and presents all that variety of scenery and climate which gives an especial charm, whilst it invigorates the spirit of man to enterprise and endurance. Along the Atlantic, British America displays a rugged and broken coast, with cliffs of enormous height standing perpendicular out of the waves, and thickly wooded down to the water's edge; in others—as along the greater part of Newfoundland, the south-eastern shores of Nova Scotia, and the whole of Labrador-rocks with dwarfish trees growing upon them predominate. Within the Bay of Fundy the country is fertile and beautiful; and the features of Prince Edward's Island and the greater part of New Brunswick are soft, luxuriant, and picturesque. In Canada the imagination seems lost in wandering over its natural beauties and sublimities, and can scarcely realise the scenes that present themselves, so grand is the configuration of the country. From the eastern extremity of this vast territory, where it rises abruptly out of the St Lawrence, to the Rocky Mountains on the west, its lands and waters exhibit features of the most romantic character. Interminable forests, magnificent rivers, vast chains of hills, immense lakes, extensive prairies, bold ravines, fearful precipices, and roaring cataracts, startle the traveller in every direction. In spring and summer the whole region is adorned and enriched with the most luxuriant verdure; in autumn, when the glowing pencil of decay has touched the forest-leaves, the tints of the foliage are exquisite beyond the power of fancy to conceive; and in winter-when the spirit of that pitiless season has chained back the impetuous waters in bonds of ice, or rendered the rivers, lakes, and cataracts more terrible by the frozen fragments that rush wildly down their currents-the power, the terror, the grandeur of nature, are magnificently displayed. And beyond this tract extend forests whose recesses have never yet been penetrated, and which stretch to the shores of the ocean; or perhaps rocky deserts of unknown limits, such as that which separates California from the other states; but whatever may be the character of this untrodden expanse, it is certain that nature is not barren or ungrateful over the greater portion of it. Such and so vast, then, is the territory possessed by the British nation; but how thinly populated is the whole!--what ample plains, what rich prairies, what wealthy tracts, solicit the nurturing hand of the emigrant!-what infinite resources underneath the soil and upon its surface wait to be developed!

In Cape Breton we have the picture of a fine and healthy country almost a wilderness from the want of cultivators. Its depth of coal-fields entitles it to be regarded with peculiar attention, for its wealth in that particular would supply the world, were it necessary, for many generations. The settlements in New Brunswick are delightfully situated in the midst of fertile prairies, surrounded by noble forests and picturesque hills. It is rich in coal and iron, and the marble that has been found there is of fair pretensions; yet out of the 18,000,000 acres it contains, only 4,000,000, or less than a quarter, have been cultivated, and that poorly; although on their produce has subsisted a hardy and contented race, remarkable for health and longevity. Here the climate is beautiful in summer-unlike that of Newfoundland and Labrador, where the inclemency of the polar regions seems to descend and dwell. Though the severity of the season be there so great and the aspect of the country rugged, yet it is studded with fine woods, and has many lakes and rivers. The Esquimaux

are the principal inhabitants; other Indians set up a temporary abode, but we cannot tell what may not be accomplished for even this rude empire if the proper means were adopted for bringing it into better condition. From Labrador upwards of 1,000,000 hundredweight of dried cod, and no less than 500,000 seal-skins, are annually exported. The wild animals that live there are chiefly bears, wolves, foxes, and otters; beavers and deer are not numerous, but their furs are close and beautiful.

Of the physical aspect of Canada we have already spoken-of its rivers, lakes, and prairies; of its mountain scenery and its majestic cataracts: we would now proceed to give a brief view of its population, cities, and commerce. In 1765, immediately after its conquest, it was ascertained that, exclusively of Quebec and Montreal, the population amounted to 54,575, who were professed Christians, which we must understand to mean independently of the Indian tribes; and that only 597,347 acres were under cultivation for the production of corn and other grain. Only five or six vessels were employed in the fisheries and navigation, while the exports and imports did not reach £300,000 annually. The total imports from the United States alone to Canada, from 1832 to 1841, amounted to £8,467,825; and from Canada to the United States, £3,850,048, which trade is annually increasing. The commerce carried on between these two countries by means of lakes, rivers, and canals, is rapidly improving. The city of Toronto, which is favourably situated for this trade, has within the last ten years doubled its population, and exceeds now 20,000 inhabitants. Hamilton, another city excellently built, at the head of the Lake Ontario, in the midst of an extensive and fertile country, with hardy and industrious farmers, and enlightened and enterprising merchants, is also rising into importance on account of this traffic. The population of the two Canadas scarcely exceeds 1,300,000—a small proportion for so extensive a territory. A stream of emigrants, however, is annually pouring in from this country-in 1842 to the number of 44,000, and the following year to 21,000. The number of persons who leave England and Ireland and flock to the United States is much greater than the number of emigrants to Canada or any of our North American colonies—a circumstance which ought to be taken into consideration by our government. It has been shewn that no place in the world abounds with more majestic and diversified scenery; and the cities which it possesses are large and well built. Quebec contains more than 30,000 inhabitants; Montreal, Toronto, and Hamilton are centres of a flourishing trade; and there is no doubt that Canada will still improve, and much more rapidly increase in the next ten years than she has in the last.

