The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-03-06
Great Britain-.Signs of Decay,

may be again-that all things revolve in an OLE
appointed circle-that for empires as we'll as in
dividuals there is period ofgrowth and periot
of decay-and that neither the mighty nor the
humble can escape the operation of the in
variable law which fixes a penalty for every
transgression, and which Furnishes with the same
severity the high and the lowly.
A modern writer, struck with the power Of
these old truths and tracing in the past and pres
ent history of Great Britain the operation o.
causes which.must in the fulness of time, produce
Its TALL has drawn vivid picture ola New Zeal
ander, sitting upon ruined arch of London
bridge, and moralizing upon the fate of the
once mighty empire, become as much a thing
of the past as Rome, Greece, and Assyria. Blu
when we read the eloquent page we smile al
the prediction of the writer We cannot be-
lieve that "Babylon, that mighty citv. who
gloried in herself and lived deliciously,'' anc
who said in her heart, 81 sit as queen, and shall
see no sorrow" shall ever fall from her higb
estate. We think of the wealth, the enterprise
and the indomtable courage, the intelligence
the zeal and the piety Of her sons-we see he1
wonderous progress in arts that Greece, and
Rome never knew-the triumphs of her science,
and the blessings ola civilization superior to
any ever enjoyed by the earlier ages of the
world, aud we fancy that in all these things are
germs OF stability and progress which shall grow
up and flourish in after time, bearing the name
and fame, the power and the glory of Great
Britain to the remotest generations.
1t is well, however that we should sometimes
view the other side ofthe PICTURE and ask our
selves more calmly whether it is indeed so firmly
rooted-so endeared to the world by its justice,
humanity and benefcence--so supported bv it's
integrity-so much removed from all possibility
of rivals, as to defy the agencies of decay and
ruin, and stand to the most distant time the
mr. 1r111- c
is not quite so bright when it is thus considered
The golden image is found to have feet of clay.
The fair peach of prosperity is found to have
worm within it, and the mighty empire to be
menaced with perils from within and from with
out. We see that we have no exclusive claim
to the profession of the virtues which have rails
ed us to the high position that we hold that
what we have, we share; that men of our own
blood and language have permeated with our
lntelligencce, our industry, and our enterprise
the remotest ends of the earth; that our sons
founded new empires, at present as brilliant,
and promising in the future to be more brilliant,
than our own. If we calculate the growth
OF population, we shall find that, in fifteen or
twenty years hence, or even earlier, Great Brit
am Will no longer be the principal seat of the
vigorous race of the Anglo Saxons; and that,
although the race may continue to rule the world,
1t may not be from the bank of the Thames, or
from any part of the old country that gave them
birth.
An empire twenty, thirty, or fifty times as
extensive and as rich ours, has already arisen
on the other side of the Atlantic, to entice
INTO its bosom the best. blood which remains to
U.S. The young the hardy, the preserving of
our country and of all countries of Europe. that
groan under the weight of debt, of difficulty, and
OF a surplus population, and that cannot say to
their sons, as the New World does, that every
man is 4 man, welcome, for the sake of his man
hood, to the great feast of Nature, where there is
enough and to spare for the meanest, are daily
invited to leave the shores of effete Europe, and
settle in more vigorous America.
The growth of the United States is, in reality,
the downfall of Great Britain.-All the unhappy
circumstances that are of prejudice to us, are
OF benefit to them. With us the mouths that
clamor to be fed are causes CT decay. With
them; every additional mouth is an additional
pair OF hands, and every additional pair of hands
is an increase of wealth, power and influence.
Let us pour our millions into the great valley
otthe Mississippi, and it will hold and feed them
all, were their number quadrupled -Such is our
great rival in the West In the South there
is another rival almost equally formidable, equal
~ splendid, fed in the same manner from our
entrails, and rising daily upon our fall Who
shall fix the bonds of the future prosperity of the
great Astrailian continent in this old
country the paupcr vegetables or dies, accursed
of the land that produced him, in that new coun-
try the pauper becomes a laborer; he no longer
vegetables, but lives and if he lives long enough
ne may become a patriarch, sitting under the
shade OF his own figtree, and counting by thous-
ands and tens Of thouands his focks and herbs
"a new Job in land Of plenty. Fertile soil,
delicious climate, elbow room, and freedom
from taxation-these are the blessing of the
Australian. The Englishman enjoys the first
two in an imperfect manner; the last two are
allens-he knows them not end will never
know them while England hols her place among
the nations.
Nor are these the only dangers which MANAGE
US. Although our empire stretches to the East
and to the West, to the North and to the South
though we have our hands in Asia, our feet in
Africa, our arms in America and the South Pa
chic Ocean, our own peculiar territory is but a
small spot In remote corner of Europe We
nave only held that corner by the enormous sac
rtices we have made. 1t was our ambition to
become ruling power-givng the law to the
world-and we became so, but it was at cost
OF OO,OOO,0OO, that pauperises our population,
and lies like perpetual and killing weight upon
the energy of all classes. In addition to this
stuPendous evil, we share the effeteness of all
Europe. There is but one empire within the
European boundaries that is not worn out and
pauperised by debt and extravaganza; that en-
pre- is Russia; and she is the enemy of all the
rest, and desires to rise upon their ruins Des-
tiny seems to have traced her path as it has ira
ced ours The Sclavonian race will inevitably
be the new lords of Europe. The Anglo Saxon
race must be contented to be the lords of the lar
ger and more splendid Inheritance of America
and Australia. In this case what becomes of the
empire of Great Britain? 1t falls to the ground.
and exists only like other Powers and Potentates
OF the world-in the bones and sinews of its sons
and successors, transformed to a new soil, and
enjoying privileges, blessings, and opportuni-
ties from which their forefathers were exclu-
ded.
Let those who dream of perpetual Britain,
think upon these things In our fall, we shall
have few friends. In prosperity we have not
comported ourselves 50 humbly, as to be iusti-
fled in the expectation ofsympathy or aid from
any quarter. Our very excellence has made us
foes, and our VIOLENCE and cupidity have estran-
ged the nations. Welmay have peopled the
earth; we may have spread far and wide our arts
and our arp1s-our commerce and our civliza-
ton, but we have not had standing room for our
own pretensons. Events are more powerful
than we are. We must, sooner or later, weld
our place to the more prudent, the less embar-