THE
RURAL MAGAZINE,
AND
LITERARY
_EVENING FIRE-SIDE_.
[Illustration: "Venerate The Plough."]
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY RICHARDS & CALEB JOHNSON,
_No._ 31, _Market Street_.
1820
INDEX.
ADDRESS, preliminary 1
---- Tilghman's to the Philadelphia Agricultural Society 104
Adams, John, original letter from 50
Agriculture, treatise on 13, 54, 90, 129, 165, 211
Arabian horse, account of 31
Ants of Valencia 115
Agricultural education 100
Antediluvian oak 148
Antique nugea ib.
Anecdote 149
---- ib.
Air jacket ib.
Africa 154
Agriculture, essay on 169
---- letters on 332, 370
Agricultural memoranda 172, 227, 317, 380
Appraisement act 182
Agricultural discourse 267
Almanacks, origin of 276
American ginseng 380
---- saltpetre 397
Anecdote of Lycurgus ib.
Agriculture, honour paid to, in China 407
Agricultural school at Hofwyl 205
---- hints 292
Abstracts from Philadelphia Agricultural Society's memoirs 293
Absence of mind 429
American plants and minerals 172
Anecdote 432, 315
African people, the 325
Ants, natural history of 448
---- wars of 458
Advice and Caution 475
Antidotes to poison, vegetable 474
Anecdote 472
Boerhaave, notice of 78
Barrett, Starr, decease of 116
Backster, George, decease of ib.
Botany bay, a view of 141
Bear, sagacity of 147
Boring, legalized 152
Breweries, London 154
Brewing, family machine 248
Benezet, Anthony, anecdote of 273
Bulls, Irish 278
Boots without seams ib.
Bones, &c. as manure 216
Bank note exchange 280, 240, 320, 360, 400, 440
Benevolence 394
Books, on 234
Bees, attack by 422
Banks, Sir Joseph 427
Boon, colonel, death of 472
Botany, curious fact in 475
Cotton, rice, tobacco, sugar, wine, statistical account of 23
Coffee plant 27
Cow tree 29
Cattle, Herefordshire, breed of 35
Cowley, Robert, decease of 117
Congress, list of members of 39
Cottage Society, account of 36
Chestnut wood, for dyeing 115
Cobb, Christopher, decease of 117
Cattle, mill feed for 127
Cow, singular account of one 147
Coaches 148
Charity, ladies ib.
Chimnies ib.
Catwg, wisdom of ib.
Combustion, spontaneous 151
Cold, severe 153
Cotton, exportation of, from New Orleans ib.
Cameronians, account of the 185
Comfortable discovery 196
Cambricks, flax for 380
Characters, weight of great 394
Cave, Weir's in Virginia 396
Camels 398
Corn pounder, Lincoln 220
Caterpillars 172, 223
Curious phenomenon 231
Cattle, valuable breed of 295
Chester Agricultural Society 306
Cider, on making 339
Cabbages for cattle 340
Culinary poisons, letter on, &c. 348
Correspondents, notice to 120, 160
Carpets, cheap and elegant 453
Cement, Turkey 473
Chemistry applied to industrious economy 475
Corrosive sublimate, gluten an antidote for 471
Council Bluffs 473
Christians, new sect of 474
Desultory Remarker, 45, 81, 121, 161, 201, 244, 283,
321, 361, 401, 441
Domestic economist noticed 78
Deaths, list of, in the principal cities of the United States 117
Deaf and dumb marriage 197
Delametaire, Etienne, death of 236
Death, instance of premonition of 290
Diving bell 120
Domestic manufactures, premiums for 174
Drink, parallel of enjoyment and suffering, 314
Diamond, the 461
Drought 474
Druids 477
Dreaming ib.
