YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FACTS AND CONDITIONS OF PROGRESS IN THE NORTH-WEST. being the ANNUAL DISCOURSE FOR 1850, before the historical and philosophical society of OHIO; delivered APRIL 8, THE SIXTY-THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE STATE. BY WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING A SKETCH OF THE HISTOEY OF THE SOCIETY, AND OTHER MATTER. CINCINNATI : PUBLISHED BY H. W. DEKBY & CO. 1850. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year of our Lord, 1850, BY H. W. DERBY & Co., in the Clerk's Of&ce of the District Court for the District of Ohio. PUBLICATION ORDERED BY THE SOCIETY. CINCINNATI : H. W. Derliij S( Co., Printers. DISCOURSE. By the constitution of the Historical and Philosophi cal Society of Ohio, it is made the duty of the President of this association, at the anniversary each year, to de liver a pubhc discourse on some subject lying within the appropriate fields of its investigation. Occupying, at the present time, the position referred to, I appear before you. Gentlemen of the Society, for the purpose of dis charging the duty thus imposed. And the theme to which I have thought proper to invite your attention, is — The Pacts and Conditions of Progress m the North- Western SECTION OF THE UnITED StATES. That part of American Literature, which is made up of the different descriptions of the Public Discourse, de livered on occasions of anniversary and other periodical celebrations, though characterized by a brilliant diction and a philosophic spirit, and informed with the learning of by-gone ages, has been too often deficient in the great events bearing upon our own immediate times, and, con sequently, lacking in that prophetic spirit, whose broad and intelligent survey extends at once over the past and the future, and founds upon the present an encouraging hope for man. The great majority of these discourses, which do not perish in the day that gives them birth, are evidently the work of abilities far beyond my own, and filled with a wisdom to which I make no pretensions. It would ill be- come me, especially on an occasion like this, to usurp the seat of literary justice, and pronounce judgment upon them, even if satisfied, as I am not, that their defects were many. All I mean to say is, that it seems to me they too often, though filled with the wisdom of Egypt, the art of Greece, and the grandeur of Rome, though charged with the learning of the European Continent and instinct with the spirit of liberty that has moved with a mighty presence fi'om the Isle of Britain, yet fail to pro duce and array, as they might, the facts that have borne upon our own past, and shape our immediate present, and wUl enter into our near and far fiiture. Many of them have also been deficient, I think, in making that clear and distinctive presentation of the conditions of our pro gress as a people, which would be usefiil to us, both as warning voices and as guiding hands. In attempting to do for our own section of the Union, what so many have failed to do for other sections and for the whole, I may be undertaking that which is beyond the capabilities of a single discourse, and fail also. But feeling, in the broad and beaatifi.il region of country to which I belong, an interest surpassed by that of no other man ; having watched its progress for a quarter of a cen tury, with a closeness that has permitted little to pass un observed ; and possessing some views as to its future ad vancement, which are the result of my best reflections, I feel impelled, be the hazard what it may, to make the attempt. My subject divides itself naturally into two parts : the first, treating of the facts of our past progress ; the sec ond, of the conditions of our future advancement. 5 I. The Fads of Past Progress in the North-Western States. The facts of our past progress, I do not propose to show in anything like detail. This would be an encyclo pedic task — even were it desirable — for which I should not have time, nor you patience. Beside, our history is so recent, that its details are familiar to the minds of all of adult age. The general features of that progress, with the grand outhne of the domain upon which it has been made, are aU that I shall attempt to present. Progress being one of those indefinite terms, which are made, in the using, to mean, at times, almost anything, and at other times almost nothing, it may be proper to determine its signification as employed in this discourse. Ordinarily, it is made to stand for almost anything in the nature of movement, physical, moral, or spiritual — for ward, sidewise, or backward. Here, it is used in its most comprehensive sense, as the equivalent of the term Hu man Civilization. But even tliis explanation may be un satisfactory ; for Civilization itself is a word more easily understood through its popular signification, than defined from its classical origin. Symbolically, it may be de scribed as a plant of everlasting growth, whose roots are in the nature of man, which germinates in his savage state, which sends up its stately trunk and develops its beautiful foliage in his poUtical or social condition, which unfolds its flowers only in a state of human excellence that has not i/ei been reached by any nation of the earth, and which finaUy matures its fruits among the angels of heaven, in the Great Hereafter. Or it may be presented 6 as an unbroken chain of events and consequences, whose beginning is in the soul of man as he exists upon earth, whose links are perfect to the Eternal Bye, though to the human vision their* connection is often lost, whose differ ent sections stretch fi'om historic epoch to epoch, under the Supreme design and guidance binding together the whole, and whose end is in the bosom of God. But in less abstract terms, CivUization may be de scribed as that part of human progress which takes man in his savage or his nomadic state, — that state which had its type in the Gothic hordes before the Conquest of Rome, or that which is represented now by the wUd In dian tribes of the North- American Continent, — and in structs his understanding, cultivates the affections of his heart, elevates his tastes and desires, improves his physi cal condition, tUl he is endowed with the arts generaUy of peaceful and associated life : agriculture, commerce, trade, manufactures, science, painting, sculpture, music, litera ture, and others of the more elegant and refining accom- pUshments of Society. The art and the weapons of war belong to the nomadic and the savage state, as do also religions, and, to some extent, the marriage relation, with more or less skUl in rude fabrics. These, therefore, are not pemliar to civUi- zation, though existing with it, and carried by it to a condition of refinement of which their original state gives but the feeblest promise. Neither Christianity, nor a knowledge of God, is necessarUy a part of human civiUzation, in all its first developments, even to a state of very great perfection. The Apostle Paul found a high civUization at Athens, where temples the most beautiful the world has seen were dedicated, in express terms, "To the Unknown God." Robespierre lived amid the highest civiUzation known in the eighteenth century, and in it the names of God and Christ were both mocked, and Human Reason was enthroned as the Supreme InteUigence. Modern civiUzation, however — which is but another term for Christian civUization — has a more compre hensive signification than the word CiviUzation simply. The ancient civUizations were essentially selfish. Kings, priests, and nobles, were the almost exclusive recipients of their bounties, whUe the masses of people remained ignorant, oppressed, superstitious, and were of little weight in -either the church or the state.* Amid the splendors of those old civUizations, agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, flourished; the art of war was carefuUy cultivated; and, among the opulent and selfish few, the elegant arts, Uterature, science, and the refinements of life generally, were carried to a high state of perfection. But aU this was for the castes and orders, and not for the masses of men. The results were, the elevation of the few, and the degradation of the many. Prom those ancient civUizations, the modern civUiza tion differs essentially. It is emphatically the civUization of MAN: not that of kings, priests, and nobles. It is pervaded by the spirit of Love — the spirit of Jesus — which is a spirit of good to man. It is full-charged with * From this general characterizing, the Hebrew civilization, which had the knowledge of God, and was in some peculiar manner under his immediate direction, is, of course, excepted. 8 the promises of the Gospel, which promises come to all who shaU hear and heed them. It speaks to the poor and lowly, as nothing else has spoken, but the voice of the Son of God. It says to the proud noble, whose brows are decked with a dazzling coronet, to the priest at the altar, dressed in his shining vestments, to the monarch on his imperial throne, whose word is fate to the mUlions over whom his dominion extends, and whose blazonry of diamonds, and stars of gold, and robes of purple, rival the luster of the glittering heavens: '¦^Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return!''' whUe to the humblest human being, who looks up from his low estate and his hard toU, and blesses God, it shouts: "Be of good cheer! Thou art a man! The Son knoweth thee, and the Father forge tteth thee never! The day of deliver ance draweth nigh!" The ancient civiUzations were sensuous: the modern civilization is spiritual. The ancient civUizations encour aged distinctions: the modern civUization proclaims, in tones that thrUl and echo through the universe, "God is no respecter of persons! " The ancient civUizations made of woman a slave to man's caprices, appetites, and power, and denied her anything approaching to equality of state with him: the modern civUization declares her equality, praises and protects her virtues, seeks to educate her in tellect and develop her deepest affections, and proclaims her "a ministering angel" amid the doubt, and suffering, and nefarious wrongs of life. The ancient civUizations buUt the pyramids and the palaces of Egypt, founded the mag nificent empires and the rich cities of Asia, erected the tem ples of Greece, and constructed the Appian Way and the 9 Roman Aqueducts: the modern civUization buUds the common school, the christian church, the lunatic asylum, the institution for the bUnd, the school for the deaf and dumb, the hospital, and the almshouse. The ancient civUizations inclosed their cities, and even their countries, within high and strong walls, to protect them aUke fi:om the rapacity and the weapons of neighboring peoples: the modern civUization connects its cities by good roads and canals, to invite visits from one another, and con structs raUways fi'om state to state, and across continents fi'om ocean to ocean, to facUitate intercommunication, and thus brings and binds peoples together, instead of waUing them apart. The ancient civUizations decorated the waUs and columns of their temples and dweUings with paintings and sculptures, representing personal conflicts, conquerors returning fi'om battle bearing the dismembered heads of the slain, and other evidences of the bloody exertion of brute strength: the modern civUization fills its private residences and public halls with paintings and statues that awaken the purer associations, call into activity the higher sentiments, and fill the mind and heart with images of beauty, truth, holiness, and love. The ancient civilizations sent armies abroad, to conquer and subdue with the sword and with fire: the modern civUization sends the schoolmaster and the missionarj^ abroad, to conquer and subdue with inteUectual light, with gospel truth, with human and divine love. Such in itself, and such by contrast, is Modern Civ Uization: the Progress of which I speak. Eighteen hundred years ago its seeds were sown in Palestine and the Holy Land, and since then they have been sUently 10 but ceaselessly germinating, and springing up, and spread ing over the world, which is sooner or later to feel their presence in its whole extent. Just at this time, from the wickedness and foUy of other nations and the favors shown our own, the elements of a civUization stUl higher than even this, seem to be gathering on the wide territo ries of the United States. The physical and moral grounds upon which this is basing itself, and the social and spiritual conditions of its advancement, are topics which would seem to be worthy the consideration of all classes, but especiaUy of the Historical Student and the Christian PhUosopher. On the North-American Continent, scooped out by the hand of Omnipotence with wonderful adaptation to the wants of man, and the purposes of his existence, lies the most stupendous and favored Inland Valley upon which the sun shines. Having for its eastern edge the AUegheny and the Cumberland Mountains, and for its western the Rocky Mountains and the Black HUls, for its northern rim the summitlands between Lake Win nipeg and the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and for its southern the Guadalupe Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico, it extends in one direction over twenty-four parallels of longitude, and in the other embraces eighteen degrees of latitude. Within it are all the varieties of temperate cUmate, and all the geological and topograph ical features that are essential to fit it for the residence of man. It produces in perfection all the fruits and vegetables that are most valued by civUized communities for wholesome and nutritive properties, and all the grains 11 that are so associated with the history of mankind, as to have received the name of "the staff of life." Its rivers are the most wonderful known to Christendom, and its lakes are so large, and commercially so important, as to have been designated " inland seas." Its miueral wealth is beyond computation; the richness of its soU is inex haustible; and its general adaptation to the purposes of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, is unsurpassed, perhaps unequaled, by that of any other part of the earth. GeographicaUy, it is difficult to conceive of anything better than the position of this great valley, whose plains stretch west fi'om the base of the AUegheny Mountains to the Mississippi River, with an almost uniform pitch in that direction, and east fi:om the base of the Rocky Mountains to the same water, with an almost uniform pitch in this du'ection, the two natural divisions meeting in that great trough, and finding on its edges their lowest common level. Into the immense channel on this level, pour, generaUy in an east and southeast direction, the waters from the hither slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and the drainage fi'om the western half of the great vaUey: into it also pour, generally in a west and south west direction, the waters from the hither slopes of the AUeglienies, and the drainage of the eastern half of the vaUey: showing that not only have the two natural divisions of this Great Basin Plain an eastern and a western declivity, but that both divisions have also a common pitch to the south, which at the same time carries their surplus waters into the Gulf of Mexico, exposes then' fertUe bosoms to, the warm and generating 12 beams of the sun, and secures to them an unfaUing prevalence of gentle and salubrious winds. The western of these two natural divisions of the great valley under view, is for the most part a desert land, and much of it must for a long course of years remain so. Some of it, also, is