THE PROSPECTIVE INFLUENCE
5JIH3B ®SF EJEBi WCMBEjISo
DELIVERED BEFORE
'ismm piet syip^s,
MAY 17, 1844
BY RICHARD T NOTT, ESQ.
EUTAW:
Published by the Society.
1844.
GQMtiSPQIIIENCE,
Eutaw, May 18th, 1344.
Rich'd T. Nott, Esq:
Dear Sir: We have been appointed a Committee, by the Eutaw Junto, to return you the
thanks of that body, for the very able, iearned, and instructive Address which you delivered be¬
fore them, on the evening of the "17th inst., and to request a copy of the same for publication.
Permit us, sir, to add our individual solicitations to the request of the body whom we represent.
With great respect, we are
Your friends and fellow-citizens,
JO'S W. TAYLOR,
WM. A. BELL,
BRYANT GULLEY,
Committee.
Eutaw, May 20th, 1844.
Gentlemen:
In accordance with the request of the "Eutaw Junto," I send them a copy of my address,
to dispose of as they may think proper.
I may be permitted to say, as I do without any affectation, that as the subject is one admitting
of an investigation, so much more thorough than I have pretended to, I should be gratified if they
were to refrain from a publication of it—especially, in any permanent form.
Please convey to them and accept for yourselves, individually, my thanks for the notice they
have taken of my performance, and the agreeable manner in which you have communicated it to
me.
Very respectfully,
Your friend and fellow-citizen,
RICH'D T. NOTT.
To Jo's W. Taylor, }
Wm. A. Bell, > Committee.
Bryant Gulley, )
ftllftiif,,
Gentlemen of the Eutaw Junto:
I propose to respond to the invitation with which you have honored me on the pres¬
ent occasion, by offering a few thoughts, desultory though they may be, on the prospec¬
tive influence of the Anglo-Saxon race on the world. I only regret that my very limit,
ed means of information, and unliterary habits so far defeat my wishes and efforts, to
do any thing like justice to a subject so extensive and interesting.
A concise critical notice of a work, published by an American writer, under the title
of "Europe and America," has come under my observation, from which I infer that the
author, after a comparison of the literary and political condition and other characteris-
tics of the nations of the world, arrives at the conclusion that the three principal compet¬
itors for predominance in future, are Russia, Great Britain, and the United States; and
that the latter will, ere long, advance beyond the other two in population, power, and in¬
fluence. For this the author is charged by the British critic with such arrogance and
vanity as only an upstart citizen of this young Republic would have the audacity to ex¬
hibit. How far the criticism may be merited, I know not. , Many years have elapsed;—
many in view of the unparalleled progress of all that contributes to extend the empire of
mind witnessed bv the present generation—since these startling propositions were divul¬
ged; and in sober truth, relying on facts about which there cannot be any dispute, every
day's experience confirms the probability that such a career is opened before us.
The belief which I think warranted by undeniable facts in past history and from pres-
ent observation is, that the Anglo-Saxon race, to whichwe belong, will, in time not very dis¬
tant, subdue the earth by the arts of peace, and the English be the prevailing or principal
spoken and written language. In using the term Anglo-Saxon, I have reference to all
who now speak that language, and deem any further definition unnecessary.
The very nature of my proposition conveys the suggestion that nothing but its proba¬
bility is expected to be proved: Certainty cannot be predicated of any thing future, not
revealed from Heaven. If my topics be profitable and interesting 1 feel justified in my
selection of a subject.
I do not intend, in this investigation, to separate England and North America, or offer
conjectures on the comparative future growth and relative power of these two nations.—
They and ourselves ought to be viewed as one family. When Shakspeare and Milton,
Bacon and Newton were erecting the monuments of their own and their country's im~
4
mortal fame, they were our own countrymen. Whatever of religion or philosophy, of
literature, law, science, art, or custom, that elevates in power or refinement the English
nation, excepting what we deliberately reject as discordant with republican government,
is our property as well as theirs. Almost every cherished principle in our own social
and political institutions was imbibed by us before our existence as an independent na¬
tion. The aristocratical and ecclesiastical features of the British Government are the
productions of long ages, belong to themselves and cannot be transplanted to another
country, any more than can be their history. Essential pillars in the national edifice
as they may be there, without their historical associations to complete the superstructure,
they would, in another land, be but as the marble fragment of Egyptian ruins, set up in
the British Museum. They could only be viewed as the evidences of the greatness and
glory of another and a foreign people. But magna charta, the recognized securities for
life, liberty, and property, are carried to every clime where the English emigrant plants
his foot; and this bill of rights is identical with our own. The right of the people to be
represented in the law-making power; of the accused to habeas corpus and trial by jury;
independence in the judiciary, liberty of speech and the press; the religion of Jesus
Christ, and freedom to enjoy it according to individual conscience;—these principles are
common to those who speak the English language, whether they live in a monarchy or
a republic. Wherever peaceful triumphs are to be gained over the nations of the world
by the force of a higher intelligence, attainments in art and science, and a pure Chris¬
tianity, the Anglo-Saxons of the new and the old world are natural allies.
I proceed then to bring to your view some of the historical and existing facts which
I think have a bearing on my subject.
