meet with Americans who dissent from these rigorous formularies; with men who deplore the defects of the laws; the mutability and the ignorance of democracy; who even go so far as to observe the evil tendencies which impair the national character, and to point out such remedies as it might be possible to apply; but no one is there to hear these things beside yourself, and you, to whom these secret reflections are confided, are a stranger and a bird of passage. They are very ready to communicate truths which are useless to you, but they continue to hold a different language in public.' " * Mr. Carey in his introduction says, "Freedom of discussion is highly promotive of the power of protection. The free expressions of opinion in relation to matters of public interest is indispensable to security." He denies that we have it in England, and would prove that this exists in America: and how? 1st. By the permission of every man to be of any religion he pleases !! 2nd. By the freedom of the press in the United States !! There are a few exceptions-Clay and Webster are men of such power as to be able, to a certain degree, to hold their independence. Dr. Channing has proved himself an honour to his country and to the world. Mr. Cooper has also great merit in this point: and no man has certainly shewn more moral courage, let his case be good or not, than Garrison, the leader of the abolition party. But with these few and remarkable exceptions, moral courage is almost prostrate in the United States. The most decided specimen I met with to the contrary was at Cincinnati, when a large portion of the principal inhabitants ventured to express their opinion, contrary to the will of the majority, in my defence, and boldly proclaimed their opinions by inviting me to a public dinner. I told them my opinion of their behaviour, and I gave them my thanks. I repeat my opinion and my thanks now; they had much to contend with, but they resisted boldly; and not only E 2 from that remarkable instance of daring to oppose public opinion when all others quailed, but from many other circumstances, I have an idea that Cincinnati will one day take an important lead, as much from the spirit and courage of her citizens, as from her peculiarly fortunate position. I had a striking instance to the contrary at St. Louis, when they paraded me in effigy through the streets. Certain young Bostonians, who would have been glad enough to have seized my hand when in the Eastern States, before I had happened to affront the majority, kept aloof, or shuffled away, so as not to be obliged to recognize me. Such have been the demoralizing effects of the tyranny of public opinion in the short space of fifty years, and I will now wind up this chapter by submitting to the reader extracts from the two French authors, one of whom describes America in 1782, and the other in 1835. AMERICA IN 1782. "Je vais, disais-je, mettre à la voile aujourd'hui; je m'éloigne avec un regret infini d'un pays où l'on est, sans obstacle et sans inconvénient, ce qu'on devrait être partout, sincère et libre."- "On y pense, on y dit, on y fait ce qu'on veut. Rien ne vous oblige d'y être ni faux, ni bas, ni flatteur. Personne ne se choque de la singularité de vos manières ni de vos goûts."-Mémoires ou Souvenirs de M. de Ségur, vol. i. p. 409. 66 AMERICA IN 1835. L'Amérique est donc un pays de liberté, où pour ne blesser personne, on ne doit parler librement, ni des gouvernans, ni des gouvernés, ni des entreprises publiques, ni des entreprises privées; de rien, enfin, de ce qu'on y rencontre si non peut-être du climat et dù sol; encore trouve-t-on des Américains prêts à dé |