With regard to the masses that are spread over the length and breadth of the land, I certainly have never seen nor heard anything that need make England ashamed of the comparison.  It would not be equitable to judge by mere numbers,—­you must also bring into the balance the comparative state of affluence and independence of the respective parties; for who can doubt that distress is one of the great causes of crime?  Even in the wealthy State of New York, I find an account of the following outrage, committed upon a Mr. Lawrence, when serving a summons upon his aggressor, Mr. Deitz:  “He found Mr. Deitz near the house, and handed him the papers.  Deitz took them and read them, when he threw them on the ground,—­seized Lawrence by the throat, calling him a d——­d scoundrel, for coming to serve papers on him.  He then called to his family to blow a horn, when a man, named Hollenbeck, who was at work for Deitz as a mason, interceded for Lawrence, who managed to get away, and started off on a run.  Deitz followed in pursuit, knocked Lawrence down, and held him until four men in disguise made their appearance.  They then tied his hands behind him, and took him to a small piece of bush near by,—­then tore off his coat, vest, and cravat, and with a jack-knife cut off his hair, occasionally cutting his scalp,—­and, remarking that they had a plaster that would heal it up, they tarred his head and body, and poured tar into his boots.  After exhausting all their ingenuity this way, each cut a stick, and whipped him until they got tired.  They then tied his hands before him, and started him for the house, each of them kicking him at every step.  They made him take the papers back, but took them away again;—­when, after knocking him down again, they left him, and he succeeded in reaching the residence of George Beckers last evening.  His legs, hands, arms, and face are badly bruised.”—­If we travel West and South, we shall doubtless find that morality is far more lax than in England; but what can you expect where gentlemen, even senators for States, go out to fight bloody duels with rifles at twenty paces, while crowds of spectators are looking on?

Where the Americans have the advantage over our population is, first and foremost, in possessing a boundless extent of territory which gives a rich return for comparatively little labour, and where, if labour is wanted, the scarcity of the article insures its commanding a high price.  Compare England for one moment with two of the oldest American States, and therefore the most thickly populated:—­

Square Miles.  Inhabitants.

England      contains              50,000         17,923,000
New York        "                  46,000          3,097,000
Pennsylvania    "                  46,000          2,311,786

We here see, that if we take the most populous States in the Union, the proportion is nearly 6 to 1 in favour of America; but, if we mass the whole, we shall find—­