It will be perceived that I am obliged to omit many views and details, which could only
be discussed in a volume. I design remarking on the existence and developement of.the
means'by which ascendancy and extension of power are effected, rather than the causes
to which these means may be traced—on the physical rather than the moral and literary
characteristics of nations. Great commercial power is the indispensable, as it is the
efficient agent in the civilization of the world. Those nations which possess this in a
pre-eminent degree, especially if they excel, also, in agricultural, mechanical,and manufac-
turing resources, and have unlimited scope for their employment, must advance rapidly be¬
yond all others. They havethecontrollingpowerof colonization and theirs are the arts and
language which will be carried to other lands. From the past progress of a nation too in
wealth, power, and population, we may with reasonable certainty predict the future.—
If we have seen one doubling its numbers every thirty years, and another only in fifty
years—each multiplying useful arts and extending its empire proportionably—we may
safely infer that the distance between them will widen in time, until the latter become
tributary to the former.
The position which we occupy for our observation is a new one, until recently inacces-
sible. We are on a mountain top—the last and highest pinnacle—from which an accu¬
rate survey of all the nations of the earth—past, present, and, so far as man can see,
future—may be made at a glance. The most enlightened Ancients, ignorant of the
sphericity of our planet, looked abroad upon a flat surface, and Ultima Thule bounded
their vision. Undiscovered, unknown regions existed in their imagination, but the mil¬
lions of the /extreme East, and the whole of this vast continent were terra incognita to
those who gloried in the belief that they were the conquerors of the world. Thule and
El Dorado are now both blotted from the map. The star of empire can go no farther
*
West, and the Western empire of history is to us the Eastern. Our common merchant¬
men now sail around the world and the school boy, with an accurate map spread out be¬
fore him, is acquainted with all the habitable parts of the earth's surface. "Time's no¬
blest offspring and the last" now finishes the'circuit which past successive generations
have been making around our globe.
1. Let us glance at the rapidity of the growth, in wealth and power, of the British
nation. This is the most wonderful phenomenon which the world's history presents.—
Little more than three centuries ago, so short a period in the lifetime of our rac%,;^e
see a small island, in population not exceeding its present metropolis, and in territory not
larger than the State of New-York; with^ff single war vessel, with an inconsiderable
coasting trade, dependent on Spain for its more extended commerce, and almost without
manufactures. Until the commencement of the last century, its population did not ex-
ceed five millions. About this date, with gigantic steps to national greatness and exten¬
ded empire, the march of this people began. Previously to the Revolution of 1688; so
much of their bravery and energy were employed in fighting among themselves that but
little leisure was afforded for foreign conquests. It was in a long series of civil wars that
the spirit of discipline, invincibility, and untiring perseverance was matured, which has
since been so victoriously employed against other nations. The Reformation, the Re¬
bellion, and the Revolution which finally expelled the Stuarts, combined to produce
those moral and intellectual qualities, which were calculated as I believe they are destined
to subdue the earth. From the last mentioned event to the general pacification of Eu¬
rope in 1815, a term of one hundred and thirty.five years, England was engaged about
seventy years in foreign war. The French, Dutch, and Spanish fleets were successive¬
ly destroyed; their most important colonial settlements wrested from them, excepting
those of Spain which obtained their own independence; and the command of the sea se¬
cured. It is well known that in the last conflicts, in wnich the powers of Europe strug¬
gled for the overthrow of the Emperor of the French, England, with her pecuniary and
warlike resources, was the life and soul of the allies; and supplied the financial ability
and military genius which drove the hitherto unconquerable Napoleon from one retreat
to Another, until the consummation of his defeat at Waterloo. Within the time I have
referred to, she has strengthened her power at home by the Union of Scotland and Ire¬
land; has founded her mighty Empire in the East, comprising nearly one sixth of the
population of the world; established her impregnable power at Malta, Gibralter, the Ioni¬
an Isles, Cape of Good Hope and other places in Africa; has flourishing and rapidly in¬
creasing Colonies in her antipodes, where are now large cities, and the language, litera-
tare, arts, and customs, every profession, occupation, and trade which are to be found in
the mother country; and last in order, though first in importance, has planted the colo¬
nies of this North America, of which the United States are the richest fruits.
It might be supposed that a nation, employed in almost continual foreign wars, for more
than a century, would be exhausted of its resources, unfitted in its tastes for other pursuits,
ttnd that the arts of peace would be neglected. Yet if all their energies had been uni-
ted in the various pursuits of peaceful industry and cultivation of science and letters,
unii^terupted by the calls of war, and had attained only the same measure of success,
their fame would have been more brilliant and durable than any renown of arras. You
will call to mind the long list of poets and orators, statesmen and philosophers, scholars,
jurists, and theologians who flourished in that time and who are yet the models which
the highest ambition expects not to surpass. You will be reminded of their system of
6
manufactures, displaying so much of invention, science, and skill—such value; variety,
and perfection—and commanding so large a proportion of the productions of other coun.
tries for their exchange; of those improvements in agriculture, which, within the same
bounds and on the same ground, have increased the produce of the soil in a ratio corres-
ponding with their advance in population, and diversity and success of other pursuits; of
that commerce, which, centering in their metropolis as the world's capital city, spreads
over every sea, visits every port, and is freighted home with the richest treasures of every
clime. These and many—many more characteristics of this portion of the Anglo-Sax-
on race, point out, evidently, their future controling influence over the world.
