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AST 
 
 EXF9SITI05T 
 
 OF THE AFFAIRS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 lit r S311 a I Soviets 
 
 OF SOUTII-CAROLINA, 
 
 30 FAR AS THEY APPERTAIN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A 
 
 JHedical College in Charleston , 
 
 ** «*• 
 
 AND THE SUBSEQUENT DIVISION OF THE LATTER, 
 
 ifuto tUio Spools of 
 
 published by order of the medical society: 
 
 Charleston: 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 E. J. VAN BRUNT* 
 
At a stated meeting of the Medical Society of South Caro- 
 Dim, convened this day, December 2nd, 1833, the following was 
 unanimously adopted:— 
 
 Resolved , That the Report of the late Committee of the 
 Medical Society, relating to the affairs of the Medical College, be 
 submitted to a Committee, to inspect, revise and publish the 
 same. 
 
 From the minutes. 
 
 FRANCIS Y. PORCHER, M. D. 
 
 President of the Medical Society « 
 •Jacob De La Motta, m. d. Secretai'y . 
 
EXPOSITION, file. 
 
 The unhappy Schism which has taken place between the 
 late Professors of the Medical College of South Carolina, and the 
 Medical Society of South Carolina, the founder of this Institution, 
 and the establishment of two Medical Colleges in the city of 
 Charleston, and the erroneous impressions which exist in relation 
 to the causes of this Schism—require that a full explanation of all 
 the material circumstances which have produced this result should 
 be made known to the public. However painful, the members of 
 the Medical Society feel it their duty to show, that in the controver¬ 
 sy which has terminated in the final separation of the Professors as 
 teachers in the Society’s School, and the Society, no blame can 
 be attached to the latter. That in no one instance have the 
 members of the Society infringed upon the rights, privileges, or 
 honors of the Professors, but have only maintained their own. 
 That they did not wish the Professors to withdraw, but were anx¬ 
 ious that they should continue in the discharge of their duties— 
 that in all their acts, they have been governed alone by a sense 
 of duty to their profession, and the community at large. 
 
 To substantiate these statements, it will be necessary to give 
 a concise history of the origin and progress of the Medical Col¬ 
 lege, and the ground of complaint on the part of the Professors. 
 In the discharge of this duty a scrupulous avoidance as far as pos¬ 
 sible of all remarks which might appear in the slightest degree 
 personal, will be adhered to. It is far from the wish of the mem¬ 
 bers of the Medical Society to awaken angry or vexatious discus- 
 vsions, confident that such a course would only compromit the 
 character and dignity of the Medical profession and outrage pub¬ 
 lic feeling. Their motives and conduct have been impugned, and 
 they feel only desirous to vindicate themselves. 
 
 In 1821, Dr. Cooper in an address ably demonstrated the 
 importance of establishing a Medical College in South Carolina. 
 He was desirous of having it established in Columbia, or partly in 
 Columbia, and partly in Charleston. In consequence of this 
 
 
4 
 
 suggestion an effort was made to establish a Medical College in 
 Charleston. To accomplish this a memorial was sent up to the 
 Legislature by the Medical Society, in November 1822, to have 
 its charter so extended as to enable it to confer Medical de¬ 
 grees. This was not acted upon—this effort having proved 
 uasuccesful, the subject was again brought to the consideration 
 of the Society, when it was determined that application should be 
 made to the Trustees of the Charleston College to confer Medical 
 degrees, if aCollege was established* This application was like¬ 
 wise rejected It was therefore resolved that another memorial 
 should be sent to the Legislature in 1823, which application prov¬ 
 ed successful, and the following Act was passed : 
 
 AN ACT to incorporate certain Societies, and for other purposes. 
 
 Whereas the Medical Society of South Carolina has taken 
 measures for the establishment of a Medical School in Charleston, 
 
 ^ to be conducted by Professors chosen by the Society, and at; its 
 own expense, and has petitioned for the authority to confer Medi¬ 
 cal Degrees; and whereas it is the duty of an enlightened govern¬ 
 ment to aid the advancement of science : 
 
 Be it therefore enacted, That from and after the passing of 
 this Act, the Medical Society of South Carolina, shall be, and 
 they are hereby authorized to organize a Medical School, to con¬ 
 sist of such professorships as they may deem expedient, and to 
 confer Medical Degrees upon such candidates as may qualify 
 themselves therefor, under the regulations which they may estab¬ 
 lish. 
 
 In the Senate, the twentieth day of December, in the year of owr 
 Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and in 
 the forty-eight year of the Indepeiidence of the United States 
 of America . JACOB BOND I’ON, 
 
 President of the Senate. 
 PATRICK NOBLE, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the establishment of the Medical 
 College was through the agency of the Medical Society alone. 
 
 The Medical Society having now been essentially incorpor¬ 
 ated as a Medical College, entered promptly upon a plan for the 
 establishment of a School of Medicine; a committee was ap¬ 
 pointed, composed ot most of the gentlemen who were afterwords 
 appointed Professors, who made a report, a part of which is 
 copied, shewing the terms upon which the gentlemen were ex¬ 
 pected to accept of Professorships in the school about to be form- 
 
 f r 
 
 * 
 
 i 
 
5 
 
 ed. After urging the importance of having a Medical School, the 
 committee remark :— 
 
 “ It cannot however be denied that there exist certain diffi¬ 
 culties in the way of any plan that can be offered for the forma¬ 
 tion of a Medical School, under present circumstances. The 
 chief and most pressing of these is one indeed which includes all 
 the rest, and from which they all spring, the want of money.— 
 The friends of the Society, it is too well known, are not in a con¬ 
 dition to allow of extending any considerable pecuniary patron¬ 
 age to the proposed Seminary without exhibiting a degree of gen¬ 
 erosity inconsistent with prudence , but your committee are satis¬ 
 fied that this serious obstacle is by no means insurmountable, they 
 are confident that in any event your Professors elect will take 
 upon themselves willingly the burden of the expenses of the es¬ 
 tablishment; they cannot believe that there is among us a single 
 individual who if chosen from the rest for the fulfilment of so high 
 a trust, the accomplishment of so desirable an object, would not 
 freely contribute his share of the necessary expenditures.” 
 
 With this fair understanding, urged too by many of the gen¬ 
 tlemen who were elected Professors, although most of the chairs 
 were warmly contested by others willing to accept under similar 
 conditions ; it will in due order be shown that these very gentlemen 
 laid claim to all the funds granted to endow the College by 
 the City and the State as their own, over which it is pretended 
 the Medical Society had no right to exercise am control. The 
 gentlemen elected to the different Professorships were 
 John E. Holbrook, M. D. 
 
 Professor of Anatomy. 
 
 James Ramsay, M. D. 
 
 Professor of Surgery. 
 
 Samuel H. Dickson, M. D. 
 
 Professor of Institutes and Practice of Medicine. 
 Thomas G. Prioleau, M. D. 
 
 Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women 
 and Children. 
 
 Edmund Ravenel, M. D. 
 
 Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy , 
 
 Henry R. Frost, M. D. 
 
 Professor of Materia Medica. 
 
 The Medical Society now appointed Trustees, who were 
 to act conjointly, with the Professors, in adopting such plans as 
 were best calculated to insure the successful operation of the 
 Medical College; full confidence was reposed in them, and it wa* 
 
1 fn 
 
 expected as the especial duty of the Professors, as agents ot the 
 Medical Society, delegated with a high and solemn trust, receiv-> 
 ins all the honor and reward incidental to their stations, that 
 they would leave no means untried to secure the permanency 
 and success of the College. It was their interest as well as their 
 
 With this understanding the College was founded, and 
 flourished beyond the most sanguine expectation. 1 he Protes- 
 sors to the best of their abilities performing then- part, and the 
 Society giving its patronage, and regularly superintending the In¬ 
 stitution, and conferring the degrees. There was tor several 
 
 years perfect harmony. . J , . 
 
 What then, it may be asked, gave rise to discontent—what 
 produced that unhappy schism which has so fatally struck at the 
 usefulness of a School so flourishing, and promising so much good! 
 The cause will be explained—and it will then be seen whethei 
 the Medical Society, or the Professors, wished to usurp power be¬ 
 yond what either had a right to. . 
 
 In 1831, the Professor of Surgery resigned his chair. 1 wo 
 candidates offered, to supply his place, Dr. Eli Geddings and Dr. 
 John Wagner. The Professors were anxious to have Dr. Ged¬ 
 dings appointed ; yet as a faculty they never made any commu¬ 
 nication to the Society to this effect. As members of the Medi¬ 
 cal Society, having an equal right to vote as other members, they 
 used all their influence to obtain his election. Dr. Wagner was 
 however, elected by a small majority. The result of this election 
 gave great umbrage to the Professors, and they sent a protest to 
 the Medical Society, wherein after stating what they had done for 
 the Medical College which will be piesently considered, they con¬ 
 clude with the claim, “ (hat they have the moral right of deter¬ 
 mining who ought or who ought not to enjoy with them the ad¬ 
 vantages and privileges, the honors and reputation which have 
 cost them the best years of their lives.” A proposition so extra¬ 
 ordinary and unparalelled in the history of any literary or scien¬ 
 tific institution, as Professors denying the right to the power 
 which created them, of having vacancies in the College supplied 
 in the same manner in which they were appointed, was promptly 
 rejected. The election was perfectly fair and constitutional, and 
 the members of the Society regarded themselves as charged with 
 a solemn trust which they were to exercise independently, and to 
 the best of their abilities, and however resolved the members of 
 the Society were to maintain their rights, they scrupulously avoid¬ 
 ed interfering with the rights of the Professors, and were particu- 
 
 
larly anxious that all causes of dissention should be, if possible, 
 prevented. All they desired was, that the College which had gone 
 on prosperously under the control of the Society should so contin¬ 
 ue. The Professors were now, however, determined, if possible, to 
 obtain all power over the College, and to retain it in their own 
 hands, or at least to deprive the Medical Society of any further 
 control. To appease irritated feelings a committee of the Society 
 was appointed to confer with them, which committee “ warned 
 them of their contemplated efforts, told them that if a separation 
 took place the good feeling of medical gentlemen, so important to 
 the success of the College, would be alienated—that they would 
 injure an institution in which the public was so much concerned; 
 that the College had gone on prosperously, and beyond the most 
 sanguine expectation under the existing relation between the 
 Medical Society and College—that to change the regulations of 
 an institution not only without good reason, but against it, would 
 cause it to be regarded as unstable, and vacillating, and would 
 thus impair the public confidence.” 
 
 These admonitions were disregarded, so determined were 
 the Professors to deprive, if possible, the body which created 
 them, of its chartered rights.—The Professors sent up to the Leg¬ 
 islature a memorial, praying to alter the Board of Trustees of the 
 Medical College, in other words, to deprive the Medical Society 
 of its charter, and transfer it to another body. Upon a knowledge 
 of this procedure, the Society sent up a counter memorial. This 
 memorial was carried up by Dr. T. Y. Simons, who was in¬ 
 structed to represent the feelings and wishes of the Society. The 
 particulars of his agency has been already before the public, 
 wherein he affirms, that before a committee of the Legislature 
 composed of five distinguished lawyers, viz., Messrs. Dunkin, 
 Petigru, Wardlaw, McWhillie, and Wallace Thompson, he urg¬ 
 ed the unconstitutionality of any Legislative enactment depriving 
 the Society of its chartered rights, when it was decided by the 
 committee that it was not a chartered right, but a trust without an 
 interest. The letter of Mr Dunkin to Dr. Simons which has 
 been likewise published, confirms this statement. Such being the 
 opinion of these intelligent gentlemen, Dr. Simons agreed that he 
 would not seek to have the question agitated in the Legislature, 
 provided the committee would not take all power from the Society; 
 although he distinctly stated he had no authority from the Society 
 so to act. An Act was reported to the house, as the result of a 
 compromise, although it was altered in some essential points from 
 the one he had assented to, which was passed. [See Appendix, A.] 
 
3 
 
 When the Ac t was presented to the Medical Society, it war re¬ 
 jected It was maintained that the opinion of the committee 
 was incorrect, that the Legislature had not the constitutional 
 power to interfere with its chartered rights, that private Corpor¬ 
 ations were sacred, and that it was due to the Medical Soci¬ 
 ety, to the community, and to the country,that the question should 
 be tested by the laws of the land, to which decision, as in duty 
 bound, the Society would cheerfully acquiesce. The case was 
 accordingly brought before the Appeal Court which honorable 
 bodv declared the Act of the General Assembly to incorporate 
 the Medical College of South Carolina, passed 17th of Decem¬ 
 ber, 1831, unconstitutional and restored to the Society its former 
 rights. [See Appendix, B.] 
 
 In taking this step, it was far from the intention of the So¬ 
 ciety to cast any reflection upon the Legislature. It was believ¬ 
 ed that honourable body acted under mistaken views, and not 
 from any intentional oppression. 
 
 Were the Professors, it might with great propriety be asked, 
 deprived of their situation 1 No.* It was the particular desire of 
 the members of the Society that they should continue in office. 
 The object as already stated, not being to infringe upon any of 
 their rights or privileges, but simply to maintain the rights of the 
 Society. Under these circumstances, and with these teelings, it 
 was confidently anticipated that a decision by the highest law 
 authorities, after an impartial hearing, would have satisfied 
 reasonable men, who had a desire to promote the interest of the 
 Medical profession, the community, and the College. But to the 
 great surprise of the members of the Society, the Professn g 
 (except the newly elected Professor of Institutes and Practice 
 of Medicine, without any intimation being given to that gentle¬ 
 man or the Society,) sent up a memorial, praying for a new Incor¬ 
 poration.—When this new act of hostility became known, it was 
 too late to send up to the Legislature a counter-memorial, and an 
 Act was passed, creating anew College, the tendency of which, 
 was, to injure, if not destroy the old Incorporation. At the same 
 
 ♦After the decision of the Appeal Court Dr. Dickson resigned his Pro¬ 
 fessorship The resignation, it was unanimously agreed not to accept, so anxio> s 
 were the members of the Society to show that the object of the contest was not to de- 
 priveany of th» Professors of their rights Dr. D. however, persisted in his resig¬ 
 nation’s being accepted, and it was accordingly accepted. 
 