totally unfitted for the abode of man, and wUl forever continue an uninhabited waste. But the uniformly cultivable character of the eastern division, is one of the most remarkable features of this region. This division is watered as is no other known country, and di vided into uplands and lowlands, hUlranges and interve ning valleys, heavUy-timbered tracts and naked praUies, which alternate over much of its surface in a manner the most favorable to the productive interests of life. Up land and lowland, prairie and forest, alUie have a soU of great fertUity, the capacity of which to produce, under good tUlage, is inexhaustible. In this division of the great valley, natural and artifi cial causes have induced a subdivision, the more impor tant part of which is caUed the North-West. The region thus known has an almost uniform south-western expo sure, and embraces nearly the whole of the vaUey north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, stretching fi'om the western slopes of the AUeghenies to the Mississippi River, and beyond that great natural Une ascending the west ern division first to the eighteenth parallel of longitude west fi'om Washington, then to the nineteenth paraUel, and finally (in Minnesota) to the twentieth. This region, as now organized and civUly divided, embraces the States of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, lUinois, Missouri, Michi gan, Iowa, and Wisconsin, with Minnesota Territory, 13 the aggregate superficial area of which is 478,349 square mUes — to which I add a small strip of Western Virginia and Western Pennsylvania lying immediately upon the Ohio River, and on its two forming tributaries chiefly near their point of confluence, and obtain, in round numbers, the grand territoral extent of 500,000 square mUes, or three hundred and twenty mUlions of acres : * a territorial superficies greater than the entire extent of the Original Thirteen States of the Union. This is the great field of observation, that is now spread before me. And ere surveying it, with a view to my ulti mate purpose, it is necessary to go back to some specific period, as a starting point from which to trace its pro gress. We are ^ow just at the middle of a hundred years. The meridian Une of the nineteenth century is over our heads. Fifty years is but a short time in the his tory of great nations: and fifty years ago the oldest State t of this region, was admitted into the Union. To the be ginning of this century, then, let us turn, for a moment, and see what there was in the region under view, at that time, to invite the presence of civUized man. At Pitts burgh, at Marietta, at Cincinnati, at the FaUs of the Ohio, on the. Muskingum, the Kentucky, the Wabash, the Up per Mississippi, and the IlUnois Rivers, and scattered about at a few other points, were smaU vUlages, composed in part of hardy adventurers, soldiers, and traders, in a smaU degree of men of education and ambition, who had sought * See note A. t Kentucky, it is true, was admitted in 1792, but did not fairly get "under way" as a State till 1799, when she amended her Constitution. 14 the region that they might grow up with it to wealth and distinction, and to some extent of reUgious missionaries and their converts fi:om among the aboriginal tribes. There were none of the refinements of life here, and but few of its comforts. The whole population of the State of Kentucky was then 220,955 persons, that of what is now the State of Ohio was 45,365, and that of Indiana 4,875. And this was about aU : 271,195 persons, scattered over an area of 500,000 square mUes — making an average of one person to a fraction less than two square mUes. On the Ohio River were a few barges and keelboats, and now and then one or two of this description of craft would ascend the Upper Mississippi to St. Louis; but the waters of the IlUnois, the Wabash, and other ^reams, and those also of the Lakes, were stUl swept by the birchen bark of the Indian. Ten years later, Kentucky had a population of 406,511 persons, Ohio of 230,760, Indiana of 24,520, Missouri of 20,845, lUinois of 12,282, and Michigan of 4,762 : making an agregate of 699,680, or one person on the average to about every three quarters of a mUe square. The tide of emigration had now fairly set in this dkec- tion. Little communities were pitching their tents and buUding their cabins on most of the better streams. The settler's ax resounded through the depths of the wUder ness in all directions, and the blue smoke curled above the tops of the taU trees, at once advising newcomers of the presence of a habitation, and giving the watchful sav age note of a place where he might strike at those who were encroaching on his old heritage. The Indians were now receding fast before the whites— going reluctantly, but 15 every year further and further — their dark forms disap pearing in the recesses of the wUderness, as the dusky shadows of a dark and unblest age, recede and disappear before the light of a high, christian civUization. And aU this continued — and in another period of ten years, the population of the region had sweUed to 1,423,622. A new agent of civiUzation and settlement was now in troduced. ' The keel of the steamboat had been plowing the waters of the West for three or four years. This de scription of navigation was no longer a mere experiment. Speaking relatively to what was then attempted, it had succeeded ; and every time the escape of steam or the splash of the paddles woke the echoes of the stUl soUtary shores, a requiem sounded for the departing Indian, and a song of gladness went up for the arrival of his adventur ous successor. The genius of Fulton was, in the hands of these adventurers, the Lamp of Aladin : it opened to them freely the doors of the Great West, firightened away their enemies, and displayed to their enraptured gaze, the many and gUttering charms of this beautiful land. And stUl the paddles dashed the waters — and stiU the pier cing shriek of the escapepipe woke the deep echoes — and stUl the chUd of the forest receded further and further — and stUl roUed on the stream of emigration, through the gaps of the Cumberland, over the bights of the AUeghenies, down into the rich vaUey through which coursed the calm waters of the Ohio. And another period of ten years passed — the third decade in the half century — and the population was become 2,298,390. By this time, over nearly the whole broad bosom of the rfio-ioD which I have mapped out, were scattered the habi- 16 tations of men, and introduced the institutions of christian, civUized life. In the interiors of its different sections, the wigwams of the savage had given place to the cabins of the newcomers, and the farmhouses of the first settlers. On the smaU streams, which everywhere sent up then" glad voices, giving to the deep solitude a tongue that was eloquent, the hand of enterprise had taken the wU- ling waters, and borne them to the clattering wheels of the manufactory, where they labored and yet sported, and, Uke virtue, were overruled and yet fi^ee. On the broad lakes, on the mighty rivers, the arm of Steam — " That fleshless arm, whose pulses leap With floods of living fire," — was propelling the gigantic hull, freighted with hundreds of human beings, coming from afar to cultivate the land, to fabricate its crude products, to engage in trade and commerce, to " multiply and replenish the earth." On the great natural highways, populous cities had taken the place of the primeval groves, and the schoolhouse, the church, the depots of commerce, and the elegant mansion, invited the on-coming multitudes to seek in and around them new and better homes. And the years of the fourth decade were told, and the population had swelled to 4,131,370 souls. StUl went on the work. The seat of a commerce of hundreds of miUions per year, was this now populous region.* The marts of its trade were fiUed with the sur plus products of its soU, which were borne away in thou sands of vessels, to feed the hungry in less-favored lands. * See note B. 17 Its flocks were feeding on unnumbered hUls, and in count less fields its crops sprang up, and ripened, and bowed be fore the sickle. That subtle Power, which by water had brought its myriads of people to its generous bosom, and borne its rich products away in exchange for what its own soU did not yield, scorned longer to be confined to the rivers and the lakes, and their comparatively slow-moving keels. Springing upon the dry land, and seeking the iron tracks which science and labor had laid on the lev eled earth, he clutched the loaded car with his invisible fingers, and bore it from point to point, for hundreds of mUes, with an ease and a velocity before unknown — " The beatings of his mighty heart" stUl sounding through the storm or the calm, and giving the only note of his approach, as he rushed through for est and field, over streams and marshes, and around the bases of many hUls, with his gigantic burden. Nor was this enough. For commerce it might have been, and for bodUy transit from place to place, but not for thought. And next flashed upon human genius the stUl more sub tle essence of the electric spark ; and hither came its whis pering wires, stretching from hUl to hUl and fi:om state to state, crossing mountauis, leaping ravines, spanning rivers, and bearing to the depths of this far Interior, in the twinkling of an eye, the message spoken a thousand mUes away, on the outer rim of the vast Continent. And the human tide has stiU roUed on and on — and the re moter forests of this region have been pierced and sub dued, tUl the soUtudes that, at the period from which this retrospect started, heard only the eternal chune of the 2 18 FaUs of St. Anthony, and the wUd voices of the dark Chippeways, are filling with the homes of civUized man, and becoming vocal with prayers and hymns of thanks giving to God. And the fifth decade has gone by, and seven millions now number the population of this region, which a half centuiy ago, as was shown, contained less than 300,000 souls!* Only two prominent facts remain to be mentioned, as entering into and assisting this wonderful progress. One of them is that blessed boon, the Ordinance of 1787, which sprang from the ptofound regard of the Fathers of the RepubUc for the Rights of Man, and forever closed the doors of all that part of the region under view, which Ues north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi jivers, against the entrance of human slavery ; the other is the evidence which the settlement of this region has afforded, that it lies in just that geographical belt of the globe, to which the natural sagacity of man leads him, when he is departing from an old and seeking a new home. These two facts, I shaU consider together. The circumstances that connected them, indeed, render them almost inseparable. A year ago, in preparing for pubUcation some historical and statistical matter about the North-West, I had occa sion to construct a series of tables, for the purpose of ex hibiting the influence of lines of latitude on increase of population. Though I shaU not burden your minds with a repetition of these tables here, yet some of the results thus obtained I shaU use, as fuUy answering my present purpose. And, with a view to what is to he done here as * See note C. 19 weU as to what has been done, I start out with the distinct proposition, already intimated, that the region of country of, which I am treating — the North-West — lies in the geographical belt the most favorable of any, to the growth and support of a numerous, athletic, free, and enterprising people. There is an accepted theory among poUtical econo mists, I know, that, as the productiveness of land depends principaUy .on heat and moisture, and these increase as the equator is approached, the nearer you go to that Une the more luxuriant and uninterrupted becomes the vegetation; and hence the completer the abundance of food, and the greater the capacity of supporting a numer ous population. And to sustain this theory elaborate tables have been constructed, setting forth, among other things, that maize, which produces forty or fifty for one in France, wUl produce one hundred and fifty on the average in Mexico; that an arpent of land, which wUl scarcely support two men when sown in wheat, wUl support fifty when planted in bananas; that the same extent of ground which supports four persons at the latitude of sixty degrees north, wUl support fifteen at the latitude of forty-five, and one hundred at (0) the equator; and that as eighty-five is to thirty-five, so is the productiveness of the useflil soU within thirty degrees of the equator, as compared with that of the useful soU beyond thirty degrees and within sixty — the latter being capable of supporting two hundred persons to each square mUe, and the former four hundred and ninety persons. Though mean temperature, which is influenced by altitude, as well as latitude, is an important element in. 20 calculations of this kind, and may very materiaUy modUy the preceding theory, yet, that this theory is true in respect to that sort of persons whom bananas and other tropical firuits wUl produce and satisfy, I do not care to dispute. Indeed, so far as the theory appUes to mere numbers, I am wUling to admit its correctness. But mere numbers do not make great nations. The men of bananas are not the men of muscle or mind — not the men among whom fi-ee, Christian institutions can be successfuUy introduced, and the arts of production, fabrication, and exchange be made to flourish. The latitude of the banana may present fascinations to an effeminate emigra tion, as that in which Nature produces food without the necessity of physical or inteUectual exertion on the part of those who are to consume it, and in which clothes are not among the necessaries of life. So, too, a barbarian emigration, driven by wars or oppressions from the fi:ozen North, may seek again the latitude of the polar bear, whose flesh wUl .satisfy the cravings of hunger, and whose skin protect from the severity of cold — the natural enemy to be encountered being thus converted, as it were, into the fiiend that feeds and clothes. But the latitude of the cereal gTains, of the wholesome and various fruits of the northern temperate zone, of wool, and flax, and hemp, is that which a civilised enugration wUl seek. And this is the latitude of The North-West — the region which I have designated "the most favorable of any, to the growth and support of a numerous, athletic, free, and enterprising population." Let us see, now, what the history of the last half century wUl say to this theory. By the year 1800, 21 the American people had achieved their political Inde pendence, and fairly started in their career of national greatness. The principal states then south of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, were North CaroUna, South Caro lina, and Georgia — contiguous territory, and all lying on the Atlantic seaboard. The aggregate superficial area of these states is 131,500 square mUes. Their total popu lation in the year 1800 was 985,795, and in 1840, 2,039,209. This shows an increase, in forty years, of 1,053,414, or nearly 107 per cent, for that period. The nearest equivalent, in states, which can be found to the preceding area, on the seaboard north of thirty- six degrees thirty minutes, is composed of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, New •Jersey, and Maryland — all, likewise, contiguous territory. The aggregate superficial area of these states is 130,853 square mUes. Their total population in the year 1800 was 2,571,330, and in 1840, 6,335,904. This shows an increase, in forty years, of 3,764,574, or 146 per cent.