tured the professors who acquired celebrity in France; and it served as a model to the university of Paris, which, in turn, furnished the seeds of the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and, a few centuries after, of those of Germany. At the present day, the university of Bologna is hardly known, and yet, old and decrepit as! she is, may perish without losing her titles to the grateful recollections of mankind; so numerous, and so full of life and energy, are her descendants, that the race is in little danger of becoming extinct. Are other inestimable blessings, which we owe to universities, to be lightly forgotten? Was it not at Wittenberg, a small town in Germany, on which the modern traveller scarce bestows a passing glance, that the torch of religious liberty-that source of all freedom-was enkindled; and that Martin Luther, and his friend, Melancthon, were humble professors?

In conclusion, and we take leave of this fertile and soul stirring topic, persuaded that we have had neither the space nor the ability to do it justice, we do not ask for an institution of higher instruction, precisely similar to those with which Europe is blessed, but for such an one as our country imperiously requires. In our appeal to the reason and patriotism of the nation, we feel sure that professors in our universities, and especially the most distinguished among them, will not only warınly second us, but unhesitatingly avow, that the means furnished by our colleges are lamentably beneath the ends proposed. That whilst in some, the courses of instruction only embrace the elementary portions of certain branches of learning; in others, with a view of attaining some knowledge of the higher departments of science, its fundamental elements are neglected, and the graduate, ignorant of these, speedily forgets the few notions he may have acquired of the others. Can it be expected, that our youths of twenty should be able to unravel the mysteries of the Mécanique Céleste, when, after eight collegiate years, the young European devotes four others to the exclusive cultivation of mathematics-as a preparation for the perusal of that great work-humanity's proudest scientific trophy? We allude particularly to mathematical science, because the distinguished reporter seems disposed to accord to this branch of learning, its proper value in disciplining the mind, and in achieving mighty results-and we desire to be considered as excluding West Point from the foregoing remarks, since the thorough mode in which this science is taught at that admirable institution, partly compensates for the imperfect knowledge, imparted to its pupils, of some other branches of science.

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If, then, our colleges, however capable of imparting the scheme of a general education, are inadequate to form the teacher, and in proof of this, how many hasten, and how many more regret their inability to go, to Europe, in pursuit of the higher instruction, why should we not seek to fill up so visible and painful a chasm, now that the means are within our grasp, by the foundation, at Washington, of a philosophical faculty, in which the higher branches of physical, of mathematical, and of moral science, shall be properly taught? Our collegiate professors would thus have it in their power to compete with their brethren over the sea. Our states would require of the candidates for their university chairs, that they shall have passed a certain number of years at the Smithsonian Institution. By men thus trained to the duties of the most arduous of professions, we should see our colleges gradually reformed, and, in lieu of striving ineffectually to teach all the branches of human learning, aiming to render each professor doubly useful, by limiting his functions to such duties only as he shall be thoroughly competent to discharge. Then might our schools soon rival those of the old world; nor would the sound doctrines so dispersed, fail to flow back upon the source from whence they sprung, swelling its waters, and increasing its power.

Are we presumptuous in believing that the readers who have been patient enough to follow us through the foregoing pages cannot refuse their assent to the truth of our propositions, and have already supplied whatever links may have escaped us, in the chain of argument, — realizing that, for men of business, our college courses are too extended and for men of science, too shallow? If, therefore, a great reform be both judicious and necessary, and the means of effecting it are even now at our disposal, common sense and justice to ourselves alike prescribe the speedy adoption of so vital a measure. When such an establishment shall send forth from its modest walls, the living instruments of the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men"-mathematicians, philosophers, astronomers - then, at the nation's bidding, and in token of its pride and gratitude, may there arise, beside that shrine of learning, the lofty turrets of an OBSERVATORY-a magnificent body-owing its life and soul to the creative bounty of James Smithson.

ART. VII.-Democracy in America. Part the Second. By ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE. Translated by HENRY REEVE, Esq. London: 1840. Saunders and Otley. 2 vols. 8vo.

THE first part of M. de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, presented the ablest view, by a foreigner, of our government, and political and administrative systems, that has ever appeared. It fixed the eyes of all Europe upon the practicability of self-government, and gained for its author a distinguished reputation, which he has more than sustained in this second and concluding part of his work, which we have just received, and propose to notice very briefly. briefly. He warns his readers not to condemn the narrowness of his views, in attributing so many different consequences to the single principle of equality. A multitude of opinions, feelings, and propensities, he says, are now in existence, which owe their origin to circumstances unconnected with, and even contrary to, the principle of equality. Thus, were he to select the United States as an example, he could easily prove that the nature of the country, the origin of its inhabitants, the religion of its founders, their acquired knowledge, and their former habits, have exercised, and still exercise, independently of democracy, a vast influence upon the thoughts and feelings of the people. In justification of his view of democracy, he adds:

