are made according to seniority. Seamen are enlisted for the navy like soldiers for the land service. But in war the government is often driven to the despotic and odious measure of impressment. BOOK CLV. of the inhabitants British The shades which mark the character of the three prin- Character cipal nations of the British Isles, are more strongly contrasted than those which distinguish the inhabitants of the of the different provinces of France or the other European coun- Isles. tries. We have shown by a few historical details that the long separation in which these nations have existed, has opposed an obstacle even greater than that occasioned by the difference of religion, to a perfect amalgamation. The English English. in general lead a life of great uniformity. An air of reserve and stiffness, and a formal etiquette reign in the saloons of fashionable life and even among members of the most intimate associations. The Englishman receives a stranger with politeness, but never with cordiality. An unreserved egotist, his civilities rather seek for a decent method of getting rid of his guest, than for the means of detaining him by any engaging solicitation. The custom in England of meeting together in clubs has, perhaps, contributed much to create that blunt and serious character which distinguishes the men, while the females, living secluded from the other sex, maintain an air of reserve which among the French would pass for a deficiency of good breeding. In England all classes strive to possess the conveniences and luxuries of life. The interior of the peasant's dwelling has not the least resemblance to that of a French country house. The English rustic provides himself with neat and commodious furniture, and clothing equal to that of the city resident. Thus at great popular meetings, or public solemnities, there are no means of distinguishing the villager from the citizen, the cultivator from the manufacturer, or the servant from his master. It has been remarked, that England is the country where a man has the least scruple in asking for or receiving money, and that, elsewhere, poverty is a misfortune but in England a crime. England is in fact the land in which a man is the most highly valued for his exterior. Merit cannot succeed here without the accompaniment of fortune. BOOK CLV. Scotch. Irish. The Scotchman is hospitable, religious, proud, enterprising, brave, and strongly wedded to his principles. There is a frivolity in his character, and he is easily excited, but his great obsequiousness often causes a doubt of his sincerity. The Irishman is intelligent, inconstant in his attachments, and ever in extremes both of friendship and enmity, but his manners are lively, brilliant and agreeable. An English writer has characterized the three nations in the following terms. The Englishman is guided by habit: the Scotchman by reflection and impulse: the Irishman by impulse alone. The first is persevering, but slow: the second is more frivolous, but has more steadiness of mind: the last is variable as the breeze, and has nothing solid, he is a mere bag of wind. The Englishman in prosperity is haughty: the Scotchman meddlesome: the Irishman always vain. From the same authority we may learn the difference which exists in the legislation of the three kingdoms. In Scotland a man is banished for a great crime; in England for a small one, and in Ireland for the slightest offence. But among the exiles of New South Wales, the Irishman would become an excellent citizen, the Englishman a tolerable one, while the Scotchman would remain incorrigible. [By the American Editor.] WHILE these sheets are in preparation, the tidings reach us of events in England so interesting in their character, and opening such additional views of the future fortures of the British Empire, that it would be unpardonable in us not to detain the reader at this last stage of our progress by dwelling a few moments upon them. The fate of this great monarchy, whether for good or for evil, is a subject of absorbing interest to all parts of the civilized world, and the influence of the political changes which we are assured, can no longer be avoided in England, must be felt wherever her physical or moral power prevails. That country endured the shock of the European revolution without any manifest injury to her social institutions, and while almost every other nation of Europe was subjected to political changes, the effects of which are still in powerful operation, England survived, and saw none of her ancient institutions unsettled. Her good fortune and immense resources carried her through the tremendous struggle with so proud a triumph, that common observers were far from seeing in her splendid military and naval achievements, the secret and sure causes of her subsequent decline. The shrewdest did but observe some lowering clouds of uncertainty which hung over a prospect so fair and flattering, but recent events have developed a new symptom in the operation of the political system, which seems to point clearly to a consummation of the most momentous character. England, in short, if we believe the united declarations of Whig and Tory, of Lord and Commoner, of those who desire and those who deprecate the coming event; England is about to undergo a revolution, partial, it may be, and bloodless, but a revolution from which she cannot retrograde, and assuredly will not pass through without experiencing great and permanent changes. The constitution of England was the growth of successive ages, and altered from time to time as the progress of general knowledge or the immediate exigences of the day called for new developments. Containing thus within itself