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power. The people are scattered over a vast surface and can never be collected into one mass. They are not therefore so apt to be carried away by any single passion or sudden impulse, or so prone to fall under the sway of man. They view both men and things in various aspects; what one State admires another condemns; what one struggles to put up, another strives to pull down; and thus a healthful difference of opinion is kept alive throughout the land. What would be, or rather what would not be the fate of this nation, if the several parties, that now divide the people, were crowded into the walls of a large capital or even in the limits of a small republic? Could any one bring himself to foresee the danger, the bloodshed and the tyranny that would ensue? Would any one be so idle as to say then, that the French Revolution and the civil wars of Rome would never have a parallel in the history of America? What would not be the force of power and patronage, the corruption of magistrates, the slavery of the people and the ruin of the state!

Large Capitals, though frequently the scene of anarchy have never been sound and constant friends of good order and true liberty. They have indeed usually been foremost to set up resistance to arbitrary power, but they are always hurried away by a whirlwind of passion; and while they escape the evils of capricious misrule, run through the still more dreadful terrors of anarchy. They are for the most part stirred up by the artful intrigues, the pretended patriotism and vulgar eloquence of dangerous and designing men, and I know of few things that they have left better than they found them. To pass by the slaughter with which the streets of Rome was daily drenched, I am not prepared to say that the Roman empire was less happy and prosperous under the dynasty of the Cæsars, than was the republic, before it was torn to pieces by the wars of Marius and Sylla. Perhaps the English nation did not gain much by exchanging the exaggerated tyranny of Charles I. for the boasted liberty of the Commonwealth and the popular reign of Charles II. And while every one knows that France was not made happy by passing through the orgies of a revolution and the arbitrary reign of the great Emperor, the impartial historian perhaps will say she was not freer under the rule of Louis Philippe, than she was under that of the Bourbons.

Besides, it is well known that capitals, gathering as they do within their walls all the talents and corruption of the land, control the opinions and direct the movements of whole nations. Paris and London have only to lead the way, and France and England will soon follow in their track. Men are too much disposed to take their opinions on trust and nothing can be more hurtful to the freedom of a people, than that a country should be taught to look up to any particular individuals or even any par

ticular city for its sentiments, either in morals, politics or religion. Fortunately for us, we have no overgrown metropolis that can hold such boundless sway, either for good or for evil, over the minds of the people. I do not mean to say that the people of the United States are free from influence. But while I cannot deny that some men — taking advantage of their own popularity and the many defects in our otherwise perfect constitution-have established an authority dangerous in its kind and still more so as regards the use which they have made of it, still I say that there is a large portion of the American people who think and act for themselves. A majority of them, I hope, follow the light of reason and do not obey the dictation of others. At any rate, there is yet freedom of opinion and freedom of speech to those who choose to exercise them, and if these precious privileges have in any manner or to any degree been curtailed, that curtailment has sprung from other causes than the extent of our country. Indeed, this extent is a great barrier to the further progress of the evil, and we can only say that if the disease prevails so sensibly over so large a surface, how destructive would it not be, if narrowed down within the limits of a city or a small republic!

As the grandeur and permanence of our government must depend upon the intelligence of the people, it has been feared that this country is too wide spread and thinly peopled to stand the test of time and the rude shocks of party and of prejudice. But this, to use the cant language of the times--language, however, which is not the less true because it is trite is the of image provement; and the spirit of enterprize is a more prominent feature in the character of this nation than in that of any other. States and cities, that are apparently at a great distance from each other, are really very close together. Prejudices, that would otherwise be deep rooted, are now almost eradicated by the great facility of intercourse. It is not too much to say that the communication between the different portions of the Union is as great and as easy as was that between the different parts of the Roman republic, during the dawn of its greatness, and before it had burst into the mid-day of its magnificence. There, is besides, in the very extent and situation of our country and in the value of its commerce, many causes that will bring this facility of communication to a still greater height of perfection and make the American people, in an emphatic sense of the word, a traveling people. Most of the merchandize that is brought into the United States is imported by the cities on the Atlantic seaboard. From these it is purchased in large quantities and retailed in smaller through the whole of the interior. Almost every merchant then, in the whole valley of the Mississippi, and indeed in the whole of the inland, has to perform, periodically, his trip of business to the cities of the East. On the other hand, also, large supplies of the

staple produce of the most distant sections of the Union, find their way to the Atlantic markets, and indeed can find a vent only in them. This trade is not confined to any one city or State, but extends along the sea-board from New-York to New-Orleans. In the East, every gentleman is expected to know something of the lakes, the rivers, the mountains and the people of the West. On this side of the Alleghanies, there are few that are not acquainted, either from early recollections of the place of their birth, from recent visits, or from the information of others, with the opinions, the feelings and the manners of the people in the NewEngland and Atlantic States. A great deal of knowledge (sometimes indeed not very correct or impartial) is spread among the lower classes by means of the press. At any rate, men of the most influence, those who guide the movements of the people and who hold in their hands the destinies of the nation, are not entirely ignorant of each other, and if they sometimes profess to labor under the vulgar prejudices that were formerly so much in vogue, it is not because they really entertain them, but because they desire to attain some end by means which, to say the least, are neither liberal nor reputable. The many works of internal improvement which are already completed, have sensibly diminished the jealousy and heart-burnings between the States, that so long and so unfortunately prevailed. The people are beginning to perceive virtues where they had only fancied the lowest meanness, and to afford another proof how quick are the gradations between acquaintance, kindness and esteem. And we may now, I think, safely affirm that neighboring States of the Union know more of each other than adjoining provinces of France or contiguous Counties in England. For my part, I cannot but regard with infinite contempt, those little men, who take a pride in keeping alive these petty prejudices. Such men have either a low ambition or narrow minds. Strange indeed is it that their patriotism is so intense that it can compass only the surface of a single State. And stranger still, that such narrow views should be regarded by anybody, as allied with the noble feelings of love of liberty and of country.

