ions of the world.
Civilized men first went to England nearly twenty centuries ago, but
since Columbus discovered America only four centuries have passed.
Each of these four centuries has a character of its own and is quite
unlike the others. The first was the time of exploring, the second of
colonizing, the third of deciding who should rule in America, and the
fourth of growth and development.

During the first century explorers from France, England, and Spain
visited the New World, each claiming for his own country the part that
he explored. Each hoped to find gold, but only the Spaniards, who went
to Mexico and Peru, were successful. There was little thought of
making settlements, and at the end of the first century the Spanish
colonies of St. Augustine and Santa Fe were the only ones on the
mainland of what is now the territory of the United States.

During the second century much colonizing was done. The French settled
chiefly along the Saint Lawrence River; the English settled along the
Atlantic coast of North America; the Spanish in Mexico and South
America; the Dutch by the Hudson River; the Swedes by the Delaware.
The European nations discovered that it was worth while to have
American colonies.

During the third century there was a long struggle to see which nation
should rule in America. England and France were far ahead of the
others, but which of them should it be? The French and Indian Wars
gave the answer, "England." Then another question arose; should it be
England or the Thirteen Colonies? The Revolutionary War answered, "The
Colonies." At the end of the third century the United States had been
established, and the land east of the Mississippi was under her rule.

In the last century there has been a great gain in people and in land.
To-day there are thirty times as many people in this country as there
were then.

USEFUL INFORMATION

It may not be generally known that we have in the nickel five-cent
piece of our American coinage a key to the tables of linear measures
and weights. The diameter of a nickel is exactly two centimeters, and
its weight is five grammes. Five nickels in a row will give the length
of the decimeter, and two of them will weigh a decagram. As the
kiloliter is a cubic meter, the key of the measure of length is also
that of capacity.

Among the North American Indians polished shells were used as currency.
This money was called _wampum_ and was recognized by