at the table of the Washington hotel, during my first residence at New York. On my second visit, I found the individual still an inmate of the house, in which he had lodged for fourteen years. He was an eccentric character, and originally from England. "A general propriety of deportment and softness of manner pervades the lower classes, and that coarseness, which is sometimes met with in Britain, does not appear to exist in the United States; but certain circles of society in Britain seem to have a higher polish than what is to be met with in America, and perhaps the general standard of manners of both countries is not widely different. The lower orders of the United States are, however, beyond all question, greatly superior in refinement and intelligence to the lower orders of Britain." "The civility of all classes in the United States is so universal, that during my intercourse with the inhabitants, I scarcely experienced an indication of insolence, and never observed that democratic sauciness which I was taught to expect amongst the lower orders. Every individual feels that he is independent, and never alludes to the subject. The case is, however, different in Canada, where some British emigrants seldom let an opportunity escape of telling a well-dressed person, that 'this is a free country, and that he does not care a **** for any man.' The emancipated bondsman alone boasts of being free from fetters. A foreigner, however, who arrogates to himself superiority in the States, will be despised by the meanest of the people, and his money will neither purchase their attention nor services. The United States which I visited, seem to me an excellent place for teaching an overweening person a due estimate of himself and his fellow-mortals. Twelve months' intercourse with the people would greatly improve the fagged and fagging youthful aristocracy of Britain. Their haughtiness of demeanour, and acerbity and impatience of temper would be changed, and they would return home with a just sense of the place they occupy in the world, and qualified to discharge the important duties they owe society. Every Briton who has mingled with the people for any length of time, and practised self-examination, will testify to the truth of my remarks." "The Yankees have been generally charged with unfair dealing, and although I had no opportunity of judging of this matter personally, many circumstances induce me to think the charge is to a certain extent well founded. To emigrants the morals of a people are of more consequence than their manners, between which, however, there is no connexion. The Irish are a more polite people than the Scotch, but greatly inferior in morality; and the Yankees, with all the outward forms of virtue, are considered the most dishonest race in the Union. Yankee knavery is said to consist in overreaching every one with whom they have dealings, if the character of their customer admits of their doing so with impunity. The charge of dishonesty is not applicable to the people of New England generally, and much of the prejudice against them arises from their industry and success in business. In course of conversation I never heard imposition of any kind alluded to in terms of approbation, while honesty of character, and more especially in public men, was invariably praised. Virtue will ever be respected in civilized society." The following paragraph is important for emigrants:— "The situation of an emigrant on reaching America must be very different from what it was at home. In the midst of a people whose manners and customs are in some measure new to him, he is an isolated being, without any one in whom he can confide for advice and assistance. If he cannot think for himself, and rely on his own resources in transacting business, he will be a helpless mortal, and in all probability become the prey of designing persons. It is the dependence of the inhabitants on each other in old countries which unfits so many of them to play their part in the newly settled portions of the United States, where each individual acts independently, and trusts to himself alone. Americans are, therefore, the most acute people in the world in the ordinary intercourse of life, and few foreigners need take up their abode in the country in hope of outstripping them. The most essential requisites in an emigrant are energy of mind, steadiness of purpose, and persevering industry. Without possessing these qualifications, no one need expect to mingle successfully in the bustle of life; although it is possible to exist as a farmer, without being so highly gifted. It is a wrong estimate of themselves which so often gives rise to disappointment and failure on the part of British emigrants. There is nothing in the soil or climate of America which can impart wisdom to the fool, energy to the imbecile, activity to the slothful, or determination to the irresolute. Examination of character should therefore form part of every emigrant's preparation, as his fate will perhaps altogether depend on it. It is folly for the idle and imaginative beings who float in British society to seek an Elysium in the United States, from whence they will again be speedily wafted to their native country. It is the industrious, prudent, and frugal people alone that can calculate on success." The contrast between Upper Canada and the United States, ends greatly in favour of the latter. "It may be perfectly true the people, soil, and climate, were originally alike' on both sides of the Niagara, but the United States and Upper Canada cannot with propriety be contrasted by those spots alone. The inhabitants of the United States, generally speaking, may be said to have been born in the country, and consequently possessed of the peculiar feelings and qualities of a people suited to a young country. On the other hand, most of the inhabitants of Upper Canada are either the descendants of the Royalists, slothful and unenterprising from the neglect with which they have been treated, or emigrants from Britain, where many of them had acquired notions and habits ill adapted for settling a wood-covered surface. Upper Canada having also become a place of refuge for the outcasts of other countries, and many of the settlers being composed of the poorest of the Irish and Scotch