Disputants 476
Education, agricultural 100
Ellery, William, decease of 116
Economy of Nature 150
Ephraim, my neighbour 262
Education 382
Ellery, Mr. account of 75, 232
Earth, the productions of the 328
Europe, statistics of 352
Edgeworth, Richard L. esq. memoirs of 412
Excursion from Edinburgh to Dublin 444
Economical bread, receipt for making 465
Fig tree, American 28
Fire places, improvement in 37
Franklin, Dr. original letter of 44
Fry, Mrs. account of 126
Flax, on dressing 170
Franklin, Dr. anecdotes of 179
Fulton, Robert, steam-ship 192
Family brewing machine 248
Foreign tongue, the English a 274
Franklin's, Judge, address 366
Farmers, hint to 380
Flemish husbandry 219, 303
Fruit trees, on the oiling of 222
Fruit garden 226
Fruit trees, method of forcing 228
Firmity and Hominy 291
Farmers, encouragement for, on poor land 332
Fuel, economy in 339
French women, 352
Forest trees, on the culture of 223
Fiction, works of 231
Flax for cambricks 280
Fata Morgana 451
Flowers in Holland 453
Food, cheap 457
Fox, Charles J. character of 467
Gas lights 151
Green crops, manures of 168
Glass, method of rendering it less brittle, 195
Grape vine, native 247
Gossip, view of a 262
Glass making, introduction of into France 273
Gimcrackery, on 326
Garrick, anecdote of 355
Ginger 457
Governors, mode of electing 477
Gil Blas and Don Quixote 476
Gourd, Jonah's 465
Grape vine, on the 69, 101
Horses, disease among 30
---- wild, of the west 31
---- cheap food for, &c. 246
---- cure for foundered 227
History, on the study of 49
Holkham sheep shearing 379
Honey, on taking, without destroying the bees 224
Historical sketches 229
Horse, the Arabian 31
Hams, to cure, Westphalia fashion 172
Hartford fair 431
Horse, running 470
Jewish emigrants 76
"Is it peace, Jehu?" 88
Indian jurisprudence 116
Jones, David, decease of 116
Intemperance, expose of the causes of 133
Iron boat 277
Indian corn, its good and bad culture 364
Internal wealth 397
Indian corn, new method of preserving 228
Ice, power of 235
Ivory paper 474
Indian, double-jointed 473
King, the, death of, &c. 145
Letters of a citizen, to his friends in the country 5, 47, 89
Letter to the editors 3
---- from an Englishman in this country, to his friends at
home 11, 51
---- original, from John Adams 50
---- ---- from Dr. Franklin 44
---- On Mrs. Fry's proceedings in Glasgow 126
Light, without heat, or combustion 36
Libraries, public, of Germany 80
Law case 113, 231
Longitude (new theory of) 115
Lane, Thomas, decease of 116
Library, apprentices' 146
London 151
Lapland 152
Leeches 153
Lybia 154
Longevity, extraordinary 155
Law suit 184
Lord Thurlow 277
Locust tree, the 412
Lincoln corn pounder 220
Lycurgus, anecdote of 308
Law work, new 476
Ladies, learned ib.
Lands, public 468
Moral plough boy 15, 59
Mummies 79
Miscellany 75, 115, 145, 193, 223, 274, 314, 354, 394, 433, 471
Modes of salutation 115
Mill feed for cattle 127
Mine, silver 150
Missouri, boundaries of 152
Maple Sugar, on the culture of the 164, 218
Manufactures, domestic, premiums for 174
Manner, on the importance of 177
Mortgage act 184
Maine 275
Modern inventions 278
Madeira, island of 387
Missouri, staples of 418
Marivaux 230
Microscope, beauties of the 345
Martial glory 233
Marriages, list of 155, 197
Mammoth cave in Kentucky, account of 464
Nicholson's prize essay 17, 62, 93
Natural curiosity 386
Niagara falls, route to 289
Needle, variation of the 351
Natural history, curious facts in 428
Nunneries in Rome, visit to two 454
Narrow resources, advantages of 462
Otto, Joseph, decease of 117
Oil spring 145
Oil stones 276
Oxen, on the use of, &c. 309
Oranges 227
O'Groat's, John house 430
Oil, cotton seed 470
Political Economics 26
Peruvian bark, singular effect of 29
Pumpkin seed, oil of 30
Pleasure, on the pursuit of 43
Phenomenon! 147
Paint, a newly discovered 149
Potatoes, seed 151
Portugal 153
Poultry houses, method of preserving from vermin 155
Peaches, to dry 173
Plum trees, canker on 174
Poultry 196
Pickle, Frederick, decease of 197
Pennsylvania hospital 276
Prices current 239, 280, 320, 360, 400, 440
Parmesan cheese dairy 376
Punctuality 384
Prompter, the 391, 417, 466
Plaster, remarks on 223
Pear tree, on the 226
Potatoes, young, in the winter 227
Peaches, to preserve from frost 227
People, the African 325
Pompeia, present state of 341
Potatoes 338
Pyroligneous acid, antisceptic power of 456
Population in America, increase of 474
Ruth, story of 125
Ralp, Elizabeth, decease of 116
Russia, 153
Republican manners 175
Rain gauge, state of, at Philadelphia 197, 239, 280, 320, 360,
400, 440, 479
Rhode Island 275
Rivers, machine for crossing 277
Rain, cattle scenting 278
Rice, wild 377
Rags, conversion of, into sugar 224
Ruta Baga, experiments 225
Rural Magazine, a friend of, to its readers 281
Riddle, Baron Smyth's 476
Raindeer 475
Slavery, extension of 6
Sugarcane 27
Savannah, fire in 76
Straw bonnets 80
Seeds (from the plough boy's cottage) 85
Starch, to make 115
Staughton, Don Juan, decease of 116
Sweden, latitude of, trees in 150
Spider, anecdote of ib.