* By these figures it is shown, that the natural saga city which, previous to the year 1800, had planted a population of 2,571,330 persons on an area of about 131,000 square mUes of territory narth of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, and a population of only 985,795 persons on an equal area south of that parallel, manifested itself thereafter in even a more striking degree, for the period of forty years — increasing the population of the former territory during that time 146 per cent., and that of the latter not quite 107 per cent. Or, varying the 22 form of the statement a little, and extending the length of the period by taking an official estimate of population from 1840 to 1850, we have these comparative results, as to the two areas: Population to the square mUe of the area north in 1800, 19i; of the area south, 7i. Popu lation to the square mUe of the area north in 1850, 54i; of the area south, 14i. Showing that, in the space of half a century, a particular area on the Atlantic slope, north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, increased its population thirty-five to the square mUe, whUe an equiva lent area on the same slope, south of that paraUel, increased its population only seven to the square mUe. And now, in order to take a more comprehensive view, and for the sake of entire fairness, let us leave the sea board, and pass over the AUegheny and the Cumberland Mountains, down into the great Inland VaUey described at the opening of this discourse. According to the elaborate Report published from the General Land Office in Washington City, in 1849, the entire extent of organized territory in the United States is 1,419,405 square mUes.* Pursuing the parallel thirty-six degrees thUty minutes through this, from the Atlantic coast to the western line, we have 701,057 square mUes as the proportion of the southern division, and 718,348 square mUes as the proportion of the northern division. These two divisions of the organized territory of the United States, by an east and west line, are so nearly equal in extent, as to make the presentation of their * See note E. 23 aggregate and separate populations, past and present, a matter of deep interest. THREE PERIODS. 1830. 1840. 1860. Aggregate population, 12,866,920 17,063,353 21,412,230 Northern division, 9,622,016 12,724,066 16,009,290 Southern division, 3,244,904 4,339,288 5,402,940 By this statement it appears, that whUe the southern division has in twenty years increased its aggregate num bers 66^ per cent, on a population of 3,244,904, the northern division has in the same period increased 6&i per cent, on three times that population ! Or, in other words, whUe the southern division, which twenty years ago had an average population of 4 6-10 persons to the square mUe of her territory, has now an average of 7 7-10, the northern division, which twenty years ago had an average of 13 4-10 persons to the square mUe, has now an average of 22 3-10 : the latter having increased her numbers nearly nine to the square mUe since the year 1830, and the former having increased hers but a fi'aetion over three to the square mUel Another thing appears fi'om this statement, which is not be overlooked, viz., that whUe within a very small fraction of a full half of the entire or ganized territory of the United States Ues south of thirty- six degrees thirty minutes, yet north of that paraUel is almost fuU three-fourths of our entire population ! Why, now, is this so ? Why, even supposing original settlement to have been somewhat in favor of the north side of the line — why is it that the disparity existing between the two divisions a half century ago, has been growing greater and greater ever since, and always in 24 favor of the region north of the dividing Une ? Cart any other answer be given than this ? That, after proper al lowance for the inUuence of freedom in the one, and slavery in the other, it is because the natural sagacity of which we have spoken instinctively seeks the temperate regions of the North-West, with their cereal grains, their superior meats, their abundant finiits, their wholesome vegetables, their wool, flax, and hemp; rather than the hotter clime of the South-West in the same longitude, with its cotton, sugar, rice, maize, and its yams, oranges, and " bananas'' And this brings us directly to another point in this part of the argument. Official documents show, that of the pubUc lands of the United States subject to location on mUitary warrants, under the act of February, 1847, nearly a full half (47i per cent.) was, at the time of the passage of that act, in the States of the South-West. In telligent persons wUl not have forgotten, that in the some what celebrated "Address of Southern Delegates in Congress to their Constituents," agreed upon in Washing ton City on the 22d of January, 1849, it was claimed that the South had furnished for the Mexican War about two thirds of the entire number of volunteers, leaving one thUd for the North. But we wUl carry a part of this claim to the credit of that harmless gasconade in which Southern Members of Congress are somewhat prone to indulge, and suppose that the two divisions of the Union, cut by the paraUel thUty-six degrees thkty minutes, fumished about equal portions of the volunteers for the War. WeU, then — official documents, again, show that to the 1st of Jan uary, 1849, a total of 2,533,429 acres of land had been located on warrants under the law of February, 1847 — 25 2,358,229 acres of which was located in the North-West, and only 175,200 acres in the South-West* AUow me to repeat : — The lands subject to entry as aforesaid lay about half and haff in each of the two sec tions, North-West and South-West; the volunteers to whom the warrants were issued, belonged in nearly equal numbers to the two great divisions of the country, the North and the South ; yet 93 per cent, of the locations the first two years are made in the North-West, and but 7 per cent, in the South-West ! A very large propor tion of the warrants, it is true, had passed out of the hands of the original holders, the volunteers, into those of speculators, and emigrants seeking settlement; but that does not in the least change the nature of the argu ment, or affect its strength. The demonstration seems to me to be one of singular clearness and force. Natural Sagacity was free to act as it pleased. With its warrant in its hand, it could look to the South-West and to the North- West, and make choice as it listed. And it did so look and make choice. Leaving the rice-swamps to the left, with their " ardent sun," and their " pecuUar " culture, it sought the wheatfields on the right, with their invigora ting breezes, and their exulting freedom ; and driving its stake in the latter, it looked proudly and manfuUy around, and exclaimed, " This is mine ! " Such, without descending to the detaUs of reUgious, hu mane, and educational institutions, of raU-road structures and canals, of river navigation, commerce, and manufac tures, are the great facts of Progress in the North-West And what do they indicate ? Clearly, to my mind, that *See Note F. 26 here, in this region of vast capabUities, whose physical features I have hastUy deUneated, and whose material and moral progress I have portrayed in general terms, is to be tried an Experiment in Humanity, higher in its character, and subUmer in its results, than any yet known. Hither- ward come not alone the Christian institutions of eighteen centuries, and the art, Uterature, phUosophy, and science of six thousand years, but the men of all nations, distrust ing the teachings of the past, unsatisfied with the courses of the present, and hopeful only of the fiiture. My own idea is that here, on this magnificent domain — this un dulating plain, that extends fi:om the beautiful bases of the AUegheny Mountains to the broad, fertUe shores of the Mississippi River, and stretches its arms from near the thirty-sixth quite to the forty-second degree of north lati tude — are in time to be witnessed the freest forms of social development, and the highest order of human civiU zation. The immediate present is manifestly an era of transi tion, in aU this region. That State which was the first here erected, has just laid aside the organic law which she adopted a half century ago, and entered on a new career under a Constitution more popular in its forms. The ex ample of Kentucky, Ohio is now about to foUow ; and the General Assembly of this State wUl doubtless hold its next sittings, under an organic law altogether more popular in its provisions, and more suitable for the constitution of a fi-ee, numerous, and progressive people, than that with which we commenced our career, forty-seven years ago. The same forward impulse, is influencing the whole of this North-West region. lUinois adopted a new Constitu- 27 tion two years ago. Indiana wUl meet in Convention in October next, and frame an organic law more promotive than the present one, of the great interests of her people. Michigan, erected into a State only fifteen years ago, has already outgrown her constitutional garments, and deter mined to try the virtues of new ones, in her future strides to greatness. Principles, of popular right and social ne cessity, not recognized when these several States were or ganized, Ue at the bottom of aU these changes. But it is not in reference to political constitutions alone, that this era of transition is manifested. A humaner spirit of legislation is seeking to secure to every famUy its Homestead, beyond the contingencies of trade, misfor tune, or chicanery. Attention is also turning every day, more and more, to the inequalities of woman in the mari tal state ; and it is not extravagant to hope that ere long, to wed wUl not be to dispossess her of the ownership and control of property with which she enters into the marriage relation. But it would be tedious, and is unnecessary, to specify all the various indications given, that a Day is dawning upon this North-Western region, which wUl come with a light that shaU penetrate many a poor home that, is now dark, and a warmth that sliaU reach and bless its now shivering inmates, and a voice that shaU sound cheer- ingly in their duU and Ustless ears, awaking them to a just sense of then- real dignity and importance in the so cial scale, by proclaiming to them that they are neither slaves nor nonentities, but true men and women. What, tUl within a very few years past, the onward- coming multitudes have found on arriving here, has been. 28 chiefly, physical sufficiency, great inteUectual expertness, a degree of moral independence whoUy new to them, and capacity for almost indefinite extension, either moraUy, in- teUectuaUy, or physicaUy.' Coming in among us by hun dreds and thousands, as they now are and for years have been, their gentler and fiercer passions, like meadow riv ulets and mountain torrents, roixing in with and modify ing our own, and their art, science and literature, their hardhandedness and wUlingheartedness, and their expe riences of life generaUy, giving to and receiving from ouTs new impulses and new directions, the whole soon flow to gether in one common stream of Humanity, which wUl be found irresistible by any barriers that may oppose its course, and inevitably give new and peculiar aspects to the region and the era wherein it holds its way. With a land Uke that upon which our attention has been turned, and a people Uke those whose elements I have hastUy and partiaUy presented, and a time Uke the present in the history of Human Progress, to suppose that we are here to see but a segment of the old ckcle traveled over again, is to give mankind a place in the scale of being lower than that which I have heretofore assigned them, and to have an opinion of the designs, wisdom, and power of Providence, which I hope never to possess. It is my firm belief, that out of the crude materials now coUected and coUecting in this mighty North-West — materials that are just now taking forms of symmetry, and exhibiting a homogeneousness that has not heretofore belonged to them — are to come arts and institutions and educations, better fitted for the uses and 29 enjoyments of man, and more promotive of those high developments that are within the capacities of his nature, than anything which the world has yet seen. To you, my friends^ and to me, in our brief day, wiU be permitted but feeble gUmpses of the dawning of the "great glory" that is yet to rest upon this region, and radiate to the uttermost ends of the earth. As it was with the Hebrew of old, who toUed on through many years and many sorrows, and reached at last the point from which the beauty of the Land of Promise burst upon his rapt vision only to close his eyes forever, so will it be with us: we shall see "the morning star" of a great day for man — we may even behold in the eastern sky the red streakings of the gray dawn — but ere the rising of the sun himself, which is to usher in the Day of Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Love, our eyes wUl have been closed in death. It is something, however, to have the faith that this day is to come; and in holding it firm against aU discour agements, and cherishing it in the nudst of the infidelity that surrounds us, we shaU find our sufficient reward. II. The Conditions of Future Advancement in the North-Western States. In passing to the second division of my subject, and entering upon the consideration of the Conditions of our Future Advancement, I must ask you to let your minds revert, for an instant, to the picture which, at the outset, I drew of this region. Remember its longitudinal extent, 30 and the degrees of latitude that it embraces. Cast your mental vision over the whole broad domain, as if you were looking upon the map that portrays it. See how abundantly it is suppUed with lakes and rivers; observe how compact it is, and of what goodly shape; recoUect what you know of the fertUity of its soU, and the salu brity of its cUmate; bethink you of the wonderful extent of its mineral treasures; call to mind what you have seen and felt of the sttong common sense, the courage, and the energies of its people; and, surveying its trade, its commerce, its manufactures, its cities, its internal improvements, its astonishing physical progress generaUy, contrast what it was fifty years ago, with what it is now. And that done, permit me to remind you that its super ficial area is five hundred thousand square mUes in extent, and that its present population is not less than seven mUlions of souls. And, further, aUow me to caU your attention to the fact, that these seven miUions of people are the makers of the constitutions under whieh their several state governments are organized, the framers of the laws that control • them in their relations one to another and each to aU, and the appointors of their own executive officers, their own .custodians of the pubUc treasures, and theu- own legislators and judges. And when this is through, you have before your minds a country, a people, and a social condition, to which, especiaUy in the remarkable combination presented, no paraUel can be shown you, in any country of the earth, or any age of the world. But, whUe the extent, beauty, and fertUity of the country is admitted, and the numbers and vktues of the 31 people are not denied, I may anticipate some objection on one point. I may be told that the poUtical institu tions are not so popular as I have represented them to be — that the people, to some considerable extent, do the things which I have attributed to their direct action, through intermediates, who may, and often do, abuse and betray the confidence reposed in them. To this I reply, that that objection has force only as to practice and