A TEN MONTHS' TOUR IN THE UNITED STATES.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 52, 30 December 1867, Page 323

A TEN MONTHS' TOUR IN THE UNITED STATES.

1 (Frotn the Hants Independent.

Henry, Vincent, under an engagemerit with, the committee of the Polytechnic Institution, related at the 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 malting to draw the nations of the earth into closer, contact with each other, and he thought he might say without egotism that, of all 1 nations of the world, in the interests of civilization and liberty it : of supreme importance that the best understanding should 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 iu 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 ail those grand qualities which have enabled England to assume her present position, and which command the esteem of rightthinking men of alienations. It is then, he urged, a matter of great initerest 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 v 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 ol Europe, to spend occasionally a few ; weeks in the United States, and study Anglo-Saxon society under new conditions; and become acquainted with whgt the people were there doing tl promote the cause of civilization, 1 and to spread, the blessings of secular and Christian instruction among all ranks and 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 he was coming within sight of one of those marvellous centres of civilization which gave him hope for the future of the world, for though he loved the Frenchman, the German, and the Italian, he was sufficiently an Englishman to believe that God has 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 tour through the States, commencing with Jersey city and New York, thence through the New England States, which illustrate, he said, in so great a degiee 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 excellance —the very brain of the Republic—and is the, most European like city, in, the; States. It. is the seat of f an immense: maritime, manufacturing, and commercial trade, blit almost every phase, .of moral life was ’represented, sat; Boston, and nearly, every every school of philosophy ! found its seat v .there, ... At Buffalo is obtained manufacturing process yoking people. ' Of Niagara Falls .he had .nothing; to; Say, except that - .the man -. who wishes to know; sprout .them must ” spe them! * something of tW vast material wealth of America. From PephsylyiSnia;;li'e went;.Vo'-;Mary-' iand.-^visiting,^‘’of;’;^ the".;-

had been a slaveholder ithat the negroes are,, working much better than wasever belieyed 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 the. House,of Representatives', .Senate, and although there is.less.etiiquette there than in our House;'of Commons, it was to be accounted' for 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 tnuch 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 an assemblage of educated gentlemen. Thq concluding portion of the lecture was devoted to a relation of bis flying visit to' Cincinnatti, Michigan, and Chicago— representing the young life oL the country —and other parts of the mighty West. , Mr. Yin-, cent announced it as his,.intention to return thither on the 19th October next, feeling that it was. puerile to 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. Vincent’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 fpr education he especially praised. A marked feature also in his lecture was iHefjnanner in which, during his visit, he "dealt with debateable questions, lor, he said, while holding his own opinions, he "did not impertinently intrude them in season and out of season upon those from whom he 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 national 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 to an exceedingly interesting lecture.