It may be interesting now to compare with these results the similar results obtained in Great Britain by the census of 1851. The number of people in Great Britain and the small adjacent islands, in 1851, was 20,959,477; and the men in the army, navy, and merchant service, and East India Company's service, abroad, on the passage out, or round the coasts, belonging to Great Britain, amounted, on the same day, to 162,490. The population of Great Britain may, therefore, be set down at twenty-one millions, one hundred and twenty-one thousand, nine hundred and sixty-seven (21,121,967.)

The annexed table exhibits the distribution of the people:

10,856,977 14,581,998 2,828,642 2,873,758

19,987,563 8,688,808

of the present century, notwithstanding the great number that have annually left the country, and settled in the United States, in the colonies of North America, Australia, and South Africa. The increase in the last fifty years has been 93-47 per cent., or at the rate of 1·329 per cent. annually, the increase of each sex being about equal.

The annual rate of increase has varied in each decennial period; thus, in 184151, the population has increased, but the rate of increase has declined, chiefly from accelerated emigration.

The emigration from the United Kingdom in the ten years 1821-31 was 274,317; in the ten years 1831-41 it amounted to 717.913; and in the ten years 1841-51 it had increased to 1,693,516.

What a roving set we are! In the older countries it is not uncommon to meet with many persons who have never been beyond the town or commune in which they were born; Londoners, for instance, who never saw the green fields, except of the parks; Parisians, who never saw Versailles; rural people every where, who think the hill which bounds their little village homes the ultima thule of space; but of our 17,736,792 free inhabitants, 4,112,433 are settled in States in which they were not born. About 26 per cent. of the whole population of Virginia has migrated; South Carolina has sent forth 36 per cent.; and North Carolina, 31 per cent.; yet the New Englanders, particularly of Vermont and Connecticut, are the most discursive. They are in fact every where at the south, the west, in the territories, on the Pacific-wherever there is space for a blade of grass to grow, or a spindle to turn, or a shop to be opened, or a railroad to be built-in short, whereever an honest penny is to be picked up, by any kind of industry or ingenuity. There are, for instance, 18,763 Massachusetts men in Ohio, 9,230 in Missouri, 55,773 in New-York, 4,760 in California,

years. We see by it that the white inhabitants are growing nearly 10 per cent. faster than the slaves, and that the free colored are dwindling out. The increase of the whites, per cent., in the slave States, we should add, is 34-56, and in the free States, 37-67. Thus, the total increase in the United States is about 34 per cent. per annum, while in the most favored countries of Europe it is only 14, and in the less favored, a fraction of 1, per cent. No wonder that those old monarchies make big eyes when they read of the prolific doings of the young republican giant: no wonder that they get so apprehensive about the future, and the least whisper of a possible descent some of these days upon their shore from this side the Atlantic.

We are rather used to these enormous strides; but when we take a look into the future, we confess ourselves a little awe-struck at the prospect of what the thing is coming to. We discover the reason, too, why Providence has provided such a magnificent domain for us beforehand, and why the instincts of the people, always in the long run wiser than the deductions of philosophers, begin to inquire whether there be any room outside whether Mexico, the Sandwich Islands, Australia, and perhaps Japan, are likely to furnish the necessary accommo

dations.

Old John Adams was not, so far as we know, a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but simply a sagacious and discerning statesman, and yet he wrote, on the 12th October 1755, that "our people will, in another century, become more numerous than England itself,"-it wants but two years of the time, and we now know his prediction will be fulfilled. We have

now 2,000,000 more white people than England and Wales, and as many as England, Wales, and Scotland together, while before the two years of John Adams's century are expired, we shall nearly equal them, with Ireland thrown in. According to our past progress, too, it will only take forty years to enable us to surpass England. France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland combined. The close of the existing century will swell our numbers to one hundred millions-not, however, of such miserable, degraded wretches as are crowded together in China, or as were packed down in some of the ancient cities, but, as we shall prove in the sequel, of free, educated, industrious, refined, man-loving, and God-fearing men. If it were not so, the contemplation of our future would be terrible; as it is, under the agencies and instrumentalities at work, in the heart of our society, we have every reason to look forward with confidence and deep joy.