 As their were no prospects of Dr. Dickson’s again accepting the chair he pre¬ 
 viously occupied, he having been spoken to by many of his friends, an advertise¬ 
 ment was then issued, inviting gentlemen to make application for the vacant Fre es* 
 sorship, and Dr. T. Y Simons was elected, who performed the duties of the choir hj 
 the session of!6&2 and J83& 
 
£ 
 
 time appointing all the Memorialists teachers in the new institu¬ 
 tion, and eleven gentlemen, not of the Medical Profession , to act as 
 Trustees. [See Appendix, C.] It is not pretended,that the Profes¬ 
 sors were bound to notify the Society of their intention, although 
 common courtesy would seem to require it. But it does seem as 
 if they were afraid that if a fair investigation of all the circumstan¬ 
 ces had been made, they would have failed in their object. If 
 their cause was just, why resort to concealment; why not have 
 the question fully brought to the view and understanding of the 
 Legislative Assembly ? It was the confident expectation of the 
 members of the Soociety, that the Legislature of the country would 
 not act upon exparte statements, that they, as an enlightened 
 and impartial body, having alone the interest and prosperity of 
 the country at heart, would have adopted the wise and equitable 
 maxim, “ Audi alteram partem” more especially as the Appeal 
 Court after hearing an elaborate and learned discussion had de¬ 
 cided ;in favor of the Society. The interests of the Medical 
 School, the cause of Medical Science, the unalterable principles 
 of justice, seemed to demand this. But, it was decided other¬ 
 wise, and a new Act of Incorporation was passed. We feel per¬ 
 suaded, that had the members of the Legislature been fully ap¬ 
 prized of all the circumstances which gave rise to the contro¬ 
 versy between the Society and the late Professors of the Medi¬ 
 cal College, the new Act of Incorporation would not have been 
 passed. They would have said, go on under your existing regu¬ 
 lations ; one College we have already liberally endowed, and we 
 will not now do an act which will be calculated to injure it. 
 
 Although the Memorialists were appointed by the Legisla¬ 
 ture Professors in a new incorporated College, they did not re¬ 
 sign their stations in the old Incorporation. To hold Professor¬ 
 ships in both Colleges was absurd ; accordingly the Trustees 
 made formal written inquiry of the Professors, whether they 
 intended to remain in the old Institution, or become Profes¬ 
 sors in the new. Thus presenting them a choice. Did this loot 
 like proscription ? Did this look like a desire to deprive them of 
 their situations? Even with this renewed and unjustifiable 
 attack upon the body which had created them Professors, and 
 without which body they never would have held these stations, 
 the members of the Medical Society with a magnanimity which 
 became the dignity and character of members of a learned pro¬ 
 fession, were willing to forgive, and forget, and to have these gen¬ 
 tlemen to continue in the performance of their duties. The only 
 
10 
 
 satisfaction, however, which was obtained, wag, that they did not 
 wish to be “catechised.” The Professors would not say whether 
 they would remain in the Medical College of South Carolina 
 under the Society, or in the other Institution. At the termina¬ 
 tion of the course of Lectures the Medical Society conferred de¬ 
 grees upon the graduates. As soon as the session of the College 
 had terminated, the Professors kept forcible possession of the 
 College building, would not admit the Trustees or the Professor 
 of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine to enter, and a man was 
 placed there with orders to shoot the first person who attempted to 
 enter. The Medical Society had the question again referred to the 
 Courts of the County, when twelve impartial Jurymen and two 
 Magistrates after hearing all the testimony, promptly decided in 
 favour of the Society, and the building was transferred to the So¬ 
 ciety. [See Appendix, D.] The late Professors were resolved not 
 to have any connection with the Medical Society, at least in their 
 capacity as Teachers, and of their own free will, withdrew from the 
 control of the Society, and placed themselves under the Trustees 
 of the new Institution. If it had been their wish they could 
 have remained as Professors, and had all the advantage s of the 
 building, erected not from money out of their pockets, but from 
 money granted by the City and State for which we are all taxed. 
 
 The cry of injustice founded upon exparte statement, hag 
 been raised against the Medical Society; to show how unjust 
 this statement has been, it is only necessary to state, that in every 
 instance where the whole merits of the question have been fairly 
 canvassed, the Society has been admitted to have been right, and 
 the Professors wrong. The constant efforts of the Professors 
 have been power; to cast a stain upon the body which created 
 them; to transcend the constitution and law under which they 
 were appointed. The Society has simply maintained its rights, 
 and because the Professors could not destroy the charter of the 
 Society they abandoned their situations in the Medical Society’s 
 School, for the places which they now occupy. 
 
 The members of the Medical Society invite investigation, 
 and if the Legislature will appoint a committee of impartial 
 individuals to examine the subject—every circumstance will be 
 laid before them—for the members of the Society feel that they 
 have been persecuted, insulted, and wronged. The former Pro¬ 
 fessors, in a memorial to the Legislature, had stated that the 
 whole burthen of establishing the Medical College fell upon 
 them, and it has been generally believed they have suffered ma- 
 
li 
 
 ny sacrifices. Now a more fallacious statement never was spread 
 abroad. Let the facts be made known. 
 
 1st. The Professors knew that if they were elected—for 
 when the law was passed they were simply members of the Soci¬ 
 ety—that they would have to bear all the expenses—but to meet 
 these expenses, each Professor was allowed to charge each stu¬ 
 dent from Fifteen to Twenty Dollars for their Lectures, and Five 
 Dollars for Matriculation or Entrance, and Foity Dollars for 
 Graduation Fees. 
 
 2dly. That these Professors were not the only persons willing 
 to enter upon these duties under this contract, almost every chair 
 was warmly contested. 
 
 3dly. That although to erect a small wooden building te 
 Lecture in, the Professors had at first, to advance some money; 
 say Five or Six Thousand Dollars. Yet the first year they had 
 Fifty Students, whose Tickets, Matriculation and Graduaticn 
 Fees, came up to that amount. Afterwards, Fifteen Thousand 
 Dollars were granted by the City,* Seventeen Thousand by the 
 State, and upwards of Sixteen Thousand for Matriculation 
 and Graduation Fees, charged upon the Students, which the 
 Medical Society allowed the Professors to take, for the expre ss 
 purpose of defraying incidental expenses.—The aggregate, of 
 this, is Forty-Eight Thousand Dollars, which they have re¬ 
 ceived to erect a building, procure a Chemical apparatus, ob- 
 
 *In relation to the $15,000 obtained from the City, the Professors considered 
 that it was their private property. Now the facts are these, without consulting the 
 Medical Society, they entered into a bond, with the City Council to which each made 
 himself liable, the conditions of which were, that if the sum of $15,0M) was granted 
 to the Medical College of South Carolina, (to which Institution it was r ranted, and 
 not to the Faculty as private individuals,) they would guarantee medical s.u nd- 
 ance at the Alms House and Marine Hospital free of expense to tt » C!ity. od- 
 ing medicines, &c. for the period of —— years, i .ow these duties hr.ve never 
 been porformed, except for one or two years, by the Professors, agreeably to the ex¬ 
 pectation of Council, out by other medical gentlemen, and when tlie ore .h n was 
 tried in the City Council, it was decided tnat tl e contract made with the Professors,, 
 was not made with them as private individuals, but as Agents of^ie T adisal ociety 
 Or in other words, as the Faculty of the Medical Society’s School. The Faculty 
 having been dislocated, their bond was cancelled—and the Society entered into a 
 new bond with the City Council that the Institutions should be provided with medi¬ 
 cal attendance free of expense The public Institutions viz. the Marine Hospital 
 and the Hospital of the Alms House, agreeably to this decision, remain under the 
 superintendence, and in the sole charge of the Medical Society’s present Agents. It 
 is true the former Faculty petitioned for the money granted by the legislature as 
 well as that granted by the City Council—they were, however, acting as agents ol 
 the Society, whose especial duty it was to attend to it, and it was given not to them 
 bnt to the College. 
 
12 
 
 tain Anatomical preparations, and for incidental expenses.— 
 The building has been left in very bad repair. The Chemical 
 apparatus in an indifferent and deranged state, and very im¬ 
 perfect, and but a small Anatomical Museum. The building 
 and all the apparatus it is presumed would not bring Twenty 
 Thousand Dollars—so far from the Professors spending their 
 own money—they were lavish in the expenditure of the public 
 money. Let us see now how much they gained and divided 
 among themselves, for their Lectures, for much has been said 
 about their pecuniary sacrifices.—From 1824 to 1832 there have 
 been upwards of nine hundred and fifty Students\ who have at¬ 
 tended the College, each of whom paid for the Tickets of the 
 Lecturers, one hundred and five Dollars. Multiply nine hun¬ 
 dred and fifty by one hundred and five, and you will have Ninety 
 Nine Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Hollars , deduct nine 
 thousand seven hundred and fifty Dollars for bad debts, and you 
 will have Ninety Thousand Dollars , which have been a clear prof¬ 
 it divided among them since the establishment of the College.— 
 And it it had not been for the Medical Society the Parent of the 
 Medical College, whose President alone has the power of confer¬ 
 ring degrees, they could not have shared this profit. Thus then 
 the Society gave them the opportunity of obtaining honor and 
 pecuniary reward, for services which they volunteered and were 
 anxious to perform, and it has received in return the abuse 
 and contumely of those whom it patronized. 
 
 Such is a plain and accurate history of all the material 
 circumstances connected with the origin of the Medical College 
 oi South Carolina, the relation which subsisted between the 
 Society and Faculty, and the grounds of difference. 
 
 J he Professors having obtained from the Legislature a new 
 Act of Incorporation with new Trustees—they thus severed the 
 connection which subsisted between them, as Teachers in the 
 Medical College, and the Medical Society, and all that remain¬ 
 ed tor the Trustees of the College to do, was, to appoint Profes¬ 
 sors to fill Chairs which thus became vacant. Accordingly an 
 auveitisement was issued inviting candidates from different parts 
 ©1 the United states, and the following gentlemen were elected * 
 
 John R. Rhtnelandfr, M. D. of New-York. 
 
 Professor of Anatomy * 
 
 Thomas Y. Simons, M. D. of Charleston, S. C. 
 
 Professor cf Theory and Practice of Medicine. 
 
 • P?' y HIV ELAwr>F.n hroupht with him probably the most valuable teller* 
 
 von of Anatomical preparation* in the United States. 1 WJW ** 
 
IS 
 
 Cunning S. Bedford, M. D. of N. York. 
 
 Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and 
 
 Children* 
 
 Andrew Hazel, M. D. of Charleston, S. C. 
 
 Professor of JMateria Medica. 
 
 Henry Alexander, M. D. of Charleston, S. C. 
 
 Professor of Institutes of Medicine . 
 
 William Hume, M. D. of Charleston, S. C. 
 
 Professor of Surgery . 
 
 Charles Davis, M. D. of Philadelphia. 
 
 Professor of Chemistry . 
 
 The Trustees are :— 
 
 Francis Y. Porcher, M. D. President of the Medical Society 
 and Ex-officio Chairman of the Board of Trustees* 
 
 Benjamin B. Simons, M. D. 
 
 Edward W. North, M. D. 
 
 Joseph Glover, M. D. 
 
 Thomas Aiken, M. D. 
 
 J. De La Motta, M. D. 
 
 William Holmes, M. D. 
 
 E. Horlbeck, M. D. 
 
 H. S. Waring, M. D. 
 
 Elias Ball, M. D. 
 
 J. C. W. Me’Donald, M. D. 
 
 J. B. Whitridge, M. D. 
 
 V. Le Seigneur, M. D. 
 
 In reorganizing the Medical College of South Carolina, the 
 Trustees appointed by the Medical Society to superintend this 
 Institution, exercised their best judgement for the interest of the 
 College and the advancement of Medical science ; and in strict 
 accordance with the high and solemn trust reposed in them, 
 they invited applicants from every portion of our country, and 
 selected such as they believed would confer reputation on the In¬ 
 stitution, and afford the best assurance of future success. What¬ 
 ever local feelings might have existed, in relation to political sub¬ 
 jects, they did not suffer them to bear on an Institution purely 
 scientific ; and hence they did not look to the place of na¬ 
 tivity, but the capability and character of the candidates that 
 offered. The period when the former Professors separated them¬ 
 selves from the superintending control of the Medical Society, and 
 placed themselves under the control of another sett of Trustees 
 
 * Dr. Bedford also brought with him an extensive and valuable museum in hia 
 department. 
 
14 
 
 Was so near the opening of the session, that the Trustees had mere¬ 
 ly time to reorganize the Medical College under the control of the 
 Society, and hence, the number of students who are in atten¬ 
 dance this year, are comparatively few—independently of this, the 
 College suffered from erroneous impressions and groundless 
 prejudices. 
 