Highlanders, two of the most indolent and unambitious portions of civilized society, there can be no question of the people of the United States being more industrious and energetic than the inhabitants of Upper Canada. The United States sooner became peopled than Upper Canada, and may, consequently, be said to be an older country. The climate of the States is generally also better than Upper Canada. If the view which I have taken of the source of riches be correct, the United States, being an older country, with a better climate, and a more industrious population than Upper Canada, should also be wealthier. It will accordingly be found that in all external appearances, such as villages, houses in the country, hotels, internal intercourse and trade, and the dress of the people, Upper Canada is about a century behind the United States." “In the United States the machinery of government is controlled by the people, who do every thing for the welfare of the country, and political power is invested in worth and talent alone. In Upper Canada government is swayed by an aristocracy, who have never lost sight of their own interest in legislating for the country. A higher and more uniform tone of independence and self-respect pervades the inhabitants in the United States than in Canada. The emigrant who delights in lording over his fellow-mortals, and measures his importance and wealth by the servility and wretchedness of others around him, ought to shun the States. The emigrant who seeks a fair and favourable field for his industry, and aspires to share, in common with his brethren, the just rank and privileges of man, ought to shun Upper Canada." "The position of Upper Canada, in its external relations, which has been stated elsewhere, must be considered unfavourable, and in the internal condition of the country there is much which is unsatisfactory. The province is an appendage to Britain, and seems to have aped many of the frailties of the mother country. The principle of government has been patronage; the rule of governing, enriching the few and despising the many. Hence abuses in extensive grants of land, pensions, superfluous offices, an aristocracy, and such an aristocracy! a rapacious church, and the neglect of education. The institutions of Britain are a century behind the intelligence of her inhabitants. Upper Canada is generations behind North America in legislation. I have already said the government of the province is in helpless infancy, and add, it must pass through the slippery paths of youth before attaining strength. There is already discord amongst the inhabitants, who are assailing the oligarchy under a sturdy, though not comprehensive minded leader. The strife is likely to be tedious, and without bloodshed; the poverty of the country and character of the people being a sufficient guarantee against aggression or envy on the part of the United States, and the scattered condition of the settlers a protection against themselves." Every thing in the United States seems to me to be resting on a natural and sure foundation, with prospect of continued prosperity In Upper Canada, most things appear to be on an artificial footing, and must consequently experience change. The States present a wider and a better field for the exercise of industry than Upper Canada; and the British emigrant, who must live by his own exertions, makes a sacrifice of his immediate interests, and in all probability the interests of his posterity, by preferring Upper Canada to the United States as a place of settlement." The last chapters are entirely occupied with Illinois. Our author observes in his preface, that his statements regarding that territory should be received with caution, and we are of the same opinion. "There is, perhaps, no country in the world where a farmer can commence operations with so small an outlay of money, and so soon obtain a return, as in Illinois. An ordinary farm labourer in Illinois gets the value of eighty acres of land yearly. In Britain, when due allowance is made for the board of the labourer, he does not get one-tenth of an acre of good land. When wages are compared with land, the farm labourer of Illinois is about eight hundred times better rewarded than in Britain. The land of Illinois to which the comparison of wages refers, is of fine quality, situated in the best climate of America, and is not greatly surpassed by any portion of the earth. The British labourer's reward of one-tenth of an acre, would yield a mere trifle annually; but the Illinois labourer's reward of eighty acres, might afford sustenance for himself and family for ever. Illinois may justly be called 'the poor man's country,' if any part of the world deserves the title. The extraordinary reward which the labourer receives, and the bountifulness of nature, are favourable to the poor, and no person who has health and strength, and leads an industrious and virtuous life, can continue without the means of subsistence in Illinois. The future prospects of Illinois appear to be highly favourable. Referring to what has been stated regarding the progress of wealth, and the channels of trade, it will be found that almost all the elements of prosperity exist in the country. The soil, grasscovered surface, climate, internal facilities of commerce, cheapness and extent of land, and the systems of governing and educating the people, are not surpassed by any other portion of America, and inhabitants are alone wanting to complete its greatness. Illinois being about the size of England, might furnish a greater supply of food, from the general superiority of the soil, and seems to me to be nearly capable of sustaining the whole inhabitants of England, in addition to its present population, or nearly seventy times the inhabitants it now possesses. In whatever point of view Illinois is regarded, as adapted for herds and flocks, for wheat and Indian corn, for manufactures and commerce, or for the abode of population generally, it will be found to be one of the most favoured portions of North America, and with the exception of population, possessing all the elements of future prosperity and greatness. Time will supply inhabitans, the want of which at present, however, forms one of the many advantages of the country for agricultural emigration.” It