the past: theory and the future strip it of any further pertinence. That which the institutions of this region lack, of the popular elements, they are fast receiving. /?2^er-mediates are rapidly passing away, and m-mediates taking their places. That reverence for constitutions and laws, which has existed among the people from the time when king craft and priestcraft first bound them in statutory chains, tUl the nineteenth century, notwithstanding that in their name the most flagrant of wrongs have been perpetrated against those for whose good they ought to have been designed, is now fast disappearing. And as this vanishes, the Chinese waUs that have hedged in ambitious and unprin cipled rulers, and protected them fi'om popular indignation, are tumbling about their heads, and proclaiming that henceforth there is no safety for them but in Right and and Justice. And all this is well. No one, I trust, wUl suppose that I stand here to excuse the disregard of laws, or justify infractions of constitutions. HappUy, in this land, there are orderly remedies for aU grievances under either the fundamental or the statute law. If the latter do not attain the just ends of legislation, repeal, or amend tUl it shaU. If the 32 former, which answered its purpose in an earlier state of society, and when extended over smaller numbers of people, is insufficient for present wants, remodel, or subr stitute it whoUy by another. What meets my approba tion, and what I rejoice at, is, that "the sanctity of the law" is a departing sentiment: for this sentiment has hedged in abuses, of the grossest character, fi'om time immemorial; and the wonder now should be, not that it has had its day, but that that day has endured so long. The form of the law is but ink and parchment: why reverence iti The spirit of the law is aU that is worthy of regard: and if this be evil, exorcise it at once; if it be good, it has a self-sustaining power that wUl preserve it, and secure its ultimate triumph, though erring reason may at times place it under ban. The history of mankind does not show that govern ments have been too Uttle respected by the people. On the contrary, it shows that they have been too much re spected; that the people have been patient, when pa tience was no longer a virtue — that they have submitted, when they ought to have resisted — that they have up held, when they should have overthrown. And all this, through a feeUng of reverence, carefully inculcated at all times, for what has so often been without anything rev erential in its character. Why this deep regard for that which, in its very nature, is always of today and yester day, and never, if man be progxessive, of tomorrow 1 May I ask. What is Government ? and detain you a moment, while I seek for the reply ? The first definition that occurs to me, which is at once simple and comprehensive, is, that Government is Rule — 33 a rule — a set of rules, under which men agree to exist — to Uve together in communities, states, nations. As thus defined, Government has three distinct elements : form, which is its ink and parchment ; principles, which are its vital spuit, and the parent of parties, into which they project themselves ; and men, who are at the same time its object and its motive powers : its object, because it was instituted for them ; its motive powers, because it was instituted by them, and can be traced back only to them, and has no other permanent stimulant or sus tainer of its vital spirit, which but for them would depart firom it If this analysis be correct, as I think it is, man must necessarUy be stationary, or Government must necessarUy be progressive. But that man is not stationary, the in stincts of his nature, the aspirations of his soul, the his tory of his Ufe upon earth, all abundantly show. Neither, then, is Government, in its nature, stationary : because it is of man and for man, and before him or after him is not. In some form, and for a purpose definite and clear, it was yesterday, and answered its end. Today the vital spirit, its principles, and the motive powers, its men, having out grown and advanced beyond the necessities of yesterday, need, demand, and wUl have, a correspondent growth and advance in their institutions. Tomorrow, the old has de parted — the new is here — the need has been supplied — and aU is weU. Man and Government again go on to gether — both harmonious, both progressive. Why, aU this being so, do we find progressive move ments exciting alarm in so many breasts ? Why is it that change is so resolutely opposed ? Why, I agaiji ask, 3 34 is a respect, amounting almost to sanctity, so studiously inculcated, for that which in its very nature, as I think I have shown, is always of today and yesterday, and never of tomorrow ? It can only be, because the origin and na ture of Government are not understood. Among the pro blems to be worked out, during the next half century, on the ground which the last half century has opened and prepared for the occupancy and advancement of man, this is one. With this opposition to change, too — this resistance of progressive tendencies • — are often heard the most earnest and even mournful deprecations of Party. For one, I have no fears of parties, if the school be but kept open, and the pulpit perform honestly and zealously its appropriate office. Let them organize — one,, two, three — as many as have a good and Uving principle to cluster around. If I am true to myself, they wUl not harm me : if I am false to any man, and suffer thence, I can have no just cause of complaint And what is true of me, is true of aU. I regard Party, indeed, as of the very es sence of Freedom, and acknowledge no incompatibUity whatever between the loftiest patriotism and the firmest partizanship. Let us look into this thought a little deeper. Society exists, and is under certain laws established for its welfare. These laws are its rules of action, and make themselves felt through what is called Government. In operation, this government, which in itself is nothing but an abstraction — the parchment and ink of which I have spoken — assumes a distinctive, concrete, individual form. In the hands of bad administrators, it overlooks some 35 laws, and transcends the power conferred upon it by others. A portion of the people — a part of this society — de clare, for certain specified reasons, that the administrators are dishonest, that they do not exercise their authority so as to secure the general welfare, that the Government is made to oppress instead of bless them. They league together, and thus become a Party. They embody and unite their reasons, and these reasons become their Principles. Now, without the Party, where is the vitaUty of the Principles ? What can they do in their original character of simple reasons ? They are mere abstrac tions — almost without form — equally without power. StUl, they are Principles ; but Principles without Parties, having no active strength with which to effect change, are matters of contempt, or, if not so, can be crushed under the heel of Government in a moment. But, give them the embodiment and strength of party adoption and enforcement, and Government at once feels their power, denies their correctness, and organizes its forces to dispute their establishment and prevent the changes at which they aim. Here, then, is another Party, with reasons for its organization, which are its prin- ples. Now, notwithstanding that these latter reasons have already an embodiment and power, springing as they do from the Government, and supported as they are by the authority and patronage of its administrators, stiU, what would they be, wherein would consist their strength to resist the calm, deliberate, unfaltering assaults of the principles that have declared against them, without taking the form, and receiving the life and vigor, of Party? 36 They would be swept before the contending force, as stub ble before the flame. It is one of the glories of the Christian dispensation, that it quickened the. seeds of Party, and brought with it the elements of civU and religious Uberty. Out of these, chiefly, has grown an instrumentaUty of human freedom, second only to Christianity itself, in its power to promote the fuU development of man. This instru mentaUty is the Representative Principle: a principle not first perceived under Christianity, nor first appUed on the American Continent; but one to which Christianity alone has given fuU scope, and of which the American Continent only has witnessed the fi:ee and enlarged appUcation. This principle is so unportant, that without hyperbole it may be caUed the lever of civUization. By it man can upturn the old at wUl, and make way for the new. Through its operation, every new truth that he may evolve, every new vktue that he may practice, every new sentiment of humanity that may spring up in his breast, every new feature of progress that may be discerned in the great profound of Thought, can be as instantaneously reflected fi:om his political institutions, as the stars that come out upon the sky, one by one, yet a multitudinous host, beautfful and holy in then- light, are reflected fi'om the dewdrop, the lake, the ocean beneath. With this great principle, appUed in its fuUness and upheld m its purity, institutions are but the periodical embodiments of the spUit of progress— the seen forms of felt convic tions — the minutes made, as it were, in the proceedings of the Great Convention of Mankind upon Earth. 37 As profounder truths are perceived, and a higher sentiment of reverence for God and his works animates the soul and directs the Ufe of man, the Representative Principle gives to his institutions a new form and a new expression. Thus the people are seen in their institu tions, as they ought to be; and thus, as the aspects of the people vary, the reflection changes in the institutions, and both move forward together, forever harmonious. But from aU this, let it not for a moment be supposed that I look upon the great Experiment in Humanity of which I have spoken, as something that is to be made, most especially as something that is to succeed, in the midst of party turbulence and dishonesty, in the face of ever-fluctuating poUcies, and in the presence of capri cious changes of institutions, that leave nothing certain, nothing quiet, nothing secure. With or without parties, there can be no real devel opment or progress, whUe turbulence and dishonesty inflame men's minds and destroy their confidence. Lines of poUcy, be they good or bad, must necessarUy have their day, in which to show their fuU bearings, and what there is in them, or they wUl be recurred to again and again, by those who had faith in them, and who wUl never be satisfied or quieted tUl they shaU have had reasonable trial.* Institutions of government, above aU, must have time to perform the work for which they are estabUshed. Capricious changes, for insufficient causes, are not to be permitted. When the people advance beyond, or faU behind, the point in human or national * See note F. 38 progress occupied when certain institutions first go into operation among them, change is legitunate, is necessary, and should be sought and made. There are, then, absolute things, representiag positive facts: changes in institutions, because there have been changes in the people out of whom those institutions grew, and over whom they were extended: new rules, adapted to and reflecting new conditions. AU this is reasonable, phUosophical, and in strict accordance with the laws which I have endeavored to develop. The institutions of government, and the prin,- ciples of parties, are necessarUy, fi'om the very nature of things, not of a day, but of an epoch. The changes that occur in the progress of nations, rendering things appU- cable and indispensable at one time, inapplicable and dispensable at another, are results wrought out with the gradual march of civUization, or the rapider movement of decadence, and do not belong to the " conclusions " that are sometimes "jumped at " in worldly affairs. WhUe, therefore, we are compelled to deny to human governments, and the principles that arise under them, everything in the nature of perpetuality, we are equally compeUed to insist on reasonable stability y or aU is confii- sion : such stabUity, however, as promotes, instead of re tarding, spiritual development and social progress. The new and glorious Experiment in Humanity, then, commences here, on the broad fields of the North West, which I have depicted — under Christianity, with that great agent, the Representative Principle, in the abiding faith that Progress is the order of man through the design of God. 39 The faith I have that the Progress of which I speak is here to be made, not in a day, or a generation, but in a period of time commensurate with a mighty work, if men be but true to the requirements of their nature, and to their convictions of right, and faU not in their aUegiance to the Supreme Disposer of aU events, is not a heart-sick fancy or a bUnd beUef. It does not lean for support upon the crutch of " Manifest Destiny," nor yet trust to a Ught in the hands of that great but unsafe guide about which the world has recently heard so much, the " Anglo-Saxon." It depends upon conditions clear, sufficient, and absolute, the observance or disregard of which wUl just as surely bring about its success or faUure, as the observance or disregard of the laws of mechanism wUl eventuate in the success or the faUure of any great piece of machinery — the clock, or the printing press, or the steam engine. We have aU been cognizant of those terrible scenes of havoc which occur on the western rivers, and in an instant of time spread death and desolation aU around. They are called variously "eoUapsing of flues," "bursting of boU- ers," "breaking of steampipes," etc.; but no matter by what name they are known, they are just as clearly traceable to some neglect, in either the manufacturer, the inspector, or the engineer, of the laws of heat, expansion, resistance, as the rays of Ught that fUl our streets when the night closes dark around us, are trace able to the iron posts that stand by the kerbstones here and there, or as the aeriform fluid that becomes Ught at the points of the burners upon the top of those posts, is traceable to the gas manufactory that stands on the bank of the river. 