Biarne; and LEIF THE FORTUNATE, son of Erik the Red, undertook a voyage of discovery thither in the year 1000. He was successful; and he named the countries visited, HELLULAND (Newfoundland), MARKLAND (Nova Scotia), and VINLAND (New England). Other explorations were made by various expeditions; and it is supposed their observations extended to the coast of Florida. The records of these discoveries have been preserved in the Icelandic historic annals; and through the efforts of the distinguished Rafn, of Copenhagen, they have been brought to light, with incontestable evidence of their correctness. The Society of Northern Antiquaries has published translations from the Icelandic histories, with respect to the discovery of America by the Scandinavians; and it would seem that their explorations were probably communicated to COLUMBUS, when he visited Iceland in 1477; and we have no doubt but that the information then obtained, operated as one of the causes which inspired the mind of that great man with that zeal which bade defiance to every difficulty, and enabled him to effect the re-discovery of the New World in 1492, under circumstances that ultimately led to its colonisation, and the formation of one of the greatest nations known in the career of man.

COLUMBUS pursued the object of his ambition without cessation. He met failure after failure with a great degree of philosophy-evidencing that he was a man possessing powers commensurate with the grandeur of the thought. He finally succeeded in getting aid from Spain; and, on the 3rd of August, 1492, he sailed from Palos, upon the memorable voyage that has produced the most wonderful

results. On the 11th of October, 1492, he discovered land, and named it San Salvador. He erected the Cross; and thus, with a heart full of gratitude to God for the success of his mission, dedicated the New World to Christianity. In the year 1497, John Cabot, and his son Sebastian, who were Venetians, made a voyage of discovery to America, under the patronage of Henry VII. of England. On the 24th of June they discovered land, which, it is supposed, was Newfoundland. They explored the coast of Labrador, and southward to Florida. In 1524, an expedition, under the patronage of France, commanded by Verrazzani, a Florentine, explored the coast of New York; and another French expedition sailed in 1534, under the command of Cartier. This expedition ascended the St. Lawrence; and the name of NEW FRANCE was given to the country. In 1539, De Soto started on his extraordinary expedition overland. He sailed from Havana with nine vessels, 900 men, over 200 horses, and a large number of swine-landed on the coast of Florida, and travelled northward, striking the Mississippi river, in the Chickasaw country. De Soto was the discoverer of the Mississippi river; and near its banks he died: his body was buried in its waters by the light of the myriads of stars that shone from the firmament.

In 1562, the Huguenots from France attempted to settle within the present limits of South Carolina; but they were unsuccessful. In 1564, the Spaniards settled at St. Augustine, Florida; but their progress was arrested by a conflict with the French. In 1584, Queen Elizabeth gave a patent to Sir Walter Raleigh, to discover and

occupy lands in America. An expedition sailed that year, and landed on the Roanoke, where formal possession was taken, and the country named VIRGINIA, in honour of the virgin Queen, then on the throne of England. Various other expeditions were projected, and, to some extent, executed.

SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA.

The object of this work is twofold-to revive the memories of the past-to record the incidents of the present; as both are connected with the Secession War, now hastening the destruction of the American Union. Thus, while due regard is accorded to the enterprise, the zeal, and the heroism of those pioneers of civilisation and of empire, who, in the early part of the 17th century, braved the dangers of an unknown sea in search of freedom and a home; converted the haunts of savages into the abodes of civilised man, and superseded the rude and barbarous habits of the forest and the swamp, by the mild and elevating influences of Christianity; the chief aim of the following work will be, to trace the circumstances that gradually have led to the present attitude of a people who are great and prosperous.

The earlier settlers upon the North American continent brought with them the lights which intellect and experience had, through progressive ages, diffused over the western world. The happiness of the daring few, who had exchanged persecution for liberty, allured emigrants from every portion of central and western Europe, until, in time, the few scattered bands grew into a vast and mighty

people; who, bearing for awhile the yoke of foreign domination, at length became impatient of misrule, and bursting their fetters, asserted and conquered a right to be admitted into the brotherhood of nations.

But long ere this result had been obtained, a gradual tendency to cohesion of the separated members of the great Transatlantic family, encouraged aspirations for liberty that penal laws were powerless to suppress, and coercion fanned into an unquenchable flame of patriotism. We shall proceed, however, in the first place, to trace the geographical divisions of the country, and then follow the progressive growth of territory under the monarchical and republican governments-taking the several provinces or states in the order of their original settlement.

The continent of America, situated between the 16th degree of north latitude and the Arctic Ocean, by which it is bounded on its northern side, is enclosed on the east by the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico; on the south by the same gulf and Central America; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The coast-line being deeply indented with gulfs, bays, and inlets, gives a length, from Hudson's Bay to the Florida channel, of about 4,800 miles; and from thence to Panama, about 4,500 more. On the Pacific side, the whole length, including the coasts of the Gulf of California, has been computed at 10,500 miles; but of the extent of the northern and eastern shores no conjecture has yet been hazarded. Taking it, however, at a probable length of about 3,000 miles, a coast-line is given of some 22,800 miles. Any estimate of the area of a region so irregularly shaped, must be exceedingly conjectural ;

but it is generally computed to comprise, in round numbers, about 8,500,000 square miles. De Bow, late superintendent of the Census Bureau at Washington, has given the entire area as embracing 8,373,648 square miles; of which, 3,306,865 belong to the United States: the remainder being divided as follows:-British America, 3,050,398; Mexico, 1,038,834; Russian America, 394,000; Danish America, 384,000; and Central America, 203,551. As the object of this work is necessarily confined to the portion of this vast territory known as the United States of America, it is not necessary to refer further to the other divisions mentioned as constituting the aggregate of the great northern continent.

The nucleus of civilisation, which at first appeared only as a bright speck on the western horizon, was encompassed by all the magnificent wildness of nature, and all the untameable ferocity of savage life. This nucleus, however, progressively expanded over the vast area around it. The dense forests have yielded to the axe of civilisation; the ploughshare has upturned the beautiful and wide-spread prairies; the mighty rivers teem with floating palaces, laden with the fruits of the land, and the people in motion; the railways and telegraphs traverse and girdle the states; the tomahawk, the scalping-knife, and the war-club, have become but relics of a past savage age; the symbols of Christianity, and the temples of learning, are now scattered over that vast country. To the free and unlimited exercise of religious faith, and the general diffusion of knowledge without price, is to be ascribed the prosperity of the American nation.