VINE IN ITALY. 109 



ments of a boundless ingenuity, till by the light 

 of the midnight lamp, was born that offspring of 

 philosophy and mechanics, which overturns in its 

 course the wisdom of ages, sets at naught the 

 elements which so long have controlled us, 

 laughs at the tide, and derides the opposing 

 winds. 



To a spirit like this, we shall probably owe 

 much of our knowledge of the vine, as an Ame- 

 rican cultivation. A half century of indepen- 

 dence has probably changed the position of our 

 country. Her aspect is not the same. Her in- 

 stitutions keep pace with the advancement of 

 knowledge. Mechanics are revolutionized ; agri- 

 culture changed. Where, fifty years ago, were 

 our manufactures ? How long is it since, for 

 the common purposes of domestic life, we have 

 imported our cotton from a foreign land ? With 

 both how stands now the account? The triumph 

 of mind over matter, the multiplied powers of 

 labour-saving machinery, have extended the do- 

 minions of England, and given her an empire 

 on which her sun knows no decline, where the 

 last evening ray falls on the plains of Abraham, 

 as the beam of morning is reflected by the sur- 

 face of the Ganges. Have we no part in this? 

 In the transportation of the raw material, the 

 highway of nations is whitened by the canvass 

 of our commerce, and the looms of Manchester 

 acknowledge a dependence on the labours of our 

 southern brethren. Every year lessens our de- 

 pendence on the late mother country ; and in the 

 new republics of the south, our cotton fabrics, 

 which are but of yesterday, exercise a dangerous 

 K 



