youth, according to Mr Buckingham, instead of awaiting the slow results of industry, looks eagerly round for some rapid road to wealth, some mode of dashing into a fortune; and if the faintest prospect of this appears, nothing short of impossibility will deter him. The people, M. Chevalier says, delight to feel themselves moving on a vast sea of speculation,- -now on the top of the wave,—now sunk deep beneath. Speculation becomes thus a species of gambling, rather shuffling property from hand to hand than producing it. We cannot but think it a happier state to earn by steady industry a moderate income, than to be thus grasping at immense profits, amid perils of ruin. From this cause, too, bankruptcies are more frequent, and considered less discreditable than in any other country; in many cases they occur repeatedly in the same individual. Mr Combe quotes a statement, probably overrated, that in New York only one in twelve became rich; the other eleven insolvent. Of course, the situation of the mercantile world generally is thus rendered precarious; and the public suffers in the failure of reckless and extravagant undertakings. We have had before occasion to observe, that public improvements, even of the most laudable nature, are undertaken on a scale beyond what present circumstances can justify or remunerate. There is a still deeper reproach, which those who make extreme haste to be rich can with difficulty escape. General charges against a people should be advanced with great caution, and if in a sweeping form, are usually unjust. Yet there appears a strong concurrence as to the existence of a somewhat lower standard of mercantile integrity than in Europe, or at least in Britain and Germany. Mr Hamilton charges the Yankee not only with the entire prostration of all his powers, bodily and mental, at the shrine of Mammon, but with a promptitude, wherever he can, to overreach and deceive. Success in these arts is said to become a subject of boast; and the man detected in practising them is rather mortified by the exposure of his want of skill, than humbled by conscious misconduct. This writer asserts, that at a public table attended by about a hundred persons who were perpetually shifting, he habitually heard applause bestowed on conduct which in England would have involved a total loss of character. Mrs Trollope characterizes them as sly, selfish, and grinding, and also complains that actions which went at least to the extreme verge of morality were mentioned without disapprobation, and even with applause. Very decided advocates of America, as Mr Stuart and Mr Grund, have avoided any mention of this charge. Mr Shirreff, who notices it as prevalent, merely replies tauntingly, that the danger of being overreached would be equal in Canada; but this is not a denial with respect to the other party. Mr Buckingham seems to view the subject candidly, when he denies the charge as general, even in regard to the great number who become insolvent, yet admits that there are many against whom the accusation would justly apply. Mr Combe mentions a number whose lives were one continued course of swindling and bankruptcy. This accords with what has been stated to us by respectable Americans, who, while defending in general the honourable character of their countrymen, owned that there were a certain number who kept afloat in society after they had lost every vestige of character. Mr Buckingham conceives, on the whole, that pecuniary laxity is visited here with greater lenity and indulgence than in England. He quotes the statement of Dr Dewey, an eminent clergyman in New York, of certain frauds as entering into the regular course of business; as that of enclosing in the heart of a bunch of quills a portion inferior to the rest. Such practices, it appears, are even defended as matters of course, and expected by the purchaser,-an inadequate plea, usually advanced for any trick which becomes general. We are not aware that any tradesman of the slightest respectability in London, or even Paris, would be guilty of them. There is one character which seems given up on all hands,-that of the Yankee pedlar. This race is represented by Mr Hamilton as moving annually throughout the Union, with the express determination to lie, cheat, cozen, and in any way become possessed of the property of others. The charge may be considered as admitted by the nation, since Mr Hill, their favourite comic performer, represents so humorously, and evidently from the life, the dexterous and enormous frauds habitual to this personage. Their own poet, Halleck, also describes them as,— 66 Apostates who are meddling With merchandise, pounds, shillings, pence, and peddling, Or wandering through the southern countries teaching The A B C from Webster's spelling-book; Gallant and godly, making love and preaching, And gaining by what they call 'hook and crook,' A decent living. The Virginians look The genus, which in Britain is now nearly extinct, never bore there a very high reputation; yet they did not seemingly rank so very low. These form, however, a distinct and quite inferior class to that of the great merchants in the commercial cities. It is indeed observed, that while there is so much general respectability among American citizens, the unprincipled present a more unblushing front than elsewhere. Experiencing less restraint from law, and almost none from police, they take advantage of the general prevalence of a daring and independent spirit. New York has been. described as the paradise of rogues, the general receptacle for all those both of Europe and America; where the character is developed in all its might and malignity. Those personages, displaying themselves prominently on the surface, attract more notice than the quiet and orderly class of citizens. It is indeed implied in the statement, that Europe furnishes a considerable proportion; and we really see numerous instances in which those who have lost their place in society at home, seek an asylum in this land of liberty. It may be farther remarked, that this profligate population is mostly confined to the great maritime cities, and that the agricultural occupants, who form the great body of the society, preserve in general a dignified and honourable simplicity. We may perhaps assent to the panegyric pronounced by Halleck, in contrast with his character of the peddling order :— "View them near At home, where all their worth and pride are placed; And there the lowliest farm-house hearth is graced Faithful in love, in honour stern and chaste; It has been at the same time observed that, while wealth is pursued thus devotedly, and by almost every means good and bad, there is no disposition to a sordid economy. The people indulge, as their circumstances admit, in the conveniences and comforts of life, and practise, as we have seen, a liberal generosity, especially towards public objects. Many even squander their fortunes in an extravagant and ostentatious manner; and the habits of life among the wealthy inhabitants are generally too expensive. Mr Hamilton indeed represents an inordinate importance as attached to the possessors of wealth, so that he was offered as a high honour to be introduced to a gentleman who had made 100,000 dollars by tallow, and told that one worth half a-million had desired to meet with him. Indeed, this pride in the possession of wealth is probably a motive for its ostentatious display. Although they never cease to aim at its increase, this is not sought by saving or hoarding, but by embarking their funds in fresh enterprises, even at the hazard of losing the fortune already obtained. Another fault imputed to the Americans, and seemingly not without reason, is a pugnacious disposition—a promptitude to engage in personal conflict. Even an advocate allows that of all people they are the readiest to take and resent an insult. Those violent forms of it, as gouging or scooping out the eyes, biting off a member, or otherwise maiming an antagonist, which of old gave so barbarous an aspect to society, seem to be extinct. Neither the actions themselves, nor individuals suffering under their consequences, appear to have come under the view of recent travellers. Through a great part of the Union, however, the practice prevails of wearing knives fitted to inflict deadly wounds, which are occasionally drawn forth; and fierce personal conflicts have disgraced the halls of the state assemblies, and even of congress. These individual outrages are now mostly confined to the western and particularly the southwestern territory. In the most improved eastern states, however, the same spirit is still displayed in the exercise of lynch-law, and violent mobs are raised even by the more respectable classes. On politics and other controverted subjects, the war of words is waged with almost matchless fury. Duelling, a practice considered as appropriate to the feudal system, and unknown in the ancient republics, might have been expected to find little favour. It prevails, however, to a greater extent than in Britain, and has proved fatal to some of the most distinguished citizens; while it is carried on seemingly in a spirit more sanguinary, and without the same anxiety on the part of the seconds to save the honour of their principals without the sacrifice of life. Another symptom of this disposition is the taste and passion for war which pervades the nation. The exploits which distinguished the contest with Britain are celebrated with the utmost enthusiasm; and an inordinate veneration is attached to eminent military characters. It was mainly upon this ground that Generals Jackson and Harrison were raised to the presidency; and General Scott was proposed lately by a numerous body for the next vacancy; so that there seems a strong disposition to confer this highest dignity on the most eminent of their military men. During the late controversies with Britain, the disposition among a great body, and per |