7/^ Conservation Resources /i^ } in i / y >7.--7 y/7 7..z:&-i:^^ ^ V- /S'"5^^^. 1850, ^jh^X Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. 67 ©f the clear stream, through tints of every hue, Lifts its bath'd pebbles, lo ! to brighten all Th>g little harebell brings its bit of blue, An4 is a gainer ! happy to behold Red^lessing green, and purple gilding gold ; Of li^it and shade a marriage festival ! Elliptt's love of the beautiful in nature, as sho\i^n in his poems and his daily talk, was very 'strong. It w.as as intense as his love of justice), but was never the means of giving to us, as fiijiafc love often was, words of antago- nism. Pie songs he sung in leafy bowers, and by i^unning streams, are types of beauty only, at %as,i as far as they themselves are concernedlj for, indeed, sometimes an out- raged feelmg, born in another and very dif- ^^:^^^^f%. p™e«t in a shroud of tears ^»' ,:? ij ,. 1 •■ ir -li, J 'Tis made 'fet pearlets splintered from the ram ; ferent world, would hnk itself on, without r^.. j.... j..-liAi,_i-.„ x_ .i jj:„„ I beinof able to form, however, any real mar \ 32. Flower-Veeping April starts to life again, When ar\h October for November weaves riage. The "moral beauty that appears in these sonnets is generally rich in wisdom and love, which fl^w out in all honest simplicity. We will select -a few. % 13. Hath April wept herself into a dream Of wond'rous joy? or a reality Fairer and brighter than all dreaming ? Deem Not lightly, Bard, oi her regality In goodness. Lo, the beautiful are strong ! Lo, gentlest love is power, whose noiseless stream Keeps tresh the sea of life, which else would teem Only with plagues! ©h, gold-biU'dOuzle's song! Hath Lqve's still might wak'd thee? Love's April! coldly Primrosy airs breathe round thee. Clouds behold thee. And mix their music with their blushes. Morn, Dew-glistening Morn, is silvering rock and tree, "While shadows shorten cj'er the whitening thorn Perch"d on whose topiripst-twig the woodwele hymneth thee. *■ 14. Red Evening, in her green-knd-silver robes. Looks from the uplands on the lakes below. O'er realms of hawthorn, white with little globes In which is folded up May'^ fragrant snow. 'With closing eyes, to sleep tlie daises go ; Beneath the tire-flowerd broom awakes the hare ; And gentle winds are waiting, fain to blow News of the open'd rose to sc^jis of care. Or dew-drops shaken from the nodding spears That guaraSjthe cold roots of the bare black- thorn*^. And flowers (i|ke April's) hasten to adorn Its mix'd huelf won from sunset. Through fall'n leaves The primrose p^ps ! hom'd where the wren abides ; \ The violet, too ! tn^t would be loved, yet hides Her beauty, dark wfth passion ; and the whin. Pale want's rough fri^j^d, laughs out to all " Good Morrow," '\ And calls no child of vi^^e a child of sin, But, April-blossom'd, hoirds a smile for sorrow, ■ 45. \ If I strftye In kindness, I am safe. What is our own ? That only which we build for thee and thine. Who shall reap love, unless he Sow in love ? If I have laboiir'd for myself alonfe, I need no lock'd strong coffer : Noii'ght is mine ! The rfj'maining portion of the voliipe is de- voted t6 ballads, and to a tale called'i" Ethe- line."/ The poet meant this latter to\be the first/part of an epic poem, that he fiiamed " pth-Kon-Tel." It was to contain three p^^ts, each forming a complete story in itself, And each comprising four books. Oh, can July with woodbines ring her fingers. And crown with toses her too fegal head, While, pale as snow, distracted Freedom lingers. Gazing on cities where her best have bled? ,* 28. Is this, then, solitude ? To feel our hearts Lifted above the world, yet not above The sympathies of brotherhood and love ? To grieve for him who from the right departs ? And strive, in spirit, with the martyr'd good ? " Is thisito be alone ?" Then welcome solitude. 30. Art thou a colourist ? Mark, how yon red Poppy, and that bright patch of yellow bloom, Cliti-borae above green depths and purply gloom. Like spark and blaze on smiling darkness shed. Give and take beauty ! aiark, too, overhead, How the rich verdure of this ancient tree, And the deep purple of the bank, agree To thrive in partnership ! And while the bed 2. 3. Art. VII. — 1. Central America. By John Baily, Esq., R.M., of Guatemala. Lon- don : Trelawney Saunders. Wild Life in Central Ame7-ica. By George Byara. London : John W. Parker, Coup d' Oeil Rapide sur la Republique de Costa Rica. Par F. M. Paris : Printed for Private Circulation. 4. Revieio of the Plans for connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, ^j Joseph Glynn, M.I.C.E. London: Printed for Private Circulation, 5. Map of Central America, showing the different Lines of Atlantic and Pacific Communication. London : James Wyld. Terms of Contract between the State of Nicaragua and the Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company. New York. 6. 68 Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. April, 'I. Prospectus of the Panama Railroad Com- pany. New York. Numberless signs denote that Central Ame- rica will be the theatre of some of the most remarkable changes likely to be wrought by advancing civilization. Three years back its capabilities and distinctive features were al- most wholly unknown to the general public ; and such volumes as existed with regard to them, were read with no more active interest than would have been excited by travels in Persia or Dalmatia, or any other country, with which the chances of our establishing an immediate and vital intercourse might be most remote. Now, however, there is no quarter of the world to \vhich attention is more actively directed than Central America. Statesmen, mei-chants, navigators, colonizers, and the students of natural science, are all alike awakened to the importance of its future prospects ; and, as a consequence of the de- mand thus created, books and maps are sup- plied by our geographical publishers, involv- ing an amount of minute detail, which enables us, we may believe, to form a far more accu- rate knowledge of each point of the territory than is possessed by one in a hundred of its present inhabitants. Until now, notwithstanding the almost solemn charm that has invaiiably been felt in its contemplation, the idea of a communi cation between the Atlantic and Pacific has never been anything more than an interesting- engineering problem. That it could be effect- ed without any serious difficulty, has, how- ever, in the face of appearances to the contra- ry, for many years been placed beyond all real doubt ; and the actual point in which project- ors have failed has been simply in convincing the capitalist that it would pay. Appealed to on the strength of sublime estimates of the influences of the enterprise on the destinies of the world, unaccompanied by any data on which reliance could be placed with regard to the per centage in the shape of future receipts, men of business could not be warm- ed into enthusiasm. In reply, therefore, they have always professed a fear of its impracti- cability ; and, as this was stimulated by the circumstance of each projector abusing the routes pi'oposed by his rivals, it at last be- came a received belief. They saw all the glory of the project; would be willing to run all necessary risk for its consummation ; but the thing was impossible. With a demon- strable dividend before them, every shadow in the shape of a mechanical difficulty would have disappeared. But the discovery of California has now settled the question of a profitable result; and, in a much shorter time than most persons in England are even yet prepared to expect, not merely a communication, but a choice of communications, is certain to be opened up. These will be respectively at Panama and Nicaragua : the former by railway and steam- boat in the first instance, and ultimately by railway entirely ; the latter, chiefly by steam- boat in the first instance, and ultimately by a complete canal both for steam-boats and sailing-vessels. The Panama line is promoted by Rowland and Aspinwall, of New York. It is to con- sist of a railway from Navy Bay on the At- lantic to Panama on the Pacific, at an esti- mated