Snow, red 152
Smokers, hint to 155
Shoes, wooden scaled 175
Sentiments of an old soldier 179
Shepherd's dog 190
Snow Storm, the 253
Seeds, on 378
Salt, remarks on, as a manure 411
Speech, natural to man 419
Strawberry, improved method of cultivating 222
Spanish inquisition 232
Sullivan, O. Theodore, death of 236
Sugar, domestic, on the increase of, in the United States 330
Steam coach, 419
Subscribers, address to 240, 281
----, notice to 480
Scottish adventurers 355
Salt mines of Meurthe in France 357
Stone Floors, &c. 421
Sounds, increase of, during night 476
Silk, domestic sewing 476
Seduction 472
Thermometer, state of, at Philadelphia, 40, 240, 280, 319, 360,
400, 440, 479
Trees, new method of inoculating 173
Turkeys, cheap food for 272
Tortoise, land 276
Turkmans, the 383
Turks, account of the 392
Trees, to prevent decay in 223
Turnips, on the culture of 308
Thrift, lessons on 344
Transplanting wheat, on 434
Travels, Burckhardt's 469
Tooth, drawing the wrong 475
United States, congress of the 471
---- ---- square miles of the 474
Vine dressing, near Vevay 25
Village teacher, 41, 83, 123, 163, 203, 241, 286, 322, 403, 443
Vine grape 173
Variety 363
Vineyards at Vevay 295
Watt, James, Life of 32
Whale fisheries 36
Wool, imports of, into England, 74
Wolf bounty 78
Water, preservation of, at sea 116
Writing, legible 150
Webb, Margaret, decease of 156
Wayne, William, decease of ib.
Winchell, J. M. decease of ib.
Whimsical conflict, 184
West, Benjamin, death of 232
Whale, surprising vigour of a 310
Wild horses and asses, 313
Workmanship, premiums for 313
Waste of life 343
Wooden soaled shoes 175
Whale, Spitzbergen, zoology of the 423
Wonders of nature 452
Wirt, extracts from 461
Whale fishery, Nantucket 470
Wheat, cutting, before it is ripe 472
Yeast, receipt to make 278
POETRY.
The aspen tree 118
Song of gratitude ib.
The hamlet ib.
Verses written after seeing Windsor castle 119
Finland song ib.
Quiet mind ib.
Moonlight and calm at sea 120
Go, idle lays! ib.
The graves of my fathers 157
Auld age ib.
Dreadful hard times 158
Winter 159
To ---- ib.
Versification from the book of Ruth ib.
The peasant and his wife 160
Agriculture ib.
Time 198
Winter evening's amusement for Jane and me ib.
Youth and old age ib.
Cure for trouble ib.
Lines inscribed to M. Wiltshire ib.
On intemperance ib.
Hope ib.
To my wife 200
The Icelander's song ib.
To the snow drop ib.
The soldier's adieu 279
Evening ib.
On the return of the new year ib.
The fox and the cat 399
Stanzas, from Barton's poems ib.
Memory ib.
The deaf and dumb boy 237
On man's dependance on his creator ib.
Ode to imagination 238
An invocation to poverty 239
Glory to God ib.
Prayer and praise to God ib.
Hymn to resignation 318
The beau and the bedlamite ib.
Silent worship 319
Paddy M'Shane ib.
The braes of Yarrow 358
The ivy ib.
To a country girl 359
On prayer ib.
On the duke of Bridgewater 438
On the kitten ib.
An autumnal tale 439
The Cherokee's grave 478
Hope ib.
Angler ib.
The mother's lament 479
Church Fellowship, ib.
THE
RURAL MAGAZINE,
AND
LITERARY EVENING FIRE-SIDE.
[Illustration: "VENERATE THE PLOUGH."]
VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA, _First Month_, 1820. _No._ 1.
It is not without feelings of anxiety that the editors of the RURAL
MAGAZINE issue forth their first number to the public; for they
are aware of the lasting effect of a first impression, and that
they have now fairly embarked in an adventure, the success and the
termination of which are alike uncertain. Diffident however as
they are of their own abilities, they have full confidence in the
excellence of their plan, and the kindness and assistance of their
friends. Of the value of this assistance, the work itself will
testify; of the plan which they have marked out, it is but fair that
the reader should be informed.
A leading object of the _Rural Magazine_ will be to furnish correct
views of the science of Agriculture, and the various improvements
which are daily made or suggested in it. For this purpose the best
and most recent European works on the subject will be consulted,
and selections made from the American newspapers that are devoted
or friendly to the cause. The best information on the subject will
thus be condensed in a form less unwieldy than a newspaper, and more
popular than in scientific books. We also expect original papers
from our agricultural friends, being confident that there is much
in the farming of our neighbouring counties, well worthy of being
widely known and imitated.
Yet, as we wish our Magazine to have an extensive circulation, and
to be interesting not merely to the farmer, but to the citizen and
the general reader, a considerable part of every number will be
occupied with topics of general literature, selections from approved
new publications, particularly Biography and Travels, Essays, and
information on scientific subjects; and original miscellaneous
communications. To original and well written essays, our pages will
always be accessible; and we particularly solicit such as will
throw light on the history, antiquities, geography, curiosities,
and productions of our own country. With the genuine productions of
the Muse we shall always be glad to adorn our pages; but we have
no desire to patronize the unfledged attempts at versifying, the
lamentable ditties with which the public is weekly besieged, for we
hold that in poetry there is no tolerable medium.
But to an American and a philanthropist, there are still higher
objects to be gained by the circulation of such a paper, than the
mere diffusion of agricultural intelligence or general literature.
