mity of our empire, beyond the Rocky Mountains. We might suppose, indeed, to observe the policy of England, that the ultimate reversionary interest and fee-simple of the whole earth was in the British Crown, and all the babbling nations mere tenants at sufferance, and liable to be turned out on short notice. But, alas! it is much to be feared that some of them will prove a troublesome tenantry. Even the "Down-easters" have already had the audacity wholly to disregard her notice to quit; maintaining their ground, probably, not because they suppose they have a right to it, but by reason of some technical informality in the manner of serving the writ. But her navy can no longer secure to Britain the same supremacy as in former times. The rivalship of nations is not now, as once, essentially of a warlike character-they are struggling for the mastery in commerce. The motive of national glory has in a measure given way to that of interest; and the acquisition of wealth is the principal advantage a nation now promises to itself in diplomacy. A great struggle has commenced in those arts which humanize mankind. This, it is true, is not yet the full result; it is only the tendency of affairs. Preparations for war are still made; national antipathies are still indulged in; but these are hourly growing feebler and less rancorous. Such enterprises are generally looked upon with coldness and disapprobation; and the madness of plunging nations into war, for trivial causes, is constantly becoming more and more palpable. It is therefore to be hoped that the extensive possessions of Britain will be made only the means of extending civilization, and enhancing her commercial importance; that they will no longer be turned into pretexts for quarrels and wars; that her grasping ambition will stop before she shall have kindled against her universal exasperation. England is glorious by reason of her age, her ruins, her power; her commerce, which has extended over the world; her Christian missionaries, who are calling the pagans from their idols; and her bards and orators, whose names stand bright on the records of mankind. But we cannot admire the spirit of that policy, which, in giving the nation power and consideration abroad, leaves it weakened and wretched at home; which, in providing the rest of the world with the elegancies and luxuries of civilized life, leaves the crowded masses of its own poor in ignorance and starvation; which, in its efforts to keep up the nation's outward pomp and display, takes no heed of its sickness and suffering within. Let her remember that no sadder aspect in the decay of civic society can be presented, than when honest labourers by millions are suffering from want, while an aristocracy around them are rolling in voluptuousness; that, while the great middle class of her citizens are clamorous for their political rights, the lower classes are clamorous for bread. Let her remember that her provinces are held by a frail tenure; that the branches of her power are already grown too large for the parent tree; that the heart of an empire may decay while a distant dependancy continues to flourish. Let her remember, too, that a power as great if not greater than her own has left no traces of its influence in Italy; and that the " barbarian's steed long ago made his manger in the golden house of Nero!" |