Map No. XI. is a CHART OF THE WORLD on Mercator's projection-a Chart of History, exhibiting the world as known to Europeans at the period of the discovery of America-and a Chart of Isothermal lines, or lines of equal heat, showing the comparative mean annual temperature of different parts of the Earth's surface.

It will be observed that General History, previous to the discovery of America, is confined to a small portion of the Earth's surface; as represented by the light portions of the Chart; while the whole Western Continent and Greenland, most of Africa and Asia, and their islands, and parts of Northern Europe and Iceland, were unknown to Europeans, and in the darkness of barbarism. It would seem, therefore, that the history of THE WORLD has but just commenced.

The Isothermal lines show that the temperature of a place does not depend wholly upon its latitude. Thus the southern limit of perpetually frozen ground in the northern hemisphere (at a mean annual temperature of thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit) follows a line ranging from below fifty-five degrees of latitude to above seventy. The mean annual temperature of London, at fifty-one and a-half degrees north latitude, is fifty degrees of Fahrenheit, the same as that of Philadelphia, which is eleven and a-half degrees of latitude farther south. The line of greatest heat, (at a mean annual temperature of eighty-two and four-tenths degrees of Fahrenheit,) is more than ten degrees of latitude north of the Equator in South America, in Africa, and southern Hindostan; and about eight degrees south of the Equator in a part of the Indian Ocean between Borneo and Hew Holland. The sea is, generally, considerably warmer in winter than the land, and cooler in summer. Continents and large islands are found to be warmer on their western sides than on the eastern. The extremes of temperature are experienced chiefly in large inland tracts, and little felt in small islands remote from continents. Had the Arctic regions been entirely of land, the intense heat of summer and the cold of winter would have been equally fatal to animal life.

BATTLE GROUNDS OF THE WARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE WARS OF NAPOLEON. Map No. XII.

The wars growing out of the French Revolution, of which those of Napoleon were a continuation, embrace a period of nearly twenty-three years, from the defeat of the Austrians at Jemappes on the 17th of November, 1792, to the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo on the 18th of June, 1815.

The accompanying Map presents at a glance the vast theatre on which were exhibited the thousand Scenes in this mighty Drama of human suffering. The thickly-dotted Spanish peninsula may be regarded as one great battle-field, where Frenchman, Spaniard, Portuguese, and Briton, sank in the death struggle together. Those dark spots where the “pealing drum,” the "waving standards,” and the “trumpets clangor,” invited to slaughter, cluster thickly around the eastern boundaries of France, including Belgium and northern Italy; they are seen in far-off Egypt and Palestine, recalling Napoleon's dreams of Eastern conquest; and they strew the route to Moscow, where, from the fires of the Kremlin, and amid the snows of a Russian winter, the French eagles commenced a lasting retreat.

As we look over this vast gladiatorial arena of frantic, struggling Life, and agonizing Death, our thoughts naturally turn from its mingled horrors and glories to rest upon the commanding genius, the wizard spirit,—of him “who rode upon the whirlwind and directed the storm”— of him whom Byron well describes as a mighty Gambler,

"Whose game was empires, and whose stakes were thrones,

Whose table earth, whose dice were human bones."

But the French Revolution and the wars of Napoleon, with all the suffering which they occasioned, have not been unattended with useful results in urging forward the march of European civilization. The moral character of Napoleon, the most prominent actor in the drama, has been variously drawn by friends and foes; but the towering height, the lightning-like rapidity, and the brilliancy, of his genius, have never been questioned y his most bitter revilers.

FRANCE, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL. Map No. XIII.

FRANCE, (ancient Gaul,) bordering on three seas, and being enclosed by natural boundaries ɔn all sides except the north-east, where her natural limits are the Rhine, is admirably situated for a commanding influence in European affairs; and, besides, her large population, the active spirit of her people, the fertility of her soil, and the amenity of her climate, place her among the foremost of the great nations of the earth in power and resources.

When first known to the Romans, Gaul was divided between the Belgæ, the Celta, and the Aquitani; the Belgae or Belgians between the Seine and Lower Rhine;--the Celts between the Seine and Garonne; and the Aquitani between the Garonne and Pyrenees; but the Romans, under Augustus, made four divisions of Gaul;-Belgica, in the north-east ;-Lugdunensis, between the Seine and Loire ;-Aquitania, between the Loire and Pyrenees;—and Narbonensis, in the south-east.

None of the barbarian tribes of Europe passed through a more agitated or brilliant career than the ancient Gauls, the ancestors of the French people. They burned Rome, conquered Macedonia, forced Thermopylaæ, pillaged Delphi, besieged Carthage, and established the empire of Galatia in Asia Minor; but, after a century of partial conflicts, and nine years of general war with Cæsar, they yielded to the overshadowing power of Rome. When Rome fell, Gaul was overrun by the Germanic nations: then came the beginning of the empire of the Franksthe encroachments and defeat of the Saracens-the vast empire of Charlemagne-and then the increasing power of the feudal nobility, until, in the year 987, the last of the Carlovingian princes possessed only the town of Laon! Under Hugh Capet even, dukes, counts, and minor seigneurs, shared among themselves nearly all of the modern kingdom. But by degrees the great fiefs, one after another, fell to the crown; and before the close of the seventeenth century all France was united under one monarchy in the person of Louis XIV.

Thus, with her history, the geography of France has been continually changing; but those divisions of her territory best known in general history are the old Provinces, as given on the accompanying Map. These provinces, during the Middle Ages, were all either duchies or minor seignories ruled by the feudal nobility; and their history is, therefore, virtually, for a long period, that of separate kingdoms. (See description of Provence, Brittany, Normandy, Aquitaine, Burgundy, Roussillon, &c., pp. 300, 371-2, 379.)

At the period of the French Revolution the thirty-three provincial divisions were abolished, and France was then divided into eighty-six Departments or Prefectures; these into three hundred and sixty-three Arrondissements; these into two thousand eight hundred and forty-five Cantons; and these latter into thirty-eight thousand six hundred and twenty-three Communes. SPAIN, anciently Hispania, a name given to the entire peninsula beyond the Pyrenees, was not fully conquered by the Romans till the time of Augustus, who made three divisions of the country;-1st, Batica, in the south of Spain, embracing the more modern province of Andalusia;-2d, Lusitania, embracing all Portugal south of the Douro, and, in addition, most of Estremadura and Salamanca ;-and, 3d, Tarraconensis, embracing the remainder, and greater portion, of the peninsula.

About the time of the subversion of the Western empire of the Romans, Spain was overrun by the Vandals, and other Gothic tribes; and, a century later, the Christianized Visigoths established their supremacy in every part of the peninsula. At the beginning of the eighth century the Moors from Africa overran the whole country, but after their defeat by Charles Martel in France, (see p. 253,) the Christians began to make head against them, founded the kingdom of Leon about the middle of the eighth century, and, from that period, gradually extended their power until, in 1492, Granada, the last Moorish kingdom, yielded to the arms of Ferdinand of Aragon, and, soon after, the whole Spanish peninsula was united under one government. In 1139 PORTUGAL became an independent kingdom: from 1580 to 1640 it was a Spanish province; but at the latter period it regained its independence. For historical accounts of Navarre, Aragon, Castile, Leon, and Granada, see p. 317,-Portugal, 318.