l82<]!.] On the Commercial Str 



bent on tiicni to exhibit to continental 

 eyes the picture of insular domination 

 arrived at the brink of ruin, and 'fall- 

 ing from its high estate,' at the very 

 moment when it was excavating abys- 

 ses to serve for the foundation of an 

 .entirely new power.'' 



We hail this frank and honest ex- 

 pression of opinion as tlie earnest of a 

 more liberal, enlightened, and beneficial, 

 communication between nations for Ihc 

 liiture. National flatterers are like phy- 

 sicians, who give opium in tiie most 

 painful diseases of the mind, pretending, 

 at best, to quiet distempers they know 

 not how to remove. 



M. Dupin justly detects one of the 

 secrets of British power and predomi- 

 nance in the good failh and regulated 

 perseverance of the British character. 



" Successes attained in the direction 

 of ti)c arts are similar to successes ob- 

 tained in the government of men. Con- 

 quests may be made by fraud, by sur- 

 prise, and by violence; they can only be 

 maintained by contrary means. It is 

 not only courage, intelligence, and 

 energy, that are wanting; the discretion, 

 economy, and, above all, the probity, of 

 an industrious man, are necessary to 

 maintain a country's superiority in pro- 

 ductions and commerce. If ever the 

 time arrives in England when the useful 

 citizen shall lose his distinguishing vir- 

 tues, we may be assured, tiiat, despite 

 of the protection of the most formidable 

 fleets, notwithstanding the foresight and 

 support of the most extensive di|»lo- 

 macy, and tiie most profound policy, 

 England would soon see her marine power 

 degenerate, and, repelled from every 

 shore, disappear from those seas which 

 she at this time covers with the treasures 

 of the universe, received in exchange 

 for the treasures and industry of the 

 three kingdoms. 



"It is necessary to penetrate a little 

 deeper into an appreciation of that na- 

 tional character, to which the commerce 

 of Albion owes its astonishing prosperity. 

 Let us survey the character in its active 

 operation on the thoughts and conduct 

 of individuals, exciting an insatiable and 

 irresistible anlour to excel all rivalry, 

 and to crush all foreign competition, by 

 a competition at once individual and 

 national. Look at the means employed 

 for accomplishing (his end. A cool, 

 uninterrupted, and methodic, activity ; 

 a calculating audacity which incites the 

 speculator to risk, wherever foresight, 

 and, I may say, the doctrine of chances, 



engtk of Great Britain. 481 



demonstrate that, in the long run, there 

 are less probabilities of reverse than ol 

 success. To these qualities nuist b' 

 added, a perseverance in common or 

 domestic enterprises, depending greatly 

 on the stability of institutions, whicli 

 give birth to steadiness of character, and 

 to all those energetic virtues which im- 

 part a general cfl'eet on the public mind, 

 the first spring of what is to be found in 

 public spirit, inspired by the excellence 

 of public order, and by the inviolable 

 protection of the laws. 



" Again, to these causes must be an- 

 nexed the rules of political and domestic 

 economy, which are favourable to the 

 interests of all, stimulating to the indus- 

 try of all, and encouraging to the talents 

 of all." 



Having thus correctly shown how 

 public faith, corroborated by public 

 spirit, have produced the wonders of 

 English commercial prosperity, M. 

 Dupin, in a few striking examples of 

 contrast, exhibits the comparative 

 dearth of public spirit in France, as the 

 great cause of her being distanced by 

 England in her career. Alluding to the 

 public works of Bourdcaux, (the Liver- 

 pool of the south,) Lyons, and Paris, he 

 adds, — 



" While contemplating these praise- 

 worthy labours, are we to imagine our- 

 selves near the term of our efforts ? Let 

 us judge of that by the advance of our 

 rivals. We are about to |)0ssess five 

 leagues of iron rail-way, and our rivals 

 have 500. We are ou the point of hav- 

 ing ten or fifteen companies for the pur- 

 pose of canal navigation, and our rivals 

 have already a hundred." — After adding 

 other striking contrasts to this, M. 

 Dupin concludes with an eloquent ap- 

 peal to his countrymen, "in the name 

 of the glory of France," to press for- 

 ward into a new arena, where pacific 

 victories equally illustrious, but more 

 beneficial, await their lionourable emu- 

 lation. We are sincerely glad of this. 

 There has been far too much of the petty 

 passions of rivalry cxiiibitcd at the ex- 

 pense, not only of truth, but of good 

 policy, by preceding statists and travel- 

 lers on both sides of the water. We 

 hail M. Dupin's work as the earnest of a 

 sounder feeling of mutual ap|)rcciatioii 

 between the rival countries. We wish 

 him, from the bottom of our hearts, en- 

 tire success in his patriotic and honoura- 

 ble task of stimulating the industrious 

 emulation of his countrymen. The dif- 

 f'lsiun of these sound morals, which re- 

 sult 



