is some truth in it, too; but how sad a commentary does it offer upon our system of life; a system which turns man so entirely into a machine, that reflection kills him. And the poor victim of toil is obliged to toil on, and work himself into the grave, to keep out of it, through that very period of life nature has consecrated to the hallowed pleasures of retirement and reflection. It is a dreadful spectacle to see the poor victim's overtasked muscles still strained in the counting-house, and along the marts of commerce, when he should have long ago fled to some quiet retreat, among the green fields and dashing waters, and still woods, and magical gardens, to survey the journey of life he had travelled, and pass a green old age of tranquillity, in getting ready for the beautiful life to come.

"A sight still sadder, and more often met with, is such a man in the evil hour, when the fever of gain drove him into one more speculation that swept him to ruin. He is too old to begin life again at the bottom of the hill, and retires to the bosom of his destitute family to die. They have been brought up in luxury, which is certain now to make them still more wretched; and they live only to mourn over the folly of a father who had not given up the hazards and cares of business, when he had amassed wealth enough to make them all as happy as money ever can make us. But the greater proportion left business with but a fraction of what they once might have retired on, had the fatal charm been sooner broken. They counted their means after discharging all their obligations, and regulated their expenses accordingly. With proper economy, they could still be independent; and with a small farm to cultivate, they found sources of pleasure in nature, in society, in books, and reflection, they never dreamed of before.

*

*

**

"That is the life that wears us out at home; it drives the young man through college and into a profession at the age of twenty-one; and five years at the bar, in the pulpit, or in the counting-house, and he is broken down. This is the life that fades out our wives, and gives them at thirty a languid, pallid, care-worn look a European woman seldom gets, and never until late in life; this is the life that makes and breaks a thousand banks in half a generation; that makes millions rich and poor again the same year; that brings on commercial panics and convulsions; this is the life that makes our soirees boisterous and noisy as our political meetings; that exiles quiet from our social and domestic life, and infects every scene of home, and family, and friends, and society, with the business, the dollar spirit.

*

*

*

**

*

"The scholars of Europe study more intensely, and accomplish far more, and live far longer than our own. Her professional men run a longer and brighter career. Her commercial men amass greater fortunes, and lead a life of less toil. Her women live in society, and seem never to grow old, for they are always young with cheerfulness. Why is all this?

"If the enigma were to be solved by a single word, I should say-amusement. Every European, even the slave classes, (I do not speak of England) has his hour or moment of diversion, of relaxation, of dolce far niente; all of which is as necessary to perfect health of body and mind, as sleep, or food, or rest. The merchant goes from his counting-house at two; reposes himself in his private cabinet or library; dines at four; rides out into the country with his family, and devotes the evening to society or amusement. The scholar, the professor, the artist, the clergyman, all abandon their occupations at a certain hour of the day; and until the next morning, all thought, all talk, all solicitude about their affairs is banished. For the rest of the day they are men of leisure and society. A walk, a soiree, an opera, a card party, a concert, anything that makes life bright, and the heart glad.

"Such is the life the experience of two thousand years has taught the old world; and although in making its way into our social system in America, it must bat tle against the giant spirit of business and gain on one side, and the narrow spirit of religious bigotry on the other, yet it is appearing among us. It is already strongly developed in the change of hours of business, and the arrangements of commerce; in the increased numbers that pass their summers at the watering-places, and in tours of pleasure; in a relaxation of that narrow selfishness which branded a love for intellectual and social amusement as impiety and sin;

tal

in a wide and general diffusion of a love and patronage of the fine arts; in a taste for horticulture, landscape gardening, and the life of the villa, with its repose, and elegant and noble amusements; in a better taste for architecture, and fountains, and pleasure-grounds, for cemeteries and monuments; in the vast increase of the numbers of our countrymen who are coming to Europe and going back Americans; in the cultivation of a home feeling and a national spirit; in our literature, our celebrations, and our jubilees; in a single word, in the development of that love for society, for those liberal and elegant pursuits and pleasures which constitutes the great and the only charm of the social life of Europe." The Austrian may crush her, but she cannot wholly die; Genius has breathed upon her and made her immortal. Why then should not our merchants do for their country all and more than those of Genoa and Florence and Venice could accomplish there? To their liberality and enterprise must be committed the hope of the country. To them must we look for that impulse which shall make this land the marvel and glory of earth. The minds of great merchants are liberalized by the operations of their business. Their souls necessarily become familiar with large thoughts. They sweep over wide fields in their business combinations. Their meneye is trained to clear and far-seeing vision. They alone, as a class, possess the wealth which can afford a generous patronage. For what other so noble purpose could our merchants employ their fortunes, as to ennoble and distinguish their nation, and place the last, most splendid jewel in the diadem of Liberty? How else so firmly and brightly link their own names to the future, as to associate themselves so closely with literature and art, as to share in their immortality? It is permitted to the American merchants of our age to be remembered in coming times, as we now dwell upon the illustrious names of those who baptized Italy with the spirit of beauty, and made her a "marvel and a show." We must turn to our merchants for all this, because our professional and scientific men are too much occupied in their peculiar pursuits, and because they have not the necessary wealth. Our statesmen are almost utterly swallowed up in the party strifes of to-day, which to-morrow will have lost all their interest for ever. The feverish, unquiet present, with its successes and reverses, its offices and spoils, seems to have engulfed their minds beyond the hope of Our affluent, large-souled merchants alone can effectually aid in enlarging and refining the national mind, and in founding a new school and a new era in art, for these western continents, as grand, beautiful and original as themselves, and which shall spring legitimately from the birththroes of American thought. The field, especially of art, lies almost untrodden, covered with the richest materials, as yet unwrought. The stirring incidents of our national history are fading from the minds of our people, because they have not been suitably illustrated. They live not in the marble-they speak not to the eye and heart from the canvass.