 The Society, the Trustees, and the Faculty, however, are 
 determined to advance firmly and steadily, undismayed by any 
 ungenerous or disingenuous efforts, to weaken or impede their 
 progress. The cause of science and of truth, will be the great 
 lights by which they hope to be guided in their course. The 
 Medical Society is called upon to sustain its reputation, and the 
 rights and dignity of the Medical profession.—Impartial consid¬ 
 eration is all that is asked. The members of the Medical Soci¬ 
 ety, with a proud conciousness of the equity of their case, could 
 not stoop to ask the sympathies, nor would they desire to awaken 
 the prejudices or passions of the public. But all they ask is jus¬ 
 tice, impartial justice, and where can they with more confidence 
 appeal for this, than to their fellow citizens, to whom this expose 
 tion is respectfully submitted. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 AN ACT to Incorporate the Medical College of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Honorable the Senate and 
 House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assem¬ 
 bly and by the authority of the same, That a board of trustees be 
 and are hereby established, by the name and style of the Board of 
 Trustees of the Medical College of South Carolina, who are here¬ 
 by declared to be a corporate body, by the style and title of the 
 President, Trustees and Faculty of the Medical College of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority afore¬ 
 said, That the said board shall consist of thirteen members, where¬ 
 of six shall be elected by the Medical Society of South Carolina, 
 who shall be members of the medical profession and shall also 
 have been members of the said society for a period of not less 
 than ten years; six members of the said board shall be nomina¬ 
 ted by the Governor of the State, and the President of the Med¬ 
 ical Society aforesaid, for the time being, shall be ex officio, a 
 member and President of the board of trustees. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That when any vacan- ^ 
 cy shall occur among the members of the said board, nominated 
 by the medical society, the same shall be filled by the said society, 
 and any vacancy among the members nominated by the Govern¬ 
 or shall be filled by that portion of the board of trustees. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said Medical 
 College shall, by its said name, have perpetual succession of offi¬ 
 cers and members, with a common seal, and the said board of 
 trustees shall have power to make all lawful and proper rules and 
 
16 s 
 
 bv-tows for the government and regulation of themselves, and ot 
 the said college; provided that those which effect the college 
 shall be subject to a concurrent vote of the faculty and of the 
 trustees; and the said corporation is declared capable of receiving 
 and holding real and personal estate, whether acquired by gift, 
 devise, bequest, or purchase, for the purposes and benefit of the 
 
 S 'id College. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That whenever a va¬ 
 cancy shall occur in the faculty of the college the said trustees 
 shall have power to elect to the vacant professorship ; and that 
 the said trustees shall have power, on the application of the fac¬ 
 ulty of the Medical College, to establish such, other or assistant 
 professorships as may be recommended by the faculty and ap¬ 
 proved by the board. . 
 
 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the said Trustees 
 shall have power to confer medical degrees on such persons as 
 may have attended lectures in the college—and may be recom¬ 
 mended by the faculty, and on such other persons as they may 
 propose ; and also that all the rights, powers and duties hereto¬ 
 fore conferred upon or required of the medical society in relation 
 to the medical college shall be transferred to and vested in the 
 said corporation, subject to the provisions of this act. 
 
 Sec. 7. And lastly be it enacted, That this shall be deem¬ 
 ed a public act, and that the same need not be pleaded, but may 
 be given in evidence under the general issue. 
 
 In the Senate House the seventeenth day of December, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand eight hundred anu thirty-one, and in the 
 fifty-aixth year of the Independence of the United States of Amer¬ 
 ica. HENRY DEYS, President of the Senate. 
 
 H. L. PINCKNEY, Speaker of the House of 
 of Representatives. 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 The State op So. Ca. } In the Appeal Court, February Term, 
 
 vs > 1832, O’Neal, Judge. 
 
 A. Heyward, et al } 
 
 The Medical Society of South-Carolina was incorporated in 
 the year 1794. In 1817, by the act to regulate the licensing of 
 Physicians, and for other purposes therein mentioned, they were 
 constituted a Board of Physicians at Charleston, to examine and 
 license applicants to practise Physic and Surgery ; and also to 
 license Apothecaries to vend Medicine. In 1823, the Medical 
 Society was, by an act of the Legislature of that year, authorized 
 to organize a Medical School at their own expense, to consist of 
 such Professorships as they may deem expedient, and to confer 
 
17 
 
 Medical Degrees upon such candidates as may qualify themselves 
 therefor, under the regulations which they may establish. In 
 1824, the Medical Society elected Professors; anti they under¬ 
 took to be at all the expenses of the institution; the Honorary 
 Members of the Society were constituted a Board of Trustees; 
 and rules and regulations for the government of the School were 
 adopted. The Trustees and Professors applied to, and obtained 
 from the City Council of Charleston, the use of a part of the Poor 
 House square, for the purpose of erecting the Lecture Rooms, 
 of the Professors. In 1825, the Faculty of the College, (as the 
 Professors are to be henceforward to be called) applied to, and 
 obtained from the City Council an appropriation of fifteen thou¬ 
 sand dollars; and a lot of land for the purpose of enabling them 
 to erect a more suitable and convenient building for the school, 
 upon the conditions that they should lay out the said sum in erect¬ 
 ing a building for the College, on the lot connected with the Ma¬ 
 rine Hospital, that the building should be kept in good repair, 
 while they use it, and that they should supply the Poor House 
 and Marine Hospital with medical attendance for twenty years, 
 and that at the end of this time, the City Council should be at 
 liberty to make such order and require such conditions for the 
 further use of the said building as to them shall seem meet. The 
 Professors, as individuals, according to the Resolution of the 
 Council, gave their bond for the performance of these conditions. 
 In December of this year the Legislature made an appropriation 
 of ten thousand dollars for the Medical College, to be drawn by 
 and placed at the disposal of the Faculty, for the completion of 
 their buildings, and the purchase of apparatus necessary and prop¬ 
 er for such an Institution. In 1830 a further application of sev¬ 
 en thousand dollars was made for the Medical College, to be paid 
 to the Order of the Faculty of the College. In 1831 the Legisla¬ 
 ture passed an Act to incorporate the Medical College by the 
 name and stvle of the President, Trustees and Faculty of the 
 Medical College of South Carolina. The Act directs that the 
 board shall consist of thirteen members ; six to be elected by the 
 Medical Society of South Carolina, and six to be appointed by the 
 Governor; the President of the Medical Society for the time be¬ 
 ing, to be ex-officio a member, and President of the Board. The 
 power of conferring Medical Degrees, is given to the Trustees; 
 and “ all the rights, powers and duties heretofore conferred upon 
 or required of the Medical Society,in relation to the Medical Col¬ 
 lege, are transferred to and vested” in the said corporation crea- 
 fed by this act. The Medina] Society refused to elect th* Tru# m 
 .3 
 
16 
 
 tees, whom they were authorized to elect by the act; or in any 
 wise to acquiesce in it. The Governor nominated as Trustees, 
 N. Heyward, S. Prioleau, B. F. Dunkin, H. L. Pinckney, C. J. 
 Colcock, and R. J. Turnbull, who, with the Faculty, have exer¬ 
 cised all the rights, privileges, and immunities, which is by the 
 act conferred on the corporation created by it. The Medical So¬ 
 ciety applied to Mr. Justice Bay for a Quo Warranto, who re- 
 fused the application, and a motion is now made to reverse his 
 decision. The only question necessary to be considered, is, 
 whether the Act of the General Assembly, to incorporate the 
 Medical College of South Carolina, passed on the 17th day of 
 December, 1831, is constitutional. 
 
 It is to be regretted by every citizen of the State, that the 
 prosperity of so admirable and beneficial an institution as the 
 Medical College, should be in any degree endangered by the con- 
 test which has prevailed for some time between the Faculty and 
 the Medical Society. It is a subject of pride to every Carolinian, 
 that such an institution has so soon grown up, and reached to ma¬ 
 ture usefulness. It is peculiarly honorable to the able, talented, 
 and persevering members of the Faculty, that they have furnish¬ 
 ed a medical education at home, to the young and rising genera¬ 
 tion, equal to any which is to be found in older and better endow¬ 
 ed seminaries. With feelings common to every citizen who will 
 look to the considerations which I have stated, we have been 
 called on to decide a question, which we are aware may injure 
 an institution so worthy of being cherished. It is, however, not 
 only in relation to the college, a delicate question, but we feel that 
 it is so in another point of view. The constitutionality or uncon¬ 
 stitutionally of an Act of the Legislature, is at all times a grave 
 and serious question—for the Law Makers, as well as the Judici¬ 
 ary, are in some degree the keepers of the constitution. They, 
 as well as we, are bound by the most solemn of all sanctions, to 
 preserve, protect and defend it; and we are well aware that they 
 are not disposed deliberately to trench upon it. It does however 
 happen, and always will happen, that looking only to utility, the 
 question of constitutional law may be (as we presume it was on 
 this occasion) entirely overlooked in legislation. 
 
 As was well observed in the argument of the Counsel for 
 the Respondents, no Act pf the Legislature ought to be pronounc¬ 
 ed unconstitutional by the Judiciary, unless it be clear beyond all 
 doubt that it is so. When, however, this is the case, I know no 
 duty more sacredly enjoined upon us, and none more firmly and 
 imhesitatingly to be performed, than to interpose ourselves b<£ 
 
19 
 
 tween the Legislature and the Constitution. In doing se, no Leg* 
 islature of this state, ever has supposed or ever will suppose, that 
 the Judiciary desire to take so responsible a situation, from any 
 \other motive than a conviction that it is a paramount duty to do • 
 so. 
 
 The constitutionality of the act depends upon the inquiry, 
 whether the Medical College is to be regarded as a part of the 
 chartered rights of the Medical Society of South Carolina. If it 
 is so, then it follows that it is a private institution, founded by a 
 private corporation, and liable only to be visited by it, and govern¬ 
 ed by the Laws which it has thought, and may think, proper to 
 ordain for it. The correct solution of this inquiry must depend 
 upon the Acts of the Legislature, in relation to the Medical Soci¬ 
 ety and the Medical College, and the facts which have been al¬ 
 ready stated in the history of this case ; and from them I shall 
 proceed, in the first place, to deduce the conclusion, that the 
 Medical College is a private institution, founded by the Medical 
 Society ; and afterwards to shew the legal effect of this conclu¬ 
 sion as to the constitutionality of the Act to incorporate the Med¬ 
 ical College of South Carolina. 
 
 By the Act incorporating the Medical Society, 3d Brev’d. 
 
 Dig. Tit. 13, sec. 95, p 167, they afe authorized to purchase and 
 hold real Estate, the annual income of which shall not exceed 
 jC 300 sterling. * This provision has been noticed not so much 
 from any effect it has had on our minds in coming to the conclu¬ 
 sion which we have made, as from a desire to meet, as far as we 
 can, every view which was taken in favor of the respondents. It 
 is true, this limitation would prevent them from acquiring real es¬ 
 tate beyond their annual income ; but it does not therefore follow, 
 that they might not be the legal owners of the College Lot and 
 Buildings , for twenty years. For what is annual income; it is 
 that sum, which (when derived from property,) the owner annu¬ 
 ally receives from the use of it. If he leases a House and Land 
 to one, to be used in educating the poor, or to receive and edu¬ 
 cate students for a certain reward, to be paid to the occupant, it 
 cannot be said that the owner derives any income from this source. 
 
 The public benefit is his only reward. Neither is there any cer¬ 
 tain separate income derived from the estate even to the occupant; 
 the teacher may make his vocation in that place valuable to him; 
 still the income is derived from his instruction, and not from the 
 house and land. This is the case with the Charleston Medical 
 College building and lot; they are devoted by the owner, whoev¬ 
 er it may be, to medical instruction, and from them no income c* 
 
2d 
 
 derived. To the Professors, their lectures delivered in the College 
 building, are , as they should be, a source of annual income ; it if 
 the just reward paid to them by the students, for the communica- 
 ti > l of that science and learning which is so honorable to them, 
 and useful to the slate. 
 
 “ The Preamble to the Act of 1823, p. 74 75, recites:— 
 
 Whereas, the Medical Society have taken measures for the es¬ 
 tablishment of a Medical School, to be conducted by persons 
 ch wen by them and at their own expense, and have petitioned for 
 the power to confer degrees.” Although I am not disposed to 
 at- jeh any great importance to Preambles of the Acts of our Leg¬ 
 islature, fo r they are generally prepared before the bills are ma¬ 
 tured, and are often allowed to pass without any critical examin¬ 
 ation, whether they are calculated to shed any light on the inten¬ 
 tion of the Legislature, and on these accounts have been latterly 
 altogether rejected by the Legislature, yet when they undertake 
 to sat out the grounds upon which the Legislature have thought 
 pv >per to act, and these are found to be consistent with the en- 
 ae nent, they constitute a pretty sure guide as to the intention ol 
 the Lr-v, and must have legal elfect in giving construction to it. 
 
