236 JYew Publications. [April, 



might gather from them a useful lesson; for, in general, we err 

 by an opposite extreme. We build too slightly — we do not ex- 

 ecute our improvements thoroughly — we have little capital to ex- 

 pend, when, of course, no substantial improvements can be effect- 

 ed; and labor, with us, is with more difficulty obtained, with far 

 more difficulty managed, and requires to be much more highly 

 paid than here. I hope I shall be pardoned for adding, as my 

 deliberate conviction, that we are too shy of investing money in 

 improvements of this nature, however secure, because they do not 

 yield so large a per centage as many other investments somewhat 

 more questionable in a moral view, and vastly more so in respect 

 to the security which they offer. 



" There are circumstances in the condition of things here, which 

 certainly warrant a much more liberal expenditure in improve- 

 ments than would be eligible with us. Here exist the right of 

 primogeniture and the law of entail, so that an estate remains in 

 the same family for centuries; and a man is comparatively sure 

 that the improvements which he makes will be enjoyed by his 

 children's children. Things are entirely different with us — houses 

 in our cities are continually changing hands, and are scarcely oc- 

 cupied by one life; and in the country, even in staid New Eng- 

 land, few estates are in the hands of the third or fourth genera- 

 tion in the direct line of descent. I shall not at all discuss the 

 comparative advantages, expediency or propriety of one or the 

 other system. I leave those inferences to others — my business is 

 with the fact as it is; and, like short leases, it has an obvious 

 tendency to hinder or discourage improvements of a substantial 

 and permant character, involving a large expense." 



We have extracted the whole of this section except the first 

 paragraph, for particular reasons, which will appear in the course 

 of our criticism of Mr. Coleman's work. The subject which fol- 

 lows is English capital. In this section we are informed of the 

 immense wealth of the English nobility, an illustration of which 

 is furnished in the magnitude of the enterprises which are under- 

 taken. A certain nobleman contracts with a master builder for 

 the erection of four thousand substantial houses, of good size for 

 occupation. So it appears, on inquiry, that acres of land, blocks 

 of buildings, vast squares of elegant mansions, in the very centre 

 of this vast metropolis, are owned by individuals. Even confec- 

 tioners, dealers in sugar plumbs, have returned yearly incomes 

 which exceed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, more than 

 six times the salary of the President of the United States. The 



