the aggrandizement of others?-or will the time arrive, when we shall be masters of our own?-Nor do we think it too much to say that such political separations are, considering the natural course of human events, inevitable. Peculiar events may prolong the period of separation-a large, liberal, and enlightened policy may avert it for a season; but it would contradict not only all the analogies afforded by history, but the experience of our own times, to assert that such separation will never be brought about. With such lights of past and of present times before our eyes, does it seem an incredible event that the English Colonies in India will one day become independent States? Had it been told to an Englishman residing in India, forty years ago, that the English Colonies in North America would have renounced their allegiance to the mother country-that they would have asserted their independence by force of arms-that after a long and difficult struggle, the Monarch of England would recognize them as free, sovereign, and independent States, with what stubborn incredulity would he have listened to such a prophecy! He would have immediately entered into many plausible calculations of the relative power of the two countries, of their means of annoyance, and of their means of defence of the helpless and imbecile state of the thirteen Colonies, each acting independently, and with all their sectional jealousies to overcome-he would have reminded us of the maritime ascendancy of England, of her invincible fleets and armies, of her immense resources, and of the comparative poverty of the Colonies. With such fearful odds, he would have triumphantly demanded, whether the project was even possible? All these speculations would undoubtedly not be destitute of weight;

they would show the perilous and precarious character of such a contest, and what great sacrifices must unavoidably be made by the Colonies, in the struggle. To all this, however, one fact must be offered, incredible as such an event would then have appeared, it has now happened. This prophecy has become now matter of history. And will it be said, that the English Colonies in India are not as capable now of renouncing their allegiance, as the American Colonies were when they successfully established such a precedent? Admitting for the sake of argument, (we are not at all disposed to controvert the fact,) that the English settlements in India entertain no intention, at present, to follow our example, what is the inference? Is the inference to be that the world is, to its consummation, to remain the same that it now is-that the term Revolution is a word to grow out of use, and only to be found in the pages of a dictionary-that the same disposition that now pervades the English Colonies in India, is always to remain ?—Is it too much to say, that individual ambition, glory, personal aggrandizement, fame, will find at some future day a residence in India? that Englishmen, who at home court the favour of the people, set themselves in battle array against the crown, and put at defiance all the penalties of justice, will when they land in India, and possess a larger range for the exercise of all these qualities, become mild and peaceable citizens, who look with abhorrence on Revolutions, and undergo a sudden transformation of character by a change of climate? Is it not obvious, that the longer this event is delayed, the more do these India Colonies increase in opulence, in population, in power, and the more competent will they be to resist with success when the day of trial comes. The very

procrastination of the event, ensures its ultimate success. We are by no means insensible of what is risked by such declarations; they may be supposed to result from a wish to behold the world once more in a state of combustion; but to those who will think so meanly, we have nothing to say in reply, and certainly no apologies to make. We profess to feel no hostility towards England-on the contrary, we can rejoice, with sincerity, in every thing that tends to the happiness and glory of the land of our fathers. And it is to her glory, that we acknowledge ourselves to be governed even at the present hour, by English laws. Our language, our manners, our principles and our literature, are almost exclusively English. The institutions of Alfred, which their illustrious founder designed only for the happiness of his little native Island, are now rapidly spreading their benign influence over two Continents. India and America have alike their trials by jury, their habeas corpus, their Bill of Rights, and all the free principles of the English constitution, without its corruptions. The Bramins already begin to view the objects of their idolatry-their miserable gods-their sanctified groves— their immolation of human victims-their personal austerities—with an eye of doubt. Their old, hereditary prejudices and superstitions, are already yielding to the new and benignant doctrine, that there is an invisible Deity who delights in the happiness of man. And to whom are they indebted for this ray of the light of truth? To England-to the inhabitants of that island where, only a few centuries ago, Julius Cæsar found none but savages-where parents, kindred and friends were daily sacrificed to appease the wrath of imaginary gods.-These are facts that redound to the

glory of England; and while we make it our boast, that we are descended from that nation, we rejoice at the same time that they have taught us to be free and independent like themselves. What we have become, the English Colonies of India will in time also become, and by the natural operation of those principles which they are learning from Englishmen themselves.

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CHAPTER II.

FURTHER PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

THE natural seat of freedom, says an elegant historian, is among high mountains and pathless deserts, such as abound in the wilds of America. It is certainly true, however, that the first emigrants to this country, brought with them that spirit of liberty, which has since been so highly cherished by their descendants. They left England at a period when those principles, which finally ended in the overthrow and execution of Charles the First, were every where prevalent. They brought with them an unconquerable aversion to the arbitrary assumptions of royal prerogative, under the increasing weight of which they had groaned, during the reign of the first James, and to avoid which, was the primary cause of their emigration, -and they continued to meet, with determined resistance, every effort which his successours made to extend the chain. Thus it may be said, that the English Colonies in America, were originally settled upon the principles of independence, and that we owe more to the peculiar circumstances, under which that took place, than to the peculiar situation of our country.— The Revolution in England which placed Oliver Cromwell at the head of the government, while it in some measure drew closer the bonds which connected the Colonies with the Mother Country, served at the same time to confirm the former in their high notions of privilege, and to render them still more jealous of every encroachment. The sons of the first settlers, inheriting the spirit of their fathers, and still more independent