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as San Francisco. The interior of the gold regions of British Columbia, the "fertile belt" of the two Saskatchawans, or Bow rivers, the Swan River, Red River, Winnipeg, and Rainy Lake districts, are all open to settlement and cultivation-to the rearing, in fact, of families of men that one day will rival the populations of Great Britain and France put together. If this is the case in regard to new countries, how much more so is it in regard to old regions like Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, China, and other countries, where commerce and population already exist, but are capable by increased facilities of transport of being developed to an almost unlimited extent? Would that these considerations had their just weight with European governments, and the peace of the world would gain an additional security. In this respect the Americans have set a noble example, whilst the retrograde Mussulmans have not as yet even a railway from Belgrade to Constantinople!

The Central Pacific Railway is not only a great trunk or artery uniting the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean, but it also brings three great existing centres of population-California, Utah, and Coleradointo connexion with the other states, and more particularly with the valley of the Mississippi. Numerous railways in existence, or in progress of construction, will bring Omaha-the eastern terminus of the Central Pacific-in connexion with the other states. 1st. The Sioux City and Pacific Railroad, which, starting from Dubuque, on the Mississippi in Iowa, passes Sioux City and descends the left bank of the Missouri, to Omaha. This railroad is further connected with others which traverse the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the north of Illinois. 2nd. The North-West and Cedar Rapid Railroad, which, starting from Chicago, takes a northerly direction to Omaha. 3rd. The Rock Island Railway, which takes a southerly course from Chicago to Omaha. 4th. The railroad which starts from Burlington on the Mississippi, and passing Ottamwa joins the Missouri at Bellevue, proceeding thence to Omaha. 5th. The railroad of Hannibal and St. Joseph, which, starting from Quincy, on the Mississippi, reaches the Missouri at St. Joseph, and is to be prolonged by the valley of little Blue River to Kearney city, beyond Omaha. 6th. The Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division, which, starting from Kansas city, on the Missouri, follows the valley of the Kansas River to Fort Riley and Junction City, and is to be prolonged thence to Denver city. All these railways are connected by others with the remaining States of the Union, and with all the chief ports on the Atlantic.

The Central Pacific Railway and the Union Pacific Railway have a subvention granted to the extent of 16,000 dollars per wile, and of 48,000 dollars per mile for the passes through the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada-each of 150 miles in extent and 32,000 dollars per mile are allocated for the whole distance between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. The company also receives 12,800 acres of land for every mile of railway. The Union Pacific Eastern Division receives a subvention of 16,000 dollars per mile. This railway, founded with a capital of 150,000,000 of dollars, will thus have received, upon its completion (for it is paid every 20 miles accomplished), 31,616,000 dollars, and the Central Pacific will have received about 518,000,000 of dollars, making altogether about 50,000,000 of dollars that will have been contributed by government to this gigantic enterprise. The energy with

which the works have been pushed forward has been something extraordinary. It was stipulated that the first 100 miles, west of the Missouri, should be completed by the 27th of June, 1866, and the next 147 miles by December, 1867. The first 100 miles were constructed by the 2nd of June, 1866, and the 100th parallel was reached on the 5th of October of the same year, instead of last December. The works progressed, in fact, across the prairies at the average rate of a mile and a half per day. An excursion, in which the directors, engineers, several statesmen, and men of science and letters took part, was got up to celebrate the event, and interviews were held with the Sioux and Pawnee Indians, in the course of which attempts were made to conciliate the wild men of the plains by presents and friendly speeches.