 It is manifest from the Preamble, which is in perfect accord¬ 
 ance with the enactment, that the Legislature did not intend to 
 e oablish a public corporation, of which they were to be regarded 
 a> he founders; it recites that “The Medical Society have tak¬ 
 en measures for the establishment of a Medical School.” This 
 is the same recitation which would have been made, with the va¬ 
 riation of the name, if any citizen had established, or was about 
 to establish the School, and had applied for an Act to enable him 
 to carry his project into complete effect. It shews conclusively 
 that the Medical Society, and not the State, was the founder. It 
 is “ to be conducted by persons chosen by them, (the Medical 
 Society,) and at their own expense,” The Legislature in this 
 shew their sense, that the institution was to be established by pri¬ 
 vate enterprize and not by the liberality of the State, and was 
 therefore to be beyond their control. The powers of appoint¬ 
 ment and removal are generally the same, at least in one sense, 
 they must be derived from one source, if exercised by different 
 agents. The Legislature do not pretend that they are to confer 
 the right to appoint; it is “ to be conducted by persons,” select¬ 
 ed or to be selected by the Medical Society, as their agents a nd 
 not the agents of the State. The persons to conduct the school 
 are here recognised as the appointees of a private corporation, 
 and of course responsible to it alone. But it is supposed that the 
 
21 
 
 words, " at their own expense,” refer to the persons by whom th* 
 school was to be conducted, and not to the Medical Society.— 
 This, so far as regards the question between the State and th# 
 Medical Society, whether the Medical College is a public or pri¬ 
 vate Corporation is wholly unimportant; but upon another branch 
 of the case, by whom is the College to be regarded as founded ? 
 by the Society or the Professors 1 it may be important, and it is 
 better now to give a construction to these words. The evident 
 sense and meaning of the words, apply them to the Medical Soci¬ 
 ety. If the words “ to be conducted by persons chosen by them” 
 were included, as they ought to be, in a parenthesis, then there 
 would be no reason for any grammatical doubt about the appli¬ 
 cation of the words “ at their own expense ;” they would then 
 clearly refer to the Medical Society as the antecedent of the word 
 “ their.” But on reaching the preamble in reference to the facts, 
 which has been exhibited to us, there can be rio doubt about the 
 application of the words. It appears from the extract from a 
 journal of the Medical Society of the 2d of Feb. 1824, that they 
 understood the words “ at their own expense,” to mean at the ex- 
 peuse of the Society. The professors were not then appointed, 
 and the Society referred the subject of establishing the School, 
 to a Committee, who reported, that “ The funds of the Society it 
 is too well known, are not in a condition to allow of extending 
 any considerable pecuniary patronage to the proposed Seminary, 
 without exhibiting a degree of generosity inconsistent with pru¬ 
 dence. Yet your Committee are satisfied that this serious obsta¬ 
 cle is by no means insurmountable. They are confident your 
 Professors elect will take upon themselves the burden_of the ex¬ 
 penses of the establishment. They cannot believe that there is 
 among us a single individual, who, if chosen from the rest for the 
 fulfilment of so desirable an object, would not freely contribute his 
 share of the necessary expenditures. Your Committee have 
 therefore left this subject altogether for the determination of the 
 Lecturers or Professors, whom you may hereafter appoint.” This 
 report was adopted, and constituted the foundation of the College. 
 It shows how the words “ at their own expense,” were understood 
 by the Society, including the Professors, who were afterwards 
 chosen from the members of the Society. Independent however, 
 of this contemporaneous construction of the words by the very 
 parties now before the Court, the same construction will be ob¬ 
 tained by referring to the persons who were in being at the time 
 the act of 1823 was passed, and who must therefore be regarded 
 as alone within the intendment «f the Legislature. The profes- 
 
22 
 
 $ors of the Medical College were not then appointed, and were 
 not therefore legally being and existing. Of persons not yet m 
 legal existence, and whose will could not be known, it is impossi¬ 
 ble that the Legislature could have intended to say that ihey had 
 undertaken to establish and conduct the School, “ at their own 
 expense.” Of the Medical Society the Legislature rmght very 
 well infer that such was their undertaking. For they had set out 
 in their petition that they had taken measures to establish the 
 School, and had only asked for the power to confer degrees. It 
 was from this statement and request fairly to be inferred (hat by 
 their own means the School would go into operation, and all that 
 they needed was that they might have a legal sanction to confer 
 its Academic privileges upon the Students. 
 
 The preamble recites that the Medical Society “ have pe¬ 
 titioned for the power to confer Degiees;” this was asking, in 
 other words, that they might be made a Medical College ; and if 
 the State with this matter thus brought distinctly to her view, 
 thought proper to make the grant reserving no control over them 
 to herself, how can it be pretended that she has afterwards any 
 right to interfere w|th her arrangement, or to deprive her grantee 
 of its privileges but for a violation of its implied condition by Mis¬ 
 user or Non User, to be ascertained by the law of the land, as 
 administered by the Courts of Justice. After stating further in 
 the preamble that it is the duty of an enlightened Government to 
 aid the advancement of Seience, the Legislature enacts that 
 “the Medical Society of South Carolina shall be and they are 
 hereby authorised to organise a Medical School to consist of 
 such professorships as they may deem expedient, and to confer 
 Medical Degrees upon such candidates as may qualify themselves 
 therefore under the regulations which they may establish.” The 
 act thus confers upon the Medical Society, First, the power to 
 organize the school; Second, the power to establish as many 
 Professorships as they may deem expedient; Third, the power to 
 confer Medical Degrees ; and Fourth, the power to make the 
 laws necessary for the government of the school. These four 
 powers, it seems to me, were all which the state had to confer, 
 and having granted them, that nothing remained but that she 
 should see that they were legally exercised by her grantee. 
 
 It is generally true that he who furnishes the means in land 
 or money, wheieby a charity is created, is legally the founder, and 
 as incident thereto has the right “to inspect, regulate, control and 
 direct it.” But to constitute a legal founder, I am not satisfied 
 that it is in all cases indispensable* that he should furnish any pe- 
 
ouniary aid. If the State or a Corporation establish a College 
 and appoint professors with fees for instruction, and one person 
 afterwards furnishes land on which a building is put up, and 
 another the money to erect the buildings, and to purchase the* 
 necessary apparatus ; and the State, or the Corporation, has the 
 power of removing the professors, and of making laws for the 
 whole institution, does it not follow that the State or the Corpo¬ 
 ration is the founder, and not the donors. The powers incident 
 to a foundation belong to the State or the Corporation, and when 
 they are acknowledged, we may as" legitimately deduce from 
 them the cause, as we could from it the effegt. The donation is 
 in trust, it is there for the purposes of the institution, and cannot 
 be otherwise applied ; but it is not the creation of the College, 
 and it is this which makes a foundation. The institution has ex¬ 
 istence, and the donation only makes it more generally useful. 
 But this part of the cage is perhaps unimportant, for I do not un¬ 
 derstand that either the State or the City Council claim to be 
 founders on account of their respective appropriations. It is 
 contended that the Professors are the founders, and that the Med¬ 
 ical College is to be regarded as distinct from the Medical Socie- 
 ty. 
 
 The Professors themselves were created by the Medical So-' 
 ciety; it is by their appointment that they deliver lectures, and 
 receive fees. They accepted their appointments upon the ex¬ 
 press condition, that they should bear the burden of the expenses 
 of the establishment. They became therefore the agents of the 
 Society, not only to deliver the lectures, but also to endow the 
 Medical College. The first act which was done in giving effect 
 to the establisment of the College, was the procuring the use of a 
 part of the Poor House lot, for the purpose of erecting the Lec¬ 
 ture Rooms of the Professors. This was the joint act of the Trus¬ 
 tees and Professors appointed by the Medical Society, and this H 
 cannot be pretended was a foundation by the Faculty alone. It 
 was the act of the Society, for it was done by all of their agents, 
 constituted to manage the School. All the subsequent donations 
 were made by the City Council, or the State, at the instance of 
 the Professors, as Professors, the Faculty of the Medical College, 
 or were made by the Professors themselves. To say that they 
 could do any act in that character, which would enable them to 
 say, we are independent of the very power which gave it to u% 
 which enacts laws for our government, and which we have ac¬ 
 cepted, and to which we have consented to be amenable, is to my 
 mind a strange proposition. It would be making the created 
 
*4 
 
 equal to the ereator. As individuals, they might hare been the 
 founders; but as the Lecturers or Professors of the Medical So- 
 Sty, under both the express and implied terms of them appoint¬ 
 ment, whatever they did was under the charter already granted 
 to the Medical Society, to organize the Medical s chool, and to 
 give it effect. When done, and the School went into operation, 
 it was the Medical School or College of the Medical Society. In 
 obtaining the appropriation from the City Council, of Fiftee 
 Thousand Dollars, the Professors as individuals gave then bonds 
 for the performance of the conditions annexed by the Council to 
 the appropriation, and this might have given some plausibility to 
 to their claim to be regarded as the founders, had it not been that 
 their application was in their derivative character as the t acuity 
 of the Medical School; an Institution already in existence, and 
 not one which was to be established; the appropriation was 
 made to them in that character, and the execution of bonds as in- 
 dividuals was required by the City Council as affording a better 
 security than any which they could execute m a corporate ca- 
 pacity. This is clearly not a new foundation, but is m aid ot that 
 which had already been made. Whatever acts the Facuity did m 
 obtaining this or any other endowment, is not only binding on 
 themselves, but also on their principal, the Medical Society. By 
 the first article of the rules and regulations of the Medical Co ege 
 of South Carolina, it is provided that the Faculty of the College 
 shall consist of seven Professors, who shall be elected by the So¬ 
 ciety by ballot, and who shall deliver Lectures on the following 
 subjects, viz : Anatomy, Surgery, Materia Medica, Institutes and 
 Practice of Physic, Obstetrics, and Diseases of Women and In¬ 
 fants, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, and Natural History and Bot¬ 
 any. The Lectures shall be delivered during the months of No¬ 
 vember, December, January, February and March, liable to 
 such particular regulations as regards the frequency and number* 
 of Lectures of each Professor, as shall be adopted by the Facul* 
 ty, subject to the revision of the Medical Society. If any Profes¬ 
 sor elected by the Society shall fail or neglect to prepare a suf- 
 ficent course of Lectures by the time appointed for the com¬ 
 mencement of the operations of the School, his Chair shall be de¬ 
 clared vacant, and the Society shall proceed to another election.” 
 
 This shows that the Faculty were made perfectly dependent 
 on the Society, not only for their election, but also in relation to 
 the discharge of their duties. They became officers of the Med¬ 
 ical Society, charged with the care of a particular department; 
 and out of the discharge of their duties could not grow a totally 
 
distinct body or corporation. But they were not even left to theifc 
 own enterprize ancl skill, in the organization and management of 
 the school. The second article provides that the Honorary 
 members of this Society shall be a Board of Trustees, “ to watch 
 over and promote I he best interests of the Institution , to aid ai d 
 as ist the Faculty with their countenance and advise in the gov¬ 
 ernment of the school, and in the furtherance of the objects 
 which it is intended to accomplish.” It also directs that at a 
 special meeting on the first Monday in April, the Medical Socie¬ 
 ty “ shall receive an annual report of the proceedings of the Fac¬ 
 ulty through their Dean,” particularly designating the subjects 
 upon which it shall communicate information. It would seem 
 from these two provisions, that the Medical College was regarded 
 by the Medical Society, and the Faculty as an institution belong¬ 
 ing to the former, and entirely subject to their parental care ai d 
 control. To argue, after having become Professors under such 
 rules, that the College was not a part of the Medical Society, de¬ 
 riving existence from them, and subject to their Government, 
 would seem to imply that the agent might at any time set up for 
 himself and deny the authority of his principal over the subject 
 committed to his care ; such a course migh f be sometimes useful 
 to the agent; but it could never be tolerated by the principal or 
 allowed by the law. 
 
 The power to confer Degrees by the act of 1823, is confer¬ 
 red distinctly upon the Medical Society in the Medical School or 
 College by them to be organized. 4 s I have before said, this 
 made them the Medical College, the professors are their instruc¬ 
 tors, and in that character become a part of it; but independent 
 of the Society they had no power of conferring Degrees. This 
 power the Medical Society have never parted with, and they still 
 have the right to its exercise. In the fourth article, after making 
 some regulations in relation to character, previous study, and a 
 written dissertation to be prepared by each Student, it is provided, 
 “at the end of his second course each candidate shall be entitled 
 to a private examination before the faculty, and if approved by 
 them he shall appear before the Society at their meeting on the 
 first Monday in April, at which time and place he shall defend his 
 dissertation or thesis. The opinion of the Society respecting the 
 fitness or unfitness of each Candidate shall be expressed in the 
 usual form, of balloting, a majority of two thirds of the members 
 present in his favor shall be necessary to entitle him to his degree. 
 At a public meeting of the Society to be held the next day, or as 
 won thereafter as may be convenient, and to which the Literary 
 
 4 
 
and professional Gentlemen of the community shall be especially 
 invited, the Candidates who have passed their examination, shall 
 be introduced and receive their respective diplomas from the 
 hands of the President of the Society, who shall at the same time 
 deliver a suitable address. In order to shew on the part ol the 
 Society a marked encouragement for classical attainments, a pre¬ 
 mium of seventy dollars in money or books, shall be annually of¬ 
 fered for the best Latin or Greek Thesis or Dissertation.” The 
 fifth article directs that a Candidate foi a Medical Degree ha\iiig 
 met the approbation of the faculty of the Medical College of S. 
 Carolina, shall defend his Thesis before the Medical Society, and 
 this shall be the final examination.” Every one of these provi¬ 
 sions show that the Medical Society was the legal head, or patron 
 of the Medical College, and that without their assent none of its 
 honors or privileges could be granted. The State had no right 
 to resume this grant at pleasure ; it is a privilege conferred on a 
 private corporation, and not a duty required to be done by it— 
 the examination and licencing of Physicians and Apothecaries 
 by the Medical Society as a board of Physicians, under the Act 
 of 1817, was a duty to" the community to be performed by them ; 
 for this purpose they were the State’s agents, and the State could 
 at any time end the agency by repealing the law, or revoke and 
 commit the agency to others. 
 