cost of $5,000,000, or £1,000,000 sterling. At the commencement, however, a portion of the road, consisting of about twenty-two miles on the Pacific side (from Panama to Gorgona), will be constructed and put into operation, and the rest of the transit will be effected by steamers running forty- five miles on the Chagres river, which is navigable at all periods of the year for vessels of lioht drauo'ht. The work, it is estimated, may thus far be completed for £200,000, and the shareholders will be in the receipt of re- venue while the remainder is being construct- ed. The full capital for this portion has been subscribed at New York ; the entire line has been surveyed, and the grading of the dis- tance from Panama to Gorgona already contracted for at the price of $400,000, (£80,000) ; which is within the original es- timate. The grant to the Company by the Republic of New Grenada gives them an exclusive privilege for forty-nine years, sub- ject to a right of redemption by the Repub- lic at the end of twenty years, on payment of 15,000,000 ; at the end of thirty years, on payment of $4,000,000 ; and at the end of forty years, on payment of $2,000,000. This privilege is to date from the completion of the road, for which eight years are allowed ; and it is accompanied by a concession of ex- clusive harbour rights at the ports on each side, and also of the necessary land through- out the line, besides 300,000 acres in perpe- tuity, for the purposes of colonization. The Company are likewise to be aUowed to im- poi-t iron, and whatever may be necessary for the construction of the road, free of duty, including all articles of provision and clothing for the workmen. They may also call upon the Government to furnish them the assist- ance of three companies of Sappers ; and the only obligation imposed as to the character of the road, is that it shall be capable of transporting passengers and merchandise from one ocean to the other in the space of twelve hours. •' The parties by whom the survey of the Panama route was effected, instead of en- ^1 M 5 o I 1850. Junction of the Atlantic and Paeijic. 69 countering the formidable difficulties that had j 27th August last a contract was made be- been anticipated, found that they could lay I tween the State of Xicarao-ua and the Atlan- down a hne which would not exceed forty- ! tic and Pacific Ship Canal Companv, of six miles in length, with a summit of less ; Xew York, by which all the exclusive' pri- than 300 feet above the sea, and with curva- ; vileges necessary for the undertakino- were tures, having nowhere a radius of less than ' conferred. According to the contract, the 1,500 feet. Their explorations were extended \ canal is to be completed within twelve years, over the whole of that part of the Isthmus, so : unless prevented by fortuitous occurrences ; as to insure the one true point, and there can \ and, upon failure of this stipulation, such part be no doubt that this has now been selected, l as may have been constructed is to be for- Another diificulty which has alwars been re- \ feited to the State. The Companv agree to presented as no less formidable than the na- i pay the State $10,000 for the ratification of tural impediments of the route, namely, the; the contract; $10,000 more annually till the procuring a proper supply of labourers able to \ completion of the work ; and to make a do- stand the chmate, has also been proved to be nation of their stock to the amount of delusive. The parties who have contracted -$200,000. When finished, the State is to for the grading of the twenty-two miles on receive one-fifth of the net profits for twenty the Pacific side are, it seems, two American ' years, and afterwards one quarter. There is engineers, who have been emploved for the also a stipulation that it is to have 10 per last five years ; in the State of Xew Granada, ; cent, on the profits of any minor line of com- in forming a canal ninety miles loner, to con- ; munication between the two oceans which •nect two branches of the Magdalena river, the Company may open up during the time and which they have completed entirelv with they are engaged on the grand canal. On native labour. They can bring with them a the other hand, the privileges bestowed are, large number of these workmen, whose train- not only exclusive rights for constructing the in^'.- although at first difficult, was ultimately canal, but also the exclusive right of inland quite successful ; and there is reason also to steam navigation : grants likewise are to be believe that arrangements for foreio-n labour made of eight sections of land on the banks might be made, since the experience of the of the canal, each section to be six miles corps employed in the survey of the railway, square. The concession, as originally pro- consisting of forty engineers and assistants, posed, was for eighty-five years, but it has was not discouraging with respect to cli- since been extended in perpetuity, mate. j The first payment of $10,000 has already The explorations for this survey have led been made by the Company to the Govern- to the discovery of larsfe groves of mahogany, '• ment of Nicaragua : and the general arrange- and rich mineral deposits, "the knowled»-e : ment having been favourably viewed by the of which," it is represented, " will be hio-hly , cabinet at Washington, there can be no ques- important to the company in locating land's tion that the privileges which have been ac- under their grant ;" and with regard to the quired under it may now be regarded as proposed terminus of the railway on the At- ^ incapable of being upset. It is true that Mr. lantic side, on the island of Manzaniila, in Barclay, the British consul at Xew York, has ZSTavy Bay, we have the following character- 1 given notice to the Company that m extend- istic speculations, which might, perhaps, be ■- ing the grant to the exclusive right of navi- taken as nothing more than a rhapsody, were gating the river San Juan, the State of Xica- it not for our experience of the way in which i ragua has entered into an agreement in regard these American visions are apt to produce . to places where it has no competence, since their own realization. | "' the boundary line of the Mosquito kingdom touches the St. .John's river at the Machuca " The harbour is accessible at all seasons and •(! ^^^^^^ ^^^^.^ ^^^^ y^^i^^ tj^e j^^^q with any wind perfectly secure, and c^pab.e oi ^{^ f^om whence to the mouth of the contammo: .300 sail. Ol the island. Mr. JVorn.-, ,. ^ .p » . . . -vr the chief engineer of the Cha-res division, ^avs.i'^t- Jc.bn s the navigation belongs to Mos- ' in ten years I predict the whole will be covpred ! quito ;" but this, supposing the Enghsh view with houses, and the inhabitants enjoying per- j to be admitted, can in no way affect the main feet heahh, with every luxury of a southern i privileges they have obtained. It would cliaie.' -He adds, ' I do consider it the most eli- uggggjijate a negotiation on then- behalf to ^ible and perfect site for a city of any size I : ^^..^-^ r^.^^^ ^^le YAncf of Mosquito, or, in have ever seen. '■ ; ^^.