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ritans, or the semi-barbarous clans of ancient Caledonia and Erin, who transmitted their feuds from father to son. Yet there are many that range themselves under hostile banners, who have only to meet on some neutral ground, and discuss their differences in a friendly spirit, in order to discover points of agreement and reasons for mutual forbearance and good-will. By all means let truth be advocated with the ardour of honest conviction, and let pestilent errors be manfully opposed. But therefore it is the more necessary, not to suffer strong prejudice and antipathy to close our hearts against the common sympathies and interests of our people and our race. And if party spirit has chilled the social scene around us, and overspread it with a severe and wintry aspect, only let Christian charity shed her bright and sunny influences over it, and from beneath the frozen surface the lovelier green of kind and generous natures will appear.

M. De Tocqueville describes the Americans as being "for the most part strongly influenced by a passion for gain, and the love of physical comfort, in which channel men's passions chiefly flow, and sweep away all else before them. And this spirit," he continues, "is frequently combined with a kind of religious morality,an attempt to make the most of this world, without losing the next. There are few great designs,-petty objects and pleasures of the day engross much of their attention."

The American women are in general religious and highly moral; "and women are the guardians of morality. If I were asked to what I would principally attribute the singular prosperity and increasing power of the American people, I would reply, to the superiority of the females of that nation. Whilst the European endeavours to forget his domestic troubles by agitating society, the American derives from his home

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that love of order which he afterwards carries with him into public affairs."-DE TOCQUEVILLE, Part 2.

If peace, happiness, and the love of order, reign within a man's own breast, and within his domestic circle, his intercourse with society will be useful and beneficent. But the slave of evil passions endeavours to make others as discontented and turbulent as himself; and that is the hidden source of much political agitation which sets the world in commotion.

Friend, parent, neighbour, first it will embrace,
His country next, and next all human race.

When M. De Tocqueville speaks of the domestic troubles and discomfort of Europeans, we may presume he takes his idea of them from his native France, or from other countries with which he is most familiar. The same high character which he has given to the American females, is justly due to their fair sisters in the British isles, whence the American ladies have their origin, HOME is one of the most charming words in their common language; and to many of us it is the best beloved spot the sun shines upon.

"The Americans," says Mr. Dickens, "are by nature frank, brave, cordial, hospitable, and affectionate. Cultivation and refinement seem but to enhance their warmth of heart and ardent enthusiasm; and it is the possession of these latter qualities, in a most remarkable degree, which renders an educated American one of the most endearing and most generous of friends. I never was so won upon as by this class; never yielded up my full confidence and esteem so readily and pleasurably as to them; never can make again, in half a year, so many friends, for whom I seem to entertain the regard of half a life. These qualities are natural, I implicitly believe, to the whole people. That they are, however, sadly sapped and blighted in their growth

among the mass, and that there are influences at work which endanger them still more, and give but little present promise of their healthful restoration, is a truth that ought to be told."

One of those evil influences is extreme distrust, especially with regard to public men; a propensity which adds to the mischievous power of a false and scurrilous press, abridges and embitters the career of the best statesmen, throws places of trust and authority into the hands of an inferior class of aspirants, and infects the whole course of affairs with the spirit of change. "Is this well ?" observes the same writer," or likely to elevate the character of the governors or the governed? The answer is invariably the same: There's freedom of opinion here, you know. Every man thinks for himself; and we are not to be easily over-reached. That's how our people come to be suspicious.'......The love of trade is assigned as a reason for that comfortless custom so very prevalent in country towns, of married persons living in hotels, having no fire-side of their own, and seldom meeting from early morning until late at night, but at the hasty public meals. The love of trade is a reason why the literature of America is to remain for ever unprotected: 'for we are a trading people, and don't care for poetry,' though we do, by the way, profess to be very proud of our poets; while healthful amusements, cheerful means of recreation, and wholesome fancies, must fade before the stern utilitarian joys of trade.”

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Corroding care follows them even on board the steam ships, where" all the passengers are very dismal, and seem to have tremendous secrets weighing on their minds..........You might suppose the whole male portion of the company to be the melancholy ghosts of

* Scandit æratas vitiosa naves cura!

departed book-keepers, who had fallen dead at the desk: such is their weary air of business and calculation.”DICKENS'S American Notes.

But is there not some cause to guard against the increase of the same spirit in our own country? Is there not a growing disposition among us to encourage and prosecute trade at all hazards, without duly considering the consequences to agriculture, to health, morals, intellectual, and social improvement? Happiness is what all men desire, and as means to that end many are covetous of gain, and of a greater share of political power, or, as they imagine, of more liberty. But here is proof that a man's life and real enjoyment consist not in the abundance of these things.

It is curious and important to observe the comparative influence of monarchy and democracy, as regards the distinctions of rank, the outward signs and emblems of official dignity, the habits and manners of a people.

The French during the last century were perhaps the most polished nation in Europe. At the Revolution the manners of the people became fierce and brutal, and they have ceased to be polite and agreeable, as they formerly were.

The dogma of universal equality, according to which the American President is the servant of the sovereign people, deprives him of all regal shew and pomp. The judges and barristers usually dispense with the robes and other badges of their profession and office. The author of "Men and Manners in America," (Captain Hamilton,) observed in the supreme court of the state of New York, that when the jurymen delivered their verdict, three-fourths of them were eating bread and cheese, and the foreman announced it with his mouth full, uttering the disjointed syllables during the intervals of mastication.

In England, our just laws secure to masters and ser

vants equal rights: the moral code must do the rest. In well regulated households, an old and faithful servant is the friend of the family; he shares in their happiness, and sorrows for their afflictions. He has done his duty honestly and respectfully, and his master and mistress treat him in return with respect and kindness. The children are attached to him, for they remember how he delighted in their youthful sports, and the cheerful smile with which he welcomed them back from school; how their good conduct and their rewards made him glad, how grieved he was for their disgrace and punishment. When old and grey-headed, the faithful English servant has friends and benefactors that will not forsake him; and if the number of such male and female servants is decreasing, it is no sign of our improvement, but the contrary. They are singularly free from cares, losses, and hardships; for both in prosperous and adverse times their wants are supplied; and many an one has had cause to regret leaving a good place and comfortable home, to undertake the maintenance of a family, and encounter the anxieties and risks of trade.

A bad master cannot expect to retain a good and valuable servant; neither can a bad servant hope to enjoy the confidence and esteem of a good master. But kind, considerate, and judicious management on the one hand, and fidelity and diligence on the other, produce that mutual respect and attachment, and that harmony and happiness, which we often see in this kingdom, where the reciprocal duties of heads of families and their households are performed, from the best and highest motives.

The recollection of some who read these pages will supply not a few pleasing instances in which this important and interesting relationship has subsisted for many years on the happiest footing. I confine myself to a single example.

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