20 



and France, for a full solution of the problem, how and why it 

 is, that the two latter are so far in the rear of the former, in 

 their institutions of government, and the general aspect of the 

 country. 



In Spain, the rich proprietors of the soil were compelled to 

 live at Madrid, from an apprehension of the sovereign, that 

 their residence in the midst of their numerous tenants would be 

 dangerous to his power ; and the disasterous consequences have 

 been despotism, an ignorant and impoverished population, and an 

 uncultivated kingdom. In France, especially after the acces- 

 sion of Henry IV. to the throne, if the nobles were not required 

 to abandon their estates to the management of the peasantry, 

 they were induced to concentre round the court, from, the 

 splendor with which it was maintained, the prestiges which de- 

 luded the ambitious, the stations which were conferred on many 

 of the most powerful, and the hope of royal favor in all. If the 

 country was not as badly cultivated, as that beyond the Pyrennees, 

 the people were nearly as impoverished and degraded in char- 

 acter. 



How often in our day, have we seen those nations convulsed 

 by revolution, when the only measure required for producing a 

 change of government, or of dynasty, was the unfurling a new 

 banner, on the Palaco Real, or the Thuilleries. Paris and 

 Madrid, like Rome, when in the plenitude of its glory, have 

 each become the state, of their respective kingdoms, insolently 

 uniting the prerogatives of the senate and the forum, and who- 

 ever can wield the physical and moral power of either, may 

 dictate law to all the other provinces, as to so many distant 

 colonies. 



How different is the situation of Great Britain. The tower 

 may be stormed, the palace of St James razed to the ground 

 and London controlled by a mob, the myrmidons of a tyrant, the 

 army of an usurper, or the legions of invasion, still England 

 would no more be conquered, or its government subverted, than 

 by the destruction of Dover castle or one of her ships of the 

 line. Her mighty power is in the owners and cultivators of the 

 soil, scattered broad cast, over the whole surface of the island, 

 where every yeoman is a champion of liberty, and every house 

 a fortress. There the whole people must be consulted 'for 



