mouth of the river being an insuperable obstacle to a free or safe communication with the port. From Saffee and distant Tetuan come equally dolorous accounts; and only from Darel-Baida, which chiefly exports wool, do we hear anything consolatory.

The principal exports of Morocco, other than specie, were, in the year 1867, wool, almonds, goatskins and hides, to which we may add, strange to say, slippers, of which she exported no less than 329,000 pairs. The average value of the whole exports during the six years ending 1866 amounted to £845,783. Far the largest share of the trade belongs to Great Britain. The largest imports are Manchester cotton goods, and the average of imports from the United Kingdom alone during the six years ending 1866 amounted to £696,263.

Our commerce with Morocco is, it thus appears, by no means despicable; but she is in no other respect of much interest to us, unless indeed it be as a neighbour to Gibraltar, or the possible possessor of manuscripts which may increase our knowledge. A distinguished continental orientalist once remarked to me that he thought the learning of Europe had a good deal to expect from the opening up of the Moroccan libraries, and M. Durrieu writes, "If ever this country should be completely thrown open to Europe, medicine, philosophy, history, and many sciences may make in it some valuable discoveries; for not only in all the mosques, but in the houses of almost all the Moorish families who inhabit the towns, there is preserved an immense number of manuscripts, which date from the most brilliant epochs of Mussulman civilisation."1

TUNIS-Sailing to the eastward along the Barbary coast, after passing those Algerian colonies of France to which Mr. Prévost-Paradol in his most recent work assigns so undue an importance, we reach the regency of Tunis, a large district, the

1 The Present State of Morocco. By Xavier Durrieu. London: Longmans, 1854.

population of which is very variously estimated by our best and most recent authorities. Officially, Tunis is merely a government of Turkey; but in reality, it is, for almost all purposes, an independent State. Ever since 1705 its ties to Turkey have been somewhat weak, and since 1811 they have become very slight indeed. The Beys send presents at their accession, and prayers are still made for the Sultan as the head of Islam, but they manage their own affairs with the aid of a sort of Privy Council. We have a political agent at Tunis, and inferior consular officers at the small ports of Goletta, Mehdiah, Monastir, Sfax, and Susa.

TRIPOLI.—The regency of Tripoli, which adjoins Tunis, and extends from its borders to those of Egypt, is in a very different position. For a very considerable time previous to 1834 it had been almost independent, but in that year the Sultan recovered his authority and has maintained it ever since. It is a much larger country than Tunis, possessing great dependencies running back far into Africa, of which Fezzan and Ghadames are the principal; and a good deal of commerce passes through it from the Mediterranean to Central Africa.

We carry on relations with it through a consul-general at Tripoli, and inferior consular officers at Derna, Mesurata, and Benghazi. The last accounts which I have seen represent the country as going back rather than forward, but they are not very recent. Were it to become somewhat more civilized, it seems to me far from impossible that the portion of it near the site of the ancient Cyrene, might acquire some importance as a health-resort for persons from the north of Europe. Such, at least, is the impression which I gather from Mr. Hamilton's travels in this district. A writer in Smith's Dictionary of Ancient Geography, under the head of Cyrenaica, speaks as follows:

"From its position, formation, climate, and soil, this region is perhaps the most delightful on the surface of the globe. Its

centre is occupied by a moderately elevated table-land, whose edge runs parallel to the coast, to which it sinks down in a succession of terraces, clothed with verdure, intersected by mountain streams, running through ravines filled with the richest vegetation, well watered by frequent rains, exposed to the cool sea-breezes from the north, and sheltered by the mass of the mountain from the sands and hot winds of the Sahara. The various terraces enjoy a great diversity of climate, and produced a corresponding variety of flowers, vegetables, and fruits, and the successive harvests, at different elevations, lasted for eight months out of the twelve."

From the Cyrenaica, what more natural for us than, reversing the voyage of Battus, famous in classical antiquity, to sail for Thera, the Santorin of modern geographers, and so make our way though the Ægean and its connected waters, till we pass once more under the walls of Constantinople?

NORTHERN AND CENTRAL AMERICA.

UNITED STATES.-In two addresses lately delivered I have, as you know, attempted to give a brief sketch of the present political condition of the countries of the old Continent. I propose to-night to ask you to cross the Atlantic; and this, and my next address, will be devoted to the new Continent.

First, then, we land on the shores of that great Republic, which is the eldest daughter of England, and with which all parts of Great Britain are now connected by so many ties. To attempt to treat, in anything like an exhaustive manner, in part of one evening, the present state of politics in the United States, is of course wholly out of the question; and I shall, accordingly, confine myself to some remarks upon the recent Presidential struggle, upon the foreign relations of the Union, and to one or two hints which may save you from falling into some common misconceptions about North American life and politics.

In the recent Presidential contest two parties were arrayed against each other-the Democratic and the Republican. The candidates of the first were Mr. Seymour and General Frank Blair. The candidates of the second were General Grant and Mr. Colfax.

Democratic and Republican! These are strange names to designate the two great divisions of political opinion in a thoroughly democratic society, which lives under a republican form of government. How did these names arise, and what do

they mean when interpreted? The Republicans are essentially the same political connexion which was headed by Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Adams; and which was known originally as the Federalist party. The Democrats are essentially the same as the Anti-Federalists, who were headed by Jefferson; and who, having been called Democrats by their opponents on account of their sympathy with the French, and their opposition to the English in the wars of the revolution, afterwards adopted that name, and made out of it very good political capital. The Republicans have been throughout their history a Northern party, with its roots firmly fixed in the soil of New England. The Democrats have been a Southern party, with their roots firmly fixed in the soil of Virginia and the South. The one has been essentially an anti-slavery party, the other has been essentially a pro-slavery party.

I do not mean, of course, to say that the Republicans have been throughout their history so consciously an anti-slavery party as they are now. That would be altogether contrary to the fact: but from the beginning they have been walking on a road which was sure to lead them ultimately to the goal at which they have now arrived, while their opponents have been as steadily walking upon a road which could only lead to a thorough identification of their cause with that of the Southern planters. It was the Republicans who triumphed at President Lincoln's election; and it was the Republicans who formed the backbone of the Northern strength.

The collapse of the slave power threw enormous influence into their hands. The Southern oligarchy had appealed to the sword; and having failed in their appeal, they had no right to expect that their opponents should use any other motto than Væ victis! The conquerors showed at first extraordinary moderation, and hardly any blood was shed, under circumstances where we in England would have shed not a little. It is difficult indeed for any one who has been bred up in the political traditions of Europe to comprehend such leniency.