REMARKS
ON THE
i STATISTICS AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
OF THE
-" S ' ^
UNITED STATES,
WITH
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEM OF
AMERICA, HER SOURCES OF REVENUE, &c.
TO WHICH AEE ADDED
STATISTICAL TABLES, &c.
BY
WILLIAM G. CJIJSELEY, ESQ.
ATTACHE TO HIS MAJESTY'S LEGATION AT WASHINGTON,
CAREY & LEA— CHESTNUT STREET.
1832.
" Elles (les lois) doivent etre tellement propres au peuple pour lequel elles sont faites, que
c'est un tres-graud hasard si celles d'une nation peuvent convenir a une autre.
" II faut qu'elles se rapportent a la nature et au principe du gouvernement qui est etabli,
on qu'on veut etablir."— MONTESQUIEU, Esprit dea Lois— Liv. I. chap. iii.
Philadelphia .
James Kay, Jun. & Co., Printers,
No. 4, Minor Street.
INTRODUCTION.
ENGLISHMEN are accused by the Americans of
viewing their country only through a medium of
strong and generally hostile prejudice, or of describ
ing it with intentional misrepresentation. Those
who are obnoxious to such imputations are little
likely to allow their justice ; men do not readily
confess their prejudices, and bad faith is still less easy
of conviction. In either case, a tu-quoque of mu
tual recrimination is generally the only result of
unmeasured censure. Of any intention to mislead
the reader of the following remarks, on the subject
of the United States, I need hardly say that I am
utterly unconscious. The statements now pub
lished are, almost without exception, supported by
the authorities of able writers. Whether I am
liable to the accusation of prejudice must be de
cided by the judgment of others.
It is allowable, however, to state, that if mycoun-
IV
trymen are justly chargeable with suffering their
opinions to be biassed by the peculiar feelings and
prepossessions of England, on leaving it for the first
time, I am less likely than many others to have
been influenced by such a circumstance. From
early youth the far greater part of my life has
been passed out of England, and in the diplomatic
service of my country ; and before my visit to
America I had seen most of the countries of
Europe.
Yet still it must be confessed that I did not arrive
in the United States without having imbibed some
of those preconceptions on the subject of the
American political system that are so generally
current in Europe. Judging from what had been
witnessed in this hemisphere, it appeared to me that
whatever might be said of the theory of the political
system of America, yet in practice it could not
succeed for any length of time, and that in
Europe its imitation would be fraught with mis
chief and anarchy.
Those impressions of the practical inapplica
bility of the institutions of the United States to
European nations have not been removed by a resi-
donee in that country ; at least, the total unfitness
of a republican government for adoption in England
still appears to me incontrovertible. But the re
sults produced in Jlmmva, by her political system,
are very different from those which one is led to
expect by the representations of many, and some
distinguished writers ; and it has been my endeavour
to point out a few of the reasons and facts which,
in my mind, produced a conviction that the proba
bilities of success to the " great experiment" now
in progress in the trans-atlantic republic were not
to be measured by a scale formed from the circum
stances of our own country.
It is not possible in the limits of a small volume
like this, to give more than an outline of the va
rious points touched upon in the following pages ;
many of the subjects mentioned are but incidentally
and remotely connected with the nature of my
profession ; but the notice of them may serve to
direct better qualified observers, in future publica
tions on the affairs of America.
The communication with the United States is
now so rapid and easy (the voyage often not oc
cupying more than seventeen or eighteen days),
VI
that travellers may visit the principal cities of the
Union and return to Europe within the space usu
ally allotted for a summer excursion. The facility
for frequent intercourse between the two countries
must conduce to mutual advantages: it must, at all
events, tend to dispel such prejudices on either side
of the Atlantic as are the result of misconception
or misrepresentation. Between countries the most
dissimilar, and which for centuries have regarded
one another as natural and national enemies, the
facilities of communication have contributed to ren
der the very term "natural enmity" an alm'ost obso
lete expression, applicable only to the ignorant and
impolitic barbarism of past ages.
Whatever information may be afforded by this
Essay, or by works of a far higher order, on sub
jects connected with America, they cannot tend to
remove either wilful prejudice, or mistaken impress
ions, nearly so well as even a short visit to the
United States:
(" Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem,
Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidclibus;")
where, whatever deficiencies may be perceived by
Vll
those accustomed to the life of an European capi
tal, it must be allowed that a wide and interesting
field is open to the research and observation of the
statesman, the politician, the philosopher, or the
practical man of business.
Although not immediately connected with the
subject of this publication, I cannot forbear saying
a few words on a topic deserving of the deepest
consideration in this country, and of which the
importance has only of late years been duly appre
ciated. The North American colonies furnish
England with similar, and almost equivalent, advan
tages to those which the Americans possess in the
superabundance of fertile territory, and consequent
provision for its population generally, but particu
larly for the poorer and lower classes of society.
From my own observations in Canada and Nova
Scotia, I have no hesitation in affirming, that to a
moral certainty, — as well ascertained as any circum
stance can be by human experience, — the moder
ately industrious and sober, however poor, are sure
of obtaining not only a plentiful subsistence, but
Vlll
many comforts to which, in the present state of
the commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural
interests, they must in all probability long be stran
gers in the mother country. There is but one
circumstance that might prevent the emigrant
from realizing these fair prospects, — the loss of
health. But in a climate so very salubrious as that
of British North America, the probability of this
evil is more remote than that to which, under cir
cumstances of privation, he would be exposed in
England. He will also find, I think, that the
physical and positive advantages are more encour
aging to the settler in Upper Canada, &c. than in
the United States ; independently of the reluctance
that every right-minded Englishman must feel to
abandon the colours of his country. He may be
said to be nearly at home in the North American
colonies.
" Coelum non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt."
^««
By facilitating the means of emigration to the
poorer classes of Englishmen, the British govern
ment would, perhaps, contribute as efficaciously
to their welfare as by the extension of their political
rights ; and would probably find, in the vast re
sources of the North American colonies, a means
of practically awarding "the greatest share of
happiness to the greatest number" of our coun
trymen.
W. G. O.
\
May 7, 1832.
N.B. The works and authorities that have fur
nished data for these remarks, besides those quoted,
are the Laws of the United States, American Al
manac (Boston), Register of Department of State,
Sword's Almanac and Ecclesiastical Register, Quar
terly Register of American Education Society,
Statistical Views by Watterston and Van Zandt,
and American Congressional and State Papers, in
addition to private notes, &c.
The tables in the Appendix do not pretend to
perfect correctness : whoever may make an experi
ment in obtaining precise and accurate returns upon
the subjects here treated, will find that it is neither
an easy, nor very seductive task.
B
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introductory. Misconceptions on the subject of America in
Europe. Contradictory accounts of travellers. Arguments
suited to European governments not often applicable to the
United States. Government of that country well adapted to
the circumstances of its inhabitants . 17
CHAPTER II.
Nature of American Republic generally misunderstood in
Europe. Its dissimilarity to the republics of antiquity, or
to those of more modern times. Contrast between the
American republic and that which succeeded the first French
Revolution. Of a federal union . . . . 25
CHAPTER III.
Supposed defects of American form of government examined.
Proneness to war. National feelings towards England.
M. de Talleyrand's observations on that subject. M. Politica.
Advice of Washington on the foreign policy to be adopted
by the United States 31
CHAPTER IV.
fc
Examination of objections to the political institutions of the
United States continued. Effects of very large constituencies
not such as have been anticipated. Corruption not general.
Xll
The representative bodies in America not de facto dele
gates ...... 45
CHAPTER V.
Supreme Court of the United States. Its judicial indepen
dence and high character. Diplomatic agents particularly
interested in its proceedings. Has jusisdiction in all cases
touching the law of nations. State « Judiciaries." Asso
ciate judges ..... .52
CHAPTER VI.
Misrepresentations of the domestic manners of the Ameri
cans. Many of the peculiarities of the social system of the
United States not attributable exclusively to the republican
form of government. Advantages and defects compared of
American and English systems .... 60
CHAPTER VII.
Financial and general prosperity of United States. Its pecu
liar causes considered. Principally attributable to a free and
protecting government. Mexican and South American re
publics compared with the United States. Report of Mr
M'Lane on the finances of the United States. Opinions of
Revue Britannique and Quarterly Review on economy of
American government . 71
CHAPTER VIII.
Statements of Quarterly Review on the subject of United States
examined. Supposed insecurity of property. Conservative
elements. . 86
Xlll
CHAPTER IX.
United States government well suited to the American peo
ple. Testamentary disposition not interfered with by the
laws. Division of property. Conservative principle of
American government resides in numerical majority. Pub
lic lands ..... 94
CHAPTER X.
Revue Britannique on Finances of the United States. Letters
of General Bernard and Mr F. Cooper, published by General
Lafayette, containing answers to the statements of Revue
Britannique ...... 102
£
CHAPTER XL
General Bernard's remarks. Department of state and foreign
affairs. War department. Treasury department. Admin
istration centrale, &c. State expenses. Tolls and public
roads. Clergy. Militia. Summary. Mean expense to
each individual in France and America of public charges.
Extract from General Bernard's letter *.*,.. .«.*' . 109
CHAPTER XII.
Captain Hall's estimate of mean charge to each inhabitant of the
United States. Mr F. Cooper's remarks on the Revue Bri
tannique. Mr Cooper's estimate of mean public charge
121
CHAPTER XIIL
Quarterly's remarks on American statistics. General and
state expenditure. General Bernard's and Mr Cooper's
estimates 129
XIV
CHAPTER XIV.
Future financial prospects of the United States. Military ex
penses. Naval expenses. Cost of administration of justice.
Salaries of the clergy . . . . . 136
CHAPTER XV.
Ecclesiastical revenues of the United States. Valuations of the
Quarterly of church of England revenues, and those of the
clergy of America. Probable real amount of church emolu
ments in the United States . 143
CHAPTER XVI.
Expenses of administration of justice. Of state judiciaries.
Some account of public lands, and future intentions with re
gard to them ...... 1 54
CHAPTER XVII.
Gold Mines. Mint . . . 169
CHAPTER XVIII.
Cultivation of sugar in Louisiana. Florida. Slavery 178
SUMMARY . 195
APPENDIX.
Extract from " Review of Captain B. Hall's Travels" 199
General Table of all religious denominations throughout the
United States, specifying the number of ministers, churches,
communicants, and individuals .... 207
General Bernard's comparative statement of the French and
American budgets ...... 208
Table showing the number of clergymen and churches of dif
ferent denominations in each state of the union, as far as they
have been ascertained ..... 212
Table showing the governor's term and salary, the number of
senators and representatives, with their respective terms and
pay in the different states . . . . . 214
Statement, showing the aggregate number of persons in each of
the states, according to the fifth census, and distinguishing
the slave from the free population in each state, according to
the corrections made in the returns of the marshals and their
assistants by the Secretary of State . . . 215
Steam-boat navigation from St Louis . . . 216
Whole number of steam-boats built on the western waters 217
Expenses to each state of its judiciary, including the territo
ries and district of Columbia .... 218
Colleges in the United States . . . 219
Texas 220
Payment of the debt of the United States . . 222
Rates of postage . . . . . . 223
Newspapers in New York ..... 225
Copyright . . 225
Number of bishops in the United States, and their residences,
or diocesses 226
REMARKS
ON
THE STATISTICS, &c.
OF
THE UNITED STATES.
CHAPTER I.
Introductory. — Misconceptions on the subject of America in Eu
rope. — Contradictory accounts of travellers. — Arguments suit
ed. to European governments not often applicable to the United
States. — Government of that country well adapted to the cir
cumstances of its inhabitants.
ALTHOUGH the attention of Europeans, since the
conclusion of the treaty of Ghent in '181 4, has
been directed to the progress of the United States
of North America with more interest than at former
periods, and although the rapidly increasing popula
tion and resources of the federal union have been
of late years more justly appreciated than here
tofore, yet there is perhaps no country of equal
importance that is in fact so little known in Europe
generally. No better proof can be wanting of this
18
ignorance in our country, on the subject of
America, than the conflicting and contradictory
opinions and reports concerning it that are con
tinually made public. Not only the allusions fre
quently made in either house of parliament to the
theoretic tendency and practical effects of her politi
cal institutions, but the observations of the daily and
periodical press furnish ample evidence of the great
difference of opinion that exists on the advantages or
defects of her form of government, and its influence
on the social system in some measure its conse
quence.
That many misconceptions as to the real situation
of the Americans should be entertained by those
who have never visited their country is the less
surprising, when we observe that, even among
the numerous travellers in the United States who
have published their impressions of its present con
dition, or their views of its future prospects, there
should be such diversity of opinion, that one is
sometimes inclined to doubt that the different writers
are describing the self-same country. This may
doubtless be said of accounts of other countries ; but,
where intercourse is frequent, and distance from
our homes not great, vulgar errors are rectified, or
prejudiced mistatements contradicted, with greater
facility and certainty than where that serious
19
obstacle to an intimate acquaintance between two
nations intervenes, viz. some thousand miles of the
Atlantic.
Even those rapid improvements in the means
of communication anticipated by some* sanguine
authors will not so speedily overcome this natural
bar to an intimate acquaintance with the American
continent, as not to allow for many years to come
a wide field for speculation and theoretical discussion,
founded on partial and exaggerated statements, and
unintentional or wilful misrepresentation.
While one party, zealously admiring the system of
America, represents the United States as a political
Utopia, and would wish to transplant her institutions
and particularly her financial economy to England,
forgetful of the many circumstances rendering such
a form of government or any such practical adoption
of her scale of expenditure undesirable or im
possible in this country^ — another set of men are
unceasing in their condemnation of every thing
American, describing manifold evils as the present
effects, and predicting convulsion and ruin as the
future results, of the mode of government which the
people of the United States have adopted. In either
case the ignotum pro magnifico accounts for the
* Vide M'Gregor's British America, M'Taggart's work, &c.
20
exaggerated opinions so frequently, and often con
scientiously, expressed on the subject.
But the opinions of travellers in the United States,
however speculative, deserve more attention than
those of men who write by their firesides strictures
upon countries of which they have no practical
knowledge, and whose impressions are coloured by
the prejudices of a party, or their own misappre
hensions. Unfortunately, those who have published
descriptions of America have not generally remained
there long enough to be enabled to use their judg
ment uninfluenced by prepossessions against or in
favour of the theory or practice of the American
system; they consequently apply a scale of their own,
adapted to a country widely different in circumstan
ces, manners, and institutions, in forming opinions
of the government and people of the United States.
The traveller who on first arriving in any foreign
country should unreservedly commit to paper his im
pressions and opinions of its usages or political insti
tutions, and endeavour to explain and account for its
peculiar customs, from his own observations and
knowledge, and then lay aside his notes during a
year's residence in the same place, would probably be
surprised on a reperusal of them at the mistaken
views that he had in many instances taken; at least I
have found it so. And if this be true of European
21
countries, having generally many features of resem
blance, it is particularly so in the judgments passed
by Europeans on the United States. I am speaking
now more especially of the political institutions of
America, but the same remarks are even more strik
ingly applicable to the social system of that country.
It should be recollected that many provisions of the
constitution of the United States, which to an Eng
lishman appear at first sight fraught with danger, will
perhaps on a nearer examination be found well adap
ted to the American Union; for we are prone uncon
sciously to apply the arguments that would be good
in England to a country extremely dissimilar; and
thus contemplating, with views and ideas suited to
a very different state of things, particular measures
or modes of government, it is not surprising that
our judgments and predictions of their consequences
should be erroneous. Americans say that we look
at their republican institutions through our " mon
archical spectacles," and that it requires some ap
prenticeship to so different a state of things to see
them in their true light.
Let us lock at the converse of this proposition.
When an American arrives in England for the first
time, he is apt to jump at conclusions equally un
founded respecting our country. I know what
were the impressions of some individuals from the
22
United States, and men of sagacity and experience,
on first witnessing the practical workings of our con
stitutional monarchy, and the results of our social
system. And if most Americans were honestly to
confess their real opinions (formed after only a short
residence in England) at any period during the last
thirty years, I am convinced that there are few who
would not avow7 a conviction of their astonishment
at the possibility of our government having con
tinued to work with any success for five years
together; but after a residence of greater duration,
they perceive the existence of counteracting causes
preventing many of the bad effects which they anti
cipated, and even begin to think that the transition to
a form of government like their own would neither
be so easy nor so advantageous as they previously
believed. Americans are eminently practical men;
all their undertakings, and generally all the measures,
wrhetherof governments or individuals in that coun
try, are stamped with utility as their object, and
dicated by sound practical good sense and prudence.
They consequently quickly detect the wildness and
absurdity of many of the republican theories of
those Europeans, who would seek to adopt forms of
government totally unfitted for the circumstances of
their country; — and soon adapt their views to the
peculiarities of the political atmosphere in which
they find themselves.
23
Englishmen do not, I think, so readily divest them
selves of their preconceived ideas when reflecting on
the situation of America, and are apt to continue
bigoted in their own hypotheses, notwithstanding
the frequent contradictions from facts and practical
results to which they are continually subjected. It
would be difficult otherwise to account for the
erroneous viewrs that are so often taken of the
American republic ; and for the condemnation of a
system pursued with such remarkable success in one
country, because it is not adapted to the circum
stances of another.
As all human institutions carry with them from
the first motnent of their origin the seeds of their
own decay or dissolution, it would be folly to expect
that the American constitution should not share in
the general imperfection of our nature. But so far
from considering the political system of the United
States as peculiarly fraught with danger to its own
existence, and built upon imprudently slight founda
tions, I conceive it to be better adapted for the
security, good government, and welfare of the
American people, than any which could perhaps,
under their peculiar circumstances, have been con
ceived; indeed this opinion is supported by the
authority of writers by no means friendly to popular
24
governments.* The constitution of America was
the work of the combined talent and experience of
men of sagacity and information, well acquainted
with the wants and habits of their own country,*and
not ill versed in the theories or practices of others ;
and they constructed their institutions upon a foun
dation of experience and practical ability, to suit the
peculiar circumstances of their countrymen. Hither
to their system has worked wonderfully for the pros
perity of the United States, and it is not one of its least
advantages that any necessary change or amelioration
is foreseen and provided for with such careful pre
cautions and restrictions, as prospectively secure a
remedy for future wants or changes of circumstance.
It appears, I think, likely to last, and adapt itself to
the mutations brought on by the lapse of years, with
at least as fair a prospect of success as the nature
of most human institutions can promise.
* Vide Quarterly Review, No. XCII. p. 585. " It is a scheme,
indeed, with which the Americans may well be content ; for one
better fitted to their situation it might not have been very easy, if
possible, to devise."
CHAPTER II.
Nature of American republic generally misunderstood in Europe.
— Its dissimilarity to the republics of antiquity, or to those of
more modern times. — Contrasts between the American repub
lic and that which succeeded the first French revolution. — Of
a federal union.
THE name of republic, or rather the associations
connected with that title, may go a great way in
accounting for the misconceptions and prejudices
with which all considerations of the government of
the United States are observed. Most of our recol
lections of school and college connected with the
word republic^ present the classical images, but really
rude and uncivilized habits, of Sparta, the vices and
defects of Athens or Lacedemonia, or the fluctuating
and turbulent aeras of Rome. Whatever may have
been the boyish enthusiasm in favour of those
governments of antiquity, inspired by the nature of
our early course of education, there are few of us
who have assumed the toga of manhood without
discovering that no forms of government could be
well imagined less adapted to the wants, the habits,
or the religious lights of our own country in the
present day, than the political systems of Greece or
•
D
26
Rome ; and that they would be as little suited to
work well in modern times, as the forms of their
mythological divinities would be to decorate an
altar in our temples. We soon perceive that the con
tinual internal warfare and divisions of the rival pet
ty states of Greece were as unlikely to conduce to
the happiness of mankind as the continual struggles
between the patrician and plebeian parties in Rome.
The name of republic, as applied to the govern
ments of Italy, contributed still farther to the con
demnation of that form of government. The
patricians and princely merchants of the north of
Italy might wear the mask of republicans for the
support of their anomalous or commercial oligarchies
— with almost equal justice might the East India
Company's government at Calcutta be called a
republic, at least as that term is understood in
America; and the former government of Holland
is scarcely less dissimilar. .
But general opinion as to the nature of the
government of the United States has been more
influenced by the misnomer of republic having been
assumed by the sanguinary and tyrannical leaders of
the French revolution of the last century, than by
any of the foregoing attempts at popular govern
ments in the annals of history. When the word
republic is mentioned, straightway a train of horrors
27
is called up in the minds of mpst Europeans.
Murder, rapine, violence and anarchy, and all the
accompaniments of the reign of terror, with atheism
and sacrilege at their head, are conjured into
existence, and crowd the picture which we draw of
the effects and nature of a republican government.
Locke advises us to take care accurately to define
words, by which means we shall avoid much dis
puting about things. If the word republic be ap
plicable to any of the governments alluded to above,
and particularly to the monstrous-and impracticable
attempt of the French Jacobins, then is the govern
ment of the United States not a republic, but re
quires some other designation.
Instead of sanguinary executions and injustice, we
find in America a penal code singularly mild, and cau
tious to an extreme in taking away human existence;
a system of punishment framed with a view to the
prevention of crime, and not in a vindictive spirit;
and adapted for the reclamation of the criminal
rather than for his destruction.* Instead of spolia-
* The excellent of the penitentiary system of the United States
has been frequently noticed by late travellers in America. The
penal laws are sometimes blamed by the advocates of a Draconic
code as being too mild. The following extract from a report of
the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline is better
than a comment upon the results of the different systems: — " The
amount of crime in proportion to population is as follows: — In
England, 1 criminal in 740; Wales, 1 in 2320; Ireland, 1 in 490;
28
tion or pillage, we see no country in which the pos
session and disposal of property are better protected,
or its acquisition by judicious industry better assur
ed. And above all, there is no country in which re
ligion and its ministers are more generally respected
and supported by the mass of the population, although
without compulsory provision, and where the lives
and example of the clergy more nearly approach to
those of their great primitive models.*
In examining the nature of the transatlantic re
public, we find not the astute tyranny of an Italian
aristocracy, nor the abuses of usurped power; neither
do we witness the conflicts between an insatiate
populace and a proud and unfeeling nobility, as in
Rome ; while the internal struggles, the want of
Scotland, 1 in 1130; Denmark, 1 in 1700; Sweden, 1 in 1500; in
New South Wales, 1 in 22; while in the United States it is 1 in
3500."
* " We had abundant ocular demonstration of the respect paid
to the subject of religion;" — " scarcely a village, however small,
without a church," &c.— Vide Capt. B. Hall's Travels in United
States, Vol. I. p. 151, and elsewhere.
With regard to the accounts lately published by a female trav
eller in America, if we were even to allow that they are faithful
descriptions, and not satirical caricatures, it would be about as
fair to estimate the church system of England by the proceedings
of a meeting of Jumpers or Ranters in some remote village, or by
the hallucinations of the followers of Johanna Southcote, as to
judge of the ministers and followers of different denominations in
America by the representations of Mrs Trollope.
Some account of the revenues, &c. of the clergy of the United
States will be found in a subsequent chapter.
29
unity and force, are obviated by a federal* union,
unknown to the republics of antiquity.
We may perhaps expect, arguing from what we see
of the violence of contested elections at home, that
they must, a fortiori, be attended with tumult and
riot a thousandfold worse in a country where some
thing nearly approaching to universal suffrage exists,
* Palej thus speaks of a federal republic : — " We have been
accustomed to an opinion, that a republican form of government
suits only with the affairs of a small estate." After then enu
merating several of the objections usually urged against republican
governments, he proceeds :-—
" Add to these considerations, that in a democratic constitution
the mechanism is too complicated, and the motions too slow, for
the operations of a great empire, whose defence and govern
ment require execution and despatch, in proportion to the mag
nitude, extent and variety of its concerns. There is weight, no
doubt, in these reasons, but much of the objection seems to be done
away by the contrivance of a federal republic, which distributing
the country into districts of a commodious extent, and leaving- to
each district its internal legislation, reserves to a convention of
the states, the adjustment of their relative claims ; the levying,
direction and government of the common force of the confede
racy; the requisition of subsidies for the support of this force;
the making of peace and war ; the entering into treaties ; the
regulation of foreign commerce ; the equalization of duties upon
imports, so as to prevent the defrauding of the revenue of one
province by smuggling articles of taxation from the borders of
another ; and likewise so as to guard against undue partialities
in the encouragement of trade. To what limits such a republic
might, without inconveniency, enlarge its dominions by assuming
neighbouring provinces into the confederation ; or how far it is
capable of uniting the liberty of a small commonwealth with the
safety of a powerful empire ; or whether, amongst co-ordinate pow
ers, dissensions and jealousies would not be likely to arise, which,
for want of a common superior, might proceed to fatal extremities ;
30
whereas we find that, compared with our assemblies,
the elections of the United States are order itself,
pelting, mobbing, or brawling, are almost unheard
of on such occasions, and more than all, there is lit
tle or no bribery, or possibility of succeeding merely
ty dint of money.
are questions upon which the records of mankind do not authorize
us to decide with tolerable certainty. The experiment is about to
be tried in America upon a large scale."— Vide Palej, " Of Dif-
erent Forms of Government," chap. vi.
Six
CHAPTER III.
Supposed defects of American form of goverment examined. —
Proneness to war. — National feelings towards England. — M.
de Talleyrand's observations on that subject. — M. Politica.
— Advice of Washington on the foreign policy to be adopted by
the United States.
MANY objections have been made to the political
system of the United States, founded generally upon
certain theories, or deduced from observations on the
results of governments called republics that have
already existed. The principal defects attributed to
the form of government adopted in America are
these : — that the preponderance of the democratic
party in the state will force the government into wars
and aggressions upon other countries, particularly
where national antipathies or predilections exist- —
that the representatives chosen by the mass of the
people become mere delegates, whose abilities and
judgments are fettered by the popular will — that
property must be insecure under such circumstan
ces, and that none but men of low origin and unfitted
for high situations will be elected by the classes for
ming the numerical majority of votes in the United
States — that the judicial powers in the state will lose
32
their independence — and that the alleged economy
of the American government is a delusion which
only requires some examination of facts to dispel.
First, as to the warlike propensities attributed
to republican governments, it is evident that the
institutions of the United States are not obnoxious
to an accusation founded upon a supposed resem
blance between the United States and the French
republic of the last century. Capt. B. Hall makes
some judicious remarks upon this subject when
speaking of the possibility of a future invasion of the
Canadas.* A country that, with a population of
13,000,000, finds a standing army of 6000 menf
sufficiently large for all its purposes, is unlikely to
embark in wars of ambition, if even territorial ac
quisition were thought requisite for its strength,
which is certainly not the case writh America. For
the purposes of defensive warfare, there is perhaps no
country more formidably provided than the United
States at the present day. In 1827, their militia,
* See also Paley. " The advantages of a republic are, liberty,
or exemption from needless restrictions; equal laws ; regulations
adapted to the wants and circumstances of the people \ public
spirit ; frugality; averseness to war, fyc." Paley on Different
Forms of Government.
t It is somewhat singular that the number of pensioners (all
military, as there are no civil pensions granted in the United
States) should greatly exceed that of the whole army. They still
amount to 1 6,324, principally men who were engaged in the re
volutionary war.
33
almost precisely similar to the national guard of
France in its organization, amounted to upwards of
1,150,000, and all parties agree that few countries
are better prepared to resist foreign invasion.*
On the other hand, aggressive wars are little likely
to be undertaken by a country so opposed to heavy
taxation as America, and where such powerful ob
stacles exist to the dangerous or unconstitutional
ambition of any military leader. It has been asserted
that any popular demonstration of national jealousy,
or dislike of a particular country, would hurry a re
publican administration into warlike measures upon
slight grounds, and that in the United States such
hostility would be more likely to display itself against
Great Britain than any other power, from the alleged
dislike and antipathy pervading all classes towards
England and Englishmen. The evidence of this
feeling, as regards individuals, cannot be found in
many works of late writers, however hostile to the
political institutions of America ; on the contrary, it
is only necessary to open almost any chapter of Capt.
HalFs Travels, of Mr de Roos's or M. Vigne's, &c.,f
* The Quarterly Review admits this, more suo : " The nation
may be compared to a great sand-bank, of which all the particles
may be good enough in themselves, but which, except for the pur-
pose of destroying any one who attempts to meddle with them, have
no principle of joint action," &c. — Vide Quarterly Review, No.
XCIII. March, on " Domestic Manners of the Americans."
t Capt. Basil Hall, Vol. IK. p. 2. « The same kindness and
E
34
to find a testimony in favour of the hospitality, the
ready and obliging assistance, perfect good-will and
civility generally shown to English travellers, which
from my own personal experience, and that of my
friends, I can fully corroborate. It is indeed so
strong as to have been observed at a period when
political and national feelings were roused, and not
hospitality were shown to us here (at Washington) as else
where ;" &c. &c. Further on, " we never discovered the slightest
diminution of that attention by which we had already been so
much flattered during the journey ;" and many other passages
might be cited from this gentleman's travels to prove the good
feeling prevalent towards Englishmen in the United States.
Mr Stanley, soon after his return from the United States, used
the following language in the house of commons : — " So strong
were the ties of a common origin, that an English gentleman
travelling in that great republic is sure to meet with the most
hospitable reception, as he well knew by personal experience, that
great country was proud to acknowledge its relationship to Eng
land, and to recognize the love and attachment it yet felt to the
mother country, and would feel for ages."
Capt. de Roos thus expresses his opinion on this subject :•—
" Nothing can be more unfounded than the notion which is gene
rally entertained, that a feeling of rancour and animosity against
England and Englishmen pervades the United States."
" Though vilified in our journals, and ridiculed upon our stage,
they will be found upon a nearer inspection to be brave, intelli
gent, kind-hearted, and unprejudiced ; though impressed with an
ardent, perhaps an exaggerated, admiration of their own country,
they speak of others without envy, malignity, or detraction."
And again : — ( One introduction is sufficient to secure to an
Englishman a general and cordial welcome." — u At New York
the character of an Englishman is a passport," &c. — " At a pub
lic table d'hote, we were treated with the greatest civility by the
promiscuous party, who drank the king's health out of compliment
to our nation," &c. &c.— Vide also M'Gregor, &c.
35
unjustly,* and the passions enlisted against Eng
lishmen by the unfortunate effects of warfare with
other powers.
* " To place the full annoyance of these matters in a light to be
viewed by English people, let us suppose that the Americans and
French were to go to war, and that England for once remained
neutral— an odd case, I admit, but one which might happen.
Next, suppose that a couple of French frigates were chased into
Liverpool, and that an American squadron stationed itself off that
harbour to watch the motions of these French ships, which had
claimed the protection of our neutrality, and were accordingly
received into 6 our waters,' I ask, « would this blockade of Liver
pool be agreeable to us, or not ?'
"Even if the blockading American frigates did nothing but
sail backwards and forwards across the harbour's mouth, or oc
casionally run up and anchor abreast of the town, it would not,
* I guess,' be very pleasant to be thus superintended. If, however,
the American ships, in addition to this legitimate surveillance of
their enemy, were to detain off the port, with equal legitimacy of
usage, and within a league or so of the light-house, every British
ship coming from France, or from a French colony, and if, be
sides looking over the papers of these ships, to see whether all
was regular, they were to open every private letter, in the hope
of detecting some trace of French ownership in the cargo, what
should we say? And if, out of some twenty ships arrested daily
in this manner, one or two ships were to be completely diverted
from their course, from time to time, and sent off under a prize-
master to New York for adjudication, I wonder how the Liver
pool folks would like it ? But if, in addition to this perfectly
regular and usual exercise of a belligerent right on the part of
the Americans, under such circumstances we bring in that most
awkward and ticklish of questions, the impressment of seamen,
let us consider how much the feelings of annoyance, on the part
of the English neutral, would be augmented.
u Conceive, for instance, that the American squadron employed
to blockade the French ships in Liverpool was short-handed, but
from being in daily expectation of bringing their enemy to action,
36
One of the most powerful causes of the favourable
feeling towards Englishmen is of course to be found
in the common origin of the two people. But an-
it had become an object of great consequence with them to get
their ships manned ; and suppose, likewise, that it were perfectly
notorious to all parties, that on board every English ship arriving
or sailing from the port in question there were several American
citizens, but calling themselves English, and having in their
possession protections or certificates to that effect, sworn to in a
regular form, but well known to be false, and such as might be
bought for 4s. &d. any day. Things being in this situation, if the
American men-of-war off' the English port were then to fire at
and stop every ship, and, besides overhauling her papers and
cargo, were to take out any seaman to work their own guns withal
whom they had reason, or supposed, or said they had reason to
consider American citizens, or whose country they guessed from
dialect or appearance; — I wish to know with what degree of
patience this would be submitted to on the exchange at Liverpool,
or elsewhere in England ?
O
"It signifies nothing to say that such a case could not occur, as
the Americans do not impress seamen ; for all who have attended
to such subjects know well enough that if they come to be en
gaged in a protracted war, especially at a distance from their own
shores, there is no other possible way by which they can keep
their armed ships manned. This, however, is not the point now
in discussion. I merely wish to put the general case broadly
before our own eyes, in order that we may bring it distinctly
home to ourselves, and then see whether or not the Americans
had reason for their indignation." — Vide Capt. Basil Hall's
Fragments of Voyages and Travels, p. 174, first series.
It would, perhaps, not be easy to induce an American to con
cede the possible necessity of impressment ; but that is not the
question at present. Captain Hall places the whole subject of
the irritations which contributed so materially to hasten the last
war between Great Britain and the United States before the
public so fully and impartially in this very interesting little work,
that I cannot refrain from continuing my extracts. He proceeds
to say (page 299) :
37
other great moral influence and bond of union is a
community of language. In a "Memoir" written
by the present French ambassador at this court,
which deserves to be as well known in England as it
is in America, are the following very remarkable
observations : —
"In putting a parallel case to ours off New York, and sup
posing Liverpool to be blockaded by the Americans on the ground
of their watching some French ships, I omitted to throw in one
item which is necessary to complete the parallel, and make it fit
the one from which it is drawn.
u Suppose the blockading American ships of Liverpool, in firing
a shot a-head of a vessel they wished to examine, had accident
ally hit, not that vessel, but a small coaster so far beyond her,
that she was not even noticed by the blockading ships ; and sup
pose further this unlucky chance shot to have killed one of the
crew on board the said coaster, the vessel would of course proceed
immediately to Liverpool with the body of their slaughtered
countryman; and, in fairness it may be asked, what would have
been the effect of such a spectacle on the population of England,
more particularly if such an event had occurred at the moment of
a general election, when party politics, raging on this very question
of foreign interference, was at its height ?
" This is not an imaginary case, for it actually occurred in
1 804, when we were blockading the French frigates in New York.
A casual shot from the Leander hit an unfortunate sloop's main-
boom; and the broken spar striking the mate, John Pierce by
name, killed him instantly. The sloop sailed on to New York,
where the mangled body, raised on a platform, was paraded
through the streets, in order to augment the vehement indigna
tion, already at a high pitch, against the English.
" Now, let us be candid to our rivals, and ask ourselves whe
ther the Americans would have been worthy of our friendship, or
even of our hostility, had they tamely submitted to indignities
which, if passed upon ourselves, would have roused not only
Liverpool, but the whole country, into a towering passion of na
tionality ?"
38
" Identity of language is a fundamental relation
on whose influence one cannot too deeply meditate.
This identity places between the men of England
and America a common character which will make
them always take to, and recognise each other. But
an insurmountable barrier is raised between people
of a different language, who cannot utter a word
without recollecting that they do not belong to the
same country; betwixt whom every transmission of
thought is an irksome labour, and not an enjoy
ment; wrho never come to understand each other
thoroughly, and with whom the result of conversa
tion, after the fatigue of unavailing efforts, is to find
themselves mutually ridiculous."*
After detailing some of the effects of the great
moral influence of the use of the English language
on the legislative and political institutions of the
United States, M. de Talleyrand says, that V we
must renounce all knowledge of the influence of
laws upon man, and deny the modifications which he
receives from all that surrounds him, if \ve do
not concede the immense influence which the use
of a common language has upon inter-national re
lations."
The personal observations of this acute statesman
are further confirmed by M. Politica, formerly the
* American translation.
39
representative of Russia in North America, in his
" Jlpergu" on the United States, in which he bears
witness to the great moral effects on the social insti
tutions, habits, and feelings of America, to be as
cribed to the unavoidable use of the language of the
mother country.
It may be said that this feeling can exist towards
individuals without influencing the councils of a
nation. But whatever may have been the feelings
of animosity that, at an earlier period of the exist
ence of the American union as an independent
government, pervaded its members, any person can
form an opinion, from the publicity with which the
affairs of the United States are transacted, whether
traces of such hostile feelings are more to be per
ceived in the measures of the present government
of that country, than in the behaviour of individuals,
or the acts of our own government. It would have
been better, perhaps, for all countries if the advice
of that great and excellent man, General Washing
ton, had been considered as applicable to other forms
of government as to that United States.
In the address of the first president of the United
States to his fellow-citizens, on declining to be con
sidered a candidate for their future suffrages, are
these excellent recommendations :
" Observe good faith and justice towards all na-
40
tions ; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Re
ligion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it
be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It
will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and (at no dis
tant period) a great nation to give to mankind the
magnanimous and novel example of a people always
guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who
can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the
fruits of such a plan would richly repay any tem
porary advantages which might be lost by a steady
adherence to it ? Can it be that providence has not
connected the permanent felicity of a nation with
virtue ? The experiment, at least, is recommended
by every sentiment which ennobles human nature.
Alas ! is it rendered impossible by its vices ?
" In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more
essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies
against particular nations, and passionate attach
ment for others, should be excluded; and that, in the
place of them, just and amicable feelings towards
all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges
towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual
fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to
its animosity, or to its affection ; either of which is
sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its in
terest. Antipathy in one nation against another,
disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury,
41
to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be
haughty and intractable when accident or trifling
occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent col
lisions, obstinate, envenomed and bloody contests.
The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment,
sometimes impels to war the government, contrary
to the best calculations of policy. The government
sometimes participates in the national propensity,
and adopts, through passion, what reason would
reject ; at other times, it makes the animosity of the
nation subservient to projects of hostility, insti
gated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and
pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes
perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim-
"So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one
nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sym
pathy for the favourite nation, facilitating the illusion
of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no
real common interest exists, and infusing into one
the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a
participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter,
without adequate inducement or justification. It
leads also to concessions to the favourite nation of
privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to
injure the nation making the concessions, by un
necessarily parting with what ought to have been
retained ; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a
42
disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom
equal privileges are withheld : and it gives to am
bitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote
themselves to the favourite nation) facility to betray
or sacrifice the interests of their owrn country with
out odium, sometimes even with popularity $ gilding
with the appearances of a virtuous sense of ob
ligation, a commendable deference for public opin
ion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or
foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or in
fatuation."
He further says : —
" The great rule of conduct for us in regard to
foreign nations is, in extending our commercial re
lations, to have with them as little political con
nexion as possible. So far as we have already
formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with
perfect good faith. Here let us stop.
" Europe has a set of primary interests, which to
us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she
must be engaged in frequent controversies, the
causes of which are essentially foreign to our con
cerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us
to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the or
dinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary
combinations and collisions of her friendships or
enmities.
43
, " Our detached and distant situation invites and
enables us to pursue a different course. If we re
main one people, under an efficient government, the
period is not far off when we may defy material
injury from external annoyance ; when we may take
such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may
at any time resolve upon to he scrupulously re
spected ; when belligerent nations, under the im
possibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not
lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when
we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided
by justice, shall counsel.
"Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a
situation ? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign
ground ? Why, by interweaving our destiny with
that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and
prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rival-
ship, interest, humour, or caprice ?
" It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent
alliances with any portion of the foreign world ; so
far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it ; for let
me not be understood as capable of patronising in
fidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim
no less applicable to public than to private affairs,
that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it,
therefore, let those engagements be observed in their
f 44
genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unneces
sary, and would be unwise, to extend them.
" Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable
establishments in a respectable defensive posture,
we may safely trust to temporary alliances for ex
traordinary emergencies.
" Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all na
tions, are recommended by policy, humanity, and
interest. But even our commercial policy should
hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking
nor granting exclusive favours or preferences,"
&c. &c. &c.
Without here examining whether the different ad
ministrations of America have always acted strictly
in accordance with these wise suggestions, we at
least see in them an explanation of the motives that
induce the United States sedulously to avoid " en
tangling alliances," which in their peculiar position
it wrould be folly to contract. And in the adop
tion of the line of policy here recommended to
America, it is to be hoped will be found an anti
dote to such national enmities as may be supposed
to exist in the councils of that country.
45
CHAPTER IV.
Examination of objections to the political institutions of the Uni
ted States continued. — Effects of very large constituencies not
such as have been anticipated.— Corruption not general. — The
representative bodies in America not de facto delegates.
WITH respect to the assumption, that large con
stituencies, formed upon the principles that are in
force in America, will return unworthy representa
tives, it is not found to be confirmed by the expe
rience of several years, even in the larger states,
and where the greatest extension is given to the
democratic principle. We are also apt to suppose in
England, that where multitudes of voters have to
decide the elections, a necessary consequence will be
extreme disorder, riot, and confusion; I can only
say, that from whatever cause, no such effects gene
rally arise from the mode of elections in the United
States. Let us take New York for an example. And
here I shall quote the statements of a correspondent of
one of the leading journals of this country, which, as
far as my opportunities of observation allow me to
judge, are perfectly correct on this head. The letter
is written in support of the clause, giving additional
representatives to the metropolis ; and after antici-
46
paling the objections, on the score of riot, expense,
&c., proceeds to state —
" But what in reality is the case? In a late warmly
contested election to the senate for the state of New
York, there were about 250,000 voters polled; there
were no brickbats, no dead cats, or any similar argu
ments resorted to on either side; in short, such modes
of election are unknown among our unpolished bre-
then, and the expense to the successful candidate
was about 40/.
" But then ' the man who was elected was surely
some greasy mechanic, — some pot-companion and
worthy prototype of the illiterate and ignorant men
who elected him?'
" The successful candidate was a man who has
from early youth distinguished himself by his talent^,
his eloquence, and his enlarged and benevolent views.
He occupied the post of secretary of state for the
foreign and home departments, and relinquished that
office from a high and delicate feeling of the peculiar
position of his party, and that of the present presi
dent of the United States, to accept the appointment
of minister to this country; in a word, it was Mr
Van Buren.
" Nor is this a solitary instance, nor confined to
one party; Mr Clay, Mr Webster, Mr M' Lane (the
late envoy to this country), and indeed with scarcely
S
47
an exception, all the men elected by the larger bodies
of constituents, are men distinguished for their ta
lents, their services, or their standing in the estima
tion of the country. Nor are we authorised to say,
that this is peculiar to the inhabitants of the United
States : human nature is much the same, whether on
this side of the Atlantic or the other. Neither are
men in the lower walks of life prone to elect as their
representatives those in nowise their superiors. The
thought, ' I am as good as he is,' will prevent it.
On the contrary, the greater the multitude, the more
elevated must be the position which it is necessary to
take, in order to be advantageously in their view.
" Then, on the score of expense, the opponents of
popular representation will say, 'you must advocate
vote by ballot, or the influence of wealth will be
paramount in this country, whatever it may be there.'
But let them recollect, that it is not easy to buy the
majority of 250,000 votes, at even 51. each. And
what is rather a remarkable fact, the ballot is, in a
thousand instances, not resorted to in the United
States ; on the contrary, a display of the sentiments
of the voters is made as much as in this country;
and the order that prevails is less surprising, when
we recollect who are the individuals here, whose
arguments in support of their favourite candidate
consist in the missiles thrown at the head of his
48
opponent. Are they not very generally those who
have no vote ? A man feels that he can much more
effectually support his representative by giving him
his vote than by stopping the mouth of the other
party with a cabbage or a dead cat; and he perfers
the easier and more useful method."*
M. Vigne confirms this account of the difficulty of
perpetrating any acts of corruption in the United
States, and his conviction of the non-existence of
bribery at elections generally, he says, " that al
though, supposing the rich sometimes to influence
the poor voters, he believes votes are rarely bought
in the United States:" — this is quite true, "voters
are too numerous, and therefore corruptions costly
and difficult of concealment;" and elsewhere, "it is
to the credit of America that individual wealth has
never yet been employed^ any unconstitutional pur
pose."! I cannot join in giving this credit entirely
to the self-denial or patriotic principle of the people
of the United States. I look upon it as rather the
result of their institutions, human nature being much
the same, and subject to the same temptations, in
America as elsewhere ; but their whole political
system has been devised with a view to depriving
* Times, March 3d, 1832.
t Vide Vigne's Six Months in America, Vol. I. p. 152 and 191 ;
Vol. II. p. 242.
49
wealth of all but its legitimate advantages : and ad
mirably have its framers succeeded. A millionaire,
in America, may have a mansion in every capital of
the union, establishments in town or country, on
any scale he pleases of expense or luxury, and
were he distinguished for talents or merit, his riches
would, of course, cxteris paribus, give him certain
advantages ; but he wTould in vain attempt to
procure admittance to either house of legislature, by
dint of wealth alone; and I do not think that it
would be possible to adduce a single instance to
disprove this assertion.