the seed and element of change, it may be regarded as exhibiting at any given period, and with more or less fidelity in the likeness, a copy of the political improvements of the time. By accommodating itself in this manner to the march of events in its practical operation, while its outward and visible forms remained untouched, the admirers of the British constitution have been led to ascribe its permanent endurance and successful operation to the mere tangible shape and letter of the system, rather than to its gradual mutation of spirit and temper, and have mistaken the mechanical for the moral part of the machine. Hence the preservation of the ancient forms of the constitution has been an object of prime solicitude with the British statesmen, impressed with the belief that an adherence to these forms would alone secure the stability of the government. But the popular spirit, which since the accession of the Stuarts had been gradually gaining ground in England, has at length attained to a mighty power and intensity, and is at this moment essaying to burst in pieces the iron frame work of feudality which has so long embarrassed its struggles. In other words the current of public opinion, either openly proclaimed or secretly cherished, sets so strongly toward a more liberal government than anything which the actual system is likely to afford them, that we are warranted in believing the present constitution of England cannot last. A thorough reform is called for, which will not spare the prescriptions of time or the claims of hereditary succession. We have said that this constitution has changed with the social improvements of the people: this is only true with regard to its general career: the progress of liberal opinions has languished or been checked from time to time, and the monarchical spirit against which it has been striving, has occasionally thrown the current backward; but all resistance has in the end yielded to its power. The republican spirit sympathised with us in our struggle for independence, and although repressed for a time by the strong arm of government, it finally drove Lord North from the cabinet, and left the king without power to carry on the war. It is not saying too much to assert that the treaty of independence was owing as much to the progress of liberal ideas in England as to the victories of Saratoga and Yorktown. The French revolution further assisted the growth of republican doctrines, although its bloody catastrophe and the vigorous measures of Mr Pitt prevented their leading to any practical results. The wars, moreover, of this eventful period, by withdrawing the minds of the people from the domestic concerns of government, and exciting anew their ancient national prejudices against a foreign enemy, had a sensible effect in saving for the time the aristocratical abuses in the government from the assaults of the political reformers. The British oligarchy, who were squandering the millions of their national treasure in a crusade for the defence of the principle of legitimate monarchy, were little aware that the loads they were adding to the enormous national debt of England would prove millstones for their own necks. That this will be the result there can be little doubt; the distresses of the people have now become intolerable, and the belief is unchangeably fixed that these dis tresses are the result of imperfections in the government: upon this belief the people are now acting and will continue to act till the oligarchy is overthrown. The commencement of the present excitement in favour of parliamentary reform may be dated at the period of the late Parisian revolution. For a great number of years it had been thought by many of the more liberal among the British statesmen, a flagrant abuse of the representative principle, that the populous and wealthy cities of modern origin should be denied the right of representation, while the decayed bo roughs, though with hardly an inhabitant, continued to send their full number to the house of commons; and that three fourths of that body, which claimed to be a representation of the people, should hold their offices through the influence of the government and a few wealthy individuals. A conviction of the absurdity of such a system gradually gained ground, and attempts to introduce reform were essayed from time to time, but with little prospect of success, till the events of the three days at Paris struck a sudden panic into the aristocratical party, to whom the spectacle of such a triumph of the popular spirit was an omen of the result of the struggle at home, not to be disregarded. Those who had been constant and inflexible in their opposition to the demands of the reformers, began to tremble lest the object might be ravished from them by force were it any longer withheld; while the popular party, cheered on by the example before them, pressed forward to their aim with new hope and resolution. A reform in parliament was loudly called for in all parts of the country. The voice of the people was decidedly for it, and the demand was made with a firmness and significance of tone not to be slighted. If we consider the motives which led each individual to espouse the new doctrines, we shall not be surprised at the result when we find a vast majority of the nation enlisted on their side. The whig embraced reform from principle and internal conviction both of its justness and necessity. The tory in the dread of a revolution saw in reform the means of averting a worse evil, and would throw it as a sop to the Cerberus of radicalism. The noble trembled for his order, and the rich proprietor for his possessions; while the three hundred thousand |