One curious study suggested by the census is, that relating to the relative rank of the several States, as determined by their total population. In 1770 for instance, the order in which they stood was this: 1. Virginia; 2. Massachusetts; 3. Pennsylvania; 4. North Carolina; 5. NewYork; 6. Maryland; 7. South Carolina; 8. Connecticut; 9. New Jersey; 10. New Hampshire, &c. But twenty years afterwards, 1810, the following was the order: 1.Virginia; 2. New-York; 3 Pennsylvania; 4. Massachusetts; 5. North Carolina; 6 South Carolina; 7. Kentucky, (the 13th in 1790); 8. Maryland; 9. Connecticut; 10. Tennessee (not formed in 1770). Twenty years afterwards again, 1830, the relative position was still more changed,

and stood thus:-1. New-York; 2. Pennsylvania; 3. Virginia; 4. Indiana (which was the 20th in 1810); 5. North Carolina ; 6. Kentucky; 7. Tennessee; 8. Massachusetts; 9. South Carolina; 10. Georgia. Finally, at the time the census was taken, 1850, the arrangement was this :--1. NewYork; 2. Pennsylvania; 3. Ohio (which was the 17th in 1800); 4. Virginia; 5. Tennessee; 6. Massachusetts; 7. Indiana: 8. Kentucky; 9. Georgia; 10. North Carolina. It will be seen then, that the States which have grown the most rapidly in rank are New-York, Ohio, Georgia, and Tennessee. In respect to the absolute increase of the whites of the different States during the last ten years, it appears to have been in the following order and percentage: Wisconsin. 89-11; Iowa, 347-02; Arkansas, 110-16; Michigan, 86-74; Missouri, 82-78; Florida, 68-92; Mississippi, 65.13; Louisiana, 61.23, &c; while the increase of some of the older States has been only: New-York, 28-14; Pennsylvania, 34.72; South Carolina, 5·97; Vermont, 7·61; Connecticut, 0-28. At the same time the slave population has increased, for the last ten years, in Arkansas, 136-26 per cent.; Mississippi, 58·74; Florida, 52.85; Missouri, 50·01; Louisiana, 45:32; South Carolina, 17·71;Virginia, 5·21; Maryland, 07: while in Delaware it has decreased 12-09, per cent. ; in the District of Columbia, 21-45, and in New Jersey, 64.98. The slowest increase appears to be in those States bordering on the northern middle States, or Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky.

It would seem that the people of this country are variously occupied, although agriculture is thus far their chief employment. At the time the census was taken, there were some 4,000.000 engaged in cultivating the land; 1,050,000 in manufactures; 400,000 in commerce; 100,000 in mining; 60,000 in fisheries; and 50,000 in the forests. The total annual product arising from agriculture is set down by Mr. Andrews, in his report on the Lake Trade, at $1,752,583,042; that from manufactures, in the census, is $1,020,300,000; that from commerce may be estimated at $225,000,000; that from the forest at $50,000; and that from the fisheries at $10,000,000. The grand total of production in the United States is therefore im

mense.

We possess 118,457,622 acres of improved farms, and 184,621,348 of unimproved. the cash value of which is 3,270.733,092 dollars. The farming implements and machinery on these lands are worth 151,569,675 dollars. We raise from them 109.503.899 bushels of wheat,

592,326,612 bushels of Indian corn, 146,567,879 bushels of oats, 14,188,639 bushels of rye, 215,312,710 bushels of rice, 199,752,646 pounds of tobacco, 2,468,624 bales of cotton at 400 pounds each, 65,796,793 bushels of Irish potatoes, 38,259,190 bushels of sweet potatoes, 5,167,016 bushels of barley, 9,219,975 bushels of peas and beans, 8.956,916 bushels of buckwheat, 313,266,962 pounds of butter, 105,535,219 pounds of cheese, 221,240 gallons of wine, $5,269,930 in garden stuffs, and $7,723,362 in orchard products, to say nothing of the hay. hemp, flax, hops, clover, silk, and grasses, and nothing of the cattle, sheep, and horses they feed. Our real and personal estate is worth $7,135,780,228.

We possess also over 100,000 manufacturing establishments, over the annual value of $500, consuming raw material to the value of $550,000,000, paying out for labor $240,000,000, and using a vested capital of $530,000,000. Including, in that statement, all varieties of labor leading to valuable results, the aggregate production of this species of industry would amount to $2,932,762,642. This amount divided by the number of inhabitants, free and slave, gives $126 as the average annual production of each person, or, taking the proportion of adult males as one to four, the annual production of each is shown to be $504.

