The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-08-03

California, will embrace the countries Of the west
Before lS<d, the pioneers of civilization had no
passed = line which prolonged from the Gulf o
Mexico to LAks Superior, and, forming an angl,
at the extremity Of this lake TO join the mouth o
the river st. Lawrence, included nearly third O
North America. The point the Americans have
Just carried in California the whole conti
nent from the Atlantic TO the Pacifc-an unfore
seen event, one of the most considerable facts o.
our age, important, not only by the precious me
tails which come into circulation, but by the joint
responsibility which it establishes between the diff
ferent parts Of the new world"
This extinct will strike the reader, we doubt
not, as combining a singular mixture Of en-
larged good sense in some particulars, with
very imperfect and crude observations and de-
ductions in reference to others. If there be one
characteristic stamped upon this country more
strongly than any other by Nature speaking
through geography, it is the impress of unity,
in combination with territorial extent and
vastness to which Europe furnishes no analo-
ges. We are here referring to the two con-
GLIDING paragraphs of the extract we have
qu0ted--where speculation takes the place OF
analysis. So full are they of mistakes and OF
erroneous conclusions, that one might almost be
induced to doubt the sagacity and truth of the
writer's preceding remarks, if it were not that
in the one case facts and observations are the
groundwork of comment, while, in the other,
conjecture alone has play
''The breaking up of the confederated
States into two or three groups" is spoken
of as probable thing; and to one who forms
his ideas of confederaces according to the
| principles of Germanic considerations, or the
more remote system of an Amphictyonic coun-
Gil, or an Achean league, the inference OF
of mutual jealousies, may seem natural and
inevitable. But in that particular old things
have passed away, and upon this continent,
dedicated to the development of republican in
situations, all things have become new. Our
system of government, with It's admirable ar
engagements for local State sovereignty, in com
bination with an imperial jurisdiction which re-
CARDS all parts as belonging to one integral uni
ty, is so entirely different from all former con-
federacies that no comparison can be instituted
between them.
| 1t is not our purpose, however, to dwell upon
this pont-neiiher time nor space permitting
A more simple view, and one obvious to the
glance, may be sufficient to show how imagin
airy and vain are the representations of the
French prophet as to the probable separation o.
this Union.
We have said that the impress of unity is
one of the strongest characteristics that nature
has stamped upon this country Look at it
The Mississippi river, the grand artery of oul
system, traverses the whole extent of the repub-
lie, from North to South; and, for itself, il
knows no North nor South as distinctive sec.
lions. 1t belongs to both equally; and it has its
East and its West, to which il is bound by
equal Notwithstanding forth its two arms
the Ohio and the Missouri, to grasp the ALE
ghanies on the one side, and the Rocky noun
tains on the other, seeking TO hold control Over
the Atlantic and the Pacific, by commanding
the barriers of their respective coasts The
Mississippi valley, that vast alluvial region ly-
| ing between those two ranges of mountains
constitutes the body of our republic. The At
|
and the ocean, and the Pacific slope on thu
west comprising Oregon and California, ar,
the fins of the neutrality-suspicious. merely
they serve as the breathing organs for the gi
ant We who live on this side of the Alegha
MES can well appreciate the forlorn condition
which would be ours, if we were cut off from
connexion with the valley of the Mississippi
| Not less forlorn would be the condition o.
California, with all her gold, if she were Gu
off from connexion with that teemng val
| ley, pregnant with the elements of wealth
Neither Oregon nor California would hav,
importance, separated from that great nucleu.
of nationality. The trade with China, Japan
and the East Indies, which is one day to com,
to their ports, will come thither not as TO it,
ultimate destination, it will come on its way t,
the cities of the Atlantic and to the markets o
Europe.
One country, one people, we are bound to
gether by ties indssoube as the bonds of fate
and if the time shall ever come when we canno
exist as one people, it will matter little to tn,
world whether we exist at all.