THE

AMERICAN REVIEW,

No. XXI.

FOR SEPTEMBER, 1849.

SHORT CHAPTERS ON PUBLIC ECONOMY.

I.

Constitutionality.

It arrived only at its perfect and full development within the last few ages, and stands immoveable, by the accumulated strength of all its past existence. It came into perfect being, not by revolution, not by a change of principles, but by the native force of an internal life, which impelled it to throw off a foreign incumbrance, and stand free in the vigor of independant youth. It is a government of principles, not of prescription, nor of forms. Its traditional forms are few; it did not come down to us loaded with the corruptions of former ages, to be maintained by the timid and condemned by the wise.

It is never to be lamented when men are driven to search into the foundation of the commonwealth; as it is necessary for the conduct of life that the divine and abstract principles of virtue should have a conscious existence in the intellect, and should be frequently agitated and discussed; so, if we intend to maintain in their original purity and force, those ideas of authority, of right, and of obedience, upon which all government is founded, we must often reflect, and induce others to reflect upon them, in their simplicity. It is necessary to revive and fortify the spirit of the Constitution by frequent recurrence to the rights and opinions upon which it rests; tracing these to their principles, and casting an historic glance upon those conditions of society those exigencies of humanity-from which they took their rise, and through which they became apparent; rights, in our own case, derived from a recognition of the imperious necessity of freedom to the full development of our nature; principles, grounded in human nature, tested by the experience of all time, and suggested as rules of legislation from an observation of the evils that arose upon their absence. Ours is not an hypothetical government; it was not erected upon an imaginary basis; the first fibres of its roots can be traced backward into the darkness of primeval liberty; its growth has been gradual through many centuries. ❘ the races which gave birth to them.

VOL. IV. NO. III. NEW SERIES.

It is a government of necessity; it arose from necessity, and exists by necessity; it is therefore not subvertible while its moral conditions exist. But the necessity which gave it birth is not that with which the mathematics are conversant, nor the wants and desires of the grosser nature of man. The necessity with which our laws are in accordance is of a moral nature, and can be found only in the operation of moral causes.

In the course of history, philosophers observe series of events signifying the existence and operation of certain divine and moral laws, by which the superior destiny of man is distinguished above his physical and sensuous destiny. Governments founded like ours upon a recognition of of justice, of faith, of beneficence, of honor, of liberty and of constancy, are imperishable governments; and die only with

15

rine and fire insurance, labor, wharfage, bro- | has made it impossible to live comfortably in

kerage, wholesale and retail profits, and profits of manufacture; subject also to detention in Massachusetts, by speculators waiting for a rise of price-a grand subject of contemplation and argument for southern statesmen.

Georgia has gone farther still in the race of improvement, and has already 38 cotton mills; the city of Augusta, by the enterprise and foresight of its corporation, has provided a water

this country by authorship. Literature is a poor and precarious occupation, book-selling on the contrary has been a good and a profitable one. The consequences are that the intelligence of America is, in great part, educated and controlled by England and France. Soon however, we shall have the booksellers in the same predicament with the authors. "One of the strangest literary novelties of the day,"

power sufficient to move any number of mills. ❘ says the Republic, (July 12th,) "is the fact

In addition to this, other factories are being established.

that this country is now flooded with German reprints, in English, of the standard classics of our tongue, which are sold at so cheap a rate, as not only to force from the market English editions, but to compete successfully with the

The consequences of these reforms and improvements in the South can hardly be estimated above their value; there will be, of course, a vast increase of the free white popu- | American."" lation, who will not be slaveholders. The capital of the State will be diverted from investment in slave property, and employed in a much more profitable kind of industry. The necessities of the poor white population will keep down the price of labor for many years to come. A valuable class of foreign emigrants, mechanics and operatives, will be drawn toward the South. Slaves will be gradually excluded from inventive and mechanical occupations, which will pass into the hands of free white men; and while the current prejudices against slavery in the minds of the poorer classes will be by no means diminished, and a necessary amelioration take place in the condition and treatment of slaves, the state sovereignty itself, will, at the same time, by the increase of wealth and power in the State, become better able to protect itself against the encroachments of for