^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ English Government, a The second line, which may now be con- guarantee of those rights on the San Juan sidered definitively arranged, is' that of a ship ; which it is not in the power of Nicaragua to canal in connexion with the lakes of Xicara-: grant ; and in this it is to be inferred there gua. This work promises an early commence- would be no obstacle, since it would be im- ment, and also a rapid progress. On the j possible to refuse the apphcation, so long as 70 Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. April, the company are ready to bind themselves that the route, Avhen constructed, shall be open, on fair and equal terms, to the whole world, and that the power of holding its stock and of participating in its management shall likewise be free to all parties. Indeed, it is beheved that the question has already been met, both by Lord Palmerston and Mr. Ab- bott Lawrence, in a spirit which will speedily lead to a joint guarantee on the part of Eng- land and the United States of the neutrality of the whole line. As to political difficulties, therefore, so far as the promoters of the canal are concerned, there are actually none. A short, although a vexatious delay — for even a few months' impediment to such an undertaking would be an evil full of reproach — is all that could arise out of the uncertain- ty at present existing on these points. Nei- ther England nor the United States would like it to form part of their history, that the human race had been kept, for two or three or more years, from witnessing the junction of the Atlantic and the Pacific, because their foreign ministers had been unable to adjust a wrangle as to whom belonged the right of con- ceding some seventy miles of the now deso- late track through which the work would pass. In the projects for the Nicaragua Canal hitherto put forward, the estimated cost has been £4,000,000, the actual outlay being reckoned at £3,600,000, and the remaining £400,000 being allowed for casual expenses. These calculations were professedly made on the high scale of the Caledonian Canal, where the expenditure was notoriously reckless, and at a period when the mechanical facilities for such undertakings Avere very imperfect, as compared with the present time. They were based, however, upon the surveys of Mr. Baily, which are regarded as having been made with a degree of conscientious care entitling them to the highest credit. Hence, in the calculations in question, there are no existing points of engineering difficulty which were not comprised ; and it may accord- ingly be inferred that, if they were under the mark, the deficiency was simply caused by not allowing enough for labour, materials, and interest of money. The improvements in mechanical science, and the diminution in the cost of materials during the last ten or fifteen years, would, it may at least be as- sumed, make up as large an amount on the other side ; and allowing, therefore, for the invariable experience which attends all esti- mates, there is now no reason to suppose that, under any circumstances, the cost could exceed the total that has been contemplated. This is somewhat less than half the amount that has been expended for the Dover Ptail- way, and about two-thirds of the expendi- ture for the Brighton. The revenue, which was calculated years ago when the original schemes were pro- pounded, was taken upon 900,000 tons, and the contemplated toll per ton was 10s. for European, and 20s. for United States vessels ; the whole producing about £600,000 a year, Avhich, after leaving two per cent, for main- tenance, and one per cent, for sinking fund, would yield a return of twelve per cent, on the capital. An examination of these estimates, how- ever, produces no conviction of their correct- ness. All the materials on which they were founded were extremely vague ; too much reliance was placed on the change of route to India ; and the proposed difference in toll to American vessels would, moreover, never be tolerated. This difference was susfaested on the idea, that as the average saving of time to United States vessels would be two months, and to European vessels only one month, toll should be exacted in a proportionate ratio ; but it would introduce an entirely new prin- ciple into the universal system of navigation dues, and public charges of all kinds, and one that would be found as impracticable as it would be unjust and absurd. But since these statements were made in 1835, the traffic Avith South America has greatly increased, and Australia and New Zealand have been growing in importance. Still, even with these changes, capitalists would possibly have regarded the experiment with hesitation. At all events, it would have been one of anxietj^ It is, as we have al- ready observed, the discovery of the gold mines in California that has alone altered the whole aspect of the affair, and rendered it such as will be pursued with eagerness. While the Panama Railway will take the whole of the passengers for the western ports of South America, the Nicaragua route must command the entire traffic to California the moment it shall be rendered practicable, even by a mixture of water and land conveyance. On tlie completion of the canal, it will of course, in addition, monopolise all the ship- ping trade between the two oceans, but some of its most startling results will be witnessed long befoi-e that period. The distance saved by the Nicaragua route in the journey to California, as compared with the Panama, is sufficient to prevent the possibility of com- petition ; and apart from this, the attractive features of the former are such as to give it an unquestionable superiority. Now, the emigration to California from the United States has recently been 6,000 or 7,000 per- sons each month, or at the rate of 80,000 per annum ; and one peculiar feature of that emi- 1850. Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. 71 gration seems to consist in the fact that, at Avhatever rate it may continue, it will always be of a shifting kind, — that is to say, there will always be a tide of persons both going and returning. Gold digging can only be carried on for about five months out of the twelve, and during the idle season it would be far more economical to return to the States than to live at San Francisco. The operation itself is also one which men are only disposed to pursue temporarily, so that after a little while each miner is content to return and to leave his place to a new comer. This has been particularly exemplified during the past autumn, — both the influx and efliiix of pas- sengers having been enormous ; and that the efflux was not caused by persons who were returning in disappointment, has been abun- dantly shown by the fact of their re-appear- ance in the United States not having led to the slightest diminution in the number of those who were still eager to emigrate. Ac- cording to the last accoimts, ships of a still larger and finer class than those hitherto em- ployed were being placed upon the service, and every ticket in the three lines of steamers had been taken up to May or June. There is consequently ground to calculate on a con- stant stream both ways. The certainty of this is indeed demonstrable. At present the average to each miner is at least five dollars per day ; and supposing the supply of gold to continue at this rate, popiilation must steadily floAv in until the rate of wages for a similar day's labour, after making allowance for the expense of passage money, &c., shall have been equalized throughout the world. Each mail repeats the story that no one in the country doubts the supply to be com- paratively inexhaustible. By the last advices, Colonel Fremont, moreover, had discovered, between San Francisco and Monterey, a vein in the mountains which yielded the extraor- dinary proportion of one ounce of gold to twenty-three pounds of rock. Quicksilver and silver mines were also waiting only for machinery and labour. Instead of a diminu- tion of activity in this direction, everything therefore indicates an increase. However much we may be disposed to distrust the twelve per cent, estimate of those who in former years proposed the execution of the work, we must under these circum- stances admit that there can be httle fear of its present results. We must look not only at the traffic which is even now before us, but we must take into account its natural in- crease from the greater cheapness and rapid- ity of the new route. We must also look at the growing importance of Oregon, and to the certainty of the crowd of small steamers that will rapidly accumulate on the Pacific, from the smoothness of its waters and the abundance of the easily worked coal of Van- couver's Island. At the same time, although the view is thus bright, there is no great likelihood that it will attract any amount of English money. Faith, the great element of all enterprises, has been destroyed in this country for many years to come ; and not only is there no dis- position to enter upon the scheme among ourselves, but there is a strong tendency to suppose that others would be equally timid, and to doubt if the Americans would or even could carry it out