He lives under a system of government which is ideally perfect;
and he sees it distorted by the vices and the passions of its
subjects. He is the disciple of a religion which breathes good-will
to mankind; and on whichsoever side he turns, are to be seen
oppression, the darkness of ignorance, self-inflicted wretchedness,
and amalgamating corruption. He sees a large portion of the human
family held in chains by the very nation that has pronounced all
men to be free and equal. The condition of that unhappy race, even
when emancipated, excites his deepest commiseration and most anxious
fears. He sees the aborigines of our country, a noble race of men,
perishing like the beasts of the forest before our approach; and
that under every circumstance of wretchedness and degeneracy.--Above
all, the great and fatal delusion of war, more bloody than the
superstitions of Moloch, still overspreads the world, and renders
man the destroyer of man.
To all these subjects will the _Rural Magazine_ be watchful and
alive; for the editors believe them to be subjects of the deepest
interest, and having relation to our highest duties. He who tills
his field, or pursues his occupation with diligence and skill, is
a deserving and honourable citizen. He who, in addition to this,
cultivates his mind, and stores it with useful and ornamental
knowledge, raises himself in the scale of being, and adds to
his capacities both for happiness and usefulness. But when he
adds to this industry, and to these talents and accomplishments,
the benevolence of a Christian philanthropist, and renders them
subservient to the welfare of his species, he attains to the highest
dignity of his nature, and fulfils all the obligations which devolve
on him as a citizen and a man.
Such are the general outlines of our plan; and as we feel no
local or political prejudices, they shall never have place in the
discussion of any subject which may appear in our columns. Combining
in this manner an agricultural, a literary, and philanthropic
journal, we look with confidence to the support of our enlightened
fellow citizens; and assure them, that no exertions on our part
shall be wanting to fill up the measure which we have meted out, and
render the _Rural Magazine_ deserving of their patronage.
FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
_To the Editors._
You are about embarking in a literary voyage, calculated, if ably
and prudently conducted, to subserve the best interests of society.
Previously, however, to your taking a final leave of terra firma,
and before its shores shall recede from your view, it may be the
part of wisdom to contemplate the nature and object of your journey,
by the steady lights of experience. The legitimate end of every
enterprise of the kind, is to enlighten the understanding, and
improve the heart. To produce a result so important, no exertion
should be omitted, and no means neglected, to impart a useful
interest to your miscellany. Of the truth of these preliminary
observations, you are no doubt sufficiently impressed. To please
every taste, however fastidious, or to gratify in all respects,
the wishes of the million, would be a task altogether hopeless;
and which a temperament the most sanguine, would scarcely indulge.
However transcendent may be the merit of any periodical journal, and
however brilliant its success, should the editor listen at all the
avenues of public opinion, his ear will notwithstanding be saluted
by many an ungrateful sound. Some readers will complain of what they
are pleased to call its dull monotony; while others will lament the
sacrifice of what they conceive to be matters of importance, in
the pursuit of endless variety.--Those who seek for novelty alone,
will sometimes be disappointed; while others will start objections,
because sufficient respect is not accorded to the venerated opinions
of the olden time. The gay may sometimes meet with nothing to excite
the smile of merriment, and the grave and reflecting may regret
to find so little solid food for the mind. He, however versatile
his talents, who would be a favourite with them all, must first
be successful in his chase of the ignis fatuus; or obtain from
that fairy region in which the rainbow reposes its brilliant arch
upon the earth, its treasures of gold. But if your labours should
happily tend to give "energy to virtue, and confidence to truth,"
you will not fail to gratify the wishes of those whose approbation
alone is worth desiring--_the well principled_ of all parties.
It has been said, and repeated times without number, that to call
a rose by any other name, its odour would be equally delightful.
Although the fact may be so, the inference that a name is altogether
unimportant, cannot be supported on just principles of deduction.
Authors, who have reflected the brightest honours on the cause
of literature and virtue by their writings, have encountered
a difficulty at the very threshold, in selecting for them an
appropriate name. It was after some time anxiously devoted to the
subject, by which it would appear _they_ considered it a matter
of no trifling consequence, that the pious and elegant _Addison_
adopted that of a Spectator, and the _Sage_ of Litchfield that
of a Rambler; under which, with such signal effect, to inculcate
the lessons of moral truth. It has been observed by one who knew
something of the world, that few circumstances contribute more
essentially to general success in life, than an engaging first
appearance. So, likewise, the garb in which it appears, as well as
the name by which it is distinguished, is more intimately connected
with the extensive popularity of a work, intended for the general
reader, than at first may be supposed. It is gratifying therefore
to find, that both these considerations have had with you their due
weight.
