (Servia). 51.—Uyehara (Japan). 52.—Comte de Villiers (Luxembourg). 53.—Nago Arigo (Japan). 54.—S. Heine (Russia). 55.—Comte Barantzew (Russia). 56.—A. Kunzli (Switzerland).
Probable Lines of Future Activity
We cannot, indeed, well conceive of a greater activity of invention and a more rapid unfoldment of new processes than we have had before us in the nineteenth century. But an equal activity may long continue. Whileinvention appears to have yielded practically perfect results in some fields, great imperfection exists in others, and in these the minds of inventors have still abundant room for exercise. Thus while the bicycle seems almost to have attained perfection, the automobile is only in its pioneer stage and may be capable of extraordinary improvement. It is quite possible that the horse may in the near future end his long career as man’s chief instrument of carriage and traction. Navigation of the air is still in embryo, but it may in time supplant travel on land and sea.
The possibilities in these and some other directions seem immense. At the beginning of the nineteenth century wood was the chief fuel, and had in great measure to serve the needs of household and workshop. At the dawn of the twentieth century coal had taken its place, and the forest had been replaced by the mine. We look back with pity, not unmixed with contempt, on the slowness of our ancestors, slaves to the axe and the firebrand. Our descendants of a century hence may look back with like feelings upon us, and marvel how we could content ourselves with delving in the deep rocks of the earth’s crust for fuel when far more abundant and useful resources lay everywhere about us.
Employment of the Forces of Nature
We are beginning to perceive, somewhat dimly still, the immensity and inexhaustibility of these powers and are prospecting among them with the footsteps of pioneers. The powers of falling water have long been employed, but only recently has it been discovered that they could be conveyed to a distance by means of the electric conductor and applied to motors for the movement of machinery. The electric plant at Niagara Falls is the greatest nineteenth century installation in this direction. Thousands of such plants may be installed in the near future, and the flowing currents of electricity yield light, heat and power in a profusion and with a cheapness that will quite throw coal out of the race, and release the slaves of the mine from their age-old fetters.
Falling water is only one of these sources of natural power. The tidal rise and fall of the seas is another. The movement of the winds is a third. The vast heat contents of the sunlight is a fourth. The variable and periodical character of these is capable of being overcome by methods of storing energy, electrical or other, already somewhat developed and doubtless capable of much further development.
This is one of the most promising directions that appear before us for the exercise of twentieth century invention. Yet, despite this and other fields of inventive activity, what we have said appears to hold good, that one by one each of the varied lines of invention will reach its ultimatum,and gradually the activity of man in this direction decrease. While the twentieth century may be as active in the development of mechanism as the nineteenth has been, it seems unlikely to be more so, and in succeeding centuries, inventive activity must decline for want of fields in which to exercise itself.
Possible Decline in Mechanical and Scientific Progress
In some other fields of mental activity a similar slackening of energy may appear. Science has been as active as mechanics in the century just closed, but in some of its fields of exercise an approach towards a limiting point seems evident. Observational science has been phenomenally busy, and the multitude of facts collected has been extraordinarily great; so great indeed that in some lines the facts remaining to be observed have become limited. Such is the case in zoology and botany. The species of animals and plants are by no means all known, but only the inconspicuous and those existing in lands yet unexplored remain to be discovered. There is much room for work still in this field, but future labors must be more difficult and results less abundant. The same can be said of several other fields of scientific observation, such as chemistry, mineralogy, anatomy and physiology, and others that could be named. Doubtless there is still large room for observation, but it must be in the finer and less evident domains of science, the surface facts having been largely gathered in. In theoretical science great progress has also been made by such men as Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Young, Darwin and a host of others. But many important problems remain to be solved, and human thought may profitably be exercised in this direction for a long time to come.
New Lines of Mental Activity
Yet it may be that the progress of the twentieth century will be directed most largely towards fields of research or improvement which have been secondary considerations, or have made only partial advance, in the century we have been considering. These will perhaps be intellectual rather than physical in character, and the advance social rather than material. Man has been struggling actively with inanimate substances and physical forces and adapting them to his ends. There lie before him the world of the animate and the forces of society and the intellect, to be treated with similar activity. The political, moral, educational, and industrial problems of the day need to be taken hold of more decisively than ever before, and the reign of fraud, injustice, autocratic power, unnatural inequality, ignorance, unnecessary want and suffering, etc., brought to an end.
