fluenced by the formidable difficulties that assail us in Europe; and even these difficulties, while they lead us into such disastrous wars, produce indirectly incalculable advantages to the commerce of America. Founded at a time when a high degree of civilization had already made much progress in England, the British Colonies of North America received with their origin political institutions, the principles of which actuate at the present day the governments of the United States, whilst in Europe much time and many sacrifices will be necessary not only to obtain those institutions which the progress of intelligence demands, but even to enable those institutions to be justly appreciated, and above all to be well understood by the mass of mankind. Finally, the population of the Union is at the present moment scattered over a territory of almost equal extent with Europe (Russia, Sweden, and Turkey excepted); and in this immense and rich dominion, that multiplicity of custom-houses, and fiscal internal demarcations, which so much injure and clog the development of European industry, are not to be found. Europe is without doubt the finest portion of the world, the part which, on an equal given space or superficies, presents the most abundant resources of every kind; but instead of mutually contributing to a common prosperity, the nations of Europe, actuated by rivalries without end, pour out their blood and exhaust their treasure to destroy each other, and mutually paralyse their progress towards a better system. What a lesson for the American Union! when once this is destroyed, its ruins would soon fall into the same labyrinth of difficulties as at this moment disturbs and perplexes the nations of Europe." CHAPTER XII. Capt. Hall's estimate of mean charge to each inhabitant of the United States. Mr. F. Cooper's remarks on the Revue Britannique. Mr. Cooper's estimate of mean public charge. CAPTAIN B. HALL makes the total amount of what each person pays to the state and general governments, on an average of three years, 1825-6-7, to be 12s. 4 d., which is much nearer the truth, it appears to me, than either the calculations of the Revue Britannique or those of the Quarterly. Indeed, differing from that gentleman toto cœlo as I do, in the impressions received from a residence in the United States (of much longer duration than Captain Hall's), and however different my opinions of the future prospects of that rising and interesting country connected with its present form of government, I cannot forbear to give my humble testimony in favour of the general accuracy of all the statements of that gentleman that bear upon matters of fact and local description;-do not let me be misunderstood, as supposing that it can be necessary to vindicate Captain Hall in this country, or perhaps even in America, from a charge of intentional misrepresentation. The reviews and journals of that country do not generally accuse him of this: on the contrary, many of the extracts which are given by American writers sufficiently show that he in a thousand instances did justice to what he saw there; but it has been asserted that a strong political bias-a powerful feeling of prejudice-continually interfered with the exercise of his judgment when drawing inferences from what he saw, and making general and not laudatory reflections upon that which he had just before been describing with warm approbation*. The sum calculated by Captain Hall, like that of General Bernard, leaves out the expenses of the church and the public turnpike roads; the error in its amount will be easily accounted for in examining the calculations of Mr. Cooper and those of the Quarterly. Mr. Fenimore Cooper had been requested by General Lafayette to rectify errors in the statements of the Revue Britannique; the general thus explains his object in requesting Mr. Cooper to undertake a task for which he is so eminently qualified.—“ Independently of our common American interest on this subject, I feel a wish to undeceive such of my French colleagues as may conscientiously believe that they ought to oppose reductions in the expenditure, from * Vide Review of Captain B. Hall's Travels in North America, 2d ed. London, published by Kennett, &c. the erroneous impression that the taxes of this country (France) are less oppressive than the combined expenses of the Federal and State Governments of the Union." Mr. Cooper, after some general observations, remarkable for their fairness and the judgment with which he notices some of the sources of error in the theories and reasonings that are frequently applied to the affairs of America, and regretting that he has not at hand the materials and authorities that he could wish, proceeds to give an outline of the origin and state of the national debt of the United States, part of which will be found in the Appendix*. Before examining farther Mr. Cooper's statement, it is necessary to give the extract from the Revue Britannique, which gave occasion for it." The Federal budget of the United States, which might also be called their political budget, did not exceed, in 1829, 24,767,119 dollars (or 131,265,729 francs), but in time of wart it amounts to more than twice that sum." "Doubtless the moderation of this budget will strike one forcibly when compared with the enormous amount of ours. We are inclined to envy the fortunate position of a nation freed from the diversity of our fiscal im * Vide Appendix at the end of the volume. In the original it is "mais en tems de paix, il s'elève à plus du double," evidently a misprint. |