Correspondence.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XV, Issue 77, 24 December 1856, Page 2

Correspondence.

AMERICA.

I No Englishman can be ignorant of the mighty em- , pire founded by a handful of hi 3 countrymen in the wilds of America ; of its gigantic strides from the state of an insignificant colony to the rank of a firstrate power. No friend of humanity can be a stranger to the glorious prospect, to the energies of freedom which vivify this new country. No human being who is interested in the progress of his species can refuse his tribute of admiration to this new world, which has established itself without the prejudices of the old ; — where religion is in all its fervour, without needing an alliance with the state to maintain it ; where the law commands by the respect which it inspires, without being enforced by any military power. — Lawrences Lectures on Man.

The United States of America, with their mixed population, of which the Anglo-Saxon element constitutes the greatest and ruling portion, and their immense, and in physical wealth, inexhaustible territories, constitute one of the wonders of the world. From the acknowledgment of the independence of the thirteen states in 1 782 — a period of 74 years — the progress of the Union has been astonishingly rapid. It has no parallel, either in the records or the traditions of mankind. Left to their own exertions, they speedily formed alliances with foreign powers, and unfurling the standard of commerce, they boldly entered into the arena of human enterprise.

The territory of the United Provinces at the conclusion of the revolutionary war, comprehended a superficies of 371,124 square miles, with less than three millions of people. Since then, its spread in territory and increase in numbers have surpassed the most daring speculations of by-gone politicians. The thirteen states have become thirty-nine, and the population in 1850 had swelled to 26,396,189, spread over an area of 3,306,000 square miles. The territorial extent of the republic is therefore only one-sixth less than the space covered by the 59 empires, states, and republics of Europe, of equal size with the Roman empire, or that of Alexander, neither of which exceeded three millions of square miles.

When we look at these facts, and glance at the map of the United States, we cannot but feel amazed at the gigantic confederation which has placed the energies, resources, and powers of such a vast and diversified territory under the direction and control of one and the same legislature and executive. The richness of the soil is unsurpassed in any quarter of the globe, and the means of irrigation unrivalled. On the east lie the primary states of the Union, possessing a fine sea-board, and reaching to the mighty Alleghanies inward. From these mountains* innumerable rivers flow down into the Atlantic. As we leave these forest-covered districts, and cross the Alleghanies, we come upon the stupendous valley of the Mississippi, stretching into immense plains from the oceanlike lakes of the north, to the "Crescent City" at its mouth. Here vegetation unfolds itself in rich and rank luxuriance; prairies of unmeasured extent spread their grassy and flower-besprinkled lap to the sun ; whilst the Missouri, the Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wabash, and a thousand other streams, swell the glorious flood of the Mississippi with their 25,000 miles of navigable waters. Then, as we proceed still further westward, and cross the Rocky Mountains, we pass over a wild and romantic country, abounding with hills, and ravines, and arid wastes, mingled with extensive forests and widespreading plains of great fertility. From the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west, from the lakes on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, the territories of this colossal empire have extended within the last fifty years, and filled the forest, the plain, and the hills with civilized communities, flourishing towns, and a numerous population. Silver, mercury, and copper are obtained in many parts ; lead is found nearly pure in Illinois, lowa, and Missouri ; the gold region extends through North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama ; and the recent acquisition of California has added another of incalculable value to the States. Iron Mountain in Missouri is a mass of pure metal, COO feet high, and three miles in circumference ; whilst it is estimated that the coal region embraces 70,000 square miles, or about thirty-five times the area of the coal fields of England. On the Atlantic and Pacific she has ports arid harbours

for her vessels. Europe faces her on the east, Asia on the west ; aud she has only to stretch forth her hands to gather the fruits of her natural advantages; whilst her interior is intersected by gigantic streams, magnificent railways, and a canal system second only to that of China.

When we examine the component parts of the Government, we find a consistency, a simplicity, and an economy which teaches other nations sublime and practical lessons of wisdom. The amount paid to all the officers of the Government, from the President down to the Secretary of the Navy, is only £ 1 6,885 ; a less sum than it costs England to misgovern Ireland : and whilst it takes the English nation .£8,000,000 sterling to govern five millions of colonists, it only requires £\, 500,000 for the thirty-nine American States, with twenty-six millions of people.

The result of this financial economy is, that America has a very large surplus revenue, and very few paupers.

Flushed with wealth, and boundless fields for industry, a sentiment of pride would seem to be natural to such a population ; the result of a belief in their own superiority to the rest of mankind : but, taken in the aggregate, they are brave, warm-hearted, and hospitable. And if we turn to their institutions, to their liberal educational establishments, their tolerance of all religious creeds, their political freedom, their agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, we shall have to acknowledge that we find everything that tends to civilize, refine, and exalt human nature. In whatever is practical, the nation holds out many examples for the benefit of others. In the simplicity of her jurisprudence,j urisprudence, in the economy of her legislature, in the universality of education, in the cheap diffusion of literature, in her railways, telegraphs, and shipbuilding, in every branch of her establishments and industry — there are many things to excite and stir up the active emulation of Europe.

In England, the wealthy and high born, and not the talented, are preferred to places of trust and power in the Government ; in the United States it is mind, and not money, which gives a man consideration with his fellow-man. Thus we see Millard Filmore — a poor woolcomber's apprentice in 1815, a school teacher in 1821, a lawyer in 1823, a legislator iv 1827, a member of Congress in 1832, comptroller of the State of New York in 1847, vice-president in 1849— 0n the death of General Taylor, filling the Presidential chair in 1851. Here is the grand secret of the rapid advance of the Americans in wealth and power — superiority of intellect. " The sioord is mighty," said Napoleon, "but the pen conquers the sword."