"Some readers may perhaps be astonished that, firmly persuaded as I am that the democratic revolution which we are witnessing, is an irresistible fact, against which it would be neither desirable nor wise to struggle, I should often have had occasion in this book to address language of such severity to those democratic communities which this revolution has brought into being. My answer is simple, that it is because I am not an adversary of democracy that I have sought to speak of democracy with sincerity. Men will not accept truth at the hands of their enemies, and truth is seldom offered to them by their friends; for this reason I have spoken it. I was persuaded that many would take upon themselves to announce the new blessings which the principle of equality promises to mankind, but that few would dare to point out from afar the dangers with which it threatens them. To those perils, therefore, I have turned my chief attention, and believing that I have discovered them clearly, I have not had the cowardice to leave them untold. The subject I have sought to embrace is immense, for it includes the greater part of the feelings and opinions to which the new state of 30

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society has given birth. Such a subject is doubtless above my strength, and in treating it I have not succeeded in satisfying myself. But if I have not reached the goal which I had in view, my readers will at least do me the justice to acknowledge, that I have conceived and followed up my undertaking in a spirit not unworthy of success."

The second part is written upon the same principle of contrast between us and his own nation which was pursued in the first, but its plan is more philosophical, and descends to subjects of familar and domestic interest. It undertakes to illustrate the influence of democracy upon the progress of opinion, and upon our social condition, feelings, sentiments, and manners. That such causes are capable of producing positive effects upon communities, and are beginning to assume a definite shape and color upon our own national and individual character, is undeniably true, and, therefore, needed no proof; but M. de Tocqueville is the first writer who has attempted to point out their origin and tendency, or estimate their value, and to contrast them fairly and impartially with those effects which are produced under the aristocratic forms of government existing in Europe. The task is one of great extent and perplexity, and required five years of meditation and study to execute it in a manner, which, although not satisfactory to the author, merits, in our opinion, the praise of candor and ability. No author of our age has looked deeper, or with a more prophetic eye, into the destinies of mankind, and the mighty causes which are now in progress to change the future political and social condition of our race. Perhaps his method of generalizing facts is occasionally pushed too far, but it is a mode of writing now commonly practised in France, and even by ourselves; and appears to us well adapted to subjects which would otherwise become tedious and impertinent by a frequent citation of specialities. M. de Tocqueville does not name any individual, nor is there a single personal allusion or reference throughout his volumes. We speak this to his credit, for nothing can be more offensive to good taste and good breeding than the common practice of writers in revealing the names of those of whose hospitality and civility they have partaken. It is a dishonorable breach of confidence, which, while it tends only to gratify an idle love of gossip, extinguishes that frank confidence which should exist between man and man.

We have been obliged to peruse M. de Tocqueville's book

with haste, which must apologize for the very imperfect manner in which we are about to speak of it. The philosophical method of writing which he has adopted, often leads him into inevitable conclusions, that ought to console us for many states of existence, which, however unfortunate they may be, arise from our condition of equality, and are, therefore, wholly unavoidable. Upon other occasions, he sometimes adapts his theory to his facts, rather than his facts to his theory. The chapter headed, "the principle of equality suggests to the Americans the idea of the indefinite perfectibility of man," affords an example of this kind. His view is, that aristocratic communities admit that things may be improved, but not changed; that the condition of society may be better, but not essentially different; and that, in fact, nature has assigned certain impassable limits for human improvement; whilst in a democratic community, the idea of an indefinite faculty of improvement is inferred from the continued changes that daily happen in it. A man's own reverses, teach him that none may hope to have discovered absolute good, whilst his success stimulates him to the never ending pursuit of it. Thus, for ever seeking-for ever falling, to rise again-often disappointed, but not discouraged, he tends unceasingly towards that unmeasured greatness so indistinctly visible at the end of the long track which humanity has yet to tread. This idea he thus illustrates :

"It can hardly be believed, how many facts naturally flow from the philosophical theory of the indefinite perfectibility of man, or how strong an influence it exercises even on men who, living entirely for the purposes of action, and not of thought, seem to conform their actions to it, without knowing any thing about it.

"I accost an American sailor: I inquire, why the ships of his country are built so as to last for a short time? He answers, without hesitation, that the art of navigation is every day making such rapid progress, that the finest vessel would become almost useless if it lasted beyond a certain number of years. In these words, which fell accidentally, and on a particular subject, from a man of rude attainments, I recognise the general and systematic idea, upon which a great people directs all its concerns.

"Aristocratic nations are naturally too apt to narrow the scope of human perfectibility; democratic nations to expand it beyond compass."

Now, although we may admit the theory proposed to explain the fleeting system upon which things are conducted in