without " the aid of British capital." Such has been our step from the sublime to the ridiculous, that we have come to look upon the expenditure during the next twelve years of a sum of £4,000,000 (which is a little more than half the amount of the railway calls for the month of January, 184*7), upon the grandest public work that mankind has ever contemplated, as something that is really appalling from its temerity, and that is only to be carried out by a congress of capi- talists from all the nations of the earth. In the United States, however, the feeling is very diff'erent ; and every year vast works are quietly undertaken there, and carried to com- pletion in a way which would surprise those numberless people who are too apt compla- cently to believe that all the world stands still except when funds are sent from Lon- don. They have enjoyed prosperity since 1839 ; and although, of course, after so long a period, their turn for a run of madness must be approaching, there are at present no signs of it, and no apprehensions of its arrival for two or three years. They are quite pre- pared, therefore, to look confidently at any rational project, however broad, and nothing could be presented to them which would more enlist their commercial aptitudes, their hard energy, and practical benevolence, or their patriotic pride. " I would not speak of it," said one of their writers, a few years back, " with sectional, or even national feeling ; but if Europe is indifferent, it would be glory sur- passing the conquest of kingdoms to make this greatest enterprise ever attempted by human force entirely our own." We may rely, therefore, that the day is gone by when the undertaking could be ne- glected for want of funds. If carried out en- tirely by capitalists in the United States, it will probably be pushed forward with less rapidity than would otherwise be the case ; but this will be far more than compensated by the exercise of greater economy and cer- tainty. Meanwhile, steps have already been taken for ascertaining what will be necessary to render the route immediately available for passengers, and for placing steamers upon the 72 Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. April, river San Juan and the lakes. The Chairman of the Company — a Mr. Vanderbilt, who it is said has been more largely and profitably connected with steam navigation than any other citizen of New York — started some months back on a personal survey of the en- tire district ; and, as he and his friends are understood to be prepared to subscribe for a very considerable proportion of the required capital, a report may be expected in which, contrary to English usages, the interests of the stockholder will be consulted before those of the engineer. The precise course which will be taken by this canal, whenever it may be completed, is still in some parts uncertain ; not from any question of great difficulty, but from the fact of three modes presenting themselves for the exit from the lake to the Pacific, from which a selection is to be made. From Greytown (or San Juan) on the Atlantic, the course for 104 miles is by the river San Juan ; the Lake of Nicaragua is then entered, and it is the best route from this lake to the Pacific that remains to be determined. The line contem- plated and surveyed by Mr. Baily was from the south-western point of the lake to the port of San Juan del Sur, the extent of which would be fifteen miles, with an elevation to be overcome, in one part, of 457 feet. ' An- other route, which has been proposed but not surveyed, is from the same part of the lake to the port of Las Salinas, lying within the boundary claimed by Costa Rica, which "would be about the same length, but which would not, it is said, present a greater eleva- tion than 270 feet ; and a third proposal is, to proceed from the northern part of the lake by the river Tipitipa, twenty miles in length, to the smaller lake called Lake Leon, and thence by a canal of eleven miles through a district which is alleged to offer no greater rise than fifty-one feet, to the river Tosta, which communicates at eighteen miles dis- tance with the well known port of Realejo. At present, opinion seems to tend towards the last named course, as the one that would be most advantageous ; but it would be idle, with the limited materials now before us, to speculate upon the point, since we shall soon be furnished with detailed statements prepared by practical men, who have entered upon the task of selection with all their interests en- listed in the matter, and with a thorough per- ception of the way in which all views regard- ing it must henceforth be adapted to meet most favourably the altered circumstances of commerce that have arisen in connexion with California. The port either of San Juan del Sur, or of Las SaUnas, would seem to be in some measure the most desirable, if the trade ■with South America, Austraha, and New Zealand, were made the predominant consi- deration ; but as respects Mexico, San Fran- cisco, Oregon, Vancouver's Island, the Sand- wich Islands, and the Indian Seas, which will be undoubtedly by far the most exten- sive region of traffic, Realejo is the best. Indeed, it is possible that with this view a yet more northerly terminus may be selected, and that, in preference to that port, the line may be made to run into the Gulf of Fon- seca. The certainty of these two routes of Pana- ma and Nicaragua being speedily carried out, in a more or less perfect degree, places the rapid settlement of Central America be- yond all doubt ; and hence gives to all per- sonal descriptions of the country, such as those which have been furnished by Mr. Baily and Mr. Byam, an interest that comes home to our daily business. Let the reader imagine what must be the effect even of an annual transit of 50,000 or 100,000 adventu- rous and well-informed people through a strip of country scarcely one hundred and fifty miles broad, yet commanding the ocean intercourse with Europe on one side and with Asia on the other, favourable to health, and abounding, at the same time, owing to the inequalities of its surface, with every natural product that can be found distributed else- where, between Scotland and the tropics, and an impressive idea of its coming destiny will be awakened ; but let the glance be carried further, to the period of the completion of the canal, and then let it be remembered that Avithin this strip of land lie two calm, yet deep and extensive lakes, that seem, as we look upon them in the map, like huge natu- ral docks in the centre of the world, intended to receive the riches of a universal commerce ; and, in the contemplation of what is yet to be realized, the mind will almost beat with impatience against the slight barrier of time which yet remains between us and its accom- plishment. That Central America possesses inherently all the essentials to attract a dense and vigor- ous population, is a fact that has rarely been doubted by those Europeans or Americans who have visited the country, and all the publications before us tend to confirm it. The researches of Mr. Stephens showed that it had been largely peopled by an aboriginal race of a remarkable character, and the size of its towns and its architectural remains gives evidence of comparative prosperity under the old Spanish dominion. Leon, the principal city of Nicaragua, was formerly noted for its opulence, and once contained 60,000 inhabit- ants, w^ho were among the most peaceful and industrious people in the country ; while it has now, it is said by Mr. Baily, not more 1850. Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. 