It has been remarked that an aristocracy is grow
ing up in every city in the union ; but it should
be remembered that it is not a political, but a
social aristocracy.
The representatives in congress have been repeat
edly described as mere delegates, and not free to
exercise their opinions or abilities according to the
dictates of their own judgment or conscientious in
tentions. But this, although, perhaps, considered
theoretically true of the house of representatives,
by a great proportion of the Americans, is disallowed
by many others; and with regard to the senate,
certainly does not hold good as a rule. It may be
said that, de facto, the state of the question is very
much the same as in England. On any great
G
50
national question arising, or about to be decided,
the electors naturally ascertain the sentiments of a
candidate upon that particular subject, leaving him
free to exercise his unpledged opinion upon all other
topics that are not supposed so vitally to concern
their immediate interests.
To say that every member of congress is, there
fore, a mere delegate upon any debate that might
arise would be an error, and, indeed, would in most
cases be mistaking cause for effect. The representa
tive is elected because his opinion on certain subjects
is known and approved, not in order that he may
be compelled to register prejudged decisions opposed
to his own judgment.
I have before me at this moment a speech of Mr
Clay's, upon a highly important subject, and find the
following words : — " I stand here as the humble but
zealous advocate, not of the interests of one state, or
several states only, but of the whole union ; and
never before have I felt more intensely the over
powering weight of that share of responsibility
which belongs to me in these deliberations," &c. :
surely this is not the principle of a hard-curbed and
hoodwinked delegate.*
In conversation with more than one of the most
* Vide Debates in the Senate, Feb. 1832.
51
distinguished men in congress, I have frequently
heard opinions expressed that quite corroborated the
view here taken of the state of feeling on this head
in the United States.
Other objections on the score of insecurity to
property, real expense of the government of the
United States, &c. are incidentally answered in the
course of the following pages ; but with regard to
the real independence of the judicial power of
America, so vital a question deserves particular
attention.
CHAPTER V.
Supreme Court of the United States. — Its judicial independence
and high character. — Diplomatic agents particularly interested
in its proceedings. — Has jurisdiction in all cases touching the
law of nations. — State " Judiciaries." — Associate judges.
IT would be quite superfluous on the part of the
author of these pages to offer any remarks upon the
high personal and judicial character of the chief
justice and the other individuals composing the su
preme *court of the United States ; such a tribute
of respect, as he would be proud to offer, could only
be regarded as a matter of course, by those who have
been honoured by an acquaintance with these gentle
men; or who have regarded with any attention the
proceedings of the court at which they preside.
But the elevated reputation which the decisions
and conduct of the supreme court of the United
States have so justly acquired, is by no means likely
*The character of the venerable Chief Justice Marshall is as
justly appreciated and respected by those foreigners whose high
diplomatic situations have afforded them opportunities of culti
vating his friendship, as by his own countrymen. And it is a
singular compliment extorted from those who 'are inimical to the
institutions of his country, that they attribute much of the success
that has hitherto attended its existence to the personal character
of the head of the supreme court.
53
to cease with the lives of those now composing it.
If judicial independence can be secured by any safe
guard to be provided by legislative foresight or
prudence^ it will not be difficult to show that the
federal "judiciary" of the United States is placed
upon as firm a basis as can be well imagined.
The nature of the supreme court* of the United
* " That the supreme court shall have exclusive jurisdiction
of all controversies of a civil nature, where a state is a party,
except between a state and its citizens ; and except also between
a state and citizens of other states, or aliens, in which latter case
it shall have original, but not exclusive jurisdiction; and shall
have, exclusively, all such jurisdiction of suits or proceedings
against ambassadors, or other public ministers, or their domestics,
or domestic servants, as a court of law can have or exercise con-,
sistently with the law of nations ; and original, but not exclusive
jurisdiction of all suits brought by ambassadors or other public
ministers, or in which a consul or vice-consul shall be a party." —
Public and General Statutes of the United States, published by
Justice Story, chap. xx. § 13.
There are few countries where the immunities and privileges
extended by civilized nations to the representatives of foreign
powers, are more complete or more strictly protected than in
America : thus, " if any writ or process shall, at any time here
after, be sued forth or prosecuted by any person or persons, in
any of the courts of the United States, or in any of the courts of
a particular state, or by any judge or justice therein, respectively,
whereby the person of any ambassador or other public minister, of
any foreign prince or state, authorized and received as such by the
president of the United States, or any domestic or domestic ser
vant of any such ambassador or other public minister, may be ar
rested or imprisoned, or his or their goods or chattels be distrained,
seized, or attached, such writ or process shall be deemed or adjudg
ed to be utterly null and void, to all intents, construction, and pur
poses whatsoever.
54
States is the more interesting to foreigners, as it has
original jurisdiction in all suits brought by foreign
ministers, charges-d'affaires, &c. It takes cogni
zance exclusively of all cases affecting envoys and
other diplomatic functionaries, consuls, vice-consuls,
§ 26. " That in case any person or persons shall sue forth or
prosecute any such writ or process, such person or persons, and
all attorneys or solicitors prosecuting or soliciting in such case,
and all officers executing any such writ or process, being thereof
convicted, shall be deemed violators of the laws of nations, and
disturbers of the public repose, and imprisoned, not exceeding
three years, and fined at the discretion of the court^ fyc. This
protection is legally assured by a very easy condition, viz., that
" the name of such servant be first registered in the office of the
secretary of state, and by such secretary transmitted to the mar
shal of the district in which congress shall reside, who shall, up
on receipt thereof, affix the same in some public place in his office,
whereto all persons may resort and take copies without fee or re
ward."
§ 27. " That if any person shall violate any safe conduct or
passport duly obtained, and issued under the authority of the
United States, or shall assault, strike, wound, imprison, or in any
other manner infract the law of nations, by offering violence to
the person of an ambassador or other public minister, such person
so offending, on conviction, shall be imprisoned not exceeding three
years, and fined at the discretion of the court." — Ibid., chap, xxxvi.
§ 25, 26 and 27. And the most extended and liberal interpreta
tion is given to these provisions.
In a case that occurred soon after the assumption of the throne
by Don Miguel in Portugal, a suit was instituted against one of
the agents of Don Pedro, or rather Donna Maria. As this gentle
man was no longer legally a representative (after the recognition
of Don Miguel by the United States), it became a question of
some interest and doubt, whether the usual privileges would be
allowed in his case ; but the utmost extension of national courtesy"
was exercised on this occasion, and all proceedings accordingly
stopped.
55
as well as of all cases connected with the law of
nations.
Some important peculiarities are observable in the
relations of the United States with other govern
ments, which result partly from the form of its con
stitution, and partly from legal causes. In the rati
fication of treaties, for instance, the concurrence of
two-thirds of the senators present is required to
carry into effect the ratification of the president of
the United States.*
Difficulties also arise in procuring the delivery to
the agents of a foreign power of fugitives from
justice, &c., somewhat similar to those which the
habeas corpus act produces in cases of a like nature
in England. This was long ago perceived by a very
intelligent observer of American affairs : — " Quoi-
qu'il en soit, une chose tres-positive et qu'il importe
de ne pas perdre de vue, lorsqu'on a des rapports
politiques avec le gouvernement Americain, c'est
que sa souverainete est incomplete. II en resulte
que dans plusieurs cas, ou le droit des gens est in-
teresse, il est impossible au gouvernement Ameri
cain d'accorder la reciprocite sans outre passer ses
pouvoirs."f
* Vide Constitution of the United States, Art. II. sect. 2.
t However this may be, one thing is very certain, and must by
no means be lost sight of in any political relations with the Ameri-
56
The members of the federal judiciary are ap
pointed for life, and they can be dismissed from office
only by impeachment. In England no judge can be
removed but by conviction for some offence, or the
address of both houses of parliament, which may
be called an act of legislature. But the judges of
the supreme court cannot be reached by address,
and enjoy perfect immunity from the measures of
either the president or the houses of congress. In
some of the states, however, a similar provision to
that of our constitution has been adopted, but the
dangers to the practical independence of the judges,
arising from popular excitement, have been neutra
lized by requiring the concurrence of two-thirds of
each branch of the legislature, in order to effect a
removal.
In some of the estates the judges are periodically
elective : this I think must be considered as a vicious
system, and many persons of experience will be found
in the United States who much condemn it, and
who regret that the organization is not universally
assimilated to that of the judiciary of the federal
government.
can government. Its sovereign power is incomplete. From which
it results, that in many cases, where the law of nations is con
cerned, it is impossible for the American government to admit
reciprocity, without exceeding its legal powers. — Politica
dc la Situation intcricure dcs Etats Unis d'Amcrique, p. 79.
57
There is one peculiarity of the state "judiciary"
deserving of remark. Two associate judges are ap
pointed, who assist a legal judge presiding on the
bench of the courts of the various judicial districts :
this has appeared to many foreigners as an inju
dicious anomaly in legal practice. I am not suffi
ciently cognizant of the subject to attempt to decide
upon its technical propriety ; but, practically, the re
sults of this system are good. The associates being
generally men of respectability and good sense, well
acquainted with the local peculiarities of their dis
tricts, and engaged in the ordinary transactions of
life, they may often modify the merelegaland strictly
literal application of the laws. The presiding law
yer-judge, abstracted by professional pursuits from a
similar familiarity with the common business and
occupations of his fellow-citizens, has thus an oppor
tunity of obtaining information on particular cases
from two persons who may be regarded in some
measure as responsible jurors ; they may also be
considered as answering many of the purposes of our
magistrates, of whom by far the greater proportion
are not legal men, and often very imperfectly qua
lified to decide on legal points ; they are liable to
greater responsibility however than our magistracy,
and although sometimes acting de facto as equitable
arbitrators, leave points of law to the professional
H
58
judge. An appeal also lies from their decisions to
the supreme court.
Captain Hall does not think that the independence
of judicial functions in the United States is suffi
ciently assured. His remarks on the subject are so
ably answered by the author of a " Review of Cap
tain B. Hall's Travels in North America,"* that I
must refer the reader to an extract from it, to be
found in the Appendix,f for a much better elucida
tion of the subject than it is in my power to give.
It is to be regretted that Captain Hall should
have so decidedly announced a determination never
himself to adopt the old principle of audi alteram
partem (on the subject of America), which he
justly recommends to others; he might possibly
have found that in some instances he has, from the
unavoidable disadvantages under which all foreign
ers labour when describing in detail so extensive a
country as the United States, misconceived some
points in a moral and political system so very dif
ferent from our own.
* Attributed, I believe rightly, to the president of the Bank of
the United States, Mr Biddle,* a gentleman distinguished alike
for sound sense, extensive information, and the pleasing urbanity
of his manners.
t Vide Appendix, No. 1.
* Note to Jlmerican edition: The author is J\, J3iddle, Esq.
59
Mr Vigne, whose opinions on this subject deserve
greater weight from his being himself a lawyer, as
well as from the generally unprejudiced tone of his
pleasing work, says, "the authorities of the su
preme court are intended as the safeguards of the
union ;" and he adds, justly, " that the independence
of this court, and, in fact, of all the federal judi
ciary, may be termed the sheet anchor of the
United States."
The late decision of the court in favour of the
Cherokee Indians, and reversing a decree lately
obtained by the state of Georgia, cannot but add
to the dignified and impartial character that has
ever distinguished the proceedings of that eminent
body, and gives additional confidence, if any were
wanting, in the future firmness of a court, whose
principles are as unbiassed by selfish as by party
feelings.
60
CHAPTER VI.
Misrepresentations of the domestic manners of the Americans.-—
Many of the peculiarities of the social system of the United
States not attributable exclusively to the republican form of
government. — Advantages and defects compared of American
and English systems.
IT was not my intention to have touched upon
the social system of the United States, or the effects
produced upon it by the nature of its government;
it is but incidentally connected with the object of
these remarks. A late work, however, upon the
"Domestic Manners of the Americans," has pre
sented such a very unfaithful picture of society in
the United States, that a few observations on the
subject may be necessary. It is true that the
authoress describes but the manners and habits of
a portion of the community, and of a section of the
country but lately emerged from the state of an
almost uninhabited wilderness ; while her candid
declaration of dislike and ill-will towards the Ameri
cans and their institutions, political or social, suffi
ciently accounts for the satirical, clever, but highly
coloured caricatures in which the writer indulges.
But the general reader, amused by the spirited tone of
61
acerbity and sarcastic talent with which the pictures
are drawn, and totally unacquainted with the country
described, does not examine the justice of the repre
sentation, as applied to the upper classes, particu
larly in the larger and older capitals, and mistakes
it for a general outline of American society. This
impression is fostered by the notice in the Quarterly
Review, which carefully keeps out of view Mrs
Trollope's raptures at New York, and even at
Washington, in which places, however, it does not
appear that she, from whatever cause, ever was re
ceived in the higher circles. Of Boston and New
England, generally, which others* describe as, par
excellence, the seat of ultra aristocracy in the United
States, the work does not speak at all.
To estimate justly the fidelity of the writer's
satire as a tableau general of American society in
the United States, let us imagine an American, or
any other foreigner, corning to England, and "lo
cating" himself in the fens of Lincolnshire, or in
some remote village of Lancashire! or Yorkshire,
and giving the language, tone, and manners of the
* Vide Vigne, Vol. II. p. 242.
t Mr M'Gregor says, speaking of the United States, " no gen
tleman who is commonly polite will meet with any thing but kind
treatment in America ; and as to the peculiarities of their tongue,
I need only observe that 1 have never met with an American, however
humble, whose language was not perfectly plain and intelligible to
62
society that he might find there as a fair specimen
of good company in England ; or lodging at Wap-
ping, or in some obscure part of the Tower Hamlets,
and giving the "veils" and "vats," the "osses" and
" himages" of some of the cockney population as a
fair sample of London manners ! He might even
add, " I give this as a specimen of the manners and
habits of the greater part of the community," with
literal truth, as doubtless, numerically, the major
part of the inhabitants of the metropolis do not dis
tinguish themselves as puristes in language ; but
would it be strictly fair to convey such an impress
ion of the general manners of England, if a faith
ful picture were intended ? The late publication
of the tour of prince Ptichler Muskeau is a fulsome
eloge of English usages compared with Mrs Trol-
lope's account of American manners ; yet it has not
escaped censure neither the most gentle nor argu
mentative.
If the foreign traveller whom I am supposing, in
addition to his bad choice of residence, should evince
the equally bad taste of visiting England under the
auspices of Mr Carlile or the "Rev." Mr Taylor,
and come to pass some time under their roof, it
would not contribute to render his subsequent ac-
me ; while I can scarcely understand half what the country people
say within a few miles of me in Lancashire," <%c.*—Vite M'Gregor,
Vol. I. p. 39.
•':
63
cess to the best society more ready. It was doubt
less unfavourable to the opportunities which the
authoress herself could of course have easily com
manded, of personally judging of the high classes
of society in America, that some of her " philoso
phical friend V "fanatical"* and " startling theories"
were highly unpopular in the United States, and
an intimacy with that lady was, possibly, not the
best avenue to the society of the " patrician few"
whose manners are not described by the authoress.
In Miss Wright's lectures, according to the Quar
terly Reviewf and the newspaper reports upon them,
she advocated the suppression of all religions, and
the abolition of all such restraints upon the natural
impulses, as the institution of marriage, &c. &c.
A strong prejudice exists in America, notwith
standing the supposed want of respect for all esta
blished customs, in favour of these antiquated insti
tutions, and against the doctrines promulgated by
Miss Wright ; and, in a country where such a feel
ing is predominant, and where the women of the
upper classes are accused of being prudishly sensitive
* The Quarterly, in reviewing Mrs Trollope's book, thus de
signates Miss Wright's attempts to preach down religion, mar
riage, &c. ; while the poor German Prince is called a " blasphe
mer," a "scoffer," &c. — Vide Quarterly Review, Nos. XCIL,
XCIIL, 1832.
t K Miss F. Wright, lecturer itinerant against Christianity,
matrimony, and all other old-fashioned delusions," &c. — Ibid.
64
on all subjects where female delicacy is concerned,
it is not difficult to conceive that her patronage was
no passport to the best society. Mrs Trollope very
properly condemns the system of Miss Wright, and
in much stronger terms than the reviewer ; but it is
to be presumed that justice was not done to her on
this score, or we should doubtless have seen in her
book descriptions proportionately as graphic and
faithful to the good society of America as her dia
tribes against the lower orders are severe and char-
gees. Judging by the high praise that she bestows
on some portion* of what she saw in the United
States, it is fair to suppose that she would have done
justice to a very different state of society from that
which she describes, had she enjoyed opportunities
of personally forming an opinion on the habits of
the upper ranks.
As to the more classical refinements produced by
the cultivation of a taste for the fine arts, and the
elaborate luxuries which naturally arise in a commu
nity where hereditary wealth and rank give leisure
and encouragement to the lighter and more seduc
tive studies, they cannot be expected to attain rapidly
to any perfection, when the very culture of the soil
is in its infancy. But it is surprising that where
* Vide her Descriptions of New York, Washington, beauty of
the women, &c. &c.
65
pursuits and occupations, little connected with lite
rary and scientific pursuits, are of necessity so uni
versally followed, there should, in the older Atlantic
capitals at least, be such progress already made
towards these ornamental superstructures of civili
zation. Le superflu, chose si necessaire, may be
found either at Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
&c., and in much greater perfection that might
reasonably be expected by Europeans ; those who
are disappointed at not finding the "stately homes
of England" rising among primeval forests, or on the
banks of rivers that but a few years back watered
the undisturbed domain of the painted Indian, have
in truth built castles in the air when they proceeded
to visit America. . And if we find little artificial
and conventional refinement among persons enjoy
ing many of those comforts of affluence that among
us are generally the portion of the few and educated
alone, should we not rather consider the complete
independence and comparative happiness of a large
class of men, who in the mother country might be
starving on the miserable stipend of a poor-house,
or on the daily wages of fifteen hours' work in a
manufactory, than be surprised at their rusticity of
manner ? It is quite true, that many of the habi
tual elegances of life (which a very few years ago
were exotic superfluities in our own country) are
i
66
not to be met with in the recently settled countries,
and there are " men of education and of refine
ment,* in every state of the union," who know by
the experience acquired in other countries, the full
value of the advantages that they cannot expect as
yet to realize in their own. But let us pause
awhile, and reflect, that if we listen to the predic
tions of those wTho argue the speedy downfall of the
political institutions of America, we should also
awrait the lapse of a few years of successful improve
ments, to pronounce on the possibility of refine
ment following in the steps of wealth and education,
especially in that country, where a comparatively
very short period suffices to produce a wonderful
advancement. Nor should wre attribute all the de
fects incident to the infancy of every society en
tirely to the effects of the popular nature of the
government of the United States. The inhabi
tants of the contemporaneous colonies of British
America,! under similar physical circumstances,
evince the same aversion for menial service, from
like causes, and have not been more distinguished
in the career of literature, arts and sciences, than
their immediate neighbours, although under a very
different form of government ; nor can it for some
time be expected that it should be otherwise.
* Vide Vigne, Vol. II. p. 242.
t Vide B. Hall's Travels in North America, Vol. T. p. 229, £c.
67
If there are not, however, in America, generally,
whether colonial or independent, many of the ad
vantages which hereditary rank and privileged
wealth indisputably bring in their /ram, neither are
there their countervailing evils; political corrup
tion, for instance, is nearly impracticable ; if the
conventional forms and increasing artificial wants
of the highly artificial system of England are want
ing, neither is there to be discovered that much
more disgusting and contemptible real vulgarity
resulting from the abject worship of rank and
wealth that debases the lower orders, and some
members of almost every class of society in our
country. If the roughness of manner and extreme
independence of the lower classes* in the remote
* There are many parts of Europe where the freedom of man
ner of the lower classes would much startle a cockney traveller,
particularly in nations where Englishmen are inclined to think
that a great degree of personal degradation must necessarily be
found among the bourgeois and peasantry. In Spain, Austria,
Denmark, or Sweden, a traveller is frequently struck by this in
dependence of deportment. I have witnessed it in all these
countries, but particularly in Spain. In the mountains of Anda
lusia, in a hovel of a venta, the host, or his brother peasants, will
receive you with perfect good-nature and rough hospitality, but
with a cool tacit assertion of perfect equality in demeanour, as
widely different from the habits of England as are those of America,
It is true, that while eating garlic with a pocket-knife and with a
lack of the means and appliances of civilized life that would be
the death of a dandy, the lowest Spaniard has a quiet dignity of
manner that, however rustic, must exclude vulgarity, which
never can exist where there is a true and natural independence of
68
parts of the union be occasionally disagreeable to
Europeans, accustomed to, and perhaps exacting,
the interested homage paid to opulence in. other
countries, the ^assesses with which exclusive divini
ties are propitiated in England (and verily often by
those who have little excuse for not knowing bet
ter) are unknown. There may be much want
of external polish found combined with much prac
tical good sense ; although there are few of the mis
erable coxcombries of dandyism, — there will be
feeling and absence of affectation. This freedom, or perhaps
coarseness, of manner is not offensive (at least I never found it
so), because you perceive in it an evident absence of all inten
tional incivility; yet it was, perhaps, more near being disagreeable
sometimes in the cafes and larger fondas or inns, where the wait
ers when unemployed would quietly take their seats, after, per
haps, asking you to light their cigar with your own. I remember
particularly on board one of the steam-boats that run between
Cadiz and Seville (for steam-boats now are constructed on the
banks of the Guadalquivir, and somewhat disenchant the reveries
of the traveller), the waiter, with his cap on his head and stump
of a cigarillo in his mouth, quietly seated himself by me and took
one of my pistols from holsters lying near, and began coolly to
descant on the merits of its English workmanship. I have been
on board many American steam-boats, and never saw the theory
of equality and independence so strongly exemplified by the prac
tices of any of their attendants. There is a want of keeping in
this sort of familiarity when in a crowded city or on board one of
these floating hotels, at least our associations make us think so,
that is infinitely more likely to give a slight feeling of what the
French call chair depoule, than when we meet the active peasant
on the mountain-paths of the Contraband istas, or the athletic,
well-armed, and well-mounted " caballero," who maybe no better
(or no worse} than a peasant, in the wild fastnesses of a Moorish
village on the sierras of Andalusia.
69
•
found successful individuals of humble origin (not
forming exceptions to a rule, but) in numbers suf
ficient to prove amply that talent and well-directed
industry and energy are certain, as human institu
tions can make them, of being rewarded by the high
est stations in society : yet it will not be easy to
find among the numerous and efficient employes of
the American government a single specimen of the
genus, vulgarly, but expressively, classified as the
" Jack-in-office," whose absurd or stupid imperti
nence often clogs the operations of the European
bureaux that they infest. There are to be found
men of large hereditary or acquired possessions,
whose feelings, education and manners would orna
ment any society, divested of the puerile varieties
of an exclusive circle, or the putid puppyisms of
the silver-fork school.
Americans may well be excused if their patience
is somewhat taxed by the short-sighted and captious
criticisms that are sometimes uttered by foreigners
upon their country, their government, or their man
ners. I look at that immense tract of country west
of the Alleghanies, that a very few years ago was
comparatively a wild forest, where many millions
of acres were thinly occupied by a *few thousand
inhabitants, and see a population already greater
than that of several independent kingdoms, daily
70
increasing in numbers and adding to their comforts;
where cities and towns spring up as if by magic from
among the woods ; its plains traversed by rail-roads
and its gigantic rivers covered with steam-boats. I
see all this going on without tumult, bloodshed, or
disorder ; and when I exclaim, " this is a noble, an
extraordinary country !" I am answered in Abigail
phrase — " but, shocking, the people eat with their
knives !"
* " Witness the result of free and protecting institutions. Fifty
years ago the population westward of the Alleghanies did not ex
ceed 15,000, now it amounts to five millions. The population of
priest-ridden Mexico has not increased for centuries." — See Vigne,
Vol. II. p. 85.
71
CHAPTER VII.
Financial and general prosperity of United States. — Its peculiar
causes considered. — Principally attributable to a free and pro
tecting government. — Mexican and South American republics
compared with the United States. — Report of Mr M'Lane on
the finances of the United States. Opinions of Revue Britan-
nique and Quarterly Review on economy of American govern
ment.
THAT part of the American system which, perhaps,
most strikes the European observer, is its excellent
financial administration, and the success that has
hitherto constantly attended all the fiscal arrange
ments of the union, as well as the continued in
crease of its sources of revenue not accompanied
hy a proportionate augmentation of expenditure.
Again, if we turn from the contemplation of the
revenue and expenses of the federal government to
consider the general revenues of the United States
as a nation, the growing prosperity and riches of
each state, of companies, or individuals, we find
generally an equally flourishing state of things.
Many peculiar but sufficiently obvious circum
stances contribute to this unexplained prosperity.
The virgin soil of immense and fruitful tracts of
72
unoccupied territory awaiting the increasing wants
of an enterprising and industrious population ; the
non-existence of powerful and jealous neighbouring
governments; or, at least, of such as seek to interfere
with the growing fortunes of the republic, or who
have any interest in so doing ; all the facilities for
commercial undertakings that are afforded by the
command of numerous excellent harbours, maritime
cities, immense rivers, every material for ship
building, and the possibility of producing the growth
of almost every soil or climate within their own
territory: — these advantages, improved by the pe
culiar feelings, disposition, and habits, which I
may be excused as an Englishman for thinking are
inherited from the mother country, — all these con
tribute, together with many others that might be
enumerated, to the unexampled progress of the
extraordinary country that we are considering.
But although, when tracing the sources of this
prosperity of the Transatlantic republic, due weight
must be allowed for the cb-operation of all the
above causes in producing such successful results,
we must not forget that they are mainly attribu
table to the free institutions adopted from the
commencement of the existence of the United
States as an independent government. This pop
ular form of government may be said to have
73
owed its origin and frame work to the system al
ready in force when America formed part of the
colonial possessions of Great Britain.
Nor can it be denied that the character of the
people and their previous political education (if this
term may be allowed), impressed with the habits,
and familiar with the mechanism, of representative
and free forms of government (one of their best
inheritances from their British progenitors), had
the greatest influence in forming the system that
at present regulates the American federation, and
produced the most beneficial effects in carrying
into practice the principles adopted at its founda
tion.
The spirit that animates the institutions of the
United States affords encouragement to all classes
to improve each of the numerous resources within
their reach ; by facilitating* education and the dif
fusion of practical knowledge, the people are pre
pared to reap those advantages, the possession of
which is afterwards protected by the force and
stability of the laws. The results so far exceed the
rational anticipations of even impartial observers,
that in seeking to account for them, we are apt to un
dervalue the immense effects of free and protecting
institutions in producing such gigantic consequences,
.»*— -j
* Vide Appendix, List of Colleges, &c.
74
and thus ascribe an undue share in their produc
tion to the influence of other causes. Doubtless
the adoption of the form of government of the
United States would not have alone caused an in
crease of population from three to thirteen millions
in fifty years, nor the absence of a national debt
— nor would it have created such a maritime force
and commercial navy as now exist in America ; but,
on the other hand, all the favourable circumstances
to which we have alluded would not, under an op
posite system, have produced similar prosperity.
Look at Mexico, for instance, favoured by climate
(except on parts of the sea-coast or in the Gulf)
beyond almost any country in the same latitude ;
and its productions of the richest and most profi
table nature, with an immense and fertile territory :
yet we see little promise, since the acknowledge
ment of her independence, of such a proportionate
aggrandizement as the example of the United States
might lead us to expect. Some of its richest and
most available territory is at this moment occupied
and brought into cultivation by a sort of private
colony* of natives of the United States ; and this
with the connivance, if not protection and consent
of the Mexican government, who rightly feel that
* For some account of this colony, and the province of Texas,
see Appendix.
, 75
the resources of this important province (the Texas)
will not soon be rendered available by their own
people. If we look to the governments of South
America, the results hitherto are still less encourag
ing, for the prospects of sudden emancipation (even
under highly favourable physical circumstances) of
a people not duly prepared to enjoy political in
dependence.
It is true that some essential features of resem
blance are wanting to render the parallel between
the United States and South America complete.
It has been objected that the South American re
publics form several distinct and independent coun
tries, jealous of each other, and often as opposed
by interests as different in habits ; while, at the
same time, they are separated by immense distances
and natural obstacles. Yet the South American
governments are more entirely the scions of the
common stock than the states of the North
American union, — they are almost exclusively of
Spanish origin, speaking the same language and hav
ing the same religion ; nor are they more disunited
by distance, climate, or local interests, than the
northern population of the United States are dis
tinct from their southern fellow-citizens ; added to
which, many of the states of the union do not, even
76
at the present day, assimilate either in language,
habits, or religion.*
Why should the governments of South America
not have worked so well as that of North America,
unless from this want of previous habits of in
dependence in the majority of the population, and
a total ignorance of practical self-government?
The same want of political experience was observ-
* New York was the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, and at
this moment many of the old Dutch families of New York are
among the first in the union. On the occasion of a late visit of
the minister of the King of Holland, M. Bangemann Huygens, to
Albany, speeches and toasts, at dinners given to him in that capi
tal, were made and replied to in the original language of the colony,
which is still as familiar to many of the old families in New
York as English 5 or, if we may rely upon the veracious History
of Knickerbocker, much more so. In Pennsylvania, as well as
many other states, there are great numbers of Germans, Swedes,
and Finns, &c. or their descendants. In Louisiana, the language
is principally French or Spanish ; indeed many of the natives of
that state do not understand English : in Florida, Spanish is gen
eral. The religion of the latter states is chiefly catholic : Mary
land is also principally inhabited by catholics. In parts of New
England the descendants of the puritans still retain much of their
former strictness in religious duties. The followers of Penn
are still numerous in Pennsylvania, and the tables in the Appen
dix will serve to show that there are about half as many diiferent
religious denominations as are enumerated by Evans in his
" Sketch of the Denominations of the Christian World;" yet, not
withstanding these apparently discordant elements, the system of
a federal union, combined with popular institutions, for which
the majority of the population were previously prepared by their
political education, has hitherto produced very different results
from those of a similar experiment in South America.
77
able in many of the theorists of the liberal party
who appeared in Spain at the time of the Cortez,
and was one of the principal* domestic causes of
its little internal stability.
A succinct and able expose of the present state
of the finances of the United States is to be found
in the "Report" of Mr M'Lane (late envoy at this
court, and now secretary of the treasury at Wash
ington), submitted to congress last December.
There are few nations who, at any period of their
history, can refer to such an encouraging statement
as is there given, or can look forward to fairer
prospects of financial prosperity than are clearly
presented by this report.
In this paper Mr M'Lane recommends the sale
of certain stocks, held by the government of the
United States, to the amount of eight millions of
dollars ; he having clearly shown that they possess
the disposable means at present of reimbursing the
whole of the public debt before the 3d of March
1833. The objects connected with the early re
imbursement of the public debt being, as he justly
remarks, more important than the interests of the
government as mere stockholders.
* There is little doubt, however, that the foundation of a solid
constitutional government would have been laid in Spain, but for
the last interference of a foreign power to aid the views of one
party in the state.
78
The obstacles to this arrangement consist in the
inexpediency of throwing so large an amount into
the public market, to obviate which a satisfactory
arrangement with the Bank of the United States
itself is suggested : and should his plans be adopted,
the total annihilation of the public debt, on or be
fore the 3d March 1833 may be effected; after
which period, the amount of revenue applicable
to that object will, of course, no longer be re
quired. He thus comments upon this prospect :
" The moral influence which such an example
would necessarily produce throughout the world,
in removing apprehension, and inspiring newT con
fidence in our free institutions, cannot be questioned,
seventeen years ago our country emerged from an
expensive wrar, incumbered with a debt of more
than one hundred and twenty-seven millions, and
in a comparatively defenceless state. In this short
period it has promptly repealed all the direct and
internal taxes which were imposed during the war,
relying mainly upon revenue derived from imposts,
and sales of the public domain. From these
sources, besides providing for the general expendi
ture, the frontier has been extensively fortified, the
naval and maritime resources strengthened, and part
of the debt of gratitude to the survivors of the re
volutionary war discharged. We have, moreover,
79
contributed a large share to the general improve
ment, added to the extent of the union, by the pur
chase of the valuable territory of Florida, and final
ly, acquired the means of extinguishing the heavy
debt incurred in sustaining the late war, and all
remains of the debt of the revolution.
"The anxious hope with which the people have
looked forward to this period, not less than the
present state of the public mind, and the real in
terests of the community at large, recommend the
prompt application of these means to that great
object, if it can be done consistently with a proper
regard for other important considerations."
Mr M'Lane proceeds to state that the estimated
revenue for the expenditure of the government of
the United States as at present authorized, need not
exceed annually the very moderate sum of thirteen
and a half millions of dollars. But he judiciously
recommends appropriations in addition to this sum,
for certain objects, some of which have long since
excited the attention of all observers of American
affairs, on either shore of the Atlantic, as urgently
claiming the assisting care of the government of
the United States. He thus enumerates the most
prominent of these objects :
"For augmenting the naval and military resour
ces ; extending the armouries , arming the militia
80
of the several states ; increasing the pay and emolu
ments of the navy officers to an equality with those
of the army, and providing them with the means
of nautical instruction ; enlarging the navy hospital
fund ; strengthening the frontier defences ; remov
ing obstructions from the western waters, for mak
ing accurate and complete surveys of the coast,
and for improving the coasts and harbours of the
union, so as to afford greater facilities to the com
merce and navigation of the United States. The
occasion would also be a favourable one for con
structing custom-houses and warehouses in the
principal commercial cities, in some of which they
are indispensably necessary for the purposes of the
revenue 5 and likewise providing for the proper,
permanent accommodation of the courts of the
United States and their officers.
" In many districts the compensation of the offi
cers of the customs, in the present state of com
merce, is insufficient for their support, and inade
quate to their services. As a part of the general
system, and effectually to guard the revenue, the
services of such officers are necessary, without re
gard to the amount of business, and it is believed
expedient to make their allowance commensurate
with the vigilance required and the duties to
be performed. A further improvement may be
81
made in the mode of compensating the officers of
the customs, by substituting salaries for fees in all
the collection districts, by which, at a comparatively
small expense to the treasury, commerce and navi
gation would be relieved from burthens, always
inconvenient, if not oppressive.
" It is believed that the public property and offi
ces at the seat of government require improvement
and extension, and that further appropriations might
be made to adapt them to the increasing business
of the country.
"The salaries of the public ministers abroad must
be acknowledged to be utterly inadequate, either for
the dignity of the office, or the necessary comforts
of their families. At some foreign courts,* and
* The salary of a minister from the United States to any for
eign court is about 2000Z., with an outfit of the same sum. The
consequence of this utter inadequacy of appointments, for sup
porting the position necessarily occupied by a foreign minister,
either in London, Paris, Petersburg!!, or Madrid, or any of the
expensive residences is, that no minister will be found to remain
long at any of these courts, unless he can afford to spend at least
as much again us the salary from his government. In London,
for instance, in the case of two American ministers, whose ex
penses I happened to know, it was obvious that half their appoint
ments went to defray the expense of two items alone of their
establishment, viz. house-rent and equipage. In Madrid there
are many articles of comparatively trifling expense in other coun
tries, that are there extremely expensive. The utter insufficiency
of the salaries of the American foreign ministers has long been
felt in the United States; but it is very difficult to make 'the
members of congress from the remoter parts of the union com-
L
82
those whose relations towards the United States are
the most important, the expenses incident to the
station are found so burthensome, as only to be met
by the private resources of the minister. The ten
dency of this is to throw those high trusts altogether
into the hands of the tych, which is certainly not
according to the genius of our system. Such a
provision for public ministers as would obviate those
evils, and enable the minister to perform the com
mon duties of hospitality to his countrymen, and
promote social intercourse between the citizens of
both nations, would not only elevate the character
of his country, but essentially improve its public
relations.
" In addition to these objects, further provision
prehend the extreme difference in the scale of expenditure, abso
lutely necessary in Europe (to enable a foreign minister properly
to support his position), from that to which they have been accus
tomed.
Mr M'Gregor, in his very useful work on British America,
furnishes an additional proof, if any were wanting, of the extreme
inaccuracy with which foreigners sometimes, with the best inten
tions, represent the affairs of other countries. Mr M'Gregor has
every wish to do justice to the United States, and is generally
very correct in his descriptions ; we find, however, the following
errors (possibly typographical). " The salary of the President is
25,000 dollars, or about 4,000/." (it is equivalent to between 5
and 6,OOOZ.); Vice-President 5,000 dollars, or about 1,0002." (!)
Afterwards he says, " Foreign ministers receive 800/." whereas
they receive about 2,000/. It is a pity that these errata were
allowed to remain. Vide M'Gregor, Vol. I. p. 45.
83
may be made for those officers and soldiers of the
revolution who are yet spared as monuments of
that patriotism and self-devotion, to which, under
Providence, we owe our multiplied blessings."
Yet with a view to effect all these highly neces
sary and important objects, together with some
others relating to such internal improvements as are
within the control of the congress ; and the whole
estimated expenses of the government, an annual
revenue of 15,000,000 dollars will suffice, or not
3,500,000/. The whole expenditure of the fede
ral government will consequently hardly exceed
one dollar for each individual annually throughout
the union.
It must be allowed that, considering the advan
tages and security to individuals, found in America,
and the efficient manner in which all her diploma
tic, military, and other services are conducted, and
that this estimate contemplates an increase in the
expenses and remunerations in some of the depart
ments of the government, this is an inconceivably
small sum.
It is therefore with surprise we find some writers
in Europe who broadly assert that the ideas enter
tained of the economy of the government of the
United States are complete delusions, and that they
are founded upon an entire ignorance of the sub-
84
ject. Thus the author of an article in the Revue
JBritannique, speaking of the supposed " cheap gov
ernment of the United States," — "C'est la une
phrase faite, un lieu commun de notre eloquence
parlementaire, et qui, comme beaucoup d'autres,
repose entierement sur une erreur. Ce qui est fort
etrange, c'est que cette phrase a ete jetee dans la
circulation pardes hommes qui ont visite les Etats
Urns, et qui entretienment avec ceux de leurs
citoyens qui viennent en Europe des relations jour-
nalieres. Elle n'en annonce pas moins une igno
rance complete de ce qui s'y passe ; c'est ce qu'il
nous sera facile de demontrer."*
I confess that it does not appear to me very sin
gular that this assertion of the cheapness of the
government of the United States should be made
principally by those who have had opportunities of
personally examining the nature of the American
system, as I fully participate (after passing some
years in the United States) in that opinion. If the
author means to say that it is a government suited
to few other countries, it would certainly not be so
* « This has become a set phrase, a common-place of our par
liamentary eloquence, and which, like many others, is founded
solely on error. It is very singular that this phrase has been
made current by men who have visited the United States, and
who are in the habits of daily intercourse with such of their citi
zens as come to Europe. It betrays, nevertheless, a complete
ignorance of what is passing there, which it will not be difficult
for us to prove."
85
easy to contradict him : but as to its comparative
economy, there can be little doubt that both
theoretically and practically it is the cheapest
government that could be established in a country
of such extent, in the present day. The Quarterly
Reviewer, however, expresses a very different opin
ion (the Revue Britannique coinciding through
out with that journal) ; and Captain Hall points out
the supposed key to this alleged costliness of the
government of the United States, namely, that each
state having a separate government and jurisdiction,
we are misled by quoting the expenditure of the
federal government alone as the whole burden borne
by the people of the United States to defray the
national charges.
It is quite necessary to bear in mind the state-
expenditures, in estimating the share of public
charge borne by each individual in the United States,
but in the tables appended to Captain Hall's Travels
(Vol. III.), the nature of these expenses is com
pletely misunderstood, as they are carried to ac
count in gross, as charges directly borne by the
population.
In the course of the following pages the state
ments published in the Quarterly Review, Revue
Britannique^ &c. will be examined in some detail,
and it will not perhaps be difficult to show whence the
errors have arisen in the estimates above alluded to.
86
CHAPTER VIII.
Statements of Quarterly Review on the subject of United States
examined. — Supposed insecurity of property. — Conservative
elements.
IN an article entitled " progress of misgovernment,"
which appeared in the Quarterly Review,* a sum
mary is given of the financial arrangements of the
United States. On perusing this statement, I was
surprised at the result which the reviewer deduces
from his calculations, the data of which seem to be
principally taken from the statistical tables ap
pended to Captain Basil Hall's Travels. The writer
of this article assumes, that it would be a great
error to suppose that " the government of the United
States is economical, and that it is, in fact, in pro
portion to its population, as expensive as that of
Great Britain, or more so." As the whole article
is redolent of party spirit, and evidently written
with a view to influence public opinion on sub-
-1 •
jects connected with the great measure of reform,
the passages in question should not perhaps be re
garded as containing positive statistical statements
* Vide No. XCII. p. 594, Jan. 1832.
87 ,
relating merely to the American financial system,
but rather as the special pleading of a counsel,
whose object is by no means to lay the whole case
clearly and fairly before the public. Perhaps this
may be thought as justifiable in political as in legal
arguments.
The mistatements and singular inaccuracies
contained in the article "Progress of Misgovern-
ment" on the subject of America, are doubtless
not the result of a wish to deceive the public mind
with regard to the real position of that country.
The whole article offers internal evidence that its
author is personally and practically unacquainted
with the people and country of which he speaks,
and adds another to the thousand and one instances
of the most erroneous inferences being drawn from
data depending solely on hearsay or printed infor
mation, particularly where a favourite theory is in
view, and that theory founded, of course, on con
viction, but also turned to aid the arguments of
party, with the unhesitating vehemence of political
opposition.
With somewhat similar zeal for the dissemination
of their own principles, and a corresponding want
of practical acquaintance with the nature of Euro
pean governments, I have heard Americans gravely
wondering at the blindness of the English, or of
88
other nations, in not adopting republican institutions
and forms of government in all their extent, and
not only arguing for the practicability of such
adoption, but foretelling its speedy accomplishment.
It is true, that in conversing with many of those
who have visited this country, and even, with the
better informed Americans, who never had any
opportunities of judging personally of the state of
things in England, I have found them as well aware
of the utter unfitness and impracticability of a
republican government in England as any sane
Englishman.
If, however, the article in question be not put
forward as an ex parte statement, but as expressing
the bond fide opinions or the reviewer, it is diffi
cult to conceive how so ingenious a writer can have
imbibed such erroneous impressions as his state
ments are calculated to convey ; the mystification
must be laid to the account of his sources of infor
mation, the writer of this article having evidently
never been in the United States ; this appears at
once, not only from the financial expose which he
gives, but more particularly from the preceding
part of his paper, in which he treats incidentally
of the stability of the institutions of America, and
the security of property in that country. After
insinuating that passing the reform bill will be the
89
first step towards attacking " property itself in its
details, if not the principle of property in England,"
he instances the United States as an example of
the insecurity to property resulting from a govern
ment supported by a "numerical majority"
The object of these remarks is not to discuss the
merits of the reform bill ; but as an illustration of
any direct or indirect attack upon that measure, it
seems that there could not have been a more unfor
tunate argument for an opponent of reform than
this allusion to the degree of stability of property
in the United States. Americans,, or even those
who have passed sufficient time in the United
States to become practically acquainted* with the
nature and working of its institutions, will perhaps
only smile at the predictions of a "time not being
far distant when the majority shall attack the cause
of property, as at variance with their own interests,"
and at the hints about a sort of agrarian law, &c.,
which appear in this article. But the extreme
ignorance that in fact prevails in this country and
in Europe generally on all that relates to the inter
nal organization of government and society in the
United States, is such as to give some currency to
opinions and prognostics as totally unfounded as
these, particularly when supported by such an
authority as that of the Quarterly.
M
90
It will be my endeavour in the course of these
remarks to point out the errors in the financial
statements of the Quarterly, after first noticing some
of the preliminary observations.
There is no country, he says, where "property
will be so entirely and immediately at the mercy of
those who may have, or fancy they have, an interest
in assailing it, as soon as that body shall be suffi
ciently numerous to form the preponderating class
in the community.
If an American were to reply to these remarks,
I could suppose him doing so somewhat in the
following manner :
Property is much subdivided, and in the free
hold possession of an immense number of individu
als in America; the moneyed institutions, — banks,
both of the United States and of each particular
state, — canal stock, rail-roads, public or state under
takings, and works of a like nature, as mining asso
ciations, bridge companies, steam-boats, &c., offer
opportunities for even the smallest capital to be
advantageously invested ; so that the Americans of
every class, profiting by these institutions, have
almost all more or less a direct or prospective inter
est in upholding the present system of their coun
try, and it would, in truth, be difficult to find the
91
"numerical majority" which the reviewer antici
pates, opposed to the principle of property.
Besides, the Quarterly subsequently points out
"three great causes" for that security of property
which has hitherto existed, that would seem to place
the period predicted at an immense distance, viz.
1st, the "inexhaustible fund of unoccupied land,"
preventing the pressure of want; 2d, "the federal
mechanism of its constitution, and the strict limita
tion of the powers of congress ; and, 3d, and lastly,
the continually recurring interest of the presidential
and subordinate elections. There is no apparent
reason why these " conservative elements" should
not have their effect for many centuries to come.
