And to this noble and glorious cause of humanity we bid prosperity and success. Yes,--may Heaven sustain and bless it! I am not a politician, but I hope I am a philanthropist; and, next to religion, I love my country and its institutions, for I believe that in them is the regenerating principle that is going to awaken and vivify the world. These plains that we have just been passing over, abounding in a rich soil and under a prolific sky, why are they not cultivated? But they _will_ be cultivated, and this people here will be intelligent and intellectual: the _mind_ will rouse up, and claim its high pre-eminence; woman will be elevated to her proper, lofty sphere; brute force will yield to moral power; and smiling plenty, and security, and happiness, will prevail; and from our country will come the power that is to effect this mighty change. It is good sometimes to get far off from our land, so that, as from an elevated spot, we may look over the whole country; and, away from the influence of local prejudice, and interest, and alarms, may scrutinize our institutions, and examine into their permanency, and see what strengthening and what counteracting influences are at work to promise them security. For myself, I have no fear for them. They are built on _knowledge_; and, till we can destroy for ever our printing presses, and can roll back the age of ignorance, they are safe: they may change their _forms_, but the substance will remain; and always, and in every form, will liberty and humanity be secure. It is good also, sometimes to get away, and to be able to compare our own country with others, and be able thus to calculate the amount of prosperity and happiness which we enjoy. In the clashings of enterprise and rivalship among us, angry feelings sometimes will arise. Europe is disgorging upon our land the inmates of her prisons, and there will be crime: the poor, the ignorant, and the oppressed of her population find refuge here, and abundance; and, in the wild joy at their newly-acquired comforts and their freedom, they may run into riots and disorders; but nowhere in the world is so much virtue to be found as amid our population; and virtue is happiness. We are a nation but of yesterday; and our railroads, and canals, and steam-boats, and commerce, are already a subject of astonishment; and what will they be a few years hence?--and a century after that?--and why may not the whole world be like it? There is nothing, surely, to prevent this, except Ignorance, and its twin-sister, Vice; but knowledge, and with it virtue, are gone forth conquering and to conquer, and their triumph will be complete. It is a glorious thing to live in such an age as this. And now, reader, I turn and offer you my hand, for the time when our companionship must cease has at length arrived. I hope that we have been friends during these journeyings, and that we part in kindness. May Heaven bless you! Adieu! * * * * *