73 than one-third of that number, and half the place is in ruins. This is simply owing to the wretched revolutionary contests that have gone on without intermission since the decla- ration of independence, and which are inva- riably got up by a handful of military vaga- bonds, who would be swept away in the course of four-and- twenty hours, or who, rather, would never dare to show their faces if a hundred Englishmen or Americans were in the district to stimulate the well-disposed to confidence. "The fact is," says Mr. Byam, "that every revolution effected in all the republics, from Chili to Mexico, is brought about by such a mere fraction of the population, that it seems a ■wonder to an Englishman that the great majority do not arise and speak out — ' We wish to be quiet ) we do not want revolution and murders; nor do we wish to be subjected to forced contri- butions of money, cattle and personal service; and, above all, we are nine out of ten in number against your one ; and the great majority will not consent to be plundered by the small minor- ity, who are only dissolute ruffians.' " If the reign of peace were established (and even now it may be considered that such is almost the case, for after the present year we shall hear no more of disturbances in Nicara- gua), the progress of the country, apart from the effects of a large European immigration, would of itself be steady and considerable. With regard to health, the varied produc- tions of Central America give the best evi- dence that whenever the country shall be opened up by roads and steam-boats, and all the locomotive appliances of modern science, there will be no condition of person who may not, by ordinary attention to the natural laws, enjoy in this territory all the physical power of which his constitution may be capable. Wherever it is possible to reach, by a few hours' journey, districts in which wheat, bar- ley, and all the ordinary fruits and vegetables of Europe may be grown in perfection, there can be little fear that anything will be want- ing in the way of climate to insure the pre- servation of bodily vigour. Even in its pres- ent state, Central America, on the whole, has no bad reputation regarding health, although the advantages offered by its configuration in enabling the inhabitants to vary their climate according to their requirements might as well not exist, since roads can scarcely be said to be knowr], the best rate of progress being about twenty miles a day, and mule paths through thick woods, without resting-places at night, being usually the only features of a traveller's track. Yet, on the banks of the San Juan, and in other parts of Nicaragua, there are elevations that would afford the most beneficial sites for farms and residences ; while in Costa Rica, San Salvador, and indeed in all the states, table lands more or less abound, where any condition of climate may be obtained in a few hours. In Guatemala may be seen fields of wheat and peach-trees, and large districts " resembling the finest part of England on a magnificent scale." Valu- able mineral and thermal springs are likewise distributed over the various localities, and there are other adjuncts of a curative kind, which may possibly be found to yield exten- sive results, and to present even a temptation to some classes of invalids. Amongst these is an animal called the manatee, between a quadruped and a fish, about ten feet long, weighing from 500 to SOOlbs., affording ex- cellent food, and possessing a medicinal qual- ity apparently analogous to the cod-liver oil, it being alleged to be strikingly effectual as a speedy cure for scorbutic or scrofulous dis- orders. " The blood is said to become puri- fied, and the virulence of the complaint, thrown to the surface of the body, quickly disappears." " Although Central America," observes Mr. Baily, " occupies the middle space be- tween the equator and the tropic of Cancer, consequently lying within the torrid zone, the temperature may be said to be relatively mild, and, taken altogether, it undoubtedly is salubrious ;" and this it must be remembered is the testimony of an English officer, who has resided in the country from choice during the best part of his life. The places most preju- dicial to health lie on the northern coast and the Mosquito shore, where endemic and inter- mittent fevers are not unfrequent. The Pa- cific coast is exposed to a temperature equally high, or nearly so ; but is much more salu- brious, and seldom visited by epidemic or contagious diseases. In point of natural riches, Nicaragua and Costa Rica have usually been spoken of amongst the various States as possessing the most abundant resources, but they all teem with rewards for industry, such as is almost unknown in any other part of the globe ; and upon a review of the claims of each state in this respect, it is hard to decide which has the greatest capabilities. In the plain of Nicaragua the fields are covered with high grass, studded with noble trees and herds of cattle. Cocoa, indigo, rice, Indian corn, bananas, and cotton, are here produced, and mahogany, cedar, and pine abound in the forests. On the eastern side of the lake there are cattle farms on which are herds of from 10,000 to 40,000 oxen, bulls, and cows. Horses and mules are bred for riding and for burden. Sheep are reared on the upper plains, and swine are kept for flesh. A planter from one of the W^est India islands 74 Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. April, stated his conviction, in reference to the dis- trict round'^ Lake Leon, that, provided he could get the same amount of labour, he could manufacture sugar at one-fourth its cost in the West Indies. At present it is sold in Nicanigua for three-halfpence per pound. Leaving the Jakes, and descending the San Juan, each bank of the river is cover- ed with valuable wood, of all sizes and de- scriptions, and the land is of prodigious fer- tility. With regard to the mining wealth of Nicaragua, Mr. Byam made some interesting observations, but the miserable state of the laws, and the spoHations of the government, prevented him from carrying on the enter- prises, in connexion with it, to which he might otherwise have been tempted. The copper ores he met with were almost all un- combined with sulphur or any other substance that requires calcining to be got rid of, and they were consequently such as might be smelted in a common blast fui'nace, witli the aid of equal quantities of iron-stone, which lies in abundance -on the surface of all the hilly country. He found also silver mines, consisting of fine broad, but rather irregular veins, the ore of which was combined with a great quantity of sulphur and a large propor- tion of lead. For the want of a silver assay- ing apparatus he could not get a good assay ; but with the means in his power he could produce about fifteen marcs of silver to the ton. " The mineral riches that are deposited in the bosom of these mountains," he adds, " are no doubt very great ; but the working of the mines is so difficult, from the ignorance of the workmen, who have to be taught everything, their invincible idleness, and the vacillation of the government, that I believe it will be long before anybody will be found to advance capital for prosecuting such a for- lorn undertaking." This, however, was wiit- ten when there seemed no gleam of hope for the resuscitation of the country. Among the numerous products which Mr. Baily points out as offering temptations to the cultivator, are fruits of various kinds, indigo, and the mulberry for silkworms. Fruits of the country, it is said, are sufficiently plenti- ful, as well as oranges and lemons, which are excellent. Vegetables and garden produce are scarce about Leon, but they might be raised in all parts in great perfection ; but not being considered of so much importance by the natives as by foreigners, they are unat- tended to. With regard to indigo, the quali- ty already produced will bear " an advanta- geous comparison with the finest of any coun- try whatever ;" and no part of Central Ame- rica is better suited to a more extended cultivation of it ; yet, with all the advantages that are presented, few efforts are made to increase the annual growth. " The cause of this neglect is mainly attributed, in recent years at least, to a diminution of capital, and possibly, in no small degree, to an apathetic indifference to the future, consequent upon the misfortunes arising from a continued se- ries of internal discords that unhappily have paralyzed all industrial pursuits." Of the Morus muUicaulis, it is remarked, " the mul- berry for silkworms grows I'emarkably well, and the climate appears to be congenial to it in all