40 So we have aU been witnesses of the buUding of that massive structure in the central part of this city, which is known as The Cathedral. We saw the earth excavated to make place for its foundations. We saw the rocks quarried fi:om the hUlsides, and hauled down upon the plain, of which those foundations consist Then we saw the large blocks of Umestone, which were brought fi:om the distance of sixty mUes in the interior, put down upon the site of the buUding. And since then we have seen them laid, block by block, tier above tier, tUl the buUding has become the most striking piece of masomy in our city. Within the past season it sent up the lower part of its massive shaft ; within the next we may hope to see the columns arise that are to give it comeUness and finish. But incomplete as it is, it has been a work of long toU. And there it stands, whether it shaU finaUy be admired for its beauty, or condemned for its archi tecture, a plain, sufficient, absolute evidence of one thing: a strict observance of the square, the circle, the paraUelogram, the octagon, of aU the laws of Geometry, and, with them, of the laws of the mechanical powers. Had there been no such observance of those laws, the heavy oblong blocks of stone that now form its sides, and the symmetrical piUars that in part constitute its tower, instead of being where they are, would stUl lie in the quarry firom which they were taken. And had there been no such observance of the laws of geometry, the earth might have been excavated, and the stone placed upon the ground, and the long and hard toU that has been performed gone through with, and yet that buUding would not have gone up. A pUe of stone and mortar 41 might have been erected, in which a Pagan would be wiUing to sacrifice to his visible idol, or his imaginary God; but not a structure that either Christian or Jew would dignify with the name of Temple, or consent to enter for the purpose of worship. So with the great experiment of Christian Man, which I beUeve is to be made here, chiefly, in the north-east ernmost part of this Inland VaUey. It is an experiment, controUed by laws as clear and absolute as those which govern the movements of the steam engine, or the erection of the Christian temple. And the condition of its success or faUure, is the observance or the disregard of those laws. Chance wUl never operate the engine, though human ingenuity construct and adjust its different parts ever so nicely. Chance wUl never erect the temple, though the materials for it be brought upon the ground, and human sinews be tasked to their utmost for countless years. So neither wUl chance conduct to great and glorious issues, the experiment here to be made — here now commenced. "Anglo-Saxonism," I admit, is the greatest of all the isms — and many of them I beUeve to be great, sneered at though they may be, and are : but "Anglo-Saxonism" is only an element of success — an agent in the great work here to be achieved — and an element and agent, too, terrible under wrong direction, and almost as much to be dreaded as prized. Under control, it may become to this great experiment in Man hood, what the weU-regulated steam engine is to the steamboat: but left to itseff, trusted in too much, it wUl as certainly lay the whole in ruins, as wUl the engine when the inteUigence of man is withdrawn fi:om its care. 42 "Mamfest Destiny," also, is a great thing; the greatest of aU the destinies, in that it shows itself, is ''manifest," whUe other destinies are hidden: but there are eternal truths that Ue beyond it, to which it must be made subordinate — which are its Ught, its guiding-stars, its conditions of success. ControUed by these, it inspires the soul of man, fortUies his heart, strengthens his arm — invigorates, exalts, fires his whole nature. But relied upon unpUcitly, as in itself conducting to mighty ends, it is a bUnd guide to the bUnd. Unchain it, and it wUl start off with a movement of unequaled majesty and strength. But soon the shadows gather upon its way, and close around it dark and dread. StUl it moves on — but where? — where? Start the majestic locomotive on one of the great raUways of the age — let it be perfect in all its parts, and endow it with the greatest motive power that is possible — withdraw the engineer when the sun goes down, that he may take his rest. With what majesty it moves ! "Man ifest Destiny" has not superior grandeur. How mighty is its strength! "Anglo-Saxonism" even roight cower at its approach. And see! what momentum it gathers, as it passes away — away, beyond the sight! But the dusk is coming down — the black night now gathers over it — stUl on and on it moves, swifter and swifter, further and further, and all is weU. But here is uneven land — the track diverges — a sudden curve presents itself, and the brakes are not manned! Majestically, mightUy, wonder- fiiUy, it winds around the base of that hUl. There is no eye to see it, save its own; but thus it is done: done in that deep darkness, with none to direct — none to 43 control! And aU is safe. What a triumph of human genius and skUl! Surely man is a god, thus to create and endow! But yonder, accident or design has placed an obstruction, and there is no one to sound the alarm. In an instant it is reached — and hark! There is a crash — a terrible leap of the huge monster — an explo sion that shakes the earth, and wakes the echoes of the lone forest and the deep midnight! And now the hard hoofs of the mighty animal paw the startled ground — its iron horns gore the opposing bank — it rears, pitches, foams with rage — it heaves a last groan, faUs over on its side, shivers, and is sUent — a dread wreck, amid the darkness into which it had hastened alone, without guidance, without control. And this types, better than anything else of which I can conceive, that "Manifest Destiny" about which so much is heard, and in which so many profess faith, if it be not subjected to the moral laws that may govern it — if it be not steadUy and carefuUy watched — if those whose business it is to use it for wise ends, to direct it to great issues, retire from their vigUs, either when the sun is low or when it is high, that they may take their rest. And now — What, specificaUy, are the conditions of success with the great experiment in Humanity that is here to be made? To an inteUigent view, they must be of a twofold nature — material, and moral. One of the first and most important of them, is entirely physical. It presupposes the existence of a territory of sufficient extent for so grand an experiment, having in and upon and under its soU, aU that the physical wants of man 44 shaU require, and being amply supplied with natural outlets, with avenues- of interior commerce, and with aU fecUities for production, manufacture, and trade. Then the proper clunatic influences must exist — and then a population must be present commensurate with the mag nitude of an experiment so stupendous and so beautiful. After this, the condition is very simple. It is only that, to the great field of labor thus provided by the bounty of Providence, human inteUigence, industry, and skiU, shall be perseveringly, wisely, and faithfully appUed. As to the first point, the territory which I have marked out as the North-West, contains an area greater in extent, by nearly one hundred thousand square mUes, than the combined area of the territories of aU Italy, France, England, Belgium, and HoUand. With an outlet to the Gulf of Mexico Uke the lower Mississippi — with a river like the upper Mississippi coursing through its western margin, entirely across from its north to its south line — with a river like the Ohio winding along its south ern margin from near its eastern to near its western boundary — with sheets of water on its northern border like Lake Michigan and Lake Erie — and with an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean Uke the river and gulf of the St. Lawrence, it is unnecessary to expatiate about channels of commerce. They are here, and their superiors are not to be found in any simUar extent of country in the world; And to any one who knows, as aU of you do, how numerous are the smaUer streams that course this territory in aU directions, how rich the soU is through which they run, how exhaustless is the wood that clothes the land everywhere, and how far beyond computation are 45 the mineral treasures that Ue just beneath the surface, equally unnecessary is it to undertake to show, that here are all the facUities for production, manufacture, and trade — all that the physical wants of man can require, though the hUls and vaUeys of the North-West should become as thickly peopled as were those of Judea when the Saviour walked with his Disciples, and though it should take eighteen and a half centuries more to complete the grand cycle from the birth of Christ to the fuU and final establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. That the climatic influences of this region are such as favor production, invite emigration and settlement, and promise a dense population, I think I showed so satisfac- torUy in the early part of this discourse, as to render unnecessary any further argument upon that point. If the past be any criterion at all by which to judge of the future, or if cUmatic influences be only half that I claim for them, there can be no doubt whatever that this region is to possess the numbers, to try that great experiment in Humanity which I think is here to be made. In Europe, Belgium has a population of three hundred and twenty-three persons to the square mUe. Take this ratio, and apply it to the five hundred thousand square mUes of which the North-West consists : and what popula tion wUl that give for this region? One hundred and sixty- one mUUons five hundred thousand, precisely! Or take the much lower ratio of France, which is one hundred and sixty-seven persons to the square mUe, and what does that give as a future population for this region? Even that gives eighty-three mUUons five hundred thousand. But a fairer measure than either, of the capacity of the 46 North-West to sustain numbers, wUl be found by taking the mean of Belgium, France, England, HoUand, and Italy.* These several countiies have an aggregate terri torial superficies more than four fifths as large as that of the North-West, and present various points to justify the taking of the measure of their present population as that of our prospective population. The mean average num ber of inhabitants to the square mUe, in those five countries, is two hundred and fifty-two. Taking them thus together, no one wiU pretend that they have any natural qualities, by which they can sustain more persons to the square mUe than can be sustained in the several states of our North-West, taking these aU together. Measuring the future population of this region, then, by the present popu- tion of those countries, what is it to be? One hundred and twenty-six mUUons! Nothing less. The great physical condition, then, upon which I have risked the success of the experiment, seems perfect. We have found the extent and character of territory required; we have found the food and clothing; we have found the materials and the means of manufacture, the channels of trade, the climatic influences; we have found aU that the physical wants of man can require; and, finaUy, we have found the men. That they wUl neglect to apply, to this magnificent heritage, perseveringly, wisely, and faithfuUy, theU best intelUgence, industry, and skiU, there is no reason to suppose. On the contrary, the physiological influences of the different currents of blood that run mingling in their veins, the incentives to exertion, the high rewards of toU, all the facts of then- history, and aU * See note G. 47 the circumstances that wUl surround them, go so directly to strengthen the probabUities that they wUl give the best energies of their nature to this great field of labor, as to carry those probabiUties so near to a clear certainty, that no argument upon the point is needed. The moral conditions of success in the battle which man is here, to wage against Selfishness, and Hate, and Passion' — against aU forms of arbitrary Power and all shapes of ingulphing Sin — are many. The chief of them, however, are so simple, so clear, so easUy compre hended, that he who runs may read and understand them. They are — FideUty to convictions of Right; a faithfiil discharge of Duty in aU the relations of Ufe; Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Love. To observe these conditions, man has much, not to learn, but to unlearn. Ere he can act with fideUty to his convictions of right, he must forget the art of compromising, either with his conscience, his party, or his creed. That which, after he has used in its examination all the powers of his reason and all the feelings of his heart, stands up before him as the right, to him is right, no matter what it may be to another. If he suffers himself to be driven from it by his party, or his church, he is a coward; if he seeks to please another, and to satisfy his own conscience, at the same time, by surrendering half and retaining half, he is untrue to aU whom it may affect, and untrue to principle; if he carelessly abandon it, he is worse stUl, for then he is false to himself, and false to his Maker who gave him instincts, and reason, and a fi'ee wUl, for use. He who is untrue to others, may be pitied for his 48 weakness or his sin; but for hun who is untrue to himseff, who suffers his convictions to sleep, who aban dons the right to its fate, there is no measure of contempt too great. The faithful discharge of Duty in the different rela tions of Ufe, viewed simply as a phUosophical problem, would seem to be one of easy solution. Looked at in this way. Duty is merely the observance of certain obUgations, some of which are assumed voluntarUy by the individual, others of which are imposed by society for the general good, and acquiesced in by the individual because he finds it more convenient to discharge them than to disregard them. Those obligations which he assumes voluntarUy, it is supposed, of course, he is prepared to discharge wUUngly: those that are imposed by society, and only acquiesced in by him, he is bound to discharge so long as he acquiesces, and no longer. In repudiating them, however, unless with the consent of the imposing power, it is incumbent upon him either to remove himseff, voluntarUy, beyond the society in which they are discharged by others, or quietly to submit to the penalties declared for their nonobservance. Without this, there can be no peaceful and prosperous organization of society; and with this, society must concede to the individual the privUege of seeking redress, for the things which he esteems a grievance, in all lawfiil ways, even to the entire abrogation of the usages in which he has acquiesced. This view of Duty is simple, comprehensive, and clear. The discharge of the obligations of Iffe, under it, is plain and easy, but attainable only by unlearning the 49 lessons of the nursery, the head-strong practices of youth, and the settled habits that now so commonly characterize mature years. What man voluntarUy undertakes to do, he must be supposed to understand: what society requires him to do, it is bound to make plain. Here the excuse that springs fi:om doubt is taken away, and the obligations of Iffe must either be promptly discharged, or openly disregarded. For anything Uke a contra-distinguishing description of the two classes of obligations, the volun tary and the imposed, I have not now time; nor have I, to present practical examples of the faithful discharge of the one, or of obedience or resistance to the other. Before the inculcations of Truth, the sense of Justice, the quaUty of Mercy, and the beauty of Love, can exert upon human character and social institutions their legit imate influences, man has also much to unlearn. It is not from ignorance of the obligations which these impose, that falsehood, and oppression, and cruelty, and hate, blacken and embitter Iffe — making solitary the ways that should be lighted by beaming eyes and lined with happy faces — bringing the discords of heU where should be heard only the angeUc music of heaven echoing from human hearts; but from a too affluent knowledge — a knowledge of evU that has become a habit, a habit that has grown to be an overshadowing presence, a presence that chUls, darkens, and excludes Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Love. It is not now, as it was in earUer and darker ages, when the knowledge of good came to men tardUy, and in uncertain gleams. Truth then had to struggle through the mists of error and superstition, and came in momen- 4 50 tary flashes, now from this direction and anon fi-om that, as the light of stars struggles down to earth when the sky is over-clouded, through the openings that are made for a moment, now in one part of the heavens and now in another. In the day in which the lot of the living is cast, there is poured upon the minds and hearts of men, from the sacred pages of the Book of God, one perpetual stream of Truth, as bright