The _Rural Magazine_ will not only be a repository for articles of
miscellaneous interest, but peculiarly so for every thing connected
with agriculture, and a country residence. It is to rural scenes,
and rural innocence, and rural employments, that man is principally
indebted for many of those blessings and enjoyments, which impart
a charm to human existence, and lighten its load of cares and
sorrows. The man, whoever he is, that has long been confined to
a populous city, will at length with _Shenstone_ sicken with the
unceasing recurrence of artificial life, and long to breathe the
pure atmosphere of the country. He will hail with delight the blue
bird, earliest harbinger of spring, and welcome the primrose,
eldest daughter of Flora, and contemplate with rapture the vernal
season, in which youth, and beauty, and melody, walk hand in hand,
over verdant lawns, variegated with flowers, inhaling the zephyrs
of health. Then he will witness summer, with brown, vigorous, and
manly aspects; and autumn, groaning with her ripe and mellow fruits;
succeeded by winter, clothed in storms and glittering with pendent
icicles; who notwithstanding a sternness of mood, and a manner
somewhat uncourteous, is in the hands of a beneficent Creator the
minister of great good to man. The fury of the tempest may rage,
and the clattering hail beat against the windows; the driving snows
may deform the face of day, and nature assume the appearance of
old age and decay: notwithstanding all this, that portion of the
circling year, of which we are speaking, will continue to have its
positive pleasures. These will be closely and intimately united
in the domestic circle, where in charmful confederacy they will
be found clustering round the _Evening Fire-side_. Who does not
associate with this delightful scene his earliest images of innocent
gayety and exquisite enjoyment; in which garrulous old age and
lisping infancy mingle their voices, and where carking care never
intrudes? But as the hours are hastening on with feathery footsteps,
they should likewise minister to the cause of mental and moral
improvement. The _farmer_ should cultivate a taste for reading, and
store his mind with useful knowledge; and thus become qualified to
assume the dignified station to which, in this happy country, he
is fairly entitled. He should remember, that the plough has been
guided and venerated by the "awful fathers of mankind;" and that a
profession, to which _Cincinnatus_ and _Washington_ were zealously
and practically devoted, and for which the emperor _Charles_ V.
exchanged his sceptre and his crown, must be intrinsically elevated
and respectable. It is among the yeomanry of our country that the
love of literature, by whom it is already cherished to a creditable
degree, should be more widely and universally disseminated.
In order to promote an object so desirable, may you succeed in
assembling at your _Evening Fire-side_ a cheerful happy group, who,
bidding defiance to the rude clamours of the storm without, shall
entertain topics of public utility, while cultivating and improving
the domestic virtues; and with warm and expansive gratitude ascribe
their blessings to a benignant Providence, _from whom alone they are
all derived_.
E.
FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
_Letters of a Citizen to his Friends in the Country_.
NO 1.
The establishment of a periodical work, designed in part for
circulation among my agricultural fellow citizens, furnishes
an opportunity which I have often desired, to address you. In
contemplating the dignity and utility which are combined in the
occupations of an American husbandman, in estimating the extent of
influence which belongs to his character, and regarding his elevated
independence, I have long since been led to the conclusion, that the
_Farmers_ of the soil form the basis of the nation's strength, and
ought largely to contribute to its ornament.
In the occasional communications which I propose to make to you
through this medium, I shall adopt a plain, familiar, and candid
manner; and endeavour to point not only at those errors which
certainly exist, but also attempt to suggest how they can be most
effectually removed.
"What!" methinks I hear some hardy son of the field exclaim--"who
is this that promises to improve our mode of farming?" _A Citizen,
forsooth._ Now let us at the threshold understand each other.
I do not intend to meddle much, if at all, with your system of
agriculture, though I conceive it quite possible for a man who has
been born and educated in a _city_, to furnish important hints for
the improvement of rural affairs. My purpose is to interest your
attention with subjects which may tend to enlarge and elevate your
_minds_. It is a lamentable fact, that too little regard is paid to
_intellectual cultivation_, among those who till the earth.
A well managed farm, supplied with substantial buildings, and
under good fence, is creditable to its possessor, and forms a
part of the public wealth. Every individual who thus improves his
land, not only enriches himself, but should be considered as a
benefactor of the commonwealth. Here, unhappily, the energies of
the farmer are limited. This is a radical error. With the pecuniary
means which his industry has accumulated, he should increase his
own intelligence, and confer upon his children the benefits of
_substantial education_. I do not admit as truth, what is frequently
asserted, that the best examples of morality and virtue are to be
met with in the country; for whereever the improvement of the mind
is neglected, those ennobling qualities will be rarely found. It is
idle to suppose that our intellectual capacities will yield fruits
which dignify and adorn our nature, if they be solely devoted to
increase our worldly possessions. The plough turns up from the
soil no nourishment for the mind, neither do the scythe and sickle
prostrate the vices of the heart.
Abstractedly, therefore, a man may be as destitute of good
principles who lives amidst rural scenes, as he whose pursuits
confine him to the busy haunts and contagious influences of the
multitude.
But I am beginning to lecture before I have an audience. I took up
the pen merely to introduce my proposals to your notice. You have a
specimen of my way of thinking. If you like it, so much the better;
if not, I cannot promise to serve a more palatable dish--but am
always your friend,
CIVIS.
