sidering the propriety of making terms with the Government of the United States, while they are still in possession, and able to complete the transfer.

Having once undergone the mortification of a refusal, the inclination of these people to prefer opening such negotiations with the United States, is strikingly manifest in their taking the matter up for the second time. But so it is; rather than hold on to the shadow of sovereignty, and thus invite filibusters to his shores, or provoke a revolution at home, the king naturally inclines to turn again to that Government which has never committed an aggression against his own, and whose good people have hitherto contributed so profusely to the welfare of his native race.

In this condition of things, it would be highly becoming in the Government of the United States to relieve the king from the necessity of making the first proposal; for having once repelled his advances, it is throwing an unfair burden upon him, to await his action as matters stand now. That which he has to part with, cannot be yielded up without some lingering reluctance; he may hesitate long before taking again the final step; adverse influences are actively at work to prevent his taking it at all, but nevertheless, such is the prevailing feeling at this time, that if the Government of the United States will but move in the business, the annexation of Hawaii can be accomplished.

Of the advantages, or of the necessity of the possession of these islands by the United States, it is scarcely necessary to speak. It is to be presumed that the present policy, which is opening the ports of Japan, laying out a railroad across the Continent, and wisely contemplating the future value of American traffic with the East, will not be so forgetful as to overlook the important position of this group, which is precisely in the track of that coming trade, and which commands the outlets of Oregon and California.

Certain journalists remark, "that the United States do not require these islands; that all the wants of their commerce in the Pacific will be gained under the present neutral rule; that it would be too expensive to hold and to protect such a distant possession," &c. &c. &c.

If these "homekeeping youth" were transported hither, they would view this question through different spectacles. Every newcomer from the United States

becomes an annexationist, on finding himself so surrounded by American influences, that he feels as if he were already within an inchoate portion of his great Republic.

It is apparent enough to observers here, that the present neutral rule cannot be maintained much longer, and that if it be not speedily transferred by quiet negotiation to the United States, it will end in a catastrophe or pass into the keeping of England or of France. Now, the evil of foreign powers having outlying strongholds on the Atlantic and Gulf borders, has been made so manifest that the wisdom of preventing its growth here cannot be questioned. England, holding the Bermudas, has a summer depot for her forces, naval and military, within striking distance of all the eastern coast of the United States, and the first move of the latter, in the event of a war with Britain, should be to dislodge her from that position and from Canada. Jamaica in her hands, and Cuba in those of Spain, are familiar instances of the inconvenience of such neighbors, at all times, to say the least.

In this connection, it is pertinent to say that the most energetic and persevering opposition to the measure of annexation has been made, and is still urged, by the representatives of England and France. The king is assured that he shall have the protection of their vessels of war-although it might be supposed, that the samples he has already had of their kind offices would suffice him for the term of his natural life--the people are absurdly told they will be made slaves of, and the bare contemplation of the matter is designated, in a formal protest, as a most "extraordinary proceeding, contrary to existing treaties, exceeding the powers of the king, and not to be countenanced by the governments of those two nations."

An edifying state of things, truly. England annexes New Zealand by a fraud upon its chiefs and people, who resent the usurpation by a brave, but fruitless appeal to arms. France seizes upon Tahiti and the Marquesas, and subdues the resisting natives in the field. Neither nation, saying as much as, “by your leave," to the United States, whose important whaling interests, at either place, have suffered accordingly. But when it is thought that the United States may be willing to acquire Hawaii by treaty and purchase; Hawaii, in whose ports there arrived last year

-Hawaii, where other American interests are as paramount as this single one of her shipping, there the selfish, the illiberal, the dog-in-the-manger ire of Bull is aroused, and he blindly utters what common-sense and a decent regard for the comity of a friendly nation must alike condemn. Very convenient, indeed, for British purposes, is such an obliviousness to the beam in British eyes; such an acute perception of the mote in the keen optics of Jonathan; but the latter has recently shown an impatient spirit at these jealous attempts to hamper his expansion, and at the hypercritical presumption of reading him moral lectures on the laws of nations, on the part of British functionaries, so that, should this "extraordinary" consular protest by anticipation,* have met with the approval of the British government, it is most likely the government of the United States will signify its intentions, after the manner of Mr. Everett's letter to Lord John Russell.

As to the cost of maintaining these islands, they would, in a very few years, not only support themselves, but yield a surplus into the treasury, and at the outset would furnish quite a respectable revenue from the customs. This is not the case with every new territory that is added to the Union.