respects. Hitherto, Uttle or rather no advantage has attended the cultivation, chiefly from want of attention and requisite experience. Were these deficiencies supphed, and the business cari'ied on with energy and skill, a large quantity of silk could be produ- ced. How profitable such an article of commerce would be to proprietors needs no demonstration. The impossibility of any profitable cultiva- tion either of these or any other articles, ex- cept for home use, in the present state of the country, will easily be understood from the circumstance that the rate of conveyance of merchandise and produce seems to be about two or three dollars per cwt. for every hun- dred miles ; while the possibility of transport- ing it even at this charge, and at a speed of about twelve miles a day, depends upon the supply of mules that may be available. It is likewise to be observed, that agricultural implements are almost wholly wanting. The plough, the harrow, the scythe, the sickle, are not found on the farm ; and the hoe and the machete are the only substitutes for them. Under these circumstances, the rearing of cattle is almost the only branch of occupation that is carried on to any extent ; but from the difficulty of transit to the markets, where they would be in demand, a good bullock is only worth from four to six dollars, and abundant pastuiage yet remains unappropri- ated. " From a fertiUty of soil capable of maintaining millions, little more is now drawn than the sustenance of 250,000 inhabitants ; but," Mr. Baily truly observes, " when, by increase of population, a greater command of capital, more intelligence of agriculture, com- merce, and political economy, which in pro- cess of time will creep in, the beneficence of nature shall be looked upon as incitement to industry, and encouragement shall be given to raise produce of exportable value and general demand, Nicaragua will be converted into a region of immense wealth." Of the other four republics of Central America by which Nicaragua is surrounded, namely, Costa Rica, San Salvador, Guate- mala, and Honduras, only a few more words are necessary. In Costa Rica, as in Nicar- agua, the soil is singularly productive ; and 1850. Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. 75 all the articles peculiar to inter-tropical re- gions are grown in abundance, excepting cochineal, cotton, and the vine, which are liable to be destroyed by the periodical rains. Coffee is the staple export, and, as well as indigo, tobacco, and cocoa, which are also produced, is remarkable for its quality. Woods, drugs, grain, fruits, poultry, and a variety of miscellaneous articles, likewise form part of the commerce of this little re- public. Some gold mines exist, and are at present being worked, although without any very extraordinary results. Copper and coal are likewise found, but these of course have been neglected. The population amounts to 100,000 inhabitants, of whom only 10,000 are Indians. The trade is now almost exclusively carried on with England in British bottoms ; but the shipments tak- ing place on the Pacific side, the tedious route by Cape Horn is a serious drawback. In 1848 the exports consisted of 150,000 cwt. of Coffee, estimated at $6 on board ; of about 10,000 ox and cow hides ; of a considerable quantity of mother-of-pearl, Nicaragua-wood and sarsaparilla, and of a small number of pearls ; the total estimated value being $1,000,000. San Jose, the capital, is 4,500 feet above the level of the sea, and from this a cart-road of seventy- two miles forms the communication with the port of Punta Arenas on the Pacific. The great want of this republic has been a com- munication with the Atlantic, so as to save the long navigation by Cape Horn, and the government are now proceeding vigorously with a road of 66 miles from San Jose to the Sarapiqui river, which runs into the San Juan, and will thus furnish the opening that is desired. Costa Rica is the only one of the republics of Central America that for any lengthened period has been free from anarchy, and the result is that she is steadily advancing to prosperity, and that a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation was con- cluded with her by Great Britain on the 20th February last. She has at present a minister in London, Senor Molina, who is understood to be the writer of a very intelli- gent pamphlet on her resources, which has lately been published. By some notices in the French paper. La Presse, we also re- mark that a considerable grant of land has been made to a gentleman in Paris, for the promotion of colonization in a part of the state situated in the Gulf of Dulce, on the Pacific. The state of Salvador is the smallest of the five republics, but relatively the most popu- lous, the number of her inhabitants being 280,000, and her natural resources and po sition on the Pacific being calculated to ad- mit of the utmost prosperity. She has, however, been incessantly ravaged by civil discord ; and it is only about two months since a large body of her people joined some - insurgents in the neighbouring state of Gua- temala, with the view of overturning the government in that country ; while we have also seen that it has just been necessary for an English ship of war to blockade her ports in order to exact restitution for a fraudulent seizure of the property of British subjects. The chief production of San Salvador has been indigo ; but she has the highest capabi- lities also for tobacco, cotton, sugar and cof- fee. The mineral workings have been con- siderable. Gold was formerly, and still is, extracted ; and rich silver mines, which were once wrought, are known still to be valuable. "But for many jrears past no one has Avished to be thought rich enough to work a mine, lest he should be called upon to pay exorbitant contributions to the exi- gencies of the state." Copper and lead ex- ist in different parts ; and, near a town called Matapam, a very superior iron ore is abundantly obtained, which, looking at the price commanded by all foreign iron, might, it is believed, be made to yield very profit- able results. On that part of the coast of Salvador, extending from Acajutla to Liber- tad, is collected the article known in com- merce as the Balsam of Peru — a name it er- roneously received from having been first shipped to Callao, and thence transmitted to Europe. The state of Honduras has an estimated population of 236,000, and, although pos- sessing excellent capacities iDoth in soil and climate, is chiefly remarkable as a mining district. It contains gold and silver mines, long neglected, owing to the ruin and inse- curity occasioned by constant revolutions. Lead and copper, also, in various combina- tions, as well as opals, emeralds, asbestos, and cinnabar. An abundance of timber and dye-woods is likewise presented, and vast herds of almost profitless cattle range over lands that are otherwise unoccupied. Guatemala has a population of 600,000, and nearly all the surface of the state is mountainous. In point of salubrity, extent of available lands, and quality of the soil and climate, the finest field for European immi- gration is perhaps to be found in this quarter. " Maize and wheat," it is said, " are abun- dant, and of superior quality ; rice is excellent; the tropical fruits and vegetables are good, and in great variety ; and the produce of leguminous plants is equal to the best of that grown elsewhere. All European fruits and garden-stuff grow kindly ; and if the Indians, who are the only cultivators, were better instructed in the art of horticulture, they would be carried to an envi- 76 Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific. April, able degree of perfection ; in fact, but few re- gions are so well endowed with the capabilities of producing all that ministers to the comforts ^ as well as luxuries of life. Of things more important in a commercial view, cochineal at present holds the first rank ; to which may be added cocoa, tobacco, sugar, coffee, silk, cotton, wool, and a numerous list of minor articles." In glancing at these leading characteristics of the various states of Central America, the reader will speedily have arrived at