In other places the reviewer finds much to condemn
in the two latter elements, yet allows that but for
them " the constitution of the United States could
scarcely have existed unharmed a year;" i. e. that
without some of its most essential features it would
be much less advantageous than it is, in practice ;
which I think that no American will be disposed
to contradict. Indeed, notwithstanding the mul
titude of defects which the Quarterly, in many
successive numbers has discovered in the constitu
tion of the United States, not only as an object of
imitation for other governments, in which he may
be right, but what is very different, as per se bad
92
for the Americans, he makes as complete an amende
as any zealous republican could require, in these
words: — "It is a scheme" (bad as it is!) "with
which, indeed, the Americans may well be con
tented ; for one better fitted to their situation it
might not have been very easy, if possible, to de
vise." Notwithstanding this high eulogium, it is
asserted in the article : — 1st, that the law is opposed
to large inheritances, arid that laws have been made
with a view to encroach on the rights of property ;
2d, a general approaching division of property is
hinted at; 3dly, that in spite of its advantages,
the government is barely able to preserve its vital
ity against the destroying power (?) within itself.
The " federal" or " conservative." power is almost
extinct: the democratic party, i. e. the numerical
majority, having so much increased. 4thly, that
with the " inexhaustible fund of unoccupied land,"
the time is not far distant, — notwithstanding the
"conservative" elements enumerated by the Quar«
terly, apparently in full vigour, and likely to con
tinue so, and although this is the best possible sort
of government for the United States, — the time is
not far distant when the 10,000,000," or it might
at once be 13,000,000 — for "no opposition," he
says above, "to the prevailing system now exists,'5
— will exercise despotic tyranny. It is difficult to
93
say over whom, as the " single despot/' placed, by
the reviewer, in contrast with the millions, exists
but as a figure of speech.
An American might fairly be justified in thus
commenting "upon the observations in the Quar
terly.
94
CHAPTER IX.
United States government well suited to the American people.—
Testamentary disposition not interfered with by the laws.—
Division of property.— Conservative principle of American gov-
. ernment resides in numerical majority — Public lands.
BUT the reviewer will find many to agree with him
in his former position, viz. "the Americans may
well he content with their form of government,
in conjunction with the three happy circumstances"
which he enumerates, it would indeed not have
been possible to devise one better adapted to their
country ; although even this is thought by him to
be on the eve of dissolution. The objections which
neutralize this fair assertion require some examina
tion.
First, the law imposes* no restrictions on the
power of devising property by testament. A man
may leave all to his eldest son, or divide it as he
pleases, reserving, however, the widow's dowry.
The law does not interfere with the possession
or employment of property in any way : the late
Stephen Girard,f a merchant and banker at Phila-
* The reviewer possibly thought that the French law on testa
ments was modelled upon that of the United States.
t See an art. in the New Monthly for April 1832, on M. Girard.
95
delphia, is a striking example of this. He died
worth at least one million and a half or two mil
lions sterling*. A great deal of property in houses
and land, in the very heart of Philadelphia, be
longed to him ; and I recollect an immense square,
in a fine situation for building, in that city, which re
mained inclosed within high paling, unoccupied and
unbuilt upon, and applied to no useful purpose for
years, and so remaining, I believe, until his death, a
few months ago, from some whim of its proprietor,
although " there chanced to be a great many neigh
bours around him to whom the possession of the land
would have been convenient." I do not instance this
as a solitary case, and might adduce! others without
end to prove the complete power of accumulation
and disposal of property in the hands of any individ
ual ; but the example of Girard is the more apposite, as
he was neither a popular man in manners or habitsj,
* Report says near fifteen millions of dollars, or upwards of
three millions sterling.
f At New York there is a gentleman supposed to be of equal
wealth with the late Girard (also acquired solely by his own ex
ertions), although not of the same singular habits. It would be
a violation of the consideration due to private life to say more
than that I allude to Mr J. Astor, known as the founder of a col
ony on the Colombia river.
J Without being miserly, he was very simple and economical
in his habits. I have heard, that when he arrived in Philadelphia
from France, he was in such humble circumstances that he ob
tained a living by selling sand and sawing wood in the streets ;
96
nor politically of the slightest weight or impor
tance, notwithstanding his immense wealth.'
It is certain, however, that the principles and
habits of the people generally are opposed to leav
ing the bulk of their fortune to the eldest, or to
any one of their children to the exclusion of the
others ; and although there are exceptions, yet the
rule in practice in the United States is to divide
equally or nearly so, the property among all the
sons and daughters ; this is from choice and feeling
the usage and not by law^ excepting when a man
dies intestate. But it must be remembered, that
in a republic, without hereditary titles or honours
to support, and with a wide and fair field for the
exertion of talent and enterprise, this usage has not
the inconvenience to individuals that Europeans gen
erally may suppose, nor is it liable to many of the
practical objections which exist to its adoption in
countries like ours.
Secondly, that an agrarian law, or any thing ap
proaching to it, is likely to become practicable or
popular in the United States, or that it should even
be proposed, is so extremely improbable, that one
is inclined to suspect that the allusion to it is not
at the time he was between thirty and forty years of age. He
used to affirm that the great difficulty in life is to amass the first
forty dollars; that afterwards, a man, who is not a fool, can al
ways grow rich. Some very munificent acts of his are on record.
_
97
made seriously. Those alone who are totally un
acquainted with the state of the American com
munity could for a moment entertain an idea of
its possibility, and they have only to reflect upon a
few circumstances to convince themselves of its
utter want of foundation. The sub-division of old,
and appropriation of new property,* going on (with
few exceptions) almost paripassu with the increase
of population, i. e. in the same relative proportion,
extends its effects throughout the union. Also it
should be remembered (and this applies to the
third objection, viz. " that the c vitality' of the actual
government of the United States can scarcely be
preserved by the 'federal or conservative' party,
now ' all but extinct,' against the prevailing system,
or democracy"}, the interests of the numerical ma
jority are on the side of the prevailing system, and
not opposed to its 'vitality.' The name or watch
word of a party may be ' conservative,' 4 federal,'
or tory, it matters little as a distinctive appellation ;
but if we look to the meaning of words, it may not
be difficult to show that in a republic, at least in
He was, although uneducated, a man of strong natural good sense
and ability, like most of those men who have amassed great wealth
from low beginnings.
* B j this is meant, the property or moneyed associations in the
older states in contra-distinction to that in the recently settled
country.
N
98
such a government as that of the United States, the
'conservative' principle is to be found on the pop
ular side ; it resides with the ' numerical majority,'
opposed alike to aristocratic, despotic, or military
governments, as to anarchy or disorder ; and that
country owes its strength, the vigour and the effi
ciency of its administration, c its vitality,' precisely
to this popular principle.
It might, on the. other hand, not be difficult to
maintain in arguing on the affairs of England, that
this " conservative" principle may be found to re
side in a very different party: in a monarchy, and
where political power is vested exclusively in the
aristocratic or moneyed interests, the arguments on
this subject are founded on a totally different basis.
But the reasoning of the " Quarterly" is on the
system of the United States, to which its applica
bility appears more than doubtful.
It has been asserted in parliament, and elsewhere,
as well as in the " Quarterly," that a " conservative"
principle, analogous to that which is the supposed
safeguard of our constitution, has been found in that
provision* of the American constitution, in virtue
* ARTICLE V. OF CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES.
" The congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem
it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution ; or,
on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several
99
of which no change is to be effected in it but by a
concurrence of two-thirds of all the legislative bodies
of the union in demanding such change, and the
consent of three-fourths to its ratification ; and also >
in the rule, by which, in certain cases, a majority
of two-thirds of the senate of the United States is
required for the adoption of measures of political
importance. But I think on examination that this
provision will be found to contain a few elements
in common with the principle that is generally ad
vocated by the " Quarterly" as being " conservative."
At first sight it certainly appears that when a ma
jority, wanting but one or two votes of the requisite
two-thirds, is forced to yield to the wishes of a
smaller party in the nation or senate, a modificat ion
of the oligarchical principle is perceptible ; the inr-
nority, in fact, carrying their point. But let a
question of great public interest arise, a question
which awakens the attention, and calls forth the
energies of the mass of the people in its support,
and, in a government constituted like that of Amer
ica, it will be found that the necessary majorities
will never be wanting.
states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which,
in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part
of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-
fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be pro
posed by the congress," &c. &c.
100
It may be a conservative principle, but it is one
that in effect has its foundation in the necessity of
placing beyond a doubt the general assent to any
measure of vital importance by the great prepon
derance required, and thus virtually amounts to an
extension of the principle of governing in accordance
o the will of the "numerical majority'''
Fourthly. The rapid diminution of the public
lands will, in the course of time, doubtless alter
materially the moral and political aspect of America.
Still the closing up of this " safety-valve," as it has
been called, of the constitution of the United States
must, in all human probability, be remote. The
Quarterly is almost justified in calling this an " in-
exl laustible fund." The government of the United
S>tates possesses, in round numbers, one thousand
millions of acres of unoccupied land ; and, making
ample allowance for those parts which are unfruit
ful or inconvertible to useful purposes, it will be
probably long before its population becomes incon
veniently crowded.
Up to the present time, twenty millions of acres
have been sold ; about the same number has been
granted by congress for education, internal improve
ment, &c. ; and about eighty millions are in the
market, i. e. surveyed, valued, &c. Some estimate
may be formed, from the amount of appropriation
101
of public lands during more than half a century,
of the ratio which these available resources bear to
the wants of an increasing population. At the
rate of one million of acres every year, there will
be, allowing for a progressively increasing demand,
ample space and "verge enough" for speculation on
the durability of American institutions, in so far as
they depend upon this resource.*
* For some account of the public lands, see Chap. XVI.
102
CHAPTER X.
Revue Britannique on Finances of the United States. — Letters
of General Bernard and Mr F. Cooper, published by General
Lafayette, containing answers to the statements of Revue
Britannique.
IN the month of June 1831, there appeared an
article in the Revue Britannique published in Paris,
on the finances of France and the United States, in
which the expenses of the French and American
governments were compared, in a similar spirit
to that of the Quarterly. The result of this com
parison was asserted to be that, notwithstanding the
supposed economy of the American republic, its ex
penses exceeded, proportionately to its population,
those of the French monarchy. As this unexpected
statement was made public at a moment when the
French budget was under discussion in the Cham
ber of Deputies, and clearly with a view to in
fluence public opinion on so important a subject, it
attracted much attention. General Lafayette, bet
ter acquainted with the real nature of the American
government than any of his colleagues, and natu
rally more desirous, both on public grounds and from
private feeling, of placing the subject in its true
103
light than perhaps any of his countrymen, would
have doubtless been well qualified to reply to the
assertions of the Revue Britannique. He prefer
red, however, addressing two of his friends, in order
to obtain such a statement as their intimate ac
quaintance with the financial details of the United
States, and recent personal observation of them,
would enable them at once to afford.
He thus elicited a counter-statement from two
gentlemen, whose opportunities for forming a cor
rect judgment on the statistics of the United States
are undoubted, and whose competency in every
sense, to furnish accurate information, few will be
inclined to dispute. Mr F. Cooper, of New York,
well known as the author of several excellent
works, wrote a letter, addressed to General Lafay
ette, in answer to the statements of the Revue
Britannique ; and General Bernard, formerly Napo
leon's confidential aide-de-camp (and subsequently
several years in the service of the United States,
until the revolution of 1830 afforded him an op
portunity of returning to his native country, without
compromising either the integrity of his principles,
or the delicacy of his feelings), also answered Gen
eral Lafayette's appeal by an able comparative
statement on the budgets and financial arrangements
of the American and French governments.
104
By taking the statements of these gentlemen as
a guide, on the subject of the French national ex
penditure as compared with that of the United
States, we also obtain data which much assist us in
estimating their relative proportion to the expenses
of our own government.
It is somewhat remarkable that both the writer
in the Revue Britannique and the author of the
article, "Progress of Misgovernment," in the Quar
terly, take very nearly the same views of the finan
cial and political systems of the United States, and
(although differing in some of their details, particu
larly in their mode of instituting their comparisons)
apparently with similar party views. In short,
they wish to give such a description of what they,
doubtless, conceive to be the real expenses of a
popular government, as shall prove that the ideas
generally entertained of their practical economy are
little better than popular errors.
In effect, however, it appears, upon an examina
tion of facts and details (the only way in statistical
matters to get at a correct result), that it would
be the grossest self-delusion to rely upon the con
gratulatory assurances of the Quarterly and of the
Revue Britannique, as to the comparative economy
of the governments of America and those of Eng
land and France. Unfortunately, neither theory
105
nor practice, founded upon such erroneous data,
can lead to good results, whether in peace or war,
whether in a friendly or hostile feeling, as reliance
upon them produces but a false estimate of the re
sources and efficiency of a powerful and rapidly
increasing state. Relations with foreign govern
ments are likely to be most judiciously regulated
when their real relative positions, particularly on
so vitally important a subject as finance, are well
understood ; at least it appears to me that no useful
purpose can be served by misapprehension on this
point, still less by any attempt to mystify the sub
ject.
The writer of the article in the Revue Britan-
nique, to which I have alluded, has ventured boldly
to institute a comparison generally between the
aggregate burdens borne by the French nation to
defray the expenses of the state, and those which
Americans support for a similar purpose : he even
includes in his comparative estimate the military
and naval establishments, foreign relations, and, in
a word, all the items of the national budgets of
the two countries.
He calculates that the annual sum of the whole
of the public charges paid by each inhabitant of the
United States is thirty-five francs, while in France
it is but thirty-one francs.
o
106
The Quarterly Review does not attempt a gen
eral comparison between the expenses of Great
Britain and those of the United States ; but taking
certain items of the respective national expenditures,
comes to a prospective conclusion, that if the expen
ditures are not quite equal at present, yet when
the population of the United States shall equal that
of Great Britain, these items, by a pro rato increase,
will, if parliamentary pensions be omitted, exceed
the equivalent expenses in this country by 57,378/.,
and with this item, only fall short of our expendi
ture by 166,365/. He proceeds also to estimate
the expenses of the church in the two countries,
and the result is, according to him, equally favour
able to the economy of our ecclesiastical establish
ment, considered as an item of state expenditure.
With regard to the administration of justice, he
gives no positive estimate, but affirms, that there is
every reason to believe that the "judiciary" expen
diture of America exceeds that of England.
Captain B. Hall (from whose statistical tables,
at the end of the third volume of his Travels in
the United States, the Quarterly Reviewer seems
to have taken almost all his positive information)
makes the total aggregate amount of charge to each
individual in the United States on an average of
three years, 1825, 6, 7, to be 12s. 4f d., in which
107
he does not include the expense of religious egtab-
lishments.
On the other hand. General Bernard, after going
over the statement of the Revue Britannique in
some detail, comes to a conclusion that the total
amount of the annual public expense to each indi
vidual in the United States (leaving out the eccle
siastical expenses, and some incidental items) is
1 1 francs 47 centimes, while that of each French
inhabitant is 28 francs 12 centimes.
Mr Cooper, who premises that he rather exagge
rates than diminishes the sum in his calculations,
makes the amount of annual charge paid by each
citizen of the United States 14 francs 5 centimes,
including support of clergy, poor, &c.
It should be mentioned that the Revue makes
out its calculations for the year 1829 5 that General
Bernard and Mr Cooper take 1830 — and that the
latter gentleman speaks only of the citizen of New
York, where, however, the state expenditure is
among the highest in the whole union, and the cler
ical expenses probably quite the largest. Captain
B. Hall's estimate, as I before mentioned, is on an
average of three years, 1825, 6, 7, and the Quarterly
founds its calculations principally upon the data of
Captain Hall.
In endeavouring to show how such very differ-
108
ent, results are brought about by these writers, I
shall have occasion to offer some remarks, which
(particularly those that are suggested by the letters
of General Bernard and Mr Cooper) will, I trust,
assist the reader to form a judgment on the real
nature of the statistics of the United States.
"X^f^***^/
109
••'•" •'•'''' ^--\^.
.,^1.
CHAPTER XI.
General Bernard's remarks. — Department of state and foreign
affairs. — War department. — Treasury department. — Adminis
tration centrale, &c. — State expenses. — Tolls and public roads.
— Clergy. — Militia. — Summary. — Mean expense to each indi
vidual in France and America of public charges. — Extract from
General Bernard's letter-
GENERAL BERNARD observes with great truth, that
in comparing the public expenditure of two such
countries as France and the American union, placed
under such essentially different circumstances, not
only is industrious research necessary, but a perfect
knowledge of their respective financial systems.
But to expose the inaccuracy and exaggeration of
the Eevue Britannique, he thinks it unnecessary to
do more than to lay before his readers some posi
tive data, which he does in the form of an analysis
of the French and American* budgets in parallel
columns, with the corresponding items opposed to
each other, so as to enable the reader at a glance
to compare the amounts either in detail or other
wise. His valuation of the dollar is at 5 francs
25 centimes.
* Vide Appendix.
110
In examining the different items of the United
States' budget, given by the general, it will be per
ceived that what is called the department of state
corresponds to three departments of the French ad
ministration, viz. Les Ministeres des Affaires Etran-
geres, de la Justice, et de Vlnterieur; and that a de
duction is made from the latter of 9 1 ,5 1 3,5 1 7 francs,
appropriated to the ponts et chausees, mines, lignes,
telegraphiques, and public works, &c.
It must also be observed that the war department
of the United States includes some public works,
internal improvement, and Indian affairs, which,
being taken out of the calculation, make the rela
tive expenses
Ministere de la Guerre . . 187,200,000 fr.
War department . . . . 20,929,372 fr. 85 c.
In the treasury department he includes the pen
sions to the officers and soldiers of the revolution,
and in the Ministere de la Finance, the pension list
of France.
The cost of the different public offices taken
together (I' administration centraty, compared with
the whole budget, is in France 1-5 9th, or about 1
and 7-10ths per cent; in the United States l-53d,
or about 1 and 3-10ths per cent, which difference
may be regarded as null, by bearing in mind that
the expenses of this central administration must
Ill
diminish in its ratio to the whole budget, in propor
tion as the budget itself is augmented.
With regard to the post-office of the United
States, it must be observed that this is not a branch
of public revenue — it is so managed as to cover its
expenses — excepting those of the general post-of
fice establishment, clerks, &c., i. e. /' administration
centrale, which is paid by the treasury. These ex
penses amount to l-30th part of the total expense.
In France they are much higher.
The expense of collecting the revenue, customs,
&c. of France is about 1 1 per cent, that of the
United States 3 and 4-10ths per cent; by taking
together the expenses of administration, and those
of collection of the revenue, compared with the
whole budgets, wre get for
France .... 12 and 7-1 Oths per cent.
United States . . 5 and 3-1 Oths per cent.
Before General Bernard proceeds to examine in
detail the calculations by which the author of the
article in the Revue Britannique brings about a re
sult so extraordinary in his comparative estimate of
the burdens borne by an inhabitant of France and
an American, viz. that the public charge of the
United States is, per head . . 35 francs.
And in France • 31 do.
he makes some general remarks, and says, with
apparent justice, that there must be a great bias in
112
the judgment of any one who could suppose that
under the numerous favourable circumstances upon
which he touches, as the geographical position of
the United States, the commercial prosperity, small
standing army, varied products, non-interference
in the wars which have cost so much to other
countries, and particularly, that with the form of
its government (which he characterises as "les
belles institutions politiques qui regissent ce grand
pays"), it is difficult to understand how any impartial
person could come to this extravagant conclusion.
" Pour arriver a cet etrange resultat" the author
in the Revue asserts that the expenses of the dif
ferent state legislatures taken en masse are equal to
the federal budget. Thus :
Francs.
Federal budget . ... 131,000,000
States (according to the Revue Britannique) 131,000,000
Tolls, bridges, &c. 10,000,000
Clergy ... . 30,000,000
Militia in time of peace . . 50,000,000
Total 352,000,000
He divides this sum by what he supposes to be
the amount of the population of 1830, i. e.
11,000,000, and thus obtains as the annual ex
pense for each individual thirty-five francs.
The smallest error in this calculation is in the
113
amount of population for 1830. The census
for which was, according to General Bernard?
12,856,497. This, allowing the above calculations
of the author, would give twenty-seven francs
thirty centimes, instead of thirty-five francs. The
general points out the sources of the extraordinary
errors in the calculations of the reviewer, and
makes many very judicious remarks, which, how
ever, as being chiefly made with a view to compar
ing the statistics of France with those of the United
States, I shall only succinctly notice ; and all ob
servations on similar mistakes that have been made
by the Quarterly and Captain Hall, shall be reserved
until I come to examine their respective statements.
First, The state expenses are made by the Revue
Britannique to amount to 131,000,000 francs, in
stead of which the general, by a calculation which
is noticed in another chapter, produces 16,970,576
francs as the maximum of the aggregate state ex
penses of the union. Certainly a most remarkable
difference.
Secondly, With respect to the tolls and turn
pikes, this item might be fairly taken into consi
deration in a comparative estimate of the general
expenditure of France and the United States, inas
much as, there being no turnpikes in the former
country, all the expense of making and repairing
114
roads, &c. being included in the ponts et chausses,
travaux publics, &c., while no corresponding item is
to be found in the American budget.
Under this head. Great Britain and the United
States are on an equal footing ; as the expenses of
the roads are defrayed by turnpikes in the same
manner in both countries; although from the much
greater extent of steam navigation in America, less
proportionately is paid by the inhabitants for the
maintenance of roads in many states. In France
it might also be remarked, that there are many
bridges where tolls are paid, several in Paris ; and
that after all, the expense must be defrayed by the
community, whether by a general impost, as in
France, or a mere local tax, as by turnpikes and
tolls. The difference is in the mode of collection,
and the difficulty of course much greater in ascer
taining the total amount where the latter mode is
in use.
The whole extent of road on which a mail runs
in the United States is computed, by General Ber
nard, at 41,225* leagues, of 25 to a degree. The
tolls are generally high, both on roads and bridges,
and this is the natural result of their having to ex
tend over an immense territory with a compara-
* According to another more recent calculation, I find the dis
tance run by mails to be about 115,176 miles English.
115
lively small population ; the wages of labour being
at the same time very high.
In general terms General Bernard calculates that
out of the whole number of leagues (41,225) of
mail road in the United States, about 4000 are sub
ject to toll. Those upon which there are turnpikes
are generally better kept in order than the other ;
and some idea of the cost of their construction, &c.
may be formed by the circumstance, that although
the tolls are very high, yet they rarely bring more
than 4 per cent, and often much less, on the cost
of making.
But these tolls being generally for the profit of
private undertakings or companies, and constructed
rather with a view to increase the value of land in
particular districts, and for the advantage of com
mercial undertakings, than with a view to a pro
fitable direct investment of money, — are no more
looked upon in America as public charges than the
canal tolls, ferries, bridges, &c. are in France and
England. Besides which, sometimes the general
government, as well as particular states, apply large
sums to the construction and repairs of public roads,
and carry the items to the federal or state budgets.
Thirdly, With regard to the clergy, General
Bernard professes a complete disability to make
any calculation, or comparison as to the annual
116
expenses borne by the population of the United
States. As it forms no part of the national or state
expenditure, but each religious community sup
porting its own clergyman, the same difficulty exists
as would be found in ascertaining the amount of
the incidental emoluments of the clergy in France,
beyond what is appropriated to them in the budget,
" s'il s'agissait d'ajouter le casuel aux emolumens
portes au budget de Petal" He, therefore, alto
gether avoids entering on the subject, as not think
ing himself competent to form any correct estimate
upon it, and leaves out the ecclesiastical expenses
of both countries in his calculations.
Fourthly, He proceeds to examine the militia
estimates, and on all subjects connected with the
military organization of America, there can be no
better authority than General Bernard. By certain
hypotheses and calculations, which however are
very erroneous, the Revue Britannique values at
fifty millions of francs the expense of the militia
service of the United States, and then adds this
enormous over-charge to the budgets of the union
and of the states ; but with singular inconsistency,
or inadvertency, forgets to add the analogous ex
pense in the French budget, viz. that of the national
guards. Indeed, nothing but errors of this magni
tude could have produced so false a conclusion as
117
that while a Frenchman pays but thirty-one francs
annually to the expenses of the state, an American
pays thirty-five.
The organization of the American militia is pre
cisely the same as that of the national guards in
France. They have four reviews at most, annually,
and no other regular military service, the circum
stances of the country not requiring more. In case
of invasion, the militia is no longer /oca/, but it is,
like the garde national^ mobilisee. But the regu
lar troops are alone subject to be sent beyond the
territory of their own country. The system is
identically the same as that of France.
Finally, He produces his statement of the ex
penses. — In the United States,
Francs. c.
Federal budget (including public debt) . 130,431,475 80
State budget (borne by the tax-payers) . 16,970,576 00
Total . 147,402,051 80
Dividing the sum by 12,856,479 (the popula
tion) he gets for the mean amount paid by each
American, of public charge of every description,
11 francs 47c.
On the other hand, deducting from the French
budget,
Francs.
1. The ecclesiastical expenses . . . 35,921,500
2. Reimbursements and compensations which do not
strictly form part of the public charge . 41,939,397
118
there remains a sum of 900,074,432 francs, which
divided by 32,000,000 (population of France) gives
as the amount paid by each inhabitant in France,
the above mentioned expenses excepted, 28 fr. 12 c.
But if we take away that which goes towards the
public debts, we find that the American pays an
nually but 6 fr. 6 c., while the Frenchman pays 20 fr.
37c. for the current expenses of the government.
The general then makes some prospective esti
mates of the future financial arrangements of the
United States (comparing them with those of
France), which it is not now necessary to detail.
But to show the light in which a man of great in
telligence, a soldier and a gentleman, in every way
distinguished and estimable, considers the American
union, after having passed many years in the coun
try, and with the best opportunities of observing
its institutions narrowly, I shall give an extract
from his letter to General Lafayette. The quiet,
reasonable, and argumentative tone of General Ber
nard will contrast strongly with the intemperate
vituperation of writers, whose favourite theories
and predictions on the subject of the United States,
not having been as yet verified, continue to repeat
statements to which every succeeding year brings
additional contradictions, and the fallacy of which
becomes evident upon impartial examination.
119
General Bernard thus concludes his letter to
General Lafayette: — "But, general, while we con
tinue to admire the excellent political institutions
of the American union, and the remarkably enter
prising spirit of its citizens, we must acknowledge
that other causes, quite as powerful, have at the
same time singularly contributed to the astonishing
prosperity of this growing empire. Situated, it may
be said insulated, on another continent, separated
from ours by the ocean, it is in its power to remain
uninfluenced by the formidable difficulties that
assail us in Europe; and even these difficulties,
while they lead us into such disastrous wars, pro
duce indirectly incalculable advantages to the com
merce of America. Founded at a time when a
high degree of civilization had already made much
progress in England, the British Colonies of North
America received with their origin political institu
tions, the principles of which actuate at the present
day the governments of the United States, whilst in
Europe much time and many sacrifices will be neces
sary, not only to obtain those institutions which the
progress of intelligence demands, but even to enable
those institutions to be justly appreciated, and above
all to be well understood by the mass of mankind.
Finally, the population of the union is at the pres
ent scattered over a territory of almost equal extent
120
with Europe (Russia, Sweden and Turkey except-
ed) ; and in this immense and rich dominion, that
multiplicity of custom-houses, and fiscal internal
demarcations, which so much injure and clog the
development of European industry, are not to be
found. Europe is without doubt the finest portion of
the world, the part which, on an equal given space
or superficies, presents the most abundant resources
of every kind ; but instead of mutually contributing
to a common prosperity, the nations of Europe, ac
tuated by rivalries without end, pour out their blood
and exhaust their treasure to destroy each other,
and mutually paralyse their progress towards a bet
ter system. What a lesson for the American
union ! when once this is destroyed, its ruins would
soon fall into the same labyrinth of difficulties as
at this moment disturbs and perplexes the nations
of Europe."
121
CHAPTER XII.
Capt. Hall's estimate of mean charge to each inhabitant of the
United States.— Mr F. Cooper's remarks on the Revue Britan-
nique. — Mr Cooper's estimate of mean public charge.
CAPTAIN B. HALL, makes the total amount of what
each person pays to the state and general govern
ments, on an average of three years, 1825-6-7, to be
IZs. 4fd, which is much nearer the truth, it ap
pears to me, than either the calculations of the
Revue Britannique or those of the Quarterly. In
deed, differing from that gentleman toto coelo as I
do, in the impressions received from a residence in
the United States (of much longer duration than
Captain Hall's), and however different my opinions
of the future prospects of that rising and interesting
country connected with its present form of govern
ment, I cannot forbear to give my humble testi
mony in favour of the general accuracy of all the
statements of that gentleman that bear upon matters
of fact and local description ; — do not let me be
misunderstood, as supposing that it can be necessary
to vindicate Captain Hall in this country, or per
haps even in America, from a charge of intentional
misrepresentation.
The reviews and journals of that country do not
generally accuse him of this : on the contrary, many
of the extracts which are given by American wrri-
ters sufficiently show that he in a thousand instan
ces did justice to what he saw there ; but it has
been asserted that a strong political bias— a power
ful feeling of prejudice — continually interfered with
the exercise of his judgment when drawing infer
ences from what he saw, and making general and
not laudatory reflections upon that which he had
just before been describing with warm approba
tion.*
The sum calculated by Captain Hall, like that of
General Bernard, leaves out the expenses of the
church and the public turnpike roads ; the error in
its amount will be easily accounted for in examin
ing the calculations of Mr Cooper and those of the
Quarterly.
Mr Fenimore Cooper had been requested by
General Lafayette to rectify errors in the state
ments of the Bevue Britannique ; the general thus
explains his object in requesting Mr Cooper to un
dertake a task for which he is so eminently quali
fied. "Independently of our common American
interest on this subject, I feel a wish to undeceive
* Vide Review of Captain B. Hall's Travels in North America,
2d ed. London, published by Kennett, &c.
123
such of my French colleagues as may conscien
tiously believe that they ought to oppose reductions
in the expenditure, from the erroneous impression
that the taxes of this country (France) are less op
pressive than the combined expenses of the federal
and state governments of the union."
Mr Cooper, after some general observations, re
markable for their fairness and the judgment with
which he notices some of the sources of error in
the theories and reasonings that are frequently ap
plied to the affairs of America, and regretting that he
has not at hand the materials and authorities that
he could wish, proceeds to give an outline of the
origin and state of the national debt of the United
States, part of which will be found in the Appen
dix.*
Before examining farther Mr Cooper's statement,
it is necessary to give the extract from the Revue
Britannique, wrhich gave occasion for it. — " The
federal budget of the United States, which might
also be called their political budget, did not exceed,
in 1829, 24,767,119 dollars (or 131,265,729
francs), but in time of warf it amounts to more
than twice that sum."
* Vide Appendix at the end of the volume,
t In the original it is u mais en terns de paix, il s'eleve a plus
du double," evidently a misprint.
124
" Doubtless the moderation of this budget will
strike one forcibly when compared with the enor
mous amount of ours. We are inclined to envy
the fortunate position of a nation freed from the
diversity of our fiscal imposts, and which in fact
has, it may be said, but a single source of revenue,
that of the customs. It will be calculated that
even were our army reduced to a low peace estab
lishment, our budget would still amount to near a
thousand millions. The result wrould be, that in
France the mean amount of the public charge paid
by each individual is 31 francs, whilst in the
United States it is but 13 francs: — but this is a
mere deception. It must be borne in mind that
the twenty-four states composing the American
union, are not provinces or departments, but in
dependent states, having each their separate budget,
as they also have a separate constitution. To
ascertain, therefore, the public expenditure of the
United States, it becomes necessary to add the
particular budgets of every state to the federal
budget, which only embraces the collective expen
ses of the union. One must also place to account
the different county expenses which are not quoted
either in the general or state budgets : add to this
the expenses of making and repairing roads, as on
none of our roads are any tolls levied, but this item
is included in the national budget. In the United
125
States, on the other hand, a great number of the
roads are turnpike roads, on which a toll is paid by
all who use them. One must, therefore, if the
amount of these tolls were ascertained, add it to the
other public expenses. Before we proceed to ex
amine the state budget, let us analyse some items
of the federal budget, and we shall find, that the
salaries which are paid out of it, far from being
subjected to a rigorous economy, are almost in every
case higher than those paid for the corresponding
services in France."
" The political communities, which have lately
been reconstructed in Europe upon a new basis,
have all deemed it indispensable for the maintenance
of tranquillity, to place a sovereign in the highest
place in their social hierarchy. They have necessa
rily been obliged to burden themselves with a consi
derable expense, to invest the family in which the
superior power is made hereditary with the requi
site splendour. The genius of America, having in
some sort sufficient space in which to employ its
glowing spirit of enterprise, does not appear to have
as yet required this condition to avoid turbulence
and disquiet. There are forest regions to clear,
savage tribes to subdue, immense, innumerable
plains to be cultivated : no expense, therefore, equi
valent to what we denominate civil list, is to be
126
found in the federal budget, although there is one
item nominally the same, but which represents ex
penses of a different nature. As has been already
said, a constitutional king, none of whose acts are
voted without the countersign of a responsible min
ister, reigns, but does not govern. The President
of the United States, who does govern, has no
counterpart in France, but the President of the
council, placed like him at the head of affairs : his
emoluments are 25,000 dollars (or 132,500* fr.).
The president of the council in France is fixed at
120,000 francs in the national budget. The Pre
sident of the United States has, besides, a magnifi
cent hotel in Washington, and a country villaf in
the neighbourhood of that town. Notwithstanding
this, it appears that his appointments are insufficient
to cover the expenses to which, by usage, he is sub
jected. One of these expensive customs is, the
necessity of giving, during the session of congress,
two grand dinners, which are far from being re
markable for that simplicity attributed by us to
republican manners : these dinner-parties, and the
other expenses incident to the representation kept
* 132,500, or between 5 and 6000Z.
t This is not the case : the mistake probably arose from the
accidental circumstance of the family of the late President (Mr
Adams) occupying at one time a country-house very near Wash
ington.
127
up by the President, deranged the fortunes of many
of those who have filled the post of supreme ma
gistrate. Mr Jefferson and Mr Munroe died, it
may be said, almost insolvent."
I believe that Captain Hall was the first writer
on the United States who called public attention
in Europe to the duplicate form of government of
the American union, and pointed out the necessity
of taking into any calculation of the whole expen
diture of that country, the generalauA state budgets
to which each inhabitant of the United States con
tributes. The errors in his calculations are in the
amount which he allows for their joint sums;
and although he comes much nearer the truth than
either the Quarterly or the Revue Britannique, he
evidently does not take into consideration many
circumstances the ignorance of which has also mis
led the authors of the articles in the above-men
tioned journals.
The amount of annual charge paid by each indi
vidual in the United States is made by Mr Cooper
(valuing the dollar at 5 francs 33 centimes) to
amount to 14 francs 5 centimes. This sum does
not materially differ from that given by Captain
Hall (viz. 1 2s. 4f d.) ; but there is this important
difference in their calculations ; Mr Cooper includes
in his estimate, not only the federal and the state bud-
128
gets, but the expense of public schools, of the clergy,
the poor, and every incidental expense; whereas
Captain Hall only reckons the combined expenditure
of the general and state governments. For the
two budgets alone, Mr Cooper calculates the mean
charge per head at 10 francs 40 centimes, or about
one franc less than General Bernard's estimate*
(11 francs 47 centimes), which also omitted the
clergy. Before I proceed to examine in detail how
these different results have been produced, the es
timates of the Quarterly should be taken into con
sideration ; gfc, although not given in the same form
as those which have been already mentioned, they
will in fact be answered in the course of the exam
ination of the others.
* It must also be recollected that General Bernard calculates
the dollar at 5 francs 25 centimes, while Mr Cooper reckons it
at 5 francs 33 centimes.
129
CHAPTER XIII.
Quarterly's remarks on American statistics. — General and state
expenditure, — General Bernard's and Mr Cooper's estimates.
AFTER some preliminary remarks, the writer of
the article, " Progress of Misgovernment," observes,
that " we are not to infer that there is no unnecess
ary expenditure under the American system," and
that in fact those establishments which they have
in common with us are not " on a much more eco
nomical scale than our own." He differs from
the Revue Britannique, inasmuch as he says, " It is
true that the salary and establishment of the Presi
dent are framed on a scale of severe republican sim
plicity" "But," he adds, "on the other hand, be
it remembered, . there are certain other civil dis
bursements, in the shape of salaries, from wrhich
our monarchical establishment is exempt. Be it
remembered that, besides the two houses of congress,
there are twenty-four local houses of representatives
and twenty-four senates* continually in existence,
* This is not precisely the case : in Vermont, for instance,
there is no senate, and the upper house in New Jersey is styled
the " legislative council ;" but this is immaterial to the general
argument.
R
130
and during a considerable portion of the year in
actual session, in the several states, &c. &c.5 and
that every one of these delegates is paid,— those
serving in the general congress receiving as much
as eight dollars, or about ll. 1 6s. per day, during
the session, besides a like sum for every twenty
miles of distance from his residence to the seat of
congress." In all this information the reviewer
is generally right, as well as in all the oftier facts
taken from the tables appended to Captain Hall's
Travels.*
But his mode is quite different of bringing for
ward his proofs of the assertion in the former part
of his remarks, viz. that the expenses of the gov-
* The manner in which his subsequent calculations are made,
reminds one of that part of Captain Hall's Travels, where a cha
racteristic conversation is given between a shrewd old Irish set
tler and a land agent : — on asking the old emigrant for informa
tion about the settlement, he began to suspect some lurking mo
tive in these, as he thought, leading questions — " What shall I
say to the gentleman, sir?"— "Why, Cornelius, said the agent,
" tell the truth." " O yes, of course, sir, we must always tell the
truth, but— if I only knew what the gentleman wanted, 1 would
know which way to answer — in short, should I overstate matters, sir,
or should I understate them? shall I make things appear better or
worse than they are ?"
It may possibly be recollected by more than one member of
our own legislature, that there were modes some years ago of
making out parliamentary calculations, very much upon the prin
ciple of the Irish emigrant; — at least, such things have been
asserted, — and the calculations of the Quarterly remind one
strongly of this sort of over and under statement.
131
ernment under the American system nearly equal
those of Great Britain. He does not calculate the
mean amount of public charge borne by each in
dividual, the mode adopted by Captain Hall, the
RevCfc Britannique, Mr Cooper, and General Ber
nard, but taking certain parts of the American ex
penditure, compares their gross amount with the
corresponding items in the English budget. He
thus obtains 624,5387. for the entire civil expendi
ture of the American republic (which we shall not
at present analyse, but allow for the sake of argu
ment to be correct). He then turns to statements
laid before parliament, and finds that our civil list,
salaries and allowances paid out of the consolidated
fund, our courts of justice, amount to 1, 26 9,7 6 51.
But as he says, " these are expenses which ought
necessarily to bear a direct proportion to population,
if not to wealth;" and the population of Great
Britain and Ireland being about 24,110,125, he,
by assuming that the expenditure of the union shall
increase pro rato with its population, it follows,
that when it shall have attained twenty-four millions,
" the expenditure wTill be fifty-seven thousand
pounds more than ours !"
To obtain this singular result, it is true, as the
Quarterly observes, he has indeed left out " the par
liamentary pensions and annuities, granted for the
132
most part in consideration of eminent public ser
vices" — because, forsooth, there is no corresponding
item in this department of the American accounts :
this omission, which many people might be inclined
to think not wholly unimportant in a comparative
estimate of the expenditure of the two govern
ments, is subsequently rectified by taking the
amount of the revolutionary pensions in the United
States, and by setting them off against the parlia
mentary pensions, he still gets a balance in favour
of America of no more than 166,3657.
In the first place it must be remarked, that the
Quarterly, in common with Captain B. Hall, and
the writer in the Revue Britannique, iswTrong with
respect to the amount of the state expenditure, and
in consequence all their calculations are wride of
the truth ; allowing that the mean, taken from the
tables of Captain Hall, is correct as applied gener
ally (and it is far from being so, by reason of the
preponderance of the richer and more populous
states in the calculation), it seems to have been
quite forgotten, that a very small part of this nom
inal amount is really a charge upon the tax prayers.
In almost every state a considerable share of the
expenditure is covered by the interest of different
funds ; in many, a large portion of the state budget
is appropriated to internal improvements, which be-
133
come in their turn sources of public revenue.*
Such are the great canals of New York, Pennsyl
vania, Ohio, &c. By making the requisite deduc
tions, according to the best information that I have
been able to obtain, from the sums paid throughout
the union to the support of the state expenses, I
think that something more than one shilling ster
ling (instead of three shillings, according to Captain
Hall and the Quarterly) is about the amount of the
mean charge for state expenditure. But this
amount cannot, without possessing more local in
formation than most foreigners can obtain, and de
voting much time to the subject, be given writh
any accuracy. It will be probably better therefore
to take the calculations of General Bernard and
Mr Cooper as our guide on this head. General
Bernard takes an average of the expenditure of twro
of the richest and most populous states of the union,
viz. New York and Virginia, and thus obtains one
franc 32 centimes as the maximum per individual
of annual charge. By not being aware of the real
* Thus in Pennsylvania, for instance, nearly two millions and
a half are given as the state expenditure; but it should be ob
served, that at the time that Captain Hall alludes to, some mil
lions had been employed, in the course of two or three years, by
that state, for making a canal, afterwards to become a profitable
source of revenue to the state itself ; and consequently the two
millions and upwards were far from being the true amount of the
usual state expenditure, and so of other states.
134
nature of the state budget, the Revue Britannique,
as well as Captain Hall, and the Quarterly, have
given totally false estimates of the amount of the
state expenses. Thus the Revue Britannique,
whose calculations are principally made from the
budget of New York, reckons the state expenditure
at 10,179,498 francs, whereas, there is out of this
sum no more than 1,837,500 francs paid by the
inhabitants of that state. The remainder is paid
by the interests of the funds belonging to the state,
and by the receipts of the Erie and Champlain
canals, which latter alone amount to near 5,000,000
francs.
Mr Cooper, himself a citizen of New York, and
of course more likely to be intimately acquainted
with the details of the expenditure of this state than
a foreigner, makes the mean annual charge of each
inhabitant of New York to be 95 centimes, or
within one sous of a franc ; and he thinks that this
is a fair criterion for the amount of the rest of the
union. He takes the average real expenditure for
five years, and estimates it at 350,000 dollars.
This amount seems very small ; but it must be re
collected that although each state is considered as
a separate and independent government, yet none
but the federal government has to defray the ex
penses of any regular armed force ; that they have
135
no naval department, and no foreign relations, to
keep up. It must also be borne in mind, that the
large and increasing revenue of the canals, salt
works, &c. in proportion as the mortgages upon the
revenues will be paid off, will become available in
a greater proportion by the state, so that upon a
moderate valuation, when quite unincumbered, the
canals, salt works, &c. will produce a revenue, in
Mr Cooper's opinion, four times greater than the
sum required for the expenses of the state. It
should also be recollected, that in comparing the
amount of expenditure in the two countries, we
should take into account the poor-rates, county-
rates, &c. in England, which will be found, at a
very moderate computation, much to exceed the
aggregate of the state expenses of America.
Li 0rW- j
*
136
CHAPTER XIV.
Future financial prospects of the United States. — Military ex
penses. — Naval expenses.— Cost of administration of justice.
— Salaries of the clergy.
i ?J-9*T.O;'
THE calculation in the Quarterly that when the
population of the United States shall equal our
own, the expenditure will be proportionally in
creased, is not likely to prove correct either in the
ory or practice. The immense extent of territory
in the United States, the scattered position of many
of its inhabitants, and the nature of its border and
southern population, require a vast framework of
organization both for military and judicial purposes,
and an apparently disproportionate expense ; thus
the skeletons of the regiments composing their small
army are made upon a scale that would admit of
a considerable augmentation writh a trifling increase
of expense, as the staff and officers, as well as the
number of clerks employed in the war office, arid
the other parts of the military organization are kept
up on a footing that would allow of a great increase
of effective force with little addition to the budget,
beyond the pay of the additional privates. On this
137
head the opinion of General Bernard, who for sev
eral years filled a high military post in the service
of the United States, is of much weight ; he says,
"that the American army might be increased to
12,000 men (or about double its present number)
without any sensible augmentation in the expenses
of the war department at Washington (I' adminis
tration centrale). That the number of privates is
reduced as low as possible, while the officers are
kept up on a scale adapted for thrice the effective
numerical force ; by which means the general ex
penses are diminished in time of peace, and they
are prepared with a sufficient number of officers on
the breaking out of war."
It may be remarked, that the expenses of the
military force of the United States, when compared
with those of many of the European armies, are
disproportionately "great, amounting for about 6,000
men to nearly 21 millions of francs, or about
4,200,000 dollars. It should be recollected that
the American soldier is enrolled by voluntary en
listment, and the wages of labour in the United
States being very high, he will of course expect a
proportionate remuneration for his services. Be
sides, a sum of 525,000 francs, annually voted for
the manufacture of musquets and small arms, is in-
138
eluded in the above estimate, as also the expenses
of a formidable line of fortifications now in progress,
with its artillery and that of the army.* In like
manner the expenses of the navy department at
Washington would not materially increase if it
became necessary to put twice the present number
of ships of war in commission.