 But it is said notwithstanding all these views still the faculty 
 of the Medical College must be regarded as a distinct corporation 
 on account of the appropriations, made by the Act of 1825 and 
 1830. I have no doubt that if a body of men, not entitled to a 
 legal name as a body politic and corporate, should be described 
 in an Act of the Legislature by a name and style, that this would 
 emphatically give them such a legal right to the name and style, 
 as would at least legally entitle them to the benefit of the Act. 
 But I do not think this can benefit the faculty. The appropria¬ 
 tions were for the “ Medical College,” and to be drawn by or 
 paid to the order of the faculty. The acts themselves obviously 
 make a distinction between the College and the faculty of the 
 College. They are supposed to be two different bodies known to 
 the law. What was, at the time the Acts making the appropria¬ 
 tions were passed, the Medical College ? It then consisted of 
 the Medical Society, the Trustees and the Faculty; for these 
 were the different parts of the body according to its organization 
 —in the rules and regulations no one of these was the college; 
 although if the Society had pleased in the organization of the 
 School, they might have directed the several members in rotation 
 
to have discharged the duties of the professorships, and thus have 
 dispensed with permanent professors altogether. So too they 
 might have performed themselves the duties of the Trustees, and 
 thus have contii ued as they were in the first instance, the Medi¬ 
 cal College. For I am satisfied that the power to confer De¬ 
 grees made them legally a Medical College. If the College at 
 the time the Acts were passed was the Society, the Trustees and 
 Faculty, then the appropriation was for a body in legal existence, 
 and having a legal name, and did not set up a new Corporation. 
 The result of the examination is that the Medical Society, under 
 its charter as extended by the Act of 1823, founded the Medical 
 College, that all endowments, whether made by the professors, 
 the City Council or the State, must be regarded as made in aid of 
 the original foundation. It is therefore a private institution, 
 founded by a private Corporation, unless its object, public instruc¬ 
 tion, should make it a public one. The divisions of Corpora¬ 
 tions into public and private, will be more simply and easily un¬ 
 derstood as political and private ; whatever belongs to the public 
 or people composing a government; or is instituted for the good 
 government of any part of the people, is a public or political Cor¬ 
 poration , private Corporations are such as are instituted for the 
 benefit of certain persons as individuals, or for the purpose of ap¬ 
 plying private funds or enterprize and skill to the public good. 
 “ Public Corporations are such as exist for public political purpo¬ 
 ses only, such as counties, cities, towns and villages; they are 
 founded by the Government for public purposes, and the interest 
 in them belongs to the public. But if the foundation be private, 
 the corporation is private, however extensive the uses may be to 
 which it is devoted, by the founder on the nature of the intention. 
 A Bank created by the Government for its own uses, and when 
 the Stock is exclusively owned by the government, is a public 
 Corporation.” “ A hospital founded by a private benefactor, is, 
 in point of law, a private corporation, though dedicated by its 
 charter to general charity. A College founded and endowed in 
 the same manner, is a private charity, though from its general and 
 beneficent objects, it may acquire the character of a public in¬ 
 stitution.” “ To hold a corporation to be public, because the 
 charity was public, would be to confound the popular with the 
 strictly legal sense of terms, and jar with the whole current of de¬ 
 cisions since the time of Lord Coke.” 2d Kent’s Com. 222-3. 
 In Philips vs. Berry, 2d Term. Rep. 352, Lord Holt, speaking oi 
 Public Corporations, said, that “ those that are for the public gov¬ 
 ernment of a town, city, mystery or the like, being for public ad- 
 
♦ 
 
 #8 
 
 vantage, are to be guided according to the Lnws of the Land. •—* 
 
 « But private and particular Corporations for charity founded and 
 endowed by private persons are subject to the private government 
 of those who enacted them.” It is clear from these Authorities, 
 that the object of the Medical College does not make it a public 
 or political corporation, and that as a private corporation, it is 
 subject to the government of the Medical Society who erected it. 
 
 Having arrived at the conclusion, that the Medical College 
 is a private corporation, or to speak more properly is part ol a 
 private corporation, the Medical Society, it now remains to he 
 seen what is the legal effect ol this conclusion upon the constitu¬ 
 tionality of the Act of 1831, incorporating the Medical College. 
 
 The Act of 1832, is a contract between the State and the 
 Medical Society, whereby the State, in consideration ol the estab¬ 
 lishment of the Medical School by them, conferred upon the 
 Medical Society the powers to organize the School, to establish 
 1professorships, to confer Medical Degrees, and to make all 
 laws necessary lor its government. The Act of 1831, transfer¬ 
 ring all these powers to the new corporation, is a plain violation 
 of the contract. Under the I Oth sec. of the 1st Article ol the 
 Constitution of the U. States, each State is prohibited from pas¬ 
 sing any law impairing the obligation of contracts. By the Con¬ 
 stitution of this State, the people have prohibited the Legislature 
 from ever passing any such law. This prohibition ol the Consti¬ 
 tution of the United States, and of this State, applies in as much, 
 if not more force to a contract made by the State with an indi¬ 
 vidual or corporation, as it does to a contract between cit¬ 
 izen and citizen. Dartmouth College vs. Woodward 4, Wheat. 
 318. The Act regarded even as the grant of a franchise, is still 
 as much a contract binding on the State, as the grant of a tract 
 of land by an Act of the Legislature would be, and this accord¬ 
 ing to the case of Fletcher and Peck, cannot be annulled by the 
 same or a subsequent Legislatui e. 
 
 But in another point of view I think the unconstitutionality of 
 the Act of 1831 is too apparent to be doubted; after having arriv¬ 
 ed at the conclusion that it is in derogation of the right of a pri¬ 
 vate corporation. 
 
 The English Parliament is the supreme authority of Great 
 Britain, and according to Blackstone, whatever it does, “ no au¬ 
 thority upon earth can undo.” 1st Bl. Com. 161. This supreme 
 uncoutrolable power is derived from the supposition that the King, 
 Lords and Commons are the Estates and the people of the realm, 
 and from the government thus constituted, all power and author*- 
 
£9 
 
 ty to the other departments emanates. But in this State the 
 government is strictly representative of the people and all the 
 powers exercised by any of its department is derivative from them 
 under their constitution. The three different departments, the 
 executive, legislative, and judicial, are co-ordinate, neither has 
 any superior, in its particular sphere of action, save the will of 
 the people, the constitution, to which, as the source from each 
 derives the power it exercises, obedience is due. If either tran¬ 
 scends the department to which the people have assigned it, or ex¬ 
 ercises a power not granted to it, or which is prohibited to be exer¬ 
 cised, the act is void, and has no effect; for it was done without 
 the authority of the people, and without this no department of our 
 government can act. The legislative authority of this State is 
 vested in a general assembly, “consisting of a Senate and 
 House of Representatives. 1 sec. 1st Art of the Con. of So. Ca. 
 so far, the making of laws, which is to regulate the people of the 
 State, considered as members of a civil community; or the grant¬ 
 ing by the State as a sovereign power as of any of her property, 
 officers, franchises, privileges or immunities, the legislature have 
 the right to act as they please, if they conform to the forms and 
 requisites of the constitution. But if they undertake to exercise 
 either executive or judicial power, it is an usurpation of the rights 
 of the people, which they have confided to another department, 
 and which, however unwelcome an office it may be, it becomes 
 the duty of the judiciary, as the Representative of the people, to 
 resist and control. 
 
 An act of the legislature which takes from one man his proper¬ 
 ty rights, and gives it or them to another on a claim of right is the 
 exercise of judical power, which is “vested in such superior and in¬ 
 ferior Courts of Law and Equity as the Legislature, have from time 
 to time directed and established, (1st sec. 3d Act of the Con. of 
 So. Ca.) and is therefore prohibited by the people from being 
 exercised by the legislature. So too to divest a corporation of any 
 of its rights, privileges or immunities, is the exercise of judicial 
 power; and the more especially as in the case before us, where 
 the question is whether the legislature haviB before granted the 
 rights, privileges and immunities which they now claim the right 
 to confer on another corporation. If these have not before been 
 granted to another corporation, the act now granting them for 
 the first time, trenches upon no vested rights and cannot be ques¬ 
 tioned. But if they have before been granted, nothing remains 
 in the State to be granted, and she cannot resume her grant, or 
 
transfer it to another, until a forfeiture of the grant is judicially 
 ascertained and established. 
 
 In England the creation of corporation is within the King’s 
 prerogative, but still as an incident to supreme power, the Parlia¬ 
 ment may exercise, and have exercised the right of incorporation. 
 (1 Bl. Com. 472, 3, 4 ) I am not disposed to say that the power 
 of creating a corporation as a part of the King’s prerogative, 
 belongs to the Legislature; for I regard the whole doctrine of 
 prerogative rights as utterly inapplicable to the simplicity of Re¬ 
 publican Governments. The right to grant a corporate franchise, 
 belongs to the Legislative power, as being in this respect the en¬ 
 tire representative of the sovereignty of the people. Yet notwith¬ 
 standing it is thus rightfully to be regarded as falling within the 
 grant of legislative power, it cannot be exercised as in general 
 legislation, to enact and repeal at pleasure. In one sense an act 
 of incorporation is law, but in another, it is only a grant by the 
 whole people of certain powers, rights, privileges and immunities, 
 to a part of the people. It is law, in as much as it constitutes a 
 rule of action, by which the corporators, and all the community 
 are to be governed in the relation to the body politic and corpo¬ 
 rate. But between the State and the corporators, it is like a grant 
 of certain powers, rights, privileges and immunities, which by the 
 act of incorporation pass out of the State and are vested in the 
 corporation ; and can only be forfeited by a breach of the implied 
 condition on which the grant is made, misuser or non-user, “ in 
 which case the law judges that the body politic has broken the 
 condition on which it was incorporated, and thereupon the incor¬ 
 poration is void.” 1st Bl. Com. 485. 
 
 The 2d sec. of the 9th Act of the Con. of So. Ca. provides that 
 “no freeman of this State shall betaken, or imprisoned, or des- 
 siessed of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed or ex¬ 
 iled but by the judgment of his Peers or by the law of the land. 
 Nor shall any Bill of attainder, expost facto law, or law impair¬ 
 ing the obligations of contracts ever be passed by the Legislature 
 of this State.” 
 
 A body politic and corporate is not, it is true, a freeman, within 
 the words of this section, yet it is composed of freemen, who are 
 entitled to all the privileges conferred upon them by the act of in¬ 
 corporation, and of these they cannot be desseissed but by the 
 judgments of their Peers or by the law of the land. And of course 
 the corporation can only be forfeited or deprived of any of its pri¬ 
 vileges in the same way. .jkk 
 
31 
 
 Judge Kent, in the 2d volume of commentaries, at page 244, 
 thus sums upon the doctrine of visiting corporations. “The better 
 opinion seems however to be that any corporation chargeable 
 with trusts may be inspected and controlled, and held accounta¬ 
 ble in Chancery for an abuse of such trusts. With that exception 
 the rules seems to be that of all corporations are ameneable to 
 the Courts of law; and there only according to the cause of the 
 common law for non-user or misuser of their franchises.” 
 
 It would hence seem that both by the constitution and the com¬ 
 mon law, a corporation can only be deprived of its powers, rights, 
 privileges and immunities, by a judgment of forfeiture, obtained 
 according to the law of the land. By this I understand a trial 
 had and judgment pronounced in the Court of law of this State. 
 
 From these views, we are constrained to pronounce and de¬ 
 clare the Acts of the General Assembly to incorporate the Medi¬ 
 cal College of South-Carolina, passed on the 17th December, 
 1831, unconstitutional. 
 
 The motion to reverse the Decision of the Judge below is gran¬ 
 ted; and leave is given to the relators to file the information in 
 the nature of a quo warranto. (3 Bl. Com. 264.) 
 
 “Signed,” JOHN B. O’NEALL. 
 
 “Iconcur,” DAVID JOHNSON. 
 
 Filed 5th July, 1832. 
 
 The State of South-Carolina, ) 
 
 Office of the Clerk of Court of Appeals. $ 
 
 I, Thomas J Gantt, Clerk of the Court of Appeals, in 
 
 • the State aforesaid, do hereby certify that the above 
 
 * opinion is a true copy from the original opinion pro¬ 
 nounced in said case, and filed on Record in this Office. 
 
 Given under my hand and the Seal of the Court of Equity (there 
 being as yet, no Seal for the Appellate Court) at Charleston, this 
 eleventh day of July, Anno Domini, 1832. 
 
 THOMAS J. GANTT, C. C. A. 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 AN ACT to incorporate the Medical College of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre¬ 
 sentatives, That a Board of Trustees and Professors be and are 
 hereby established and declared to be a corporate body, under 
 the style and title of the President, Trustees and Faculty of the 
 Medical College of the State of South Carolina. 
 
JLSUL 
 
 jL 
 
 
 Si 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said Board 
 of Trustees shall consist of eleven members, viz . Nathaniel Hey¬ 
 ward, C J. Col cock, Henry L. Pinckney, Robert J. Turn- 
 bull, Samuel Prioleau, Eiias Horry, Wm. Drayton, Jacob 
 Ford, H. A. Desassure, Jasper Adams and Mitchel King, Es* 
 quires, who shall elect a President from among themselves. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That when a vacancy 
 shall occur among the members of the said Board of Trustees, 
 such vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the remaining mem¬ 
 bers of the Board. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Faculty shall 
 consist of J. Edwards H >lbrook, Samuel Henry Dickson, Thos. 
 G. Prioleau, Edmund Ravenel, Henry R. Frost and John 
 Wagner, Professors. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said Bonrd 
 of Trustees and Faculty shall have perpetual succession of offi¬ 
 cers and members, with a common seal; shall have power to 
 m ike all lawful and proper rules and bye-laws, for the govern¬ 
 ment and regulation of themselves and of the said College ; and 
 that the said corporation is declared capable of receiving and 
 holding real and personal estate not exceeding sixty thousand 
 dollars, whether acquired by gift, devise, bequest or purchase, for 
 the benefit of the said College. 
 
