Our country occupies, all things considered, the best portion of the world. This includes the Atlantic slope, the great Mississippi basin, and the Pacific slope, and our whole territory, except our new colonial possessions, lies within the north temperate zone. We therefore have a great variety of soil and climate; the soil is the most fertile and the climate the most salubrious of the whole earth. We have an almost infinite variety of productions and our people are engaged in the entire round of human industries. The United States has made vast strides in industry, in wealth, in intelligence, and in the comforts of life. Civilization has rapidly advanced during the whole of this century. If the great contest of the future is to be between the Anglo-Saxon race and the rest of the world, surely this great republic must have the leading position in that contest. The American people to-day form a nation of readers. In newspapers, magazines, and books of all sorts and upon every subject the American press is prolific. We have a system of public schools well established in every State and every Territory of our Union, and supported by taxation, and very generally the children are obliged by compulsory laws to attend school. We are living in an age of great activity and rapid advancement. The young people of our republic who are attending school to-day are to be congratulated upon their good fortune; and it becomes them to magnify their opportunities, to appreciate their advantages, and to be especially loyal to their country, its government, and its institutions. INDEX. Ætna, 213 Air brakes, 236 ALLEN, NICHOLAS, 48 ALLSTON, WASHINGTON, 272 Ancient writing, 249 Arc light, 87 ARNOLD, EDWIN, 169 Atlantic Telegraph Co., 281 Automobile, 243 Axe, 25 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 226 BASKERVILLE, JOHN, 254 Bay-Path, 192 BELL, ALEXANDER GRAHAM, 286 Bicycle, 243 Binder, 120 Blackstone canal, 221 BOULTON and WATT, 179 Brooklyn bridge, 239 BRUSH, CHARLES FRANCIS, 85 BURLINGAME, ANSON, 288 Cable, Atlantic, 278 Cable cars, 242 Cables, submarine, 284 CABOT, JOHN, 18 Calashes, 201 Canals, 215 Candelabra, 71 Candles, 67 Canoe, 197 Carrying fire, 52 Central Pacific Railroad, 228 CHAPPE, CLAUDE, 266 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 221 Chicago and Alton Railroad, 236 Chimneys, 31 CLAYTON, JOHN, 81 "Clermont," 212, 215 "Clinton's big ditch," 221 Coal, 44; anthracite, 47; bituminous, 47; sea, 45 Coffee, 139 Colonial conditions, 143 Colonial cooking, 29, 30 Colonial homes, 24 CONANT, ROGER, 124 Cooking, colonial, 29, 30 CORLISS, GEORGE H., 175, 179 Corn, Indian, 105 Cotton, 150, 153 Cotton gin, 148-151 DARLING, GRACE, 92-94 Delaware and Hudson canal, 221 Dinner, a modern, 131 DODGE, JOHN ADAMS, 174 DRAKE, E. L., 78 Dugout, 197 DUNSTER, REV. HENRY, 254 Dutch ovens, 27