referred to merely for the purpose of showing what is the testimony of European tourists; our own opinions will be found in other parts of this work. It must be borne in mind that they were only travellers through the country, and were therefore liable to fall into many mistakes. Besides which, they have usually published their journals without sufficient care to avoid inconsistent statements; and they almost universally speak of "the Americans," the whole population of the United States, as if they formed one people. Writing in New England, they pronounce "the Americans” to be religious, industrious, temperate, orderly, and well-conditioned; but, when writing in the slave States, "the Americans" are described very differently. The truth is, that there is a distinction between the people of the various States, caused by the differences of origin, climate, institutions, and pursuits.

IV.

Three Years in North America. By James Stuart, Esq.-Mr. Stuart spent three years in the United States, from August, 1828. After traversing the State of New York and other northern States, and visiting Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, and various other places, he writes :-"We have not hitherto, during the whole of our journey, seen anything like a poor man's house, or a beggar, or any one who did not seem to be well clothed and fed." "Such a thing as a human being walking anywhere on the public roads out of the villages is rarely seen. The earnings of the labourers enable them to travel in the stages, and the custom of the country is for all to ride in some sort of a carriage.

He says that in Pennsylvania every farmer keeps his own comfortable open carriage. "The Americans have peaches, melons, apples, strawberries, and cherries, all of excellent quality, and in such abundance, that there is not a single individual in the whole country, even the very shoe-black, whose funds do not enable him to have as much of these fruits as he likes, at the proper season."

The alleged absence of crime in America is particularly insisted upon by Mr. Stuart, and the high moral character of the people of the freStates. "The great mass of the people of the United States are so much better educated, so much better informed, and possess so much better manners, so much more self-possession and ease, that it is absolutely ludicrous to compare the people of Great Britain with them in these respects." He quotes Washington Irving, who says, "All the writers of England united, if we could for a moment suppose their great minds stooping to so unworthy a combination, could not conceal our rapidlygrowing importance and matchless prosperity. They could not conceal that these are owing not merely to physical and local, but also to moral causes-to the political liberty-the general diffusion of knowledge-the prevalence of sound moral and religious principles."

Mr. Stuart comments on the great amount of crime in England, and deplores the wretched condition of the poor, and the prevalence of immo rality amongst the female population. He declares that in scarcely any of the American cities is there any appearance of women of light character upon the public streets, either by day or night.

He is in favour of universal suffrage, and contends that, in the United States, rank, respect, and consideration are given to talent alone, and to high office, which can only be obtained by the display of talent and industry. He thinks that business is conducted in the American congress in a more dignified manner, because with far greater attention to order and decorum than in the British house of commons.

Mr. Stuart vigorously defends the Americans from most of the charges brought against them by hostile English writers, and exposes the despotic character of the British government, the ignorance and bigotry of British statesmen, and the awful consequences of British misrule; but he acknowledges the pernicious effects of slavery upon the character and condition of the free people of the slave States.

V.

America-Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive. By J. S. Buckingham, Esq.-Mr. Buckingham, the great traveller, was three years in the United States and the British possessions in North America, from 1837 to 1840, and has published a work on those countries, in nine volumes. It is open to the criticism before adverted to, but is highly amusing and instructive. He insists that the Americans are very superior to the English in their mental, moral, and physical condition. A careful examination of the whole of the work, however, will show that this praise is to be confined to the older free States. With respect to those States, his principal remarks are to the following effect :-The people are better educated and better behaved, are more benevolent, and the women are more chaste than the English. The voluntary system has succeeded admirably in securing a body of clergy more learned and zealous than the English clergy. The American churches are more numerous and more comfortable than the English, and the music and singing are infinitely superior. The American military and naval forces are superior to the English in quality. American shipping is far beyond the English. American manufactures will soon excel the English, and drive them from the markets of the world. Justice is promptly and efficiently administered, at a cheap rate, forming a complete contrast to the virtual denial of justice in England to the poorer classes. The appalling scenes of profligacy in England are dwelt upon. The condition of poor agricultural labourers in England, with no education themselves, and no desire to procure any for their children, is particularly contrasted with the condition of the labouring classes in America. Reference is made to the

horrible details of oppressive labour, cruel treatment, lingering suffering, and premature death of women and children in the mines of Great Britain, and the unparalleled depravity in the great manufacturing towns.

Mr. Buckingham speaks of the absence of a large standing army, used for the purpose of overawing the people, and maintained by the labours of those they are called on to guard,—the absence of tithes, oppressive taxes, and an overbearing aristocracy. He admires the constitution and government of America, and shows the great advantages derived from democratic institutions, to which he attributes the superior condition of the people, especially of the free States. He denounces slavery, and shows its ruinous effects.

VI.

Hochelaga; or, England in the New World. Edited by the author of "The Crescent and the Cross."-This is the last work published on America. The author is no friend to republican institutions; but it will be seen that even the enemies of those institutions state facts conclusively establishing the triumphant success of democracy.