2. But look at some of the triumphs of this race in a new world, displayed under more
genial skies, on a wider field, and with freer institutions. They commenced their ca¬
reer of independence within the lifetime of many yet surviving, by a seven years' bloody
strife with their own brethren. They were few in number, weak in resources, to some
extent divided in council, without army or navy, encountering the odium of rebellion,
and hazarding the punishment of treason. But they exhibited the same indomitable
spirit and love of freedom which had brought Charles I. to the block, expelled the Stuarts'
from a throne, and secured, in the British monarchy, a guaranty for the enjoyment of
civil liberty. And though encountering an enemy of the same stamp, they triumphed,
simply because they fought at home, in self defence, for a just cause. It is remarked by
Allison, as an honorable testimony to the advance in refinement already made by our
forefathers, as it is an anomaly in the history of the world, and particularly, contrasted
with the French revolution, that such a contest should have been conducted to its termi¬
nation, with few departures from those usages, which modern civilized nations have adop-
ted to mitigate the horrors of foreign wars.
The evidence that they have since proved themselves worthy of their noble parentage
and fitted for the glorious destiny I have predicted for them, is around us on every side.
Our population, six times greater than when our independence was established—ap¬
proximating closely to one-half that of this whole continent, and exceeding that of
England and Scotland united—comprises probably a larger cumber of individuals with the
kind and degree of intelligence—the moral, physical and intellectual qualities, likelv to
exert influence and acquire ascendancy over mankind, than any nation in the world.
Compare the general diffusion of knowledge, the independent spirit and extent of enter¬
prise in our country, with that of France, Austria or Russia—the only continental pow¬
ers of Europe exceeding ours in number—and the truth of this assertion is obvious
enough. It is not easy to draw a picture of our progress, presenting at once its magni¬
tude and details. It displays most forcibly the capacities of our countrymen. One now
living, within the ordinary limits of man's life, has been an eye-witness of the thousands
of miles of our western forest converted into the abode of eight or ten millions of«tti-
zens and refined people. In a few years of his life, an immense wilderness, the habita¬
tion of savages and wild beasts, as if by magic, becomes diversified with the beauty of
fruitful fields, sumptuous dwellings, tasteful gardens, and splendid edifices sacred to sci¬
ence, learning and religion; while on its majestic streams are equal displays of the
skill and enterprise of its population in the celerity and ease with which, regardless of
the current, are moving in "floating palaces" the busy multitude, the richest and jnost
various productions of a fertile soil, mechanical art, and the luxuries of the most distant •
clime.
This individual may have seen here and there a spot, slightly distinguishable from the
n
surrounding forest by log huts, tenanted by a few families scantily supplied with the
bare necessaries of life, whose nightly rest was disturbed by the howl of the wolf, or
more formidable savage; and in his manhood, visit in the same spots such cities as Buffa¬
lo and Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis.
Inh is youth, he may have consumed two weeks in a voyage from the city of New Yorkto
Albany,* and in his manhood, enter an apartment, equal in comfort and luxury to that of the
most costly dwelling and accomplish the same journey in twelve hours: and instead of look¬
ing towards the setting sun on an unbroken w^ste, he would there find a car, moving with
the speed of the wind amidst scores of cro^d civilized life, a link in the chains of sim¬
ilar communications which encircle and intersect bne whole country and by which he
might travel four thousand miles within the time of his juvenile trip to Albany. He
would once almost as soon have expected to equal the Fairy in the "mid-summer night
dream" who promises to "put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes."
This individual has witnessed the very feeblest infancy of our commerce, now second
to that of no nation on earth: of our manufacturing system now employing so much la¬
bour and capital, and displaying such unparalleled skill, invention and industry, and of
some of our most important agricultural staples, particularly cotton, now commanding so
large a proportion of the capital of the world for its producers, manufacturers and carri¬
ers, and so conspicuous in its effects on trade and civilization in all countries.
If it were any part of my present object to institute a comparison between the new
and old world, I should here notice the peculiar structure of our government and society,
our system of general education, and our youth, vigour and growth, as calculated to se¬
cure a preponderance of the former over the latter. Allowing all that our transatlantic
tourists and critics allege against us, as to lack of polish and poetry, literary excellence,
and taste for the fine arts, our progress on land and sea, has established beyond all ques¬
tion that we shall sustain at least our full share in multiplying and replenishing the earth.
Tt may, without arrogance, be said that the people of the United States possess an amount
of practical knowledge, and energy in the use of it, which distinguish them above all
the rest of the world, present or past. They are not deficient in invention and im-
provement; much less are they deficient in the talent of using profitably all that they
or others may originate. It is the latter capacity which enhances so much the interest
they have in the fortunes accumulated in the old world. Even their literature, so much
above ours, is not above our comprehension; and as it immediately becomes our proper¬
ty, it is distributed more abundantly, cheaply, generally, and is more universally read here
than there. And the discoveries in science, if more numerous and important in the old
world, are.apt to be soonest and most efficiently turned to practical account in the new.
In fact, while the old world may flourish in life and vigor, the new will most profit by
their productions, and if the former should decay and die, the latter will administer an
their estate.
Admitting all I have said and all that might be said on the rapid advancement to
power and influence of the British and North American States, it may be enquired,
**'We have heard it lately stated, that of the two members of a leading New York firm, one
started tor Albany and the other for Bristol, on the same day—each by a sailing packet—and each
being sixteen days on the voyage, the passage to Europe was accomplished in the same time with
that between the commercial metropolis of the new world and the legislative capital of the same
state."—[Quarterly Review.
8
1. What do they possess to secure them against the decline and decay which has beeji
the fate of past nations 1
2. What have they to secure their future ascendancy over the other nations of lb?
present age ?