The same necessity exists for a large propor
tionate expense to the federal government in the
administration of justice, the framework of which
is at present calculated rather upon the extent of
territory than upon the number of inhabitants, as
the organization is uniform and general. On this
subject Mr Cooper thus expresses himself, " The
maintenance of order, and the administration of
justice, would not cost much more, were the popu
lation 100 millions, than they do at present for
less than 14 millions. No person is allowed to
hold more than one place or office, and none of
those now employed could be dispensed with with
out detriment to the public service. It is necessary
to support thirty district courts for a population of
less than 14 millions, whereas, if the union \vere
of no greater extent than France, proportionally
* These fortifications have been carried on, and, in many in
stances completed, under the able superintendence of General
Bernard.
139
to its number of inhabitants, four courts would suf
fice."
Allowing for a very natural bias in favour of
the institutions of his country, it may be probable
that Mr Cooper has overrated the economy of the
administration of justice ; still his observations
deserve much consideration.
There is also a charge peculiar to the United
States,* which is the sum paid to the Indian tribes,
and this alone amounts to about one-twentieth of
the whole American. budget, and is not likely to
increase in the same ratio as the population of the
country.
But the errors and misconceptions on all that
relates to the statistics of the United States in this
article of the Quarterly, are nowhere more con
spicuous than in that part where the annual ex
pense of the clergy is estimated. The reviewer
founds his calculations upon the statement of Dr
Cooper,! from which he estimates the aggregate
amount paid throughout the union to the clergy
of all sects at s635081, 650 ;f and as on the same
* The government of our North American colonies have a sim
ilar item in their expenditure.
t Dr- Cooper is, or was, professor at one of the colleges in the
United States,* and is, I believe, no relation of Mr F. Cooper.
J The Revue Britannique, not wishing to understate, gives as
* Columbia, South Carolina.
140
authority he states the number of clergymen to be
about 13,000, he obtains 23 7 1. 10s. as the average
annual stipend of each clergyman (1000 dollars,
according to Dr Cooper), exclusive of occasional
emoluments (" irregular exactions and fees," &c.).
This he contrasts with the sum of the tithes in the
hands of the clergy " in England, which," he says,
" from very satisfactory evidence, does not much
exceed sfi 2,21 5,000;" and that, "?/ the tithes
were equally divided among all the livings" each
clergyman would have but §§200 ; that by adding
the cathedral property, and the income of the
bishops, you cannot establish an aggregate of more
than £2,673,500.
If the accuracy of this statement could be ad
mitted, it \vould at once do away with an objection
that has been sometimes made to the church sys
tem in the United States, viz. — that unless the pro
vision for the church were compulsory, and itssup-
po'rt established by law, the clergy would starve.
But, although I can fully bear witness, as far as
my observation goes, to the fact that the clergy of
the Episcopalian and some other forms of worship
in America are not only respectably maintained,
but that they, in fact (whatever may be their nom-
the revenue of the clergy in America 30,000,000 francs, or about
£ 1,200,000.
141
inal income, or the comparative cheapness of their
place of residence), live in comfort and competence,
and that I never either saw or heard of clergymen
heing in want or distressed, so as not to be able to
support and provide for their families with more
than the mere necessaries of life ; yet the rate cal
culated by the reviewer is much too high. It is
extremely difficult to form an accurate estimate of
either the number of the clergy in the United
States or the amount of their emoluments. If
one were required in this country to make out an
exact schedule of the income enjoyed by the clergy
of the established church, notwithstanding the
assistance afforded by the Liber fiegalis and the
clerical guide, it would not be easy to get the
precise amount of the real income of the clergy,
including cathedral property, Easter offerings,
glebes, oblations, dues9 pews in the church, fees,
&c. &c. A proof of the difficulty of obtaining a
true estimate may be found in the various sums at
which the revenues of the Anglican church have
been valued. The Quarterly says £ 2,67 r;500 in
one place, and 563,872,138 in another.* But
other valuations certainly have been made, and
many published in the various London journals,
which vary from four to even nine millions and
* Vide Vol. XXIX. of Quarterly Review, p. 555.
142
more. As it is no part of the object of this work
to examine into the real amount of the temporali
ties of the church of England, but to show what
is the probable sum of the income of the clergy
in the United States, I shall not take any other
valuation than that of the Quarterly Reviewer, cer
tainly not likely, from the tenor of his argument,
to be exaggerated.
143
CHAPTER XV.
Ecclesiastical revenues of the United States. — Valuations of the
Quarterly of church of England revenues, and those of the
clergy of America.— Probable real amount of church emolu
ments in the United States.
BUT if it be 'not easy to form a correct estimation
of the revenue of the church of England, what must
be the difficulty of getting at the true value of all
the sums appropriated throughout Great Britain
and Ireland to the support of the clergy of all de
nominations? In Scotland it would be compara
tively easy, and in Ireland, as far as the legally
established church is concerned , but, to put the
question on fair grounds, we must include not only
the Catholic clergy of Ireland, but the Presbyte
rians, and all the dissenters of the united kingdom.
The reviewer admits this, with regard to the dis
senters, in speaking of England only, and allows
that it might be more than sufficient to make up
the difference between his estimate of the relative
amounts of the incomes of each clergyman in the
two countries, i. e. between 2,673,500/.* in Eng-
* This is the estimate in the 92d vol. of the Quarterly ; that in
the 29th being above a million more.
144
laud and 3,081,650/. in the United States. It must
be remembered, also, that in this comparative esti
mate the church of Ireland, that is to say, the es
tablished church, is not included, nor is Scotland
taken into account ; whereas, in the calculation of
13,000 clergymen in the United States, all denomi
nations are included in all parts of that extensive
country.
Thus allowing the correctness of the above esti
mate, the annual income of the church, or rather
of the clergy, in the United States would at once
appear to be infinitely below that of the clergy of
the united kingdom ; and this is to be expected as
a matter of course, from the totally different cir
cumstances of the church in the two countries. In
America the clergy have no connexion with the
government, or with any political party, directly
or indirectly ; they are not magistrates, nor do they
take part in any of the lighter recreations of society
that in this country are looked upon as at least
harmless amusements. Clergymen are rarely, if
ever, seen either at a ball or party ; nor do they
mix much in general and large companies, unless
when brought together for the promotion of some
charitable measure, or some association connected
with their religious duties. It is not intended to
institute a comparison between the habits and prin-
145
ciples of the American clergy and those of the
church of England, but to mention facts that ac
count for their total difference of position in social
and political life. Indeed, the difference of feeling
in the two countries is so great, that if a clergyman
were, in most parts of the United States, to be seen
at a theatre, at a dance, or to join a card party, he
would certainly fall in the esteem and opinion of
his flock ; but if he were to become habitually a
frequenter of balls, plays, &c. or be tempted to be
come a sportsman or fox- hunter, he certainly would
not long continue to fill the station of pastor to any
congregation. I do not pretend to give any opinion
as to the comparative merits of the two systems,
nor is either censure or approbation implied of the
severity of public opinion in America on this sub
ject. These facts, however, joined to the absence
of all political or worldly dignities in the ecclesi
astical body in the United States, render large
incomes quite unnecessary to the clergy of that
country ; and the assertion, therefore, of the mean
amount of their emoluments being greater than,
or nearly equal to, that of the clergymen of Eng
land, is the more surprising.
On examination, however, I think that there will
be found little reason to suppose this to be the case.
The Quarterly takes Dr Cooper's estimate as its
T
146
guide, and thus finds that the aggregate of the sala
ries of the clergy in the United States is 3,081,650/.
inasmuch as there are 13,000 clergymen at 1000
dollars, or 23 7/. 10s. each. But this valuation is
so extremely exaggerated in its amount, that one is
at a loss to conceive how it can have been made
from any authentic data. The Revue Britannique,
judging by Williams's Register, published at New
York, and one of the best authorities for that city
of the salaries of the clergy, makes the whole
amount of clerical income in the United States
about 1,200,000/., which, although less than half
the sum given by the Quarterly, is still probably
much more than the real amount, as in many parts
of the union the expenses of the clergy by no means
equal those in the state of New York.
But to enable those who are unacquainted with
the ecclesiastical affairs of America to form an opin
ion on this question, it will be necessary to mention
a few circumstances peculiar to the clergy of the
United States.
With respect to the ministers of religion, no le
gislative provision is made in any of the states, or
by the general government, for their support. It
is left entirely to the voluntary acts of individuals,
and the good-will of the congregations of the differ
ent sects and denominations 5 excepting, however.
147
that in the state of Massachusetts, the constitution
compels all citizens to belong to some religious so
ciety, or to pay for the support of some religious
teacher, leaving them to contribute to whatever
society or denomination they may choose.
From a list of the ministers of different denomi
nations to be found in the Appendix, it appears
that the number of clergymen is 10,120 ; by an
other enumeration they are made to amount to no
more than 8520. But let us avoid the possibility
of underrating the number of ministers of religion
paid by the people of the United States, including
the licentiates as well as the ministers. It must
also be recollected that among the methodists there
are many whose ministers are not allowed to reside
more than two years in any one place, and part of
whose church discipline it is to be continually
travelling and preaching in all parts of the union,
indeed it may be said in all parts of the world, for
from some of these I believe are generally taken
the missionaries who proceed to the islands of the
Pacific, to New Zealand, &c. to preach the Gospel.
The extreme difficulty, therefore, of coming to any
very accurate estimate of their number is apparent.
These ministers receive in money but about sixty
dollars, or about 12/. or 13/. annually, if unmarried,
or about twice that sum when married, and there-
148
fore practice very literally the scriptural injunction
— "Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth ;"
but it is true that their support is not wholly pro
vided for by this stipend, as during their progress
through ihe country they are generally received
into the families of some of those belonging to their
congregations, among whom are always found per
sons able and willing to exercise their hospitality
towards the clergy of their church. There is
a hierarchy of this denomination, and there are
others who are not Episcopalians.
In 1 830 there were in New York 1382 clergymen,
according to Williams's Register ; of these, there
was, perhaps, not one whose annual income would
exceed 1000/., few with more than 500/. ; and I
should think, from all the authorities that I have
been able to consult, that 100/. per annum would
be rather more than the average salary of each cler
gyman ; and in that state the clergy are probably
paid higher than in any other. It is difficult to as
certain with certainty the existence of a greater
number of clergymen than from 8500 to 10,100?
throughout the union; — but allow it to be 10,200,
or even 11,000 (and this amount will certainly be
more than can be proved), and we obtain 1,100,000/.
as the total amount of church income in America 5
and this, I think, is much more than the true sum.
149
Possibly Dr Cooper reckons the preachers of those
sects, among whom there is no regular clergy, but
where one of the congregation occasionally officiates,
although possibly a mechanic or farmer, or person
engaged in any other employment or trade; of
whom there are, I believe, many in Great Britain ;
— but it should be recollected that these men re
ceive no salary as clergymen, and therefore cannot
be included in the estimate.
But Mr F. Cooper makes a lower calculation
than that given above. His remarks on this sub
ject deserve attention. In speaking of the clergy
of New York, he says, " Their emoluments are de
rived from two sources, the revenues belonging to
certain churches, and voluntary contributions. The
greater portion of the higher stipends (I allude to
those amounting to from eight to twenty thousand
francs, and their number is very limited), are the
proceeds of estates or property enjoyed by the
clergymen, or arise from the rent of pews and
sittings in the places of worship ; the smaller sala
ries are paid by means of subscriptions raised for
that object. According to Williams, there were in
1830 in New York 1382 ecclesiastics, having each
their church. We should much exceed the real
amount, if we allow that each of these receives on
the average 400 dollars, or about eighty to eighty-
150
five pounds. Of the whole number 400 are metho-
dists, who do not receive, as I know from good au
thority, more than 300 dollars; and 600 dollars
are considered a very good salary in a country of
some importance. I recollect that the principal
minister of Cooperstown, which is the capital of a
county, received but the latter sum, wrhich was de
frayed solely by the rent of seats. Therefore, in
allowing 400 dollars as the salary of an ecclesiastic
in New York, we are above the real average. He
goes on to say — "Funerals cost nothing ; prayers
for the living or the dead are gratuitous ; the same
is the case for baptisms and marriages. Any priest
who should refuse to perform any of these duties
without payment, would run a great risk of losing
his living. It is the custom to make an offering
to the priest who has performed the marriage cere
mony, but it is quite voluntary. And a small
number of wealthy people make presents also on
the occurrence of a christening or baptism ; but the
greater number of Americans regard donations on
such occasions with a religious horror. They con
sider it as an attempt to corrupt Heaven. In town,
gloves and scarfs are given to the priests, as well as
to the physicians and the bearers, by a few families,
at funeral ceremonies; but we are so far from
thinking it necessary to pay an ecclesiastic for a
151
funeral, that for my own part, although accustomed
to the habits of other countries, I retain for this
practice a feeling of profound aversion. In a word,
a priest in America is considered as a minister of
God. He is paid that he may exist ; but no one
is of opinion that those who do not pay him have
less right to his ministry than those who Jo."*
It will be seen from the foregoing extract from
Mr Cooper's Letter, that he estimates the eccle
siastical expenses at about one fifth lower than I
have reckoned them (1,100,000/.) ; but even allow
ing the higher valuation, there is a difference of
nearly two millions sterling in the amount, as given
by the Quarterly. The reviewer's valuation of the
amount of the ecclesiastical revenue in England
has nothing to do with the present object, which
is not to institute a comparison between the English
and American church revenue. But it must be
evident that, judging by the returns for the county
of Lancaster, which have been published, it seems
inconceivably below the real amount. The amount
of church property in the hands of churchmen in
that county alone greatly exceeding the whole sum
I regret that I cannnot give Mr Cooper's own words, as it is
only from the French published translation of that gentleman's
letter that the above citation is made, and it is very probable that
justice is not done to the style of that author in my re-translation.
152
allowed by him for the cathedral property of all
England.
The gross amount of the property for the county
of Lancaster is upwards of three millions per an
num 5 and it is perhaps not one of the least objec
tions to the church system in England, that a great
part of the large sums nominally paid for its sup
port, are, in fact, nothing more than a species of
lay property, often passing from hand to hand, and
unconnected with any benefit to the ministry of
religion, excepting that the onus (and it may be
added odium, with at least the unreflecting and
uninformed* part of the community) of levying
and realizing the sums, falls to the share of the
church.
From what has been shown, then, it will be clear
that we rather overrate the account of church reve
nues in the United States by estimating them at
561,100,000; while, if we take the whole income
* There can be no greater proof of the difficulty of obtaining a
true estimate of the income of the clergy of the church of Kng-
land than the valuations to be found in the Quarterly itself. Let
us take but two instances. In the article " Progress of Mis-
government," No. 92, we find the church revenues calculated at
about £200 per annum for each clergyman, and an aggregate, with
cathedral property, of £2,673,500. But, referring to No. 58
(Vol. XXIX. p. 556, et seq.\ we find the total revenue of the
established church £3,872,138 ! and that of the parochial clergy
£3,447,138, or, for each clergyman, £303 annually. While in
the church of Scotland each iving is valued at £275, and the
aggregate £263,340.
153
of the established church of Great Britain and Ire
land, the support of the clergy in Scotland, and that
of the Roman catholics, and of all the various sects
of dissenters throughout the United Kingdom,
s6l2,000,000 will be a very low valuation.
This is the only fair mode of comparing the
ecclesiastical expenditure of the two countries.*
* Much has been said lately about a " free trade in religion."
If this phrase have any meaning as applied to the United States,
I am at a loss to discover it. There are few countries where
there is less of trade or pecuniary considerations in connexion
with the ministers of religion than America. Livings can neither
be bought nor sold, nor money received on account of the church,
but by individuals performing certain duties, for which, in the
opinion of those who benefit by their ministry, they are supposed
most eligible. It would be a great mistake to suppose that even
the mere external demonstrations of deep respect for religious
ordinances are not observable in most parts of the United States.
In a great many states there is annually a fast day proclaimed
by the governor of the state, and its observance neither meets
with the animadversion, nor the opposition that similar proclama
tions have been met with in this country. The general respect
for the ordinances of the Sabbath is also at least as great (except,
I am informed, in the southern extremity of the union) as in
any country with which I am acquainted.
FT
154
CHAPTER XVI.
Expenses of administration of justice. — Of state judiciaries.—
Some account of public lands, and future intentions with re
gard to them.
WITH respect to the expenses of the administra
tion of justice, called in the United States " the
judiciary," the Quarterly speaks only in general
terms, but asserts that to the country at large it is
probably more costly than " to any other in the
world !" acknowledging, however, that he knows
of no data sufficiently accurate from which to state
the proportions which the expenses of this depart
ment bear to each other in the two countries re
spectively ; at least not with the " same precision"
as in the cases of the civil and ecclesiastical depart
ment.
In the Appendix will be found a table which
may assist in forming an estimate of the amount of
the expenses of the state " judiciaries," in which
are included the salaries of chief justice, judges,
attorneys and solicitors-general, reporters, munici
pal-courts, police-courts, &c. as complete as it has
been in my power to make it at present, by which
155
it appears that the average annual expense to the
country for the state judiciary is about 395,866
dollars. If we allow 90,000/. for this item, it will
certainly not be underrating it.
Although the magistrates are paid by fees, yet
they are so low, that we may very safely estimate
the usual fees of clerks of the peace and petty law-
officers in this country, as being more than equiva
lent to them.
The principal sources of revenue in the United
States, are the imports, the public lands, and bank
dividends. But the first named alone will be suf
ficient to meet all the expenditure, even after the
sale of bank-stock proposed by the present secre
tary of the treasury, and without the sums hitherto
derived from the sale of public lands.
Among the less prominent sources of revenue of
the United States, there are some that deserve
notice from their daily increasing importance, if
not from their present value. The gold mines,
the sugar plantations, the cultivation of vineyards,
and the production of silk manufactures, &c. are
worthy of attention in forming an estimate of the
financial prospects of the United States.
The public lands were very early looked to as a
source of revenue to the country. As early as
1776, Silas Deane, then a political and commercial
156
agent of the United States in France, communicated
to congress a plan for the sale and settlement of the
territory north-west of the Ohio ; and, as has been
already observed, the calculations of the future
value of this region formed the first great subject
of collision between the several states of the con
federacy. It was, however, a long time before an
effective system was devised, by which the lands
could be thrown open to settlement, or made
available for the purpose of revenue.
Bounty-lands having been promised by the con
tinental congress to the officers and soldiers of the
continental army, it became necessary to redeem
that pledge as early as possible. The controversies
between the several states, and between them and
the United States, retarded for some time the ful
filment of this pledge. On the 20th May 1785,
an ordinance was passed by the congress of the con
federation, for ascertaining the mode of disposing
of lands in the western territory, and this was the
first act of general legislation on the subject. This
act may be found in the new edition of the Land
Laws, page 349. Under it very limited sales were
made, not amounting, in the whole, to more than
121,540 acres.
Subsequently different sales were effected in pro
portion as lands were ceded to the United States
157
by any of the individual states. Pennsylvania be
came a purchaser, and the Ohio Land Company
also became large buyers to the amount of two
millions of acres, afterwards reduced by agreement
to one million ; they paid two-thirds of a dollar per
acre. This company originated in Massachusetts,
and commenced the settlement of Ohio (then an
uninhabited wilderness) in 1788; it now supports
a population of about 1,000,000. Another sale
was effected by an individual, named J. Symmes,
of between 2 and 300,000 acres. He succeeded
perfectly in settling the territory north-west of the
Ohio.
But it wras not till 1802 that the many and trou
blesome controversies that took place between the
general government and the different states on the
subject of the public lands were amicably adjusted.
North Carolina ceded to the United States the
tract of country now forming the state of Tennessee,
in 1789; and Georgia, after much embarrassing dis
cussion, was the last to enter into the arrangement
with the United States, by ceding that territory,
now forming the states of Alabama and Mississippi ;
the United States contracting to extinguish the In
dian title to lands within the limits of Georgia?
" as soon as it could be done peaceably, and on rea
sonable terms."
158
Some account of the mode in which the public
lands are disposed of in the United States may not
be uninteresting* at a moment when emigration is
hourly increasing to our American colonies and the
United States.
On the 10th of May 1800, an act of congress
was passed, laying the foundation of the land system
as it now exists. It has received several modifica
tions at subsequent periods, two of wrhich are of
great importance, and will presently be stated.
Under this law, the substantial features of the
land system of the United States are the following :
All the lands, before they are offered for sale, are
surveyed on a rigidly accurate plan, at the expense
of the government. This is the corner-stone of the
system. In this consists its great improvement
upon the land-system of Virginia, according to which
warrants wrere granted to those entitled to receive
them, for tracts of unsurveyed public land. These
warrants might be located on any land riot previously
appropriated. In the absence of geometrical sur
veys, it was difficult, by natural boundaries, Indian
paths, and buffalo traces, to identify the spots ap
propriated ; the consequence was, that numerous
warrants were laid on the same tract, conflicting
claims arose, and the land titles of the country were
brought into a state of the most perplexing and in-
159
jurious embarrassment. The state of Kentucky,
and that portion of Ohio, allotted as bounty-lands
to the Virginia troops, have constituted one great
theatre of litigation from their first settlement.
On the other hand, land titles acquired under the
system of the United States, are almost wholly ex
empt from controversies arising from uncertainty
of location or boundary.
The surveys of the public lands of the United
States are founded upon a series of true meridians.
The first principal meridian is in Ohio, the second
in Indiana, the third in Illinois, &c., each forming
the base of a series of surveys, of which the lines
are made to correspond, so that the whole country
is at last divided into squares of one mile each, and
townships of six miles each ; and these subdivisions
are distributed with mathematical accuracy into
parallel ranges. The greatest division of land
marked out by the survey is called a township,
and contains 23,040 acres, being six English or
American square miles. The township is subdi
vided into thirty-six equal portions or square miles,
by lines crossing each other at right angles ; these
portions are called sections. The section contains
640 acres, and is subdivided into four parts, called
quarter sections, each of which, of course, contains
160 acres. The quarter sections are finally di-
160
vided into two parts, called half quarter sections, of
eighty acres each, and this is the smallest regular
subdivision known to the system. The sectional
and quarter sectional divisions are designated by
appropriate marks in the field, which are of a char
acter to be easily distinguished from each other.
The half quarter sections are not marked in the
field, but are designated on the plan* or map of
the survey, by the surveyor-general marking the
distance on one of the ascertained lines, in order to
get the quantity of such half quarter sections as ex
hibited by his plan of survey. The fractional
sections, wrhich contain less than 160 acres, are not
subdivided : the fractional sections, which contain
160 acres and upwards, are subdivided in such man
ner as to preserve the most compact and convenient
forms.
A series of contiguous townships, laid off from
north to south, is called a range. The ranges are
numbered north and south from the base or stand
ing line running due east and west. They are
counted from the standard meridian east and west.
The dividing lines of the sections, of course, run
by the cardinal points, except where what is called
a fractional section is created by a navigable river
* Termed " plot" in the American authority.
161
or an Indian boundary. The superintendence of
the surveys is committed to five surveyors-general.
One thirty-sixth part of all the land surveyed, being
section number sixteen in each township, is reserved
from sale for the support of schools in the township,
and other reservations have been made for colleges
and universities. All salt springs and lead mines
are also reserved, and are subject to be leased under
the direction of the President of the United States.
Whenever the public interest is supposed to require
that a certain portion of territory should be brought
into market, for the accommodation of settlers or
others who may wish to become purchasers, the
president issues instructions to the surveyor-gene
ral, through the commissioner of the general land
office at Washington, to have such portion of ter
ritory surveyed. The surveyor-general makes
this requisition publicly known to those individuals
who are in the habit of contracting for public sur
veys; and a contract for the execution of the surveys
required is entered into between the surveyor-gene
ral and deputy surveyors. The contract is given
to the lowest bidder, provided the surveyor-general
be fully satisfied of his capacity to fulfil the contract.
The maximum price established by law for exe
cuting the public surveys is three dollars a mile,
in the upland and prairie countries. In the south-
162
era parts of the United States, where the surveys
are rendered difficult by the occurrence of bayous,
lakes, swamps, and cane-brakes, the maximum price
established by law is four dollars a mile.
The deputy surveyors are bound by their con
tract to report to the surveyor-general the field-
notes of the survey of each township, together with
a plot of the township. From these field-notes the
surveyor-general is enabled to try the accuracy of
the plot returned by the deputy surveyor, and of
th£ calculations of the quantity in the legal sub
divisions of the tract surveyed. From these docu
ments three plans or maps are caused to be pre
pared by the surveyor-general 5 one for his own
office ; one for the register of the proper land office,
to guide him in the sale of the land ; and the third
for the commissioner of the general land office at
Washington. The government has generally found
it expedient to authorise the surveying of forty
townships of land annually, in each land district,
so as to admit of two sales by public auction annu
ally, of twenty townships each.
The general land office at Washington is under
the superintendence of an officer called commiss
ioner of the general land office. It is subordinate
to the treasury department.
The public lands are laid off into districts, in
163
each of which there is a land office, under the super
intendence of two officers, appointed by the presi
dent and senate, called the register of the land
office, and the receiver of public moneys. There
are at present forty-two land officers. The register
and the receiver each receive a salary of five hun
dred dollars per annum, and a commission of one
per cent on the moneys paid into their office.
Till 1820 a credit was allowed on all purchases
of public lands : in consequence of this system, large
quantities of land had been purchased on specula
tion : and also in the ordinary course of purchases a
vast amount of land-debt to the government had
been contracted. To relieve the embarrassed con
dition of these debtors, an act was passed, authoriz
ing the relinquishment of lands purchased, and sub
stituting cash payments for the credit system. The
most beneficial effects have resulted from this
change, apart from the relief of those who were
indebted to the government : at the same time the
minimum price of the land was reduced from two
dollars to one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre.
In the first instance the public lands are offered for
sale, under proclamations of the president, by public
auction, with the limitation of the minimum rate.
Lands not thus sold are afterwards subject to entry
at private sale, and at the minimum price.
164
A very large amount of public land is in the
occupation of persons who have settled upon it
without title. This is frequently done in conse
quence of unavoidable delays in bringing the land
into market, and not from any intention, on the
part of the settler, to delay payment. Laws have
been passed granting to settlers of this description
a pre-emptive right in the acquisition of a title ;
that is, the preference over all other persons, in
entering the land, at private sale. These laws afford
the actual settler no protection against those who
might choose to over-bid him at the public sales ;
but it is believed that in most cases, by mutual
agreement among purchasers, -the actual settler is
enabled to obtain his land, even at public sale, at the
minimum price. It is stated, however, that great
injury is done to the settlers by combinations of
land speculators, who infest the public sales, pur
chasing the lands at the minimum price, and com
pelling bonafule settlers to take them at an enhanced
valuation. Should the settler refuse such an agree
ment, the speculators enter into competition with
him at the sale. On the whole, it would appear
that, on an average, the government obtains but the
minimum price for its lands, although the quantity
actually sold and occupied, being the choice of the
165
whole quantity brought into market, is of course
worth much more.
It has been suggested, and with an appearance
of justice, that the price of the public lands is too
high. The government, having already reimbursed
itself for the cost of them, cannot be considered as
having any other duty to perform than to promote
their settlement as rapidly as it can take place by
a healthy process, and to meet the wishes of all
who desire bonafiile to occupy them. Considering
the class of men most likely to take the lead in
settling a new country, one hundred dollars (the
price of a half quarter-section) paid in cash to the
government, is a tax too heavy, perhaps, for the
privilege of taking up a farm in an unimproved
wilderness. The price is already too low to op
pose a serious obstacle to speculation : a considerable
reduction of it would not, probably, increase that
evil, while it would essentially relieve the bona fide
settler. There would, in fact, perhaps, be little else
to object to a plan of gratuitous donation of a half-
quarter section to actual settlers, than the compara
tive injustice of such a plan towards those settlers
who have already purchased their farms.
A novel and singular claim has been set up in
some of the new states to the entire property of the
public lands within their limits, The nature of
166
this work does not require an examination of this
claim ; to enforce which no attempt has as yet been
practically made.
It ought to be observed, that five per cent on all
the sales of public lands within the states severally
is reserved ; three-fifths of which are to be expended
by congress, in making roads leading to the states ;
and two-fifths to be expended by the states in the
encouragement of learning. The first part of this
reservation has been expended on the Cumberland
road; and the treasury of the United States is
greatly in advance to that fund, on account of this
public work.
The total number of acres belonging to the
United States is 1,062,463,171.
But the mode of disposing of the public lands,
if their sale for the profit of the government te
dispensed with, may give rise to much difficulty, in
seeking to reconcile the interests of the United
States with those of each of the states of the union.
On this important point, Mr M'Lane, with his
usual ability, thus observes : —
"It must be admitted that the public lands were
ceded by the states, or subsequently acquired by
the United States, for the common benefit ; and that
each state has an interest in their proceeds of which
it cannot be justly deprived. Over this part of the
167
public property the powers of the general govern
ment have been uniformly supposed to have a pecu
liarly extensive scope, and have been construed to
authorise their application to purposes of education
and improvement to which other branches of reve
nue were not deemed applicable. It is not practi
cable to keep the public lands out of the market ;
and the present mode of disposing of them is not
believed to be the most profitable, either to the
general government or to the states ; and must be
expected, when the proceeds shall be no longer
required for the public debt, to give rise to new
and more serious objections."
" Under these circumstances, it is submitted to
the wisdom of congress to decide upon the propriety
of disposing of all the public lands, in the aggregate,
to those states, within whose territorial limits they
lie, at a fair price, to be settled in such a manner
as might be satisfactory to all. The aggregate
price of the whole may then be apportioned among
the several states of the union, according to such
equitable ratio as maybe consistent with the objects
of the original cession ; and the proportion of each
may be paid or secured directly to the others by
the respective states purchasing the land. All
cause of difficulty with the general government,
on this subject, would then be removed ; and no
168
doubt can be entertained, that, by means of stock
issued by the buying states, bearing a moderate in
terest, and which, in consequence of the reimburse
ment of the public debt, would acquire a great
value, they would be able at once to pay the amount
upon advantageous terms. It may not be unrea
sonable also to expect, that the obligation to pay
the annual interest upon the stock thus created,
would diminish the motive for selling the lands at
prices calculated to impair the greater value of that
kind of property."
" It is believed, moreover, that the interests of
the several states would be better promoted by such
a disposition of the public domain, than by sales in
the mode hitherto adopted ; and it would, at once,
place at the disposal of all the states of the union,
upon fair terms, a fund for the purposes of educa
tion and improvement, of inestimabl' benefit to the
future prosperity of the nation." -See Report on
the Finances of the United States, of Dec. 1831.
The above details, principally from the Ameri
can Almanac, are compiled from and collated with
the Land Laws published by congress ; Report from
the Treasury to the Senate of the United States,
February 1827; Report of a Select Committee of
the House of Representatives of the United States,
1829; North American Review; American Quar
terly; Seybert's Statistics, &c. &c.
169
CHAPTER XVII.
Gold Mines. — Mint.
GOLD has hitherto, I believe, been discovered only
in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and
Georgia, at least in any quantity.
The first notice of gold, from North Carolina,
on the records of the mint, occurs in the year
1814, during which it was received to the amount
of 11,000 dollars. It continued to be received
during the succeeding years, until 1824 inclusive,
in different quantities, but all inferior to that of
1814, and on an average not exceeding 2500
dollars a year. In 1825, the amount received was
17,000 dollars; in 1826, 20,000 dollars; in 1827,
about 21,000 dollars; in 1828, nearly 46,000 dol
lars; and in 1829, 128,000 dollars.*
In 1825, there was published in the " American
Journal of Science and the Arts," an account of
these mines by Professor Olmsted, who estimated
the gold country at only 1000 square miles; but
it has since been found to be vastly more extensive ;
* Vide American Journal of Science and the Arts.
W
170
and a succession of gold mines has been discovered
in the country lying to the east of the Blue Ridge,
extending from the vicinity of the river Potomac
into the State of Alabama. These mines are now
wrought, to a greater or less extent, in the states of
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Georgia.
In an account of a Tour in North Carolina, pub
lished in a New York Journal, there is mention
made of the gold mines. From this writer we learn
that the state is rich in gold mines. The gold is
far more extensive in that state than is generally
supposed; it commences in Virginia, and extends
south-west through North Carolina, nearly in the
middle of the state as regards its length ; along the
northern part of South Carolina into Georgia, and
thence north-westwrardly into Alabama, and ends
in Tennessee. The mines in North Carolina and
Georgia are now worked to a great extent ; those
of Virginia and South Carolina to a small extent •
and those in Tennessee have not been worked at
all, although it is probable that they will be soon.
In this state, the counties of Burke and Rutherford
contains the bestgoW washings, as they are called ;
that is, the gold there is found in small and pure
particles mixed with the sand, which lies in depo
sits, as if it occupied (as the miners believe) the
beds of what were once streams of water, creeks,
171
rivers, &c. The gold is there obtained by washing
away the sand, and it is a simple process. But the
counties of Mecklenburg, Rowan, Davidson and
Cabarras, are the richest in what may be properly
called gold mines; that is, where the gold is found
in ore, and not distinguishable by the eye, and
which is separated by smelting, using quicksilver
for the purpose of detaching the gold from the gross
earthy substances. This is done by first pounding
the ore (what the miners call stamping it), then
grinding it, mixed with the quicksilver, to a fine
powder (like flour), and afterwards distilling the
whole in an alembic, which separates the quick
silver from the gold. This part of the business is
simple and easy ; but to become an expert and skil
ful miner, to detect gold in the ore with certainty,
and to know how to conduct, if I may say so, the
perforations, that is, sinking shafts (like wells), and
forming and fortifying galleries or horizontal per
forations to reach the veins, &c. requires great in
genuity as well as experience.
The best veins of gold are not horizontal, nor
often vertical, but have a dip of forty-five degrees
to the horizon. They vary in width from a few
inches to several feet. They are not confined to
hills at all, but are found also in the low lands.
These veins are often parallel to each other at un-
172
equal distances. Their depth in most places has
not been ascertained. There have been no shafts
sunk lower than one hundred and twenty feet.
In some of the mines the galleries, or lateral per
forations (or arched entries, as they may be called),
extend a great distance in various directions from
the main shafts, and so reach the veins. They are
usually about twenty feet, one above another, which
enables the miners to work with the greatest ad
vantage.
These mines have not been worked to any con
siderable extent for more than about five or six
years, or probably much less. And yet many of
them are worked upon an extensive scale, and mills
for grinding the ore, propelled by water or by
steam, are erected in vast numbers. The company
of Messrs Bissels, which is one of the most con
siderable, employs about 600 hands. The whole
number of men now employed at the mines in
these southern states is at least 20,000. The
weekly value of these mines is estimated at 100,000
dollars, or more than one million sterling annually.
But a small part of the gold is sent to the United
States' mint. By far the larger part is sent to
Europe, particularly to Paris.
Of the working miners the greater number are
173
foreigners — Germans, Swiss, Swedes, Spaniards,
English, Welsh, Scotch, &c. There are no less
than thirteen different languages spoken at the
mines in this state ! And men are flocking to the
mines from all parts, and find ready employment.
Hundreds of land-owners and renters work the
mines on their grounds on a small scale, not being
able to encounter the expense of much machinery.
The state of morals among the miners or labourers
is represented to be deplorably bad. This maybe
attributed to the absence of any general organiza
tion as yet for the police and regulation of the mines,
combined with the usual effects of gold upon the
uneducated and needy classes of men (often not the
most favourable specimens of their various nations),
who generally seek employment in the gold dis
tricts. The village of Charlotte, in Mecklenburg
county, is in the immediate vicinity of several of
the largest mines. It is increasing rapidly.
One interesting fact deserves mention : — when
speaking of the gold mines, there are indubitable
evidences that these mines were known and worked
by the aboriginal inhabitants, or some other people,
at a remote period. Many pieces of machinery
which were used for this purpose have been found.
Among them are several crucibles of earthenware,
174
and far better than those now in use. Messrs
Bissels have tried three of them, and found that
they lasted twice or three times as long as even the
Hessian crucibles, which are the best now made.
It is to be regretted that some antiquarian has not
had an opportunity of at least examining these
curious relics ; and it is hoped that they will be
preserved in future, notwithstanding the temptation
offered by their superior qualities.
These gold mines prove that the whole region
in which they abound was once under the powerful
action of fire. And it is a fact, not generally
known, that the miners who have come from the
mines in South America and in Europe, pronounce
this region to be more abundant in gold than any
other that has been found on the globe. There is
no telling the extent of these mines : but sufficient
is knowrn to prove they are of vast extent.
It is not easy to ascertain the number of mines
which are now opened ; it is, however, very great,
and constantly increasing. These mining establish
ments are of every variety as to extent of operations.
There is a vast amount of capital invested by the
different companies which are now embarked in
this business. A large portion of this capital be
longs to foreigners.
Since the year 1827, the gold mines of Virginia
175
have also attracted considerable attention. The belt
of country in which they are found extends through
Spotsylvania and some neighbouring counties. The
gold region abounds in quartz, which contains cubes
of sulphuret of iron. These cubes are often partly
or totally decomposed, and the cells thus created
are sometimes filled with gold. The gold is found
on the surface, and in the structure of quartz; but
in greatest abundance resting upon slate, and in its
fissures. The gold is diffused over large surfaces,
and has not yet been found sufficiently in mass,
except in a few places, to make mining profitable.
The method of obtaining the metal is by filtration,
or washing the earth, and by an amalgam of quick
silver. The average value of the earth yielding
gold is stated at twenty cents a bushel.
In the annual report for 1829, the progressive
development of the gold region of the United States
was illustrated by referring to the increase of the
annual receipts from North Carolina, which, pre
vious to 1824, had been inconsiderable, but from
that year to 1829, inclusive, had advanced from
5000 dollars to 128,000 dollars; and also to the
then novel occurrence of gold having been received
at the mint from Virginia and South Carolina,
about 2500 dollars having been received from the
former and 3500 dollars from the latter. The
176
year 1830 exhibits, in relation to all these states,
a conspicuous increase in the production of gold,
and presents also the remarkable fact of £12,000
dollars in gold received from Georgia, from which
state no specimen thereof had been received at the
mint in any previous year.
The following statement, taken from the report
of the director of the mint, January 1, 1831, will
show the amount of gold received from the differ
ent states, as well as that from other countries, in
the course of the year 1830.
The coinage, during the year 1830, amounted to
Dollars.
Gold coins . . 643,105
Silver ditto . . 2,495,400
Copper . . . 17,115
Total . 3,155,620
The description of coins was as follows :
Dollars.
Half eagles . . 126,351 making 631,755
Quarter eagles . . 4,540 . 11,350
Half dollars . . 4,764,800 . 2,382 400
Dimes . . . 510,000 . 51,000
Half dimes . . 1,240,000 . 62,000
Cents . . . 1,711,500 . 17,115
Total number of pieces . 8,357,191 Total 3,155,620
177
Of the gold coined in the course of 1830, there
was imported from
Dollars.
Mexico }
South America > about . . 125,000
West Indies )
Africa . . 19,000
United States . . 466,000
Sources not ascertained . 33,000
Total . 643,000
Of the gold found in the United States, amount
ing in value to about 100?000/. sterling, mentioned
in the foregoing statement, there came from
Dollars.
Georgia, about . . 212,000
North Carolina -. . 204,000
South Carolina . . 26,000
Virginia . . . 24,000
Total produce in the United States 466,000
178
CHAPTER XVIIL
Cultivation of sugar in Louisiana. — Florida.— Slavery.
THE whole produce of sugar in Louisiana, in the
year 1828, has been stated at 88,878 hogsheads of
1000 pounds each. The number of sugar estates
above 700, and the capital invested in them about
forty-five millions of dollars ; but every year the
increasing investments, and more than proportionate
increase in the quantity of sugar made, renders this
estimate but of little use at the present moment.
In Florida, also, the cultivation of sugar has made
great progress. I am indebted to the kindness of
M. Achille Murat* for the following details on the
sugar cultivation of Florida ; but I have no means
at present of ascertaining the amount of capital now
invested in the cultivation of the cane of that state.
It would appear quite certain that in Florida,
with a very moderate capital and some prudence
and activity, a very large return is to be obtained
for money invested in sugar plantations ; and, with
* M. Achille Murat, it may be recollected, left Europe some
years ago, and purchased land in Florida. He has become an
adopted citizen of the United States, where his merit and abili
ties are duly appreciated.
179
perseverance, a large fortune may be realized with
comparative certainty. The cultivation of sugar
in that state is as yet in its infancy ; but a European
can with difficulty imagine the rapidity with wrhich
improvements take place in the United States gene
rally ; and where the cultivation of the south suc
ceeds, the profits are still more encouraging than in
the slower returns of northern industry. A few
years ago the greater part of Florida was almost a
wilderness ; now Tallahassee is a flourishing town,
and great part of the state owes its growing pros
perity, as I am informed, to the cultivation of sugar.
According to Colonel Murat's computation, a pur
chase of 240 acres may be made at three dollars an
acre ; and a plantation stocked with all the neces
sary tools, provisions, mules, ploughs, clothing for
the negroes, &c. for little more than sfilOOO. In
this sum is included the value of ten slaves ; for
the curse of slavery attends^the cultivation of sugar
in the United States, as elsewhere. Let us hope
that it may be practicable at a future time to con
tinue it without this blot upon the growing fortunes
of America, although M. Murat certainly holds out
little prospect of such a consummation.
With this moderate outlay, and no material ad
dition to it for the space of three or four years, a
return of nearly 100 per cent may be obtained.
180
/
Indeed, land may be purchased at half the sum
mentioned above, if at a distance from towns, &c. ;
and, by a judicious alternation of other crops, as cot
ton, maize, &c. very little risk or expense need be
incurred by the cultivator.
The Americans have frequently been reproached
for suffering the continuance of slavery for one
instant after the declaration of independence. It
must be recollected that before that time they were
not allowed to abolish it, even after repeated peti
tions to that effect to the government of the mother
country.
But any person who has an opportunity of ob
serving personally the effects of the existence of
this dreadful evil must, I think, allow that a sudden
and unprepared emancipation would probably be
productive, in the first instance at least, of evils a
thousand-fold greater to all the parties concerned
than even its unmitigated continuance. It is not
one of the least lamentable effects of slavery, that it
is apt to unfit both the oppressor* and the victim
* I use not these terms invidiously; Captain Hall, M. Vigne,
and many succeeding travellers, bear witness to the general kind
ness with which the slaves are treated in the United States. But
it is a system, wherever it exists, whose whole existence rests
upon a foundation of injustice, outrage, and the most atrocious
robbery, that of the liberty, I may say the life (or its usufruct)
of a fellow-creature. This right of an unoffending individual to
his liberty may be disputed by those who argue with Dumont as
181
for a different state of things ; and as a question of
interest, it may be regarded as an alternative of
wealth and power, or complete ruin to the slave-
to the inherent rights of our nature, and would make them depend
upon a legal title. " La declaration des droits peut se faire apres
la constitution, mais non pas avant, car les droits existent par les
lots, et ne les precedent pas," &c. Legislators, he asserts, must
not be tied by general maxims false in themselves. Les liommes
naissent libres et egaux, cela n'est pas vrai. Us ne naissent point
libres, au contraire, ils naissent dans un etat de faiblesse et de
dependance necessaire ; egaux — ou le sont ils ? ou pourront ils
1'etre ? entend-t'on 1'egalite de fortune, de talent, de vertu, d'in-
dustrie, de condition? le mensonge est manifeste. II faut des
volumes pourparvenir a donner un certain sens raisonnable a cette
egalite, que vous proclamez sans exception," &c. &c. — Vide Du-
montfs Mirabeau, French edition, p. 98.
By an extension of this principle there are no moral or personal
rights co-existent with our being, and drawing their origin from
the same inscrutable source that gives us life ; but they depend
entirely on the law of the land. This is an excellent argument
for lawyers, as, carried to the farthest limit, it would declare that
in every country, whatever may be the nature of the law, if it
order the destruction of prisoners, or their conversion into roast
meat, or the mastication, by instalments, of living offenders against
the rights of a husband, as in Sumatra; in short, whatever the law
decrees becomes alone an inherent right.
To confine ourselves, however, to civilized nations, the United
States cut the knot at once, by beginning their declaration with
a formula, that legally gives this right, if not already in existence,
and slavery is a continual infraction of it, not legalized by the
federal union, but by the enactments of particular states.
Finally, no theory has been more misunderstood than that of
the liberty and equality of men subject to the law, in America.
No constitution can render the fortunes, conditions, or abilities
of men equal, any more than it can make any two persons phy
sically or morally precisely similar ; or two leaves of the same
tree perfectly alike ; nor was such an interpretation, I should
182
holders in many cases. Can we be surprised at
the obstacles that are opposed to any general aboli
tion of this (almost universally) allowed evil, by
those states of America whose culture and existence
seem at present to depend on it? Let us turn
from what must unfortunately be regarded for the
present as a necessary evil, admitting of no imme
diate remedy that human prudence can adopt, to
consider the admirable and practicable mode in
which the existence of slavery has been done away
with in the northern, eastern, and other considera
ble states in the union — in a word, in its most
think, ever seriously intended. The natural differences of talent,
person, disposition, &c. produce the corresponding distinctions
among men, which artificial distinction becomes their right, by
the same principle that secured the fruition of their natural ad
vantages. Certain other artificial rights, however, depending
upon the accidents of birth, and having force of law in other
countries, are, by the principles dominant in the United States,
abolished. The natural dependence of man in infancy on
the protection of his parents is by no means disturbed by the
theory of political independence. This helplessness causes the
contraction of a debt of reciprocity of the good offices that the
child receives from its parents, to be at a future period repaid
when the infant itself becomes a parent. The rights to charitable
protection and support possessed by the infirm in mind or body,
depend upon a similar implied mutuality of good offices, when
ever the want of them may be felt by those by whom they are now
conferred. Revealed, or even what is called natural religion,
shows that these common rights of mankind necessarily exist, at
least in civilized communities, whether before or after the creation
of a legal claim.