the conclusion that, in the hands of Anglo-Saxon settlers, they would long ere this have ranked amongst the most beautiful and pros- perous portions of the earth. But until now there has been work for the race in higher latitudes, and it will be from the present year that their rise will date. The nature and rapidity of that rise will, we believe, be such as has never yet been witnessed in any analogous case. Emigration from the United Kingdom has hitherto been confined to swarms of the poor, going out to fight the battle of life in untilled solitudes, where they might best enter upon it with unbur- thened limbs ; and although their progress lias been wonderful, and they have caused cities and states to rise up as if by magic, there have still been rough elements in the whole proceeding which have left room for us to contemplate the possibility, under more favourable circumstances, of an equally ra- pid progress, coupled with a far higher and finer civilization. All separation of classes is bad, and the true system of emigration, where the temptations for it exist, is that where the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, go together. But the rich and intelligent will go only from choice, and they demand as inducements a brighter sky, a more genial climate, and facilities of communication. New Zealand, from its possession of the two first recommendations, has already attracted many, but its distance and solitariness are fatal objections. Central America promises to fulfil every required condition. In a short time the active spirits from New York and Boston, who are even now infusing new life and hope into Jamaica, from merely calling at that island in their way, and stirring up its inhabitants to the re- sources at their feet, over which they have hitherto blindly moped, will have displaced the spirit of anarchy by that of enterprise. There will then be abundant work for the labourer, and temptations for all classes, even to the highest. The merchant can seek no broader field than one where he can deal with the meeting commerce of two worlds, together with every variety of teem- ing produce at his own door. The agricul- turist, the fisherman, the miner and the engi- neer, will likewise find greater stimulants and rewards than can be met elsewhere. The artist will be incited by scenery which in its condensed grandeur and prolific beauty, from the mountain Ysalco in Salvador, which burns incessantly as a natural lighthouse on the Pa- cific, to the frosty table-lands of Guatemala, combines, like the soil and the climate of the country, every feature that is otherwise only to be witnessed by extended wanderings. The naturalist, the geologist, the astronomer, and the antiquarian will here also have a new range ; and the man of so-called leisure , who in his way unites the pursuits of all, will proportionably find the means of univer- sal gratification. And in the narrow confines which hold these advantages the people of every land and government are destined to meet on isommon terms. The Russian from Behring's Straits, the Chinaman, the African from Ja- maica, the New Zealand sailor, the Dutch- man from Java, and the Malay from Singa- pore, will mingle with the Mestizoes and In- dians of the country, and each contribute some peculiar influence which will be con- trolled and tempered to the exaltation of the whole by the predominant qualities of the American, the Englishman, and the Span- iard. Is it too much to suppose, that under these circumstances a people may arise whose influence upon human progress will be of a more harmonious, and consequently of a more powerful, kind than has yet been told of ? — that starting at the birth of free-trade, and being themselves indebted to a universal commerce for their existence, they will con- stitute the first community amongst whom restrictions will be altogether unknown ; that guaranteed in their independence by Great Britain and the United States, and deriving their political inspirations from a race amongst whom self-government is an instinct, they will practically carry out the peace doctrines to which older nations are only as yet wistfully approaching ; that aided and strengthened by the confiding pre- sence of people of every creed, the spirit of Christian toleration will shine over all, and win all by the practical manifestation of its real nature ; and finally, that the union of freedom, wisdom and toleration may find its happiest results in the code of internal laws they may adopt, so that amongst them, on the luxuriant land hitherto made desolate by the sole principle of bloody retaliation, the revengeful taking of human life may never be known ; and that they may be the first to solve the problem — if amongst those who profess Christ's doctrines it can be called a problem — of coupling the good and re- formation of the ofiender with the improve- 1850. Relief Measures. 77 ment and safety of society, and the exercise towards both, not of a sentimental, but of a philosophical and all-pervading love ? S. Art. VIII. — 1. The Morning Chronicle. 2.r-i~7%e Times. 3. — The Edinburgh Review. In a late number we ventured to submit to our readers a few thoughts upon the " state of the nation" — what of satisfactot-y and encouraging there is in that state — what of unsatisfactory and disgraceful ; and we endeavored to show that while there is much reason for self-reproach in what is wronj^ around us, there is none for despondency. We did more ; we ventured to point out some of the means at present neglected, but which, if employed, could not fail to be highly efficacious in bringing about a more satisfactory state of things. .:■ It will be remembered that in that paper we refrained from engaging i6 any minute description of the destitution, c^nd the suffer- ing consequent upon it, so fatally prevalent through the country. The cholera was at its height while we were Vwriting. Terror was urging humanity to .grope into hidden recesses of filth, poverty, and vice; and every day the most sickening evidences of human privation and de^adation were brought to light. It was, we thought, known to our- selves and to all who' cared to know, that every tenth person ^inong us is a pauper ; that our jails and Workhouses cast a slur upon the surrounding civilization ; and that the wages, dwelliiigs, and habits of a very large number off the people, whether in town or country^ under the walls of Wind- sor, or in places the farthest remote from the sunshine of royalty, are such as to cause the hunjane to shudder and the timid to tremble ; tb make high-spirited men won- der how there can be so much tame submis- sion, and the thoughtful to be a little anxious lest this tameness of submission should come to an end. The existence of a most formidable amount of destitution was, accordingly, assumed by us as a great fact ; and our attention was ex- clusively directed to the causes of this des- titution, and thence to the means of preven- tion for the future, and of mitigation of the present. The subject is so wide and so im- portant, the aspects in which it may be viewed so various, and its claims upon our attention so unceasing, that a perpetual re- currence to it is not merely pardonable, it is cOpimendable ; and we are glad to see thre3 such important organs of public opinion, as the Morning Chronicle, the Times, and the Edinburgh Revieto, devoting a large portion of theii* space and talent to questions bqaring upon this subject, which cannot fail hence- forward tp be uppermost in the publ^d mind until a satisfactory solution has been brought about. \ The stat% of destitution has beeii placed before the public in so many f^i-ms and shapes that we may as well attentat to clas- sify them. Its extent and intef'sity have been described'; means for itS;5 mitigation have been implored ; its causesshave been traced and expounded, and means for its pre- vention have been suggested ajxA investigat- ed. Unfortunately, the knowledge, the earnestness, and the humanity, requisite to deal with the subjectin these several bearings, have seldom been combined in one individual. The compassionate have br0'ught misery to light and begged for relief^ unconscious of the greater misery which they might be call- ing into existence ; while those who are keenly alive to remote cojkgequences have too frequently overlooked p^isent suffering, in their wish to avert futurevUiisery. The day, it may be hoped, is at lafet coming when pre- sent suffering may be so relieved as not to nurture future misery j; and future misery be guarded against withqiit reproach to human- ity in the present. I' From the 18th of^^ October ^^ 1849, up to the present time, ih^' Morning -Chronicle has published an unint4|-rupted ser^s of letters, by different writer|^ on the mofal, intellec- tual, material, an|| physical conc^ion of the industrial poor tl^oughout Engla,iad. Many of them contain ,^ost graphic defeiptions of various phases ^ frightful destitution, rural, metropolitan, ^d manufacturing.