ABSTRACT
In 1848 the Dublin University Magazine similarly acknowledges America to be a "mighty and prosperous nation" and, referring to the Famine, extols American generosity: "the full hand of their abundance was eagerly and effectively stretched forth to aid us in our distress. Reports of material and scientific advances were one marker of an impending age of progress. They focused on scientific discoveries, mechanical and agricultural developments, and other aspects of material improvement, in contrast to the moral improvement focus of the general British periodicals and that of colonial denominational periodicals. Scientific biography was another means of conveying new scientific information and at times of lauding the contributions of British scientists. Within Great Britain, education was considered an essential component of progress for the nation. A commentator in the Christian Lady's Magazine hails that publication because it proposes to educate Christian women and not devote itself to fashion and similar fripperies.