Purity in Politics
There has been, as above stated, very considerable political evolution during the recent century, but the political condition of the world remainsvery far from satisfactory, even in civilized lands, and there is abundant room for progress in this field. Man will not be satisfied until every vestige of autocratic power and hereditary rank is swept away and the rulers of the nations have become the chosen servants of the people, as in the republic of the United States, and what we may call the prime-ministry of Great Britain—for the so-called monarchy of that kingdom has sunk to a title without power. Nor will man be satisfied until the rule of the political boss is similarly swept aside and honesty in office and in elective methods secured. This state of affairs cannot be reached under the present condition of public opinion. In the educational activities of the age political instruction is sadly needed. The masses need to be taught their duties and their rights. If they can once be brought to act together for their own interests and their own ideas of right and wrong, and cease to be led astray by the shibboleth of party or partisanship, there will be a rapid change in the state of public affairs, and men be chosen for official positions who can be trusted to act for the good of those who sent them there.
The Vice of Intemperance
Advance in education is not alone needed for this, but its accompaniment, advance in moral standards, is equally requisite. The moral progress of mankind, which has been so marked during the past century, is sure to go on to higher levels, and with every step upwards there will doubtless be demanded a higher standard of action in those who are called upon to act as servants of the public. We have not mentioned in this work one of the great evils of the age, the vice of intoxication, which has done so much to degrade and pauperize mankind, and has been one of the leading influences in the retention of the unworthy in power. Legal enactments have failed to put an end to this indulgence in a debased appetite, but public opinion is beginning to succeed where law has failed. Drunkenness has ceased to be respectable, and as a result open intoxication among respectable people is growing more and more rare. At the same time the desire to be considered respectable is making its way downward among the people, and widening the field of its effect. Drinking in moderation is prevalent still. Drinking in excess is plainly on the decrease. And with every step in this direction the self-respect of the people must grow, pauperism decrease, and an enlightened conception of public duty develop. Whatever else the twentieth century brings about, we may reasonably look for a great revolution in the political status of the world.
Industry in the Twentieth Century
There is one farther field of twentieth century progress to be reviewed, the industrial. The nineteenth century has reached its end leaving thisgreat domain of human interests in a highly unsatisfactory condition. The progress of labor during the century under review has been considered in a preceding chapter, and brought down to its existing state. What the character of its progress will be in the twentieth century is open to conjecture. While nothing concerning it can be stated positively, some deductions from the present condition of things may be made.
The King, the Priest, and the Cash Box
Mankind for some thousands of years past has been subjected to tyranny of various kinds, and in particular to the tyranny of the king, the priest, and the cash box; the first controlling him by the power of the sword, the second by that of superstition, the third by that of material wants. The control of the first two of these have long been slipping away from them. That of the king has quite vanished in the most advanced lands, and the political equality of all men has been assured. That of the priest has similarly vanished in these lands and is diminishing everywhere, liberty of thought being made secure. That of the cash-box, on the contrary, has grown as the authority of its rivals has decreased, and it stands to-day as the great power in the most advanced communities, it being particularly dominant in the United States.
Shall this third of the great tyrants of the world retain its supremacy? Shall it not in its turn be overthrown, and liberty and equality in this direction be also attained? Certainly great progress is likely to be made in this direction, whatever the final outcome may be. For ages a state of protest and quiet or active revolt against kingcraft and priestcraft prevailed. This state now exists in regard to the money power, the industrial classes of all lands struggling bitterly against it, and combining with a view to its overthrow. Such a state of revolt, bitter, persistent, unrelenting, indicates something innately wrong in the industrial situation, and cannot fail in the end to have its effect. We may safely look forward to an amelioration in the situation, even though we cannot tell how it is to be brought about.
