everlasting life, involves the possibility of its perdition, or everlasting death. Hence the terrible eloquence of our Saviour's words: "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" -Worlds possessed can't purchase Worlds destroyed, not injure; which holds on Immortal!-immortal for weal, or for woe-all immortal! What affecting, what transcendent interest does this attach to the destiny of every man,-to the destiny of the meanest slave! "Immortal! ages past, yet nothing gone. Beginning still where computation ends. 'Tis the description of the meanest slave!" Why, then, should not such a destiny, in every case, become an infinite blessing? If the race has sprung from God, and is thence one in all the higher attributes and possibilities of its nature, the conversion and salvation of one sinner is a proof of the possible conversion and salvation of all. The actual redemption of multitudes already, and the rapid progress of Christianity in many lands, is a demonstration and pledge that all may yet hear the voice of God; and on earth, as in heaven, sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Shall man, then, born of God, and though fallen, to be "born again" by the Holy Spirit; shall man, for whom all nature moves, and the very stars rise and set; for whom the Son of God died on the cross, and the great heart of infinite love yet longs and struggles-shall man perish in his sins? Shall the nations, given to Christ for his inheritance, go down to eternal night? Forbid it, ye angels of light, ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation! Forbid it, O Church of the living God, with the gospel in thy hands, to give it to the world! Forbid it, ye consecrated men, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and chosen to be heralds of the great salvation! Forbid it, O Son of the Highest, who didst give thy life a ransom for many! And thou, Spirit of the living God, forbid it! O penetrate the masses sitting in the shadow of death; and by the might of thine infinite love, quicken all to a divine and imperishable ART. V.-THE PERMANENCE OF AMERICAN INSTI TUTIONS. BY ABRAHAM PAYNE, ESQ., PROVIDENCE, R. I. The Progress of America, from the Discovery of Columbus to the year 1846. By JOHN MACGREGOR, Q. C. London: Whitaker & Co. 1847. WE do not intend to criticise this book, or to give any account of its contents, but to offer some remarks upon some of the causes of our national prosperity, a topic naturally suggested by a work like this. The subject can borrow no charm of novelty; because, if the discussion have any merit, it must be derived from an accurate statement of facts, whose existence is obvious, and whose importance is undisputed. To speculate, however, upon the destiny of the Republic, has always been a favorite occupation of the American citizen. If we succeedsuch has been the feeling-we shall become the greatest nation upon the face of the earth; if we fail, the experiment of selfgovernment by the people will never be renewed. Under the influence of this feeling, the nation-if the expression may be pardoned has been constantly inquiring after the state of its own health, and the natural consequence has been, the discovery of a great many dangerous, and some fatal, symptoms. It would be curious to cite authorities, to show how often, and from what causes, the state has been in danger; more curious, perhaps, than useful. Our present purpose is to consider some of those causes lying behind, and independent of, any direct political action, which give reasonable assurance of national permanence and prosperity. The tendency of modern research has been, to cause men to look elsewhere than in the direct action of governments for the principal causes which affect the welfare of nations. The influences of climate, of geography, of race, of social usages, and of religion, have been rising in importance; while the influences of legislation, of cabinets, and of armies, have been receding. This tendency has been carried, in many instances, to a ridiculous excess, but it has a foundation in fact, and the true balance of causes will be found at last. A distinguished senator of the United States, in a recent speech, pointed out the manner in which the great highways of this country have been formed. The wild beasts, in their annual migrations, guided by an unerring instinct, find the shortest and easiest path. The Indian makes his war-path in the track of the wild beast. The pioneer follows the war-path of the Indian; and finally comes the engineer, the learned and accomplished agent of civilized society, to build the railway and the telegraph along the line indicated by the pioneer, and which the pioneer had learned of the Indian, and which the Indian had learned of the wild beast. This may illustrate imperfectly the manner of a nation's growth. The extent, position, and configuration of its territory, will determine to some extent its character. The type and general history of the race taking possession of this territory, will add another element. Out of these two, acting upon a common nature, everywhere fearfully and wonderfully made, will spring some form of religion, side by side with which, and greatly under its influence, will grow up forms of social and political action, and all these will be to a great extent predestined and fore-ordained. Under them, and limited by them, the citizen finds room for voluntary action, individual and associated, reacts upon the society whose creature he is, apparently turns backward the currents of influence, and becomes the creator of all the wonders of civilized life. Whoever will study with care the history of any nation, will soon learn that it is as true of society as of the individual, that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps-that all the stages of national development and decay, from the rude energy of early colonization to the indolent luxury which indicates rather than causes a downward tendency, and on to the abject wretchedness which crawls amidst the monuments of former splendor, are the result of laws which include, and take account of, the voluntary agency of man, but which are, in an important sense, beyond his control. "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes," is the first thought of the man who ponders, with serious