For the circulation of these products we have 1390 steamboats, measuring 417,226 tons; some 3000 miles of canals, of which those in New-York State alone carry annually 3,582,733 tons; 13,315 miles of railway completed, whose commerce is valued at $1,081,500,000, besides 12,681 miles in progress. Our total lake, river, coasting, canal, and railroad trade is valued, for 1852, at $5,588,539,372. Add to this the value of products and manufactures exported, $154,930,947, and that of foreign merchandise imported, $252,613,282, and we shall get some idea of the enormous internal and foreign commerce of the United States. Our whole inward and outward tonnage is 10,591,045 tons, of which 4,200,000 tons is owned at home-the largest tonnage owned by any nation of the globe except Great Britain, whose marine supremacy, at the present rates of increase, we shall soon surpass.

It might be inferred-as not a few foreign tourists in America, indeed, have inferred, from the exhibition of the immense industrial activity of our people, that they are wholly absorbed in the process of creating wealth. Yet such an inference would do them considerable injustice.

They are devoted to the dollar, it is true, but they are apt also to spend the dollar in a liberal manner. Their activity in the various spheres of intellectual and benevolent enterprise is not a whit less remarkable than their physical activity. They take care of their unfortunate brothers, of the insane, the idiotic, the mute, the criminal, and the poor (of the latter of whom they have happily fewer than any other nation) with as sedulous a care, and as generous a provision, as the most advanced people in Christendom; they print and read an incredible number of books, and fifty-fold more journals and magazines than any other people; while in respect to education and religion, their efforts, because they are voluntary, put to shame those of other people. Take a few statistics in regard to the latter points. They show that a large proportion of the children of the United States of a suitable age are in attendance upon schools. The whole number is 4,089,507-of which 4,063,046 are whites-26,461 free colored -3,942,681 are natives-147,426 are foreigners. The number of males is 2,146,432, and of females 1,916,614. Of the whole, New-York is set down for 692,321. Ohio comes next with 514,309. Pennsylvania follows with 509,610.

The total number of Colleges in the United States is 234. Number of teachers 1,651; pupils, 27,159. Annual income $1,916,628. The total number of Academies and Seminaries in the United States is 6,032. Number of teachers 12,207; pupils 261,362. Annual income $4,663,842. Besides these, there are 80,991 Public Schools, which are attended by 3,354,173 scholars.

The whole number of periodicals in the world are distributed in this proportion. Asia 34, Africa 14, Europe 1094, America 3000, of which 2800 are printed in the United States, and have an annual circulation of 422,600,000 copies, or, taking the account of the leading states and empires only, the numbers stand: Austria 10, Spain 24, Portugal 20, Belgium 65, France 269, Switzerland 39, Denmark 85, Russia and Poland 90, the German States 320, Great Britain and Ireland 519, the New England States 424, Middle States 876, Southern States 716, and the Western States 784. It will thus be seen that the newspapers are a pretty good comparative index of civilization, for just in the degree in which we average from the more despotic and stationary conditions of society, we find these means of intellectual intercourse and entertainment increasing in number, the United States and Great

Britain standing first on the list, and Austria and Russia the last.

Then, again, as to churches, it appears that there are 36,221, exclusive of the territories and California, or one church for every 557 free inhabitants, or one for every 646 of the entire population, with a total value of Church property to the amount of $86,416,639. We might append as appropriate here, the returns of the libraries, the lyceums, the scientific associations, and the various charitable and religious societies, but that we feel that our readers have had a sufficiency of figures.

Now, all these results are highly gratifying; but why are they so? Is it because we Americans have a silly schoolboy vanity, as it is sometimes charged, in the magnitude of our wealth and power? Not at all,-if we understand the spirit of those who rejoice with us,-not at all! We have other and better motives; we exult, because these facts confirm, by an irrefragable and resistless demonstration, the political theories to which we are devoted; because they prove the great and vital truth of the necessary connection between a democratic constitution of society and the welfare of the whole people. A controversy is now going forward, among the nations of Christendom, as to the respective merits of a liberal and despotic system of government, and we throw our experience, with all its grand results, into the liberal scale. We say to the absolutist who distrusts the people, who fancies that governments were made to rule one class of men with a rod of iron, and to support another in luxurious authority, "come and see!" Behold a people who govern themselves, making Justice and Freedom the ends of their institutions, allowing to all the choice of what they shall do and think; and behold, too, the beneficent effects! The facts are before you, and judge for yourselves; but do not suppose that in making the exhibit we are moved by an inordinate and foolish pride."

