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bating club of very young men, but, in our
judgment, is utterly unworthy a moment's
attention of a practical statesman.
We here conclude a discussion--already too

another begging of a question. But, further, it must be borne in mind, that "the consent of Congress" must precede this levying of a tonnage duty by a State; and as this consent may be refused, the ar-long protracted-which we regret has not gument in hand is liable to the objection fallen to abler hands. There are those who already urged against the argument de- think the Report which we have examined, duced, for another purpose, from the refutes itself, and therefore requires no power of two States to make a compact, elaborate criticism to expose its errors. to which the same contingency is attached. This may or may not be just. Whether The distinction between a harbor for so or not, however, there is a power about commerce and a harbor for shelter, is, to Mr. Calhoun's name and position, which our apprehension, utterly without meaning, would make it worse than in bad taste, to The only possible difference between the regard any state paper slightingly that two, that we can see, is, between a vessel's comes from his pen. He is, without doubt, lying at a wharf to take in lading for a one of the master minds of this country voyage, and her lying at the same place to and age; and thousands take their law wait the passing of a storm. There is a implicitly from his opinions, however extraywharf in either case, and it serves both agant in themselves, or feeble in the argupurposes equally well; and why we should ment that would sustain them. It is to not be permitted to call that a "facility" such, that we would especially address what to commerce which gives the conven- we have said, in the hope, that though we ience of shipping the freight that is the may not succeed in producing conviction, substance of it, as well as that which pro- we shall not entirely fail to awaken thought. tects from the winds the vessel in which W. G. such freight is shipped, may be a curious Cincinnati, Dec., 1847. question for the wits of a metaphysical de

THE ANGLO-SAXON RACE.

AN INQUIRY INTO THE

CAUSES OF ITS
UNRIVALLED PROGRESS, WITH SOME CONSIDER-
ATIONS INDICATIVE OF ITS FUTURE DESTINY.

THE present age is developing, with startling rapidity, the national characteristics of races which must ultimately be subordinated to one. Inquiry has recently received a new impulse, and the future complexion of society is rousing the attention of the statesman, the philosopher and scholar. Whatever results may spring from their investigations, it is obvious that, even now, the means of stimulating and directing successful inquiry are neither few nor sparsely distributed. On the other side of the Atlantic societies have been formed, and volumes published,* for our information as to the long-neglected literature of "our noble ancestors ;" and we propose to furnish some brief indicia to a more intimate Among others, Palgrave's and Allen's, (noticed in Warren's Law Studies, pp. 161, 162, 163.)

understanding and appreciation of their labors and wants to seize some prominent traits of social excellence early exhibited, and trace them through all the vicissitudes of time down to our own age.

It is wise, at times, to fathom the mystic future; to scan the coming age, and sketch its characteristics and destinies, through the light of the present. And though the veil which conceals its imprint be closed to our view by an all-wise Providence, yet nature instinctively urges us to trace the influence of the present on the future history of our descendants. It is the closing prayer of the patriot to his successors, remember the deeds of your fathers, and by them receive guidance for the future.

When man first issued forth from Babel's plain, his domains were assigned him.

"Our first authentic accounts of England, are at the landing of Caesar, nearly two thousand years ago.' The merest school-boy is familiar with the pages of the

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Each form where blend the lily and the rose was fixed in a cool and fertile clime.* Each frame whose swarthy hue distinguished its possessor from his "fellow dust," departed for the torrid vales of Af-author-warrior, and we need not dilate rica. Yet, age after age and convulsion after convulsion have passed, and the former have retained the most of their primitive excellence wherever fate may have cast their lot. And now the European sweats under Congo's sultry sky, or shivers beneath the polar blast. The Englishman and American of the nineteenth century meet amid the palmy groves of Ceylon, or the coral isles of the Pacific, and hail each other brother. Over "the steppes" of Central Asia, or through the forests of the wild New-Hollander, they shout the watchword, Onward, onward.

There must be some elements which furnish the key to such a vast superiority over their fellows; as we shall carefully establish hereafter. These will meet us-they have forced themselves upon the notice of every other race; and we shall consider these characteristics somewhat more in de

tail. It is (among other causes, less obvious, though, perhaps, not less important) to their moral integrity, their ceaseless enterprise, (their roving habits stimulated by natural inquisitiveness, and improved by their advantages,) their intellectual activity, and, lastly, to the social elevation of women, we assign this pre-eminence.

1. At present it might appear as singular as it will be found true, that the AngloSaxon race has ever been distinguished from all others, by moral elevation, by religious fervor. How much of this should be attributed to a direct interposition of the Deity in their behalf, and how much, on the other hand, belongs to their own silent efforts, we need not determine. But if an attentive view be cast upon them in their earliest and most simple "strivings" after the sublime idea of a God, in their more remote endeavors to grasp that of "the Increate," not dimly seen by them in His works a hope would arise that such an investigation may be amply repaid.