and constant as the flood of Ught which the sun pours upon the earth. And whUe, of old, the scattered rays of Light from the Eternal Source, were reflected dimly from a few objects, now the Encom passing Glory is flashed every moment fi-om milUons of guttering points: for the printing press has taken the place of the priest, and the steamboat and the locomotive perform the old offices of the "beast of burden." It is not so much, then, the knowledge of good that is to be learned now, as it is the knowledge of evil that is to be unlearned. We, who contrast the steamship or the packet of our day with the "ship of Alexandria," in which the Apostle Paul "saUed slowly many days;" we, who compare the means of transportation now possessed with anything known to a previous age; we, who look in vain, in the past of aU tune, for that which may be presented as an equivalent for the locomotive, or the electric telegraph; we, who have the printing press, and contend that the ancient worid, before the flood or after the flood, had no agent of civiUzation at aU comparable to this; we, who deny the sufficiency of the evidence which is often presented, in support of the claim that the lost arts of 51 past centuries at all equal in number or importance the arts now known and practiced; have an abiding faith, that all progress is not material progress. We see in the constant struggles of man for a truer fi-eedom and a higher Iffe, evidence of an indwelling power to achieve and enjoy them. We see in the gradual but certain spread of Gospel Truth, and the paling of the sacrificial fires of Paganism before its light, indications too strong to be resisted, that through the mission of Christ the nations of all the earth are yet to come to a knowledge of the True God. We see in the weak governments of Asia and the tottering thrones of Europe, ^'the beginning of the end" of countless ages of oppression. We see in the mighty stream of humanity that pours unceasing from the shores of the Old World to the shores of the New, evidences that here is to be made the next great advance in the political and spiritual freedom of man. And on this continent we behold such a continuous march toward the immediate region of country which we have had under view, as to indicate this as the chosen land of the new experiment — the brUUant center from which are to radiate the glorious beams of a truer civUization than has yet blessed the hopes of man. AU this, my friends, may be called a delusion — beautfful and dazzUng, but unsubstantial as a dream. Contemplating, with the fuU strength of my mind, the purposes of God in the creation of man — recollecting, as they have faUen upon my heart fi-om the inspired volume, the promises of the Saviour — looking back along the course of authentic history, and scanning weU its admitted truths, I see everything to strengthen my hope, and but 52 ittle to shake my faith. To reaUze this great hope, tiowever, those who possess it must trust to no vaunted iestiny — must lean on no pre tensive ism. On the bright aages of revealed truth, in the thick tomes of written phUosophy, beside the long, broad track of the world's listory, nothing is more plainly written, than that man must depend upon himseff. His days are few, it is true, md his arm is feeble; but the Voice that spake to Moses i-om the burning bush, stUl echoes from the hUls of ludea, where it spake again from a human form; and ihe Light that came out of Nazareth, and shone to all ;he world, is stUl with the sons of man — a greater guide ;han the pUlar of cloud and the pUlar of fire. Men may turn from that Voice, to the flattering voice of destiny, md rush madly to ruin, even whUe they listen; or they (nay avert their eyes from that calm, steady Light, and ix them upon the flaming ism that blazes for its day, md perish with it in the darkness that succeeds. Not 30 with those who listen to that Voice, and walk in the -adiance of that Eternal Light — trusting, after this, each ;o the freedom of his own soul, the might of his own arm, md the power of his own wUl. Human ingenuity is finiitful in expedients to reform ihe world. One scheme seeks to do it by a sort of poUtico- )hysiological sUding scale, which shaU prevent people i-om coming into the world faster than there is just so nuch food ready for them to eat, just so much clothing ¦eady for them to wear, and just so much work ready for ihem to do — whUe another scheme expects to attain the lame end, in part at least, by preventing people from 53 going out of the world, when they have forfeited the right to curse society longer with their presence and then- crimes, through an abolition of the death penalty. A third scheme seeks to cure the evUs of the world, by a new order of society, laid off with the precision of a geo metrical showplate, by the aid of the mental rule and compass, into orders, spheres, harmonies, sections, and other divisions and subdivisions almost numberless — whUe a fourth would destroy all society, by an abrogation of aU government. A fifth scheme looks to an " organi zation of labor," in opposition to combinations of capital, as the grand moral and social panacea — whUe a sixth would cure aU iUs by a general division of property, brought about through the enactment into law of " a new and poUte method of robbing one's neighbors." In most of these schemes, now, as weU as in others which modern phUanthropy has suggested, I recognize a humane spirit, and a sincere desire to do good. There are few of them, indeed, which do not possess curative qualities. The leading difficulty with them is, it seems to me, first that they do not carefully enough calculate how much man has to unlearn of the past, before they can be adapted to his present condition ; and, second, that they attempt too much, and faUing to accomplish what they have led the world to look for, bring themselves into irre trievable discredit. And then, as they are successively abandoned, for the time, or lingeringly die out, a univer sal hiss bursts from the livid and quivering lips of fast- anchored Conservatism, in the pauses of which can be distinguished the words "enthusiasts," "infidels," "dupes," '' roadmen," and the Uke. 54 But a true Progressive Spirit never quaUs before this uproar, as it never shrinks from the duty of trying again. It sees ignorance, and poverty, and suffering aU around — it sees the able body and the wiUing soul struggUng in a darkness and a sorrow that overwhelm both — it sees man a hard taskmaster, and his brother an unwUUng sei- vant; and these things it seeks to change. And change them it wUl, in the fullness of its time, and under the guidance of God, ff man wUl only dare to be himself, — ff he wUl only act truly from his own impulses — ff he wiU only obey the dictates of his own heart and the suggestions of his own reason — ff he wiU only have, the firmness to stand alone, and the boldness to proclaim the right and the duty of isolation — ff he wUl only assert and maintain that the Indi vidual man,as such, is something more and something better than the absorbed member of a clique, a party, or a church. He must guard, however, against what is roanffestly one of the weaknesses, and I fear one of the sins, of our day : the pride of being ranked as a Reformer. Names make not things, though things wUl make themselves names. He must guard, also, against the weakness of favoring every scheme of reform- as a seheme of good. And, above all, he must close the avenues to his ears and bis heart, against that puUng cry of phUanthropy, which now spreads upon every breeze. Many a good word reaches us aU, from the pulpit and the press, from the fo rum and the legislative hall — many a good word for the masses of mankind. But with them aU comes many " a poisonous distUlment " — many an utterance which is but the breath of ambition, the coinage of selfishness. We must none of us forget that once "there was a day whea 55 the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them." Nor must we cease for one moment to remember, that at another time, of the Twelve who sat at meat with the Saviour, one was Judas, " who also betiayed him." Of the want of that bold, distinct, individual charac ter, which I insist man must attain before he can be true either to others or to himseff, examples are afforded us every day, in the servUity with which men suffer their minds to be shackled by their church, and their minds and bodies both to be yoked and driven about by their parties. Of the absence of a strong, controUing, practical character, in most of the schemes of reform brought before the world, examples abundant have been furnished, in the signal faUures of those that have been tried in our own couur try, as weU as in Europe. Of the want of adaptation in these schemes, to the condition of things now existing, or the want of preparation of men for the application of the schemes, examples are afforded almost every day. Two presented themselves within the past winter here in our own North-West : one of them at St. Louis, where the ironmolders struck for higher wages, and stood out ; the other at Pittsburgh, where the puddlers quit work because their employers, under what they thought a condition of absolute necessity, reduced their wages. In both cities, there were loud complaints about the tyranny of com bined capital — the oppressions of the poor by the rich, etc., in all which there was doubtless much truth ; but what good did their everlasting talk about it do ? and their processions, resolutions, and disturbances ? The strikers, especially in Pittsburgh, were long idle — their 56 famUies suffering, their blood getting up to fever heat, and they themselves becoming tyrannical, by interfering with those who were wUUng to work at the old wages untU better could be obtained : yet they did not take the first step toward bettering their condition — to ward escaping permanently from the "tyranny of com bined capital" of which they complained, or bracing themselves up manfully to resist the "oppression" from which they suffered. All was talk, parade, threat, and idleness, untU, in Pittsburgh, other puddlers were brought from abroad, and employed, when the city became for several days the scene of most disgraceful riots, — women, the wives and mothers of the strikers, being more con spicuous in them than men, — for the suppression of which its whole police force was found to be necessary.* Both of these cases, now, it seems to me, are provided for, had the men been prepared for its reception and application, by one of the schemes of reform to which I have referred: that whieh seeks to counterpoise the influence of combined capital in the social scale, by the power of combined inteUigence and muscle. This scheme is caUed "The Organization of Labor;" and a test of its practical value is now making at the little town of Indus try, on the northern bank of the Ohio river, twelve mUes below Cincinnati, which I hope, and believe, is to meet with entire success. Another test of its value, as appU- cable to a different branch of labor, is making in Boston; whUe in New York the journeymen of several of the mechanical branches have recently combined their skUl * See note H, 57 and industry against the capital and machinery of then- late employers, and are now their own employers: pur chasing the raw material, working it up, and selling the manufactured articles for their own profit, instead of selUng their labor for the profit of others. This scheme of reform commends itself to all friends of the laboring masses, by its strong common sense, its practical method, and its easy appUcabUity to a numerous class of indus trial occupations. It has the vigor of a manly thought at its foundation, and must stand, ff those who seek to avaU themselves of its advantages continue true, each to himself and to his associates. This scheme for the "Organization of Labor," so far as I am informed, is the first practical Idea, among all the panaceas of modern prescription, that has yet clothed itself in the muscles and sinews of a healthy action. I bid it Godspeed! — for I have faith in its virtue. It is Saul among the embattUng hosts of the Israel of Re form — head and shoulders above any other scheme that has yet come to my knowledge, for promoting the inde pendence and lessening the evUs of the laboring masses. It gives a broad and solid basis for one substantial hope of a better day for the miUions. But there are many such hopes. The most stubborn moral or political wheelhorse to be found in any church or any party in the land, wUl not abuse the evidence of his senses so much, as to deny the material progress of the world. And Material Progress can be nothing but the outward manffestation of an inward truth — the visible correspondence of Spiritual Progress. This it is, and nothing else : Just as Christ, in his beautiful nature 58 and his holy Iffe, was the material correspondence of the spUitual Word: Just as the Universe, with aU its magnificence, and might, and glory, is the visible corre spondence of the invisible God. And material progress being thus spUitual progress, who can compare the Past and the Present, and be without a high and confident hope of the Future? On the Literature of this age alone, may such a hope be buUt Never before was there a literature Uke this — so pervaded by the beautifiil and the true — so informed of the inner Iffe of man — so responsive to the harmonious chords of the eternal spkit. It is pre-eminently the Literature of Humanity — speaking to and from the common heart, as never spake the literature of a past age. Leaving fabled gods and goddesses to wage, as they list, their wars of lust, and rapine, and revenge; leaving scarcely less fabled heroes to dare the strffe of ocean and escape fi:om the seductive wUes of imaginary Calypsos as they may; leaving adventurous bards and lecherous princes to shift for themselves, as best they can, among the awful shades and the circling fires of the Inferno ; it seeks its themes in the world about us, and carries to the doubting mind, the agonized heart, and the crushed spirit, the words of truth, and consolation, and hope. No home of man is so high or so low, but it will pass the threshold and deliver its message of good. It carries a Ught where before was darkness; and where was the barrenness of desolation, there it plants the flowers of peace and joy. The true man is assured by its les sons, and the false man is goaded by its rebuking spirit untU he purges himself of his sin. The strong man is 59 taught by it to extend his band to his faUen brother, and the weak man rises nerved by its cheering tones, and goes forth with an assured heart and a firm step. But the whole earth is sick of the wrongs of the Past; and from every heart that sits in the shadow of a deep sorrow, fi-om every soul that is denied the light and the Uberty that belong to it, from every nature that has in it one spark of the celestial fire of an angeUc spirit, goes out a cry for change : and with this, from every battlefield where man pom-s out his blood for freedom, fi'om every assemblage in the broad world that is animated by a feeling of simple justice, fi'om every spot of earth where one individual being, be he a chUd of God or a chUd of the devU, turns his back upon old delusions, rends the shackles of hoar Authority, and proclaims himself A man, rises up a hope for the Future. In our own land only, however, is that mightier influence than the sword, that more potent agent even than the press, the Representative Principle, at work in its fuU propor tions and its undisguised strength, for the good of manldnd. And here only, where poUtical institutions are a reflex of the people, and where, as the people become more and more enUghtened, and more and more influential, that reflex character must become more and more perfect, can an inteUigent and a reasonable hope be now indulged, of the Progress of Man. Changes in institutions are demanded; and changes must be had. But here, where constitutions and laws are but the spoken and recorded wUl of the people, such changes are not to be dreaded, as they may be in coun- 60 tries where the wreck of "the divine right of kings" has stUl left the people with masters, and where the overthrow o'f one of these only makes room for another, and per haps worse. The Christian dispensation brought to man, anew, the elements of spUitual and poUtical freedom, and promised him deliverance. Eighteen centuries roUed away, and in spite of long ages of superstition, and abused power, and gaUing wrong, those elements formed them selves into that great instrumentality of fireedom of which I have spoken, the Representative Principle; and on a new continent, afar from the seats of old error, this great and only guaranty of CivU Liberty was given to man in its perfection. Here it is to perform its nussion, and prepare the way for something higher and better stUl. Man may abuse it, as he has abused every "good and perfect gift," but God wUl preserve it nevertheless, tUl it work out the great problems for which it was given. But let us hope that he wUl not abuse it, and bring himself to shame. And here, in this beautfful land of the North-West, which has been given him for his inher itance while that great principle was estabUshing itself in our political institutions and maldng itseff plain to his moral perceptions, let us ivork that he may not abuse it. Let us labor to lay the foundations of institutions for the future, under which no man, of all over whom they may extend, shaU suffer wrong at the hand of his brother. But to do this, we must lean our ears to the "stUl small voice" of God, and incline our hearts to the principles and practices of his Son. We must see and recognize clearly, the conditions upon which our work wUl prosper — the laws of its success — and observe them at all times. 