Through the influx of foreigners bringing with them the associations of other lands, and for want of suitable monuments to keep ever before the eye the great features of our history, our national enthusiasm grows weak, and our love and reverence for the fathers waxes cold. Is it not a mournful sign of the indifference to the glorious past which is stealing over the public, that foreigners are permitted to speak in contempt of our institutions, and slander our noblest patriots, almost without an answering rebuke? It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the human mind, in its present stage, can be held steady by the power of an abstract principle. There must be the appropriate symbol to arrest and fasten attention, and to kindle the spirit

within. If there is any exception to this rule, it must be made in favor of the quick, life-giving principles of the Gospel. But the great significant fact, that our Redeemer presented himself to our senses, and became the confluent point, between the human and Divine, should lead us to inquire, whether the grossness of our present constitution does not demand something mediate between us and an abstract principle, through which we pass more readily to the apprehension of truth, and retain it with more tenacious grasp.

The abuse of this principle we know becomes idolatry; but it may be questioned whether Protestantism, in its horror of idols, has not somewhat overlooked the necessities of our nature. However this may be, experience has taught the world that patriotism, as a mere sentiment, a disembodied spirit, does not long sway any people with power. There must be the national ballad echoing from lip to lip, and the national music ringing out over land and sea, to cause millions of hearts to warm at the recollections of the past. Yankee Doodle has done more to give us a national sentiment than all the 4th of July orations ever spoken. In our country, so exposed to influences that make the past grow dim, our whole land should be a museum of works of art illustrating our national history, and stamping in upon all minds the story of Freedom, and the principles of our fathers. The noble and the brave of America, the long line of our mighty dead; where do they rest, and how are they honored? Most of them are sleeping without the slightest memorial that bespeaks a national gratitude. On how many battle fields are those men mouldering, who, by their blood, have made us what we are, and not even the rudest and cheapest monument tells where that tide of battle rolled which swept the oppressor away, or where our heroes sleep. A small board, like a "cake and beer" sign, is all that distinguishes Saratoga, one of our most glorious fields.

In the burying-yard of Plattsburgh there is a group of little grave-stones, such as are commonly placed over the tombs of small children, and in approaching them, one naturally fancies that some epidemic has swept a company of infants away. What then are his feelings when informed that these are the monuments of the officers who fell on the decks of McDonnough's ships, and the officers who died by the banner of Macomb? In that grave-yard sleeps one of the sweetest of the young poets of America, a genuine child of genius, and yet the writer of this made a long search in vain for her tomb, aided by an old resident of the village, who was a candidate for Congress.

Where are the statues and the paintings and the monuments, which by preserving in the memory of a whole people our great and noble men, would also serve to reproduce their characters, perpetuate their principles, and beget a true, strong and general love for our own? Where are the illustrations of our nation's rise, struggle and victory, a sight of which would quicken the great pulses of the national heart! These things, and these alone, can beget or preserve a real nationality of feeling, break the power of foreign attachments, and blend our population into one.

We look forward with confident hope to the time when the noble villas of our merchants, in the neighborhood of our great cities, shall be adorned with whatever can minister to a pure, refined and elegant taste; and when American art shall derive its influences from the invisible, not through the false medium of the old mythologies, but hold for itself direct communion with the Spiritual, the Beautiful and the True. This would give us an American school worthy of the age.

Art. IV. THE UNITED STATES TARIFF UPON WOOL.

OUR present tariff upon wool, fails essentially to accomplish the object of the framers, which was to encourage and protect this branch of American production. That our markets are not chiefly supplied with wool from abroad-that our farmers suffer not by foreign competition in the production of wool of various value, from 15 to 40 cents-is not because of protection by the present tariff. Doubtless the intention was to levy a duty upon all varieties of wool that American farmers wish to produce, proportionate to the duty upon imported goods manufactured from wool of like quality. In other words, to protect the farmer and manufacturer equally in their labor and capital. But the practical operation of the law is far otherwise; and decisions already had, and precedents already established, leave no room to expect a change of administration of the law. There is no apparent way for farmers to obtain equal justice, except by a re-adjustment of the tariff in this particular.

