The Laboring Classes Of Europe

Thank God! we have In our country "neithér poverty nör ricliesj n the E-j ripean acoeptation of these terrns. We have none of those overgrown fortunes which accumulate in particular families enormous wenlth, placing underlheir conirol large reyions of f'ertile lands, wiih all those who inhabit thctn; and ihus redering the mass miserable, thnt the few may live in luxury. I content myself withsta ting the f ets as they exist, without comtnent or repronch; neiiher seekihg to investígale the cause, nor to sugcst a remedy. As one of the phases of human life, an American niay bc well anxious to olservc the condition and nnnners of hijjh Eufopeari society, and to describe fhein for his countrymen. But the descripiion ii faithfal, will eontain much more for winning fhan for imiiation. When contnited wilh the e.xtrerniiy of'penury and wretchcdness uiiich every where meet the eye. ihe present tendency of the insliluvkms" ol Europe, whelher ontinenlal or insular, presenta a subject of pninful reflection to the foreign travelier, and I should tbink a serious alarm to every lover of goed order, and to every well wisher of human nature. In faflt European society isa volcano, prepared at any moment for an érüpiion.wiítch tnay bury bencaih íts lava the hnppiness of generations. The e vil, in truili, lies far deeper than mere appearances indícale. Political ins.'ituliüns cerlnii:! v require regeneraron, a bettoradaptation (ó the present siate ót society, and to the prevalent opiniuns of the world; a system tíf l'egíslrítibn and admjmstrntiöft, not in the intereses of the few who govern, bu; Séè'krog ihe general welfare of tho eníire comrnunuy. ' But beyond this, there are cau?c3 in operatiou which laws cannot rcach, and which governm!n!s, if ihoy can cffeci. cannot ccnlrol. Propcríy is Too uncqoally divided,p(ipulalion presses too ciosely upon subsistenco; empioyinent is too often vvan(ng, and too iusufricienííy patd; and penury and misery are the eotiseqnence?. Life, in advance, offers to thc laborini men nothing but, a perpetual siriif.'üle to procure the means of subsi3tence, atid (he. prospect of catly dccrepilude, and of death n 80mc den of wretchedness, fulilic or j private. The extremity ofsutTering which the oíd woild exhibits, is beyond ihe reich i oí an American irnafiination to conceive. í shnil confine myselfío a single fact. ] passed the last suinmer ai Versciücs. where the commanding-general pul at my disposnion a sunsoiiiuer to accompany tne in my waiks, :md to point out various local itics worthy of particular observation at ihat seat of wontiexs. He was a very intelligent man, and l.ve!l educated; ana í owe to his conversation much knowledge oftho true conditian ofihe thmga in ihe internal economy of Baiance. iïe was fro'tn iho neighborhood of Amiens, and his father wasa small proprietor. I asked him, one day, what was the usual breakfast oflhe laboring pcoplc in that part of l!ie country. lio said, uplen ty of wjter, and a piecs of ammunitionbread rubbed with onionl;'