The Vast Growth of Wealth
The extraordinary activity of productive industry within the century is the cause of the state of affairs which now exists. The wealth of the world has increased enormously, and has fallen largely into the hands of individuals. A century ago there was not a millionaire in our land, and few in any land. Now they exist by the thousands, and millionaires two hundred fold multiplied are not unknown. This vast accumulation of wealth in single hands does not satisfy its owners. They are eager for more, and capital is widely combining into great corporations for the purpose of reducing expenses, so that the cost of manufacture may be decreased, and doing away with competition, so thatprices of goods may be augmented. This is but one result of the trust combination. A second and highly important one is a great reduction of the opportunity for individual business operations, the tendency being to reduce the great mass of the community to the position of employees.
National and Municipal Ownership
This problem has been already considered in Chapterxxxviii., with the suggestion there made that it is apt to strengthen the force of Socialism, the purpose of which, as there indicated, is to put an end to individualism in productive enterprises, and place all workshops, stores, railroads, etc., under government control, to be conducted for the good of the people as a whole, not for that of individual capitalists. A step in this direction somewhat widely taken in Europe, is the control of railroads and telegraphs by the government. Another step is the control of all municipal functions, including street railways, electric lights, etc., by the city authorities. The latter system, adopted by many European cities, is being actively advocated in the United States, and is gathering to its support a vigorous public opinion which promises to be strong enough in the end to achieve its purpose.
Abroad the forces of Socialism are organizing themselves actively, and are gaining a political strength vigorous enough to create much alarm in the ruling powers. Whether this cult of Socialism has come to stay, and has in it sufficient force of growth to give it an eventual supremacy, or whether it is to be classed with the many popular movements which have played their parts for a time and passed away, is not for us to say, only the arbitrament of time can decide.
The New Psychology
We might consider the question of the twentieth century progress from other points of view, such as agriculture, architecture, household art, literature, medicine, surgery, social relations, etc., though in doing so we should be considering simply developments of existing conditions. Perhaps the most promising line of progress is in experimental psychology, the study of the brain and nervous system, the instruments of the mind from the scientific point of view, in distinction from the old, theoretical psychology. This, the latest of the sciences, has recently begun its development, and is full of promise of important discoveries concerning the conditions of mental phenomena. It must suffice here, however, to refer to it as one of the lines in which science has before it a broad field of research, and with this mention we shall bring to an end the long journey we have made in this work through the stirring history and marvelous events and discoveries of the wonderful nineteenth century.
Footnotes[A]Bridges made of several thongs of hide twisted into a stout rope, well greased and secured to trees on opposite banks. On the rope is suspended a cradle or hammock to hold two, and drawn backwards and forwards by long lines. Horses and mules were also thus conveyed, suspended by long girths round their bodies.
[A]Bridges made of several thongs of hide twisted into a stout rope, well greased and secured to trees on opposite banks. On the rope is suspended a cradle or hammock to hold two, and drawn backwards and forwards by long lines. Horses and mules were also thus conveyed, suspended by long girths round their bodies.
[A]Bridges made of several thongs of hide twisted into a stout rope, well greased and secured to trees on opposite banks. On the rope is suspended a cradle or hammock to hold two, and drawn backwards and forwards by long lines. Horses and mules were also thus conveyed, suspended by long girths round their bodies.