We now return to a view of the United States after the conclusion of the War of Independence. The government of this new republic, which had become established without any internal anarchy or convulsion, assumed, as much from necessity as choice, the form of a democracy. Almost every person, by his industry, prudence, or intelligence, had acquired a reasonable independence, which entitled him to some authority, whilst the property of all was too much equalised to admit of an overwhelming share of power in any individual. The representative government was retained by each of the states respectively, with the power of passing laws for its own internal regulations; but all the states were

federated under a Senate and House of Representatives. This form was not hastily or inconsiderately adopted. A few amendments* have been made since its promulgation in 1798, but the constitution itself has stood the test of more than half a century, and within that short period its people have advanced to a state of prosperity unrivalled in any country on the globe.

The United States, left to their own exertions and resources, entered into commercial alliances with foreign powers, and with England readily renewed that friendly intercourse which had been suspended during the continuance of hostilities. In 1817 the extension of the Union proceeded rapidly. The territories of Indiana and Mississippi were admitted as federal states. The Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Cherokee tribes ceded large tracts, and joined the Union. The Floridas were purchased from Spain, the possession of which was taken in 1821. In 1826 the banks of the Missouri supplied new accessions of land; and all the Indians, except one tribe of the Creeks, having removed to the west of the Mississippi, their territories fell into the hands of the federated government; and ten years later Arkansas, Michigan, and Wisconsin were admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States. These new acquisitions led to a liberal expenditure of the public money for the development of their resources, and Congress lent its sanction to several measures introduced for their improvement. It was also deemed advisable that the Indians residing in the states inhabited by European descendants should migrate beyond the Mississippi, and there, in congenial tracts, establish a local government, and live according to their own laws and customs. Justice as well as humanity suggested this proposition, for it has been observed that all savage tribes decline under the influence of civilisation. Nor is this necessarily the result of an extirpating war: it seems the operation of a principle in nature. The laws which govern a nation, and the obligations which regulate society in a civilised state, are intolerable to a race accustomed to wander in boundless forests, subjected to no will but their own, and amenable to no law but that of instinct. But removed to a greater distance, it was thought that missionaries might be sent to educate them in the principles of civil rights, and familiarise them with the just restraints of conventional rules. Education would naturally discipline the habits of the next generation; and as their manners were gradually reformed, they would learn to bear the easy restrictions of refinement, and perpetuate a race- - the ancient hereditary and legitimate inhabitants of the wild woods of North America. The latest acquisitions of the Union are Texas and California-the former rich and fertile in cotton, corn, tobacco, sugar, &c.; the latter furnishing the chief supplies of gold for the government and commerce of the country. This auriferous region, whose wealth has only just been discovered, will eventually become one of the

* In 1827 South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia called in question the constitutional right of the whole state to legislate for a part. The cause of this hostility to the Union was the reduction of the tariff on foreign produce, which was vehemently opposed by these states; but a compromise on the part of the Union restored the good-humour of the disaffected provinces, although the principle of nullification was left unsettled, and still continues to be so. The late violent discussions on the slave-question have likewise been attended with the same hostility, and a threat to dissolve the Union.

most valuable possessions of America. It gives the States a firm and extensive footing on the Pacific, from whence communication with China, India, Japan, and the Indian Archipelago will be easy and expeditious.

The territory of the United Provinces, at the conclusion of the revolutionary war, together with Maine and Vermont, comprehended a superficies of 371,124 square miles-that is, 250,776 square miles more than the whole of Great Britain, or 156,214 more than France, including Corsica; or larger than the Austrian Empire by 113,584 square miles-containing, as it is generally estimated, a population of only 2,500,000. Since then its spread in territory and increase in population have been truly wonderful, and surpassed the most daring speculations of by-gone politicians. The thirteen provinces have become thirty-four; and the population, according to the census of 1840, had risen to above 17,000,000, while the recent estimate states it at above 24,000,000. The influx of emigrants from different parts of the world has contributed to swell these growing numbers, but from the deficiency of correct returns we are unable to give a conclusive statement of the precise proportion. From 1820 to 1830 the number of emigrants amounted to 200,000; whilst from 1830 to 1840 it increased to 472,727, or more than one-half, and this calculation is considered to be much below the real fact.