 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That whenever any 
 vacancy shall occur in the Faculty of the said College, the said 
 Board of Trustees and Faculty shall have power to elect to the 
 Vacant Professorship, and also to establish such other or assistant 
 Professorships, under such regulations as they may deem essential 
 to he interests of the said College, and to remove any Professor 
 or Professors for incapacity or misconduct. 
 
 Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said Board of 
 Trustees and Faculty shall have power to confer medical degrees 
 with license to practice Medicine and Surgery, on such persons 
 as may have attended Lectures in the said College, and may be 
 recommended by the Faculty, and on such other persons as they 
 may propose. 
 
 Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That this shall be 
 deemed a public Act, that the same need not be pleaded, but may 
 be given in evidence under the general issue. 
 
/ 
 
 Sec. 9. And be it further enacted by the authority afore¬ 
 said, That this Act shall be and continue of force for the term of 
 twenty-one years. 
 
 In the Senate House, the twentieth day of December, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand eight h mdred and thirty-two, and in the 
 •fifty-seventh year of American Independence. 
 
 HENR Y DEAS, Pr. sident of the Senate. 
 
 H L. PINCKNEY, Speaker of the House of Repre¬ 
 sentative?. 
 
 NOTE D, 
 
 JUDGED CHAMBERS, 
 
 CHARLESTON, July 5, 1S33. 
 
 Lhe STATE 'j Motion for a Rule to shew cause why a 
 
 VSm | Writ of Centiorari should not issue, 
 
 ADAM SENFT and J* to remove the Inquisition found in this 
 
 Dr. PHOS. G. PRIOLEAU. [ case by the Magistrates and Freehold* 
 
 J ers into the Court of Sessions. 
 
 The Inquisition in this case, finds that the Medical Society 
 of South Carolina, was lawfully and peacefully possessed of an 
 Estate for years, of, in and to the Lot and Land and Buildings 
 thereon, situated in Queen-street, in the City of Charleston, call¬ 
 ed and known by the name of the Medical College, on the-- 
 
 day of April, in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight 
 Hundred and Thirty-Three, when Adam Senft, and Thomas G. 
 
 Prioleau, and other persons unknown, on the said-day of 
 
 April, in the year of Our Lord aforesaid with strong hand and 
 with force of arms, entered into the said house, called the Medi¬ 
 cal College, and expelled, ejected and amoved the said Medical 
 Society of South Carolina thereof—and the said Medical Society 
 so expelled, ejected and amoved of the said house and buildings, 
 
 called the Medical College, on the said-day of April last 
 
 past, until the day of taking the said Inquisition, with main force 
 and power, withheld, and now do withhold in great disturbance 
 of the peace of the State, and against the force of the statues in 
 such case made and provided ; as by the said Inquisition duly re¬ 
 turned by the two Magistrates who held the Inquisition, and the 
 Twelve Freeholders, who found the said Inquisition, may more 
 fully appear. 
 
 When this Inquisition was retured and filed. 
 
 Mr. Frost, as Counsel for the Faculty and Trustees, the re¬ 
 lators in this case, moved for the writ of Certiorari to issue forth¬ 
 with, in order to remove the case into the Court of Sessions, on 
 the ground that it was the proper and appropriate remedy Tor re¬ 
 moving all proceedings from Inferior Tribunals to the Superior 
 Courts of Justice. 
 
 5 
 
Me contended that in England, the King, by virtue of hfe 
 royal prerogative, had a right to this writ in all cases where he 
 was concerned ; as a writ of right, he had a right to remove all 
 cases from the inferior tribunals into the King s Bench, where the 
 crown is concerned, but admitted that in some cases between his 
 subjects it may be refused—and for that purpose, quoted and re¬ 
 lied on I. Chitty, page 379 old ed. 259new edition. It may be 
 moved for to obtain a new trial in the King’s Bench, which an in¬ 
 ferior Court cannot grant. This writ lies a gainst Justices of the 
 Peace, in cases where they are empowered finally to hear and de¬ 
 termine. . • 
 
 Nothing, he contended, could take away this power from the 
 Court of King’s Bench, but the express provisions of a statute. In 
 all cases where a new jurisdiction is created, the operation of the 
 Court immediately applies. He quoted 1 Bac. 561, where it is 
 laid down that this writ may be granted in all cases,unless exempt¬ 
 ed by an act of Parliament; 2 Hawk., Lib. 2, chap. 3, sec. 6, 
 to same point. 
 
 In 2 Cain’s, 197, it lies to the Court of Common Pleas, al¬ 
 though that court has a right finally, to hear and determine. 
 Again, a Certiorari lies in all cases where there is no appeal—and 
 it is a good ground that there is no appeal to afford this writ; and 
 it lies as well after conviction as before it. Salk. 146, 149. When 
 an indictment is found, is the proper time to apply for it. 
 
 In 6th Johnson, 334, it is said, that the granting a Certiorari 
 is as much a matter of right, as a Habeas Corpus. And in order 
 to shew that it was a matter of right in this State, the case of Ma¬ 
 ry Huntingdon was quoted and relied on, as a case carried up to 
 the court of Sessions, on the writ of Cirtiorari, 1 Tread. 325. 
 
 On the 6th of July, Col. Cross was heard in reply to Mr. 
 Frost. He contended against the motion, that the relators were 
 too late in applying for this writ. It should have been moved for, 
 by the rules of the law, before the Jury was sworn ; all the cases 
 in the books he urged, where this writ had been allowed, were 
 before the Jury was sworn. 
 
 The 43 Elizabeth, is express upon this subject—that no writ 
 shall be allowed, to remove any cause from any inferior court, in- 
 tothe King’s Bench, unless moved for before the Jury is sworn to 
 fry the cause; and 1 Salk. 144, says it shall not be delivered 
 after the Jury is sworn; and 4 Black. 320, says, it may be moved 
 for at any time before trial; 2 Hawk. 287, it is a good objection 
 against granting a certiorari, that issue is joined below, or after 
 conviction—1 Hawk. 154. 
 
 Col. Cross then stated that the Court of Appeals had alrea¬ 
 dy determined that the Medical School was a part of the College 
 
of South Carolina, so that it would be of no use to front this writ, 
 to carry the case up to the Court of Sessions, as it would be car¬ 
 rying the same case up before the same Judges again. 
 
 The Magistrates who tried this case were legal character*, 
 of great impartiality and justice—they had no doubts on the mer¬ 
 its of this case ; and the Jury were aho an able, upright and in¬ 
 telligent one, against whom not the smallest misconduct has been 
 alleged. 
 
 Col. Cross then took up another *trong ground in the cause 
 that no good or legal grounds had been urged or alleged , to author¬ 
 ize the issuing of this writ . 
 
 The gentleman who had preceded him on the other side, he 
 said, had admitted that although the King of England, in the 
 midst of his prerogativa regis , had a right to this writ, yet, as be¬ 
 tween subjects, some good reason or cause should be assigned, as 
 between them, before it was granted. 
 
 The powers granted to inferior tribunals, are generally giv¬ 
 en for the speedy administration of justice, and to prevent delay, 
 and where the inferior Judges or persons entrusted with the exe¬ 
 cution of them, act within the bounds of their jurisdiction, they 
 are entitled to support and confidence, as well as the superior 
 courts. 
 
 Hence, the wisdom of the law, in all cases, wherever their 
 proceedings are called in question, requires some good reason to 
 be assigned to authorize such interference. 
 
 The act of 1817, creates a new jurisdiction for forcible en¬ 
 tries and detainers, and declares that their proceedings shall be 
 final and conclusive ; and authorizes the sheriff to give possession, 
 agreeably to the act of 1812, for regulating proceedings between 
 Landlords and Tenants. 
 
 Col. Hunt followed Col. Cross, on the same side, on behalf 
 of the Medical Society, and he discarded all the prerogatives of 
 the Crown of Great Britain, as inconsistent with our Republican 
 principles, and insisted that the Constitution of the State of South 
 Carolina and that of the United States, were the foundations of 
 all power in the United States, and in every State of the Union. 
 They gave efficacy and effect to all the laws for the government 
 of the citizens of the country, and that no law was binding which 
 was not authorized by these constitutions. 
 
 He admitted that the King of England, os the fountain of all 
 power and justice there, might remove all causes from inferior 
 courts, into his courts, as he pleased, and when he pleased—but 
 no such power, he urged, existed in this State. The constitution 
 declares that the judiciary should consist of such courts and tribu¬ 
 nals of justice within th*s State. 9 * the Legislature should fxrsto- 
 
iaJC a \ ft 
 
 3i> 
 
 time to time establish or ordain. No such power or prerogative, 
 as that exercised by the King of England, ever existed oi prev ail¬ 
 ed in this country ; "consequently the writ of certioi ari as a writ ot 
 course, never existed, or was in use in this country, therefore a., 
 the authorities quoted on that head, are totally inapplicable. 
 
 Forcible entries and detainers here are regulated by the act 
 for landlords and tenants, which are given to the magistrates and 
 freeholders without appeal to any superior tribunal, their proceed¬ 
 ings in such cases, are final and conclusive. The cases also be¬ 
 tween masters and apprentices, are also given to the magistrates, 
 and it has been determined by the court ot Appeals, that no ap¬ 
 peal lay in such cases, as in Carmand’s case, bo that in all 
 cases of inferior jurisdictions, where no appeal is expressly given, 
 the law intended that no appeal should be allowed, unless in such 
 cases where great abuses are committed, when they may be 
 quashed, then proceedings are final and conclusive ; and the 
 whole drift and design of the present application is to obtain even¬ 
 tually an appeal which would create a delay of Justice till next 
 February, by which means the whole proceedings in the College 
 would be in abeyance till that time, and even at that time, the 
 case would again go back to the same Judges who have already 
 determined, that the act of 1831 was unconstitutional and void, 
 and who doubtless would be of the same opinion they have alrea¬ 
 dy pronounced. 
 
 Here Col. Hunt produced the opinion ot Judge Johnson 
 and Judge O’Neal, in which they declare, that the a'ct to incor¬ 
 porate the Medical College of 1833 was unconstitutional, null 
 and void. 
 
 This opinion he contended settled the matter in dispute be¬ 
 tween the parties, and left them without a foundation to rest 
 upon. 
 
 Mr. Randell Hunt followed Col. Hunt, on the part of the 
 relators, and he took up and enlarged upon the same grounds his 
 predecessor had observed on before him. He contended that 
 the common law of England when made of force in this State, 
 only included such parts of it as were applicable to the situation 
 and circumstances.of the country. A very large proportion of 
 the prerogatives of the King, and the power which he exercises 
 over his Courts never were applicable in the State of South Car¬ 
 olina ; every thing essential here, and indeed the source of all 
 p >wer, is the constitution made by the people themselves, and for 
 their benefit; and all the tribunals of Justice, are made through 
 their Legislature for their advantage, and for the mutual benefit 
 of all—there is no peculiar power vested in the State but for the 
 advantage of its citizens. The King of Englandjnay draw to his 
 
 i 
 
37 
 
 Courts by virtue of this writ of Certiorari all the causes in the 
 Kingdom by his royal prerogative, as a matter of right and as a 
 matter of course ; but in this country no such writ is grantable 
 but on special cause shewn for granting such writ, for the fair 
 and equal distribution of justice. No such cause has been shewn 
 in this case, it has not even been attempted or suggested. The. 
 conduct of the magistrates has been fair and impartial—and that 
 of the jurors upright and independent—then why grant this writ % 
 
 It must be for the purpose of delay. After the opinion of the 
 Couit of Appeals, (that the act of 1831 granting the respondents 
 or faculty, all the powers they claim) is unconstitutional and void. 
 
 From the jurisdiction of the magistrates and freeholders in this 
 case, there lies no appeal, their powers are final and conclusive ; 
 there is none given by law, and therefore the law will intend that 
 there should be none. To grant this writ in this case therefore 
 would be against the intendment of the law. Carmand’s case is 
 conclusive on this point, that where no appeal is given it shall 
 not be granted. 
 
 Mr. King, in conclusion for the respondents, the faculty and 
 trustees, contended that all the powers and prerogatives of the 
 crown, are vested in the State of South-Carolina; and that ouv 
 Court of Sessions, has all the powers of the King’s Bench in 
 England. 1. Brevard, 216, act 1721, pub. laws, 128. 
 
 The Constitution recognizes the acts of the judiciary as of full 
 force, until altered or repealed. But a large proportion of om 
 writs and proceedings, depends upon the common law, and com- 1 
 mon usage, and has been devised by the judges in ancient times, 
 as occasion might require. 
 
 Thus for instance, there are no acts for issuing prohibitions, 
 mandamus, and many others, yet those writs are in constant use, 
 and justice could not be duly administered without them in a 
 thousand instances. So it is with regard to the writ of Certiorari, 
 issuing out of the King’s Bench or Chancery, to remove all pro¬ 
 ceedings from the inferior Courts to the superior ones, for the 
 more effectual administration of justice. 
 
 There are appeals in many cases besides the final appeal to 
 to the Court of Appeals of the highest nature ; and this, long after 
 ' the 4 adoption of our Constitution. 
 
 3 Brevard 49, sec. 83, the writ of Certiorari is recognized from 
 the City Court. Grimke’s justice 114. 
 
 In the case of Mary Huntingdon, a case exactly similar to 
 this, it was removed by the Certiorari. 
 
 If the party is deprived of this remedy, in cases of great moment 
 and importance, he will be remediless. The case of Cormand 
 and his apprentice, was a case of special domestic nature, and 
 
38 
 
 required a speedy and specific determination; and therefore n6 
 appeal was allowed to the Supreme Court ot Appeals. 
 