attention, the lessons of history. This is as well illustrated in the history of our own, as of any other country. It would be difficult to point out in history a body of men superior to that body who assembled in convention to form the constitution of the United States. They were men of mature years. They had, many of them, made the science of government a subject of profound and continuous study-some of them have never been surpassed in general intellectual ability, and in the peculiar qualities of statesmen. They were eminently patriotic. They felt very sensibly the responsibility which was laid upon them. They had the benefit of frank and thorough discussion and consultation with each other; and, as was to have been expected, the result of their labors was a great triumph, and has proved itself in a trial, always arduous, and not now short, admirably adapted to the purpose which they had in view. And yet how soon, under the government, was seen the operation of causes which they did not foresee; and of the things which they did foresee, of how many did they fail correctly to estimate the relative im portance! That, which to many of them seemed an appalling danger, is now one of the main defences of our power; that, which to all of them seemed a local, limited, and receding evil, is now perplexing, with fear of change, our wisest men. The practical construction of the constitution is, at this moment, and in important particulars, at variance with the intention of all its founders. The practical administration of the government is not what either Jefferson or Hamilton supposed it would be; and the great excellence of the system is, that, while it indicates its character in general outline, it has still shown itself pliant to the emergencies of a community, so rapidly changing, advancing, and developing as our own. In the matter of territory, for instance, leaving a way open for Louisiana first, and, in due time, for Texas, New Mexico, and California, and creating the general, and, upon the whole, healthy feeling, that, whatever else may happen to this nation, it will not at present perish for lack of room. And this brings us to the first great element of our strength. Whether a republican government was practicable over a great extent of territory, was a question which our fathers discussed with a good deal of ability; and one of the papers of the Federalist contains a well-considered argument, to show that the objection to the proposed constitution, drawn from the largeness of our domain, ought not to weigh much; and the author rises into a fervid eloquence, as he discourses upon the inheritance of the sons of liberty in this western world. And this argument applied to a territory bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Mississippi River, on the south by the thirty-first degree of latitude, and on the north by an irregular line, running in some places above the forty-fifth, and in others below the forty-second degree of latitude. He was thought a bold reasoner who contended that a republican government might embrace all that, and so he was. The file afforded no precedent; there was no parallel case; and strong and cogent arguments could be urged, and were urged, upon the other side. When Louisiana was purchased, it was thought by many a perilous undertaking; and so of Texas; and so of the recent acquisition of the golden regions of the setting sun; and so it was perilous. No man could define the result. But how stands the question to-day? We feel a sensation of confidence when we look upon the map. With the Atlantic Ocean upon one side, and the Pacific Ocean upon the other, with liberty of going north and south whenever circumstances may require, we feel that we have ample room and verge enough, and we feel that it is well that it is so; and if any man wishes for an excuse for viewing this matter differently from what he has done at some former period of his life, he may take shelter under the authority of Mr. Webster, who admits that upon this subject he has changed his mind. But no man's vanity will be hurt by an imputation of change upon a question like this, depending for its solution wholly upon experience. The course of events may well have wrought changes in the most stable and illuminated mind: and those of us who were full of auguries of evil, as we saw our empire stretching itself out over regions boundless and unexplored, may join with those of a more sanguine temperament in the general rejoicing, that we have taken possession of the most magnificent domain ever yet subjected to the rule of a single people. But is the present opinion well founded, and is this domain a blessing? It is not a question to be settled with mathematical certainty. It is one of the questions depending upon feelings wiser oftentimes than any reasoning, or to speak more accurately, which are the result of the highest kind of reasoning. Every man likes to know that he is the citizen of a great country. The thought that the sun never sets upon the dominions of his queen, stirs the blood of an Englishman in whatever part of the earth his lot has been cast, and however humble his origin and present condition. The poorest man in Rome walked the streets of the Eternal City with a prouder step, whenever the intelligence passed along from man to man, that a new race of barbarians had submitted themselves to the eagles of the republic, and that a new region of the earth was part of the Roman Empire. And who of us has read without a glow of patriotic pride, the recent language of our Secretary of State, addressed to one of the oldest and haughtiest nations of the world-"The power of this Republic at the present moment is spread over a region, one of the richest and most fertile upon the face of the globe, and of an extent, compared with which the dominions of the House of Hapsburgh are but a patch upon the earth's surface." Then, again, when we consider the division of this territory into states, its power as an element of tranquillity is seen at once. Every people need some check upon their impulses and passions. When there is no such check except in the government, there is danger of collision, of bad blood, and finally, of rebellion and revolution. Our system of government guards against this pretty well; but when this system is |