It would be very easy to shew that there is no ground for any such prejudices. The interests of most of the States are different rather than rival interests. To prove the dependence of the various sections of the country upon one another, for their commerce and prosperity, I will take a very familiar instance, which perhaps will suggest itself to the mind of every one. If the mouth of the Mississippi were closed, or occupied by a foreign power, there would be no outlet for the produce of the western soil. Produce would fall in price, credit would be broken; the pressure would be felt by every one; and we should see revived that noble excitement and just indignation, which swelled every bosom

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in Kentucky, and her younger sisters of the valley, when NewOrleans contrary to the solemn faith of a public treaty closed in open day against them. The merchants of the east would suffer great loss in the sale of their goods and recovery of their debts. And thus, as if the nation were one regular and well-devised system, the malady that taints a particular part would infect and prostrate the whole body.

Without denying that intelligence always goes hand in hand with commerce, I may be allowed to say that those employed in agriculture are usually more fixed in their abode and firm in their opinions. A large majority of the people either are or shortly will be engaged in this noblest of pursuits. The grandeur of the Roman republic was owing in a great degree to the respect in which agriculture was held for, from the tilling of the soil, spring the virtues of honesty, hospitality and magnanimity. People are much more attached to a country when they own land, than when they merely own money in it; not only their interests, but their feelings also which are sometimes more powerful even than interest are closely linked with its welfare and prosperity. Our boundless domain, and the cheap prices at which the public lands are sold, put it into the power of every man to become a landholder; and it is among the landholders that we must look, if not for the intelligence of the country, at least for honest intentions and sterling patriotism.

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But these advantages of extensive territory are trifling when compared with the real power which it gives us at home, and the respect which it inspires for us abroad. An attack may be made on one State, and it will be resisted, although not felt by another. It is true, that foreign prints and foreign travelers decry our government and our manners. But we are a great people, and they know it. Else, whence this torrent of abuse?—this ceaseless tide of emigration? Indeed, recent events have shewn that, although our right may for a time be disregarded, our power is yet dreaded on the other side of the great waters.

Lexington, (Ky.)

W.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

The Token and Atlantic Souvenir; a Christmas and New-Year's Present. Edited by S. G. Goodrich. Boston: published by

Charles Bowen. 1836.

It is a pity that some efficient method could not be adopted to do away with the present system of indiscriminate puffery. Little or no reliance can be placed on newspaper opinions about a new book; and we are sorry to add that contemporary periodicals, of a weightier character, which pretend to some slight critical discrimination, cannot be consulted with a better chance of finding out the truth. The editors of journals seem to conspire with the authors, editors and publishers of books, to practice the grossest deceptions upon the reading community. Let a stupid volume hang heavily on the publisher's hands, and—to use a slang phrase of the trade- he gets it off' by procuring a certain number of puffs to append to his advertisements.

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Let an elegant annual' make its appearance, and it is foisted into the favor of young masters and misses, protesting lovers and too-confiding damosels, by the recommendation of The New-York Mirror,' and some dozen other frail porringers of sentimental pap. Bachelors of a certain age,' and subdued husbands, who may be connected with the daily press-the former to keep alive the embers of decayed hopes, the latter to buy some respite from the continual dropping' which patters them at home-are glad to be favored with copies, 'very splendidly embossed,' of the new-year's wonder, to lay at the shrine of the particular goddesses whose smiles they may desire to invoke- and so they puff. When puffs' are not voluntary, the editor becomes a sort of literary recruiting-serjeant, and forces them into service.

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'Have you any facility for writing in the newspapers?' says Mr. Parleyvous, to a young friend; any intimacy with the conductors of the press? If you have, I will present you with a copy of my very elegant work —if you will write a notice of it!' The person addressed, with the rare and lovely blush of modesty upon his countenance -a blush not for himself, but for the shameless individual who thus tempts his virtue of opinion-disavows any influence with the press, and declines receiving a present of―ay! let us suppose it—THE TOKEN; for this precious volume has led us into this train of remark.

This Christmas and New-Year's Present' has been puffed and plastered, during the present season, as liberally as usual. If one could believe all that is said about it, it would be thought more splendid than were the illuminated tomes of the Alexandrian library. Not a spot can be discovered on its radiant surface. Is not the publisher aware that such outrageous puffery fails of its intended effect? - that it is like

"Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other?'

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