The others are not, owing to want of documents;
but, as before observed, the amount has very little to do with the
subject; the business is to see how wealth and power were divided at
any particular time, if they were rising or falling, or if they were at
their height, comparing them with the manners of the people at the
time.

This is the use of the chart, as to the representation of individual
places and nations.

The general conclusion is, from taking the whole together, that wealth
and power have never been long permanent in any place. That they
never have been renewed when once destroyed, though they have had
rises and falls, and that they travel over the face of the earth,
something like a caravan of merchants. On their arrival, every thing is
found green and fresh; while they remain all is bustle and abundance,
and, when gone, all is left trampled down, barren, and bare.

This chart is a sort of a picture, intended to make those migrations and
change of place distinct and easily conceived, on which the whole of
this book has been occupied. Being once acquainted with the changes
that have taken place, we may more accurately compare them with the
state of this country at the present time. Those who will take the
trouble to read Ferguson's History of the Roman Republic, and
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Empire, may form a judgement of the
accuracy or inaccuracy of the chart.

EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER OF INSPECTING THE CHART.

To know when Rome was at the highest pitch of greatness, find, on
the right hand, the space marked Roman empire: then look between
the lines for the highest part of the dark ground, and look immediately
under for the year, it will be seen to be at the birth of Christ, that is,
during the reign of Augustus; and by the same means it will be found
declining gradually till the year 490. [end of page #79]

In like manner, Carthage will be found at the zenith of its power about
300 years before Christ. The founding of Alexandria and the wars
with Rome began then to diminish both its wealth and power.

It is intended by the author of this to execute a chart of the same sort
on a very large scale, and assign to the different powers spaces
proportioned to their importance, as nearly as he can ascertain.

With respect to the chronology of this chart, to prevent criticisms
which might perhaps be made; but do not apply to it, according to the
purpose for which it was constructed, the reader is req