The author of "Hochelaga," speaking of his journey through New York, says: Through all these districts the stranger is astonished at the appearance of prosperity in every place and person he sees-no bad or even small houses; no poor or idle people." He thinks that the Americans "all consist of one class, nearly equal in mental qualifications; their pursuit is a common one; wealth is to them what the means of subsistence are to man in his primitive state-the only object. Boundless territory and inexhaustible resources place this wealth within the reach of all." He prophecies that in the valley of the Mississippi "lies the future dwelling of a greater people than the world has yet seen.". "Most of the present generation among us have been brought up and lived in the idea that England is supreme in the congress of nations. I am one of that numerous class-long may it be a numerous one!—but I say with sorrow that a doubt crosses my mind, and something more than a doubt, that this giant son will soon tread on his parent's heels. The power of both increases rapidly in a geometric series, but with different multipliers. The merchant navy of the British islands has doubled since the war, that of America has trebled; the population of the former has increased by one half in the same period, the latter has doubled; the former has an immense superiority, both by land and sea, in war establishments, but the latter has the materiel for their formation to any extent; the former has a colonial population alone of more than one hundred millions more than the latter is likely to possess altogether for many years; but this vast number is made up of varied races, the great majority of them merely the subjects of military conquests, with no common bond of interest or feeling but that of the safety of submission,

and the sense of England's pre-eminence; the population of the latter is homogeneous (with the exception of the portion of the negro race), possessing Anglo-Saxon courage and perseverance, spurred on by the frantie energy given by republican institutions; rich in the endless resources of a country producing nearly everything necessary for the use and luxury of man, assisted by the many wonderful means of internal communication bestowed by nature, or created by art. There is just enough of difference between our two nations to make their manuers and institutions harmonious, and just enough resemblance to give the Americans most of the elements of our strength. They already approach to a rivalry in commerce and manufactures; their soil and abundant territory have enabled them to beat us completely in agricultural produce. Our pursuits are so similar, that I much fear, sooner or later, they must clash. We have not yet begun to regard them with sufficient attention, but they watch us narrowly and jealously." He adds, that the Americans "only wait for matured power to apply the incendiary torch of republicanism to the nations of Europe. No one can deny that their specious promises of equality, backed by the example of the prosperity and independence of the masses on their own fertile soil, will have a most disquieting effect upon the minds of the lower classes in the old monarchies." Kings and nobles, the law and institutions of Europe, are perpetually held up to the people as objects of hatred and contempt. They sum up all the darkest feelings of the human mind, place them in a mean and feeble body, actuate it by low, selfish, and sensual motives, and, when the picture is complete, they place a crown or coronet upon the head. But too often even the pulpit is made a means of spreading these ideas. With a more than jesuitical perseverance, all this is instilled into the minds of their youth; their spelling-books, their histories, the press, and the pulpit, confirm these impressions; and the young American is ready to go forth to the world to spread his political faith with fire and sword."

VII.

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The greatest question of the day is, What is the effect of democratic institutions upon the welfare of society? If it be true that the Americans excel all others in energy, intelligence, and prosperity, the effect of their example will soon be irresistible in England, especially as the communication by means of steam is daily becoming facilitated. It is true that the Americans are great propagandists, and it is clear that their precepts and example have been effectual in a great portion of Europe.

The following extract from a speech delivered by President Polk, at Augusta, in the State of Maine, in the month of July, 1847, is a fair specimen of American opinion, which, be it remembered, is constantly propagated in every newspaper in every town, village, and hamlet in the United States:-"By the aid of steam, we are already brought into the close

neighbourhood of Europe, and foreign communities are beginning to feel the influence of our system, and to receive from us liberal and enlightened views. Animated by our example, and the successful working of our government, the suffering and oppressed people of the old world begin now to understand their own rights, and to claim the enjoyment, as we enjoy them, of freedom of thought, of freedom of speech, and freedom of conscience. This lesson has been recently forced upon them with peculiar power, and the same ships which have borne to the starving millions abroad the plenteous supplies of our abundant harvest, have carried to them at the same time the glad tidings of our freedom, prosperity, and glory. They see us, as it were, the favoured people of God, covered with plenty, and rejoicing in happiness, and their hearts yearn for the same great blessings which, in our country, spring from the constitution, and are hallowed by the Union."

It has been eloquently observed by Mr. Grund, a gentleman whose writings on the United States have done especial service in Germany, the land of his birth, that America is the representative of a doctrine which is fast gaining ground throughout the civilised world. It has made her cause the cause of humanity, and her success the triumph of reason over ignorance and prejudices.

"These political doctrines of America have become the religion and confession of the people of all countries; like the truths of christianity, they have had their apostles and their martyrs, and like those truths they are destined to become the universal faith of mankind." Without its institutions, the resources of the country would not yet be developed. The people of Europe should study more attentively than they have hitherto done the new world, with its new institutions. To be ignorant of the real character of democracy, and its effects upon the social condition of the people, is to be ignorant of that which most concerns mankind; and, to any one pretending to have the slightest acquaintance with politics, is quite unpardonable.

In making the foregoing observations on the laws and governments of the United States, and contrasting them with the institutions of our native country, we have restrained ourselves from going into details which, although they would have made the work more complete, would have had the effect of increasing its bulk and expense, and thus preventing it from being adapted to the perusal of a large class of persons, for whose use our remarks are especially designed. We trust that, when the subject shall have attracted the general attention due to it, the task which we have undertaken may be completed by more able hands.