[The subject of the Missouri state bill, involves, in our
opinion, an agricultural question, important to the last degree
to the farmers of America:--Whether that great country west
of the Mississippi, compared with which all the United States
are small, shall, in future ages, be dotted over with pleasant
villages and comfortable farm houses, and cultivated by the
industrious owners of the soil, each vieing with his neighbour
in beautifying the face of nature: or be blotted and defaced by
innumerable wretched habitations of miserable slaves, with here
and there, on distant eminences, the _lone_ mansions of their
masters. Whether that great country, now left rich by nature,
shall be converted into barren wastes by continued exhausting
crops of tobacco and Indian corn, without one shovel-ful of
manure to invigorate the expiring soil, as has been the case
in some of the fine districts of Virginia and Maryland; or
whether it shall be covered with luxuriant fields of wheat, rich
meadows and innumerable herds.--Viewing this great national
question, so intimately connected with our favourite subject, we
feel the more interest by giving an insertion to the following
communication of our correspondent SANDIFORD.]--_Ed._
FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
_Extension of Slavery._
It is the great and distinguishing feature of our free government,
that it is built upon the eternal principles of justice and
rectitude. The passions and the interests of its subjects or
administrators may pervert its original design, and wield the power
it confers to the purposes of oppression or licentiousness. So long,
however, as we have access to the charter of our constitution,
the great original fountain of our laws, we may renew or purify
those streams which have become choked up or polluted. It forms a
perpetual and unerring standard by which to judge of principles and
policy; and whatever measures are found wanting in its scale, may
safely be pronounced to be unwise and unsound. The flux and change
of opinions and interests, the perpetual encroachments of wealth and
power, the decay of old prejudices and jealousies, and the rise of
new ones, wear away continually the old landmarks, and imperceptibly
give to our institutions a new aspect and new bearings. While we
admit this flexibility to be in a certain measure necessary for the
conservation of peace and union, we must steadily insist upon its
being limited by the great leading features of the constitution, and
that reference should constantly be had to first principles, as to a
fountain of life and strength.
Never, surely, has there been a question agitated, in which those
principles were so deeply at issue, as in the one which is now
before the American people. I need scarcely say, that I allude
to the Missouri state bill, and to the introduction of slaves
beyond the Mississippi. This subject has been ably and repeatedly
discussed. A universal expression of sentiment has gone forth from
the people of the northern and middle states, and it has awakened
powers of eloquence and argument that have seldom been surpassed.
That first burst of emotion has subsided; and now that the question
is upon the point of being settled, it may not be altogether useless
to recall the attention of the public to the subject.
That slavery is a crime against God and nature, and that its
existence in our free country is a most dangerous and lamentable
evil, cannot be doubted. Our only apology as a nation for its
existence, is, that we found it among us, and that an overruling
necessity obliged us to leave its extirpation to the hand of time
and experience.
The august founders of our republic have not once named it in
the constitution, as if they were unwilling that so foul a name
should stain the purity of our escutcheon, as if it were a crime
against humanity too execrable to be uttered. They looked forward
to a period when it should cease and be forgotten, and made ample
provision for its future annihilation. Their solemn declaration
to the world, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain _unalienable_ rights, and that among these are life,
_liberty_, and the pursuit of happiness," had otherwise been the
worst of mockeries.
The words of the constitution, "The migration or importation of such
persons as any of the states _now existing_ shall think proper to
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress, prior to the year
1808; but a tax may be imposed on such person not exceeding ten
dollars for each person,"--clearly show, beyond the possibility of
a cavil, that the right to legislate concerning slaves is vested in
the general government, and that the convention was fearful that
the attempt to exercise it might be made, before the southern
states were prepared for any laws upon the subject. The Congress
has, in fact, uniformly exercised this right in all its laws for
the government of the new states and territories. It prohibited the
importation of slaves and their migration into the northwestern
territory. The states which ceded the territory south of the Ohio,
and east of the Mississippi, were fully aware of this power of
Congress; and they ceded it with certain stipulations in favour
of the slave holder. Yet even over the states which were formed
in this region, has Congress exercised its power, and secured to
the slave the right of trial by jury and of the habeas corpus. All
these laws were passed without exciting any suspicion that Congress
was transcending its powers in thus clogging the constitutions
of the new states. They were regarded as decent and becoming in
a government founded in justice and freedom, "as extending the
fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty." That
northwestern territory offered no inducement to the slave holder,
or to a slave agriculture. Now, however, the case is altered. A
province adapted to the cultivation of cotton and tobacco, and
in obtaining which the government made no stipulations in favour
of slavery, claims to be elevated to the rank of a state. It is
a desirable situation for the planters, and holds out from its
situation and fertility a golden prospect. They claim accordingly
to be admitted there, with their slaves; and a clamour is raised
because the people of the United States are unwilling further to
extend slavery--to sacrifice the principles of our republic upon the
altar of avarice.
The pretence--it scarcely deserves the name of argument--is, that
such restriction would be _unconstitutional_, _oppressive_, and
_inexpedient_.
It is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!--The refutation is a part of our history,
and is written in the pages of our statute book. It is OPPRESSIVE!