Pessimists may fancy that so rapid a progress as a mile and a half a day of iron road laid down can only be at the expense of durability and security; but the circumstances under which railways are constructed in the New World-rough-hewn sleepers only planed off on one side to receive the iron rails, and wooden bridges and viaducts upon the most simple yet effective plans-are so different to anything as yet adopted in the Old World, that experience alone, as it has already done, can be appealed to to prove the practicability of the cheap and expeditious engineering system of the Americans. The main structure in the Long Ravine, for example, in which a wooden bridge is carried at a height of about 120 feet above the ground, is designed upon the principle known in the United States as the Howe truss, which is remarkable for its economical proportions, and yet possesses great stability. Instead of condemning such systems it would be more philosophical to consider how far they could be adopted for opening new countries, as more especially Western Asia and Central Asia, to traffic and commerce. It is true that the chief engineer is one General J. M. Dodge; but the tricks, if there are any, are on the side of neatness, cleverness, economy, and efficacy in construction. The presence of numerous tribes of astute belligerent Indians, who deem their hunting-grounds to be invaded, and their rights of existence to be imperilled, by the iron roads, only partially defended by forts far apart from one another, is not a thing altogether pleasant to contemplate; but the results are certain. If the Indians commit outrages, they will only hasten their extirpation, whilst in a country circumstanced as North America is, where, only a few years ago, the whole extent of country between the Missouri and the Mississippi, comprising the present States of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Arkansas, were barren prairies and mere hunting-grounds, just as the country between the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, including Dacota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado, are in part now, the whole of the territories bordering the iron roads will be settled in a very few years. Farms, forts, and villages are already stretching up the valleys of the Platte and the Kansas rivers; on the first more than half-way from the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and on the second one-fourth of the way. At the Rocky Mountains we have the rich and populous mining region of Denver city, to which two different railways are making their way; and we have seen what splendid promises the north, middle, and south parks, and the Laramie plains hold out to settlers within the mountains themselves. Beyond we have the fertile valley of the Colorado, far too promising to be long

neglected; then the country already reduced to order by the Mormons; and, lastly, the mining regions of Nevada. Any difficulties connected with the hostile attitude of the Indians can only, then, be of a very insignificant and very temporary character.

As General Dix put it, a traveller starting from Paris or London for any point on the western coast of China has at present to take a devious route, which comprises 97 deg. of latitude. In three years' time, when the Pacific Railway shall have been completed, or even partially completed (for a little break in the mountains would not be of more importance than to have to leave the steamer at the iron gates of the Danube), the coast of China will be reached by an almost direct road-one which does not at any point make a deviation of 8 deg. of latitude.

Every-day science and enterprise combined reduce time and space more and more. In a very few years the two oceans that bathe the shores of the American continent will be united by an iron road; the Rocky Mountains, so long deemed to be an insuperable obstacle, will echo back the whistle of the locomotive; the prodigious metallic wealth of the whole region of Colorado and Nevada will be opened, new states will be peopled with industrious beings, and the merchandise of Japan and China will no longer travel round by the devious routes of Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. If the kingdoms of Europe do not wish to follow in the footsteps of the olden nations of Asia, they must be up and stirring, and open at the same time iron roads on the Euphrates and Tigris, and across far-famed Persia to the plains of Hindustan and the river beds of China-the Celestial empire.

SENSE AND FASHION IN DRESS.

THE primary qualifications to be desired in dress are, that it shall be convenient, comfortable, and pretty. This seems obvious; yet considerations of convenience, comfort, and beauty have little part with each of us in deciding how he shall clothe himself. Fashion, or at least custom, takes the place of ruler, and is absolute, and all that remains for the individual is humbly to obey.

But though no liberty be left with the individual, might we not hope that the custom to which we all must bow would be itself guided by considerations so obviously to the interest of its subjects? Such expectations would be most ill-grounded; for while fashion and custom are so unreasonably obeyed, it is vain to look for reason in their demands. Where there is no liberty with the subjects, there will be no moderation in the rulers. Rather, we should be thankful and count ourselves most fortunate if, without any very noticeable eccentricities, we may enjoy personal comfort and suffer only a moderate amount of inconvenience from our dress. The knowledge and general liberty which civilisation introduces among the subjects of fashion individually tends to moderate

in some degree the tyranny of fashion; and this increases our confidence in the advantage of a further reduction of its power. It is out of Europe that we must look for the most extravagant demands of fashion. No customs are felt to be more binding than those which are distinctive of different ranks in society; the existence in free countries of numerous intermediate grades prevents any such custom gaining much authority. One great advantage, at least, we modern Europeans enjoy in the past, that our infancy is allowed to pass without any terrible bodily injury being inflicted on us by the care of our parents in obedience to custom.

A proof of the comparative weakness of fashion among ourselves may be found in the frequency of attempts on the part of the subjects to find reasons for the commands of their own tyrant, and excuses for their own obedience. For instance, many who wear ear-rings say that they had their ears bored for the benefit of their eyes. Whether the eyes are, or are not, affected by boring the ears, we cannot but think that this method of relieving the eyes owes its popularity to its accordance with fashion. But beauty is the great excuse; and it is given as the reason of almost all modern fashions. Excuses for conformity to custom are signs of the weakness of its power; the more devoted followers of fashion do not excuse their ear-rings by their eyes, and we can scarcely imagine that those savages who compress their skulls in infancy, or those who extend their lower lips over pieces of wood could give any excuse-not even the favourite one of beauty-for so doing.