 In the law of 1812, for regulating the trial of cases between 
 landlords and tenants holding over, the words are to be sure, that 
 the proceeding should be final and conclusive ; but that ought to 
 be intended to be the facts found by the jury ; but as to the law, 
 that is still left open for the supreme tribunal, for the common 
 law is not to be repealed by implication, it must be by an act. 
 
 He admitted that the cause for granting this writ, ought to be a 
 good one: and if the respondents can shew sufficient cause, it 
 ought to be granted —there is no other remedy for obtaining redress ¥ 
 and that alone is a good cause. 
 
 The 43 Elizabeth is confined to civil cases, and not to those of 
 a criminal nature, where the King applies for it, it a matter of 
 course, but where a subject applies for it, grounds must be as¬ 
 signed—2 Durn, and East 86, 4 Burr 2456, 8 Petersdorf, 239, 
 same is laid down. The Court may grant it as well before, as 
 after a conviction, so that the present application is not too late 
 
 OPINION. 
 
 I have now’ gone through the principal cases quoted, and re¬ 
 lied upon by the parties on both sides, and it only remains for me 
 to class the different cases and the grounds of the arguments of 
 the different counsel, upon the points submitted, so as to meet the' 
 real merits of this important controversy, consistently with the 
 rules of law, and the principles of justice. 
 
 As a great deal has been introduced in the argument, about 
 the prerogatives of the crown, and about the rights of the King of 
 England, I shall condense what I have to say on this branch of the 
 subject, within as narrow limits as possible. I admit that the 
 King of England as the fountain of all power in that country, has 
 exercised the right of regulating their Courts of Justice and draw¬ 
 ing to their jurisdictions, time out of mind, all such cases as they 
 have by their Judges, thought expedient for the administration of 
 justice among their subjects; and as incidental to that fundamen¬ 
 tal power, to issue such writs and processes as they might think 
 conducive to that end; and among others, that of issuing writs of 
 Certiorari to all the inferior jurisdictions in the kingdom, to take 
 mp to his higher courts of justice, all cases he pleases, so as*to 
 keep the whole under their control. But I deny that such a case 
 exists in the State of South Carolina. Such high prerogatives do 
 liot exist in this State—all power here is vested in the people, and 
 Ihey by their Constitution, have vested in the different branches 
 of the Government, such powers as they have thought neces~ 
 sarv for the protection of the State, its citizens, and their lives 
 and properties; and all our tribunals of justice have been so reg- 
 
 
39 
 
 ulated, ag to distribute equal justice to all. The State possesses 
 no power, but such as is absolutely necessary to the ends of jus¬ 
 tice—nor the citizens any rights but such as are necessary for 
 protection by violence or injustice. The high prerogatives of the 
 crown, as possessed by the Kings of England, are utterly un¬ 
 known to, and inconsistent with the republican system in America. 
 
 In England the King is entitled to this high prerogative writ 
 of Certiorari as a matter of course, without assigning any cause 
 or ground for it, although as between citizens or subjects, the law, 
 even there, requires that cause should be shewn, before it can be 
 granted, and this distinction is well laid down and defined by some 
 of the best law authorities upon that subject. 
 
 In Chitty,^age 257, it is laid down, that the writ of Certiora¬ 
 ri is demandable of absolute right only by the King himself, and 
 to him the court is bound to grant it, and therefore when applied 
 for by the Attorney General, or other officer of the Crown, eith¬ 
 er as a prosecutor, or when it is taken up in defence of a party 
 indicted, or on his being an officer of the crown, it must issue as 
 a matter of course, and the court has no discretion. But when 
 the King’s name is only made use of by a private prosecutor, a 
 material distinction arises; for though the writ is usually awarded 
 as a matter of course, it is in the power of the Judges to refuse it 
 or quash it; and when applied for on the part of a defendant it 
 is never granted, unless there are strong reasons for removal of 
 the case assigned—a practice which has prevailed since the time 
 of Charles 2d. 
 
 In Dura, and East. 89, Buller J. says, the language of the 
 Court has always been, that the King has a right to remove pro¬ 
 ceedings by Certiorari of course ; but where a defendant makes 
 application of this sort, he must lay a ground for it before the 
 Court. Lord Mansfield, he says, has laid down this distinction 
 again and again: that on the part of the Crown, it is a matter of 
 course for the Court to grant it; but on the part of the defend¬ 
 ant, it is not a matter of course. Now, if it be not a matter of course 
 to grant this writ, it can only be obtained by laying a ground by 
 affidavit, and unless this rule was observed, the consequence 
 would be, that we should have to decide upon every conviction in 
 the kingdom, which would be removed into this Court. 
 
 Buller J. on a subsequent day, said that upon a further inquh 
 ry into the case, it appeared most clearly that the opinion of the 
 court in the above case was correctly proper. That the rule res¬ 
 pecting the laying the ground before the court for granting a Cer¬ 
 tiorari, had obtained since the days of Charles 2d. In Doug. 
 554, the King against Whitebread, the Court say, that we are all 
 of opinion in this case, that the Certiorari does not lie ; but if it 
 
 l 
 
40 
 
 did, it must be granted on affidavit to support the application. A 
 great number of other cases were quoted and relied upon, to the 
 same point, in the course of the argument; but those I have re¬ 
 lied on are sufficient to establish the law on this head, beyond all 
 kind of doubt or controversy whatever. Here then I take my 
 stand on this branch of the case and am deci iedly of opinion, that 
 unless good and sufficient grounds are stated and supported by 
 affidavits, this court is not warranted in granting this writ. I 
 must in candor, however, admit that formerly during the exis¬ 
 tence of the county courts, which often ran wild in their judge* 
 ments and decisions, w rits of Certiorari were in use, in order to 
 reach the justice of cases decided in them, but never, I believe 
 without affidavits to support the grounds upon which they were 
 granted. Since the abolition of these courts, this writ has gone 
 into disuse, except in Mary Huntington’s case, which passed sub 
 silentio, and without argument or discussion. 
 
 But in the case under consideration no ground whatever has 
 been alleged, nor affidavits submitted, to justify the court in grant¬ 
 ing it; on the contrary it has been demanded as a matter of right, 
 or as a thing of course in the usual current of practice, in our 
 courts of justice. And the wisdom of the law is evident in res¬ 
 training this writ, and submitting it to the sound discretion of the 
 courts of Justice, before it can be granted; otherwise, all tin 
 cases in the inferior tribunals in the State, would be carried up to 
 the court of Sessions, which possesses the same powers here, as 
 with the King’s Bench in England, as was well observed by Mr, 
 Justice Buller. The case relied upon from Gth Johnson 334, 
 in which it is said, the granting a certiorari is as much a matter of 
 right as a habeas corpus, appears to me against all the sound and 
 stable principles ef the law upon the subject. If there was no 
 other ground in the case, but this one, it would be sufficient alone 
 to justify the court in refusing the present motion. 
 
 2ndly. But there is another ground in the case, which ren¬ 
 ders unavailing every attempt to support the rights of the Faculty 
 and Trustees in this case. 
 
 The court of Appeals, the highest tribunal of justice in South 
 Carolina, has, after a very laborious investigation, declared the 
 act of the Legislature, “ entitled an act to incorporate the Medi¬ 
 cal College of South Carolina,” passed the 17th Dec. 1831; (un¬ 
 der which the faculty or respondents claim all their rights and 
 franchises,) unconstitutional, null and void. 
 
 This therefore, without further observa tions, leaves them 
 without a pivot to stand upon—all their rights and privileges 
 founded on the act, go with it. 
 
 I am therefore bound to reject the present motion for the 
 Certiorari, and to leave the magistrates at liberty to pr >ceed« 
 agreeably to law, E. H. BAY 
 
MEMORIAL 
 
 Of the City Council of Charleston, praying enact¬ 
 ments to prevent the erection of Wooden Buildings 
 in that City. 
 
 To the Honorable the Speaker and other Members of the 
 House of Representatives of South-Carolina: 
 
 The Memorial of the City Council of Charleston 
 respectfully sheweth— 
 
 That the City of Charleston has again been laid 
 waste by one of those desolating conflagrations, which, 
 in the course of its history, has more than once laid it 
 in ruins. Your memorialists having been appointed to 
 watch over the safety of the citizens, have felt them¬ 
 selves bound to seek the cause of so much calamity, 
 and if possible, to remove it. In making their search, 
 they find that on every occasion the extent of the ruin 
 has been attributed to the number of Wooden Build¬ 
 ings existing within our city. The inflammable nature 
 of our wood, and the frequent droughts to which our 
 climate is exposed, increase to an alarming degree our 
 danger from fires, and the result has been just such as 
 might have been anticipated. It is now upwards of a 
 century since this system of wooden structures has 
 been permitted, against the judgment of every other 
 enlightened community, and the declared opinion of 
 the General Assembly of our own State. As far back 
 as J7I3, wooden buildings were prohibited in Charles¬ 
 ton; but yielding to the clamor of the day, the General 
 Assembly abandoned the policy dictated by their own 
 good sense; and the consequence has been, that disas¬ 
 ter has succeeded disaster, until at last a fatal calamity 
 has satisfied the community, that without some change 
 of policy the effort to renew our fortunes is vain. Un¬ 
 der these circumstances, your memorialists, admonish¬ 
 ed by the scene around them, have undertaken to lay 
 
2 
 
 the foundations of a new system, in which they re¬ 
 spectfully solicit the concurrence of your honorable 
 body. Charleston, as the commercial emporium of the 
 State, can never discharge the duties which she owes 
 the State, unless the commerce to be conducted by her 
 shall be made secure. The State has invested a large 
 amount in the construction of rail roads, to open chan¬ 
 nels of communication to her metropolis. But it 
 these channels are merely to conduct the produce of 
 the country, or the commodities of the merchant, to a 
 magazine which a spark may convert into a sea of fire, 
 the efforts of the State are made to worse than no 
 purpose; and its resources are hazarded upon the 
 chances of a moment. Your memorialists conceive 
 that such a state of things cannot continue; they deem 
 it but an act of justice to the State, that proper exer¬ 
 tions should be made to establish a new system. 
 
 With these views, your memorialists have lately 
 passed an Ordinance to prevent the erection of Wood¬ 
 en Buildings within the City; and they respectfully re¬ 
 fer your honorable body to a copy of the said ordi¬ 
 nance, with the accompanying Report of their Com¬ 
 mittee, explaining its purport and objects. Your me¬ 
 morialists, in founding a system so different from that 
 heretofore existing, would have much preferred to sub¬ 
 mit the whole subject in the first instance for the ad¬ 
 visement and sanction of your honorable body; but the 
 urgency of the case admitted of no delay, and they 
 felt themselves called upon by every motive of public 
 duty at once to exercise to the extent such powers as 
 your honorable body had conferred upon them in their 
 charter. Your memorialists think, that as it is highly 
 important this system should be permanent, and not 
 remain subject to the fluctuating opinion of a corpo¬ 
 rate body, it would conduce highly to the interest of 
 the State, that the Legislature should act directly in 
 the matter. The powers of the City Council do not 
 reach the root of the evil. The appropriate remedy 
 is a clear understanding on the part of the citizens, 
 that a wooden building cannot be permitted to stand— 
 
3 
 
 that it is a common nuisance, and as such must be 
 abated. Such a declaration would operate to prevent 
 the evil—all that the City Council can do, is merely to 
 punish after it is done. 
 
 Your memorialists, with a view to exhibit to your 
 honorable body that this policy is neither oppressive 
 nor inexpedient, have caused a committee to collect 
 and report various facts and statements; to which re¬ 
 port, accompanying this memorial, reference is respect¬ 
 fully craved. Your memorialists, fully sensible of the 
 wisdom and public spirit of your honorable body, re¬ 
 spectfully ask your aid in the premises, by making such 
 enactments as in your judgment may effectually sup¬ 
 press the evil complained of. And your memorialists 
 will ever pray, &c. 
 
 H. L. PINCKNEY, Mayor. 
 
 IN THE CITY COUNCIL. 
 
 May 22, 1838. 
 
 Mr. Memminger offered the following Report . 
 
 The Special Committee, appointed to ascertain and report such facts 
 and statements as may enable the Legislature to determine upon the ex¬ 
 pediency of further enactments on the subject of wooden buildings 
 within the City of Charleston, respectfully submit the following 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 An overwhelming calamity has laid in ruins a large portion of our 
 city. So quickly has it succeeded another of the same character, that 
 the ashes of both are united, and a wide plain of desolation is exhibited 
 to the eye, whose smouldering ruins, while they awaken the sympathies 
 of the philanthropist, demand from the true lover of his country the ex¬ 
 ercise of sterner faculties. The united scene of destruction embraces 
 nearly one-third of our whole city—in its ruins lie buried the homes of 
 nearly one thousand families; and the hearths, which but yesterday uni¬ 
 ted around them the hopes and happiness of thousands of our country¬ 
 men, are either prostrate upon the earth, or stand aloft amid the waste, 
 the witnesses of our errors, looking down upon our actions, and demand¬ 
 ing at our hands future, safety and security. As men of ordinary pru¬ 
 dence and forecast—as creatures responsible to a higher power for the 
 use of those means which are placed within our reach, it behoves us to 
 consider well the calamity in all its bearings, to ascertain its causes, and 
 
V 
 
 
 
 by the blessing of Heaven, to avert, if possible, the return of similar 
 occurrences. 
 
 In practical matters like the present, your committee are of opinion 
 that facts are entitled to more weight than the most ingenious specula¬ 
 tion. They have, therefore, set themselves in the first place, to examine 
 into the particulars of similar events elsewhere, and thereby, if possible, 
 to ascertain their causes and the remedies which have been adopted. 
 
 They think it may be fairly assumed that if, by universal consent, the 
 same cause has been assigned for the evil, and the same remedy been 
 applied and found effectual, the question as to both cause and remedy 
 will have been settled according to the soundest rules of human pru¬ 
 dence. . . 
 