Transcriber’s NotePunctuation has been made consistent.Proper names, especially Russian, were not spelled consistently, and are generally given here as printed. The exceptions are noted below.Compound words that are hyphenated on a line break are given here with or without a hyphen, following the most frequent appearance elsewhere in the text.Diacritical marks are frequently missing either in the text or in captions. The variants are retained. The name ‘Blücher’ appears twice as ‘Blucher’ (p. 66 and the caption of the illustration on p. 91). The variants are retained. The word ‘insistent’ was consistently spelled ‘insistant’ (pp. 168, 172, 305), all of which are retained. The given name of Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier appears twice (pp 515–516) as ‘Wilfred’, and is retained.The following table itemizes the various (and numerous) textual issues encountered in preparing this version of the text, and their resolutions. Corrections have been made, as noted, when it is obvious that a printer’s error has been made, or when other instances of a misspelled word appear correctly elsewhere. The words ‘indispensible’ or ‘indispensable’ appears once each as ‘indispensible’ or ‘indispensibly’ and were corrected here. ‘Dispatch’ and ‘despatch’ are used interchangeably, and are retained. Any errors appearing in quoted matter are retained as printed. The word ‘infectuous’, an obsolete form of ‘infectious’, appears on pp. 586–587. Although ‘infectious’ appears several times as well, the obsolete form is retained.p. 7General Hayna[n/u]Corrected.p. 82[59]Page number completed.Sir Arthur Wel[l]esleyAdded.p. 13Andrée[’]s Fatal Balloon VentureAdded.p. 14a[min/nim]alsTransposed.p. 24great continent of[,] America.Removed.p. 27ind[e/i]spensibleCorrected.p. 49persist[a/e]nceCorrected.p. 51two forces[,/.] DecaenCorrected.p. 56D[e/i]visedCorrected.p. 58despa[i]ringAdded.persist[a/e]ntCorrected.p. 66simultaneo[u]slyAdded.Demor[i/a]lizationCorrected.Generl Benni[n]gsenRemoved.p. 68northe[r]ners]Added.p. 70Benni[n]gsen’s troopsRemoved.p. 71hind[e]redAdded.p. 74sovereign[i]tyRemoved.p. 76Austr[ai/ia]nsTransposed.p. 78more[o]verAdded.p. 88stubborn[n]essAdded.p. 107Westmin[i]sterRemoved.Nap[a/o]leonCorrected.p. 117delib[e]rationsAdded.p. 122the absolute kings[.]Added.p. 124arbit[r]aryAdded.p. 141their daring[s] keelsCorrected.p. 142persist[a/e]ntCorrected.William of Norman[d]yAdded.p. 143Dardanell[e]sAdded.p. 145su[p/r]passCorrected.Great Brit[ia/ai]nCorrected.p. 162perc[ie/ei]vedTransposed.p. 166persist[a/e]ntCorrected.p. 168di[s]missedAdded.p. 174out[b]reakAdded.p. 176desp[a/e]rateCorrected.p. 191enthusia[s]ticAdded.p. 193engag[e]mentsAdded.p. 198sovereign[i]tyRemoved.p. 204twice[d] rammedRemoved.p. 205strengthened with a [a] new FrenchRemoved.p. 222[h/b]eheldCorrected.p. 239the various state[s]Added.p. 244state[s]manshipAdded.p. 248announ[c]edAdded.p. 250Gladstone[e]Removed.p. 260ac[i]tivityRemoved.p. 261massacres on both sides[,/.]Corrected.p. 262occas[s]ionRemoved.p. 264forstalledSic.p. 265enthu[is/si]asticTransposed.p. 267gradual[ly] repaymentRemoved.p. 268Wellesl[e]yAdded.Eve[r/n] thereCorrected.p. 269A[l/f]ghansCorrected.Bri[s]tishRemoved.p. 273he[or/ro]icTransposed.p. 279Repu[b]lican gover[n]mentAdded.p. 284Th[ei/ie]rs had just performedCorrected.p. 285fort[r]essAdded.p. 287streng[t]hAdded.p. 288cause celèbreSic.p. 305for[e]seeingAdded.p. 311I[t] indicatesAdded.p. 324re[gco/cog]nizeTransposed.remar[k]ableAdded.p. 326possesses[s]Removed.p. 329impor[t]antAdded.its innumerable affluentsSic.p. 331Egyptian[s] troopsRemoved.p. 335The S[ei/ie]ge of SontayTransposed.p. 337h[re/er]oicTransposed.p. 341the ruined fort[r]essAdded.enterp[r]iseAdded.p. 345inaptitudeSic.p. 347Right of Suff[e]rageRemoved.p. 348Massac[h]usettsAdded.which the[,] crushingRemoved.p. 350in hundreds [of] librariesAdded.p. 353eno[u]rmouslyRemoved.p. 354Mer[r]iwether LewisSic.p. 356Actio[h/n]Corrected.p. 370proc[c]eedRemoved.p. 381concentration of [d/p]owerCorrected.p. 384suc[c]eededAdded.p. 388war-[w/v]esselsCorrected.p. 412and he did force it.