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Show EMIGRANT'S GUIDl;. The climate is rPtn arkahly tempera te for the latitude. A great -pai:tj consi~t s of open plains exposed to the winds of the north, and the atmo:; pbt> rP is cnoleJ considerably lower tha!l t?~ pl?ces on t~1 e same parall t> l more tv the eastward. Though un u.lvttmg ~n an agn.cultu ~·a! point of view, the position of T exas reuJers It an object of senous mtcrest to thP people of the Uni ted States. Few a~e prepared for the moment when either the west or east border of th1s country mmst become a vast frontier between two powerful and independent nations. \VhPn urging the value of T'exas to t~1e United ~tates. it is freq~ently ob:'erved that the territory of the Umted StatPs JS already sufficiently exl (- n ~ive . If the· observation was founded upon political w isdorn, it wc·ulu apply much more forcibly to Spain, whose .domirions are mo~e extensive and less peopl ed than those of the U mted States; but m re ali ty it is a sophism when applied to any country. It is easier to conceiv\! of a nation being too condensed than over-extended; of baving too little rather than too much land. Extent of territory can-; not be any great incon venience to a people, whose relative positio~ is simi.lar to tbat of the United States. lndependent, however, gf all other considerations, the claim of the United States to Texas ought to Le insisted upon from political reason . Some of the best harbours in the gulf of Mexico are to be found between the Sauine and the Rio grande del Norte. Entirely in· dependent of all the local arrangements of either government, the people of the United States and Mexico are increasing in a very rapid manner. Though the distance that sepa rates these two great masses of men from each other is yet considerable, it is every moment becoming less so. If a retrospect be taken of the progress of human society in North America Juring the last century, a pretty good idea may be formed of its advance in the present. · In the year 1717, exactly one century past, New Orleans was founded. At that epoch there was not perhaps 50\> white inhabitants in the valley of the Mississippi. There are now near two millions .. It is ic reality in the last forty years that the astonish in()' rev olutioa has taken place, by which such an immense mass of intel ligence has supplanted savage b ~ rbari s m. · .If und~r so many ~lisa<lvantages, and so small a fund, the people of tlus contment have mcrease<.l so much, what will be their advance upon the basis of tlwi~ pre ent population ? We must not su l!Pose ~hat the pe.ople uf Mexa.co and the mternal provin ces are statiun ~ ry. The fact JS far otherw1s: . F rom the b~st Jocuments, it appears that the peo,.-le of the Spamsh Nort h Amencan possessions exceed nme millions, upwards of seven millio s of whorn are in M cxico and the internal provi nces. The pP op l <~ of the Uni ted States now amount to about nine mi ll10n. For ~ period of seventy ye a r~ pas I, the people who now compo"le the Unrte Sla tes, hav(· more than douLIPd in every tw nty -five years. Should a simi lar increu ent accrue in the same ra tio J~r ing another centu y, th en will the people of the Uni ted S tte:s, m 10 7, at11ount to ergbty mill ions · and allowinO' the r>eople of h · · ' b r t e. • pamsh. coloni«· . , in No~th America, to double in thirty-five years, ar · "up.posmg 1ht>rt• n~ n~ n1nJ ,r~il l ions, their population, in 19 17, will b~ upwarc:is of fifty nnUwus. l aken together, the continent will tbrn , EMIGRANT'S GUIDEt ..be people with one hundred and thirt:r mill.ions, ex~lusive of the C .-:~ •1 :!'. an J other British settlements, which will con tam perl1aps ten or iifh,en m · tons. T bi increase, though apparently so enormous, is really less in proporti n than what has addally takPn placP since 171 7. under circumstances t IPast as unfavourable a~ any lliat can reasonably be expected in the ne'<t equa l period of time. It wi I be shown, in the sequel to this work, tl1at the arah1e surface f)[ North America, exclusive of mountains, rivers, lakes, frozen tr ~ cts ~ and other uninhab itable places, exceeds seven millitJns of square mi les ; consequently, when inhabated by one hun<.lreJ and fifty millions of people, it will give only twenty to each square mile. Like other na ions, the mass will be unequally di persed in America. Vit'wing a map of North America, and lhe local situation of its pre ! ent mhabi ants, every person must be struck with the prupri Pty of mak i n~ the Hio grande del Norte the limit b (~ twe en tbe United St<.tcs ancl the Spanish provinces. This river is in itself of very iitt le consequence, and the land it waters sterile ; it is a long continuous stream with few branches, and in proportion to its len gth, having but little water. A dense population cannot exiRt upon its banks, therefore many of the causes that lead to national conte!:its wtll he removed. If there were no t.itle upon which the United States co uld found their claim to Texas. still sound poli cy ou ~ ht to induct Spa in to establish a boundary traced by the hand of na ture; a boundary over which either nation would have few inducements to p a ~s . That tht' passions of men wilt engender wars on th is continent, a ~ tbe same oause has produced similar effects every whe re else, we cannot Jou bt ; but the origin of political disputes may be in great part removed in the case before us. Texas cannot be·come an immediate object of attention to emigrants; its terri tory is not yet politically nnder the authority of the United States, anJ countries superior in soil, and agricultural and commercial fac ili ties, are open to s ~ ttlem e nt. A Jeta il of the relative positions and natural proJuctions of a region that must re main for ever the frontier of the Anglo Awer'ican population of this cont inent, cannot however be uninteresting. T exas is bounded west and southwest by the Rio grande del Norte; southeast by the gulf of Mexico ; east by the state of Loui siana; and northeast and north by Re<.l river. Its greatest length is, from the mouth of the Rio granJe del Norte to the sources of Hed river, about-eight hundred miles; it~ greatest breadth from theN. \V. angle of the state of Louisiana, in aS. 'tV. directi.on to tbe Rio grande del Norte, five hunJred miles. Estimated by the Rhombs on 1\telish's map, Texas extends over two hundred and forty thousand square mi'Jes; or as e xten ~ ive as New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ma .. ryl and, Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. ' The climate must vary considerably ; the mouth of Rio grande del Norte is in 25° 55' N. lat. ; the head of Red river is in 37° N. lat.. According to the information derived from General Pike, on the high table land upon the head waters of the Red and Arkarsau rivers, the old i's ~xces.~ive. Thi:s respectable tes timony needs no farther a1l~ • |
