ents of trade between the north and the south. Out of
these commercial unions grew in time the Hanseatic League, which from
the thirteenth to the fifteenth century controlled the commerce of the
northern part of Europe on both the water and the land. The object of
this league, which at the height of its power included eighty-five
cities, was to protect its members against the feudal lords on the land
and against pirates on the sea. Its power extended from Norway to
Belgium and from England to Russia. In all the principal towns on the
highways of commerce the flag of the Hansa floated over its counting
houses. Wherever its influence reached, its members controlled roads,
mines, agriculture and manufactures. It often dictated terms to kings,
and almost succeeded in monopolizing the trade of Europe north of
Italy.

It is characteristic of the social and political condition of this time
that the postal service was not carried on by the state, but was in the
hands of the various municipalities, convents and universities. During
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries national power and national life
made themselves felt, and with a change in the political system the
system of communication and transportation changed also. Louis XI. of
France took the first step toward making a nation of the French when he
transferred the postal service from the cities and other feudal
authorities to the state. Two or three centuries later, France obtained
a national system of roads and canals. The idea was largely due to
Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV. It was, however, not executed in
detail until the middle of the last century. Many abuses grew up in
connection with it, but on the whole it was probably the soundest and
most efficient part of the French administration. A system of lines of
communication, radiating from Paris, was constructed by skilled
engineers, and placed under the supervision of men of talent, especially
trained for the purpose at the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees. The whole
system was further improved by Napoleon, and has served as a basis for
the present system of railroad supervision.

The first artificial waterway constructed in France was the Languedoc
Canal, connecting the Bay of Biscay with the Mediterranean. This
gigantic work, designed by Riquet, was commenced in 1666, and completed
in 1681. The canal is 148 miles long and its summit level is 600 feet
above the sea, the works along its line embracing over one h