but a mere means of becoming affluent. The individual desires from day to day pass on to other and richer lands, in hopes of a yet more abundant return for his labor; the aggregate of individuals desires the rich woods of Canada, the temperate shores of Oregon, and the fertile soil of California. They long to conquer them with the sword as they have conquered the Prairies with the plough; aggression is their instinct, invasion their natural state.

This western division appears to me by far the most important of the three, the one in which the mysterious and peculiar destiny of the New World is to be in the fullest degree developed.

The south is the third of these divisions. It contains a population divided between the Anglo-Saxon and Negro races! the first rather the more numerous at present; but, taking a series of years, the latter has increased more rapidly than the former. It is well known that the whites hold the blacks in slavery, a bondage often gently enforced and willingly borne, but sometimes productive of the most diabolical cruelties that the mind of man has ever conceived. Altogether the effect of these conditions is, that the ruling race despise and yet fear their servants, and use every ingenuity to deprive them of strength, as a class, by withholding education, and legislating to prevent the possibility of their com bining together. The great mass of these slaves are dark and degraded beings, but in one respect they still keep up to the level of humanity—they long to be free. It is known that by their own arms the attempt would be hopeless, for they are far inferior to the whites in mind and body. Some people think that nature has condemned them to this inferiority; others that it is only a transient condition, caused by this state of slavery. Some local outbreaks have indeed occurred, where the tyranny of the master was greater than the patience of the slave; they were for the moment successful-long enough to show how terrible is the vengeance for the pent-up wrongs of years; but they soon sank under the irresistible power which they had provoked, and their awful fate holds out a warning to others.

Their liberation is not to be effected by any effort of their own. Their masters are united, bound together by this bond of iniquity; not only their wealth is supposed to depend upon their upholding slavery, but their very lives. Were these degraded beings to be

By far the greater part of the population of these countries are roving, energetic men, who merely till the land as a means of wealth, not as a settlement where their bones are to be laid, and their children to dwell after them. They have no stability or combination; they come from all parts of the compass, a great, strong, surging sea, each wave an isolated being. All the uneasy spirits who crowd thither from other lands, in a few years either sink under the noisome vapors from the rich alluvial soil, or enjoy plenty from its produce; each man acts for himself and wishes to govern for himself. The social conditions of all are nearly equal; there is but little chance of any of those dangerous organizations of society, which European states now, and the Atlantic states soon will present, for a century to come. There will be ample room for all to grow rich on the spoils of the West. This western country, I consider, will be the last stronghold of democracy in America. By this I pre-suppose that everywhere this form of government must be ultimately abandoned, that it is merely tolerated now-a temporary expedient for an infant state, merely an affair of time. I shall state my grounds for this supposition presently. The conditions of the West are most fitted for these institutions, and these conditions are not likely to be altered for many years.

Population has increased so much of late years in that direction, that already the West holds the balance between the North and the South; in half a century it will over-balance both together. Far away, by the shores of Lake Superior-where, but a little time ago, none but the lonely trapper ever reached, are now cities; tens of thousands of men dig into rich mines or reap abundant crops, and in their steamers plough up the deep, pure waters hitherto undisturbed by man's approach. On branches of the "Father of Rivers," which have yet scarcely a name, populous settlements are spreading over the banks. The rapidity of the growth of population and power in this region has no parallel in the world's history.

These people are confident in their strength; they live in a perpetual invasion; their great impulse expansion. They are reckless of life, and but little accustomed to the restraints of law ; skill and courage are their capital; their country is not a home,

but a mere means of becoming affluent. The individual desires from day to day pass on to other and richer lands, in hopes of a yet more abundant return for his labor; the aggregate of individuals desires the rich woods of Canada, the temperate shores of Oregon, and the fertile soil of California. They long to conquer them with the sword as they have conquered the Prairies with the plough; aggression is their instinct, invasion their natural state.

This western division appears to me by far the most important of the three, the one in which the mysterious and peculiar destiny of the New World is to be in the fullest degree developed.