61 and in all places. Neither "Anglo-Saxonism," nor any other ism, wUl secure success without; neither "Manffest Destiny," nor any other destiny, wUl excuse or atone for disobedience. Why can the astronomer, surveying his field in the heavens, compute correctly the times and courses of the stars, and with unerring certainty, at any moment, point his instrument to the places of the consteUations ? Be cause they are governed by laws, which are Truth. In the same manner, ff the high moral and physical laws which are Truth to the conscience and the intellect of man, at all times influence and govern his movements, can the poUtical economist — the moral astronomer — compute the times and courses of his progress, and with unerring certainty point to the bright consteUations in his social heaven — Faith, Justice, Mercy, and Love. This is an age which, in an eminent degree, inculcates the Humanities of Lffe, and prosecutes inquiries touching the condition and prospects of man. Here and there, over the whole of Christendom, a clear voice ascends, filled with interest and hope for the masses of mankind, which at once makes sorrowful and glad the hearts of those who hear: sorrowful that there should be on earth, where there is so much that is good and beautifiil, such chUling selfishness as is witnessed, such cruel neglect, such bitter wrong; glad, that amid the degradation and suffering in which so many are overwhelmed, there are those, and not a few, who seek out the needy to help them, the weak to make them strong, the fallen to Ifft them up, and the sick, in body or in spirit, to administer heaUng and consola tion : — sorrowful, again, that man has so parted firom the 62 glory of his morning, as to find bewUdering shadows and disheartening obstructions in his way ; glad, again, that notwithstanding all doubts and discouragements, all dread realities and aU prophetic horrors, there are stUl hearts, and not a few, which hold firmly the faith that aU this is not as the good God intended — that it wUl not thus re main forever — but that the day is coming, and now dawns, in which fallen Humanity shaU rise, and break through the shadows that now encompass it, and clothe itself again in the brightness of its morning glory. But here and there, with this, goes up a voice filled with discouragement. It can recaU nothing of the past but what is dark, nor foreteU anything of the future that is not dreary and hopeless. Visiting upon man the doom that was denounced against the Serpent, it exclaims, "Upon thy beUy shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat aU the days of thy life!" It would take from the masses of mankind the hope which that better voice rekindled, and doom them to a night that has no star, and a sorrow that can see no end but in the grave. This voice, I seek not to follow into the "thick darkness and palpable inane" through which it sounds. Over the cold and barren deserts of life across which it sweeps, I trace it not. In the narrow and chUl recesses of the hearts into which it sinks and wakes an echo, I leave it to die- If it speak truly of what is to be, in the near and the far future, dear as is Truth to my soul, I do not hesitate to say. Let my eyes be sealed to its light, and my ears be barred against its entrance, tUl hope shaU be no more. Remembering the benign character of the Father of AU— caUing up, in imagination, the piUar of a cloud by 63 day and of a fire by night, with which he led his chosen people out of physical bondage and conducted them to the Land of Promise — bearing in mind that greater Messenger than the cloud by day and the fire by night, which He sent to lead, not the Jew only but also the GentUe, out of a worse than Egyptian bondage, the bondage of the soul in the toUs of sin and superstition — looking at the wonderful manner in which the Ught brought by that great Messenger was preserved through long and ingulphing ages of moral darkness, to be again a guide to the nations of the earth — seeing, since then, thickly scattered all along the path of man's history, manffold evidences of Providential care and guidance — feeUng the undjdng hope, for a higher and a truer Lffe, that has always dwelt in the human soul — knowing that the Lord God is mercfful, and liveth forever, I do not despair of a better day for man. At aU this, learned casuists may shake their heads, and cry "dupe;" cold Conservatism may hug to its bony breast the inanimate body of gone ages, and sneer at "progress;" skeptics as to good in man may trace with long and skinny fingers the dark and devious tracks of the Past, and proclaim that in them are to be the courses of the Future : it is all one. When hope dies out utterly, but not tUl then, wUl faith in the progressive capabUities of man, and the progressive tendencies of events, cease and disappear. As comes the cloud over the parched land, and the rain from the cloud — as comes the green plant out of the earth, and the flower out of the plant — as comes 64 the bu'd with the springtime, and the song with the bird — so, it is my faith, wUl yet come to man the full love of the Creator, and with it the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. NOTES. A. PAGE 13. The territorial extent of each of the eight states of the North-West, with that of Minnesota, as appears by the latest Report from the General Land Office at Washington, is as follows : Square miles. Kentucky — admitted in 1792, - 37,680 Ohio — admitted in 1802, - .... . 39,964 Indiana— admitted in 1816, 33,809 niinois — admitted in 1818, 55.405 Missouri— admitted in 1820, . 67,380 Michigan — admitted in 1837, 56.243 Iowa— admitted in 1846, 50.944 Wisconsin— admitted in 1848, - - ... 53.924 MinnesotaTerritory — erected in 1849, - - - . . 83,000 strip of Western Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, say .... 21,651 Total, - - - 500,000 The strip of Western Virginia and Western Pennsylvania here refei-red to, comprises nine counties of the former state, and thirteen counties of the latter. — See " Letters about The West, from a Citizen of Ohio," in National Era of June 14 and July 16, 1849. B. PAGE 16. A few facts will exhibit, as well as a volume, the wonderful growth of Western Trade and Commerce. Previous to the year 1800, some eight or ten keelboats, of twenty to twenty-five tons each, performed all the carrying trade between Cincin nati and Pittsburg. In 1802, the first government vessel appeared on Lake Erie. In 1811, the first steamboat (the Orleans) was launched at Pittsburg. Previous to 1817, about twenty barges, averaging one hundred tons burden, comprised all the facilities for commercial transportation between New Orleans and the country on the Ohio river as high up as Louisville and Cincinnati. Each of these boats made one trip, down and back, between those two places and New Orleans, each year. On the upper Ohio, from the FaUs to Pittsburg, some one hundred and fifty keelboats were employed about 1815 — '17. The average size of these was thirty tons, and they occupied from six to seven weeks in making the voyage both ways. In the year 1818, the first steamboat (the TFalk-in-the-'H''ater) was built on Lake Erie. In 1819, this boat appeared in trips on Lake Huron. In 1826, the waters of Michigan were first plowed by the keel of a steamboat, a pleasure trip to Green Bay being planned and executed in the summer of this year. In 1832, a steamboat first appeared at Chicago. In 1833, nearly the entire trade of the Upper Lakes — Erie, Huron, and Michigan — was carried on by eleven small steamboats. — So much for the beginning. 66 In the year 1845, there were upon the Upper Lakes sixty vessels, including propellers, moved by steam, and three hundred and twenty sailing vessels— the former measuring twenty-three thousand tons in the aggregate, and some of the latter carrying one thousand to twelve hundred tons each. In 1846, according to official statements exhibiting "the consolidated returns of both exports and imports," the moneyed value of the commerce of the harbors of Erie was ^94,358,350 ; on Michigan, that of Chicago was $3,927,150 : total, $98,285,500. One half of this, it is supposed, would be a fair average of the net moneyed value of the commerce of these lakes for 1846, which gives $49,142,750. The average annual increase, for the five years previous, is shown by the same official documents to have been nearly eighteen per cent. Supposing it to have been but ten per cent, per annum for the four years since, will give $68,799,850 as the present net money value of the commerce of Erie and Michigan. In the year 1834, the number of steamboats on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and their tributaries, was ascertained to be two hundred and thirty, with an aggregate carrying capacity equal to thirty-nine thousand tons. In 1842, the number of boats had increased to about four hundred and fifty, and their tonnage to upward of one hundred thousand tons. At tho present time, the entire number of steamboats running on the Mississippi aud Ohio, and their tributaries, is more probably over than under six hundred, the aggregate tonnage of which is not short of one hundred and forty thousand tons : a larger number of steamboats than England can claim, and a greater steam commercial marine than that employed by Great Britain and her dependencies. (See Congressional Reports, Hall's Statistics, McCuUough's Gazetteer, etc.) In 1846, Colonel Abert, from reliable data, estimated the net value of the trade of the western rivers at $183,609,725 per year; in 1848, Judge Hall stated it at $220,000,000, in his Statistics; and while this pamphlet is passing through the press, the United States Senate have ordered a document to be printed, which estimates it at $256 233,820, for the year 1849 ! The same document puts the aggregate value of the vessels employed in this commerce, at $18,661,500. C. PAGE 18. The national census soon to be taken, -will probably show that the aggregate number of inhabitants within the boundaries of the region denominated The North-West, is nearer eight than seven millions, at this time. The last two previous enumerations, with the well-known rate of increase of this region, warrant this conclusion. The following tabular statement, indeed, shows that any other conclusion is almost impossible : Population of the five North- Western states and Michigan Territory, itt 1830, --. .-. ..... ..'2 298 390 Of the fractions of Western Virginia and Western Pennsylvania re ferred to, - . . ggg ^g^ Total population of the North-West in 1830, 2 658 471 67 Population of the six North-Western states and two territories in 1840, 4 131,370 Increase for ten years, 80 per cent. - - - - ., - 3,305,096 Population of the fractions of Western Virginia and Western Pennsyl vania, in 1840, - - . 484,113 Increase for ten years, 33)^ per cent. - - 161,371 Total population of tho North-West, in 1850, - - - 8,081,950 D. PAGE 21. The following statement shows the separate, as well as the aggregate, areas of the states of the two sections, with the population of each at the two periods named : North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, AREA SOUTH. Sq. mile/r. 45.500 . . 28;00058,000 Pop. 1800. 478.103345,591 162,101 Pop. 1840. 753.419 594,398691,392 AREA NORTH. Sq. miles. Pop. 1800. Pop. 1840. . - - 4,750 251 002 309,978, 7.252 423,245 737 699 8,000 154 465 291.948 46.000 586,756 2,428,921 47,000 602,365 1,724.033 6,851 211 949 373,306 11,000 341 548 470,019 Totals, 131,500 985,795 2,039.209 Aggregate population in the year 1800, 985,795; or nearly 7i^ to the square mile. Increase in forty years, 1,053,414; or nearly 107 per cent. Connecticut, ... Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, . - ¦ Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Totals, 130,853 2,571,330 6.335,904 Aggregate population in the year 1800, 2.571,330; or 19^ to the square mile. Increase in forty years, 3,764.574; or 146 per cent. E. PAGE 22. This quantity is obtained in the following manner : South of the parallel thirty-six degrees thirty minutes lie tho states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas — ten in all, embracing a superficial area of 755,310 square mUes. North of it lie the remaining twenty states, containing a superficial area of 635,348 square miles. But since this report was published, has been erected the territory of Minnesota, with a superficial area of 83,000 square miles. This belongs to, and swells the extent of, the northern division. One sixth of the territory set down as belonging to Texas — say 54,253 square miles, lying between the Arkansas and the Canadian 68 rivers — may, without any violence, be wrested from that connection. This taken, diminishes the extent of the southern division. Now, by adding Minnesota to the aggregate as set forth in the Land Office Report, and deducting one sixth of Texas therefrom, we have, as the entire extent of organized territory in the United States, 1,419,405 square miles: of which 701,057 is the proportion of the southern division, and 718,348 that of' the northern division. Arranged in tabular form, that they may strike the eye at a glance, these quantities present themselves as follows : Aggregate territory, in square mUes, ... ... . 1,419,405 Northern division, - - - 718,348 Southern division, ..... . . . 