As to the first enquiry, it is unnecessary to refer to any past history, but that of tire
Greeks and Romans, a slight notice of whose policy and attainments—principally of
the Roman Republic—will sufficiently contrast the achievements of the ancientwvorfd
with those of the modern. These nations present a striking similarity in their gradual
rise from a fabulous obscurity to power and renown; in their decline, the consequence of
civil disunion and Asiatic luxury; and in their final subjugation and extinction. They
both furnished evidence, which has survived ages of ignorance and savage devastation of
the highest order of genius, with which man was ever endowed by his Maker. The
productions of their mighty intellects—their literature and fine arts—are the models
now by which the most refined nations fix their standard of taste; are the foundation
of our system of education and highest attainments; and the principles of Roman ju¬
risprudence are in operation wherever the best laws are administered. It is probable if
these ancient republics, had adopted the policy now pursued by the United States; had
provided simply for their own defence; had devoted the powers of their minds to the
cultivation and extension of peaceful arts, and thus enlarged their empire, Eastern and
Northern barbarians would have shrunk back into more narrow limits, have been gradu¬
ally conquered and permanently civilized. Almost certain it is that if, with such a poli¬
cy, they had discovered the arts of navigation and printing, and embraced Christianity,
their sun would never have set in the night of the dark ages, but would have shone
brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. The Roman and Anglo-Saxon would have
formed one people, and the language of Cicero and Virgil might have been the language
of Burke and Byron. '
The Roman Republic carried its conquests over a large portion of the habitable world.
But these were the triumphs of mere physical force. The tributaries they subdued
were not much more amalgamated with them by a knowledge and adoption of their civ¬
ilized arts and customs, than are the, wild beasts, captured and caged for the gratification
of our curiosity, to be considered as domesticated. Their history from the commence-
ment to the maturity of their power, is a history of foreign or civil war. "The temple
of Janus was closed for only three brief periods in seven hundred years." The privile¬
ges of Roman citizenship were tardily extended to the conquered provinces, and barely
secured immunity from the most barbarous cruelty and slavery; but it is certain, not¬
withstanding all that historians assert of the care bestowed on their provinces, that nei¬
ther the auxiliaries hired to fight their battles, nor the more numerous hosts whose deg-
radation graced their military triumphs, were ever so incorporated into the State, as th
feel an active and patriotic interest in its fortunes and renown; to understand its Ian"
guage, literature and laws, and practise its arts.
The genius, energy and ambition displayed in the aggrandizement of the Roman
name and the extension of its empire, were competent to achieve equal and higher hbn^
ors in any other pursuits to which they might be directed. Hence the perfection of theii
language, their accomplished poets, orators and historians. But the great mass of the
people were enveloped in the grossest ignorance; and when there remained no wor^
Egypts, Gauls, or Britains to conquer—when the rich tribute of the luxuries of vari¬
ous climes tempted even their leaders to effeminate ease and indolent enjoyment-—when
9
public frames, gladiatorial shows, the sacrifice of innocent human beings to the fury of
^ild blasts for amusement, and their annual Saturnalia could assemble and interest the
great crowd of both sexes, and the useful employments of peace were few and neglected,
it was natural that they should fall an easy prey to those Northern hordes to whom liter-
ature, science and refinement were just such ramparts as they delighted to scale and de¬
molish.
The Romans, in fact, with the advantage of access to the learning of the Greeks,
which they studied, were deficient in useful arts; their scientific discoveries were im-
perfect; their systems of philosophy—except so far as moral maxims were enforced,
which, although beautiful, were not superior to those of Confucius, or the subjects of IVlonte-
zuma—were practically useless. With the investigations of Thale6 and Pythagoras, and
their successors before them, and an eye of genius invited by their interests and pur-
suits to an observation of the heavens, they saw nothing but stupid omens; framed no
science but Astrology. At Ieas't they found no guides for a pathway on the ocean, an£
the extension of their commerce, so essential in the civilization of the world. Their
four hundred and twenty temples displayed architectural taste and elegance, and con¬
tained beautiful productions of the fine arts; but they were also monuments of a degra¬
ded and demoralzing superstition, not superior to the capacity of the much less civilized.
Indeed the most stupendous works of antiquity, although entitled to our admiration for
the skill and genius evinced in their construction, exhibit a miserable condition of thb
people, and the most senseless exercise of unmitigated despotism, when such an amount
of labour could be commanded for structures of no utility. The Pyramids of Egypt are
lofty and indestructible monuments of intellelual rudeness and folly, as well as of in¬
credible skill and labour. The superiority of the moderns over the ancients in the Corn-
fort, number and easy construction of their dwellings and public edifices, is as obvious
as in any thing else.