seems a mockery to compare Upper Canada with such Elysian fields: "The settler of Illinois places his house on the skirts of the forest or on the open field, as fancy may dictate. The prairie furnishes summer and winter-food for any number of cattle and sheep, and poultry and pigs shift for themselves until the crops ripen. With the preliminary of fencing, the plough enters the virgin soil, which in a few months afterwards yields a most abundant crop of Indian corn, and on its removal every agricultural operation may be executed with facility. The first crops are excellent, and seldom suffer from atmospheric effects. Pastoral, arable, or mixed husbandry, may be at once adopted, and produce of all kinds obtained in the utmost profusion. "In Upper Canada the settler is immersed in the forest with roads that are passable for heavy carriages only when frozen. The Illinois settler enjoys a prospect of wood and plain, and the open prairie affords good roads at all times when the weather is dry. In Upper Canada no part of the surface is productive which has not been cleared. In Illinois the whole of a prairie farm is productive without being cultivated. In Upper Canada the forest settler cannot at first produce his own food, and lives for a time on flour and salt provisions. In Illinois the settler at once raises on his farm almost every thing he can consume. In Upper Canada the farmer is not fully repaid for his first operations until the end of six or seven years. In Illinois the farmer is repaid for his first operations in course of a few months. The farmer's reward in Upper Canada is many years distant, and in Illinois it is almost immediate. In short, the farmer in Upper Canada at first finds difficulty in growing a sufficiency of produce for his own use, and the Illinois farmer difficulty in consuming his produce." The younger brother of our author, doubtless determined in his course by these descriptions, emigrated, and fixed himself in Illinois. Mr. Shirreff, near the end of his book, has published an extract from one of the letters of this brother, the whole tone and spirit of which seem at variance with the glowing pictures that immediately precede it. A desire, on the part of our wary friend, to exhibit a pleasing instance of the attachment which a Scotchman always feels for his native land, was probably the reason why he has overlooked its adverse tendency. "I do not regret the step which I have taken in settling myself on the banks of the Mississippi, and shall be stimulated to active exertion by the thought, that every tree I cut down, every sod I turn, and every animal I rear, brings me nearer Scotland. I have reason to believe these hopes will be realized. Allowing, however, that they will not-that a livelihood is the most I shall obtain, and that I am compelled to spend and end my days here-what of that? at the longest, life is not so very long, and when accompanied with virtue, it has attractions almost any where. But I still look to Scotland as containing all I truly love in this world, and shall never relinquish the hope of being able to end my days at home."" Because we have freely noticed a few faults and exaggerations in Mr. Shirreff's book, we must not be thought disposed to withdraw any of the favourable expressions already applied to it. We sincerely wish that the work may be republished in this country. The Appendix, at least, should be every where read: it contains a mass of statistics and general information concerning the Western States, collected during the personal observation of a practical farmer, equally curious and important. The style of the book is simple and pleasing, and most of the views are remarkable for their sincerity. We know of no other traveller in this country, who has had the same opportunity to observe the morals and manners of the humbler classes of our community; and all his remarks about them are just and liberal. ART. VIII.-WORKS OF FENIMORE COOPER. 1.-Romances, by J. FENIMORE COOPER. Precaution inclusive to the Headsman. 26 vols. 12mo. 1820 to 1833. 2.-Notions of the Americans, picked up by a Travelling Bachelor. 2 vols. 12mo. 1828. 3.-Letter to General Lafayette, on the Expenditure of the United States of America. 4.-A Letter to his Countrymen, by J. FENIMORE COOPER. 1 vol. 8vo. New York, 1834. pp. 116. THERE never was a nation which held the safe old maxim of festina lente in such contempt as this American people. We are all engaged in a race, the like of which twelve millions of souls never ran before; up and down the Hudson, along the banks of the Delaware, across the wide waters of the woods, by the deep streams of the west-hurry scurry-neck and neck: "Tramp! tramp! along the land they ride, It is the only steeple-chase of which the clearest vision can see no limit, and in which the headmost rider is as far from any apparent goal, as the laziest laggard of the field. The new world has been to the students of the kindred sciences of government and economy, very like the black-board of a mathematical class. About sixty years ago, a clean wipe was made of the confused old diagrams and inconclusive calculations that had covered it over, and with a clear field under new masters, and by a new mode, we once more set about trying to solve the problem -the greatest happiness of the greatest number. It is generally thought that the class of "76 did its work well. But philosophy places its hand on the curb-rein of enthusiasm. We will grant that the question is not entirely made out; that for the government part of the problem, the deranging element of time cannot yet be computed, and that the experience of a few half centuries is yet required to determine whether a dense population and universal suffrage, dear land and an absolute democracy, can co-exist. Still there are other matters that we have determined to our complete satisfaction, and upon which no inhabitant of the western hemisphere will ever go back to the eastern for any new light. We have framed axioms out of the questions in economy most puzzling to the pedagogues of the last century, and taught them among other points that there is in perfect freedom, unlimited enterprise, absence of monopolies, and the individual character springing from all these, a national capital such as the Rothschilds and |