The following is the portion of the law concerning wool, adopted in 1842:

"On coarse wool unmanufactured, the value whereof, at the last port or place whence exported to the United States, shall be seven cents or under per pound, there shall be levied a duty of five per centum ad valorem: And on all other manufactured wool there shall be levied a duty of three cents per pound, and thirty per centum ad valorem: Provided, That when wool of different qualities of the same kind or sort is imported in the same bale, bag or package, and the aggregate value of the contents of the bale, bag or package, shall be appraised by the appraisers at a rate exceeding seven cents per pound, it shall be charged with a duty in conformity to such appraisal: Provided, further, That when wool of different qualities, and different kinds or sorts, is imported in the same bale, bag or package, the contents of the bale, bag or package shall be appraised at the value of the finest or most valuable kind or sort, and a duty charged thereon accordingly Provided, further, That if bales of different qualities are embraced in the same invoice, at the same price, the value of the whole shall be appraised according to the value of the bale of the first quality: Provided, further, That if any wool be imported having in it dirt or any material or impurities other than those naturally belonging to the fleece, and thus be reduced in value to seven cents per pound, or under, the appraisers shall appraise said wool at such price as, in their opinion, it would have cost had it not been so mixed with such dirt or impurities, and a duty shall be charged thereon in conformity with such appraisal."

The phraseology appears plain and explicit; and it not having been supposed that our farmers wished to produce a wool so inferior as to be purchased anywhere for 7 cents or less, those concerned in the production have considered themselves sufficiently protected. But a little investiga. tion shows that in all medium grade wool, and coarser, there is no difficulty in importing at a 5 per cent duty; and a Boston importer said to the writer, before knowing his object in making inquiries, that "the law was of no account." He spoke of one large importation, probably the one alluded to by Mr. Walker in his circular quoted below, which paid a 5 per cent duty, and concerning which he had advices from his agent at the time of shipment, saying that quality could not be bought there for 9 cents. Of long wool, suitable for combing, I have known none that paid over 5 per cent, and importers say they could not afford to pay more. In visiting importing houses, prices have frequently been named to buyers in my hear ing, varying from 15 to 30 cents, in the condition in which it was imported.

No one supposes wool of that value can be bought anywhere at 7 cents; yet none having passed the custom-house appraised at over 7 cents, except of fine quality, it must have come in at a 5 per cent duty.

The duty is evaded both by importing fine wool with coarse, and unwashed with washed; and though the provisoes appear to be inserted with express reference to such frauds, yet the practice of the customhouses, under the instructions of the treasury department, affords not the least check. From a bale of clean Buenos Ayres wool, I have taken samples coarse as dog's hair, with others that would readily bring 45 cents per pound; and I am so green as to suppose such of different "kinds or sorts," and therefore, according to the second proviso, to "be appraised at the value of the first." Yet this was imported at a 5 per cent duty, although the importer would not sell it for 25 cents per pound. And, notwithstanding the price of wool is increased 50 to 100 per cent by washing, yet, cleanliness not "being inherent in the object, and coexistent," the unwashed and washed is all declared to be of the same quality, no matter what the difference in value. In this manner, by the shrewd discriminations and logical reasoning of the powers that be, the provisoes, requiring all of a bale or invoice to be appraised according to the value of the best, are rendered a perfectly dead letter.

In a disagreement as to the rate of duty on an invoice, Mr. Secretary Walker made the following decision, which was made authoritative by his circular to Collectors of 3d October last. After reciting the law, with the first three provisoes, he says:—

"In determining the question as to the liability of wool unmanufactured to the charge of the higher rate of duty, under these several provisoes, in consequence of the attendant circumstances therein mentioned, it became necessary to ascertain and establish the true meaning of the words quality and qualities as used therein, and consequently whether the said words should or should not be taken as synonymous with value.

"After due reflection the department was of opinion, that the words were not of the same signification; a conclusion fully sustained by the works of standard authority on synonymes, where the quality of a thing is understood to be, a property inherent in the object, and co-existent; while its value is accidental or contingent, depending on the variable tastes or wants of man; price being the measure of value in mercantile transactions.

These distinctive definitions would seem, also, to have been in view of the framers of the law, as a reference to the dictionaries of commerce of the highest character will show that they are recognized, and actually applied, to the several varieties of wool, in the separation and assorting of fleeces.

"In a case recently before the department, arising on an importation of 116 bales of Cordova wool, from Buenos Ayres into the port of New York, the appraisers appointed under the provisions of law, after an examination of the entire invoice, reported that although 5 out of the 16 bales were, at the time of purchase, from the effect of washing, of a higher value than 7 cents per pound; and the value of the entire invoice, if rated according to the valuation of those bales, would be 8 cents per pound, yet the whole 116 bales embraced in the invoice were of the same kind and sort, and did not differ in quality.

"Under these circumstances, and upon the facts shown, the decision of the department was, that the value of the whole invoice in question, was not to be appraised according to the value of those particular bales found to contain wool, the value of which was over 7 cents per pound."

With the influences which might have operated with the honorable secretary, in making this decision, or even with his reasoning, we have nothing to do. No argument which I could adduce, would in the least