To this fact Humboldt ascribes the superiority

of the inhabitants of temperate climes over all others. (Am. Review, June, 1846, p. 600) "Though the desire and feeling be common to all, they alone are able to satisfy it."

+Something strongly confirmative of this conjecture may be found in Ward's 'Lectures on Ancient Is rael,'noticed in "The Anglo-American,'Jan.24,1816.

*

upon the character and spirit of the ancient
Britons. Yet we cannot pass over the
Druids-whose name generally awakens
vague conceptions of barbaric priests
chaunting their hymns to some bloody
deity in the recesses of the forest, and,
amid the over-hanging rocks, invoking his
protection, or soliciting his favor by the
sacrifice of human victims. Perhaps our
minds will start at the idea, that they were
the political soul and guides of their sev-
eral tribes, the life-blood of civil liberty,
the unswerving champions of their people
against the tyranny of the Romans; and
yet such may have been the case-if we
believe Cæsar and Tacitus, such was the
case. The stern, mysterious rites of the
Druids-with all their folly-reveal a
spirit of religious activity only too widely
stimulated. The direction of the current
was right, but its impetuosity engendered
the most terrible outrages. Then all Eng-
land was a living representation of that
vast, intangible and darkly impressive idea,
a God-whose attributes corresponded to
their own rude, mysterious feelings.
plain was redolent with sacrifices-was
vocal with the Druids' nightly reverence
ascending to Him. Such ideas and expec-
tations derived a thrilling impressiveness
from their mighty, dark, and solemn for-
estst-their ceremonies performed during
the hours sacred to repose, in the solemn
shades of night, combined with the con-
stant presence of His ministers among the
people. To them the intercourse of their
hoary priests seemed like a near approach
from heaven, too dread and too sublimely
real to be neglected. Whatever we may
think of them as Christians, we cannot re-
fuse the meed of praise to such pure-minded
though heathen patriots. We can well
sympathize with the heroic devotion of
the Druids; for the religious teachers of
our ancestors could "fight" as well as
preach: they cherished a wild, patriotic

Each

Tac. Annal., Lib. xiv. sec. xxx. (Murphy, p. 257, note.) Hist. Lib. iv. sec. liv. Cæsar, De Bel. Gal. passim.

+De Mor. Ger., ix. (Murphy, n. 5,) xliii., n. Agricola, xxvii. (n. 9.)

feeling, productive and suggestive of civil liberty; and, amid the systematic attempts of Rome, afterwards, favored with learning, wealth, tact, and the affection she had inspired, to erect an undivided sovereignty over the hearts and arms of the AngloSaxons, this same spirit has never decayed. First evinced when the intrepid Druids plunged from the smouldering hamlets of Mona,t preferring death to Roman servitude, and thus cheering the faith of their countrymen the counterpart may be observed, gifted with a more spiritual impersonation, amid the fires of Smithfield, and owning such men as Latimer and Ridley. But their defence (heroic as it must have been) was unavailing ;§ for who could resist the colossal power, who could curb the iron legions, of "the seven-hilled city?" The extension of Roman authority generally softened and subdued the fierce valor of the Britons; and, as wave after wave of their more independent foes (the Picts) rolled down from the north, instead of manfully repelling the ferocious invaders, they invoked the aid of the Saxons, who became more formidable as allies, than they ever could have become as enemies. During the Roman domination, the Britons had received some faint sparks of Christianity.** We have spoken of the Druids: it was on this predisposed stock that its pristine influences were grafted in their purity, and from the feelings to whose exhibitions we have alluded, they took their warmest, most ineffaceable impress. "The word of life" had reached them, and was received into the affections of a people whose earnest care and self-denying efforts have been to exhibit it to the world, and transmit it to others unimpaired. The enervating influence of excessive luxury, (which "sævior armis incubuit, victum. ulciscitur orbem,") and the fires of persecution, have equally failed to crush its energies. Of the latter there were two: the first raged under Diocletian; and the Saxons, ferocious pagans as they were, soon annihilated the vestiges of a milder

Mor. Ger. iii. (Murphy, n. 5 and 8.)

faith, that yet remained linked with the singularly simple habits and unwavering fidelity of the Britons. We are frank to confess that this period was not so remarkable or important, religiously considered, as a future one. Probably the virtue and energy of the Britons are more conspicuous in their civil relations; for the first phase in the development of these germs of free institutions, that so slowly expanded afterwards, was here visible; and yet their attachment to religion must have been considerably operative, for it sustained them under the grinding oppression of the "mistress of the world," then ruled by one of her most ruthless tyrants. The astute and critical scholar, as his eye lingers with fond delight on the limnings of the brief, sententious Tacitus, will not fail to trace many offshoots from the rude institutions of the ancient Germans transplated, developed, and now operative in our varied forms of social life, as well as our principles of government and modes of political procedure.* Probably they were one race with the Britons. Of both it may be said, that "their souls were raised by taking a free part in concerns more dignified than those of individuals. The energy was awakened, which, after many ages of storm and darkness, qualified the Teutonic race to be the ruling portion of mankind, to lay the foundation of a better-ordered civilization than that of the eastern or ancient world, and finally to raise into the fellowship of those blessings the they had subdued." (M land.")