It would exclude the southern states from sharing in the benefits of
these new settlements. Are not the lands open to all, and disposed
of at public sale? They can only be made valuable, it is true,
by incessant labour, under severe privations. But this the hardy
yeomanry of the eastern and middle states are willing to endure for
the sake of independence and an establishment for their families.
We see them accordingly in the van of our empire, subduing the
forest and filling the wilderness with the busy sounds of industry
and contentment. Are the slave holders of the south a privileged
order, that these labours would demean them? Are they oppressed by
being placed on an equality with their brethren of the north, who
leave behind them all the artificial distinctions and luxurious
indulgences of society? Are not their arms and limbs as capable of
labour, and their bodies of fatigue? Where then is the inequality
and the oppression? A citizen of a slave holding state, at home, and
under his state laws, may be a petty monarch; and he is apt to fancy
that he derives the power from an inherent birth-right. But out of
his state, and from under its laws, he is an individual unit, a mere
citizen of the United States; and can claim no privilege which is
not granted to every American, or which is opposed to the spirit
and intent of the constitution. That constitution pays no respect
to persons. It does not recognise the existence of slavery; and the
petition to admit it in the new states, is a glaring mockery of its
character.
It has been contended, that after the state was organized, the
inhabitants might assemble in convention, and alter the constitution
in this respect. Such an assertion betrays the grossest ignorance
of the true principles of the Union. Our government is emphatically
a _compact_, originally between the people; and since then, between
Congress as their representative, and the new members. It is binding
on both sides, and the terms of admission are, that Congress
approves of the constitution which the state has formed. Its power
of rejection, it is true, is limited to certain points. But upon
those points that power is absolute; and amongst them, without a
shadow of doubt, is _slavery._ The state which, having accepted of a
limitation to its power in this respect, should presume to alter it,
would set that power at defiance.
But the restriction is INEXPEDIENT! And what is the amount of
inexpediency? Some thousands of dollars less to the public
revenue--some hundreds of thousands less in the sale of public
lands! Forbid it, Justice! forbid it, the Genius of the
Constitution! that we should barter our free inheritance for a
mess of pottage; that the countrymen of Washington should coolly
calculate the profits of a desertion of principle. But not only is
the restriction not inexpedient, it is called for by the clearest
dictates of sound policy. We are now entering upon a region of
almost boundless extent and fertility, destined at some future day
to be the abode of millions of human beings. Upon the decision of
the present question, in all probability, will it depend, whether
that population will be a free and industrious race, or whether the
great majority will be bound in the chains of slavery, stinting the
growth and paralyzing the energies of the community.
If it be fairly decided that slavery shall not exist to the west
of the Mississippi, we shall soon see the rich vallies of that
territory occupied by industrious farmers, proving what is no doubt
the fact, that freemen can cultivate the staple commodities of
that country more advantageously than slaves. Let us for a moment
contrast the opposite pictures which are here presented.
The privileged order of the southern states have, it is true, every
temporal blessing they can desire, save that of security. But their
hordes of slaves--a million of labourers, chained down to cheerless
and incessant toil, shrouded in utter intellectual darkness, cut off
from all that ennobles and adorns existence, stationary amidst the
general march of improvement, and sold and driven about like herds
of cattle;--is there not in this picture, retouch it and soften it
as you may, subject for bitter regret? and is there nothing to cheer
the heart of the patriot in the reverse? A country studded with
villages and farms; a smiling and contented population; intelligent,
virtuous, and industrious, and the strength and the pride of the
nation, and becoming in its turn the hive for fresh swarms of
emigrants. This is no exaggerated or romantic representation. These
opposite conditions exist in our country; and Congress have now to
decide which of them shall give its features to the western valley
of the Mississippi.
But it is from motives of humanity and security, say some, that
we plead the extension of slavery. The evil will thus be diluted
and lessened. Admirable politicians! profound economists! A
poisonous plant has overgrown one of your fields, and you seek to
extirpate it by spreading the seeds throughout your possessions! A
concealed fire is smouldering in your house, and you would prevent
its conflagration by scattering the embers upon your neighbours'
dwellings!
It is not thus that slavery is to be mitigated or done away. Confine
slavery within its present limits, and we may then hope to see it
extinguished. We are young, and may outgrow it. There is a great
body of active and enlightened philanthropy in the southern states;
and it may yet devise means for its extinction. Build around it a
circumvallation of freemen, and you render impotent its fearful
threatenings. But give to it that principle of indefinite increase
which our white population derives from the inexhaustible extent
of our country, and you spread it over the face of the Union; you
clothe it a hundred fold with terrors; you render it coeval with our
empire.
But not only this. The slave trade from Africa to the United States
will never be abolished, if we allow of slavery to the west of the
Mississippi. So great will be the value of slaves along the rich
bottoms of that territory, that no laws, however severe, can put a
stop to their importation. That accursed traffic is even now carried
on with impunity, and to an incredible extent. Fifteen thousand
victims have been worse than immolated at its shrine within a single
year. With greater temptations to engage in it, in more remote
situations, and along an unguarded frontier, no human power can
altogether check it.
