A TEN MONTHS’ TOUR IN THE UNITED STATES.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XII, Issue 538, 30 December 1867, Page 1

A TEN MONTHS’ TOUR IN THE UNITED STATES.

(i’rom the Hants independent.

Me Henry A incEnt, under an engagement with the committee of the Polytechnic Institution, ut thp Hartley Hall, Southampton, the impressions he gained during his late tour in the United States. It was, he said, pleasant to know we lived in a time when there were so many earnest efforts making to draw the nations of the earth into closer contact with each other, and he thought he might say without egotism that, of all nations of the world, in the interests of civilization and liberty it was of supreme importance that the best understanding shoul J prevail between the people of England and those of the Great American Republic, for we must remember that the American people are part of ourselves, that they speak our language, read our Bible, exult in our literature, scientific, and patriotic renown, and are as proud of our Bacon, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton as we are ourselves, and in all their industrial enterprises and moral and religious efforts have displayed all those grand qualities which have enabled England to assume her present position, and which command the esteem of rightthinking men of all nations. It is then, he urged, a matter of great interest to all those who wish well to the progress of the world to know that while with so much ease we can visit the continent of Europe, and make ourselves familiar with the works of art and beauty which there abound, the passage across the Atlantic to the United States is now no longer a matter of great difficulty or serious expense, and certain he was that such a visit would well repay those cultivated gentlemen who were now so well acquainted with all the great cities of Europe, to spend occasionally a few weeks in the United States, and study Anglo-Saxon society under new coalitions, and become acquainted with what the people were there doing to promote the cause of civilization, and to spread the blessings of secular and Christian instruction among all ranks md orders of the community. It was not his purpose to sketch the incidents of a sea voyage, but to say that with some enthusiasm he approached the splendid bay of New York, feeling that ha was coming within sight of one of those marvellous centres of civilization which gave him hope Rathe future of the world, for though lie loved the Frenchman, the German, md the Italian, he was sufficiently an Englishman to believe that God lias commissioned the English speaking race with the glorious responsibility of carrying the banner of truth, the torch of knowledge, and the standard of freedom around the world. Mr Vincent then proceeded to relate a very interesting story of his tomthrough the States, commencing with Jersey city and New York, thence through the New England States, which illustrate, he said, in so great a degree the primitive state of our great ancestors, and from which the great Republic has sprung—thence by rail to Newhaven, Connecticut,. His description of the railway cars led one to wish that such a state of things! existed here, for, he said, the railway directors have the singularly outlandish notion that they should make the carriages comfortable for the people who travel in them. Newhaven is a charming city, and worth of itself a visit across the Atlantic. Boston is par excellence —the very brain of the Republic—and is the most European .lice wtjf iu mu States. It is tile seat cf an immense maritime, manufacturing, and commercial trade, hut almost every phase of moral life was represented at Boston, and nearly every every school of philosophy found its seat there. At Buffalo is obtained i peep into the manufacturing prowess jf this young people. Of Niagara Falls he had nothing to say, except that the man who wishes to know ibout them must see them. Through Pennsylvania is reflected something of the vast material wealth of America. From Pennsylvania he went to Maryland, visiting, of course, Baltimore. Here he was rejoiced to hear from the testimony of a gentleman who

; had been a slaveholder that the negroes are working much better than was evf r believed to be possible. He went thence to "Washington, being , anxious to pay his respects to the , President, and see General Grant and other distinguished men. He visited , ie House of Representatives am! the Senate, and although there is less etiquette there than in our House of , Commons, it was to he accounted for by the fact that the Assembly represented so large and varied a class which make up the Republic, but he found nothing which could be construed into rudeness. The president of the House of Representatives, Mr. Colfax, struck him as being a man who conducted the business there with much tact. He heard the speeches on both sides, and they would have done credit even to the English House of Commons, which he said not in disparagement of the latter, knowing that it was au assemblage of educated gentlemen. The concluding portion of the lecture was devoted to a relation of his flying visit to Cincinnati!, Michigan, and Chicago—representing the (young life of the country —and other parts of the mighty West. Mr. Vincent announced it as his intention to return thither on the 19th October next, feeling that it was puerile to I suppose that he had seen America in | ten months, during which he had only gained a few impressions, and he was resolved to deepen them. Mr. Vin-

cent's general impressions of the religious, social, educational, and political condition of the American people —and he evidently took a very comprehensive view of the whole during his visit—were of a most favourable character. The measures adopted for education he especially praised. A marked feature also iu his lecture was the manner in which, during his visit, he dealt with debateahle questions, for, be said, while lidding his own opinions, he did not impertinently in trade thorn in scuooa and out of season upon those from whom lie was receiving Hospitality. As he turned away from this grand country he felt that though there had been between it and England differences partaking more of the nature of family quarrels, yet that the time was come when, in the interests of civilisation, of their common Christianity, and of their common nation,tl progress, right-minded men should do all in their power to promote peace and good-will between the two countries. Mr J. R. Stebbing presided over a large audience, that listened with the utmost attention loan exceedingly interesting lecture.