183
rapidly improving sections. By enacting the pros
pective emancipation of certain slaves at fixed pe
riods, and the birthright of liberty to those born
after certain terms, slavery has disappeared in states
where it formerly extensively existed: and this
extinction of so foul a stain has taken place without
danger or difficulty, by the present mode of carry
ing it into execution. It may be in my power at
a future time to offer some observations on subjects
connected with the extinction of slavery, which
the limits arid nature of this work preclude.
A serious obstacle to the advantageous emancipa
tion of negroes in the United States, is the extraor
dinary prejudice of colour. Europeans can hardly
conceive the force with which this absurd and un
just prejudice acts in America, not only against
those whose blood is unmixed, but against those
coloured persons whom it requires much experience,
and perhaps legal evidence to discover, as being
under the ban of this exclusive aristocracy of com
plexion . If an individual, concentrating the wis
dom and virtues of every age in his own person,
and inheriting the qualities of a Socrates, an Alfred,
a Gustavus Vasa, and a Washington combined, were
born with a negro skin in the United States, I do
not think that he would ever be allowed a perfectly
social equality with a white scoundrel. The con-
184
sequence of this artificial and unjust social degra
dation is not unfrequently a real debasement, which
often renders the free coloured population compara
tively unprofitable members of society.
Those who have the interests of their country at
heart, and look with a prophetic eye, not only to
the interests of humanity, but to those of policy,
have long wished to do away with so great a source
of weakness and unhappiness as the existence of
slavery in the United States, and at the same time
to secure for those emancipated a home, where the
practice of the principles laid down by the declara
tion of independence will not be at variance with
its theory. With this view the establishment of a
colony was proposed so early as the year 1796, by
a distinguished Friend or Quaker, named Gerard
Hopkins ; but it did not produce much useful effect
until General C. F. Mercer, the Wilberforce of the
American Congress, opened a correspondence with
the philanthropists of the different states, which
led to the formation of the American Colonization
Society, in 1817.
" The great objects of that society, were — the
final and entire abolition of slavery, providing for
the best interests of the blacks, by establishing them
in independence upon the coast of Africa, thus
185
constituting them the protectors of the unfortunate
natives against the inhuman ravages of the slaver,
and seeking, through them, to spread the lights of
civilization and Christianity among the fifty mil
lions who inhabit those dark regions. To meet
the views of all parties, they had a most difficult
path to tread ; but as all legislation on the subject
of slavery was specially reserved to the respective
states by the Articles of Confederation, and had be
come the basis of the Constitution of the United
States^ they very wisely, instead of denouncing an
evil which they had not the power to overthrow,
had recourse to the more sure, but gradual mode of
removing it, by enlightening the consciences, and
convincing the judgments, of the slave-holders.
Their theory is justified by experience ; for while
our little colony has grown quite as fast as could
be wished for by its most judicious friends, these
principles have been silently gaining ground in the
slave states, yet so rapidly, that the number of slaves
offered gratuitously by benevolent owners, exceed
ten-fold the present means of the society to receive
and convey them to Africa. The disposition of
Virginia has been already shown. Delaware and
Kentucky have also proved their anxiety to concur
in so noble a cause; and Dr Ayres, the earliest
governor of Liberia, now resident at Maryland,,
186
asserts, c that owing to the plans and principles of
colonization being better understood, in less than
twenty years there will be no more slaves born in
that state.'
'• A party in South Carolina is now almost the
only opponent that the society has at home ; and,
as if to afford the most incontestable evidence that
its plan will destroy the institution of slavery in the
United States, they ground their opposition upon
the inevitable tendency of colonization to eradicate
slave-holding, and thereby deprive them of their
property.
" But if the present means of the society are in
adequate to effect its purposes, it will be recollected
that only eight years have elapsed since Cape Mes-
surado, then a mart for the sale of 10,000 fellow-
creatures annually, was purchased from the natives ;
that unhallowed traffic has been entirely destroyed ;
a flourishing colony of 2000 emancipated slaves
has been founded; churches, schools, commerce,
and even a newspaper established, and the confi
dence of the aborigines so completely won, that
10,000 of them are, as allies of this new republic,
participating in the blessings of civilization and
religion.
" The feelings of these happy people are best
187
described in their circular to the people of colour of
the United States. Knowing that in the infancy
of the society some had impugned its motives, and
others doubted its success, they pointedly observe
— ^ judge, then, of the feelings with which we hear
the motives and doings of the Colonization Society
traduced — and that, too, by men too ignorant to
know what the society had accomplished — too weak
to look through its plans and intentions — or too dis
honest to acknowledge either.' All their letters unite
in grateful thanks for the great blessings conferred
upon them ; and even greater are either realizing,
or in prospect, for the savage tribes around. All
this has been effected for the small sum of 27,000/. ;
and its friends, at first but few, have so increased,
in number and confidence, that one third of their
total receipts accrued during the last year ; several
religious bodies have given it their earnest and unan
imous support; thirteen of the states have re
commended it to the patronage of congress ; and*
on the elevation of its champion, the Hon. Henry
Clay, to the presidency, there cannot be a doubt
that funds adequate to the fulfilment of this glori
ous design will be granted by the general govern
ment.
* It must be recollected that these are the words and senti
ments of the editor of the Report of the Colonization Society.
188
" If the very dregs of the human race (the slav
ers) can drag annually from Africa 100,000 unfor
tunate wretches, will it be doubted that the ener
gies of a free people can restore half as many of her
descendants, when prompted alike by duty and in
terest? — this, in a few years, would effect a cure
of the evil ? — the sum required is too small to be
an obstacle. It has been shown in parliament that
during the last twenty-four years about 8,000,000/.
has been spent upon Sierra Leone. That sum,
divided into thirty instalments, would, in as many
years, settle our whole coloured population in the
land of their ancestors. Nor can it fail to give the
society increased confidence in the soundness of
their own system, when they find that ministers
have announced their intention of regulating the
African colonies of England upon the same plan,
and elevating the black man, by conferring upon
his race the principal offices of the different posts.
Neither has our scheme been unsanctioned by the
approval of some of the best men of Britain — Rich
ard Dykes Alexander, a name ever prominent in
deeds of practical philanthropy, c convinced that a
more rapid progress was never known in any col
ony towards comfort and respectability than that
of Liberia, published an appeal in its behalf; in con
sequence of which, the following sums were sent to
Barnetts, Hoare and Co., 62 Lombard-street,, who
189
continue to act as bankers to the fund, viz." (here
follows a list of subscribers to assist this praise
worthy undertaking). "Each 7/. 10s. of which
not only secures the freedom of a slave and pays
his passage to Africa, but constitutes him a free
holder of thirty acres of fertile land.
" Hence, the undersigned, as representative of the
AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY, feels himself
justified in drawing the same conclusion, which,
he believes, the wise and good of all sects and all
parties in the United States have arrived at — that
it is the happy means, destined by a kind provi
dence, for securing to Africa the fulfilment of the
glorious promises in her behalf — by effecting, in
the mode most consistent with their interest and
happiness, the freedom of her coloured population
— et pari passu, destroying that inhuman traffic
which has so long been the affliction of Africa,
the disgrace of Europe, and the sourge of America.
" ELLIOTT CRESSON."
It is unnecessary for me to add any thing to the
above extract to show the views and principles of
this excellent and practical undertaking, which at
a comparatively small expense has effected so much
without the assistance of any government, or much
loss from the effects of a climate, to which the
coloured population become soon habituated.
190
Some idea of the happy effects already resulting
from this undertaking, may be formed from such
quotations as this, taken by chance from an Ameri
can paper.
"There arrived at the American colony in Africa,
from the 9th to the 29th of January, one ship,
seven brigs, and three schooners, besides vessels be
longing to the colonists ; among them were a brig
from France, a ship from Liverpool, and three brigs
and a schooner from the United States. Some of
the colonists are said to be worth from 10 to 15,000
dollars."— AW. Gazette, April 1831.
The report* of the American Colonization Soci
ety affords ample evidence of the present utility
and good prospects of the colonyf. It contains
* The Reports of the Pennsylvania Colonization Society are to
be found at Miller's and other booksellers in London.
t " The true character of the African climate is not well under
stood in other countries. Its inhabitants are as robust, as healthy,
as long-lived, to say the least, as those of any other country.
Nothing like an epidemic has ever appeared in this colony; nor
can we learn from the natives, that the calamity of a sweeping
sickness ever yet visited this part of the continent. But the
change from a temperate to a tropical country is a great one— •
too great not to affect the health, more or less — and, in the case
of old people, and very young children, it often causes death. In
the early years of the colony, want of good houses, the great
fatigues and dangers of the settlers, their irregular mode of living,
and the hardships and discouragements they met with, greatly
helped the other causes of sickness, which prevailed to an alarm-
191
also a speech of Mr Clay's on this subject, highly
worthy of perusal.
ing extent, and were attended with great mortality. But we
look back to those times as to a season of trial long past,arid
nearly forgotten. Our houses and circumstances are now com
fortable ; and, for the last two or three years, not one person in
forty, from the Middle and Southern States, has died from the
change of climate. The disastrous fate of the company of settlers
who came out from Boston in the brig Vine, eighteen months
ago, is an exception to the common lot of emigrants, and the
causes of it ought to be explained. Those people left a cold
region in the coldest part of winter, and arrived here in the
hottest season of our year. Many of them were too old to have
survived long in any country. They most imprudently neglected
the prescriptions of our very successful physician, the Rev. Lot
Carey, who has great experience and great skill in the fevers of
the country, and depended on medicines brought with them,
which could not fail to prove injurious. And, in consequence of
all these unfortunate circumstances, their sufferings were severe,
and many died. But we are not apprehensive that a similar
calamity will befall any future emigrants, except under similar
disadvantages.
" People now arriving have comfortable houses to receive them ;
will enjoy the regular attendance of a physician in the slight
sickness that may await them; will be surrounded and attended
by healthy and happy people, who have borne the effects of the
climate, and who will encourage and fortify them against that des
pondency which, alone, has carried off several in the first years
of the colony.
" But you may say, that even health and freedom, as good as
they are, are still dearly paid for, when they cost you the com
mon comforts of life, and expose your wives and children to
famine, and all the evils of want and poverty. We do not dispute
the soundness of this conclusion either; but we utterly deny that
it has any application to the people of Liberia.
" Away with ail the false notions that are circulating about the
barrenness of this country: they are the observations of such
ignorant or designing men as would injure both it and you. A
192
The penitentiary system of the United States is
well deserving of attention. Although the peniten-
more fertile soil, and a more productive country, so far as it is
cultivated, there is not, we believe, on the face of the earth. Its
hills and its plains are covered with a verdure which never fades;
the productions of nature keep on in their growth through all the
seasons of the year. Even the natives of the country, almost
without farming tools, without skill, and with very little labour,
make more grain and vegetables than they can consume, and
often more than they can sell.
*' Cattle, swine, fowls, ducks, goats and sheep, thrive without
feeding, and require no other care than to keep them from straying.
Cotton, coffee, indigo, and the sugar-cane, are all the spontaneous
growth of our forests; and may be cultivated, at pleasure, to any
extent, by such as are disposed. The same may be said of rice,
Indian-corn, Guinea-corn, millet, and too many species of fruits
and vegetables to be enumerated. Add to all this, we have no
dreary winter here, for one half of the year to consume the produc
tions of the other half. Nature is constantly renewing herself, and
constantly pouring her treasures, all the year round, into the laps
of the industrious. We could say on this subject more; but we
are afraid of exciting, too highly, the hopes of the imprudent. It
is only the industrious and virtuous that we can point to indepen
dence, and plenty, and happiness, in this country. Such people
are nearly sure to attain, in a very few years, to a style of comfor
table living, which they may in vain hope for in the United States;
and, however short we come of this character ourselves, it is only
a due acknowledgement of the bounty of Divine Providence to
say, that we generally enjoy the good things of this life to our en
tire satisfaction.
<{ Our trade is chiefly confined to the coast, to the interior parts
of the continent, and to foreign vessels. It is already valuable,
and fast increasing. It is carried on in the productions of the
country, consisting of rice, palm oil, ivory, tortoise-shell, dye-
woods, gold, hides, wax, and a small amount of coifee ; and it
brings us, in return, the products and manufactures of the four
quarters of the world. Seldom, indeed, is our harbour clear of
193
tiaries generally can hardly be classed among sources
of revenue, yet in more than one instance in America
European and American shipping ; and the bustle and thronging
of our streets show something, already, of the activity of the
smaller sea-ports of the United States.
(( Mechanics, of nearly every trade, are carrying on their va
rious occupations; their wages are high; and a large number
would be sure of constant and profitable employment.
" Not a child or youth in the colony but is provided with an
appropriate school. We have a numerous public library, and a
court-house, meeting-houses, school-houses, and fortifications suf
ficient, or nearly so, for the colony in its present state.
" Our houses are constructed of the same materials, and finished
in the same style as in the towns of America. We have abund
ance of good building stone, shells for lime, and clay, of an ex
cellent quality, for bricks. Timber is plentiful, of various
kinds, and fit for all the different purposes of building and fenc
ing.
" Truly, we have a goodly heritage ; and if there is any thing
lacking in the character or condition of the people of this colony,
it never can be charged to the account of the country : it must be
the fruit of our own mismanagement, or slothfulness, or vices.
But from these evils we confide in Him, to whom we are in
debted for all our blessings, to preserve us. It is the topic of
our weekly and daily thanksgiving to Almighty God, both in
public and in private, and He knows with what sincerity that
we were ever conducted, by his Providence, to this shore. Such
great favours, in so short a time, and mixed with so few trials,
are to be ascribed to nothing but his special blessing. This we
acknowledge. We only want the gratitude which such signal
favours call for. Nor are we willing to close this paper without
adding a heartfelt testimonial of the deep obligations we owe to
our American patrons and best earthly benefactors, whose wisdom
pointed us to this home of our nation, and whose active and per
severing benevolence enabled us to reach it. Judge, then, of the
feelings with which we hear the motives and doings of the Colo
nization Society traduced — and that, too, by men too ignorant to
Z
194
they have been found not only to defray all the ex
penses of their establishment, but to leave a con
siderable balance of profit (derived from the labour
of the prisoners), at the disposal of the state.
There must consequently be some essential differ
ence in the principles upon which these establish
ments are carried on in our own country, or we
should not see grants of 20?000/. and upwards made
towards the support of similar institutions, instead
of a return produced by the prisoners, as it is not
for want of convicts able to work that they con
tinue so expensive in England.
know what that society has accomplished ; too weak to look through
its plans and intentions; or too dishonest to acknowledge either.
But without pretending to any prophetic sagacity, we can certainly
predict to that society, the ultimate triumph of their hopes and
labours, and disappointment and defeat to all who oppose them.
Men may theorize, and speculate about their plans in America,
but there can be no speculation here. The cheerful abodes of
civilization and happiness which are scattered over this verdant
mountain— the flourishing settlements which are spreading around
it — the sound of Christian instruction, and scenes of Christian
worship, which are heard and seen in this land of brooding pa
gan darkness— a thousand contented freemen united in founding
a new Christian empire, happy themselves, and the instruments of
happiness to others — every object, every individual, is an argu
ment, is demonstration, of the wisdom and goodness of the plan
of colonization.
u Where is the argument that shall refute facts like these ? And
where is the man hardy enough, to deny them ?" — See Report of
American Colonization Society, extract of a letter from a colonist,
verbatim.
195
SUMMARY.
Each individual pays annually towards the public
expenditure as follows :
ACCORDING TO REVUE BRITANNIQUE, NO. 12, 1831.
I. s. d.
In France . 31 francs . or 1 5 10
In United States . 35 francs . or 1 9 2
MR FENIMORE COOPER?S ESTIMATE.
In France gives no estimate.
In United States, i. e. a citizen of New York to the
general and state governments, including principal and
interest of public debt, schools, support of clergy, poor,
internal improvements, &c. 14 francs 5 centimes or 0 11 82
Without the ecclesiastical expenses, the poor, or sums
paid towards the extinction of the public debt, and in
terest upon it . 5 fr. 35 c. . or 0 4 5|
To the state of New York 95 c. . ' or 0 0 9£
GENERAL BERNARD'S CALCULATION.
In France, without clergy (and some other expenses
before specified) . 28 fr. 12 c. . or 1 3 5^
In United States, ditto 11 fr. 47 c. . or 0 9 6^
In France, without the debt, 20 fr. 57 c. . or 0 17 1 &
In United States, ditto 6 fr. 6 c. . or 0 5 0^
In United States, maximum paid by each individual
to state government . 1 fr. 32 . or 0 1 1 11Tr
Or to federal and state governments (exclusive of
clergy) . 0 10 7,V
CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.
In United States, to federal government 0 9 4|
Ditto state government ... .030
Total 0 12 4|
196
It would be superfluous to offer any detailed esti
mate after the above statements, particularly as
the foregoing chapters and the tables in the Ap
pendix will enable any person to make a calculation
of the amount paid by each individual in the
United States towards the public expenditure. It
would appear, however, that the estimate of Mr
Cooper is somewhat low. By adding the estimated
amount paid to the clergy in the United States to
General Bernard's estimate, we obtain with suf
ficient accuracy the real amount.
Allowing largely for the clergy, the state judi
ciaries, &c. and other items omitted by Captain
Hall, added to the federal expenditure, the maxi
mum annual amount may be about thirteen shil
lings.
/. s. d.
For the average expenditure of the United King
dom during the years 1828-9 and 30, including the
national debt, the clergy (of every denomination), and
the poor-rates, an inhabitant of Great Britain pays a
minimum of about . . . . 2 13 4
Or, deducting the interest of national debt, say
28,000,000/. about . . . . 1 10 0
Captain Hall, gives as mean amount paid by each
individual in the United States, \2s. 4|f?. not inclu
ding clergy, poor, &c. but excluding slaves, or per
sons not taxed . . . . . 0 14 51
If we take from the calculation of the sum paid
by each individual in the United Kingdom, the
197
number of those supported by poor-rates, &c. it
would at least balance the difference.
The expense of collecting the revenue in the
United States, including what General Bernard
calls administration centrak, is
In United States . : .5 and ^ per cent.
In France . . . .12 and -^ per cent.
In England, according to Sir H. Parnell 7 and 5 per cent.
But it is probable that Sir Henry Parnell only
includes the expense, technically called " collection
of the revenue" (lately, however, diminished in
amount), and not the whole expense incurred by the
maintenance of public offices, salaries, &c. of each
department. The author of a pamphlet on " Brit
ish Relations with the Chinese Empire," makes the
expense of collection on 97,067,847/. to be in the
years 1828-9 and 1830, 9,402,801/. or about ten
per cent on the amount of import duties, spirits,
malt-liquors, wine, sugar, coffee, tobacco, and stamps.
Vide also Quarterly, 1825.
Dollars. c.
The total expenditure of the federal government
for 1831 is estimated at . . 30,967,201 25
including, however . . . 16,189,289 00
for the payments on the public debt.
Leaving as the amount for current expenditure, 14,777,912 00
or about £3,283,980.
The receipts for 1832 are estimated at . 30,100,000 00
198
Viz. Customs . " /*, 26,500,000
Public lands . . 3,000,000
Bank dividends JV 490,000
Incidental receipts . 110,000
Dollars. c.
The total expenditure for 1832, exclusive of
public debt .... 13,365,202 16
or about ^2,970,045.
Leaving a balance of . . 16,734,797 84
or about ^3,718,843.— Vide Mr M'Lane's Report on the Fi
nances of the United States.
APPENDIX.
Extract from " Review of Captain B. HalVs Travels"
u \yITH regard to the judicial establishments of the two countries,
he is perpetually referring, in the language of taunt, to the superior
firmness of the tenure of office in England. It is plain, from every
word he utters, that he is under a complete delusion as to the real
state of the fact. In England the judges can be removed by a bare
majority of the legislature, without any form of trial, or even an alle
gation of their having committed any offence. Paley states this with
his usual correctness (Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy):
' As protection against every illegal attack upon the rights of the
subject by the servants of the crown is to be sought for from these
tribunals, the judges of the land become not unfrequently the arbi
trators between the king and the people, on which account they
ought to be independent of either; or what is the same thing, equally
dependent on both; that is, if they be appointed by the one, they
should be removable only by the other. This was the policy which
dictated that memorable improvement in our Constitution, by which
the judges, who, before the revolution, held their offices during the
pleasure of the king, can now be deprived of them only by an ad
dress from both houses of parliament, as the most regular, solemn
and authentic way by which the dissatisfaction of the people can be
expressed.' Mr Hallam, in his Constitutional History (vol. i. p.
245), remarks, ; No judge can be dismissed from office except in
consequence of a conviction for some offence, or the address of both
houses of parliament, which is tantamount to an act of legislature ."
And thus the matter rests at the present day. The same casting vote
which suffices to pass a law may dismiss the judge whose interpreta-
200
tion of it is not acceptable. This is not the case in any part of the
United States. The judges of the national courts cannot be reached
by address at all; they may defy the president and both houses of
congress. In the states where this English provision has been copied,
it has been rendered comparatively harmless by requiring the con
currence of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature in order to
effect the removal.
4 ' Let us suppose, for the sake of illustration, a question to arise on
the emancipation bill, as it is called, of last session. The most strenu
ous supporters of that bill admitted it to be a violation of what they de
signated as the constitution of 1688. In Mr Peel's speech, less than
a year before, he declared, 4 If the constitution was to he considered
the king, lords, and commons, it would be subverting that constitu
tion to admit Roman Catholics to the privileges they sought; it would
be an important change in the state of the Constitution as established
at the revolution.' (Speech in May 1828.) Lord Tenderden, the
chief justice of the court of king's bench, in resisting in the house of
lords the bill subsequently introduced by Mr Peel himself, declared
that ' he looked upon the proposed measure as leading by a broad
and direct road to the overthrow of the Protestant Church.' (Times,
Jlpril 6, 1829.) Suppose the sergeant-at-arms should thrust back
Mr O'Connell on his attempting to enter the house of commons, or
any other cause arise bringing up the act: were Lord Tenderden, as
a judge, to use any language of an unsatisfactory kind, he might be
hurled from his seat by that very legislature, which was induced to
pass the law. In the United States the people have denied themselves
this power.. Mr Chief Justice Marshall might move intrepidly on,
where Lord Chief Justice Tenderden must yield or be sacrificed.
Congress/aiYZi/ and equally represents the whole country, yet it has
not the power of a British parliament to bring to bear on judges what
Paley calls l the displeasure of the people.'
" It is a subject of curious reflection, that until the constitution
of 1688, or rather until the 13th year of Will. III., judges were, as
Paley remarks, the creatures of the crown. The actual power of
judicial appointment at present resides in Mr Peel, the home secre
tary. He has said that the constitution of 1688 would be subverted
by measures which he has since urged through parliament; if so, the
king has an unlimited power of making and unmaking judges. Put
that constitution out of view, and Lord Tenderden may be dismissed
in the same way as his predecessor Lord Coke was, in the time of
James the first.
201
" Captain Hall has sad misgivings; he tells us as to what will be
our fate if the supreme court should at any time falter in its duty, and
consent to execute an unconstitutional law. Now there is, of course,
no end to the hypotheses which an ingenious mind may frame as to
the effect of derelictions of duty, by any department of a government.
The house of commons may, as Paley remarks, " put to death the
constitution, by the refusal of the annual grants of money to the sup
port of the necessary functions of government." So may the judici
ary commit some suicidal act. We have given to our judges every
motive to a high and fearless execution of their trust; the oath to sup
port the constitution, — absolute immunity, — and, on the other hand,
the infamy of judicial cowardice. Human precaution can go no fur
ther. But where are we if all these securities prove ineffectual?
Just where other countries are which do not intrust to the judge the
power of canvassing a legislative act. What was the history of our
revolution? Whilst we were a part of the British empire, an attempt
was made to tax us in defiance of a common law principle. As the
courts stood ready to enforce these odious measures, we were driven
to arms. Lord Chatham declared us to be in the right. Mr Fox
has subsequently placed on record his opinion that our resistance
preserved the integrity of the English constitution, and parliament
itself has recognised the justice of our course by a definition of the
true colonial principle. Our present position is this: — we have pla
ced our judges in a situation far more independent than the same
functionaries enjoy in England. We are a patient, quiet people,
and will submit to a great deal even of what we deem injustice, ra
ther than put all these blessings in peril by violence: but, finally, we
hold in reserve for intolerable grievances what Blackstone describes,
even in England, as the last resort.
u It is the more to be regretted that Captain Hall should have ex
hibited an absurd ignorance on this subject, as he has thereby dimi
nished materially the chance of our profiting by his criticism, even
when better founded. A foreigner is often struck by errors to which
the people, amongst whom they exist, are rendered insensible, and
his candid and temperate exposure of them may lead to a reforma
tion, which might have been struggled for in vain by those whose mo
tives were more liable to suspicion. Thus, he very justly denounces
the practice, in a few of the states, of rendering the judges periodi-
2 A
202
tally elective, thinking that they are thereby exposed to, at least, a
suspicion of servility to the government. He thinks that they ought
to be placed on the same footing with the judges of the United States,
and of the largest states; but unfortunately he has thrown away all
his influence as an auxiliary, by seriously pretending to refer these
misguided people, in the most triumphant manner, to the case of
England, when they are too well aware that an evil of the same
character exists in that country, in a form infinitely more odious and
alarming, and on a scale altogether stupendous.
" The allusion is, of course, to the high court of chancery.
There is a sum at stake in the litigation of that court — nay, actually
locked up awaiting its decisions — equal to the value of the fee-
simple of the states in question, and all their movables into the
bargain — a sum more than sufficient to pay off the whole national
debt of the United States several times over. Its jurisdiction is of
the most diffusive character, and it may be said to reach in some
way, either directly or indirectly, the interests or the sympathies of
every individual in the community. As no court presents so many
temptations to indirect practices, so there is no one in which they
may be so readily veiled. A year's delay, to obtain which might
be an object of sufficient importance to warrant an enormous bribe,
would scarcely excite even suspicion in a court whose procrastina
ting temper is proverbial. There is no jury to participate in its
labours, or to check an improper bias; nor do its proceedings
possess that kind of popular interest which attracts to them the
supervision even of the readers of the newspapers. What is the
tenure by which this almost boundless power over the anxieties and
the interests of the community is held? The will of the minister of
the day: his breath can make or unmake the lord chancellor. A
premier would instantly resign if his declared wish for the removal
of this officer should be disregarded: such a refusal would be con
sidered as depriving him of an authority essential to the discipline
of the cabinet, and to that concert and cordiality on which the
success of its measures must so greatly depend. When it is recol
lected that within the brief space of nine months, there stood at the
head of affairs in Great Britain four different individuals in succession
(Lord Liverpool, Mr Canning, Lord Goderich, the Duke of
Wellington), it will readily be conceded that the chancellor can
never consider himself as altogether safe, since he is liable to be
203
sacrificed, not merely to any particular scheme of policy, which he is
accused of thwarting, but even to those impulses of temper, on the
one side or the other, through which Mr Huskisson ceased to be a
minister. It seems to be universally agreed that Lord Lyndhurst
must have gone out, as the attorney-general did, had he not voted
for the Relief Bill of last session.
41 If we look back to the history of this court we shall see plainly
what has been the practical consequence of this state of things.
The mind involuntarily turns to Lord Bacon: the 'greatest, wisest'
of mankind, he became lord chancellor only to furnish to the poet a
sad antithesis to these epithets. There is nowhere to be found a
more mortifying rebuke to the pride of human nature than is fur
nished in witnessing the influence of circumstances over a mind so
wholly without a parallel in modern times, whether we refer to
original power and compass, or to extent of acquirement. His
appointment, as appears by his own letters, was brought about by
Buckingham, the favourite of King James. The abject subjec
tion in which he was held is thus stated by his biographer Mallet.
1 During the king's absence in Scotland, there happened an affair,
otherwise of small importance, but as it lets us into the true genius
of those times, and serves to show in what miserable subjection the
favourite held all those who were in public employments. He was
on the point of ruining Sir Francis Bacon, the person he had just
contributed to raise; not for any error or negligence in their
master's service, but merely for an opinion given in a thing that
only regarded his own family. Indeed, such was his levity, such
the insolence of his power, that the capricious removal of men from
their places became the prime distinction of his thirteen years'
favour, which, as Bishop Hacket observes, was like a sweeping
flood that at every spring-tide takes from one land to cast what it
has taken upon another.' And again, £nor even thus did he
presently regain his credit with Buckingham; the family continued
to load him with reproaches: and he remained long under that
agony of heart which an aspiring man must feel when his power
and dignity are at the mercy of a king's minion, young and giddy
with his elevation. They were, however, reconciled at last, and
their friendship, if obsequiousness in o?ie, to all the humours of the
other, deserves the name of friendship, continued without interruption
for some years: while Buckingham went on daily to place and dis-
204
place the great officers of the crown, as wantonness of fancy, or
anger, or interest led him; to recommend or discountenance every
private person, who had a suit depending in any court just as he
was influenced; to authorise and protect every illegal project that
could serve most speedily to enrich himself or his kindred,' &c.
"At length his bribery and venality became so flagrant and no
torious, that it was found necessary to put him aside.
" What brought about the dismissal of Lord Clarendon from the
same high office? We are told that the gravity of his deportment
4 struck a very unpleasing awe into a court filled with licentious
persons of both sexes;' certain false suggestions were in consequence
got up, which, l assisted by the solicitations of theladies of pleasure,
made such impressions upon the king, that he at last gave way and
became willing, and even pleased, to part both from his person and
services.' (Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, art. Hyde.)
Pepys, secretary to the admiralty, in the reign of Charles II. thus
refers, in his Diary, recently edited by Lord Braybrooke, to the
same transaction. ' This day, Mr Pierce, the surgeon, was with
me, and tells me how this business of my lord chancellor's was
certainly designed in my Lady Castlemain's chamber; and that
when he went from the king on Monday morning she was in bed
(though about twelve o'clock), and ran out in her smock into her
aviary, looking into Whitehall-garden; and thither her woman
brought her her night-gown, and stood blessing herself at the old
man's going away.'
" Clarendon's integrity could not be overcome. Had he proved
weak as Lord Bacon, he would have been drawn into the same
wretched thraldom to the male or female favourite of the hour.
Influence, wherever lodged, would have been an object of dread;
and the power of alarming the anxieties of the chancellor have
proved the best perquisite of the king's mistress. A magistrate
thus debased would quickly come to understand that he might give
as much offence by an honest decree as by the gravity of his deport
ment, and even should an exposure ultimately take place, it would be
impossible to trace the taint of corruption through the vast and
complicated business of the court, much less to redress the mischief
which had been done.
" Coming into the next century, we find Lord Chancellor the
Earl of Macclesfald, disgraced for bribery and venality.
205
" The circumstances which more recently led to the dismissal of
Lord Camden are thus stated by the Earl of Chatham, in his speech
explanatory of the pension granted to that illustrious magistrate,
prior to his appointment as chancellor. (See Gentleman's Maga
zine for 1770, p. 104.) ' I recommended him to be chancellor;
his public and private virtues were acknowledged by all; they made
his situation more precarious. I could not reasonably expect from
him that he should quit the chief-justiceship of the common pleas,
which he held for life, and put himself in the power of those who
were not to be trusted, to be dismissed from the chancery, perhaps
the day after his appointment. The public has not been deceived
by his conduct. My suspicions have been justified. His integrity
has made him once more a poor and a private man ; he was dismissed
for the vote he gave in favour of the right of election in the subject.'
In the same volume, p. 141, will be found 'The Humble Address,
Remonstrance, and Petition of the Electors of the City and Liberty
of Westminster, assembled in Westminster-hall, the 28th March
1770,' in which they say, l by the same secret and unhappy influ
ence to which all our grievances have been originally owing, the
redress of those grievances has been now prevented; and the griev
ances themselves have been repeatedly confirmed, with this additional
circumstance of aggravation, that while the invaders of our rights
remain the directors of your majesty's counsels, the defenders of
those rights have been dismissed from your majesty's service, your
majesty having been advised by your ministers to remove from his
employment for his vote in parliament the highest officer of the law,
because his principles suited ill with theirs, and his pure distribution
of justice with their corrupt administration of it in the house of
commons.'
" Whilst, therefore, the great law officer of England sits at the
council board, and at the banquet, with the sword suspended over
his head by a single hair — whilst in the middle of a cause he may
learn that his judicial functions are at an end — Captain Hall, with a
generous waiver of all selfish considerations, thinks only of the poor
souls on the other side of the Atlantic.
* Woe, woe, for Indiana, not a whit for me!'
44 His sympathies are on a mission to the Ohio, to awaken people
there to a sense of their perilous condition, whilst his own brethren
206
are left unheeded behind. He dreads lest in the legislature of some
one of the states composed of men ' who have come straight from
the plough, or from behind the counter, from chopping down trees,
or from the bar,' corruption may be found. He has no fear of the
abuse of power by an individual."
207
General Table of all Religious Denominations throughout the United Slates,
specifying the number of Ministers, Churches, Communicants, and Indivi
duals.
Denominations.
Ministers.
a> i
- to 2
^5.2
H^ «
J'o M
Communi
cants.
es
y
o '-3
P«
1. Calvinistic Baptists .
2,914
4,384
304,827
2,743,453
2. Methodist Episcopal Church
1,777
476,000
2,600,000
3. Presbyterians (General Assembly) .
I,b01
2,253
182,017
1,800,000
4. Congregationalists (orthodox)
1,000
1,270
140,OOC
1,260,000
5. Protestant Episcopal Church
558
700
600,000
6. Universalists ....
150
300
500,000
7. Roman Catholics
500,000
8. Lutherans
205
1,200
44,000
400,000
*9. Christians ....
200
800
25,000
275,000
10. German Reformed
84
400
17,400
200,000
11. Friends, or Quakers .
400
200,000
12. Unitarians (Congregationalists)
160
193
176,000
L3. Associate and other Methodists
350
35,000
175,000
14. Free-will Baptists
300
400
16,000
150,000
15. Dutch Reformed
159
194
17,888
125,000
16. Mennonites ....
200
30,000
120,000
17. Associate Presbyterians
74
144
15,000
100,000
18. Cumberland Presbyterians
50
75
8,000
100,000
19. Tunkers, or Dunkers
40
40
3,000
30,000
20. Free-communion Baptists
30
3,500
30,000
21. Seventh-day Baptists
30
40
2,000
20,000
22. Six-principle Baptists
25
30
1,800
20,000
23. United Brethren, or Moravians
23
23
2,000
7,000
24. Millenial Church, or Shakers
45
15
6,000
25. New Jerusalem Church
30
28
5,000
26. Emancipators (Baptists)
15
600
4,500
27. Jews and others not mentioned, San-
demanians
150
50,000
N.B. Lists of many more than double the above number of sects and deno
minations as existing in England and elsewhere, are given by Evans, Rannah
More, Hulbert, &c.; but these are all that are mentioned by the " American Al
manac," for 1832 (a most useful work published at Boston); " Quarterly Regis
ter of American Education;" " Sword's Ecclesiastical Register;" " Report of
American Unitarian Association," &c. &c. on which authorities the above table
is given.— W. G. 0.
208
General Bernard's Comparative Statement
FRENCH BUDGET.
Francs.
Public Debt
Civil List
Justice
Mministration Centrale
Foreign Affairs
Administration Centrale
Total
Total
19,097,020
552,000
8,180,000
820,000
Interieur, or Home Department.
Fonts et chaussees, mines, travaux
publics, lignes telegraphiquc, &c. 91,513,517
Miscellaneous . . 12,935,483
Administration Centrale . 1,151,000
Total
Ecclesiastical Affairs
Administration Centrale
Public Instruction
35,551,500
370,000
Total
Commerce and Manufactures 2,844,000
Administration Centrale . 450,200
Total
Francs.
247,943,065
32,000,000
19,649,020
9,000,000
105,600,000
35,921,500
1,995,000
3,294,200
209
of the French and American Budgets.
AMERICAN BUDGET.
Francs. Cs. Francs. Cs.
Public Debt . . 52,500,000 00
Civil List . . . 131,250 00
Department of State *\; . 3,179,101 69
Central Administration . . 170,409 75
Total 3,349,511 44
210
Francs.
Francs.
War Department . 185,623,000
Administration Centrale . 1,577,000
Total 187,200,000
Marine, or Naval Department
Administration Centrale
Total
Finance
Administration Centrale
Post Office
Administration Centrale
Total
Total
64,480,000
790,000
94,954,100
5,000,000
14,546,294
2,233,530
65,270,000
99,954,100
16,779,824
Administration of Public Revenues 108,388,268
Central Administration . 3,000,955
(Without the Post Office) Total 1 1 1,389,223
Reimbursements and Compensations 49,939,397
Total of French Budget . . 977,935,329
Or (at 25 francs) about £39, 1 1 7,4 1 3
War Department
Army, Fortifications, and Ma
teriel of Artillery
Public ^Vorks
Indians
Central Administration
Total
Naval Department
Central Administration
Treasury Department
Central Administration
Total
Total
Francs. Cs. Francs. Cs.
20,601,943 47
4,454,748 06
2,749,725 14
327,429 38
22,466,660 21
247,112 25
21,911,335 85
1,369,987 50
Post Office
(This is not a branch of public revenue in the
United States; the receipts cover the expendi
ture, all but the mere expenses of office or Ad
ministration Centrale.)
5,133,846 05
22,713,772 46
23,281,323 35
3^1,772 50
Total of American Budget
Or (at 25 francs) £5,2 1 7,259
130,431,475 80
I 1.
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214
Table, showing the Governor's Term and Salary, the number of
Senators and Representatives, with their respective Terms and
Pay in the different States.
States.
Govr's
term of
Salary.
Sena
Term
of
Repre
senta
Term
of
Total
of sen.
Pay
>erday
Expense
of one
month
years.
tors.
years.
tives.
years.
& rep.
lars.
for sen.
and rep.
Maine
1
1500
20
1
153
1
173
2.00
10,380
New Hampshire
1
1200
12
1
229
1
236
2.00
14,160
Vermont*
1
750
none
230
1
230
1.50
10,350
Massachusetts-}-
1
5666?
40
1
481
521
2.00
31,260
Rhode Island
1
400
10
1
72
i
82
1.50
3,690
Connecticut^
1
1100
21
1
208
1
229
2.00
13,740
New York
2
40 00
32
4
128
1
160
3.00
1,440
New Jersey§
1
2000
14
1
50
1
64
3.00
5,760
Pennsylvania
3
4000
33
4
100
1
133
3.00
10,970
Delaware
3
1333^
9
3
21
1
30
2.50
2,250
Maryland
1
3.500
15
5
80
1
95
4.00
11,400
Virginia
3
3333A
32
4
134
1
166
4.00
19,920
North Carolina
1
2000
64
1
134
1
198
3.00
17,820
South Carolina
2
3900
45
4
124
2
169
4-00
20,280
Georgia
2
3000
78
1
142
1
220
4-00
26,400
Alabama
2
2000
22
3
72
94
4.00
11,280
Mississippi
2
2500
11
3
36
1
47
3.00
4,230
Louisiana
4
7500
17
4
50
2
67
4.00
7,040
Tennessee
2
2000
20
2
60
2
80
4.00
9,600
Kentucky
4
2000
38
4
100
1
138
2.00
8,280
Ohio
2
1200
36
2
72
1
108
3.00
9,720
tndiana
3
1000
23
3
62
1
85
2.00
5,100
Illinois
4
1000
>
4
?
2
?
3.00
.?
Missouri
4
1500
18
4
49
2
65
3.00
5,940
56,383£ || dollars, or about 12,600/. Total 1 261,010
or, allowing- 6,000 dollars for Illinois, not ascertained, 267,010 dollars.
* There is no senate in the legislature of Vermont; but the executive council,
consisting of the governor, lieutenant governor, and twelve counsellors, elected
by the freemen, are empowered to lay before the general assembly such business
as shall appear to them necessary; also to revise and propose amendments to the
laws passed by the house *of representatives.
•j- The number of representatives in the legislature of Massachusetts in 1831
was 481,- but the number is very variable.
J The pay of the senators, in the legislature of Connecticut, is two dollars a
day, that of the representatives 1.50.
§ The upper house, which forms an independent branch of the legislature of
New Jersey, is styled the "Legislative Council."
|| These salaries appear very low; but it must be remarked, that the post of go
vernor of a state is less one of emolument than of distinction and power; the
expense it entails generally greatly exceeding the amount of salary. Ft is some
what analogous, in this respect, to the lord-lieu tenantcies of counties in this country.
IT A small allowance per mile is made for the travelling expenses of the mem
bers of the legislature, the exact aggregate amount of which sums it would be
difficult to calculate: by allowing a session of nearly five months in the year, in
all the states, we certainly cover this expense.
From the above table it will appear that the total amount of the sums paid to
the senators and representatives of the state legislatures throughout the whole
union, together with the salaries of the governors, would not amount to 280,OOOZ.
English, if all the legislatures were to remain in session between four and five
months in the year (the average is perhaps not more than two or three months,
in reality).— W. G. O.
215
Statement, showing the aggregate number of persons in each of
the States, according to the fifth census, and distinguishing
the Slave from the Free Population in each State, according to
the corrections made in the returns of the Marshals and their
assistants by the Secretary of State.
(From Letter of Secretary of State to Speaker of House of Representatives,
dated Jan 4, 1832. )
States.
Number of
white per
sons.
Number
of free
colored.
Total of
free per
sons.
Slaves. .
Total of all
descriptions.
Maine
398,260
1,171
399,431
6
399,437
New Hampshire
268,721
602
269,323
5
269,328
Massachusetts
603,359
7,045
610,404
4
610,408
Rhode Island
93,621
3,564
97,185
14
97,199
Connecticut
289,603
8,047
297,650
25
297,675
Vermont
279,776
881
280,657
none
280,657
New York
1,868,061
44,869
1,912,930
76
1,913,006?
*1253
New Jersey
300,266
18,303
318,569
2,254
320,823
Pennsylvania
1,309,900
37,930
1,347,830
403
1,348,233
Delaware
57,601
15,855
73,456
3,292
76,748
Maryland
291,108
52,938
344,046
102,994
447,040
Virginia
694,300
47,348
741,648
469,757
1,211,405
North Carolina
472,843
19,543
492,386
245,601
737,987
South Carolina
257,863
7,921
265,784
315,401
581,185
Georgia
296,806
2,486
299,292
217,531
516,823
Alabama
190,406
1,572
191,978
117,549
309,527
Mississippi
70,443
519
70,962
65,659
136,621
Louisiana
89,231
16,710
105,941
109,588
215,529 ?
*2105
Tennessee
535,746
4,555
540,301
141,603
681,904
Kentucky
517,787
4,917
522,704
165,213
687,917
Ohio
926,311
9,567
935,878
6
935,884
Indiana
339,399
3,629
343,028
3
343,031
Illinois
115,061
1,637
156,698
747
157,445
Missouri
114,795
569
115,364
25,091
140,455
* Aliens, or persons not classified under the above heads.
N.B. It will be perceived that the population returns for the territories of Flo
rida, Arkansa and Michigan, and the district of Columbia, being wanting, no
total is here given of the whole population of the United States, which probably
amounts, however, to, at present, as nearly as possible, 13,000,000. In 1830
the census gave. 12,856,165 as the total population.— W. G. O.
216
STEAM-BOAT NAVIGATION FROM ST LOUIS.
St Louis is 1200 miles, by the course of the river, above New
Orleans, and is, next to that city, the largest and most commercial
town on the Mississippi. In the summer of 1831 there were six
steam-boats regularly employed between St Louis and New Or
leans. A trip from one place to the other, and back again, usually
occupies twenty-four days; the shortest time in which one was ever
made, eighteen days. The usual fare for cabin passengers descend
ing, 20 dollars; ascending, 25 dollars; for deck passengers, 5 dol
lars, either way. • Freight per 100 Ibs. descending, 37£ cents;
ascending, 62£ cents.
From'St Louis to Louisville, 630 miles; six boats regularly run
ning, in 1831; usual time of a trip ten or eleven days; the passage
one way usually being somewhat more than three days: fare of cabin
passengers about 15 dollars, either way; deck passengers 4 dollars:
freight about 25 cents per 100 Ib. One boat also ran regularly to
Cincinnati, 150 miles above Louisville.
From St Louis to Fever River, about 480 miles, three steam
boats regularly employed in 1831 ; time occupied by a trip about ten
days: fare for passengers ascending, 15 dollars; descending, 9 dol
lars. The route of one of the boats occasionally extended to St
Peter's River, 400 miles further up.