*

On looking at the map of the United States we cannot but feel amazed at the gigantic federation which has placed the energies, resources, and powers of such a vast and diversified expanse of 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 ridge of the Alleghanies inland. From these hills innumerable streams, all of considerable size and importance, flow down into the Atlantic. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore overlook the waters of the ocean, and in their capacious harbours meet the vessels of every commercial nation. As we leave these forest-covered and hilly districts and cross the Alleghanies, we come upon the stupendous Valley of the Mississippi, stretching into immense plains from the ocean - like lakes of the north down 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 - sprinkled lap to the sun; while the Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Wabash, and a thousand other glassy streams in innumerable channels swell the glorious flood of the Mississippi. Even here may be seen the strides of a rapid civilisation. St Louis, with its population of 30,000, resounds with the busy hum of men and the echoes of active industry. The hollow silence once brooding over the vast forests of the Missouri is broken, and this young metropolis of the interior dares to rival with its increasing trade many a more ancient city of the Union. Then as we proceed still more to the westward and cross the Rocky Mountains, we travel over a wild and romantic country, abounding in rocky hills, deep ravines, and arid wastes; yet not uninterrupted by

* Texas has added a population of 175,000; California, 165,000; Oregon, 10,000; New Mexico, 75,000; and the Mormon states, 20,000-nearly half a million, by the mere act of joining the Union.

extensive forests and far-spreading plains of rich fertility. Here the Indian lately roamed at large, and sought in the rudeness of the scenery an unmolested home. But hither have the footsteps of the persevering and enterprising Americans pursued him, and intent upon the prosperity of their republic, claimed a part of Oregon and New Mexico as federated states. From the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west, from the lake countries on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, the territories of this colossal empire, embracing every character of soil and every degree of climate, have extended within the last half century, and filled the untrodden forest, the uninhabited plain, and the bleak hills, with civilised communities, increasing towns, and a numerous population.

The difficulties which nature had apparently thrown in the way of intercommunication between the eastern and western states have been removed by the ingenuity and labour of man. The Ohio on the western side of the Alleghanies is united with the Atlantic by means of James's River and the Kanawha Canal. The Chesapeake and Ohio Aqueduct, when completed, will bring the waters of the Mississippi through Maryland; Pennsylvania and the trans - montane district will communicate by the canal which is made to join the Susquehanna and Ohio; while a great canal running through the fertile Valley of the Mohawk to the Hudson, and thence to the Atlantic, connects Lake Erie with New York. The railways that have been constructed and are in process of construction carry out this object far more effectively; whilst it must not be forgotten that communication with a city 1000 miles distant may be obtained in the course of a few minutes by that space - annihilating instrument · - the electric telegraph.

The two great bodies which represent the wealth of the United States are the manufacturers and the agriculturists, whose interests frequently clash, and produce violent struggles in the country under the banners of free-trade and protection-the latter being the cry of the manufacturer, and free-trade that of the agriculturist. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio are the principal seats of the manufacturing interests, while the southern section of the Union is devoted to the cultivation of cotton and sugar. Notwithstanding, agriculture is not the sole occupation of these states, as considerable sums of money are expended in the prosecution of manufactures, consequently a common interest is thus being ubiquitously created, which will eventually cement even the most disaffected provinces. Before the revolution, the jealousy of Great Britain, it has been before remarked, threw every impediment* in the way of the manufacturers it was capable of doing by legislation, and by absurd laws endeavoured to suppress the energies of the people in this branch of industry. No sooner, however, had the Americans thrown off the yoke of imperial oppression, than they renewed their exertions and erected mills in different parts of the country. But it was not until lately that the chief

*That no manufactured goods could be exported was first enacted. It was then forbidden that any manufactured article should be sent to the neighbouring provinces-thus New York could not sell to Massachusetts; and farther, if the hatmanufacturer wished to sell his hats out of the town in which he resided, he was forbidden to convey them by means of horses, and, like the street-wandering Jew, had to carry them on his head. It is no wonder that the colonies rebelled; the surprise is that they bore the absurd regulations connected with their manufactures so long.