great religious leaders, excepting Moses and Zoroaster, have not been
named. Among these stand Siddhartha or Buddha, Mahomet, Martin Luther,
John Knox and John Wesley. Then the great explorers and geographers of
the world have not been noticed, among whom Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny,
Vasco de Gama, Columbus and Humboldt barely lead the van.

Of eminent women there are Seling, wife of the Emperor Hwang-ti, B.
C. 2637, who taught her people the art of silk-raising and weaving;
Semiramis, the Assyrian Queen; Deborah, the heroic warrior prophetess
of the Israelites; Queen Esther, who, with the counsel of her cousin,
Mordecai, not only saved the Jews from extermination, but lifted
them from a condition of slavery into prosperity and power; Dido, the
founder of Carthage; Sappho, the eminent Grecian poetess; Hypatia, the
eloquent philosopher; Mary, the mother of Christ; Zenobia, Queen of
Palmyra; the mother of St. Augustine; Elizabeth of Hungary; Queen
Elizabeth of England; Queen Isabella of Spain; the Empress Maria
Theresa; Margaret the Great of Denmark; Catherine the Great of Russia,
Queen Victoria; Florence Nightingale; Mme. de Stael: Mrs. Fry, the
philanthropist; among authoresses, Mrs. Hemans, Mrs. Sigourney, Mrs.
Browning, "George Sand," "George Eliot," and Mrs. Stowe; and among
artists, Rosa Bonheur, and our own Harriet Hosmer.


THE SUEZ CANAL.--The Suez Canal was begun in 1,858 and was formally
opened in November, 1869. Its cost, including harbors, is estimated at
$100,000,000. Its length is 100 miles, 75 of which were excavated; its
width is generally 325 feet at the surface, and 75 feet at the bottom,
and its depth 26 feet. The workmen employed were chiefly natives, and
many were drafted by the Khedive. The number of laborers is estimated
at 30,000. The British government virtually controls the canal as it