In 1821 two boats were employed in running from St Louis up
the Missouri to Franklin, 200 miles, and to Fort Leavenworth, 200
miles further: freight to Franklin 75 cents per 100 Ibs., and to Fort
Leavenworth from 1.25 to 1.50 dollars: from Franklin down, 25
cents per 100 Ibs.
From St Louis to Pekin, on Illinois River, 180 miles: two or
three boats regularly employed in 1831. Steam-boats come occa-
sionly to St Louis, from Pittsburg and other places.
217
Whole number of Steam Boats built on the Western Waters.
J
1
bh
S3
O
'5
,0
1
jj
v runnii
or worn
Of the Coats now running,
^
"o
js
P-
o
1
1811
1814
1815
1
4
3
1
4
3
68 were built at Cincinnati
68 Pittsburgh
2 ... Louisville
1816
2
2
12 New Albany
1817
9
9
7 .... Marietta
1818
23
23
2 .... Zanesville
1819
1820
27
7
1
27
6
1 Fredericksburgh
1 Westport
1821
6
1
5
1 .... Silver Creek
1822
7
7
1 Brush Creek
1823
1824
13
13
1
1
12
12
2 .... Wheeling
1 .... Nashville
1825
31
19
12
2 Frankfort
1826
52
36
16
1 Smithland
1827
25
19
6
1 .... Economy
1828
31
28
3
6 .... Brownsville
1829
53
53
3 ... Portsmouth
1830
30
30
2 Steubenville
1831
9
9
2 .... Beaver
1 .... St Louis
3 New York
1 .... Philadelphia
10 Not known
348
198
150*
198f
* Of the 150 lost or worn out, (here were: —
Worn out . . . .63
Lost by " snags" . . .36
Burnt . . .14
Lost by collision ... 3
By other accidents, not ascertained 24
Total 150
f Ot this whole number, 111 were built at Cincinnati, 68 of which were run
ning in 1831.
218
Expenses to each State of its Judiciary, including the Territories
and District of Columbia.
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont, about
Massachusetts
Rhode Island,* about
Connecticut!
New YorkJ
New Jersey
Pennsylvania §
Delaware
Maryland
Virginiall
North Carolina^
South Carolina
Dollars.
10,000
Georgia**
7,800
Alabama
6,000
Mississippi
29,800
Louisiana, about
2,000
Tennessee
6,158
Kentuckytt
26,500
OhiojJ
3,400
Indiaria§§
50,666
Illinois
5,500
Missouri
23,000
District of Columbiallll
12,720
Florida
12,900
Michigan
34,072
Arkansas
130,416
Dollars.
16,800
12,250
12,000
20,000
22,700
20,900
13,800
7,000
4,700
8,300
9,000
6,000
6,000
6,000
165,450
Total . 395,866 Dollars.
* In Rhode Island some of the judges are paid by fees.
I In Connecticut county courts the chief judges have three and a half dollars
per diem; associate judges, three dollars during session, and nine cents per mile
tor their journeys.
\ In New York, the registers, reporters, and clerks of Chancery and Superior
Courts are paid by fees.
§ In Pennsylvania, the prothonotaries paid by fees; judges of Superior Courts,
when travelling, four dollars per diem.
|| In Virginia, the judges receive one quarter of a dollar per mile, for travelling,
additional.
H In North Carolina there are some fees.
** In Georgia some fees.
ft In Kentucky there are some fees.
J| In Ohio there are fees, and associate judges in each county court receive
two and a half dollars per diem during courts.
§§ In Indiana, the associates get two dollars per diem.
Illl In the district of Columbia there are fees also. — W. G. O.
219
Colleges in the United States.
Name.
Place.
IVY hen
founded. |
vJ
Number ol
Alumni.
Number ot
Ministers. |
c
OQ
Jowdoin
Brunswick, Maine
794
7
392
39
137
Waterville
Waterville, Do
820
5
60
19
45
)artmouth
EFanover N. Hampshire
770
9
2250
530
153
Jni versify of Vermont
Middlebury
Turlington, Vermont
Middlebury, Do
791
800
4
5
182
509
205
36
99
[arward University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
638
24
5621
1424
236
Williams
Williamstown, Do
793
7
721
215
115
Amherst
\mherst, Do
821
10
208
52
188
Brown University
Yale
-*rovidcnce, Rhode Island
S"ew Haven, Connecticut
764
700
6
15
1182
4428
442
1257
95
346
Washington
iartford, Do
826
9
25
70
Wesleyan University
Middletown, Do
831
5
Columbia
New York, New York
754
6
8SO
124
Jnion
Schenectady, Do
795
to
1373
268
205
iamilton
Clinton, Do
812
7
189
20
77
Geneva
Geneva, Do
823
6
15
6
31
College of New Jersey,
Princeton, New Jersey
74610
1930
406
105
lutgers
!^ew Brunswick, Do
770
5
70
Jniversity of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
755
9
125
)ickinson
Carlisle, Do
783 4
21
Tefferson
Danonsburg, Do
802 7
341
136
120
Western University
Washington
Pittsburg, Do
Washington, Do
1820
806
4
4
45
143
13
26
53
47
Allegheny
Vleadviile, Do
815
3
9
6
Madison
Union Town, Do
829
5
70
St Mary's*
Baltimore, Maryland
799
IS
147
University of Maryland
St Johns
Do Do
Annapolis, Do
1812
1784
11
636
76
Vlount St Mary's*
Near Emmittsburg, Do
1830
75
12
130
Columbian
Washington, Capital
1821
4
5C
Georgetown*
William and Mary
tiampden Sydney
Washington
University of Virginia
University of North Carolina
Charleston
Georgetown, Dist. Columbia
Williamsburg, Virginia
Prince Edward Colony, Do
Lexington, Do
Charlottesville, Do
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
1799
1693
1774
1812
1819
1791
1785
19
7
6
{
(
7
380
538
4,34
27
c
*
140
60
54
23
130
69
61
College of South Carolina
Columbia, Do
1801
(
490
11
111
University of Georgia
Alabama University
Jefferson
Athens, Georgia
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Washington, Mississippi
1785
1820
1802
G
U
256
16
95
65
160
Louisiana
Jackson, Louisiana
Greenville
Greenville, Tennessee
1794
32
University of Nashville
Nashville, Do
1806
t
93
95
E. Tennessee
Knoxville, Do
2
21
Transylvania
Centre
Lexington, Kentucky
Danville, Do
1798
1822
(
L
19
9
93
66
Augusta
Cumberland
Augusta Do
Princeton, Do
1823
1825
|
13
;
98
57
St Joseph's*
Bardstown, Do
1819
15
37
150
Georgetown
University of Ohio
Miami University
Western Reserve
Georgetown, Do
Athens, Ohio
Oxford, Do
Hudson, Do
1830
1802
1824
1826
1
60
51
26
(
32
57
82
25
220
Colleges in the United States. — Continued.
«
o •
•3d
^
C ^
0
- c
;- a;
^j
V £
Name.
Place.
-> I
3
1 =
s '=
Ol
•o
o
2 <<
3 _
2
r:
^
C/2
Kenyon
Gambier, Do
1828
4
80
Frankland
New Athens, Do
1824
3
40
Indiana
liloomington, Indiana
1827
3
4
51
Illinois
Jacksonville, Illinois
1830
3
35
St Louis*
St Louis, Mo.
1829
6
125
N.B. Besides the Colleges enumerated in the above table, there are upwards of
twenty Protestant, and several Catholic "Theological Seminaries," from sixteen to
twenty " Medical Schools," and Law Schools in several states.
Each of these institutions possesses a college library and a student's library.
* Those marked thus * are Catholic colleges.
t Under-graduates, not including medical, theological, and law students.
TEXAS.
THIS Mexican province, which is now becoming a subject of deep
interest in the United States, is of great extent. Its boundaries and
superficial contents are thus stated in Darby's Western Gazetteer,
published in 1818. The Texas " is bounded on the west and south
by the Rio del Porte, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, east by the
state of Louisiana, and north by the Red River. Its greatest length
is 800 miles, breadth 500, estimated by the rhombs on Mellish's Map
to contain 240,000 square miles, and to be equal in extent to New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, and
Kentucky."
In another account it is stated, that the width is about 400 miles,
and length, from the Gulf of Mexico to its northern limits, not as
certained. It is represented as being extremely fertile, producing a
great variety of valuable timber trees, and in parts admirably adap
ted for the cultivation of sugar, cotton, indigo, &-c.; in others, wheat,
Indian corn, &c., and in others, excellent grazing, and generally fa
vourable to the growth of the vine.
The facilities for navigation are great; on one side the gulf of
Mexico, and the interior traversed by the Sabine, the Natchez, the
Trinity, the Brasos, the Bernard, the Colorado, the Rio Grande, and
other streams of minor importance. Some of these streams admit
of steam navigation for three or four hundred miles. Salt water and
iron ore are abundant. Some mines of the precious metals are
already discovered. Profusion of game and wild horses, mules and
cattle, buffaloes, deer, turkeys, &c.
Its population consists of about 75,000 Mexicans, including gar
risons, principally inhabiting the villages of St Antonio and Nacog-
doches; but the emigrants from the United States amount to Jive or
six thousand souls : more than half of these are " located" on
" Austin's land," the remainder principally occupy ungranted lands.
An experience of seven or eight years has proved the soil and crops
to be equal to those of any part of the world.
A writer in one of the best conducted papers in the United States
(Walsh's National Gazette) thus significantly expresses himself with
regard to the Texas: " The country above described, we contend,
should belong to the United States if its procurement be possible."
He then gives reasons for supposing its acquisition possible, — the
financial embarrassment and unquiet state of the politics of Mexico,
&c. , and urges as motives for attempting its annexation to the
United States, its being necessary to the security of Louisiana,
Arkansa, &c. " Ml Texas was once ours. The Rio Grande del
Norte was then our western boundary. To any one acquainted
with this country, it seems as if this river was designated by the
hand of Heaven, as a boundary between two great nations of dis
similar pursuits, &c." And further, so important was it deemed
by the American government to prevent contiguous settlements of
the two governments, that in their negotiation with Spain in 1805,
in relation to their western limits, it was urged by the United States
to lay off a territory of immense extent, to remain for ever neutral
and unsettled. (See Letter of Messrs Monroe and Pinckney to M.
Cevallos, Spanish Minister. American State Papers, vol. xii. 243.)
It is also urged, that the possession of the Texas is necessary, in
order to prevent it from being a place of refuge for " debtors, male
factors, and fugitive slaves from the United States;" and that it is
necessary, in order to keep Texas out of the hands of " those who
would be more troublesome than its present proprietors :" this writer
222
says, that " a distinguished Englishman has already obtained a grant
of land in Texas, sufficient to contain a population of one or two
millions ;" u and who knows" adds this sagacious politician, u that
he is not the secret agent of a government ? The importance, also,
of being able to supply the United States with wine and sugar at a
future period from this magnificent province, is dwelt upon."
The settlement of Americans in Texas goes by the name of Cap
tain Austin's territory, as that gentleman has obtained a grant, with
some exclusive privileges of steam navigation from the Mexican
government.
Payment of the Debt of the United States.
Principal.
Interest.
Total.
Dollars.
Dollars.
Dollars.
1821
3,279,821
5,087,272
8,367,093
1822
2,675,987
5,172,961
7,848,949
1823
607,331
4,922,684
5,530,016
1824
11,574,532
4,993,861
16,568,393
1825
7,725,034
4,370,309
12,095,344
1826
7,706,601
3,977,864
11,045,466
1827
6,515,514
3,476,071
10,001,585
1828
9,064,637
3,098,867
12,163,505
1829
9,841,024
2,542,776
12,383,800
1830
9,443,173
1,912,574
11,355,748
From Mr Cooper's Letter, published in Paris, containing- a counter state
ment to that in the Revue Britannique.
223
RATES OF POSTAGE.
On a single letter composed of one piece of paper: —
For any distance not exceeding 30 miles . . 6 cents.
Over 30, and not exceeding 80 . 10
80, " " 150 . . 12$
150, " " 400 . . 18|
400, " . . 25
(A cent is a small fraction more than a halfpenny, English.)
A letter composed of two pieces of paper is charged with double
these rates ; of three pieces, with triple ; and of four pieces, with
quadruple. " One or more pieces of paper, mailed as a letter, and
weighing one ounce, shall be charged with quadruple postage ; and
at the same rate, should the weight be greater."
NEWSPAPER POSTAGE.
For each newspaper not carried out of the state in which it is
published, or if carried out of the state, but not carried over 100
miles, 1 cent ; over 100 miles, and out of the state in which it was
published, \k cent.
MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS.
Cents.
If published periodically, distance not exceeding 100 miles, li per sheet.
" " . over . 100 " 2i
If not published periodically, dist. not exceeding 100 " 4
" " . over . 100 " 6
Every printed pamphlet or magazine which contains more than
twenty-four pages, on a royal sheet, or any sheet of less dimensions,
shall be charged by the sheet ; and small pamphlets, printed on " a
half or quarter sheet, of royal or less size, shall be charged with half
the amount of postage charged on a full sheet."
The postage on ship letters, if delivered at the office where the
vessel arrives, is six cents; if conveyed by post, two cents in ad
dition to the ordinary postage.
224
PRIVILEGE OP FRANKING.
Letters and packets to and from the following officers of the
government, are by law received and conveyed by post, free of
postage.
The president and vice-president of the United States; secretaries
of state, treasury, war, and navy; attorney-general; post-master-
general, and assistant post-master-general; comptrollers, auditors,
registrar, and solicitor of the treasury; treasurer; commissioner of
the general land office; commissioners of the navy board; commiss
ary-general; inspectors-general; quarter-master-general; paymaster-
general; superintendent of the Patent Office; speaker and clerk of
the House of Representatives; president and secretary of the Senate;
and any individual who shall have been, or may hereafter be, pre
sident of the United States; and each may receive newspapers by
post, free of postage.
Each member of the senate, and each member and delegate of
the House of Representatives, may send and receive, free of postage,
newspapers, letters, arid packets, weighing not more than two
ounces (in case of excess of weight, excess alone to be paid for),
and all documents printed by order of either House, during and
sixty days before and after each session of congress.
Post-masters may send and receive, free of postage, letters and
packets not exceeding half an ounce in weight; and they may re
ceive one daily newspaper each, or what is equivalent thereto.
Printers of newspapers may send one paper to each and every
other printer of newspapers within the United States, free of postage,
under such regulations as the post-master-general may provide.
225
NEWSPAPERS IN NEW YORK.
Number of newspapers published in this state, according to
" Williams's New York Annual Register," in 1831, was 237; 54 in
city of New York, and 185 in other parts of the state; 16 daily, and
48 avowedly anti-masonic *
NUMBER OF SHEETS ISSUED FROM THE FIFTY-FOUR PRESSES IN THE
CITY OF NEW YORK.
Eleven daily papers (average 1,456 each in one day) . 4,944,000
Ten semi- weekly ditto (average 1,880 each in one day) . . 1,955,200
Twenty-six weekly ditto . . . 2,600,000
Six semi-monthly, and one monthly . • 36,800
Total number of sheets printed annually . . 9,536,000
Estimated number (185 papers) in other parts of the state . 5,000,000
Total 14,536,000
COPYRIGHT.
Copyright is secured in the United States for fourteen years,
by depositing and recording the title of any work, map, chart, &,c.
at the office of the clerk of the district; and can be renewed by the
author, his executors or assigns, at the end of that term, for a fur
ther period of fourteen years. — Vide "Act for the Encouragement
of Learning." Judge Story's Statutes of the United States.
* This has now become a party watch-word, but originated in a just feeling of
detestation at a murderous outrage committed by some free-masons a few years
ago.
226
Number of Bishops in the United States, and their Residences, or
Diocesses.
SIXTEEN PROTESTANT BISHOPS: — VIZ.
Diocesses. Diocesses.
Eastern Diocess, or N. England. Virginia.
Connecticut. South Carolina.
New York. Georgia.
New Jersey. Louisiana.
Pennsylvania. Mississippi.
Delaware. Tennessee.
Maryland. Kentucky.
North Carolina. Ohio.
Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS.
Residence.
Baltimore -
Boston
New York -
Philadelphia
Do.
Charleston -
One Archbishop, nine Bishops, and two Coadjutors.
Residence.
Archbishop.
Bishop.
Do.
Mobile - -
New Orleans
Bardstown - -
Bishop.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Coadjutor.
Bishop.
Do.
Cincinnati - -
St Louis - -
Coadjutor.
Bishop.
Do.
THE END
JUST PUBLISHED BY CAREY & LEA.
PRIVATE MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON
BONAPARTE, from the French of M.
FAUVELET DE BOURRIENNE, Private Secre
tary to the Emperor. SECOND AMERICAN
EDITION, complete in one volume.
V This edition contains almost a fourth
more matter than the previous one, as in order
| to render it as perfect as possible, extracts have
been given from the Memoirs from St. Helena,
Official Reports, &c. &c. in all cases where
| they differ from the statements of M. de Bour-
rienne.
" This English translation, which has been
very faithfully rendered, is still more valuable
than the original work, as upon all points where
any obliquity from other published recitals oc
curs, the translator has given several accounts,
and thus, in the form of notes, we are present
ed with the statements obtained from Napo
leon's own dictation at St. Helena, from the
Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo, of General
Rapp, of Constant, from the writings of the
Marquis of Londonderry, &c\" — U. Ser. Jour.
" Those who desire to form a correct esti
mate of the character of one of the most extra
ordinary men " that ever lived in the tide of
time," will scarcely be without it. The present
edition possesses peculiar advantages.
The peculiar advantages of position in re
gard to his present subject, solely enjoyed by
M. de ^Bourrienne, his literary accomplish
ments and moral qualifications, have already
obtained for these memoirs the first rank in
contemporary and authentic history. In
France, where they had been for years ex
pected with anxiety, and where, since the
revolution, no work connected with that peri
od or its consequent events has created so
great a sensation, the volumes of Bourrienne
save, from the first, been accepted as the
only trustworthy exhibition of the private life
and political principles of Napoleon.
" We know from the best political authority
tow living in England, that the writer's ac
counts are perfectly corroborated by facts." —
Lit. Gaz.
" The only authentic Life of Napoleon ex
tant." — Courier.
" This splendid publication, that literally
leaves nothing to be desired." — Atlas.
" These volumes may be read with all the
interest of a romance." — Courier.
" No person who is desirous rightly to ap
preciate the character of Bonaparte, will ne
glect the perusal of this work; whoever
wishes to know, not merely the General or
the Emperor, but what the man really was,
will find him well pictured here." — Times.
"The completest personal recollections
Napoleon that have appeared." — Morn. Post
" As a part of the history of the most ex
traordinary man, and the most extraordinary
times that ever invited elucidation, these me
moirs must continue to the latest ages to be
records of invaluable interest." — Lit. Gaz.
THE BRAVO, by the author of the " Spy,"
" Pilot," " Red Rover," &c. In 2 vols. 12mo.
" Let us honestly avow in conclusion, that
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people thinking, more of that quality that is
accelerating the onward movement of the
world, than in all the Scotch novels that have
so deservedly won our admiration." — New
Monthly Magazine.
" This new novel from the pen of our
countryman, Cooper, will win new laurels for
him. It is full of dramatic interest — " hair
breadth escapes" — animated and bustling
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Rialto, in the Adriatic, and in the streets of
Venice." — N. Y. Courier cj* Enquirer.
" Of the whole work, we may confidently
say that it is very able — a performance of ge
nius and power." — Nat. Gazette.
" The Bravo will, we think, tend much to
exalt and extend the fame of its author. We
have hurried through its pages with an avidi
ty which must find its apology in the interest
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scribed."
By the same author.
THE HEIDEN-MAEUR, or PAGAN CAMP.
In 2 vols. (In the Press.)
SALMONIA ; or, Days of Fly Fishing ; by
SIR HUMPHRY DAVY.
" One of the most delightful labors of lei
sure ever seen ; not a few of the most beauti
ful phenomena of nature are here lucidly ex
plained." — Gentleman 's Magazine.
NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE
AND ITS INHABITANTS. By the Rev.
GILBERT WHITE. 18mo.
THE MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS, by
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—in which all that is essentially interesting in
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which is capable of popular enunciation, is so
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Is it asking too much of Mrs. Somerville to ex
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sands of readers, young and old, who cannot
understand, or are too indolent to apply them
selves to the more elaborate parts of the work 1
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ert our best endeavors to make its merits
known." — Literary Gazette.
MISCELLANEOUS.
AN HISTORICAL INQUIRY INTO THE
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
OF THE PRECIOUS METALS, from the
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of Commodities. BY WILLIAM JACOB,
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" Mr. Jacob's Historical Inquiry into the
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on the industry of mankind is acknowledged
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specting the precise mode of its operation
were obscure, and undoubtedly the history o
its effects had never been traced with accu
racy and ingenuity. Mr. Huskisson, who hac
maintained a friendship with Mr. Jacob for
more than five-and-twenty years, first put tli
author on the investigation ; it is one of th
minor obligations which the country owes to
that enlightened statesman." — Spectator.
"It was written at the suggestion of the
late Mr. Huskisson, and displays the fruits o
much industry and research, guided by a sound
judgment, and embodying more learning than
is usually brought to bear on statistical or eco
nomical subjects. We recommend the book to
general attention." — Times, Sept. 2,1831.
NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO THE
PACIFIC AND BEHRING'S STRAIT, to
co-operate with the Polar Expeditions : per
formed in His Majesty's ship Blossom, un
der the command of Capt. F. W. Beechey,
R. N. in the years 1825, 26, 27, 23. In 8vo.
" The most interesting of the whole series
of expeditions to the North Pole." — Quarter
ly Review.
^ " This expedition will be forever mernora
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BlacktoootTs Mag.
" Captain Beecliey's work is a lasting mon
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his country." — Lit. Gaz.
A GENERAL VIEW o? THE PROGRESS
OF ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY, chiefly
during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth
centuries. By SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH,
M. P. In 8vo.
" This, in our humble opinion, is the best off
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— among his contemporaries. Some time ago
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too earnestly."— National Gazette.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND, by SIR JAMES
MACKINTOSH. Octavo edition. In the press.
V Tho first volume of this edition will contain the
*anie matter as the first 3 volumes of the 18mo edition.
•ARDNETTS CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA
HISTORY OF THE RISE, PROGRESS
AND PRESENT STATE OF THE SIL1
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BIOGRAPHY OF BRITISH STATESMEN
containing the Lives of Sir Thomas Mor
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* * * We cordially commend the work bo
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" The life of More, being from the pen
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ELEMENTS OF OPTICS. By DAVID BEEV
STER. 18mo. (In the press.)
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Europe." — Monthly
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rented, and clear!
is, as might be expected, abl
rly illustrated." — U. S. Join
FAMILY CABINET ATLAS.
In preparation.
HE FAMILY CABINET ATLAS, CON
STRUCTED UPON AN ORIGINAL PLAN: Being
a Companion to the Encyclopedia Ameri
cana, Cabinet Cyclopaedia, Family Library,
Cabinet Library, &c.
fiis Atlas comprises, in a volume of the Family Library
size, nearly 100 Maps and Tables, which present equal
to F;fty Thousand Names of Places; a body of informa
tion three times as extensive as that supplied by the
generality of Quarto Atlases.
Opinions of the Public Journals.
"This beautiful and most useful little volume," says
ic Literary Gazette, " is a perfect picture of elegance,
>ntaining a vast sum of geographical information. A
ore instructive little present, or a gift better calculated
> be long preserved and often referred to, could not be
[Fered to favored youth of either sex. Its cheapness, we
ust add, is another recommendation ; for, although this
egant publication contains 100 beautiful engravings
is issued at a price that can l>2 no obstacle to its being
rocured by every parent and friend to youth."
" This Atlas far surpasses any thing of the kind which
e have seen, and is made to suit the popular libraries
hich Dr. Lardner and Mr. Murray are now sending into
very family in the empire." — Monthly Review.
Its very'iugenious method of arrangement secures to
ae geographical student the information for which hith-
rto he has been obliged to resort to works of the largest
intensions." — Athenccum.
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3de, for general purposes, mrps of a more expensive and
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ouble purpose of exercising the attention while it im-
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ir."— Atlas.
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ave ever witnessed." — Examiner.
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laee'may b.3 found." — Birmingham Journal.
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nd correctness which is quite surprising: when com-
lete, travellers will have a system of Geography and a
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pectator.
" This is the most perfect gem of an Atlas which has
ver been published."— Bristol Journal.
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> which it will form so useful an addition — namely,
The Family Library,' 'The Classical Library,' and
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•' Nothing could be devised better calculated to impress
pon the mind a knowledge of the general principles of
eography, than the plan of this publication." — The
'•rarder.
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:ecl ; but we cannot doubt the success which we feel
ssured its intrinsic merits must secure to it." — Intelli-
encer.
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) much public service should fail in meeting with that
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rojectors." — Leeds Intelligencer.
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rapliical student may obtain "in this little work, such is
yj excellence of its arrangement, as much information
s he could gain by wading through several books of far
reater bulk." — Weekly Dispatch.
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lent, and so elegant in its execution." — York Courant.
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rival in English topography." — Freeman's Journal.
"The plan" of this useful and elegant work may, in-
Red, bo called original. The style ami execution of the
laps are of the first character." — Woolmer's Exeter and
'lymouth Gazette.
"This work is one of the most usefil publications
'hich has yet issued from the press ; it will be an unique
nd brilliant accession to th'j library, and a very useful
fork to the student in geography." — Reading Jllcrcur'j
nd Oxford Gazette.
" Its qualifications will render it one of the most popti-
\r, highly interesting, and useful publications of the
ay." — Liverpool Courier.
MISCELLANEOUS.
MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF SIR WALTER
RALEGH, with some account of the Period
in which he lived. By Mrs. A. T. THOMSON.
With a portrait.
" Such is the outline of a life, which, in Mrs. Thom
son's hands, is a mine of interest ; from the first page
to the last the ai ienlioa is roused and sustained, and
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"In all respects a most appropriate volume for the
Cabinet Library. We shal-1 take an opportunity in
another notice, to give some of the many interesting
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quotation." — JV. 1~. American.
" Mrs. Thomson has written a very interesting book.
It takes what we are inclined to think, a just, and at
the same time, favorable view of Ralegh, and is oc
cupied beside with many entertaining and illustrative
anecdotes." — Craftsman.
" Presents in a concise but succinct style the variety
of incidents connected with the life of the distinguish
ed subject of the memoir." — National Journal.
"The book is unquestionably the best Life of Ra
legh that has ever been written." — Album.
" This is a piece of biography which combines the
fascinations of romance with the deeper interest that
attaches to historical narrative." — Southern Patriot.
ELEGANT LIBRARY EDITIONS
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IN TWO VOLUMES 8vO., WITH A PORTRAIT.
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EDITED BY ROBERT WALSH, ESQ.
WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL INTRODUCTION,
BY THE EDITOR.
IN ONE TOLUME 8rO.
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SELECT SPEECHES
OF THE
RIGHT HONORABLE WILLIAM HUSKISSON,
AND OF THE
RIGHT HONORABLE WILLIAM WINDHAM.
EDITED EY ROBERT WALSH, ESQ.
WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL INTRODUCTION,
BY TIIK EDITOR.
IN ONE VOLUME 8?O.
In the vress.
MEDICINE, SURGERY, &c.
SURGICAL MEMOIRS OF THE CAM
PAIGNS OF RUSSIA, GERMANY, AND
FRANCE. Translated from the French
of BARON LARREY. In 8vo. with plates.
A MANUAL OF MEDICAL JURISPRU
DENCE, compiled from the best Medical
and Legal Works; comprising an account
of— I. The Ethics of the Medical Profes
sion ; II. Charters and Laws relative to the
Faculty; and HI. All Medico-legal Ques
tions, with the latest Decisions: being an
Analysis of a course of Lectures on Foren
sic Medicine. By MICHAEL RYAN, M. D.
Member of the Royal College of Physi
cians in London, &c. First American edi
tion, with additions, by R. EGLERFIELD
GRIFFITH, M. D. In 8vo.
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to he found in its pages. The style is unambitious but
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' It is invaluable to Medical Practitioners, and may
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Dispatch.
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING ANATOM
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Sept.. 27, 1831.
"This is unquestionably one of the most useful
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Ar. Y. Medical Journal, August, 1831.
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO OPERATIONS
ON THE TEETH, by JAMES SNELL, Dentist.
In Svo. with plates.
PRINCIPLES OF PHYSIOLOGICAL MED
ICINE, including Physiology, Pathology,
and Therapeutics, in the form of Proposi
tions, and commentaries on those relating
to Pathology, by F. J. V. BROUSSAIS, &c. ;
. translated by ISAAC HAYS, M. D. and R. E.
GRIFFITH, M. D. In 8vo.
ELEMENTS OP PHYSIOLOGY, by ROBLEY
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PRINCIPLES OF SURGERY, by JOHN SYME,
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PRACTICAL REMARKS ON THE NATURE
AND TREATMENT OF FRACTURES OF
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JOSEPH AMESBURY, Surgeon. In Svo. with
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MISCELLANEOUS.
GREEK AND ENGLISH LEXICON. By ]
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In 1 vol. royal 18mo. containing nearly G(
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This work is printing on a handsome distinct tyj
and will contain as much matter as many of the larg
lexicons; but owing to the ibrm in which it is print*
will be sold at such price as to be within the rea
6f all students. It will offer more advantages to t!
young student than any other lexicon now in use. T
vocabulary is more extensive and complete — compr
ng not only words found in the classics, but also su
as are found in the writings of Hippocrates and t!
Greek Physicians. The meanings attached to wror
by the several writers are also given.
Words are given in alphabetical order in eve
poetical and dialectic variety.
The conjugation of verbs and flection of nouns a
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a primary and then a secondary meaning, each d
tinguished from the metaphorcial and idiomatic
Phrases are also given when they note any peculiar!
n signification. The etymology of words is on
omitted where it is confused or disputed. There
nothing left out which the young student would fij
necessary in studying the Classics, and which wou
enable him to understand the true meaning of a woi
In short, in this work the esscniial advantages of
good Dictionary are combined with those ot' a go
Grammar — advantages not found in any Greek a;
English lexicon now used.
ELEMENTS OF MECHANICS. By JAM
RENWICK, Esq. Professor of Natural ai
Experimental Philosophy, Colombia Colleg
N. Y. In Svo with numerous en '.-raving
'We think this decidedly the best treaji o en Ai
chanics, which has issued from the American pre
that we have seen ; one, too, that is alike creditafc
to the writer, and to the state of science in this coi
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TREATISE ON CLOCK AND WATCH-M,
KING, Theoretical and Practical, 1
THOMAS REID, Edinburgh Honorary Mei
her of the Worshipful Company of Cloc
Makers, London. Royal Svo. Illustrated 1
numerous plates.
MILLWRIGHT AND MILLER'S GUID
By OLIVER EVANS. New Edition, with a
ditions and corrections, by the Professor
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it once remarkable as a specimen of history and philology.
rhe work altogether, we may again be permitted to ob-
icrve reflects distinguished credit upon the literary and
icientific character, as well as the scholarship of our
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'• The copious information which this work affords on
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"The variety of topics is of course vast, and they are
treated in a manner which is at once so full of informa
tion and so interesting, that the work, instead of being
merely referred to, might be regularly perused with as
much pleasure as profit." — Baltimore American.
"We view it as a publication worthy of the age and of
the country, and cannot Dut believe the discrimination of
our countrymen will sustain the publishers, and well re
ward them" for thi* contribution to American Literature."
— Baltimore Patriot.
" It reflects the greatest credit on those who have been
concerned in its production, and promises, in a variety of
respects, to !>P die best as well as the most compendious
dictionary -->f the arts, sciences, history, politics, biogra
phy, &c which has yet been compiled. The style of the
portion we have read is terse and perspicuous;" and it is
really curious how so much scientific and other informa
tion couM have been so satisfactorily communicated in
such brief limits."— JV. Y. Evening Past.
These who can, by any honest modes of economy,
reserve the sum of two dollars and fifty cents quarterly,
from their family expenses, may pay for this work as fast
as it is published ; and we confidently believe that they
will find at the end that they never purchased so much
general, practical, useful information at su cheap a rate."
— Journal of Education.
" If the encouragement to the publishers should corres
pond with tlie testimony in favor of their enterprise, and
the beautiful and faithful style of its execution, the hazard
of the undertaking, bo!d as it was, will be well compen
sated ; and our libraries will be enriclu.'d by the most gene
rally useful encyclopedic dictionary that has been offered
to the readers of the English language. Full enough for
the general scholar, and plain enough for every capacity,
it is far more convenient, in every view and form, than
its more expensive and ponderous predecessors." — Ameri
can Farmer.
"The high reputation of the contributors to this work,
will not fail to insure it a favorable reception, and its
own merits will do the rest." — Silliman's Journ.
" The Encylopcedia Americana is a prodigious improve
ment upon all that has gone before it ; a thing for our
country, as well as the country that gave it birth, to be
proud of; an inexhaustible treasury of useful, pleasant,
and familiar learn ing on every possible subject, so arranged
as to be speedily and safely referred to on emergency, as
well as on deliberate inquiry; and better still, adapted to
the understanding, and put within the reach of the mul
titude. * * * The Encyclopaedia Americana is a work
without wbich no library worthy of the name can here
after be made up." — Yankee.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA AMERICANA.
"The work will be a valuable possession to every family | MORE than half of the volumes of this work ar
or individual that can afford to purchase it ; and we take
pleasure, therefore, in extending the knowledge of its
merits."— National Intelligencer.
"This work appears to improve as it issues from the
press. The number of able writers, who contribute ori
ginal matter in all the departments of literature and sci
ence is amply sufficient to give it celebrity and high char
acter. To men engaged in the active pursuits of life-
whose time is precious — this popular dictionary is a mos
valuable and ready mode of reference. It embraces brie
views and sketches of all the late discoveries in faience —
and the present condition of literature, politics, &c. &c
Every merchant's counting-room — every lawyer's library
— every mechanic — every farmer ought to possess a copy
of this useful and valuable work."— Courier.
"From the specimen which has already been given, we
have no hesitation in saying, that in regard to intelli
gence, skill, and faithful diligence, it is a work of the very
highest order. We know of no similar publication thai
can bear any comparison with it for the rich variety o
valuable information, which it condenses within so smal
a compass. It is free from all the narrowness of Englisl
prejudice, it contains many important and interesting
details which can be found in no English production, anc
is a work which could be written by none but German
scholars, more than two hundred of whom were employee
in the original compilation." — Boston Observer.
" This cannot but prove a valuable addition to the lite
rature of the age."— Mer. Advertiser.
"The vast circulation this work has had in Europe
where it has already been reprinted in four or five Ian
guages, not to speak of the numerous German editions
of which SEVEN have been published, speaks loudly in
favor of its intrinsic merit, without which such a celebrity
could never have been attained. To every man
n public business, who needs a
of reference on
correct and ample book
various topics of science and letters, the
,-, . ,. -^>i**w .--1 w^j^ti^u- ttHVl IttLUID. Hie
fcncyclopcedia Americana will be almost invaluable. To
individuals obliged to go to situations where books are
neither numerous nor easily procured, the rich contents
of these twelve volumes will prove a mine which will
amply repay its purchaser, and be with difficulty exhaust
ed ; and we recommend it to ti«jr patronage in the full
conviction of its worth. Indeed, it i "difficult to sav to
what class of readers such a book wo^id I , ot prov? useful
nay, almost indispensable, since it combines a Treat
amount of valuable matter in small coinwms anH it
moderate expense, and is in every respect wen imit*rf tn
augment the reader's stock of ideas, and powers of rnn
versation, without severely taxing time or fctftaSia
attention."— Am. Daily Advertiser.
"The department of American Biography, a suwect of
which it should be disgraceful to be ignorant to th* f]P
gree that many are, is, in this work, a promin
and has received the attention of one of the most inde
fatigable writers in this department of literature which
the present age can furnish."— Boston Courier.
"According to the plan of Dr. Lieber, a desideratu,.,
will be supplied ; the substance of contemporary know
ledge will be brought within a small compass ;— and the
character and uses of a manual will be imparted to a
kind of publication heretofore reserved, on stron<* shelves
for occasional reference. By those who understand the
German language, the Conversation Lexico
the
is consulted
ten times for one application to any English Encyclope
dia."— National Gazette.
1 The volume now published is not only highly honor
able to the taste, ability, and industry of its Editors and
publishers, but furnishes a proud sample of the accuracy
and elegance with which the most elaborate and i
nt literary enterprises may now be accomplished in our
country. Of the manner in which the editors have thus
far completed their task, it is impossible, in the course of
a brief newspaper article, to speak with adequate justice "
— Boston Bulletin.
It continues to be particularly rich in the depart
ments of Biography and Natural History. When we look
at the large mass of miscellaneous knowledge spread
before the reader, in a form which has never been equalled
for us condensation, and conveyed in a style that cannot
be surpassed for propriety and perspicuity, we cannot but
,
think that the American Encyclopedia deserves a place in
every collection, in which works of reference form a por
tion." — Southern Patriot.
now before the public, and the reception they hav
met with is the best evidence that the publishers hav
fulfilled the promises made at its outset. They hav
now only to promise, for the editors and themselve
that no exertion shall be spared to render the remaii
ing volumes equal to those already published, an
thus sustain the reputation it has acquired. The sul
scription is large, and increasing ; and in those qua
ters where its circulation is greatest, and where it
best known, there is a constantly increasing deman<
The publishers invite the attention of those who ma
not already have possessed themselves of it, or ma
not have had an opportunity to become acquainte
with its merits, to the following account of the or
ginal work, upon which it is based, and which
termed by the Edinburgh Review —
THE WORLD-RENOWNED LEIPZIG CONVERSATIONS-
LEXICON.
It was intended to supply a want occasioned b
the character of the age, in which the sciences, art
trades, and the various forms of knowledge and o
active life, had become so much extended and d
versified, that no individual engaged in business coul
become well acquainted with all subjects of genen
interest; while the wide diffusion of information rer
dered such knowledge essential to the character o
an accomplished man. This want, no existing work
were adequate to supply. Books treating of particula
branches, such as gazetteers, &c. were too confine
in character ; while voluminous Encyclopaedias wer
too learned, scientific, and cumbrous, being usuall
elaborate treatises, requiring much study or previou
acquaintance with the subject discussed. The cor
ductors of the CONVERSATION LEXICON endeavore'
to select from every branch of knowledge what wa
necessary to a well-informed mind, and to give popt
lar views of the more abstruse branches of learnin,
and science ; that their readers might not be incon;
moded, and deprived of pleasure or improvement, b
ignorance of facts or expressions used in books or cori
versation. Such a work must obviously be of grea
utility to every class of readers. It has been foum
so much so in Germany, that it is met with every
where, among the learned, the lawyers, the military
artists, merchants, mechanics, and men of all stations
The reader may judge how well it is adapted to it
object, from the circumstance, that though it nov
consists of twelve volumes, seven editions, comprising
about ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND COPIES, have beei
printed in less than fifteen years. It has been trans
Iatb4 into the Swedish, Danish and Dutch languages
and a French translation is now preparing in Paris.
In the preparation of the American edition, no ex
pense has been spared to secure the ablest assistance
and the editor* have been aided by many gentlemer
of distinguished ability.
The American Biography, which is very extensive
has been f urmshed by Mr, WALSH, who has long paic
particular attention to that branch of our literature
and from materials in the collection of which he has
been engaged for seme years. For obvious reasons
the notices of distinguished Americans are con
fined to deceased individuals; the European bio^ra
phy contains notices of all distinguished living char
aclers, as well as those of past times.
The articles on Zoology and the various branches
of Natural Science, and those on Chemistry and
Mineralogy, have been prepared expressly for this
work by gentlemen distinguished in the several de
partments.
In relation to the Fine Arts, the work is exceeding
rich. Great attention was given to this in the German
work, and the Editors have been anxious to render it
by the necessary additions, as perfect as possible.
To gentlemen of the Bar, the work will be pecu-
mrly valuable, as in cases where legal subjects are
reated, an account is given of English, French, Ger-
nan and American Law.
CABINET CYCL.OPJEDIA,
CONDUCTED BY THE
REV. DIONYSIUS LARDNER, LL. D. F.R.S. L.&E.
M.R.I. A. F.L.S. F.Z.S. Hon.F.C.P.S. M. Ast. S. &c. &c.
ASSISTED BY
EMINENT LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN.
Now publishing by Carey and Lea, and for sale by all Booksellers.
THIS work will form a popular compendium of what-
ver is useful, instructive, and interesting, in the circle of
mman knowledge. A novel plan of publication and ar-
angement has been adopted, which presents peculiar
dvantages. Without fully detailing the method, a few of
tiese advantages may be mentioned.
Each volume will contain one or more subjects uninter-
upted and unbroken, and will be accompanied by the
orresponding plates or other appropriate illustrations,
'acility of reference will be obtained without fettering
iie work by a continued alphabetical arrangement. A
ubscriber may omit particular volumes or sets of vol
umes, without disintegrating his series. Thus each pur-
haser may form from the "CABINET " a Cyclopaedia, more
r less comprehensive, as may suit his means, taste, or
rofession. If a subscriber desire to discontinue the work
t any stage of its publication, the volumes which he
lay have received will not lose their value by separation
rom the rest of the work, since they will always either
e complete in themselves, or may be made so at a trifling
xpense.
The purchasers will never find their property in this
.'ork destroyed by the publication of a second edition.
Tie arrangement is such that particular volumes may
e re-edited or re-written without disturbing the others.
'he " CABINET CYCLOPEDIA " will thus be in a state of
OHtinual renovation, keeping pac» with the never-ceas-
ng improvements in knowledge, drawing within its
ircle from year to year whatever is new, and casting off
whatever is obsolete, so as to form a constantly modern-
Bed Cyclopaedia. Such are a few of the advantages which
le proprietors have to offer to'the public, and which they
ledge themselves to realize.
Treatises on subjects which are technical and profes-
onal will be adapted, not so much to those who desire
o attain a practical proficiency, as to those who seek
iat portion of information respecting such matters which
s generally expected from well-educated persons. An
nterest will be imparted to what is abstract by copious
(lustrations, and the sciences will be rendered attractive,
)y treating them with referencs to the most familiar ob-
ects and occurrences.
The umvieli'ly bulk of Encyclopaedias, not less than
the abstruse discussions which they contain, has hitherto
:onsi<rned them to the library, as works of only occasional
reference. The present work, from its portable form and
popular style, will claim a place in the drawing-room and
the boudoir. Forming in itself a Complete Library, af
fording an extensive and infinitely varied store of in
struction and amusement, presenting just so much on
every subject as those not professionally engaged in it
require, convenient in size, attractive in form, elegant in
illustrations, and most moderate in expense, the "CABINET
CYCLOPEDIA." will, it is hoped, be found an object of para
mount interest in every family.
To the heads of schools and all places of public educa
tion the proprietors trust that this work will particularly
recommend itself.
It seems scarcely necessary to add, that nothing will
be admitted into the pages of the "CABINET CYCLOPEDIA"
which can have the most remote tendency to otfend public
or private morals. To enforce the cultivation of religion
and the practice of virtue should be a principal object
with all who undertake to inform the public mind ; but
with the views just explained, the conductor of this work
feels these considerations more especially pressed upon
his attention. Parents and guardians may, therefore,
rest assured that they will never find it necessary to place
a volume of the "CABINET" beyond the reach of their chil
dren or pupils.
CONSIDERABLE progress having been made in this
work, the publishers wish to direct the attention of
the public to the advantages by which it is distin
guished from other similar monthly publications.
It is not intended that the Cabinet Cyclopaedia shall
form an interminable series, in which any work of
interest which may present itself from time to time
can claim a place. Its subjects are classified accord
ing to the usual divisions of literature, science, and
art. Each division is distinctly traced out, and will
consist of a determinate number of volumes. Al
though the precise extent of the work cannot be fixed
with certainty, yet there is a limit which will not be
exceeded ; and the subscribers may look forward to
the possession, within a reasonable time, of a complete
library of instruction, amusement, and general refer
ence, in the regular form of a popular Cyclopaedia.
The several classes of the work are — 1, NATURAL
PHILOSOPHY; 2, The USEFUL and FINE ARTS ;
3, NATURAL HISTORY; 4, GEOGRAPHY; 5,
POLITICS and MORALS ; 6, GENERAL LITE
RATURE and CRITICISM ; 7, HISTORY ; 8, BI
OGRAPHY.
In the above abstruse and technical departments
of knowledge, an attempt has been made to convey
to the reader a general acquaintance with these sub
jects, by the use of plain and familiar language, ap
propriate and well-executed engravings, and copious
xamples and illustrations, taken from objects and
events with which every one is acquainted.
The proprietors formerly pledged themselves that
no exertion should be spared to obtain the support of
the most distinguished talent of the age. They trust
that they have redeemed that pledge. Among the
volumes already published in the literary department,
no less than four have been the production of men
who stand in the first rank of literary talent, — Sir
James Mackintosh and Sir Walter Scott. In the sci
entific department, a work has been produced from
the pen of Mr. Herschel, which has been pronounced
by the highest living authority on subjects of general
philosophy, to contain " the noblest observations on
the value of knowledge which have been made since
Bacon," and to be " the finest work of philosophical
genius which this age has seen."
The following is a selection frontthe lift of Contributors.