["]Added.p. 418I decline [acceeding] to your requestSic.p. 421[batallions/battalions]Corrected.irresist[a/i]bleCorrected.p. 429Lou[i]sianaAdded.disfellowship[p]edAdded.p. 435orator has a [a] special significanceRemoved.p. 441Assas[s]inationAdded.p. 457Virginia Campai[g]nAdded.p. 460with [t]he utmostAdded.p. 461resis[t]anceAdded.p. 464cap[ti/it]alTransposed.p. 469d[i/e]spiteCorrected.p. 473Indian Territor[r]yRemoved.came [n/u]pon themCorrected.p. 474commis[s]ionAdded.p. 479unin[i]tiatedAdded.p. 481responsibilit[i]esAdded.p. 486CuraçoaSic.p. 491Hampton R[h]oadsRemoved.p. 504while hundreds[,] of their crewsRemoved.p. 506a yell f[or/ro]m the sentinelTransposed.p. 507[u/i]neffectivelyCorrected.p. 511suprema[n]cyRemoved.p. 514commer[ic/ci]alTransposed (twice).p. 518mount[ia/ai]nTransposed.ac[c]rossRemoved.fr[ie/ei]ghtTransposed.p. 519vis[i]torAdded.p. 532Robe[r]t E. PearyAdded.near the 81st parallel[,/.]Corrected.p. 533walrussesSic.unsuc[c]essfulAdded.p. 536Del[a]wareAdded.p. 543compet[it]ionAdded.p. 546telegrap[h]yAdded.p. 552millionairsSic.p. 554For a centur[e/y]Corrected.p. 564to prevent its[,] everRemoved.p. 565conspira[r/c]yCorrected.F[r]anceAdded.p. 574signifi[c]anceAdded.p. 578pheno[n/m]e[m/n]aTransposed.d[e/i]stinctionCorrected.p. 581Subsid[u/i]aryCorrected.p. 582pal[a/æ]ontologyCorrected.p. 585ever[y]whereAdded.p. 592the people in all lands[,/.]Corrected.p. 593“Scarlet Letter,[’/”]Corrected.p. 594“New South[”]Added.p. 595“Genius of Christianity.[’]”Removed.p. 597the poets [a/o] NorwayCorrected.p. 598Litera[t/r]ureCorrected.ninete[e]nthAdded.Sienkiewi[e/c]zCorrected.p. 599sc[ei/ie]ntificTransposed.p. 600Th[e/o]se who cannot readCorrected.p. 609insist[a/e]nceCorrected.p. 618the selectmen[t] of NewburyportRemoved.p. 620prop[a/o]rtionsCorrected.p. 621eco[m/n]omicCorrected.p. 628possibilit[i]esAdded.p. 635persist[a/e]ntCorrected.accum[m]ulationRemoved.sati[s]fyAdded.p. 636phenom[en]aAdded.a[r]bitramentAdded.
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Proper names, especially Russian, were not spelled consistently, and are generally given here as printed. The exceptions are noted below.
Compound words that are hyphenated on a line break are given here with or without a hyphen, following the most frequent appearance elsewhere in the text.
Diacritical marks are frequently missing either in the text or in captions. The variants are retained. The name ‘Blücher’ appears twice as ‘Blucher’ (p. 66 and the caption of the illustration on p. 91). The variants are retained. The word ‘insistent’ was consistently spelled ‘insistant’ (pp. 168, 172, 305), all of which are retained. The given name of Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier appears twice (pp 515–516) as ‘Wilfred’, and is retained.
The following table itemizes the various (and numerous) textual issues encountered in preparing this version of the text, and their resolutions. Corrections have been made, as noted, when it is obvious that a printer’s error has been made, or when other instances of a misspelled word appear correctly elsewhere. The words ‘indispensible’ or ‘indispensable’ appears once each as ‘indispensible’ or ‘indispensibly’ and were corrected here. ‘Dispatch’ and ‘despatch’ are used interchangeably, and are retained. Any errors appearing in quoted matter are retained as printed. The word ‘infectuous’, an obsolete form of ‘infectious’, appears on pp. 586–587. Although ‘infectious’ appears several times as well, the obsolete form is retained.