It would be interesting to pursue this subject and to shew that, notwithstanding we
cultivate our minds to a considerable extent by the study of ancient learning and adopt
their taste in some external decorations, we in truth, imitate them in few departments o,f
useful knowledge. A cursory glance at some of the more prominent attainments and
characteristics of the present age, will shew an entire dissimilarity in policy and pur¬
suits, as well as superiority in all the weapons of peaceful conquest and securities fop
permanency, and the extreme improbability that any historian will hereafter be called
to the melancholy labor of recording the "decline and fall" of the Anglo-Saxon race-
The stock of learning in any useful department, when a few enquiring and laborious
minds engaged in collecting the fragments, which had survived the devastations of the
savage conquerors of Europe, in the dark ages, was extremely small. Lord Bacon lived
a little more than two hundred years ago, and is the acknowledged originator of experi¬
mental philosophy and natural science—the first to expose the visionary theories which
had previously employed the greatest minds to no good practical purpose. In the lan¬
guage of Goethe "he drew a sponge over the table of human knowledge." Yet even
Lord Bacon opposed the Copernican system; and signed warrants for the infliction df
torture as a means of extorting confessions and taking testimony. Every scholar is fa¬
miliar with the slow progress of science and learning from that time and how very recent
are the inventions and discoveries in mechanical arts and the simplest truths in pbifb£b;
phy,'which elevate the civilized over the uncivilized inhabitants of the earth.
1U
1. I remark on the knowledge of the geography of the world, its relation to the solar
system, and the means of intercommunication between one portion of it and another. We
have in this the acquisitions of a few generations past. The great adventurer, who
"ploughed the first furrow across the Atlantic," died early in the sixteenth century, ig.
norant of the fact that he had seen any other land than the coast of Asia. It was
more than one hundred years after that, that the accomplished Galileo, on his knees,
confessed, to the ecclesiastical authority in Spain, his error in asserting that the earth
moves around the sun; and so late as the beginning of the last century, one half of the
globe was unknown or very imperfectly known.
It will occur to you at once, how the discoveries in Astronomy, the improvements of
the compass, and the construction of vessels have changed the condition of the world;
how many have a home on the sea; with what security, certainty, and rapidity it is tra-
vereed in every direction, and how familiarly known are the numerous chores washed by
its waves.
" Far as the breeze can bear the billow's foam,
" Survey one empire and behold one home!"
But the greatest triumph over the elements is an invention of our own time, within the
recollection of many of us—a means of navigating the deep, destined to supercede every
other and reach the remotest parts of the world. It is said that Sir Walter Scott treated
the idea of applying the steam engine to the propulsion of vessels with ridicule; and
that Dr. Lardner actually demonstrated the impossibility of crossing the ocean by such
means—reasoning I suppose, as one would to shew, that man can never "ride upon the
whirlwind and direct the storm." It is but about thirty six years since Fulton, as he
said, amidst the sneers and ridicule which accompanied his preparatisns, made his first
attempt on the Hudson, with a steamboat, and after one failure, accomplished a speed of
six miles an hour. For several years afterwards there was not a steamboat in England,
or on our Western rivers or Northern lakes. It is only six years since the Atlantic
steam navigation was established with loud and united acclamations of joy on the first
arrival of the Great Western at our great commercial emporium; and it is still more re.
cent that the "winged messengers of death," as Mr. Burke called them, made to fight
the battles of* the sea, have been fortified with this new and mighty engine of power.
On our rivers, coasts, and lakes may be seen now not less than one thousand steam¬
boats, and Great Britain employs as many in the various pnrt^ef her wide dominions.—
They connect the new and old world as by a bridge. They are seen on the Rhine and
the Black sea, on the Mediteranean and the Red sea, the Nile and the Ganges. Wher-
ever civilization lives or wishes to go, these wonders of inventive genius minister to the
wants of commerce and travel. The progress of improvement, in the few years since
their first invention, exhibited in their increased beauty, comfort, and capabilities in
speed and management, is like the growth of man from the weakness of infancy to ma.
tured strength and genius.
Not less efficient, as a means of intercommunication, is the modern invention for tra.
veiling on land by steam. We have hardly time to record the success of one experi.
ment, before another still more wonderful promises to supercede it. Within the last
year we have seen reported the substitution of the Atmospheric rail-way for the locomo¬
tive, by which, at a reduced expense and in perfect safety, travellers are carried at the
11
flying rate of sixty or eighty miles an hour—five or six times the velocity of the Great
Western. The toil and labour of days have been reduced to the mere pastime of as
many hours; human steps are increased to miles; nations become families, and continents
become neighborhoods.
2. This topic suggests the changes of commerce which mark our age—the agents by
which and the extent to which it is prosecuted. Its materials apd all its auxiliaries re.
mote and proximate are in a great measure new. The most valuable productions of ag.
ricultural wealth; the application of machinery to manufactures, giving to every opera-
live r$ore than the power of Briareus; the science of Chemistry supplying such indis¬
pensable aid to every department of human labor, and art, and other numberless triumphs
of discovery, invention, skill, and industry are equally recent.
3. Another most important and striking feature of the present age, distinguishing it
from the past, is seen in the peaceful policy and occupations pursued by the most enlighten¬
ed nations. If we consider to what an extent, the moral and physical resources of the
best portion of mankind have been employed in the destruction of the life, property,
and happiness of each other, for objects trivial or unattainable, from the earliest history
down to the fifteenth year of the present century, and can believe that the present policy
will continue, its influence on the world must prove inconceivably great and happy.—
The increase and spread of knowledge have so multiplied and diversified peaceful pur.
suits, as to impress on eery enlightened mind the duty of avoiding war as the most ab¬
surd custom and the were. of evils. Long may this blessed policy prevail, especially
among those nations destined to give social and religious institutions to the heathen
world ! And may the improvements in the means of destructive warfare and defence,
in which modern ingenuity has also been successfully employed, be conducive only to
the security with which the arts of peace may be cultivated!