*; The in- dications by tMese writers of the ;:;causes of the destitutioQS described are slight: and con- fused, and th0' suggestions of means of pre- vention and iniitigation still more so^ Upon any short-coining in these respects we should not, howey^r, be justified as yet in animad- verting, silice it was stated by the editor in his introductory announcement of the object, that — X " We wish to be understood as not pledging ourselves to so much as an opinion, much Jess a measure, until our collection of materials shall be coihpleted. ****** Our sole object is the elucidation of questions which have^^mbarrassed the wisest and the best. We may fail, as our predecessors in the same aspir- ingf attempt have failed ; but we shall most assuredly succeed in making very valuable additions to the general stock of knowledge, in dissipating many dangerous errors, in paving the way for the reception of some important 78 Relief Measures. April, ■«jTuths, in la5'ing the groundwork of an im- mountain side or the shores of the Atlantic, but pl^ved system of government, in promoting a in dark garrets, in pestilential courts, far away a b'etter understaniling between rich and poor, and irj accelerating the progressive amelioration of malakind." What\,the " special correspondents" of the Morn%ng Chronicle are doing for Eng- land, Mr. Bright has already done for Ire- land. He ^Ip ployed the earlier part of the late parliamerl|ary recess in making a perso- nal inspectionliof the sores of the sister- kingdom, and kas since communicated the result of his oB|ervations in an elaborate speech, to his cdkstituents at Manchester, upon which the following able comments ap- peared in the yiwcs Newspaper : — "Our readers are a\^re that all who have been in Ireland make a Ipoint of assuring you that you do not and cann'iot know anything of the people, their character, '-p,nd their condition, unless you have been among'st them. They tell you that all England is und% a mistake, and that everything in Ireland is altogether different from what you would imagine^i^^but when you have duly opened your eyes, yo^r (mouth and your ears, to suck in their revellb|ions at all points, and they have related their oWn experi- ence, you find that they tell you e,%ctly the same story that you have been told a thousand times before ; and that, whatever the novelty and value of the impression, it is quite uhcom- municable, and utterly incapable of being render- ed into words. Mr. Bright has been a few welks in Ireland, and tells the people of England that the newspapers give them no idea of it$ real state ; yet he does not tell them more than the newspapers have told them already. The illu- sion — for so we must call it — does notgtop here. Every man who has been six monthg'in Ireland will be just as ready to decry Mr. Bright's knowledge after only a six weeks' Sojourn. He, in his turn, will find himself an jobject of con- tempt to the man who has residied six years in the country, while they who h#e had the good fortune to spend the whole of their lives on that charmed soil, are generally? found to believe themselves the only person^' competent to legis- late or to speak about Irel^iad, but prove to be, in fact the most ignorant, ngiirow-minded, bigotted, and altogether incapablgj of her legislators and advisers. .;*' "What Mr. Bright saw with his own eyes makes up about a tvf^entieth of his speech. He saw everywhere the miserable traces of evic- tion, and at a vill?tge near Qastlebar heard some of the sufferers tell their sad tale. At Skibbe- reen he saw a /tout young woman offering, for three halfpence, a heavy load of turf she had brought on her back a distance of six miles; and . at the same place he saw a crop of oats growing over the recent graves of 600 victims of famine and pestilence. He saw the workhouses still crowded, and all the largest buildings of the country tenanted by paupers. We are sorry to say that even this metropolis may almost match these incidents. There are young women and old women here, earning three halfpence a day at slop-work, not in their native villages, on the from the birth-place of their friends. J^very quarter, and, indeed, every month, there are in this metropolis thousands of evictions utider the most distressing circumstances, and-'with the most deplorable results. The non-;payment of rent, rates and taxes, is as severely punished in Bermondsey or Bethnal-green ^ in Mayo or Kerry. If, too, Mr. Bright wiji'look across the Thames from the new HouseSf Parliament, he will see, a little to the wes^'M Lambeth palace, the site of a small burial-^i-ound, in which are probably more than 600 victims of cholera, whose graves are not yet greern. This we say, not to abate the melancholy,' interest of Mr. Bright's narrative, but merely to show that he has not penetrated much below the surface in his obser- vations. Like nearly all Irish tourists, whether in these columns or in bulky octavos, he describes what he sees, aind leaves others to analyze his descriptions and discover the real import of his facts. / "At lasty after an hour's talk on these painful familiar tdpics, Mr. Bright could no longer defer that necessity which, and which only, brings any speech iabout Ireland to a close. Every man has his panacea for Ireland, and now we have one by the distinguished free-trade orator. It is thgitland should be made as free as a chattel, th^tt landowners should possess the privilege of bankruptcy, and that their estates should be di- vided among their creditors like money in the funds. How this is to be done, and whether it will or will not be done by the Encumbered Es- tates Commission now sitting, Mr. Bright does not tell us ; but till he has supplied the means and vvays, his plan, like most other plans for the gpod of Ireland, is simply the old specific of salt- iri'g the bird's tail. Nay, no sooner has he pro- poii|ided it than he remembers that one other thin^is necessary — viz., compensation for such buildiags and improvements as the tenant may chooselo make. So little thought, however, has Mr. Brigls^t given to this point, that he tells us no leases are %y&x granted to Catholics ; so that we are to infer 'yie compensation he proposes must extend to yeSjidy holdings, or be confined to the few Protestanfcjeaseholders. But, after floun- dering through this 'one thing more necessary,' he soon finds himself, by a natural transition, at the church establishfjent and the Irish represen- tative system. Wha%^does this show, but that Mr. Bright has no plar^^or Ireland but the gene- ral adoption of liberal pimciples, both in politics and religion — a plan whie|i he was always rea- dy to recommend, and whic^' he did not require a tour through Ireland to tea:% him.'" The above is from the Tims of the 29th October last. The same wrrt|r continuing the subject on the 30th, remarks4|^hat. — " When a man of ability and considiferation of- fers himself for the solution of a greafeolitical difficulty, we are bound in the first place, % thank him for his courage, and in the second pmce to tie him down to his undertaking. Mr. Bri^t is one of these fortunate i&w who can so speak? as to command the attention of an English audi- ence. He enjoys the special confidence of ^ leading constituency, and of a numerous and bu- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 015 841 832 I