THE GUEST OF A NATION.
Tan Americans have never been considered a " near " people ; but, per- haps, with all his knowledge of the country, Mr. Cobden scarcely antici- pated one attention which was paid to him: When he went to travel by rail he was asked his name, and told that his passage was'free ; and when he was leaving the hotel, he was told that there was " nothing to pay." He thus became literally the guest of the republic; and why ? For the simple reason, that he has endeavoured, more than most men,—without truckling to prejudices or pampering special prides,—to clear away miscon- ceptions between England and America, and to make the two branches of the one family better known to each other. - We English are not a near people, and we can remember a stout, good- natured, hearty Baronet, who was allowed even'the privilege_of stopping a train,—accorded by a potentate who " made things pleasant." Nay, hum- bler men have received courtesies from great railway companies. The com- mand of power and means, and the habit of looking at results largely, tend to make men " handsome" in what they do. But perhaps there are not very many hotels in which a guest would be told that he had no bill to pay simply because he was an eminent man, and esteemed. The freedom and independence of every nation depend upon the degree to which the majority of its sons and the great body of the community are governed by noble and generous motives. The incident, however; might lead us even further into reflections which the reader can just as well make for himself.
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