The excuse of beauty for the prevailing fashion is generally given in perfect good faith. The fashionable is mistaken for the beautiful. The false ideas of beauty thus arising are one great evil we suffer from the tyranny of fashion and custom. People say that such a thing "looks nice," and think they mean that it is pretty, whereas, on further questioning them, it appears that they only mean that it looks “stylish" or "genteel;" that is, not what in itself is really pleasing to their own eye and mind, but what they imagine is pleasing to the general eye and mind-or, farther still, what they think others think they ought to like, and consequently will pretend to like. Hans Anderson's little story, called "The Emperor's New Coat," well illustrates the length of absurdity to which people may go when each considers what others will think, instead of what he thinks himself. Many people will thus sacrifice their own real taste to what they conceive to be the general taste, and in this way fashion becomes the ruler of taste.

In so far as fashion leads taste, taste cannot lead fashion. And if a corruption of taste is, as we have seen, the consequence of fashion leading taste, a corruption of fashion is the consequence of taste not leading fashion. Beauty should be the great object of fashion in dress; but fashion will not obey where it can rule, and, therefore, so long as it is allowed absolute power, we must not expect that beauty will be anything more than quite a subordinate consideration in dress.

If we inquire who are the rulers and who the subjects in the government of fashion, we shall find that, though command and servitude are not distributed in justly proportioned shares, yet every one who submits to custom is rewarded by some share of authority, and that those who have a special power over custom pay for it by extra submission to fashion. Such people receive their reward; but there are many in a

humbler station, and without the advantages of riches and of beauty, who pay the most abject homage to fashion, and appear to receive no reward, though they will stint themselves of every comfort that their small means may be wholly devoted to their tyrant. On looking closer, however, these also will be seen to have their reward; for though they have no power in setting fashions, they have considerable power in enforcing them by the interference which they do not scruple to employ in regard to the dress of their acquaintance; they also doubtless receive much satisfaction from the consciousness of the correctness of their dress.

In and between these two classes of people may be ranged all the thorough and willing servants of fashion in dress. The remainder should constitute a strong opposition to the government of fashion, and they would then prevent its becoming a tyranny. With greater liberty there would be more room for the taste of individuals, and we might enjoy the sight of a much greater variety in dress at the same time. One of the first results of increased liberty would probably be that fashion, feeling that the tenure of her authority was very precarious, would become very considerate in the use of her power, demanding less sudden and rapid changes, and paying respect to convenience, comfort, and beauty as indispensable to any style of dress which she should attempt to enforce. But, as it is, the opposition from the difficulty of combination, and from want of earnestness on the subject, is quite inadequate to maintain itself in sufficient force to shelter its members from conspicuous singularity and from the interference of a certain class of the willing subjects of fashion, which may be considered as a self-constituted police for the enforcing of her demands. The opposition is at a great disadvantage in the contest with fashion, because, while its members are generally those who regard the exact form of their dress as one of the minor cares of life, there are, enlisted on the side of fashion, many by whom no question of dress is thought of as other than one of vital importance. The unwilling conformers to fashion cannot be cleared of the charge of adding to her power, for as conspicuous singularity is the penalty, the fear of which, more than anything else, forces unwilling obedience to custom, each person who conforms to any custom increases its power in as much as he increases the singularity of not conforming to it.

When it is ascertained that anything is to be desired, there is always a second, but equally important question-how much is it to be desired? or, what will we give for it? For, while nothing can be had without paying for it in one way or another, if we must give more for anything than it is worth to us, we shall be better without it. Thus, if we allow that convenience, comfort, and beauty are the chief requisites in dress, it remains to consider what is the value of each of them to us—that is, how great a sacrifice we should make for it. To gain convenience and comfort the sacrifice will be chiefly of conformity to fashion. The point where the discomfort of the singularity caused by non-conformity balances the comfort he gains by disregarding uncomfortable and inconvenient fashions, is easily discovered by the individual. A desire to oppose the tyranny of custom should lead us to act as if this point of greatest comfort were slightly further on the side of non-conformity than it really is.

It is more difficult to decide what sacrifices are worth making for beauty in dress. One thing, however, we may be sure of, namely, that

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