the success of Fulton, in applying a well-known prin- 

 ciple to the great purposes of navigation. Whatever 

 may be the advantages which other nations have de- 

 rived from this use of steam, (and they are doubtless 

 great,) our own vast territories, watered as they are by 

 noble rivers and extensive inland seas, received from it 

 an impulse which advanced them centuries on their 

 road to wealth and power. Labor-saving machinery, 

 invented by our countrymen, is not only profitably em- 

 ployed at home, but is to be found in almost all the 

 manufactories in Europe. But while the merit of fer- 

 tile invention is accorded to us by all, we are reproached 

 for not cultivating the principles on which these inven- 

 tions themselves are based, and for neglecting some of 

 the most important branches of science. M. De Toc- 

 queville, who has so ably depicted our institutions, af- 

 fects to consider America as being still a province of 

 England, in this particular; and the absence of original 

 efforts in literature, philosophy, and the fine arts, in our 

 country, has led to the assertion, by others, that demo- 

 cracy is fatal to them ; and that where its spirit spreads, 

 they will take flight. Although these charges and as- 

 sertions are much exaggerated, they cannot be alto- 

 gether denied. It is, however, incorrect to attribute 

 this to democracy, which, so far from being inimical to 

 science, renders the mind independent in thought and 

 action invigorating and fitting it for any pursuit. The 

 causes are to be found in the circumstances of the coun- 

 try, which compel men to enter early on the threatre of 

 life: there is little leisure in youth for the acquisi- 

 tion of the exact sciences, and for men of more ad- 

 vanced age, the opportunities and means are too rarely 



