To return, then, to our subject, and to the necessity for England to be up and stirring. It has been remarked, that "a person who is already thriving seldom puts himself out of his way to commence even a lucrative improvement, unless urged by the additional motive of fear lest some rival should supplant him by getting possession of it before him." Truly, indeed, has it been said by the Spectator, "that England is not bankrupt, nor poor, nor needy. In every quarter we see immense additions to material wealth; we observe, too, on all hands a vast extension of luxurious enjoyments among the middle classes; every thing attests a huge growth in the wealth of the nation." It may be fairly considered, then, that England is thriving--a lucrative improvement of vast magnitude is open to her--and if the additional motive of fear of rivalry is necessary to excite her in so noble an undertaking, let her reflect on what is said in an American paper:-- A Boston paper of the day says, "the finding of these gold mines is of more importance than any previous event for 300 years. The prosperity of Queen Elizabeth's reign was mainly owing to the stimulus given to commerce by the increase of the precious metals; but the field now to be acted upon is at least fifty times greater than during that period. Within five years there will be a Railroad from the Atlantic Ocean, across the great American Continent, through the gold regions, to the Bay of San Francisco, said to be the finest harbour in the world. The people of San Francisco will then communicate by telegraph in a few minutes, and the mails will be taken to Canton on the one side in fourteen days, and to London on the other in nine days; so that intelligence may be conveyed from the one end to the other in the short period of twenty-three days. This will be witnessed under five years." It is evident, then, that the people of the United States are quite aware of all the advantages to be gained by a quick communication across the Continent of America. Let us consider now, for a moment, what the consequences of a railway would be as regards your own valuable and fertile colonies.[see Note 43]