4. 1 mention one more particular, distinguishing the present from any past age, in the
means possessed of publishing and circulating hiouledge. The art of printing, in its
.infancy, was attended with an immediate and most important effect on the world; and
yet was not a much greater change from the labor of manuscript, than is the present
perfection of the art from its first invention—a perfection which has attained the possi¬
bility of converting rags into a printed book in a single minute. The immense amount
of literary productions on all possible subjects which can instruct, please, and improve
fhe mind, in the form of books, journals, periodicals, and newspapers, furnishes adequate
means for the full developement of the amplest powers of the press. The power of
steam, too, here aids the skill of man, and we may contrast these wonderful facilities
for bringing knowledge to every man's door, and carrying it, by the means of rapid in¬
tercourse to which I have called your attention, as on the wings of the wind, to earth's
remotest bounds, with a state of entire ignorance of the whole art in the Ancient world.
This very imperfect allusion to the present state of science and the arts, to give full
force lo which would require extensive details, is sufficient to shew, not merely great and
rapid advances to power and knowledge, but exhibits the civilized world in an entirely
new and changed condition. With the increase of commercial intercourse, new opin¬
ions, new pursuits, new powers, and new materials have employed and invigorated the
energies of mankind. Whatever alterations in form, governments may undergo, the
power of the knowledge already acquired, existing in the minds of so many men, prin¬
ted and published iu every form, and spread over so large a part of the world, cannot be
obliterated. And as this power is the source of all those things which the more igncur-
12
ant inhabitants of our earth need and desire, those who possess it, as they increase in
numbers and avail themselves of their facilities for carrying it to other lands, must with
it carry an all-controlling, ever-increasing influence. There are no Goths or Vandals
to destroy it. It must go on, conquering and to conquer, with a power more resistless
than Roman legions; and every victory will be enduring, because the vanquished will
ever acknowledge their victors to be their greatest benefactors.
Secondly. I proceed to the enquiry, what have Great Britain and the United States
to secure their future ascendency over other nations ?
We are at once struck with the interesting fact, so unlike any thing in the past histo¬
ry, or in the present condition of any other part of the world, that two such nations,
with three thousand miles of ocean between them, should be so united in language, pur¬
suits, and mutual interest. The languages of contiguous countries in Europe are near-
ly as various as are the names of their provinces. But in the Anglo-Saxons we have
a solid mass of fifty millions in two grand divisions of the earth, moving to peaceful
sway in harmonious concert. Considering them as co-laborers in the work of civiliza¬
tion, it must be conceded,
1. That of all the arts, resources, and improvements to which I have alluded, as distin-
guishing the present from any paft age, they have much the largest share. They may be
excelled in some particular departments of knowledge—by the Germans, in the ingenu¬
ity of their philosophical speculations, and their more laborious research into ancient
learning; by the Germans and French in experiments and discoveries in natural science,
by both; and in a higher degree still by the Italians in the fine arts—the last an emana¬
tion, rather of decaying than increasing national strength—but in the great control of
all the forces of intellectual and moral achievements; in the ability to originate and
dispense those elements of modern civilization which acquire dominion over the ignor-
ant—particularly in the agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial resources—the last
most effective, inasmuch as "diminishing physical is diminishing moral distances"—in
all this, these two nations are so far in advance and running so fast, that they cannot be
overtaken.
2. These nations have a signal advantage in position and occupancy. This is partly ge¬
ographical, partly from acquisitions already made. In choice of mere geographical lo-
cation, London would, undoubtedly, yield to Constantinople. But by its acquisitions,
it is the seat of the commercial life of the world. We are familiar with the irresistible
power of an individual, in a small circle of his fellow men, who, to great energy, skill,
and sagacity, unites the control of overwhelming capital already acquired; how tributa-
ry to his still increasing accumulations are all within the influence of his dealings.—
Such in the world at large, is the advantage gained by England. Her past superior ca-
jpacity has given her a controlling capital. Her capital acquired is the guaranty of her
future augmenting control. England, too, has deposited her power and planted the seeds
of her energetic institutions and influential arts, in places the most favorable for the
subjugation of the world. Her empire in the East—gradually extending its sway over
one half of the population of the globe, and brought from a four or six months, to a forty
diys intercourse—her colonial settlements in the Southern ocean, where a fifth contin¬
ent is to be the seat of British empire, over which will prevail the language, arts, and
learning of that nation—her settlements and posts in other parts of Asia, on every side
ilf Africa, in North America, and in every part of the sea, where the convenience or
defence of her vast commerce may be most effectually promoted—in all these various
18
regions of the earth, where this power is established, the French, the Dutch, the Span¬
iard, or the Russian may go, but they must all adopt the language and customs of the An¬
glo-Saxons, and unite in promoting their ascendency.
Our own country possesses corresponding advantages on this continent. Here, too,
is a home for the inhabitants of the old world, who bring 10 us large accessions of num¬
bers and strength; but of whatever kindred or tongue they may be, they necessarily be¬
come agents in the extension of our language and our institutions. The centre of this
growing nation will soon be fixed in the valley of the Mississippi. From this fertile
abode of every thing natural or artificial which, in this age of improvement, can enrich,
ennoble, or refine, and of a people who, above all, have the capacity to make the most
of their position and facilities, radiate lines of communication so rapid and commodious,
that with the security of fifteen hundred miles retirement from the sea, all the advanta*
ges of the sea port are superadded. How soon and how inevitably will the influence of
our country be extended over this continent, until the last traces of the American savage,
and of the scarcely more worthy offspring of papal bigotry, superstition, and ignorance
shall be entirely obliterated !