The south is the third of these divisions. It contains a population divided between the Anglo-Saxon and Negro races! the first rather the more numerous at present; but, taking a series of years, the latter has increased more rapidly than the former. It is well known that the whites hold the blacks in slavery, a bondage often gently enforced and willingly borne, but sometimes productive of the most diabolical cruelties that the mind of man has ever conceived. Altogether the effect of these conditions is, that the ruling race despise and yet fear their servants, and use every ingenuity to deprive them of strength, as a class, by withholding education, and legislating to prevent the possibility of their combining together. The great mass of these slaves are dark and degraded beings, but in one respect they still keep up to the level of humanity—they long to be free. It is known that by their own arms the attempt would be hopeless, for they are far inferior to the whites in mind and body. Some people think that nature has condemned them to this inferiority; others that it is only a transient condition, caused by this state of slavery. Some local outbreaks have indeed occurred, where the tyranny of the master was greater than the patience of the slave; they were for the moment successful-long enough to show how terrible is the vengeance for the pent-up wrongs of years; but they soon sank under the irresistible power which they had provoked, and their awful fate holds out a warning to others.

Their liberation is not to be effected by any effort of their own. Their masters are united, bound together by this bond of iniquity; not only their wealth is supposed to depend upon their upholding slavery, but their very lives. Were these degraded beings to be

freed, and the sense of fear removed, no laws could restrain them; the wrongs of generations would be brought to an account; a "servile war" would ensue, aggravated in horrors by the difference of race; no peace, or truce, or compromise could end it; one or the other must perish or be subdued. The negro cannot subdue the white man, therefore he must be again a slave, or be freed by death from earthly bondage. So say those who defend the maintenance of this system in the South.

The ruling class in this part of America are proud and quicktempered men disdaining labor, free and generous in expense, slow to acknowledge authority, contemptuous of inferiors, jealous of the interference of others, they carry their despotic republicanism further than the other divisions. They are in themselves essentially an aristocracy, a privileged class. On several occasions these fiery spirits have objected to the influence of other States of the Union. For instance, South Carolina almost went to war with the Federal Government rather than submit to an obnoxious commercial regulation. A member of this same State said in the House of Representatives at Washington, "If we catch an abolitionist in South Carolina we'll hang him without judge or jury." But, indeed, even their laws enable them to inflict a very severe punishment on such an offender.

To retain the institution of slavery in the laws of the country is the great object of this division; for this object it is necessary they should hold the preponderating influence in the government of the country. This they have generally accomplished, having supplied by far the greater number of presidents of the Union; they have carried their point of annexing Texas as a slave-holding State; by forming an alliance with the West they have succeeded in electing a president favorable to the free-trade so necessary to their interests; forgetting that by his views on other subjects they run the risk of provoking war, so fatal to their commerce, and so dangerous to the existence of their cherished institution. This alliance is however but temporary; it has no solid foundation; the West loves not slavery, neither does the North.

The voice of abolition, at first heard only in whispers, now speaks boldly out; they are weary of being the by-word of Christian nations for this crime; their representatives are already

I consider that the separation of this great country will inevitably take place, and that it is absolutely necessary for the peace and freedom of the world that it should. In half a century, if they remain united, they will be beyond doubt the most powerful nation of the earth. In the aggressive policy, certain in a great republic, will lie the danger of their strength.

The extraordinary rapidity of events in America startles the observer; ten years here corresponds to a hundred in older countries, with respect to the changes which take place. Thirty years have altered the proportions of the House of Representatives in a most remarkable degree, the share of each State being dependent on its population. Ohio sends ten times as many members as Rhode Island, but to the Senate each sends two; every year the disparity grows greater. When the interests or the passions of different states come into collision in the House of Representatives, one party will enormously preponderate over the other, while, in the Senate, they may still be equal. I think it most probable that the first step to a dissolution of the Union will be a difference between the Senate and House of Representatives on some important point: a dead lock of the business of the Government must ensue, and in proportion to the interest of the matter in dispute, will be the determination of both parties not to yield.

Even in the case of any one state feeling itself aggrieved, the consequences would be most disastrous to all; in 1832 this very nearly occurred. As it was before mentioned, South Carolina protested against the Tariff, and actually armed to defend her nullification. The Federal Government made a sort of compromise, and that particular case of danger passed over; but it is at any time liable to recur. Then at once arise the enormous expenses of revenue establishments along a great artificial boundary, with a counterbalancing military establishment for each.

These difficulties, the certain results of separation, may retard but cannot prevent it. If the nations of the earth were all aware of, and acted only for their real interests, the carnage and misery of war would be unknown; mistaken views of interest will, however, sometimes present themselves to the human mind.

This probable separation of the great republic into distinct