701,057 One half of the aggregate territory, - - - - 709,702 Northern division more than half, . . . - 8,646 Southern division less than half, 8,645 F. PAGE 25. Of the immense public domain of the United States remaining unsold and unappropriated on the 1st of January, 1847, 245,913,343 acres lay within the limits of twelve of the organized states. These states are all west of the fourth parallel of longitude west from Washington City, seven of them being north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, and five south of that line. The following table shows in the first column of figures the complete areas of these states, in the second column the amount of the public lands unsold in esich, and in the third the quantity located on bounty land warrants to the 1st of January, 1849, under the act of Februaiy 11, 1847 : Ohio, . . - Indiana, ... Illinois, . . Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, ..... Iowa, Northern division. Alabama, - Mississippi, Louisiana,Arkansas, Florida, Southern division, Totals, Complete area. Public lands. Bountij locations. 25,576 960 807 556 49,429 21,637,760 3,271,730 189 540 35,459 200 14 998,937 683,700 43,123,200 29,436,942 207.200 35 995 520 25,057,704 29.920 34 511,360 27,431,029 736,080 32,584.960 28,368,436 129.372,334 462.360 228.888,960 2 358 229 32.462,080 17,450,566 19,160 30 174 080 14 326 430 16 840 29,715,840 23.462,018 76,720 33 406,720 27,464 603 62 400 37,931.520 33.837,392 80 163,690,240 116.541,000 175,200 392,579.200 245,913,343 2.533,429 From January 1 to October 1, 1849 — nine months — an aggregate of 2 491.971 additional acres was located ; but I have not at hand the means of determining the 69 relative proportions in the two sectional divisions. This makes a total of locations, on mUitary land warrants issued since the Mexican war, amounting to 5,025,400 acres — from eight to nine tenths of which, it is fair to assume from the foregoing data, has been selected in the North-West. F. PAGE 37. A forcible illustration of the truth of this remark, is afforded by the histories of administrative measures under our National Government, and many of our State Governments. I need do nothing more than refer to the questions of the Tariff, Internal Improvements, and a United States Bank, to give an idea of how much has been lost to national prosperity, dignity, and quiet, and gained to partisan bitterness and demagogical cant, by the changing predominance of parties, which for so long a period in our history prevented either of these great measures of policy from remaining settled long enough to vindicate its claims to general respect and confidence, or to show that it was neither promotive of the welfare of the people, nor necessary to our national development. A United States Bank has been declared by high authority, and, indeed, now is, "an obsolete idea;" but the question of extending governmental aid to objects of internal improvement, is yet an open one ; and the policy of protecting against European competition, and thus promoting objects of domestic industry, after having been discussed every year for nearly a halt century, in the national congress, in the state legislatures, in popular meetings, in books, addresses, reports, and newspapers, seems now further from being settled than it was twenty-five years ago. So of other great national measures, which it is not necessary to specify. In Ohio, the policy of permitting local banks to issue a paper currency has agitated the entii'e people of the state for a quarter of a century, and is yet undetermined. Advocacy of chartered banks and a small note circulation, on one side, and opposition to one, or both, on the other, have for a period of ten or twelve years, at least, constituted the chief, and at periods the only, munitions of party warfare. At one election, one of the two great parties has succeeded in obtaining a majority in the legislature ; at the next election, or the election following that, the other has secured a majority; so that the two party cries, "Down with the banks!" "Up with the banks!" have triumphed on nearly alternate years, keeping up an almost unceasing excitement and uncertainty, and producing continual changes in the legislation of the state npon this subject. It is assuming little to say, that had the policy of a small note currency been definitely settled, for' any period of ten years, and the mouths of both "hard" and "soft" demagogues been thus closed for that length of time, banks of circulation would either have effectually "used themselves up" in public estimation, or the policy of a paper cuiTency, and the insufficiency of a specie currency, have become so fuUy apparent to the people, as to make a final settlement of this question. As things have happened, however, one party has regularly succeeded to power, just in time to prevent the other from cutting its throat with this "bank question; " and at the present time the policy of the state, in this particular, is quite as 70 uncertain as it has been at almost any previous period. No scheme that has been established, has been permitted to remain undisturbed long enough either to show its woi-thlessness, or vindicate its claims to common regard, G. PAGE 46. The separate and united extent and populations of the several countries named, according to the latest statements at hand, are as follows : Square miles. Population. Belgium . . 13,000 4 200 000 France .... 205,000 34200000 England 51.500 15.119,178 Holland, . . ... ... 11.000 3000,000 Italy, 122,000 23,890.000 Totals, 402,500 80,409,178 H. PAGE 56. WhUe this discourse is running through the press, I learn that the Pittsburg "strikers" have gone resolutely and systematically to work, to do good for themselves, their families, and others. About one hundred of them have now combined against their former employers, in the only legitimate and manly way. These, it is stated, have organized themselves into a partnership, and commenced the erection of an extensive iron manufactory in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, on the Erie Extension Canal, about fifty miles from Beaver — an excellent location, where aU raw materials are easily accessible. APPENDIX. CONSTITUTION. Article 1. This Society shall be known as the "Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio," and its primary object shall be, research in every department of local history ; the collection, preservation, and diffusion of whatever may relate to the History, Biography, Literature, Philosophy, and Antiquities of America — more especially of the State of Ohio, of the West, and of the United States. Art. 2. The Society shall consist of corporate, corresponding, and honorary members. Corporate members must be residents of the State of Ohio, and shall alone be eligible to vote, and act as officers of the Society : corresponding members may reside either in Ohio, or neighboring states ; and, as representatives, shall be entitled to a seat in its meetings, and to participate in its delibera tions, but not to vote, or hold office: honorary members — of whom not more than twelve shall be elected in any one year — may be persons eminent for historical, literary, or scientific attain ments, in any part of the world, and shall, ex officio, be entitled to all the rights and privileges of corresponding members. Art. 3. The officers of this Society shall be, a President, two Vice Presidents, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and fifteen Curators, all of whom shall be chosen annually by ballot, and shall hold office for the term of one year, or until their successors shall have been chosen. ¦ They shall severally perform the duties appertaining to their respective offices, and together, constitute an Executive Board, which shall meet at least once in each month for the transaction of business — shall have power to enact bylaws, appropriate 72 funds, receive donations, and shall be charged with the financial management and general conduct of the affairs of the Society. Art. 4. Candidates for membership, either as corporate, cor responding, or honorary, must be proposed by a member of the Society, at a regular meeting ; the name entered upon the Minutes, and referred for one month to the Executive Board, unless other wise ordered by the unanimous consent of the members present. Election in all cases by ballot ; three negatives excluding. Art. 5. Each corporate member, on subscribing to the Consti tution, shall pay an initiation fee of one dollar; and on or before the first Monday of December in each year, as annual dues, the sum of two dollars, invariably in advance, so long as he shall continue a member : provided that the payment of twenty dollars, at any one time after election, shall constitute a member for life, and that oi fifty dollars, at any one time after election, a, perpetual membership, transferrable on the books of the Society; such members retaining the right to vote and hold office, unless for feited by removal from the State of Ohio, in which case they shall be enrolled and act as corresponding members. Art. 6. There shall be an annual meeting of the Society on the first Monday of December, for the election of officers for the ensuing year, the reception of annual reports, and the transaction of such other business as may be duly presented ; thereafter there shall be such meetings of the Society as the Executive Board may in each year establish. The annual meeting shall adjourn over to the call of the President, which adjourned meeting shall be held within a current month in the city of Columbus, the annual report of the Executive Board again read, and a copy of the same subsequently inclosed to the speakers, respectively, of the Senate and House of Representatives : at the same time and place, an annual address shall be delivered by the President, or such alternate as may have been appointed by the Executive Board, which address may be repeated, by appointment, in the city of Cincinnati. Art. 7. The library, cabinet, and all other collections of the Society, shall be permanently located in the city of Cincinnati, subject to such regulations as the Executive .Board may, from time to time, ordain and establish. 73 Art. 8. There shall be no alteration in this Constitution, unless the proposed amendments shall have been submitted in writing to the Executive Board, at least one month before an annual meeting, notice thereof given in one or more daily papers of Cincinnati and of the cities of Columbus and Cleveland, and then approved and ratified by the vote of three fourths of the members present at the next succeeding annual meeting of the Society. REPORT OP THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO. FOR 1849. The Committee appointed by the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, to report upon the action of the Society during the past year, its present condition, and prospects, beg leave to submit the following : About the commencement of the year 1849, the Society, with its books and archives, was removed from Columbus to Cincinnati, in order to form a union with the Historical Society of Cincinnati, which would prove materially advantageous, and advance the design and objects of both. The two associations were united. An accession to the library of about four hundred volumes was thereby attained, about two huindred of which are rare works, and of considerable historic value. As the pecuniary resources of the Society are limited in extent, few additions to the stock of books can be made by purchase ; the collection has, consequently, been made up principally by donations. Nearly one hundred volumes have been received during the past year, among which we may mention : Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Vol. 1, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, from the Smithsonian Institute ; four volumes Anti- quitates Americanae, from the Society of Northern Antiquaries, Stockholm, and seven volumes of their Transactions ; Bertramis's Pilgrimage in Europe and America, leading to the discovery of 74 the sources of the Mississippi and Bloody rivers ; History of the Jesuit Missions in the Mississippi Valley; twenty-nine volumes Executive and Congressional Documents, from the State Depart ment at Washington, transportation free; with numerous other valuable contributions. Your Committee regret to state, that, while they have these evidences of liberality from various sources, the objects and efforts of the Society are not so fully and thoroughly appreciated by the public at large as they certainly deserve to be. It is a matter of ,deep and lasting regret, that our early local history should be regarded with so great indifference by many of our citizens, while such a great degree of interest is taken by the people of other states with a far less eventful history, in similar institutions, for the support and advancement of which ample provision is also made, in many cases by the state government direct. The history of our State, and of that hardy and adventurous band who first broke the stillness of her forests, and planted the standard of Freedom and Civilization on her soil, is full of romantic interest, without a parallel in the history of mankind. Much that is valuable of this character is fast passing away — becoming extinct and extinguished — much of it remaining in the form of oral tradition, and too often dying with the subject himself, who is ever as modest as he has been adventurous and brave. Even of that sagacious, trusty, and faithful assemblage of "good men and true" who fonned the Constitution of the State, which has gone far beyond their most sanguine anticipations, and outgrown the original dress prescribed by rigid rule and cautious "metes and bounds," but few remain to rejoice in the increased strength of the young giant of the West whose infancy they nurtured. Although, fortunately for history, many have had justice done them by able pens, much of deep and lasting interest in relation to that body, as well as other pioneer bands, remains unwritten, and unpreserved in any tangible form. A volume of "Pioneer History," embracing much interesting matter of the nature alluded to, has been published by the Society, and has had so wide-spread a circulation that the large edition has been already exhausted. A liberal proportion has been distributed 75 to the societies of other states, and to various libraries and public institutions at home and abroad, and has attracted much attention, both from the interesting incident with which it abounds, and the able manner in which the work is gotten up. We are gratified to state, that the manuscript of a similar volume, by the same able and industrious pen, embodying the interesting and eventful bio graphical history of the principal settlers and founders of the colony at Marietta, illustrated with the portraits of many of the subjects, and views of works and places of renown of early times, is already in the publisher's hands, and will at no very distant day be issued from the press. If sufficient encouragement is offered to justify the measure, this will doubtless be followed by a regular series of similar publications by the Society. At the annual election, held in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution in December last, the foUovping named gentle men were chosen officers of the Society for the ensuing year : President, William D. Gallagher. Vice Presidents, Thomas M. Key, Edward D. Mansfield. Recording Secretary, Edwin R. Campbell. Corresponding Secretary, A. Randall. Treasurer, Robert Buchanan. Librarian, G. Williams Kendall. With a Board of Curators, twenty in number, chosen from the State at large. At the annual meeting aforesaid, the President of the Society was requested to deliver the annual address in the city of Colum bus, before the adjournment of the Legislature, as prescribed by the Constitution of the association- Your Committee would also state, that the books, archives, and cabinet of the Society have been recently removed to a suite