3. They possess the vigour and power of a Reformed Protestant Christianity. This,
connected with the free institutions which it has largely' contributed to maintain and
perfect, and through which alone it can exert its most beneficial power, is the peculiar
possession of the Anglo-Saxon race. I need not contrast it with any of the forms of
Pagan or Mahomedan superstition. In all I have said of the rapid growth and prosper¬
ity of England and her flourishing and vigorous offspring in the new world, I have been
speaking the praises of protestant Christianity. In all that might be said of the low and
fallen condition of once powerful Spain and Portugal, or of their lifeless and stupid off¬
spring, in the new world, I should speak the just deserts and natural consequences of
papal Christianity. The same vigorous power which overthrew the Greek and Roman
superstition; which kindled the zeal and crowned with success Luther and his followers
in the Reformation, and obtained the inestimable privileges which the English citizen
enjoys, also, procured and established our own free institutions. It inviteb free discus¬
sion, teaches individual responsibility, and independence; and by the highest sanctions
demands good conduct in every relation in life. It has the invincibility of truth; it is
attended with intelligence; it prosecutes active and energetic benevolent enterprise, and
diffuses joy and peace. It is a main ingredient in the formation of the noblest Anglo-
Saxon character. It is the power which this race wield for the conquest of the world.
It has the promise of the divine Saviour, that every knee shall bow to its sceptre, and
every tongue confess its influence.
4. I mention in the last place, the rapidity of progress in power and numbers of the
English race, compared with other nations. Not to repeat any thing which I have advan¬
ced on this subject, my object is to direct your attention to the character and condition
of some of these nations, so far as to see that they cannot oppose the career of the An-
glo-Saxons.
tIt seems to be a decree of Providence, that the more ignorant and uncivilized shall
give place to those who encroach on their territory, with the power of superior knowl¬
edge. In small numbers, they amalgamate; in greater numbers retire, diminish and be*
come extinct.
Africa presents to our view one vast, dense cloud of ignorance, with only here and
there a small speck of light on its borders. These specks are the light of English and
14
American civilization. The great mass of the world's population is in Asia. Their
character and their number are stationary; they, like the negroes, live in little villages,
insecure in the possessions of property—consuming all they make; furnishing no emi¬
grants for any other part of the world, and practising the same arts and customs which
have existed there from time immemorial. Their learning and religion are equally pue¬
rile. With the exception of a mile "Agriculture, these are the characteristics of those
who live within the Chinese empire. It is said they have had the art of Printing,* the
mariner's compass, and the use of gunpowder, long before they were invented in Eu-
rope; according to their own pompous report, they have a standing army of seven hun¬
dred thousand men, and a revenue of two hundred and eighty millions; and in their own
estimation, have existed as a nation long before the world was created. With all this,
they deserve the name by which they designate all other nations, and are as certain to
come under the influence of British empire, as it is certain that they recently ran, af¬
frighted from a few British soldiers, and yielded to British dictation.
I need not speak particularly of the Ottoman empire so evidently tottering, so soon to
fall. Her venerable metropolis in a position to control the commerce of the world, is
but the trading place of other nations, who there exchange their own for the productions
of Poland and Russia. The small inland commerce of the Turks is in the hands of
Jews and Armenians—their beautiful seas are under the dominion of foreign powers—
while they, with careless indifference, wrapt in the fumes of opium and tobacco, indo¬
lently witness their own decline and the progress of others.
If time permitted, a mure extended view of the real condition of this large portion of
the World's population, extending from the Mediterranean and Red Sea to the Eastern
coast of China, would be interesting. There is neither inclination or energy to throw
off the antiquated, unmitigated despotism to which they are subject. Ignorance, im-
progression and decay mark them for an easy prey to the encroachments of christian
civilization. The Turks exist at all as a nation, probably because of the jealousy of the
principal kingdoms of Europe, each one opposing in all the rest, an'exclusive possession
of a port of so much commercial importance. Their present population is a mere frac¬
tion of what it once was, and, excluding other races who have mingled among them,
does not perhaps amount to more than a fourth that of England. Napoleon's attempt to
ascertain the strength of Persia, a country of such ancient renown, resulted in a reduc¬
tion of their supposed number to about twelve millions. The census among all the ori¬
ental nations, it is said, is stated with a view to flatter a sovereign, rather than publish
the truth, and we might safely strike off one-half or two-thirdsof the population usually
assigned to that country.
Across the whole northern half of the continent, stretches the Russian territory, and
on the south, armed with military power, and the more efficient moral agencies with
which they extend their name, and already victorious over one-fifth of the whole, is the
growing and spreading Anglo-Indian empire. European civilization and Christianity
are mingling in many forms in western Asia, and will hasten to meet those coming
events in the Eastern extremities whose shadows may be not dimly discerned, in the
aggressions already made by British power in China, and increased intercourse with
that mysterious people.
Austria, distinguished for its despotism, "suppression of liberal opinions," and rejec¬
tion of all improvements—Prussia for the heterogeneousness of its population, and ita
*There is but one newspaper published by the millions of China.