The secret of the prosperity and growth of the United States, it cannot be too often repeated, is in its social and political constitution. By ordaining justice as the single object of its government, and securing to the masses the most unlimited freedom of action, they have unsealed the fountains of human progress, they have solved that problem of social destiny, which has puzzled philosophers so long, and revealed to mankind, the momentous but simple truth, that just in the degree in which you reduce to practical applica

tion, the golden rule of Christian equity, "Do unto others as you would be done by," you win from Heaven all its richest temporal and spiritual blessings.

The operation of the law is this; that, in restricting the political power to its legitimate function of maintaining justice among men, you generate in each individual, a perfect sense of the security of his person and property; he is made certain of the reward of his labor, and he applies himself in the most effective manner to multiply his necessaries and comforts; he enriches the community by enriching himself; his accumulations become the seed of future accumulations; while, being thrown upon his own resources, not only for his maintenance, but his position in life, he exerts his every faculty to the highest degree, to improve his state. He tasks his ingenuity to increase production; -to invent machines, to facilitate processes to economize time, in short, to make the most, both of himself and his opportunities. An English gentleman, one of the Commissioners to the Crystal Palace, observed to a friend of ours, that the fact which had impressed him most strongly, in reference to the industry of the Americans, was not its activity so much as its indescribable knowingness, its ability to meet all emergencies, its readiness under difficulties, its quick facility in applying means to ends. "You have a thousand little convenient contrivances, in all departments of arts, and even in all the appliances of living, that we know nothing about, and should never have devised." In other words, we may say that the quality of our labor is better than that of the people with whom government or society perpetually interferes, and consequently more effective. It realizes more than any other labor from the same expenditure of means. The Greeks and Romans we are told valued the labor of a slave at half that of a freeman, and we know the reason of it; for as Homer himself sings,

"The day, That makes man slave, takes half his worth away."

But there is another effect of that security and freedom of labor, that springs from just government,-pointed out by Mr. Carey, which, in our opinion, is the most important truth contributed to Political Economy since the days of Adam Smith. It is this, that where the industry of society is left to its own development, while the gross product of it is increased, a larger proportion of it goes to the laborer, and a diminished proportion to the capitalist; whereby the value of the laborer constantly rises, the number of the unpro

ductive classes grows smaller, a greater equality of conditions is produced, and all men are stimulated through hope, to the improvement of their intellectual and social condition. The misery of the older nations is that the earnings of industry are distributed, by means of the innumerable interferences of laws and institutions, with the most flagrant want of justice. The working class, which is the most effective of all the agencies concerned in the production of it gets the least part, while the capitalist, and the official functionaries take the rest. Thus, the stimulus to active industry is so far forth withdrawn, overgrown fortunes concentrate in particular families, and an excessive expenditure, going to support large classes in idleness or sinecureships, debauches the action of government.

The

In the United States, on the contrary, the share of the laborer in every joint product, increases relatively; he is enabled to rise in his condition, to take one step upward, and, with every generation, to devote a larger portion of his time and means to the improvement of his mind, and the refinement of his tastes. consequence is, that society, as a whole, is levelled upwards; the few are not pulled down, but the many are elevated; the circle of intelligence and culture widens, and the disposition as well as the means, for patronizing art and promoting charity, become the common privileges of larger and larger numbers, instead of being the prerogatives of a favored minority. Moralists, therefore, are short-sighted, who lament what they esteem to be the excessive devotion of our people to practical life; for, it is a precursor of their general enlightenment and elevation. It is preparing the masses, in spite of all the apparent materialism and worldliness of the process, for a higher civilization. It is multiplying their wants and their methods of satisfying them, which are both elements of a larger and better life. Consider the demand for books, and generally the best books, for music, and the best music,-for lectures, and the best lectures, -in short, for all kinds of intellectual and moral incitation,-how it is diffusing itself through all classes of our people, in the midst of the tremendous bustle of work and trade! Where is there a nation in which the masses of the community have a more living and growing interest in whatever gives dignity and grace to human relations? Have the towns of New England a parallel, for intellectual activity and moral integrity, in Europe? Yet the towns in New England are