THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 255 



negroes in the slave States, to keep up the remains of his ' severe dignity* and 

 ' noble pride.' But thinking it better to command whites than blacks, as 

 soon as he heard of the Three Days, back he came to Europe to join in the 

 melee, and if occasion offered, to lay claim to some spare crown which might 

 fit his head." 



The fifth letter treats of the state of religion in the United States, 

 and here, as usual, the sentiments of Monsieur Achille are bold, 

 original, and disdaining all disguise. He denounces, in turn, the 

 sects, camp meetings and missionary societies of the United States ; 

 and from his descriptions of the vulgarity, knavery, and hypocrisy of 

 the great body of the clergy of the Union, we are induced to suppose 

 that our transatlantic brethren, though nominally not subjected to 

 an established church, yet labours under a greater weight of eccle- 

 siastical tyranny than any European community whatever. " There 

 is certainly no clergy so costly to the people as the American clergy," 

 says Colonel Murat, " but it is only fair to add, that these contribu- 

 tions are strictly voluntary, and I, for instance, have no right to 

 complain, for no preacher ever received a cent from me/' It is the 

 opinion of the Colonel, that the influence of the clergy is destined, 

 however, to decrease and disappear in the United States ; for the 

 power of a priesthood, he considers to be inconsistent with that 

 perfect freedom of discussion which prevails in this great republic. 



Letters six and seven, treat of the administration of justice in the 

 United States; and though this subject is discussed in a most 

 luminous manner, yet, from the extreme similarity of the legal 

 institutions of the United States, to those of this country, we fear that 

 this portion of the work will not prove interesting to the English 

 reader. In the original the subject may have been entertaining and 

 somewhat novel to the public of France ; but we think that in the 

 English edition these two chapters had been better omitted. The eighth 

 chapter refers to the statutes of the army, navy, and Indian tribes. 

 Upon the subject of the naval and military resources of the United 

 States, the remarks of Colonel Murat are fair and valuable; but upon 

 the question of the independence and rights of the Indian tribes, the 

 same ferocious spirit which dictates the opinions upon negro slavery, 

 again breaks forth. Our readers are probably aware that the Indian 

 question now excites an interest in the United States, second only to 

 the great discussions on the tariff; and the attention of many has 

 been directed for several sessions, to the removal by purchase, fraud, 

 or force, of all the Indian tribes within the limits of the Union, to the 

 westward of the Mississippi river. In the northern states, however, 

 this policy is loudly condemned as unjust, and at variance with 

 innumerable treaties made with the red men, there not being one of 

 the tribes which cannot produce the most solemnly worded guarantees 

 in favour of their rights and independence, and signed in succession, 

 by all the Presidents of the United States. On the other hand, the 

 State of Georgia, having for *'s neighbour, the celebrated tribe of the 

 Cherokees, in whose lands some most valuable gold mines have 

 recently been discovered, is now desirous of disclaiming the authority 

 and power of the general government to make treaties which shall 

 prevent the people of Georgia from forcibly seizing upon and 