15
military discipline extending to even its school system—both heavily taxed and retarded
in growth, by their immense standing armies—the minor States of the German Confed-
eracy full of individual honesty, energy, and patient investigat'on, but combining no
considerable national power—and France, witty and ingenious, gay and frivolous, the
home of St. Bartholomew and the Bastile where the light of freedom and Christianity,
kingcraft and priestcraft, were alike deluged in hlood—all these nations are without im¬
portant foreign possessions, and without any controlling foreign commerce. They are all
behind the English in the resources of modern industry and increase of numbers, aod
must be, with all their science and learning, contributors to the extension of the Anglo-
Saxon influence.
In truth, no one, whose opinions on this subject have come within my knowledge, re¬
gards any power in Europe as likely to compete with Great Britain, excepting that of
Russia, whose imperial sway over the land has by some been predicted to become com¬
mensurate with that of England over the sea. Russian statistics present a colossal pow¬
er—a territory in Europe and Asia equal to one.eighth of the habitable globe—a popu¬
lation of sixty millions, and an army of more than half a million. When we consider,
however, that the subjects of this vast empire are composed of some seventy or eighty
different tribes, differing in habits and language—in religion and political feeling—their
power dwindles into much less formidable dimensions. A large portion of them are sav¬
age and ignorant, and so scattered as to prevent any great concentration of physical
force—the only kind of force which they can in any very important degree exert. They
have made efforts at foreign conquest for a great number of years. They failed to con¬
quer Prussia, and had the aid of that kingdom and Austria to subdue the PoFs, each re¬
ceiving a share of their territory and a larger share of infamy. They were beaten on
their own ground by the French army, &but for the natural elements—fires kindled by their
own hands for the destruction of their own property and the more fearful obstacles of
their everlasting inheritance of cold and snow, they might now have been the subjects of
a foreign power. Their victories over the Turks have fallen entirely short of their am¬
bitious designs on that country. To double their population, requires nearly twice the
number of years which witnesses that increase in the United States. Recent travellers
assert that their priests are generally drunkards, and that important posts, especially in
the army, are filled by Englishmen and Frenchmen. These are some of the facts which
relieve the world of any terror which Russian greatness might inspire.* I see no good
reason to douht that this nation too m.ay in some future day submit to the greater moral
and physical influence of the race, which lam considering as the probable future mas-
ters of the world.
On this continent, no one has ever thought of instituting any comparison between our own
country and the Spanish American States, except for contrast. The former emancipa¬
ted herself from the most powerful nation on the globe, sixty years ago, and with a slight
interruption has pursued the arts of peace ever since, soon to acquire the first rank
among the nations of the world. The latter, the first to discover this continent and to
colonize it, with our glorious example before them, succeeded only twenty years ago in
casting off the imbecile authority of the weakest kingdoms of Europe. They have
♦Alison, in his "History of Europe during the French Revolution," has a chapter of predictions
on the future greatness of Russia: but if his reasoning and facts are to be measured by those
which he employs to shew that the United States Government must soon come to an end, his au¬
thority may be safely disregarded.
16
been fighting among themselves ever since, evincing equal incapacity for the enjoyment
of freedom; the cultivation of science or art—excellence in agriculture, commerce, or
manufactures. As has been the growth of these two races, so will be their age. And
let me ask, if the United States, with eighteen millions, have scattered so many monu-
mentsof intelligence and art over a territory, extending from the Atlantic to the Rocky
Mountains, and from the Lakes to the Gulf—have carved out of Mexico a new Repub¬
lic, which has maintained its independence for eight years—have already reached out a
hand of enterprise to the shores of the Pacific—have acquired the first commerce in the.
world, and already wield a large influence by their intercourse with other nations, by
their adventurous artizans and mechanics in various parts of the world, and by their in-
genious discoveries and improvements—if they have accomplished all this in the short
period of their independence, what may be expected to be their influence and where their
habitation, in another fifty years, when they will number eighty or one hundred millions
and perhaps accumulate as many new sources of power as they have in past years!
I have no time for any consideration of the question, not unfrequently discussed, what
are the various causes to defeat or ensure the permanency of our government, or that of
Great Britain? Ancient nations have exhibited infancy, maturity, old age, and decay in
the period of their existence, analagous to that of every human being who attains long
life. Hence it has been supposed that this is the destiny of all nations, fixed by the or¬
dination of Providence. On the other hand, a class of theorists believe in the practi¬
cability of attaining perfection in government and 9ocial conduct, by the power.of intel¬
ligence- All that I have remarked as distinguishing the present from any past age, goes
to contradict the former, but falls far short of sustaining the latter opinion. The fact
that the human race has greatly improved, and is now in the progress of great improve¬
ment, cannot be fairly questioned. England has gone on from year to year, extending
her dominion and renewing her strength, disappointing the many predictions, that she
would die of national debt, or by the violent hands of a mob.
Our existence as a nation is short, and our experiment in government in some respects
new. Our general principles of government, however, have stood the test of the time
of our colonial existence, and the short term of our union has been marked by changes
and improvements, equal to two centuries of the experience of any nation in past times.
The perpetuity of our Union may not be so certain. But our capacity for self-govern¬
ment—our claim to the virtue and intelligence necessary to establish, on a sure founda¬
tion, or to alter, as circumstances may require, such institutions, as shall in the highest
degree conduce to the happiness and security of the people, is confirmed beyond all doubt.
Whenever the extent of our territory may require the dissolution of our Federative
system, I believe it will be peaceably accomplished, without civil convulsion, and with a
continuance of amicable relations and intercourse. I trust however that the experiment
may be far distant, and that many future glorious triumphs of our nation, are yet to be
extended, farther and wider, under the lead of the star spangled banner!