ve made the valley of the Mississippi,
and the prairies beyond it, which little more than half a century ago
were mere wastes, the thronged abodes of a vigorous and wealthy European
population. They have done this without the aid of the aboriginal
tribes, who have proved irreclaimably addicted to their nomade habits.
The Anglo-Normans who rule British India have had to deal with a country
thickly peopled with races far advanced in civilization, though of a
peculiar character; yet, in every respect, the results of their efforts
lag far behind those visible in America. To place the difference in a
most striking point of view, it is only necessary to contrast the cotton
produce and the mercantile marine of British India with those of the
United States. There is actually a more fully-developed steam navigation
between Panama and California than between Bombay and China. The causes
of these results are plain enough to us, but to the English they are
enigmas. The mission of Mr. Mackay will scarcely end in a revelation of
the truth, that liberty and independence have kept healthy the blood in
the vigorous limbs of the Americans, while trammels and vassalage have
deadened the energies of the Indies; but it may have an important
influence upon the question whether the East India Company's charter
shall be renewed, and it certainly will develop much information
interesting to the cotton-growers of the United States.

* * * * *

MR. DE QUINCEY is one of the greatest of the elder race of literary men
now living in Great Britain, and we believe he is in no very affluent
circumstances. The bestowal of a pension by the Government upon Mr.
James Bailey, an editor of the classics, residing at Cambridge, on the
ground of his "literary services," causes _The Leader_ thus to refer to
the author of "The Opium Eater"--

"Where is Thomas De Quincey's pension? Some may not regard him,
as we do, the very greatest living master of the English
language; some may think lightly of those fragmentary works and
fugitive articles with which he has for more than thirty years
enriched our literature; but, whatever may be the individual
estimate of his services, one fact is patent, namely, that you
cannot mention De Quincey in any circle of the British Islands,
pretending to literary culture, but his name will sound
familiar; in most it will awaken responses of gratitude for