The Right Honorable Sir JAMES MACKIN
TOSH, M. P.
The Right Rev. The Lord Bishop of Cloyne.
Sir WALTER SCOTT, Bart.
JOHN FREDERICK WILLIAM HERSCHEL,
Esq.
THOMAS MOORE, Esq.
J. B. BIOT, Member of the French Institute.
ROBERT SOUTHEY, Esq. Poet Laureate.
The Baron CHARLES DUPIN, Member of the
Royal Institute and Chamber of Deputies.
THOMAS CAMPBELL, Esq.
T. B. MACAULEY, Esq. M. P.
DAVID BREWSTER, LL.D.
J. C. L. SISMONDI, of Geneva.
Capt. HENRY KATER, Vice President of the
Royal Society.
The ASTRONOMER ROYAL.
DA VIES GILBERT, Esq. M. P.
S. T. COLERIDGE, Esq.
JAMES MONTGOMERY, Esq.
The Right Hon. T. P. COURTENAY, M.P.
J. J. BERZELIUS, of Stockholm, F. R. S., &c.
The Rev. G. R. GLEIG.
T. PHILLIPS, Esq. Prof, of Painting, R. A.
Rev. C. THIRLWALL, Fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge.
ANDREW URE, M. D. F. R. S., &c. &c. &c.
DR. LARDNER'S
CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA.
VOLUMES PUBLISHED.
I. II— HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. By SIR WALTER
SCOTT.
III. VI.— HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By SIR JAMES
MACKINTOSH. In 8 Vols. Vols. I. and II.
IV.-OUTLIXES OF HISTORY.
V —HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. By T. C
GRATTAN. Esq.
VII. VIII. XII.— HISTORY OF FRANCE. By EYRE
EVANS CROWE. In 3 Vols.
IX.— MECHANICS. By CAPT. KATER and DR.
LARDNER.
X.— A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE OB-
JECTS, ADVANTAGES, AND PLEASURES OF
THE STUDY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. In
1 Vol. By J. F. W. HERSCHEL, Esq.
XI.— BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT BRITISH
STATESMEN.
XIII.— HYDROSTATICS AND PNEUMATICS. By
DR. LARDNER.
XIV.— HISTORY OF THE PROGRESS AND PRE
SENT SITUATION OF THE SILK MANUFAC
TURE.
XV.— HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS.
By J. C. L. SISMONDI.
XVI. XVII. XVIII.— HISTORY OF MARITIME
AND INLAND DISCOVERY. In 3 vols.
VOLUMES IN IMMEDIATE PREPARA
TION.
HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Vol. III.
HISTORY OF THE PROGRESS AND PRESENT
STATE OF THE IRON MANUFACTURE.
LIVES OF EMINENT BRITISH LAWYERS. In
1 Vol. ByH. ROSCOE, Esq.
THE HISTORY OF THE WESTERN WORLD. In
4 Vols. Vol. I. THE UNITED STATES OF AMER
ICA.
Two volumes of this work, nearly ready, will
complete the History of the United States to the
present time. The two remaining volumes will
be devoted to South America and the West India
Islands.
A HISTORY OF IRELAND, TO THE UNION. In 2
Vols. By T. MOORE, Esq.
A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE USEFUL
ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. By the BARON
CHARLES DUFIN, Member of the Institute of France
and of the Chamber of Deputies.
HISTORY OF THE MOORS. In 3 Vols. By ROB
ERT SOUTHEY, Esq.
LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT LITERARY
MEN OF ALL NATIONS. In 8 Vols. By SCOTT,
SOUTHEY, MOORE, MACKINTOSH, MONTGOMERY,
CUNNINGHAM, and all the principal Literary and
Scientific Contributors to the Cyclopaedia.
A. TREATISE o.\ ASTRONOMY. By J. F. W.
HERSCHEL, Esq.
JEOGRAPHY. In 4 Vols. By W. CpOLEY, Esq.
author of the " History of Maritime Discovery."
JVES OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED BRITISH
NAVAL COMMANDERS. By R. SOUTHEY, Esq.
JVES OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED BRITISH
MILITARY COMMANDERS. By the Rev. G. R.
GLEIG.
A TREATISE ON OPTICS. By DAYID BREW-
STER,
THE HISTORY OF GREECE. In 3 Vols. By the
Rev. C. THIRLWALL.
IVES OF EMINENT BRITISH ARTISTS. By
W. Y. OTLEY, Esq. and T. PHILLIPS, R. A. Professor
of Painting to the Royal Academy.
\ TREATISE ON ELECTRICITY AND MAGNET
ISM. By M. BIOT, Member of the French Insti
tute.
" BOOKS THAT YOU MAY CARRY TO THE FIRE, AND HO]
READILY IN YOUR HAND, ARE THE MOST USEFUL AFT1
ALL. A MAN WILL OFTEN LOOK AT THEM, AND ]
TEMPTED TO GO ON, WHEN HE WOULD HAVE BE1
FRIGHTENED AT BOOKS OF A LARGER SIZE, AND OF
MORE ERUDITE APPEARANCE." — Dr. Johnson.
"We advisedly call the Cabinet Cyclopaedia a gre
undertaking, because we consider, that in its eflects <
the tone and habits of thought of what is known by t
phrase, ' the reading public,' it will be, if carried throui
in the spirit of its projection and commencement, one
the most invaluable productions of modern literature. *
" But these advantages, eminent as they undoubted
are, are not the sole nor the chief recommendations
the Cabinet Cyclopaedia. Neither is it on the extrer
cheapness of the publication, nor the federal independen
— if we may so speak — of its several volumes, that A
rest our prediction of its influence on the tone of thin
ing of the present, and on the literature of the next ge
eration — but on the promise, amounting almost to a mor
certainty, of the great excellence of its execution. A mi
titude of persons eminent in literature and science in t
United Kingdom are employed in this undertaking; an
indeed, no others should be employed in it ; for it is a tru
that the profound and practised writer alone is capable
furnishing a ' popular compendium.'
" What parent or guardian that throvys his eye over t!
list of its contributors bnt must be rejoiced by meetii
the names of those who are in themselves a guarant
of intellectual and moral excellence?" — Literary Oazet
" The plan of the work appears well adapted to the pu
pose it is proposed to fulfil — that of supplying a series
publications, embracing the whole range of literatu
and science, in a popular and portable form ; while ti
excellence of the execution is guarantied by the judgme:
displayed in the selection of writers. The list of autho
employed in this ambitious undertaking comprises son
of the most eminent men of the present age." — rfilus.
" The Cyclopaedia, when complete, will form a valuali
work of reference, as well as a most entertaining and i
structive library. It is an essential principle in every pa
of it, that it should be clear and easily understood, ai
that an attempt should everywhere be made to uni
accurate information with an agreeable manner of co
veying it. It is an experiment, to try how much scien
may be taught with little crabbed or technical languag
and how far the philosophical and poetical qualities •
history may be preserved in its more condensed state,
possesses also the most indispensable of all the qualitii
of a work intended for general instruction— that of chea
ness. Whatever the plan might be, it was evident th
the grand difficulty of Dr. Lardner was to unite a boi
of writers in its execution, whose character or works a
forded the most probable hope that they were fitted for
task of which the peculiarity, the novelty, and even tl
prevalent relish for such writings greatly enhance the di
ficulty. We do not believe, that in the list of contribi
tors, there is one name of which the enlightened part
the public would desire the exclusion.
" In science, the list is not less promising. The nam<
of the President, Vice-Presidents, and most distinguish*
Fellows of the Royal Society, are contained in it.
treatise on astronomy, by Herschcl ; on optics, by Brew
ter ; and on mechanics, by Lardner ; need be only recon
mended by the subjects and the writers. An eminer
1'relate, of the first rank in science, has undertaken
loble subject which happily combines philosophy wit
religion. Twelve of the most distinguished naturalisi
of the age, Fellows of the Linnfean and Zoological S<
cieties, are preparing a course of natural history. Othei
lot less eminent in literature and science, whose names
s not needful yet to mention, have shown symptoms of a
ambition to take a place among such fellow-laborers."-
Times.
The topics, as may be supposed, are both judiciousl
selected and treated with ability. To general reader:
and as part of a family library, the volumes already puf
lished possess great recommendations. For the extents
beauties of good printing and paper they merit equal com
mendation." — Bait. American.
"The uniform neatness of these volumes, their ver
moderate price, and the quantity of information whic,
they contain, drawn from the best and most attractiv
sources, have given them deserved celebrity, and no on
who desires to possess such information, should hesitat
a moment to add them to his library." — Fed. Oazette.
"This excellent work continues to increase in publi
favor, and to receive fresh accessions of force to its corp
of contributors." — Lit. Gazette.
LARDNER S CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA.
"OF THE MANY WORKS WHICH HAVE BEE* LATELY PUB
LISHED IN IMITATION, OR ON' THE PLAN ADOPTED BY THE
SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, DR.
LARDNER'S CYCLOPAEDIA IS BY MUCH THE MOST VALUA
BLE, AND THE MOST RECOMMENDED BY DISTINGUISHED
ASSISTANCE, SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY."
Edinburgh Revieiv.
HISTORY OP ENGLAND. By Sir James
Mackintosh. In 8 Vols. Two Vols. pub
lished,
" fn the first volume of Sir James Mackintosh's His
tory of England, we find enough to warrant the antici
pations of the public, that a calm and luminous philoso
phy will diffuse itself over the long narrative of our Brit
ish History."— Edinburgh Revieic.
" In this volume Sir James Mackintosh fully developes
those great powers, for the possession of which the public
lave long given him credit. The result is the ablest com
mentary that has yet appeared in our language upon some
)f the most important circumstances of English History."
-Atlas.
"Worthy in tha method, style, and reflections, of the
luthors high reputation. We were particularly pleased
ft-ith his high vein of philosophical sentiment, and his
>ccasional survey of contemporary annals."— National
Gazette.
" If talents of the highest order, long experience in po-
itics, and years of application to the study of history
i ii (I the collection of information, can command superi-
>rity in a historian. Sir James Mackintosh may, without
«a<.!ing this work, be said to have produced the best hi ••
ory of this country. A perusal of the work will prove
hat those who anticipated a superior production, have
lot reckoned in vain on the high qualifications of the
mthor." — Courier.
" Our anticipations of this volume were certainly very
lighly raised, and unlike such anticipations in general,
hey have not been disappointed. A philosophical spirit,
t nervous style, and a full knowledge of the subject, ac-
[uired by considerable research into the works of pre-
;eding chroniclers and historians, eminently distinguish
his popular abridgment, and cannot fail to recommend it
o universal approbation. In continuing his work as he
las begun, Sir James Mackintosh will confer a great bene-
Jt on his country." — Land. Lit. Gazette.
" Of its general merits, and its permanent value, it is
tnpossible to speak, without the highest commendation,
ind after a careful and attentive perusal of the two vol
umes which have been published, we are enabled to de-
:lare that, so far, Sir James Mackintosh has performed
:he duty to which he was assigned, with all the ability
that was to be expected from his great previous attain-
nsr.ts, his laborious industry in investigation, his excel
lent judgment, his superior talents, and his honorable
irinciples." — Inquirer.
" We shall probably extract the whole of his view of
Lhe reformation, merely to show how that important topic
iias been handled by so able and philosophical a writer,
professing Protestantism. — National Gazette.
" The talents of Sir James Mackintosh are so justly and
deeply respected, that a strong interest is necessarily ex
ited with regard to any work which such a distinguished
writer may tlii nknt to undertake. In the present instance,
as in all others, our expectations are fully gratified." —
Gentleman's Magazine.
" The second volume of the History of England, form
ing the sixth of Carey & Lea's Cabinet Cyclopaedia, has
been sent abroad, and entirely sustains the reputation of
its predecessors. The various factions and dissensions,
the important trials and battles, which render this period
so conspicuous in the page of history, are all related with
great clearness and masterly power."— Boston Traveller.
BIOGRAPHY OF BRITISH STATESMEN $
containing the Lives of Sir Thomas More,
Cardinal Wolsey, Archbishop C'raiimer,
and Lord Burleigh.
" A very delightful volume, and on a subject likely to
increase in interest as it proceeds. * * * We cordially
commend the work both for its design and execution." —
Loud. Lit. Gazette,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. By Sir Walter
Scott. In 3 Vols.
" The History of Scotland, by Sir Walter Scott, we do
not hesitate to declare, will be, if possible, more exten
sively read, than the most popular work of fiction, by the
same prolific author, and for this obvious reason: it com
bines much of the brilliant coloring of the Ivanhoe pic
tures of by-gone manners, and all the graceful facility of
style and picturesqueness of description of his other
charming romances, with a minute fidelity to the facts
of history, and a searching scrutiny into their authenti
city and relative value, which might put to the blush
Mr. Hume and other professed historians. Such is the
magic charm of Sir Walter Scott's pen, it has only to
touch the simplest incident of every-day life, and it starts
up invested witli all the interest of a scene of romance ;
and yet such is his fidelity to the text of nature, that the
knights, and serfs, and collared fools with whom his ii
ventive genius has peopled so many volumes, are regarded
by us as not mere creations of fancy, but as real flesh and
blood existences, with all the virtues, feelings and errors
of common-place humanity." — Lit. Gazette.
HISTORY OF FRANCE. By Eyre Evans
Crowe. In 3 vols.
HISTORY OF FRANCE, from the Restora
tion of the Bourbons, to the Revolution
B. Macaulay, Esq. M. P.
of 1830. By T.
Nearly ready.
" The style is concise and clear ; and events are sum
med up with much vigor and originality." — Lit. Gazette.
" His history of France is worthy to figure with the
works of his associates, the best of their day, Scott and
Mackintosh."— Monthly Mag.
For such a task Mr. Crowe is eminently qualified.
At a glance, as it were, his eye takes in the theatre of
centuries. His style is neat, clear, and pithy; and his
power of condensation enables him to say much, and
effectively, in a few words, to present a distinct and
perfect picture in a narrowly circumscribed space." — La
Belle Assemblee.
The style is neat and condensed ; the thoughts and
conclusions sound and just. The necessary conciseness
of the narrative is unaccompanied by any baldness ; on
the contrary, it is spirited and engaging." — Bait. Ameri
can.
To compress the history of a great nation, during a
period of thirteen hundred years, into three volumes, and
to preserve sufficient distinctness as well as interest in
the narrative, to enable and induce the reader to possess
himself clearly of all the leading incidents, is a task by
no means easily executed. It has, nevertheless, been well
accomplished in this instance." — JV*. Y. American.
"Written with spirit and taste."— U. S. Gazette.
"Could we but persuade our young friends to give
these volumes a careful perusal, we should feel assured
of their grateful acknowledgments of profit and pleas
ure." — JV*. Y. Mirror.
" At once concise and entertaining." — Saturday Bul
letin.
THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS,
to the Battle of Waterloo. By T. C. Grat-
tan.
" It is but justice to Mr. Grattan to say that he has
executed his laborious task with much industry and pro
portionate effect. Undisfigured by pompous nothingness,
and without any of the affectation of philosophical pro-
fundity, his style is simple, light, and fresh— perspicuous,
smooth, and harmonious." — La Belle Assemblee.
"Never did work appear at a more fortunate period.
The volume before us is a compressed but clear and im
partial narrative." — Lit. Gaz.
" A long residence in the country, and a ready access to
libraries and archives, have furnished Mr. Grattan with
materials which he has arranged with skill, and out. of
which he has produced a most interesting volume." —
Gent. Mag.
GARDNER'S
CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA.
IT IS NOT EASY TO DEVISE A CURE FOR SUCH A STATE
OF THINGS (THE DECLINING TASTE FOR SCIENCE;) BUT
THE MOST OBVIOCS REMEDV IS TO PROVIDE THE EDU
CATED CLASSES WITH A SERIES OF WORKS ON POPULAR
CABINET OF
AMERICAN HISTORY.
BY T. F. GORDON.
Volumes published.
I. II. HISTORY OF THE SPANISH DISCOVERIES
prior to the year 1520.
To l>e
SYMBOLS AND TECHNICAL TERMS, WRITTEN IN SIMPLE
AND PERSPICUOUS LANGUAGE, AND ILLUSTRATED BY FACTS j
AND EXPERIMENTS, WHICH ARE LEVEL TO THE CAPACITY HI. IV. V. HISTORY OF ANAHUAC, OR MEXICO
OK ORDINARY MINDS."— Quarterly Review. j from j^ discovery to the present time. In 3 vols.
' VL VIL HISTORY OF PERU. In 2 vols.
PRELIMINARY DsURSE ON THE OB-
JECTS, ADVANTAGES, AND PLEAS- VIII. IX. HISTORY OF BRAZIL. In 2 vols. &c. &c
URES OF TIIE STUDY OF NATURAL j _
PHILOSOPHY. By J. T. W. Herschcl, !
A. M. late Fellow of St. John's College, i UNDER this comprehensive title, it is proposed ti
Cambridge. publish a General History of America, divided in!
I parts making together a continuous whole ; yet encV
•' Without disparaging any other of the many interest- !flayi in°teg°al form adapted for separate puhl
&'f&^ Each Cordon will brought 'down £ ,1,
at the head of the list, for extent and variety of condensed ! period at which it shall be written, and will cental
information, Mr. Herchel's discourse of Natural Philoso- j a popular description of the geology, climate and pr<
phy in Dr. Lardner's Cyclopaedia." — Christian Observer. \ ductions, and the civil history of the country to whic
" The finest work of philosophical genius which this j it relates.
age has seen." — Mackintosh's England. No work of this general nature has been publishe
" By far the most delightful book to which the existing in the English language. The work of Dr. Robertso
coinp'ititioii between literary rivals of great talent and is rather a philosophical essay on American histon
enterprise has given rise." — Monthly Review. than an historical narrative; and though original!
"Mr. Herschel's delightful volume. * * * We find
scattered through the work instances of vivid and happy
illustration, where the fancy is usefully called into action,
o as sometimes to remind us of the splendid pictures
which crowd upon us in the style of Bacon." — Quarterly
Review.
" It is the most exciting volume of the kind we ever
met with."— Monthly Magazine.
" One of the most instructive and delightful books we
have ever perused." — U. S. Journal.
A TREATISE ON MECHANICS. By Capt.
Kater, and the Rev* Diouysius Lardiier.
With, numerous engravings.
"A work which contains an uncommon amount of
useful information, exhibited in a plain and very intelli
gible form." — Olmsted's J\i'at. Philosophy.
"This volume has been lately published in England, as
a part of Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia, and has re
ceived the unsolicited approbation of the most eminent
men of science, and the most discriminating journals and
reviews, in the British metropolis. — It is written in'a
popular and in .elligible style, entirely free from mathe
matical symbols, and disencumbered as far as possible of
technical phrases." — Boston Traveller.
" Admirable in development and clear in principles, and
.•specially felicitous in illustration from familiar sub
jects." — Monthly Mag.
"Though replete with philosophical information of the
highest order in mechanics, adapted to ordinary capaci
ties in a way to render it at once intelligible and popu
lar."— Lit. Ga-ctte.
" A work of great merit, full of valuable information,
not only to the practical mechanic, but to the man of sci
ence.''—^'*. Y. Courier and Enquirer.
designed to embrace the whole of the American coi
tinent, it remains unfinished. It is written also wit
v bias unfavorable to America and its productions, i
incorrect in many important particulars, and is lo
A TREATISE ON HYDROSTATICS AND
PNEUMATICS. By the Rev. D. Larducr.
With numerous engravings.
" It fully sustains the favorable opinion we have already
expressed as to this valuable compendium of modern sci
ence." — Lit. Gazette.
" Dr. Lardner has made a good use of his acquaintance
with the familiar facts which illustrate the principles of
science."— Monthly Maffa-ive.
" It is written with a full knowledge of the subject,
ami in a popular style, abounding ia practical illustra
tions of the abstruse operations of these
es."— U. S. Journal.
much abstracted for popular use.
This void in literature might have been properl
filled by the writers of Spain, Portugal, France, c
England, but has been supplied for Europe, in
measure, by an Italian, the Cavalier Campagnoni, o
whose meritorious labor much use will be made i
the proposed enterprise.
The volumes herewith presented, may be deeme
introductory to the whole work, since they narrat
the history of the discovery of the three great portion
of America. In the prosecution of the subject, th
existing political divisions will be pursued and cor
nected with former ones, by proper explanations ; ani
where due regard for unity does not forbid, the chrc
nological order will be preserved. Thus, the nex
succeeding part of the work, now advanced in prepj
ration, will contain the history of Anahuac, or Mexico
including its ancient annals, an account of its subju
gation, and the policy of its conquerors, of its laf
revolutions, and of its present constituent states. Ii
the same manner will be treated Central Americs
Peru, Chili, Bolivia, the United Provinces of La Plata
Brazil, and Colombia. Due attention will also be giyei
loathe Independent Indian nations of South America
The history of the remainder of the country wil
he embraced by the following divisions : — 1. Russian
2. British; 3. Spanish; 4. French; 5. Danish; G. Dutcl
America; and 7, the United States and their depend
cncies. In treating the last division, a separate vol
ume will be appropriated to each State and Territory
the history of which may require it, and " The Jh'sfon
of /he United States" will be confined to the event!
of the Revolution and the operations of the genera
government.
A survey having been thus made of the whok
Western Hemisphere, the concluding volume wil;
contain the history of the Indian races, particularly
those of the northern part of the continent, with a
critical examination of the theories relating to the
original peopling of America.
The general title of the work is sufficiently com
prehensive to include a biography of distinguished
Americans, and others connected with American his-
ory; and should the public support warrant it, "An
porant sci- J American Biography" may also be published under
it, in a cheap and popular form.
CABINET LIBRARY,
No- L — NARRATIVE OF THE LATE
WAR IN GERMANY AND FRANCE.
By the MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY. With
a Map.
.No. 2.— JOURNAL OF A NATURALIST,
witli plates.
:No. 3.— AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR WAL
TER SCOTT. With a portrait
No. 4.— MEMOIRS OF SIR WALTER RA
LEGH. By Mrs. A. T. THOMSON. With a
portrait
No. 5.— LIFE OF BELISARIUS. By Lord
MAHON.
No. 6.— MILITARY MEMOIRS OF THE
DUKE OF WELLINGTON. By Capt.
MOYLE SHERER. With a portrait.
No. 7.— LETTERS TO A YOUNG NATU
RALIST ON THE STUDY OF NATURE
AND NATURAL THEOLOGY. By J. L.
DRUMMOND, M. D. With numerous en
gravings.
IN PREPARATION.
LIFE OF PETRARCH. By THOMAS MOORE.
CLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY,
being a Companion to the Journal of a Nat
uralist.
" The Cabinet Library bids fair to be a series of great
value and 1S recommended to public and private libraries
to professional men, and miscellaneous readers generally'
It is beautifully printed, and furnished at a price which
will place it within the reach ot all classes of snHPtv »
American Traveller.
" The series of instructive, and, in their original form
expensive works, which these enterprising publishers a"e
now issuing under the title of the " Cabinet Library"
is a fountain of useful, and almost universal knowledge •
the advantages of which, in forming the opinions, tasfes'
and manners of that portion of society, to which this
varied information is yet new, cannot be too highly
estimated."- National Journal.
" Messrs. Carey and Lea have commenced a series of
publications under the above title, which are to appear
monthly, and which seem likely, from the specimen before
us, to acquire a high degree of popularity, and to afford
a mass of various information and rich entertainment,
at once eminently useful and strongly attractive. The
mechanical execution is fine, the paper and typography
excellent." — Nashville Banner.
MEMOIRS OP THE LIFE OF SIR "WAL
TER RALEGH, with some Account of the
Period in which he lived. By MRS. A. T.
THOMSON. With a Portrait.
" Such is the outline of a life, which, in Mrs. Thom
son's hands, is a mine of interest ; from the first page to
the last the attention is roused and sustained, and while
we approve the manner, we still more applaud the spirit
in which it is executed."— Literary Oazette.
JOURNAL OF A NATURALIST. With
Plates.
Plants, trees, and stones we note ;
Birds, insects, beasts, and rural things.
"We again most strongly recommend this little unpre
tending volume to the attention of every lover of nature,
and more particularly of our country readers. It will
induce them, we are sure, to examine more closely than
they have been accustomed to do, into the objects of ani
mated nature, and such examination will prove one of
the most innocent, and the most satisfactory sources of
gratification and amusement. It is a book that ought
to find its way into every rural drawing-room in the
kingdom, and one that may safely be placed in every
lady's boudoir, be her rank and station in life what they
may/'— Quarterly Review, No. LXXVIII.
"We think that there are few readers who will not
be delighted (we are certain all will be instructed) by the
'Journal of a Naturalist.' "—Monthly Review.
" This is a most delightful book on the most delightful
of all studies. We are acquainted with no previous
work which bears any resemblance to this, except
1 White's History of Selborne,' the most fascinating piece
of rural writing and sound English philosophy that ever
issued from the press." — Athenaum.
"The author of the volume now before us, has pro
duced one of the most charming volumes we remember
to have seen for a long time." — New Monthly Magazine,
June, 1829.
" A delightful volume — perhaps the most so— nor less
instructive and amusing — given to Natural History
since White's Selborne." — Blackwoo&s Magazine.
" The Journal of a Naturalist, being the second num
ber of Carey and Lea's beautiful edition of the Cabinet
Library, is the best treatise on subjects connected with
this train of thought, that we have for a long time pe
rused, and we are not at all surprised that it should have
received so high and flattering encomiums from the Eng
lish press generally." — Boston Traveller.
"Furnishing an interesting and familiar account of
the various objects of animated nature, but calculated
to afford both instruction and entertainment." — Nash
ville Banner.
" One of the most agreeable works of its kind in the
language." — Courier de la Louisiane.
" It abounds with numerous and curious facts, pleas
ing illustrations of the secret operations and economy of
nature, and satisfactory displays of the power, wisdom
and goodness, of the great Creator." — Philad. Album.
THE MARQ,UESS OF LONDONDERRY'S
NARRATIVE OF THE LATE WAR IN
GERMANY AND FRANCE. With a Map.
" No history of the events to which it relates can be
correct without reference to its statements." — Literary
Gazette.
" The events detailed in this volume cannot fail to
excite an intense interest." — Dublin Literary Gazette.
"The only connected and well authenticated account
we have of the spirit-stirring scenes which preceded the
fall of Napoleon. It introduces us into the cabinets and
presence of the allied monarchs. We observe the secret
policy of each individual : we see the course pursued by
the wily Bernadotte, the temporizing Metternich, and
the ambitious Alexander. The work deserves a place in
every historical library."— Globe.
"We hail with pleasure the appearance of the first
volume of the Cabinet Library." " The author had sin
gular facilities for obtaining the materials of his work,
and he has introduced us to the movements and measures
of cabinets which have hitherto been hidden from the
world." — American Traveller.
" It may be regarded as the most authentic of all the
publications which profess to detail the events of the
important campaigns, terminating with that which se
cured the capture of the French metropolis."— Nat. Jour
nal.
It is in fact the only authentic account of the memo
rable events to which it refers." — Nashville Banner.
The work deserves a place in every library."— Phila
delphia Album.
MISCELLANEOUS.
A MEMOIR OF SEBASTIAN CABOT, with
a Review of tlie History of Maritime Dis
covery. Illustrated Iby Documents from
the Rolls, now first published.
" Put forth in the most unpretending manner, and
without a name, this work is of paramount importance
to the subjects of which it treats.'1 — Literary Gazette.
The author has corrected many grave errors, and ir
general given us a clearer insight into transactions of
considerable national interest." — Ib. " Will it not," says
the author, with just astonishment, " be deemed almost
ncredible, that the very instrument in the Records of
England, which recites the Great Discovery, and plainly
contemplates a scheme of Colonization, should, up to
this moment, have been treated by her own writers as
that which first gave permission to go forth and explore T
— fb. "We must return to investigate several collateral
matters which we think deserving of more space than we
can this week bestow. Meanwhile we recommend the
work as one of great value and interest." — Ib.
" The general reader, as well as the navigator and the
curious, will derive pleasure and information from this
well- written production." — Courier.
"A specimen of honest inquiry. It is quite frightful to
hink of the number of the inaccuracies it exposes : we
shall cease to have confidence in books." " The investi
ation of truth is not the fashion of these times. But
very sincere inquirer after historical accuracy ought to
purchase the book as a curiosity: more false assertions
and inaccurate statements were never exposed in the
same compass. It has given us a lesson we shall never
forget, and hope to profit by."— Spectator.
HIS TORT OF THE NORTHMEN, OR NOR
MANS AND DANES J from the earliest
times to the Conquest of England by
"William of Normandy* By Henry Whea-
ton, Member of the Scandinavian and
Icelandic Literary Societies of Copenha-
gen.
This work embraces the great leading features of Scan
dinavian history, commencing with the heroic age, and
advancing from the earliest dawn of civilization to the
ntroduction of Christianity into the North — its long and
)loody strife with Paganism — the discovery and coloniza-
;ion of Iceland, Greenland, and North America, by the
Norwegian navigators, before the time of Columbus— the
military and maritime expeditions of the Northmen —
:heir early intercourse of commerce and war with Con-
itantinople and the Eastern empire— the establishment
>f a Norman state in France, under Hollo, and the sub-
ugation of England, first by the Danes, under Canute
he Great, and subsequently by the Normans, under
)uke William, the founder of the English monarchy,
't also contains an account of the mythology and litera-
ure of the ancient North— the Icelandic language pre
vailing all over the Scandinavian countries until the
brmation of the present living tongues of Sweden and
Denmark — an analysis of the Eddas, Sagas, and various
hronicles and songs relating to the Northern deities and
icroes, constituting the original materials from which
he work has been principally composed. It is intended
o illustrate the history of France and England during
he middle ages, and at, the same time to serve as an
ntroduction to the modern history of Denmark, Norway,
and Sweden.
LETTERS TO A YOUNG NATURALIST,
on the Study of Nature, and Natural The
ology. By JAMES L. DRUMMOND, M. D.
&c« "With numerous engravings.
" We know of no work, compressed within the same
imits, which seems so happily calculated to generate in
a young mind, and to renovate in the old, an ardent love
of nature in all her forms."— Monthly Review.
"We cannot but eulogize, in the warmest manner, the
endeavor, and we must say the successful endeavor, of a
man of science, like Dr. Drummond, to bring down eo
exalted a pursuit to the level of youthful faculties, and to
cultivate a taste at once so useful, virtuous, and refined."
— JVew Monthly Mag.
PRIVATE MEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON BC
NAPARTE, from the French of M. FAUVI
LET DE BOURRIENNE, Private Secretary t
the Emperor. In 2 vols. 8vo.
The peculiar advantages of position in regard 1
his present subject, solely enjoyed by M. de Bourr
enne, his literary accomplishments and moral qual
fications, have already obtained for these memoirs th
first rank in contemporary and authentic history. I
France, where they had been for years expected wit
anxiety, and where, since the revolution, no wor
connected with that period or its consequent eveni
has created so great a sensation, the volumes of Bou:
rienne have, from the first, been accepted as the onl
trustworthy exhibition of the private life and politic!
principles of Napoleon.
"We know from the best political authority now lii
ing in England, that the writers accounts are perfectl
corroborated by facts."— Lit. Oaz.
ANNALS OF THE PENINSULAR CAM
PAIGNS. By the Author of CYRIL THORI
TON. In 3 vols. 12mo. with plates.
THE HISTORY OF LOUISIANA, partici
larly of the Cession of that Colony to th
United States of North America ; with a
Introductory Essay on the Constitution an
Government of the United States, by M. D
MARBOIS, Peer of France, translated fror
the French by an American Citizen. I
1 vol. 8vo.
THE PERSIAN ADVENTURER. By th
Author of the KUZZ-TLBASH. In 2 vols. 12m(
" It is full of glowipg descriptions of Eastern life."-
Courier.
MORALS or PLEASURE, Illustrated b;
Stories designed for Young Persons, in
vol. 12mo.
"The style of the stories is no less remarkable for it
ease and gracefulness, than for the delicacy of its humoi
and its beautiful and at times affecting simplicity, j
lady must have written it— for it is from the bosom o
woman alone, that such tenderness of feeling and sue
delicacy of sentiment — such sweet lessons of morality-
such deep and pure streams of virtue and piety, gus
forth to cleanse the juvenile mind from the grosser impu
rities of our nature, and prepare the young for lives o
usefulness here, and happiness hereafter."— JV. Y. Con
Advertiser.
CLARENCE ; a Tale of our own Times. B;
the Author of REDWOOD, HOPE LESLIE, &c
In 2 vols.
AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW, pub
lished on the first of March, June, Septem
ber, and December. Price $5 per ann.
%* A few complete Sets of the Work are still fo
sale.
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CURREN
CY AND BANKING SYSTEM OF THI
UNITED STATES. By ALBERT GALLA
SONGS OF THE AFFECTIONS. By FELICE
HEMANS. Royal 18mo.
SCOTT, COOPER, AND WASHINGTON XRVXN&.
BY SIR WALTER SCOTT.
JOUNT ROBERT OF PARIS, a Tale of
the Lower Empire. By the Author of Wa-
verley. In 3 vols.
"The reader will at once perceive that the subject,
:he characters and the scenes of action, could not have
been better selected for the display of the various and un
equalled powers of the author. All that is glorious in arts
and splendid in arms— the glitter of armor, the pomp of
war, and the splendor of chivalry — the gorgeous scenery
of the Bosphorus— the ruins of Byzantium— the magnifi
cence of the Grecian capital, and the richness and volup
tuousness of the imperial court, will rise before the reader
n a succession of beautiful and dazzling images." — Com
mercial Advertiser.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR WALTER
SCOTT. With a Portrait.
" This is a delightful volume, which cannot fail to sat-
sfy every reader, and of which the contents ought to be
known to all those who would be deemed conversant with
the literature of our era." — National Gazette.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. In 2 vols.
" The History of Scotland, by Sir Walter Scott, we do
not hesitate to declare, will be, if possible, more exten
sively read, than the most popular work of fiction, by the
same prolific author, and for this obvious reason : it com
bines much of the brilliant coloring of the Ivanhoe pic
tures of by-gone manners, and all the graceful facility of
style and picturesqueness of description of his other
charming romances, with a minute fidelity to the facts
of history, and a searching scrutiny into their authenti
city and relative value, which might put to the blush
Mr. Hume and other professed historians. Such is the
magic charm of Sir Walter Scott's pen, it has only to
touch the simplest incident of every-day life, and it starts
up invested with all the interest of a scene of romance ;
and yet such is his fidelity to the text of nature, that the
knights, and serfs, and collared fools with whom his in
ventive genius has peopled so many volumes, are regarded
by us as not mere creations of fancy, but as real flesh and
blood existences, with all the virtues, feelings and errors
of common-place humanity." — Lit. Gazette.
TALES OF A GRANDFATHER, being a
series from French History. By the Author
of WAVERLEY.
BY MR. COOPER.
THE BRAVO. By the Author of the SPY,
PILOT, &c. In 2 vols.
THE WATER-WITCH, OR THE SKIMMER
OF THE SEAS. In 2 vols.
" We have no hesitation in classing this among the
most powerful of the romances of our countryman." —
U. States Gazette.
"We could ont break from the volumes, and may pre
dict that they will excite the same interest in the minds
of almost every reader. The concluding chapters produce
intense emotion." — National Gazette.
New Editions of the following Works by the
same Author.
NOTIONS OF THE AMERICANS, by a
Travelling Bachelor, 2 vols. 12mo.
THE WEPT OF WISH-TON-WISH, 2 vols.
12mo.
THE RED ROVER, 2 vols. 12mo.
THE SPY, 2 vols. 12mo.
THE PIONEERS, 2 vols. 12mo.
THE PILOT, a Tale of the Sea, 2 vols. 12mo.
LIONEL LINCOLN, OR THE LEAGUER OF
BOSTON, 2 vols.
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 2 vols.
12mo.
THE PRAIRIE, 2 vols. 12mo.
BY WASHINGTON IRVING.
VOYAGES AND ADVENTURES OF THE
COMPANIONS OF COLUMBUS. By
WASHINGTON IRVING, Author of the Life
of Columbus, &c. 1 vol. 8vo.
" Of the main work we may repeat that it possesses
the value of important history and the magnetism of ro
mantic adventure. It sustains in every respect the repu
tation of Irving." " We may hope that the gifted author
will treat 'in like manner the enterprises and exploits o'
Pizarro and Cortes ; and thus complete a series of elegai.t
recitals, which will contribute to the especial gratifica
tion of Americans, and form an imperishable fund of
delightful instruction for all ages and countries." — Nat.
Gazette.
" As he leads us from one savage tribe to another, as
he paints successive scenes of heroism, perseverance and
self-denial, as he wanders among the magnificent scenes
of nature, as he relates with scrupulous fidelity the
errors, and the crimes, even of those whose lives are for
the most part marked with traits to command admira
tion, and perhaps esteem — everywhere we find him the
same undeviating, but beautiful moralist, gathering from
every incident some lesson to present in striking lan
guage to the reason and the heart." — 1m. Quarterly Re
view.
" This is a delightful volume; for the preface truly says
that the expeditions narrated and springing out of the
voyages of Columbus may be compared with attempts of
adventurous knights-errant to achieve the enterprise left
unfinished by some illustrious predecessors. Washington
Irving's name is a pledge how well their stories will be
told: and we only regret that we must of necessity defer
our extracts for a week."— London Lit. Gazette.
A CHRONICLE OF THE CONQUEST OF
GRENADA. By WASHINGTON IRVING.
Esq. In 2 vols.
"On the whole, this work will sustain tho high fame
of Washington Irving. It fills a blank in the historical
library which ought not to have remained so long a
blank. The language throughout is at once chaste and
animated ; and the narrative may be said, like Spenser's
Fairy Queen, to present one long gallery of splendid pic
tures."— Land. Lit. Gazette.
"Collecting his materials from various historians, and
adopting in some degree the tone and manner of a monk
ish chronicler, he has embodied them in a narrative which
in manner reminds us of the rich and storied pages of
Froissart. He dwells on the feats of chivalry performed
by the Christian Knights, with all the ardor which migh!
be expected from a priest, who mixed, according to the
usage of the times, not only in the palaces of courtly
nobles, and their gay festivals, as an honored and wel
come guest, but who was their companion in the camp,
and their spiritual and indeed bodily comforter and as
sistant in the field of battle.— Am. Quarterly Review.
New Editions of the following Works by the
same Author.
THE SKETCH BOOK, 2 vols. 12mo.
KNICKERBOCKER'S HISTORY OF NEW
YORK, revised and corrected, 2 vols.
BRACEBRIDGE HALL, OR THE HUMOR
ISTS, 2 vols, 12mo.
TALES OF A TRAVELLER, 2 vols. 12mo.
TRAVELS, ANNUALS, &c.
NOTES ON ITALY, during the years 1829-30.
By REMBRANDT PEALE. In 1 vol. 8vo.
"This artist will gratify all reasonable expectation
he is neither ostentatious, nor dogmatical, nor too mi
nute; he is not a partisan nor a carper; he admires with
out servility, he criticises without malevolence ; his
frankness and good humor give an agreeable color and
eflect to all his decisions, and the object of them ; his book
leaves a useful general idea of the names, works, and de
serts, of the great masters ; it is an instructive and enter
taining index." — JVoJ. Oaz.
"We have made a copious extract in preceding columns
from this interesting work of our countryman, Rembrandt
Peale, recently published. It has received high comme
datipn from respectable sources, which is justified by the
portions we have seen extracted.'' — CommercialJldccrtiser.
" Mr. Peale must be allowed the credit of candor and
entire freedom from affectation in the judgments he has
passed. At the same time, we should not omit to notice
the variety, extent, and minuteness of his examinations.
No church, gallery, or collection, was passed by, and most
of the individual pictures are separately and carefully
noticed." — Jim. Quarterly Review.
FRAGMENTS OF VOYAGES AND TRAV
ELS, INCLUDING ANECDOTES OF NAVAL
LIFE ; intended chiefly for the Use of Young
Persons. By BASIL HALL, Capt. R. N. In
2 vols. royal 18mo.
" His volumes consist of a melange of autobiography,
naval anecdotes, and sketches of a somewhat discursive
nature, which we have felt much pleasure in perusing."
"The title page to these volumes indicates their being
chiefly intended for young persons, but we are much mis
taken if the race of gray-beards will be among the least
numerous of the readers of ' midshipmen's pranks and
the humors of the green room.' " — Lit. Gazette.
A TOUR IN AMERICA. By BASIL HALL,
Capt. R. N. In 2 vols. 12mo.
SKETCHES OF CHINA, with Illustrations
from Original Drawings. By W. W. WOOD.
In 1 vol. 12mo.
"The residence of the author in China, during the
years 1826-7-8 and 9, has enabled him to collect much
very curious information relative to this singular people,
which he has embodied in his work; and will serve to
gratify the curiosity of many whose time or dispositions
do not allow them to seek, in the voluminous writings of
the Jesuits and early travellers, the information contained
in the present work. The recent discussion relative to
the renewal of the East India Company's Charter, has
excited much interest; and among ourselves, the desire
to be further acquainted with the subjects of 'the Celes
tial Empire,' has been considerably augmet»ted."
EXPEDITION TO THE SOURCES OF THE
MISSISSIPPI, Executed by order of the
Government of the United States. By MA
JOR S. H. LONG. In 2 vols. 8vo. With Plates.
HISTORICAL, CHRONOLOGICAL, GEO
GRAPHICAL, AND STATISTICAL AT
LAS OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERI
CA, AND THE WEST INDIES, with all
their Divisions into States, Kingdoms, &c.
on the Plan of Le Sage, and intended as a
companion to Lavoisne's Atlas. In 1 vol.
folio, containing 54 Maps. Third Edition,
improved and enlarged.
ATLANTIC SOUVENIR, FOR 1832.
This volume is superbly bound in embossed
leather, and ornamented with numerous plates,
executed in the best style, by the first artists.
No expense has been spared in the endeavor
to render it worthy of the purpose for which it
is intended.
EMBELLISHMENTS. — 1. The Hungarian Prin
cess, engraved by 111 man and Pillbrow, from a
picture by Holmes. — 2. The Bower of Paphos,
engraved by Ellis, from a picture by Martin. —
3. The Duchess and Sancho, engraved by Du-
rand, from a picture by Leslie. — 4. Richard and
Saladin, engraved by Ellis, from a picture by
Cooper. — 5. The Rocky Mountains, engraved
by Hatch and Smilie, from a picture by
Doughty. — 6. Lord Byron in Early Youth,
engraved by Ellis, from a picture by Saunders.
— 7. Tiger Island, engraved by Neagle, from
a picture by Stanfield.— 8. The Blacksmith,
engraved by Kelly, from a picture by Neagle.
—9. The Tight Shoe, engraved by Kelly, from
a picture by Richter. — 10. Isadore, engraved
by Illman and Pillbrow, from a picture by
Jackson. — 11. The Dutch Maiden, engraved
by Neagle, from a picture by Newton. — 12.
The Mother's Grave, engraved by Neagle, from
a picture by Schaffer.
ATLANTIC SOUVENIR FOR 1831.
EMBELLISHMENTS. — 1. Frontispiece. The
Shipwrecked Family, engraved by Ellis, from
a picture by Burnet. — 2. Shipwreck off Fort
Rouge, Calais, engraved by Ellis, from a pic
ture by Stanfield. — 3. Infancy, engraved by
Kelly, from a picture by Sir Thomas Law
rence. — 4. Lady Jane Grey, engraved by Kelly,
from a picture by Leslie. — 5. Three Score and
Ten, engraved by Kearny, from a picture by
Burnet. — 6. The Hour of Rest, engraved by
Kelly, from a picture by Burnet. — 7. The Min
strel, engraved by Ellis, from a picture by Les
lie. — 8. Arcadia, engraved by Kearny, from a
picture by Cockerell. — 9. The Fisherman's
Return, engraved by Neagle, from a picture
by Collins. — 10. The Marchioness of Carmar
then, granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Car-
rollton, engraved by Illman and Pillbrow, from
a picture by Mrs. Mee. — 11. Morning among
;he Hills, engraved by Hatch, from a picture
3y Doughty. — 12. Los Musicos, engraved by
Ellis, from a picture by Watteau.
A few copies of the ATLANTIC SOUVE
NIR, for 1830, are still for sale.
THE BOOK OF THE SEASONS. By
WILLIAM HOWITT.
Since the publication of the Journal of a Naturalist,
10 work at once so interesting and instructive as the
Book of the Seasons has been submitted to the public.
Whether in reference to the utility of its design, or the
grace and beauty of its execution, it will amply merit the
>opularity it is certain to obtain. It is, indeed, cheering
and refreshing to meet with such a delightful volume, eo
full of nature and truth— in which reflection and experi-
;nce derive aid from imagination— in which we are
aught much ; but in such a manner as to make it doubt-
ul whether we have not been amusing ourselves all the
ime we have been reading." — New Monthly Magazine.
" The Book of the Seasons is a delightful book, and
ecommended to all lovers of nature." — Blue few ood's Mag-
izine.
EDUCATION.
J3SSONS ON THINGS, intended to improve
Children in the Practice of Observation, Re
flection and Description, on the System of
PESTALOZZI, edited by JOHN FROST, A. M.
