By this system England derives from the Spanish-American States all the advantages of trade she receives from her colonies; and yet she has not the expense or the trouble of governing them. And it is her interest to keep them in this condition. Now they furnish her with an excellent market for her fabrics; and, through her merchants, scattered over the central and southern portions of the continent, she manages to control the distribution of the products of these countries. Thus her shipping is swelled, her sailors educated, and an opportunity is offered for scattering her men-of-war like sentries along the coasts of both oceans, from Mexico to Patagonia. Her aim is to maintain the _status quô_, for she could scarcely hope to better herself by any change that might be attempted. The British consul at Realejo, Thomas Manning, was a type of the class of English merchants in the Spanish-American States. Arriving in Nicaragua without means—a sailor, it is said, on a merchant vessel—he had married a woman of the country, and soon built the foundations of a fortune. Without any education, or any habit of regarding political events in the light of principle or of fixed policy, he yet had that keen instinct for property and his own interests which enabled him to use British power to aid his trading adventures. He sometimes lent money to the Republic, only, however, when it was in great straits and promised extravagant interest; and when the principal and interest had accumulated to a suitable sum, he would call on the British fleet to blockade the ports of the States until the debt was paid. As early as 1849, Manning had foreseen the danger of Americans passing in numbers through Nicaragua; and while the Californians were crossing the Isthmus, on their way to and from the land of gold, he had written to Lord Palmerston that unless England averted the calamity, in ten years the country would be “overrun by North American adventurers.” It is wise for England to make her merchants consuls, and to intrust them somewhat with diplomatic business; the sting of self-interest keeps the sentry from sleeping on his post.