But there is another view to take of this subject. Europe is at present on the eve of a war, in which the United States may be involved at any moment. Should this contingency occur, matters would have to be managed on a more enterprising scale, to command success, than was the case in 1812. Since that, Americans have boasted largely of their military spirit, of the increase of their commerce, and of the extent of their maritime resources; and the temper of this generation will scarcely brook a blockade of their shore, as complete as that during the last war with England,

or be content with attempts to repel invasion.

Why then, is it not the wisest, as well as the most economical plan, to secure, populate, and fortify in time of peace, such outposts as can be readily obtained, from whence, otherwise, invading armies and blockading squadrons will sally upon the coasts, rather than await the necessity for taking them, at the eleventh hour, by an expenditure of life as well as of dollars? Or, must the government of the United States, because, forsooth, it is a Republic, for ever neglect such sensible and legitimate means of defence, and supinely permit other powers to encircle it with a chain of fortified posts on the north, south, east and west?

But should the United States fortunately avoid hostilities, they must by their navy preserve the neutrality of the seas, and they must protect their carrying trade. To do this, in this ocean, they must possess the key of the North Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands. And here, it may be interesting to remark, that independent of merchant ships, during the months of October, November, and December last, 234 American whaling ships anchored in the single port of Honolulu, valued, with their oil, at $15,000,000. This unprotected harbor is at the mercy of any hostile vessel of war, from the want of a fort and garrison, which this government cannot supply.

There are, however, other interests, past and present, as well as those of the future, which incline towards annexation to the United States. The residence here of the American mission for a generation; the commerce and business of the Islands in all time past, as well as now, almost entirely in American hands; the capital invested in the group mainly American; the majority of the white population Americans; the laws, courts, schools and churches generally framed by Americans, after American models, have each and all in their way contributed to form the public sentiment as American also. So that there is no want of homegeneity in this community, which will as readily assimilate with the customs and with the

institutions of the United States, as that of any territory already within the Union.

In relation to one important question of the day, it may be remarked, that the laboring class at these Islands will, for the future, be drawn from China. The third cargo of coolies is now on its way here, to supply the present demand for labor, and they can be procured so readily, in such numbers, and at so cheap a rate, that no one will think of looking elsewhere for "help." Extremes meet, and strangely enough, events have at last brought together the oldest and the newest people under the sun.

In conclusion, it may be mentioned,

that there is one sort of people in the United States, who are particularly interested in this matter of annexation. Everybody born with a constitution too delicate for a northern clime, all those predisposed to pulmonary disease, and such as are already in its early stages, should hail with delight the acquisition of a healthy tropical region to which they can remove with their household gods, and enjoy existence with comparative immunity from that dreadful scourge of the North,-consumption. If for no other reason, the paternal care of the government of the United States should provide such a home, for the relief of this interesting portion of its citizens.

DID you, in your travels, gentle reader,

affect the subterranean? Have you, on a warm, clear spring day at Rome, threaded the catacombs? or left the sunshine of Egypt to creep into a tomb that antedates the Pharaohs? If not, you have doubtless seen a mouse die in an exhausted receiver, or known the stifling air of an American steamboat cabin, and, in the latter case, experienced the delight of emerging from that suffocating crypt into the aerial sphere which is man's natural element. Then have you breathed from the heart a blessing on air, and inhaled it awhile with conscious gratitude. Let the memory of that transient appreciation incline thee to air thy thoughts with me on this theme, and acknowledge that "a bag of wind" is, after all, not so despicable a thing as the world imagines.

This circumambient element is the instant need of vitality; but science has failed to penetrate its most subtle relations. The first consideration to the philosophic mind in its choice of an abode, is the quality of the atmosphere; no beauty of scenery or idea of conve

nience should weigh a moment against the least detrimental influence of the air. I remember the phrase of an asthmatic traveller in his letter home after reaching Buenos Ayres:-"I breathe for the first time!" Consider the luxury of such an experience! In no one physical agency is the secret of individual health so involved. Of all affinities between man and the universe, this is the most essential. What we inhale acts on tho blood and thence on the brain and nervous system. Once realized, this singlo fact makes paramount our estimate of air in hygiene: and yet it is, of all other resources of the vital economy, that in regard to which there is the most frequent compromise. Americans complain of illness in winter, and have the greatest appreciation of summer and of travel as the means of recuperation; it is not any mysterious benefit derived from the season or locomotion, but the sanative effect of exposure to the air, that is thus fraught with healing. The bloom on English cheeks, the compass of Italian voices, the animal spirits of southern peasantry, aro chiefly derivable from out-of-door life.