Nor will it be merely a foreign slave trade that this extension will
encourage. An internal traffic will take place. The poorer and more
healthy states will become the breeders for the new and unhealthy
districts; and it will happen as it has ever done, that the pursuit
of a trade, wicked and cruel in itself, will entail the commission
of crimes, the violation of every moral law, _the begetting of
offspring for the purposes of an unholy traffic_. A deadly taint
will spread over the morals and character of our country, which
not all our professions of liberty can purify; and if there be any
prophecy in history, the rights of these long degraded beings will
one day be vindicated with awful retribution.
I have treated this subject with warmth; with more warmth, perhaps,
than has served my cause. But I cannot think without indignation of
the attempt which is now making to extend the empire of slavery--a
despotism in the bosom of a republic; and which I believe to be
pregnant with the most disastrous consequences. It is necessary that
the public mind should be kept awake on the subject; and I cannot
refrain from lifting up my feeble voice on the occasion.
One word more, and I have done. The division in Congress upon
this subject, has been truly called a geographical division. The
members from the south, with scarcely an exception, voted for the
introduction of slaves. Yet from the same quarter do we hear of
splendid schemes for colonization and emancipation, for eradicating
slavery, and pouring the light of civilization and religion upon
ravaged and benighted Africa. Many of the most conspicuous actors in
this great scheme of benevolence, are the men who have exerted all
their talents upon the floor of Congress to increase the evils over
which in another place they mourn; to sink us still deeper in the
dangers into which they have confessed we are plunged.
What are we to think, Gentlemen, of the purity of your motives,
or the sincerity of your professions? Is it that your fears, and
not your benevolence, impel you; that you wish to rid yourselves
of the free blacks, and rivet and extend your dominion over the
slaves? If these imputations are false, show yourselves at least
to be consistent. Do not by your own act extend the evils you so
eloquently regret. Give us that proof of the sincerity of your
benevolence (the only one we can believe) that it is stronger than
your sense of private interest. Prove to us that you are honestly
bent upon exterminating slavery, and there are thousands who now
stand aloof, that will join you with all their strength in any
scheme that can effect it; thousands, whose daily prayer is, that
the mercy of an all-just Providence may avert from our country the
calamities of a servile war and a divided empire.
We ask of you no extravagant or impracticable scheme of
emancipation; We do not wish to see your Helots invested suddenly
with privileges which they would only abuse; nor do we look _for
your relief and theirs_, to any other means than those which time
and cautious experience may suggest. But we beseech you, as you are
sincere in your plans of colonization, as you value the fair fame of
our common country, as you regard the security and prosperity of all
future generations--to stay the plague of slavery from spreading,
and to give to the inhabitants of the Missouri a charter which shall
not disgrace the great principles of our revolution, nor _allow man
to be the tyrant of his fellow man_.
SANDIFORD.
FAMILIAR LETTERS
_From an Englishman in this country to his Friend at home_.
(Communicated for the Rural Magazine.)
No. I.
PHILADELPHIA, _Sept_. 8, 1819.
My dear G.--You will perhaps be surprised at my dating this letter
from this place, but I shall shortly explain to you the reason. We
arrived in perfect safety at Baltimore on the 6th inst., after a
very pleasant passage; not unusually short, but rendered exceedingly
_comfortable_ (that dear English word, although they have here
naturalised it, as they do almost everything that comes from us,)
by the kind, social, and attentive manners of Capt. ----. To
give you a detail of all the circumstances of our voyage would
be unnecessary. I do not wish to nauseate you with the revolting
particulars of a landsman's initiation to the ocean. We had not
that humiliation to undergo which would have been our lot if the
equinoctial had unfortunately crossed our path; but we had enough
to inspire us with a perfect sense of our own inferiority to, and
dependence on that Power that can rule the winds and the waves.
However, our dear Mrs. and Miss ---- were so much affected by the
motion of the ship, and other associations, that we enjoyed very
little of their company. The first appearance of land, even that
land, which since my recollection has been supposed to be inhabited
by spirits, hostile in late, although similar in early habits to
ourselves, was greeted with most sincere satisfaction. That land was
inhabited by Christians, by men like ourselves, derived from the
same origin, boasting of equal laws adopted from our code in general
principles, and operating like our own upon freemen. We were landed
in consequence of an unfavourable wind, at Norfolk; where, although
we staid but a few minutes, I was sorrowfully convinced that all the
inhabitants of the land I was visiting were not freemen.
A public sale of blacks was about to take place, and my first
introduction to the country I had so joyfully pictured, was
associated with feelings to which I had till then been a stranger.
Poor wretches, thought I, as they passed badly clothed and manacled
through the streets, you give an alien a strange idea of the
consistency of your rulers, and a lamentable evidence of the truth
of the political axiom, that those who feel power, forget right. As
I shall probably visit Norfolk in common with the other maritime
towns of Virginia, before I return, sufficient interest has been
excited in my mind to enable me to assure you, that I shall give you
further details of the situation of that unfortunate class of human
beings.