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tine. From this period to the landing of William the Conqueror, the faith and confidence of the Anglo-Saxons (though subjected to trials and seductions of no ordinary character) met no annihilation. Here was the golden age of English religious energy; for no subsequent period has been marked by more unity of aim, by a more unswerving attachment to the doctrines and practice of the uncorrupted Christian church. That a more particular and satisfactory view of Anglo-Saxon Britain may be enjoyed, we shall take the liberty of quoting from a work, whose spirit and excellencies are appreciable by the simple-minded Christian, never unwelcome to the refined and critical scholar.* Our limits will permit but brief glances at some of the most prominent features of this age-an age whose records are crowded with an interesting portraiture of those who suffered, labored, and died, having accomplished the

work allotted to them.

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Little was the resistance to that strong incentive of propagating Christianity by the sword, in the minds of most northern monarchs, as is abundantly evident from the records of Swedish history.t No such con-ence of the versions, however, took place in England ; all was peaceful and voluntary.

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their thrones, and exchanged the sceptre for the cowl. Their conduct was applauded by their contemporaries; and the moderns whose supercilious wisdom affects to censure it, must at least esteem the motives which inspired, and admire the resolution which completed the sacrifice. The progress of civilization kept equal pace with the progress of religion; not only the useful, but the agreeable arts were introduced; every species of knowledge which could be obtained, was eagerly studied; and during the gloom of ignorance which overspread the rest of Europe, learning found, for a certain period, an asylum among the Saxons of Britain." (Lingard, p. 35.)

enjoy the free exercise of her religion, and had extorted from the impatient suitor a promise, that he would impartially examine the credibility of the Christian faith. With these conditions Edwin complied, and alternately consulted the Saxon priests and Paulinus, a bishop who had accompanied the queen. Though the arguments of the missionary were enforced by the entreaties of Edilberga, the king was slow to resolve, and two years were spent in anxious deliberation. At length, attended by Paulinus, he entered the great council of the nation; requested the advice of his faithful Witau; and exposed the reasons which induced him to prefer the Christian to the pagan worship. Coiffi, the high priest of Northumbria, was the first to Such names were given to the different reply. It might have been expected, that presections of the country as have withstood judice and interest would have armed him with the mutations of a thousand years: for arguments against the adoption of a foreign instance, we have Cent, (Kent,) South-creed; but his attachment to paganism had been weakened by repeated disappointments, Seaxe, (Sussex,) Oxenford, (Oxford,) and and he had learned to despise the gods, who Grantebrige, North-Humber-land, and nuhad neglected to reward his services. That merous others. Such arrangements for the religion he had hitherto taught was useless, the jurisdiction of the clergy, and their he attempted to prove from his own misfortunes, support, were originated, as have met very and avowed his resolution to listen to the reafew changes in later ages. Canterbury sons, and examine the doctrines of Paulinus. then secured (after severe conflicts) its He was followed by an aged thane, whose discourse offers an interesting picture of the simpresent pre-eminence, and the present sys- plicity of the age. When,' said he, O king, tem of tithes obtained as early as the year you and your ministers are seated at the table 750; but Offa, King of Mercia, first invest- in the depth of winter, and the cheerful fire ed them with a legal relation, and Ethel- blazes on the hearth in the middle of the_hall, a wolf, about sixty years after, enlarged sparrow, perhaps, chased by the wind and snow, them for the whole kingdom of England.* enters at one door of the apartment, and esAt this early period, too, the right of temcapes by the other. During the moment of its passage, it enjoys the warmth; when it is once poral investitures was yielded to the king, departed, it is seen no more. Such is the naand as soon as any church became vacant, ture of man. During a few years his existence the ring and crosier, the emblems of epis- is visible; but what has preceded, or what will copal jurisdiction, were carried to the king follow it, is concealed from the view of mortals. by a deputation of the chapter, and reIf the new religion offer any information on turned by him to the person whom they these important subjects, it must be worthy of had chosen, with a letter by which the civil officers were ordered to maintain him in the possession of the lands belonging to his church." (Lingard.) This useful measure soon engendered intolerable abuses, though it was William Rufus who first "prostituted ecclesiastical dignities."t

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our attention.'

Right worthily spoken, though by one who never trod the starry halls of science! for, in the words of the poet―

"Nothing of life abideth! all is change!

Nor whence we came, and whither we shall go, He knoweth who hath sent-nor deem it strange

If whence and whitherward the ocean's flow
Ages have known not, nor shall ever know."

"To these reasons the other members assented. Paulinus was desired to explain the principal articles of the Christian faith, and the king expressed his determination to embrace the doctrine of the missionary. When it was asked who would dare to profane the altars of Woden, Coiffi accepted the dangerous office. Laying aside the emblems of the priestly dig

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