The publishers request the attention of
iachers, school committees, and all who are
esirous of improving the methods of instruc-
on, to this work, which is on a plan hitherto
nattempted by any school-book in this coun-
ry, and which has been attended with extra-
rdinary success in England.
The following remarks on the work are ex-
racted from the " Quarterly Journal of Edu-
ation."
This little volume is a 'corrected and re-corrected' edi-
on of lessons actually given to children, and, therefore,
jiossesses a value to which no book made in the closet
an lay claim, being the result of actual experiment.
The work consists of a number of lessons, divided into
ive series ; beginning with subjects the most easy and
elementary, it gradually increases in difficulty, each suc-
*ssive step being adapted to the mind of the child as it
icquires fresh stores of knowledge.
" Every part of these lessons is interesting to the child,
)oth on account of the active operation into which his
)wn mind is necessarily called by the manner in which
;he lessons are given ; and also by the attractive nature
)f many of the materials which form the subject of the
essons. In the first and most elementary series, the pupil
s simply taught to make a right use of his organs of
lense, and to exercise his judgment so far only as relates
lo the objects about him; and accordingly the matter
brought before him at this stage, is such that its obvious
properties can be discovered and described by a child who
has acquired a tolerable knowledge of his mother tongue."
OUTLINES OF HISTORY, from the Earliest
Records to the Present Time. Prepared for
the Use of Schools, with Questions, by JOHN
FROST, A. M.
" The main object of the work is, by giving a selection
of interesting and striking facts from more elaborate his
tories, properly and carefully arranged, with chronological
tables, to render the study of general history less dry and
repulsive than it has been heretofore. This, we think is
fully accomplished. Very great care appears to have been
bestowed on the selections, and in arranging the chrono
logical tables, as well as in the classification of the his
torical matter into parts and chapters. The work will
sufficiently recommend itself to all who examine it." —
Sat. Evening- Post.
"To concentrate in one comparatively small volume, a
complete epitome of the entire history of the world, an
cient and modern, so treated as to present a correct image
of it, would seem to be an object to be wished for, rather
than expected ; the ' Outlines of History,' however, realize
this object."— Asiatic Journal.
" We consider that Mr. F has done a service to schools
by the time and labor which he has bestowed upon this
work ; the marginal dates will be found of great service,
but the chapters of questions upon the text, and upon the
maps, to illustrate the geography of the history, will es
pecially recommend the work to the attention of teach
era."— U. S. Gazette.
Philadelphia, July l()th, 1831.
"The 'Outlines of History,' I consider an excellent
class-book of general history for the use of schools. The
questions added by Mr. Frost, are a most valuable auxili
ary for the teacher as'well as the pupil. I shall use the
' Outlines' in my school, and cordially recommend it to
parents and teachers. S. O. WALKER."
Philadelphia, April 30* h, 1831.
"DEAR SIR, — I have just received a copy of your edition
of the 'Outlines of History.' From a cursory perusal, I
am disposed to give it a high rank as a school-book. So
well satisfied am I with the arrangement and execution
of the work, that I intend to put it immediately into the
hands of a class in my own school.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" MR. JOHN FROST." " LEVI FLETCHER.
FRENCH AND SPANISH.
BY A. BOLMAR.
A COLLECTION OF COLLOQUIAL
PHRASES on every Topic necessary to main
tain Conversation, arranged under different
heads, with numerous remarks on the peculiar
pronunciation and use of various words — the
whole so disposed as considerably to facilitate
the acquisition of a correct pronunciation of
the French. By A. BOLMAR. One vol. 18mo.
A SELECTION OF ONE HUNDRED
PERRIN'S FABLES, accompanied by a Key,
containing the text, a literal and free trans
lation, arranged in such a manner as to point
out the difference between the French and the
English idiom, also a figured pronunciation of
the French, according to the best French works
extant on the subject; the whole preceded by
a short treatise on the sounds of the French
language, compared with those of the English.
LES AVENTURES DE TELEMAQUE
PAR FENELON, accompanied by a Key to
the first eight books ; containing like the Fa
bles — the Text— a Literal— and Free Trans
lation ; intended as a Sequel to the Fables.
The expression ' figured pronunciation,' is above em
ployed to express that the words in the Key to the French
Fables are spelt and divided as they are pronounced. It is
what WALKER has done in his Critical Pronouncing Dic
tionary ; for instance, he indicates the pronunciation of the
word enough, by dividing and spelling it thus, e-nuf. In
the same manner I indicate the pronunciation of the word
comptaient thus, kon-to. Jls the understanding of the
figured pronunciation of WALKER requires the student to
be acquainted with the primitive sounds of the English vow
els, he must likewise, before he can understand the figured
pronunciation of the French, make himself acquainted with
the 20 primitive sounds of the French vowels. This any
intelligent person can get from a native, or from anybody
who reads French well, in a few hours.
A COMPLETE TREATISE ON THE GEN-
DERS OF FRENCH NOUNS; in a small
pamphlet of fourteen pages.
This little work, which is the most complete
of the kind, is the fruit of great labor, and will
prove of immense service to every learner.
ALL THE FRENCH VERBS, BOTH REG
ULAR AND IRREGULAR, in a small volume.
The verbs elre to be, avoir to have, purler to speak,
finir to finish, recevoir to receive, vendre to sell, se
lever to rise, se bien porter to be well, s'en aller to go
away, are here all conjugated through — affirmatively
— negatively — interrogatively — and negatively and in
terrogatively — an arrangement which will greatly fa
cilitate the scholar in his learning the French verbs,
and which will save the master the trouble of explain
ing over and over again what may be much more
easily learned from books, thus leaving him more time
to give his pupil, during the lesson, that instruction
which cannot be found in books, but which must be
learned from a master.
NEUMAN'S SPANISH AND ENGLISH
DICTIONARY. New Edition, in one voL
16mo.
CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE
GREEK CLASSIC POETS, for the use of
Young Persons at School or College.
Contents. — General Introduction ; Ho
meric Questions ; Life of Homer ; Iliad ;
Odyssey; Margites; Batrachomyomachia ;
Hymns ; Hesiod. By Henry Nelson Cole
ridge.
" Wo have been highly pleased with this little volume
This work supplies a want which we have often painfully
felt, and affords a manual which we should gladly see
placed in the hands of every embryo under-graduate
We look forward to the next portion of this work with
very eager and impatient expectation." — British Critic.
" Mr. Coleridge's work not only deserves the praise of
clear, eloquent and scholar-like exposition of the prelim"
nary matter, which is necessary in order to understand
and enter into the character of the great Toet of anti
quity; but it has likewise the more rare merit of being
admirably adapted for its acknowledged purpose. It is
written in that fresh and ardent spirit, which to the con
genial mind of youth, will convey instruction in the
most effective manner, by awakening the desire of it.
and by enlisting the lively and buoyant feelings in the
cause of useful and improving study; while, by its preg
nant brevity, it is more likely to stimulate than to super
sede more profound and extensive research. If then, a
is avowedly intended for the use of the younger readers
of Homer, and, as it is impossible not to discover, with a
more particular view to the great school to which the au
thor owes his education, we shall be much mistaken if it
does not become as popular as it will be useful in that
celebrated establishment." — Quarterly Review.
" We sincerely hope that Mr. Coleridge will favor us
with a continuation of his work, which he promises." —
Gent. Mag.
" The author of this elegant volume has collected a vast
mass of valuable information. To the higher classes of
the public schools, and young men of universities, this
volume will be especially valuable; as it will afford an
agreeable relief of light reading to more grave studies, at
once instructive and entertaining." — Wesleyan Methodist
Magazine.
ATLAS OF ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY, con
sisting of 21 Colored Maps, with a complete
Accentuated Index. By SAMUEL BUTLER,
D. D., F. R. S. &c. Archdeacon of Derby.
By the same Author.
GEOGRAPHIA CLASSICA: a Sketch of
Ancient Geography, for the Use of Schools.
InSvo.
Extract of a Letter from Professor Stuart of
Andover.
" I have used Butler's Atlas Classica for 12 or 14 years,
and prefer it on the score of convenience and correctness
to any atlas within the compass of my knowledge. It
is evidently a work of much care and taste, and most
liappily adapted to classical readers and indeed all others,
who consult the history of past ages. I have long cherish-
?d a strong desire to see the work brought forward in this
country, and I am exceedingly gratified that you have
carried through this undertaking. The beautiful manner
in which the specimen is executed that you have sent m«
tloes great credit to engravers and publishers. It cannot
be that our schools and colleges will fail to adopt this
work, and bring it into very general circulation. I know
of none which in all respects would supply its place."
"The abridged but classical and excellent work of But
ler, on Ancient Geography, which you are printing as an
accompaniment to the maps, I consider one of the most
attractive works of the kind, especially for young persons
studying the classics, that has come under my notice. I
wish you the most ample success in these highly useful
publications."
MECHANICS, MANUFACTURES, &c.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON RAIL-
ROADS, AND INTERIOR COMMUNI
CATION IN GENERAL— containing an
account of the performances of the different
Locomotive Engines at, and subsequent to,
the Liverpool Contest; upwards of two
hundred and sixty Experiments with Tables
of the comparative value of Canals and Rail
roads, and the power of the present Locomo
tive Engines. By NICHOLAS WOOD, Colliery
Viewer, Member of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, &c. 8vo. with plates.
" In this, thu able author has brought up his treatise to
the date of the latest improvements in this nationally
important plan. We consider the volume to be one of
great general interest." — Lit. Oaz.
"We must, injustice, refer the reader to the work
itself, strongly assuring him that, whether he be a man of
science, or "one totally unacquainted with its technical
difficulties, he will here receive instruction and pleasure,
a degree which we have seldom seen united before." —
Monthly Rev.
REPORTS ON LOCOMOTIVE AND FIXED
ENGINES. By J. STEPHENSON and J.
WALKER, Civil Engineers. With an Ac
count of the Liverpool and Manchester Rail
road, by H. BOOTH. In 8vo. with plates.
MILLWRIGHT AND MILLER'S GUIDE.
By OLIVER EVANS. New Edition, with ad
ditions and corrections, by the Professor of
Mechanics in the Franklin Institute of
Pennsylvania, and a description of an im
proved Merchant Flour-Mill, with engrav
ings, by C. & O. EVANS, Engineers.
THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF THK
SUGAR CANE, with Practical Directions
for its Culture, and the Manufacture of its
various Products; detailing the improved
Methods of Extracting, Boiling, Refining,
and Distilling ; also Descriptions of the Best
Machinery, and useful Directions for the
general Management of Estates. By GEORGE
RICHARDSON PORTER.
'This volume contains a valuable mass of scientific
and practical information, and is, indeed, a compendium
of everything interesting relative to colonial agriculture
and manufacture." — Intelligencer.
We can altogether recommend this volume as a most
valuable addition to the library of the home West India
nerchant, as well as that of the resident planter." — Lit.
Gazette.
" This work may be considered one of the most valua-
le books that has yet issued from the press connected
with colonial interests; indeed, AVC know of no greater
service we could render West India proprietors, than in
recommending the study of Mr. Porter's volume." — Spec
tator.
" The work before us contains such valuable, scientific,
and practical information, that we have no doubt it will
find a place in the library of every planter and person
connected with our sugar colonies." — Monthly Magazine.
A TREATISE ON MECHANICS. By JAMES
RENWICK, Esq. Professor of Natural and
Experimental Philosophy, Columbia College,
N. Y. In Bvo. with numerous engravings.
(Eftemtstrg, Natural f^tstorg, an*
TOE CHEMISTRY OF THE ARTS, on tfce
basis of GrayJs Operative Chemist, being
an Exhibition of the Arts and Manufac
tures dependent on Chemical Principles,
with numerous Engravings, by ARTHUR
I« PORTER, M. D. late Professor of
Chemistry, &,c. in the University of Ver
mont* In 8vo* With numerous Plates*
The popular and valuable English work of Mr.
ray, which forms the groundwork of the present
olume, was published in London in 1829, and de-
gned to exhibit a systematic and practical view of the
umerous Arts and Manufactures which involve the
Dplication of Chemical Science. The author himself,
skilful, manufacturing, as well as an able, scientific
emist, enjoying the multiplied advantages afforded
/•the metropolis of the greatest manufacturing nation
earth, was eminently qualified for so arduous an
odertaking, and the popularity of the work in Eng-
nd, as well as its intrinsic merits, attest the fidelity
id success with which it has been executed. In
e work now offered to the American public, the
actical character of the Operative Chemist has been
eserved, and much extended by the addition of a
eat variety of original matter, by numerous correc-
>ns of the original text, and the adaptation of the
hole to the state and wants of the Arts and Manu-
ctures of the United States. Among the most con-
derable additions will be found full and extended
eatises on the Bleaching of Cotton and Linen, on the
arious branches of Calico Printing, on the Manufac-
re of the Chloride of Lime, or Bleaching Powder,
id numerous Staple Articles used in the Arts of
ying, Calico Printing, and various other processes
Manufacture, such as the Salts of Tin, Lead, Man-
nese, and Antimony; the most recent Improve-
ents on the Manufacture of the Muriatic, Nitric,
ad Sulphuric Acids, the Chromates of Polash, the
test information on the comparative Value of Dif-
rent Varieties of Fuel, on the Construction of
oves, Fire-Places, and Stoving Rooms, on the Ven
ation of Apartments, &c. &c. The leading object
as been to improve and extend the practical charac-
r of the Operative Chemist, and to supply, as the
ublishers flatter themselves, a deficiency which is
It by every artist and manufacturer, whose processes
.volve the principles of chemical science, the want
~a Systematic Work which should embody the most
ecent improvements in the chemical arts and manu-
ictures, whether derived from the researches of sci-
ntific men, or the experiments and observations of
le operative manufacturer and artisans themselves.
HEMICAL MANIPULATION. Instruction
to Students on the Methods of perform
ing Experiments of Demonstration or
Research, with accuracy and success. By
MICHAEL FARADAY, F. R. S. First
American, from the second London edi
tion, with Additions by J. K. MITCHELL,
M.D.
." After a very careful perusal of this work, we strenu
msly recommend it, as containing the most complete and
ixcellent instructions for conducting chemical experi
•nents. There are few persons, however great their ex
>erience, who may not gain information in many impor
ant particulars: and for ourselves, we beg most unequiv
»cally to acknowledge that we have acquired many new
ind important hints on subjects of even every-day occur
•ence." — Philosophical Mag.
" A work hitherto exceedingly wanted in the labora
.ory, equally useful to the proficient and to the student
ind eminently creditable to the industry and skill of the
uithor, and to the school whence it emanates." — Jour
tal of Science and Jlrts.
GEOLOGICAL MANUAL, by H. T. De la
Beche, F. R. S., F. G. S., Mem. Geol. Soc.
of France. In 8vo. With 104 Wood Cuts.
ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS, OR NATURAL
PHILOSOPHY, GENERAL AND MEDI
CAL, explained independently of TECH
NICAL MATHEMATICS, and containing
New Disquisitions and Practical Sugges
tions. By NEILL ARNOTT, M. D. Second
American from the fourth London edition,
with Additions by ISAAC HAYS, M. D.
" Dr. Arnott's work has done for Physics aa much as
Locke's Essay did for the science of mind." — London Uni
versity Magazine.
We may venture to predict that it will not be surpass-
ed." — Times.
Dr. A. has not done less for Physics than Blackstone
did for the Law." — Morning Herald.
Dr. A. has made Natural Philosophy as attractive aa
3uffon made Natural History." — French Critic.
A work of the highest class among the productions of
mind." — Courier.
We regard the style and manner as quite admirable."
— Morning Chronicle.
" As interesting as novel-reading." — Athenaeum.
" Never did philosophic hand wield a pen more calcu-
ated to win men to be wise and good." — Edinburgh Ob
server.
Of this valuable, or we might say, invaluable work,
a second edition has been speedily demanded by the pub
ic voice." — Lit. Oaz.
A FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA, with
108 colored Plates. By W. P. C. BARTON,
M. D. In 3 vols. 4to.
ARNOTT'S ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS.
Vol. II. Part I. Containing Light and Heat.
' Dr. Arnott's previous volume has been so well receiv
ed, that it has almost banished all the flimsy productions
called popular, which falsely pretend to strip science of
its mysterious and repulsive aspect, and to exhibit a holy-
day apparel. The success of such a work shows most
clearly that it is plain, but sound knowledge which the
public want." — Monthly Review.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY, OR NATU
RAL HISTORY OF BIRDS, INHABITING
THE UNITED STATES, by CHARLES Lu-
CIEN BONAPARTE; designed as a continua
tion of Wilson's Ornithology, Vols. I. II.
and III.
*%* Gentlemen who possess Wilson, and are de
sirous of rendering the work complete, are informed
that the edition of this work is very small, and that
but a very limited number of copies remain unsold.
Vol. IV. iii the Press.
A DISCOURSE ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF
THE SURFACE OF THE GLOBE AND THE
CHANGES THEREBY PRODUCED IN THE ANI
MAL KINGDOM. By BARON G. CUVIER.
Translated from the French, with Illustra
tions and a Glossary. In 12mo. With Plates.
' One of the most scientific and important, yet plain
and lucid works, which adorn the age Here is vast
aid to the reader interested in the study of nature, and
the lights which reason and investigation have thrown
upon the formation of the universe." — JVejc Monthly Mag
azine.
PHYSIOLOGICAL, MEDICINE AtfD ANATOMY.
HISTORY OF CHRONIC PHLEGMASLE,
OR INFLAMMATIONS, founded on Clin
ical Experience and Pathological Anatomy,
exhibiting a View of the different Varieties
and Complications of these Diseases, with
their various Methods of Treatment By
F. J. V. BROUSSAIS, M. D. Translated from
the French of the fourth edition, by ISAAC
HAYS, M. D. and R. EGLESFELD GRIFFITH,
M. D. Members of the American Philosoph
ical Society, of the Academy of Natural
Science, Honorary Members of the Phila
delphia Medical Society, &c. &c. In 2 vols.
8vo.
EXAMINATION OF MEDICAL DOC
TRINES AND SYSTEMS OF NOSOL
OGY, preceded by Propositions containing
the Substance of Physiological Medicine,
by F. J. V. BROUSSAIS, Officer of the Royal
Order of the Legion of Honor ; Chief Phy
sician and First Professor in the Military
Hospital for Instruction at Paris, &c. Third
edition. Translated from the French, by
ISAAC HAYS, M. D. and R. E. GRIFFITH,
M. D. In 2 vols. 8vo. In the press.
A TREATISE ON PHYSIOLOGY, Applied
to PATHOLOGY. By F. J. V. BROUSSAIS, M. D.
Translated from the French, by Drs. BELL
and LA ROCHE. 8vo. Third American edi
tion, with additions.
" We cannot too strongly recommend the present work
to the attention of our readers, and indeed of all those
who wish to study physiology as it ought to be studied,
in its application to the science of disease." "We may
safely say that he has accomplished his task in a most
masterly manner, and thus established his reputation a
a most excellent physiologist and profound pathologist."
— North American Mcd. and Surg. Journ. Jan. 1827.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF
MEDICINE. By SAMUEL JACKSON, M. D.
Adjunct Professor of the Institutes and Prac
tice of Mecicine in the University of Penn
sylvania. 8vo.
THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, upon the
Principles of the Physiological Doctrine.
By J. G. COSTER, M. D, translated from
the French.
AN EPITOME OF THE PHYSIOLOGY,
GENERAL ANATOMY, AND PATHOL
OGY OF BICHAT. By THOMAS HENDER
SON, M. D. Professor of the Theory and
Practice of Medicine in Columbia College,
Washington City. 8vo.
" The Epitome of Dr. Henderson ought and must find a
place in the library of every physician desirous of useful
knowledge for himself, or of bc-ins instrumental in im
parting it to others, whose studies he is expected to super
intend.''—^. A. Mcd. and Surg. Journ. No. 15.
A TREATISE ON FEVER, considered in the
spirit of the new medical Doctrine. By J.
B. BOISSEAU. Translated from the French.
In the Press.
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING ANATOM
ICAL PREPARATIONS, formed on th<
basis of Pole, Marjolin and Breschet, an<
including the new method of Mr. Swan, b]
USHER PARSONS, M. D. Professor of Anatom]
and Surgery. In 1 Vol. 8vo. with plates. "
A TREATISE ON PATHOLOGICAI
ANATOMY. By WILLIAM E. HORNEB
M. D. Adj. Prof, of Anatomy in the Univer
sity of Pennsylvania.
"We can conscientiously commend it to the members o
the profession, as a satisfactory, interesting, and instrirt
tive view of the subjects discussed, and as well adapte
to aid them in forming a correct appreciation of the die
eased conditions they are called on to relieve." — America:
Journal of the Medical Sciences, JVo. 9.
By the same Author.
A TREATISE ON SPECIAL AND GENERAI
ANATOMY. Second edition, revised an<
corrected, in 2 Vols. 8vo.
LESSONS IN PRACTICAL ANATOMY
for the use of Dissectors. 2d edition, in ]
Vol. 8vo.
SYSTEM OF ANATOMY, for the use of Stu
dents of Medicine. By CASPAR WISTAB
Fifth edition, revised and corrected, by W
E. HORNER, Adjunct Professor of Anatom;
in the University of Pennsylvania. In !
Vols. 8vo.
ELEMENTS OF GENERAL ANATOM1
or a description of the Organs comprising
the Human Body. By P. A. BECLARD, Pro
fessor of Anatomy to the Faculty of Medi
cine at Paris. Translated by J. TOGNO.
TREATISE ON SURGICAL ANATOMY
By ABRAHAM COLLES, Professor of Anatonr
and Surgery, in the Royal College of Sur
geons in Ireland, &c. Second Americai
edition, with notes by J. P. HOPKINSON, De
monstrator of Anatomy in the University o;
Pennsylvania, &c. &c.
A TREATISE ON PATHOLOGICAI
ANATOMY. By E. GEDDINGS, M. D. Pro
fessor of Anatomy in the Medical College ol
South Carolina. In 2 vols. 8vo. (In th<
press.)
ELEMENTS OF MYOLOGY. By E. GED
DINGS, M. D. illustrated by a series of beau
tiful Engravings of the Muscles of the Hu
man Body, on a plan heretofore unknowr
in this country. In the press.
This work, in addition to an ample and accuraU
description of the general and special anatomy of tb<
muscular system, will comprise illustrations of th<
subject from comparative anatomy and physiology
with an account of the irregularities, variations anc
anomalies, observed by the various ancient and mod
ern anatomists, down to the present time.
MEDICINE! AND SURGERY.
V TREATISE ON FEVER. BY SOUTHWOOD
SMITH, M. D., Physician to the London
Fever Hospital.
1 No work has been more lauded by the Reviews than
he Treatise on Fevers, by Southwood Smith. Dr. John-
on, the editor of the Medico-Chirurgical Review, says,
It is the best we have ever perused on the subject of
ever, and in our conscience, we believe it the best that
ver flowed from the pen of physician in any age or in
ny country.' " — Am. Med. Journ.
^N ESSAY ON REMITTENT AND INTER
MITTENT DISEASES, including generic-
ally Marsh Fever and Neuralgia — compris
ing under the former, various Anomalies,
Obscurities, and Consequences, and under a
new systematic View of the latter, treating
of Tic Douloureux, Sciatica, Headache,
Ophthalmia, Toothache, Palsy, and many
other Modes and Consequences of this gene
ric Disease ; by JOHN MACCULLOCH, M. D.,
F. R. S. &c. &c.
" In rendering Dr. Macculloch's work more accessible
to the profession, we are conscious that we are doing the
state some service."— Med. Chir. Review.
" We most strongly recommend Dr. Macculloch's trea
tise to the attention of our medical brethren, as present
ing a most valuable mass of information, on a most im
portant subject." — JV. A. Med. and Surg. Journal.
A PRACTICAL SYNOPSIS OF CUTANE
OUS DISEASES, from the most celebrated
Authors, and particularly from Documents
afforded by the Clinical Lectures of Dr.
Biett, Physician to the Hospital of St. Louis,
Paris. By A. CAZENAVE, M. D. and H. E.
SCHEDEL, M, D.
" We can safely recommend this work to the attention
of practitioners as containing much practical informa
tion, not only on the treatment, but also on the causes
of cutaneous affections, as being in fact the best treatise
on diseases of the skin that has ever appeared."— Ameri
can Journ al oft he Medical Sciences, No. 5.
SURGICAL MEMOIRS OF THE RUSSIAN
CAMPAIGN. Translated from the French
of Baron LARREY.
LECTURES ON INFLAMMATION, exhib
iting a view of the General Doctrines, Pa-
tholoo-ical and Practical, of Medical Sur
gery. By JOHN THOMPSON, M. D., F. R. S. E.
Second American edition.
THE INSTITUTES AND PRACTICE OF
SURGERY ; being the Outlines of a Course
of Lectures. By W. GIBSON, M. D. Profes
sor of Surgery in the University of Pennsyl
vania. 3d edition, revised, corrected, and
enlarged. In 2 vols. 8vo.
PRINCIPLES OF MILITARY SURGERY,
comprising Observations on the Arrange
ments, Police, and Practice of Hospitals,
and on the History, Treatment, and Anoma
lies of Variola and Syphilis ; illustrated with
cases and dissections. By JOHN HENNEN,
M. D., F. R. S. E. Inspector of Military
Hospitals — first American from the third
London edition, with the Life of the Author,
by his son, DR. JOHN HENNEN.
"The value of Dr. Hennen's work is too well apprec
ated to need any praise of ours. We were only required
then, to bring the third edition before the notice of our
readers; and having done this, we shall merely add, that
the volume merits a place in every library, and that no
military surgeon ought to be without it." — Medical Oat
AMERICAN JOURNAL* OF THE MEDICAL
SCIENCES.
Published Quarterly.
And supported by the most distinguished Physicians
in the United states, among which are Professors
Bigelow, Channing, Chapman, Coxe, De Butts, De-
wees, Dickson, Dudley, Francis, Gibson, Hare,
Henderson, Homer, Hosack, Jackson, Macneven,
Mott, Mussey, Physick, Potter, Sewall, Warren,
and Worthington ; Drs. Daniel!, Drake, Emerson,
Fearn, Geddings, Griffith, Hale, Hays, Hayward,
Ives, Jackson, Moultrie, Ware, and Wright. It is
published punctually on the first of November,
February, May, and August. Each No. contains
about 2»0 large 8vo. pages, and one or more plates
— being a greater amount of matter than is fur
nished by any other Medical Journal in the United
States. Price $5 per annum.
The following Extracts show the estimation
in which this Journal is held in Europe : —
Several of the American Journals are before us. * * *
Of these the American Journal of the Medical Sciences
s by far the better p?rrodieal ; it is, indeed, the best of the
rans-atlantic medical publications ; and, to make a com-
jarison nearer home, is in most respects superior to the
jreat majority of European works of the same descrip-
ion.1'— The Lancet, Jan. 1831.
" We need scarcely refer our esteemed and highly emi
nent cotemporary, {The American Journal of the Medical
Sciences,} from whom we quote, to our critical remarks
on the opinions of our own countrymen, or to the princi
ples which influence us in the discharge of our editorial
duties." " Our coprous extracts from his unequalled pub-
cation, unnoticing multitudes of others which come be
fore us, are the best proof of the esteem which we enter
tain for his talents and abilities." — London Medical and
Surgical Journal, March, 1830.
The American Journal of the Medical Sciences is one
of the most complete and best edited of the numerous
periodical publications of the United States." — Bulletin
des Sciences Medicales, Tom. XIV.
PATHOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL RE
SEARCHES ON DISEASES OF THE BRAIN
AND SPINAL CORD. By JOHN ABERCROM-
BIE, M. D.
' We have here a work of authority, and one which
does credit to the author and his country." — North Amer.
Med. and Surg. Journal.
By the same Author.
PATHOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL RE
SEARCHES ON DISEASES OF THE STO
MACH, THE INTESTINAL CANAL, THE
LIVER, AND OTHER VISCERA OF THE
ABDOMEN.
"We have now closed a very long review of a very
valuable work, and although we have endeavored to con
dense into our pages a great mass of important matter,
we feel that our author has not yet received justice."—
Medico- Chirurgical Review.
A RATIONAL EXPOSITION OF THE
PHYSICAL SIGNS OF DISEASES OF
THE LUNGS AND PLEURA; Illustrating
their Pathology and facilitating their Diag
nosis. By CHARLES J. WILLIAMS, M. D. In
8vo. with plates.
" If we are not greatly mistaken, it will lead to a better
understanding, and a more correct estimate of the value
of auscultation, than any thing that has yet appeared."
— Am. Med. Journal.
MANUAL OF THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MAN ;
or a concise Description of the Phenomena
of his Organization. By P. HUTIN. Trans
lated from the French, with Notes, by J.
TOONO. In 12mo.
MEDICINE.
THE PRACTICE OF PHYSIC. By W. P.
DEWEES, M. D. Adjunct Professor of Mid
wifery, in the University of Pennsylvania,
2 Vols. 8vo.
;i We have no hesitation in recommending it as deci
dedly one of the best systems of medicine extant. The
tenor of the work in general reflects the highest honor on
Dr. Devvees's talents, industry, and capacity for the exe
cution of the arduous task which he had undertaken. It
is one of the most able and satisfactory works which mod
ern times have produced, and will be a standard authori
ty." — London Med. and Surg. Journal, Aug. 1830.
DEWEES ON THE DISEASES OF CHIL
DREN. 4th ed. In 8vo.
The objects of this work are, 1st, to teach those who
have the charge of children, either as parent or guar
dian, the most approved methods of securing and im
proving their physical powers. This is attempted by
pointing out the duties which the parent or the guar
dian owes for this purpose, to this interesting, but
helpless class of beings, and the manner by which
their duties shall be fulfilled. And 2d, to render
available a long experience to these objects of our
affection when they become diseased. In attempting
this, the author has avoided as much as possible,
" technicality ;" and has given, if he does not flatter
himself too much, to each disease of which he treats,
its appropriate and designating characters, with a
fidelity that will prevent any two being confounded
together, with the best mode of treating them, that
either his own experience or that of others has sug-
DE WEES ON THE DISEASES OF FEMALES.
3d edition, with Additions. In 8vo.
A COMPENDIOUS SYSTEM OF MID
WIFERY; chiefly designed to facilitate the
Inquiries of those who may be pursuing this
Branch of Study. In 8vo. with 13 Plates. 5th
edition, corrected and enlarged. By W. P.
DEWEES, M. D.
THE ELEMENTS OF THERAPEUTICS
AND MATERIA MEDIC A. By N. CHAP
MAN, M. D. 2 vols. 8vo. 5th edition, cor
rected and revised.
MANUAL OF PATHOLOGY: containing
the Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Morbid Char
acter of Diseases, &c. By L. MARTINET.
Translated, with Notes and Additions, by
JONES QUAIN. Second American Edition,
12mo.
" We strongly rorr nunond M. Martinet's Manual to the
profession, and espvially to students; if the latter wish
to study diseases to advantage, they should always have
it at hand, both when at the bedside of the patient, and
when making post mortem examinations." — American
Journal of the Medical Sciences, JVo. I.
CLINICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF FEVER,
comprising a Report of the Cases treated at
the London Fever Hospital in 1828-29, by
Alexander Tweedie, M. D., Member of the
Royal College of Physicians of London, &c.
1 vol. 8vo.
"In short, the present work, conciae, unostentatious
as it is, would have led us to think that Dr. Tweedie was
a man of clear judgment, unfettered by attachment to
any fashionable hypothesis, that he was an energetic but
judicious practitioner, and that, if he did not dazzle his
readers with the brilliancy of theoretical speculations, he
would command their assent to the solidity of his didac
tic precepts." — Med. Chir. Journal.
THE ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND DIS-
EASES OF THE TEETH. By THOMAS BELL,
F.R.S., F.L.S. &c. In 1 vol. 8vo. With Plates.
" Mr. Bell has evidently endeavored to construct a
work of reference for the practitioner, and a text-booh
for the student, containing a 'plain and practical digesl
of the information at present possessed on the subject,
and results of the author's own investigations and expe
rience.' " * * * " We must now take leave of Mr. Bell,
whose work we have no doubt will become a class-booh
on the important subject of dental surgery." — Medico-Chi-
rurgical Review,
" We have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be the
best treatise in the English language." — JVoriA American
Medical and Surgical Journal, JVo. 19.
AMERICAN DISPENSATORY. Ninth
Edition, improved and greatly enlarged. By
JOHN REDMAN COXE, M. D. Professor of Ma-
teria Medica and Pharmacy in the Univer
sity of Pennsylvania. In 1 vol. 8vo.
V This new edition has been arranged with spe
cial reference to the recent Pharmacopceias, published
in Philadelphia and New- York.
ELLIS' MEDICAL FORMULARY. The
Medical Formulary, being a collection of
prescriptions derived from the writings and
practice of many of the most eminent Phy
sicians in America and Europe. By BENJAMIN
ELLIS, M. D. 3d. edition. With Additions.
'We would especially recommend it to our brethren in
distant parts of the country, whose insulated situations
may prevent them from having access to the many autho
rities which have been consulted in arranging the mate
rials for this work." — Phil. Med. and Phys. Journal.
MANUAL OF MATERIA MEDICA AND
PHARMACY. By H. M. EDWARDS, M. D.
and P. VAVASSEUR, M. D. comprising a con
cise Description of the Articles used in
Medicine; their Physical and Chemical
Properties ; the Botanical Characters of the
Medicinal Plants ; the Formulae for the Prin
cipal Officinal Preparations of the American,
Parisian, Dublin, &c. Pharmacopoeias; with
Observations on the proper Mode of combin
ing and administering Remedies. Trans
lated from the French, with numerous Ad
ditions and Corrections, and adapted to the
Practice of Medicine and to the Art of Phar
macy in the United States. By JOSEPH TOG-
NO, M. D. Member of the Philadelphia Med
ical Society, and E. DURAND, Member of the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
'It contains all the pharmaceutical information that
the physician can desire, and in addition, a larger mass of
information, in relation to the properties, &c. of the dif
ferent articles and preparations employed in medicine,
than any of the dispensatories, and we think will entirely
supersede all these publications in the library of the phy
sician." — Am. Journ. of the Medical Sciences.
MEMOIR ON THE TREATMENT OF VENE
REAL DISEASES WITHOUT MERCURY,
employed at the Military Hospital of the
Val-de-Grace. Translated from the French
of H:M. J. Desruelles, M. D. &c. To which
are added, Observations by G. J. Guthrie,
Esq. and various documents, showing the
results of this Mode of Treatment, in Great
Britain, France, Germany, and America.
1 vol. 8vo.
PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION
BY CAREY Si LEA,
CYCLOPAEDIA
OF
PRACTICAL MEDICINE;
COMPRISING
TREATISES ON THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF DISEASES,
MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS,
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE, &c.
EDITED BY
FOHN FORBES, M.D. F.R.S.
Physician to the
Winchester Infirmary, &c.
ALEXANDER TWEEDIE, M.D.
Physician to the
London Fever Hospital, &c.
JOHN CONOLLY, M. D.
Professor of Medicine in the
London University ,&c.
WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING PHYSICIANS:
FAMES APJOHN, M.D. M. R. I. A. Professor of, THOMAS HANCOCK, M.D Liverpool, Member
Chemistry to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ire- j of the Royal College of Physicians, London,
land. CHARLES HASTINGS, M. D. Physician to the
Worcester General Infirmary.
BISSET HAWKINS, M. D. Fellow of the Royal
College of Physicians, Professor of Materia Medica
and Therapeutics in King's College, Dublin.
J. HOPE, M. D. Member of the Royal College of
Physicians, London.
ARTHUR JACOB, M.D. M.R.I.A. Professor of
Anatomy to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
FAMES L. BARDSLEY, M.D. Physician to the
Manchester Royal Infirmary, Dispensary, &c.
COWARD BARLOW, M. D. Physician to the Bath
United Hospital and Infirmary.
I. H. BRABANT, M. D. Devizes.
'OSEPH BROWN, M. D. Physician to the Sunder-
land and Bishopwearmouth Infirmary.
fHOMAS H. BURDER, M. D. Member of the Royal
College of Physicians, London.
OHN BL'RNE, M. D. Physician to the Carey-street
Dispensary.
I. W. CARTER, M.D. F.R.S.E. Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians, London, Physician to
the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.
OHN CHEYNE, M. D. F. R. S. E. M. R. I. A.
Physician- General to the Forces in Ireland, &c. &c.
AMES CLARK, M. D. Physician to St. George's
Infirmary, &c. &c.
OHNT CLENDINNING, M. D. Fellow of the Royal
College of Physicians, London.
OHN CRAMPTON, M. D. M.R.I. A. King's Pro
fessor of Materia Medica, Physician to Stevens's
Hospital, &c. &c. Dublin.
iNDREVV CRAWFORD, M. D. Physician to the
Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester.
•VILLIAM CUMIN, M. D. Glasgow.
AMES CUSACK, M.B. Steevens' Hospital, Dublin.
OHN DARWALL, M. D. Physician to the General
Dispensary, Birmingham.
). D. DAVIS, M. D. M.R. S. L. Professor of Mid
wifery in the London University.
OHN ELLIOTSON, M. D. F. R. S. Physician to
St. Thomas's Hospital
I. J. GRAVES, M.D. M.R. I. A. King's Professor
of the Institutes of Medicine, Honorary Fellow of
the King's and Queen's College of Physicians, Phy-
ROBERT LEE, M. D. F. R. S. Physician to the
British Lying-in Hospital.
CHARLES LOCOCK, M. D. Physician to the West
minster General Lyiag-in Hospital, &c. &c.
H. MARSH, M. D. M. R. I. A. Professor of the Prin
ciples and Practice of Medicine to the Royal College
of Surgeons in Ireland, &c. Dublin.
JONES QUAIN, M. B. Lecturer on Anatomy and
Physiology in the Medical School, Aldersgate-Street.
J. C. PRICHARD, M. D. F. R. S. Physician to the
Infirmary and to St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol.
ARCHIBALD ROBERTSON, M.D. Physician to
the Northampton General Infirmary.
P. M. ROGET, M.D. Sec. R. S. Consulting Physi
cian to the Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital and
to the Northern Dispensary, &c. &c.
JOHN SCOTT, M. D. Edinburgh.
WILLIAM STOKES, M. D. Physician to the Meath
Hospital.
WILLIAM STROUD, M. D. Physician to the North
ern Dispensary.
A. T. THOMSON, M.D. F. L. S. Professor of Ma
teria Medica in the London University.
THOMAS THOMSON, M.D. F.R.S. L. & E. Re
gius Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glas
gow, &c. &c.
T. J. TODD, M.D. Physician to the Dispensary,
Brighton.
RICHARD TOWNSEND, A. B. M.D. M. R.I. A.
Fellow of King and Queen's College of Physicians,
Dublin.
sician to the Meath Hospital and County of Dublin
Infirmary.
iEORGE GREGORY, M. D. Physician to the Small-
Pox Hospital.
vlARSHALL HALL, M.D. F.R.S.E. Member of CHARLES J. B. WILLIAMS, M.D. London,
the Royal College of Physicians, London, &c. &c. &c. &c. &c.
To adapt, the above work to the wants of this country, the publishers have engaged the assistance
>f many of our most eminent physicians, and they pledge themselves that no exertion shall be spared
o render it worthy of patronage. It will be published in monthly numbers, price 50 cts. 112 pp. each.
CYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE.
THE want of a comprehensive work on subjects connected with
PRACTICAL MEDICINE including PATHOLOGY and PATHOLOGICAL ANAT
OMY, is one which has long existed in this country. The Medical
Dictionaries heretofore published, and the Systems of Medicine in
the hands of the student, may be said, without invidiousness, to
fall very far short of presenting the English reader with such a
compendious survey of the actual state of BRITISH and FOREIGN
MEDICINE as is absolutely required by him. Some of them are too
limited and too superficial in their character; others are too volu
minous, too intricate in their arrangement, and too indiscriminate
in their contents; and all are open to the serious objection of fail
ing to represent the improvements and discoveries by which the
scientific labors of the members of the medical profession, in vari
ous parts of the world, have been rewarded since the commence
ment of the present century.
It is the object of the CYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE to
supply these deficiencies, and to meet the acknowledged wants of
the medical reader. Such ample arrangements have been made
for effecting these important objects, as enable the Editors to lay
before the public the nature and plan of a publication in which
they have endeavored, by dividing the labor of a work including
subjects of great diversity, and all of practical importance ; by
combining the valuable exertions of several contributors already
known to the medical public ; by excluding mere technical and
verbal explanations, and all superfluous matter ; and by avoiding
multiplied and injudicious divisions; to furnish a book which will
be comprehensive without diffuseness, and contain an account of
whatever appertains to practical medicine, unembarrassed by dis
quisitions and subjects extraneous to it.
In pursuance of this design, every thing connected with what is
commonly called the PRACTICE OF PHYSIC will be fully and clearly
explained. The subject of PATHOLOGY will occupy particular at
tention, and ample information will be given with relation to PA
THOLOGICAL ANATOMY.
Although the excellent works already published on the subjects
of MATERIA MEDICA and MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE can be so readily
and advantageously consulted, as to make the details of those
branches of science uncalled for in the Cyclopaedia, it belongs to
the proposed plan to comprise such general notices of the applica
tion and use of medicinal substances as may be conveyed in a
CYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE.
general account of each class into which they have been divide*
as of TONICS, NARCOTICS, &c.; and to impart, under a few head
as TOXICOLOGY, SUSPENDED ANIMATION, &c. such information coi
nected with Medical Jurisprudence as is more strictly practical i
its character.
It is almost unnecessary to say that a work of this descriptio
will form a LIBRARY of PRACTICAL MEDICINE, and constitute a mos
(desirable book of reference for the GENERAL PRACTITIONER, whos
[numerous avocations, and whose want of access to books, affor
lim little time and opportunity for the perusal of many origins
ks, and who is often unable to obtain the precise informatio
rhich he requires at the exact time when he is in greatest need of ii
The STUDENT OF MEDICINE, who is attending lectures, will, alsc
>y means of this work, be enabled, whatever order the lecture
iay follow, to refer, without difficulty, to each subject treated o
[in the lectures of his teacher; and it is presumed that Lecturer
>n Medicine will see the advantage of recommending to thei
[pupils a work of highly respectable character, the composition o
[original writers, and which, it is hoped, will neither disappoint thi
tdvanced student by its brevity and incompleteness, nor perple;
[those commencing their studies by an artificial arrangement.
But, whilst the Editors have felt it to be their duty to prepare \
safe and useful book of reference and text-book, it would be doin^
injustice to those by whose co-operation they have been honored
not to avow that they have also been ambitious to render thi
|work acceptable and interesting to readers who have leisure an<
inclination to study what may be termed the PHILOSOPHY of MEDI
[CINE: whatever is truly philosophical in medicine being also useful
although the application of the science to the art requires much re
flection and sound judgment. — For the assistance of those who desin
to pursue a regular course of medical reading, ample direction
will be given when the work is completed; and for those who ma]
be anxious to prosecute any particular subject to a greater exten
[than the limits of the Cyclopaedia permit, a list will be given, in ai
JAppendix, of the best works relating to each.
The means of accomplishing an undertaking of the importance
[of which the Editors are fully sensible, will, doubtless, be appre
[dated after an inspection of the list of contributors who hav<
already promised their co-operation. It is, of course, desirabl*
that a work of this kind should be characterized by unity of de
CYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE.
sign, but, at the same time, as each author will, generally speak
ing, contribute his knowledge and his opinions on the subjects
which have occupied his chief attention, the superiority of the
whole performance to any thing which the mere labor of compila
tion could accomplish will be unquestionable. To each important
article the name of the author will be appended.
The acknowledged want of such a publication, already alluded
to, and the extensive encouragement which Dictionaries of a much
greater extent have met with in FRANCE and GERMANY, although
some of them are very unequal as regards the value of different
parts, and encumbered with much that is absolutely useless, afforc
sufficient reason to hope for the success of a work in which whal
is valuable will, as much as possible, be separated from what i<
merely calculated to distract the attention, and to frustrate the
inquiry, of those who study the science of medicine with a vie\\
of regulating and improving its practice.
In order to insure this success, it is the desire, and will be th-
endeavor, of the Editors to make the CYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICA
MEDICINE not only obviously useful to those for whom it is mor
immediately intended, but so creditable to BRITISH MEDICAL SCIENC
as to deserve and to obtain the patronage of all classes of th
Medical Profession.
IN the American edition, all interesting details on the subject;
of MATERIA MEDICA and MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE, omitted in th<
original, will be supplied. — Much new matter in relation to AMERI
CAN SURGERY and MEDICAL PRACTICE will be introduced ; and fo
this ample materials have been promised. — Full explanations wil
be given of all medical terms, especially those which modern dis
coveries have introduced into the nomenclature of the science, anc
without a knowledge of which, many of the works of the presen
day are almost unintelligible. — At the termination of each article
the most copious references will be given to the best writers 01
the subject, so as to enable the student who desires it, to pursu<
his investigations with the least trouble and the greatest advan
tage. — Finally, the whole work will be carefully revised, and sue!
additions made as may tend to increase its value, and to render it
what it is desired it should be — A COMPLETE LIBRARY OF THE MEDICAI
SCIENCES.
E165
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY