306 
C. 31. In the demotie character, the 
medial yowels of words, whether foreign 
or Egyptian, ave very often suppressed, 
as indeed it often occurs in the hieratic 
and hieroglyphic texts, 
' @.32. As the writings whence, it ori- 
ginates, the demotic can express each 
consonant and each vowel by. several 
signs, distinct in form, but strictly ho- 
mophonous in. regard to sound. How- 
ever, the number of demotic homo- 
phones is far from being so great in the 
sacred as in the sacerdotal writing. 
C. 33. The demotic, the hieratic, and 
the hieroglyphic writing were in simul- 
taneous use, during a long series of 
ages, throughout the whole extent of 
‘Heypt. 
sepa ens) 
For the Monthly aoe 
LETTERS FROM AMERICA, 
; No. I, 
HE rapid progress, which the 
United States are making in 
wealth, population, and power, is an 
event altogether unparalleled in his- 
tory. In no country is property more 
secure, rights more protected, laws 
more equally dispensed. Surely then, 
“the system works well” which pro- 
duces such results! But we are told to 
-wait a little; “ when’ the population 
becomes denser, we shall see the op- 
posite interests of distant parts of the 
union producing a separation; force 
will be required, and a successful ge- 
-neral will easily employ his soldiers 
to subvert the liberty he was called to 
defend.” To this it may be answered, 
that the security of the Americans con- 
-sists in the general equality of rank and 
fortune; in their general intelligence ; in 
the excellence of their constitution ; in 
-the want of a landed aristocracy; and 
lastly, in the distance of foreign rivals. 
The absence of entail laws checks the 
accumulation of great wealth in the 
hands of a few individuals; or where 
wealth is accumulated: for a time, it is 
‘speedily divided by the prevalent prac- 
tice of leaving an equal inheritance to 
every member of a family. The lawyers, 
it is true, have a paramount influence 
in political affairs; but the salaries of 
office are too small to tempt them to 
abandon their forensic lebours. The 
counsellors who represent their country 
in Congress, or as ambassadors to fo- 
reign courts, are almost always men 
who have acquired independent fortunes 
before their appointment to public office. 
This is‘a very great source of security 
to the government, and one altogether 
Letters from America.—No. I. 
{ Nov. 1, 
peculiar to America. Nor is there any 
people extended over so wide a surface, 
that possess so many habits and feelings 
in common, The backwoodsman of 
Missouri or Indiana is equally well ac- 
quainted with his rights as a citizen, and 
equally disposed to defend them, with 
the wealthy merchant of Boston or Phila- 
delphia. The immense emigration which 
constantly flows to the westward of the 
Alleghanies assimilates distant. settlers 
still more with each other, and removes 
to an indefinite period the chances 
of disunion. Not many years have 
elapsed since the Alleghany moun- 
tains formed the boundary of settle- 
ment: and beyond them now lives in 
ease and abundance a greater popula- 
tion than the thirteen original states con- 
tained during the war of independence ! 
While other nations waste their re- 
sources in wars of ambition, the Ame- 
ricans have peaceably ‘acquired Florida 
and Louisiana, an extent of country 
nearly equal to the continent of Europe. 
As for the policy of the government, it 
has in general been wise and liberal ; 
certainly more wise and liberal than in 
Europe. An extent of seétled territory 
seventeen hundred miles in length, and 
six hundred miles of a medium breadth, 
proves the astonishing progress of the 
present population; while the fertile, 
but yet unpeop!ed, regions beyond the 
Mississippi present an unbounded scope 
for the industry of future generations. 
The thirteen states, which formed the 
confederacy at the revolution, are all 
situated on the sea coast ; and may be 
considered under three divisions, arising 
from the diversity of soil, climate, and 
inhabitants. The first division is formed 
by-the eastern. or New England States, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachu- 
setts, and New Hampshire, . From the 
two last the States of Vermont and 
Maine have been created. since the re- 
volution. The soil is in general. very 
thin, poor, and stony; and in spite of 
the ‘advantages of being well-watered, 
and enjoying a powerful sun, for five 
months of the year, it. is much better 
fitted for pasture than tillage. _Inmmense 
herds of cattle are reared for exporta- 
tion; cheese and butter are, ‘made in, 
great quantities, and of excellent qua- 
lity ; agriculture is well unders stood; the 
farmers are easy and comfortable, - cand 
the speculative genius of the people ‘has 
found amends for the sterility, of the 
soil in the fisheries of the coast,or in 
exchanging foreign and domestic pro- 
ducts with the Southern. States, the 
West- 