"The pioneer of this enterprise in Germany was the celebrated Tauchnitz, well known as the publisher of those small and very accurate editions of the Greek and Roman classics, which have for fifteen or twenty years been used in all the higher schools of the country. Printed on fine and white paper, and with a beautiful type, they compare at infinite advantage with the bad editions of the best authors, with which booksellers and the reading portion of the American people have too long been content. Before us are editions of Shakspeare, Byron, Moore, Bulwer, and Sir Walter Scott, together forming a collection of about sixty volumes, each of which the publishers are able to send to America, pay duties, and sell at thirty-one and a quarter cents per volume. The above are but a fifth portion of the works printed by Tauchnitz, his library containing the

eign reformers, and to subdue the great domes-chefs-d'œuvre of the modern and fashionable au

tic evil of its institutions, by its own free and unassisted force. It will soon be beyond the power of any combination of free States to drive or compel the South into an unwilling reform of her institutions.

thors. These books are to be had of all the German booksellers in the country, and, in these days of bad type, and worse paper, are luxuries."

When Germany does all our publishing and printing, England all our manufacturing; when

The Necessity for Protection to American Book France makes our hats and shoes, and the Eng

Publishers.

The vast number of foreign books and periodicals reprinted and sold cheap in America,

lish philosophers regulate our politics, what an intellectual, happy, shrewd, and prosperous people we shall be !

:

CRITICAL NOTICES.

Last Leaves of American History; comprising
Histories of the Mexican War, and Califor-
nia. By EMMA WILLARD. New York :
George P. Putnam, 155 Broadway.

Mrs. Willard in her preface to this history, observes, "Washington Irving once said in conversation, 'pure truth is as difficult to be obtained as pure water; though clear in appearance, it is ever found by the chemist to contain extraneous substances. In recording the portion of my country's history, here presented to the public, I can only say, that pure truth has been my earnest aim; for history is truth, and truth is history. I am not conscious of any prejudices, or prepossessions, either as it respects individuals, parties, or sects, by means of which, I should incline to error or be led astray. And I have spared no pains in my power, to make myself acquainted with the state of facts concerning which I have written. But doubtless there are mistakes; for what book ever existed which had none? There may be errors of the press; authorities may mislead; and that mind must be clear indeed, which never misapprehends. But whenever an error is found, of whatever nature, and whether pointed out by a friend to serve, or a foe to injure, that error will be corrected as soon as discovered." Mrs. Willard writes clearly and interestingly, and her book is a valuable addition to our American history.

under consideration with its sister tongues, or with its mother tongue, where the existence of this is certain. But in a grammar for young people, such comparisons must be in a great measure useless; and all that can be done with advantage, is to apply to the language geun- under consideration such principles as may have been established by comparative philology. The present grammar does not lay claim to novelty, for the author has purposely abstained from making any material alteration in the arrangement usually adopted in grammars for schools; partly because he thinks that such alterations as have recently been introduced in school grammars are little calculated to benefit the learner, and partly because he is of opinion that sound information can be given without obliging the teacher to abandon the order to which he has been accustomed from his youth, and which he may, not always be able or willing to abandon.

History of Queen Elizabeth. By JACOB ABBOTT. With engravings. New York: Harper & Brothers.

This history is one of a most valuable series-the author and the publishers are entitled to much praise. The narratives are not tales founded upon history, but history itself, without any embellishment or deviation from the strict truth. The author has availed himself of the best sources of information within his reach.

A Grammar is a classified collection of the
rules or laws regulating the language of which
it professes to be an exposition. Every lan-
guage is subject to changes, either for the bet-
ter or for the worse; and although in the case
of a dead language a grammarian must consider
and illustrate it mainly as it was at the time of
its most perfect development, still he cannot
avoid taking into consideration the earlier and
later forms of words and expressions; for in
many instances the language, in its perfect
state, cannot be fully explained without re-
course being had to those forms of speech, out
of which it has arisen. Very great advantages
may also be derived, especially in the etymo-
logical part, from a comparison of the language | nishes a well-written preface.

Manual of Ancient Geography and History.
By WILHELM PUTZ, Principal Tutor at the
Gymnasium of Düren. Translated from the
German. Edited by the Rev. THOMAS
KIRCHEVER ARNOLD, M. A., Rector of Lyn-
don, etc. Revised and corrected from the
London edition. New York: D. Appleton &
Co., Broadway. Philadelphia: G. S. Ap-
pleton, Chestnut street.

This is a very useful book, and contains a clear and definite outline of the history of the principal nations of antiquity; and to render it more clear, a concise geography of each country has been added. Professor Greene fur

and Madame Sand, and a hundred others, all | The Statesman's Manual. The Addresses and