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THE CAMBRIAN QUARTERLY MAGAZINE AND No. 12.—OCTOBER 1, 1831.—Vol. III. OUR DAYS. It is hardly possible, we conceive, to contemplate the aspect of the days in which it is our fortune to live, without being struck by their marked and most significant features. That which mainly distinguishes them is, it would appear, the restless and penetrating spirit of inquiry, at this moment and for some time past, busied in decomposing every thing into its first elements, and, as if it had never before undergone the process, critically examining its fitness for the proposed end; so that we might almost call this the " analytical age," if the same spirit were not frequently, also, at work to arrange and combine in a proportion, and after a model, of its own. Many causes have obviously led to this singular posture of affairs. We are, at present, in the midst of profound peace; and, to a considerable extent, of commercial inactivity, following however a state of war and enterprise, wherein there was a "run," to use a familiar term, upon the general mind, for all its at' ntion, stir, and energy; and which left it in an attitude of preparation, and even of craving, for some species of exertion. Other subjects failing, those connected with domestic economy and polity were seized upon with avidity; and being at once numerous, intricate, and personally interesting, have continued practically to employ a great mass of thought, with various result. Again, party spirit has disappeared; for this, several reasons may be assigned: men had grown weary of its dominion over their tempers, and ashamed of allowing its exorbitant dictations to stand as a "great gulf" between them and the truth; many of its subjects had also ceased to exist; in its progress, however, it had accumulated much talent and vigour of action, and prepared itself, though for its own purpose, with extensive stores of valuable acquirement. Now these, also, stood ready to take up the more peaceful pursuit; NO. XII. f f