 Your committee have, therefore, turned in the first instance, to the 
 records of that great people from whom we have derived our wisest in¬ 
 stitutions, and who, like ourselves, have never submitted to unjust or op¬ 
 pressive exaction. In the year 1666 , it is related by the historian, that 
 “a calamity happened in London, which threw the people into great con¬ 
 sternation. Fire breaking out in a baker’s house near the bridge, spread 
 itself on all sides with such rapidity, that no efforts could extinguish it, 
 till it laid in ashes a considerable part of the city. The inhabitants, 
 without being able to provide effectually for their relief, were reduced to 
 be spectators of their own ruin, and were pursued from street to street 
 by the flames, which unexpectedly gathered round them. Three days 
 and nights did the fire advance, and it was only by the blowing up of 
 houses that it was at last extinguished. About four hundred streets and 
 thirteen thousand houses were reduced to ashes.” Such is a rapid 
 sketch of this overwhelming calamity. Except that its extent so great¬ 
 ly surpasses the event which we have so lately witnessed ourselves, it 
 would seem to have been written by an eye-witness of our own misfor¬ 
 tunes. But it is of the utmost importance to mark what follows: “The 
 causes of this calamity,” continues the historian, “were evident. The 
 narrow streets of London, the houses built entirely of wood , the dry sea¬ 
 son, and a violent east wind which blew—these were so many concur¬ 
 ring circumstances which rendered it easy to assign the reason of the 
 destruction that ensued.” 
 
 Here, then, was a wooden city, in which thirteen thousand families 
 were deprived of homes—those homes, the abodes of a people which 
 had but recently driven one-tyrant from his throne—which had just been 
 schooled by the lessons of Hampden, and of Pym, and of all those great 
 men who had united themselves in a mortal struggle against oppression. 
 
 It will be most instructive to consider what remedies they adopted—and 
 surely, it cannot be contended that measures to which men of such minds, 
 and thus overwhelmed, have submitted, can be considered oppressive or 
 inexpedient. 
 
 The Parliament met immediately, and with a generous liberality voted 
 a supply of one million eight hundred thousand pounds sterling, and 
 passed “an act for re-building the city of London;” one of the principal 
 provisions of which is in the following words: “And in regard, the 
 building of brick is not only more comely and durable, but also more 
 
 QJ 
 
5 
 
 safe against future perils of fire: Be it further enacted, that all the out¬ 
 sides of all buildings in and about the said city , be henceforth-made of 
 brick or stone , or of brick and stone together, except door cases and 
 window frames, the brest summers and other parts of the first story to 
 the front between the piers, which are to be left to the discretion of the 
 builder, to use substantial oaken timber instead of brick or stone, for con- 
 veniency of shops; and that the said doors, brest summers and window 
 frames be sufficiently discharged of the burthen of the fabric by arch 
 work of brick or stone, either strait or circular;” and by another clause 
 of the said act, all houses built otherwise, are declared to be a common 
 nuisance, and are directed to be demolished or abated by order of the 
 Court of Aldermen—or the builder to be imprisoned until he give securi¬ 
 ty to demolish the same. By another clause of the same act, it will ap¬ 
 pear that even greater difficulty was apprehended from the want of ma¬ 
 terials and workmen than is even now at Charleston. Yet, nevertheless, 
 the prohibition to build of wood, was not only extended over the whole 
 city , but no house, even of brick, of less than three stories was permitted 
 to be erected on any street or principal lane in the city. The effect of a 
 permission to erect shops and wooden buildings in a part of the city is 
 strikingly developed in the preamble of a clause in a subsequent act, 
 passed on the same subject, and which directed the said wooden build¬ 
 ings erected since the fire to be taken down and removed. The follow¬ 
 ing are the words: “And whereas, several sheds, shops, and other build¬ 
 ings have been erected since the late dreadful fire, in Smithfield, Moor- 
 fields, and other void places within the city and liberties thereof, by 
 license of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and CommQn Council of the said 
 city, for the accommodation of such inhabitants whose houses were then 
 burnt or demolished, for the better carrying on of their respective trades; 
 which, if they should be suffered to have longer continuance than the 
 present exigence of the occupiers thereof doth require, would be an oc¬ 
 casion to divert the trade of the city, and to discourage such as have re¬ 
 built houses within the said city.” 
 
 The policy evinced by these enactments, was that of total prohibition. 
 No part of the city was exempted, experience having clearly proved, 
 that such exemption would be ruinous to the other sections. Neither 
 was the difficulty of procuring workmen in a city whose whole structure 
 was about to be changed, considered sufficient to modify the policy— 
 and what is most remarkable is, that notwithstanding all these seeming 
 embarrassments, a still more decisive step was taken. It was enacted 
 that the Common Council should be at liberty to sell every lot upon 
 which#a house had formerly existed, and which was not re-built within 
 three years; and the purchase money was given to the owner in lieu of 
 his lot; and all this was done by a Parliament which evinced its dispo¬ 
 sition towards freedom, by compelling their monarch to put an end to a 
 war which he had much at heart, and by driving from his counsels a 
 minister who had ever enjoyed his confidence and regard, but whom 
 they regarded as tyrannical and oppressive. A casual observer would 
 have supposed that to demand so sudden and speedy a change in a 
 large city, to require the new materials and the numerous workmen for 
 
snch an immense work as the re-building of thirteen thousand houses, 
 within so short a period, would have been fatal to the people and the sys¬ 
 tem. But the men who conceived and executed this great enter prize 
 saw deeper—they well knew that the energies of their people would 
 soon be concentrated by the very necessity of the case—and that tem¬ 
 porary inconvenience would soon be forgotten in the great results 
 which would follow. The impartial page of history will say whether 
 they were deceived. In this it is said, that “the fire of London, 
 though at the time a great calamity, has proved in the issue beneficial 
 both to the city and kingdom. The city was re-built in a very little 
 time.” The use of lath and timber, the materials of which the houses 
 were formerly composed, ,was forbidden, and the streets were made 
 wider and more regular. “Great advantages resulted from these altera¬ 
 tions—the city became much more healthy after the fire. The plague, 
 which used to break out with great fury twice or thrice every year, and 
 indeed was always lurking in some corner or other of the city, has 
 scarcely ever appeared since that calamity.” 
 
 This radical change in the structure of London having been adopted 
 by most of the cities of Great Britain, your committee can find no further 
 examples of destructive conflagrations in the history of that country, 
 and they therefore must turn now to the pages of our own country. 
 Your committee find that as early as the year 1697, these dreadful 
 scourges had already commenced their work of havoc in Charleston. A 
 fire occurred in that year, which did infinite mischief to the eolony, and 
 in the language of the historian of the day, the evil is attributed to the 
 wooden buildings, of which the city was composed. That the evil had 
 already extended to a great degree, your committee find attested in a 
 preamble to an Act of the General Assembly of this State, passed No¬ 
 vember 4, 1704, entitled “an act to prevent and suppress fire in Charles¬ 
 town.” The preamble of this act states that “the town of Charlestown 
 hath already suffered great losses by fires, and daily is exposed to the 
 same unhappy accident;” and the act proceeds to make sundry provis¬ 
 ions, among which is an authority to certain commissioners to blow up 
 houses. The evils intended to be suppressed by this act, seem, never¬ 
 theless, to have increased to such a degree, that on the 18th December, 
 1713, the General Assembly were induced to apply the only effectual 
 remedy, and they enacted a law in the following words: “That no 
 dwelling house, shop, warehouse, stable, barn, or other building what¬ 
 soever, shall be erected or set up within the lines of the fortifications of 
 the said town, except, such building or buildings be set up and erected, 
 or built with bricks, and that whoever sets up or erects any wooden 
 frame or building within the said fortifications, from and after the expira¬ 
 tion of sixty days after the ratification of this act, contrary to the true 
 intent and meaning thereof, such wooden frame and building so erected 
 and set up, shall be deemed a common nuisance, and the same shall be 
 utterly demolished, by order of the commissioners in the said act, nomi¬ 
 nated and appointed.” 
 
 Here, then, the wisdom of our ancestors distinctly pointed out the 
 remedy for the multiplied evils which wooden buildings had already pro- 
 
7 
 
 duced. But the interest of many was too strongly affected by this change 
 of system; and at that early day it was alledged that materials could 
 not be had to carry on the new system. Pressed by the urgency of 
 those who looked more to the necessities of the hour, than to the perma¬ 
 nent enjoyment of the future, in June, 1717,* the foregoing clause was 
 repealed, and the inhabitants of Charleston were again permitted to 
 build as they pleased. But the consequences were not long retarded. 
 ‘‘The year 1740, (says the historian of our State,) stands distinguished 
 in the annals of Carolina, for a desolating fire which in November broke 
 out in the capital, and laid the half of it in ruins. This fire began about 
 two o’clock in the afternoon, and burnt with unquenchable violence un¬ 
 til eight at night. The houses being built of wood, and the wind blow¬ 
 ing hard at North West, the flames spread with astonishing rapidity— 
 amidst the cries and shrieks of women and children, and the bursting 
 forth of flames in different quarters, occasioned by the violent wind, 
 which carried the burning shinkles to a great distance,—the men were 
 put into confusion, and so anxious were they about the safety of their 
 families, that they could not be prevailed upon to unite their efforts for 
 extinguishing the fire. Three hundred of the best and most convenient 
 buildings in the town were consumed, which, together with the loss of 
 goods and provincial commodities, amounted to a prodigious sum.” 
 
 “Happily, few lives were lost; but the lamentations of ruined families 
 were heard in every quarter. In short, from a flourishing condition, 
 the town was reduced, in the space of six hours, to the lowest and most 
 deplorable state. After the Legislature met to take the miserable state 
 of the people under consideration, they agreed to make application to the 
 British Parliament for relief. The British Parliament voted £20,000 
 sterling, to be distributed amongst the sufferers at Charlestown, which 
 relief was equally seasonable and useful on the one side, as it was gene¬ 
 rous and noble on the other.” 
 
 Your Committee have extracted this passage, because, with some modi¬ 
 fications, it is but a picture of the disasters which have so often been re¬ 
 peated since this period. It is now nearly a century since calamities of this 
 sort have been renewing their admonitions, yet none of them were listened 
 to, until we have been at last overwhelmed. The fires of 1796 and of 1810 
 were disasters fully equal to the sack of a city, and yet they were almost for¬ 
 gotten, until the impression was revived by that of 1835. It is just twenty 
 years since the buildings at the corner of Market and Meeting streets were 
 all destroyed by fire, and now again they are in ruins. In fact, the annals of 
 our city may be said to be marked by conflagrations, and its history written 
 in characters of fire. And what renders the whole remarkable, is, that in 
 every instance, the cause is attributed to our wooden buildings ; and yet 
 within the last hundred years, but a single effort has been made to apply 
 the proper remedy. That effort, however, has been attended with the most 
 remarkable consequences, and to them your committee will, for a few mo¬ 
 ments, refer. 
 
 In the year 1787, the Legislature passed a law forbidding the erection of 
 wooden buildings, by the owners of wharves in the city of Charleston. The 
 effect of this law has been to cover the wharves and their vicinity, with 
 
8 
 
 brick buildings, and while other sections of the city have been so often rava¬ 
 ged by fire, this section, although covered with cotton bales, has been, in a 
 great measure, exempt from such calamities. Your committee could easily 
 dilate upon these results, and from the experience of other cities, could de¬ 
 monstrate the advantage of excluding wooden buildings. But a report on 
 these points having been already made to your honorable body, they are re¬ 
 lieved from that necessity. , .. , , 
 
 Your committee consider it, therefore, to be fully established, that the 
 chief cause of the conflagrations of Charleston is to be found in our wooden 
 buildings, and that the only effectual remedy is, to prohibit their erection. 
 The question then arises, is such a remedy practicable and expedient or 
 will it operate such intolerable hardship as to make the remedy a worse evil 
 than the disease 1 
 
 Two propositions are maintained by those who object to the application of 
 the remedy. 1st. It is said that the difference in cost between brick and 
 wooden buildings, is so great, as to prevent a person of moderate means from 
 building at all—that such person would be able to re-build of wood but not 
 of brick. 2d. It is said that even were his means sufficient, materials for 
 the purpose cannot be procured at Charleston. Your committee propose 
 fairly to weigh both propositions. 
 
 First, then, as to the difference between wood and brick buildings. In 
 settling this point it is necessary to ascertain whether a prudent man ought 
 to pay more for a brick than a wooden building, and if he ought, then how 
 much more. For instance, if a man in a brick house can save an annual ex¬ 
 pense of one hundred dollars, which he must incur in a wooden house, then 
 the brick house is worth to him just so much more money, as when v put at 
 interest would produce the $100—and just so much more would it bring in 
 market. Your committee have therefore endeavored to ascertain as nearly 
 as possible what would be the difference in this respect; and they have as¬ 
 sumed as the basis of all their calculations, a plain finished two story house 
 of 40 by 20, which description of house would suit the average of persons in 
 moderate circumstances, who might desire to build. Such a house too will 
 furnish a just medium between both extremes, and may be taken as a fan- 
 basis for calculation. 
 
 The first annual expense then, which the owner of such a house -would 
 incur, would be the insurance. From the best information which your com¬ 
 mittee can procure, the average rate of insurance (before the destruction of 
 our two companies) was about fifty cents per cent on brick houses, surroun¬ 
 ded by brick, and one hundred and fifty cents per cent on wood* surrounded 
 by -wood. At present the rates are much higher, and would make the cal¬ 
 culation more in favor of the brick. Taking, however, the old rate, we will 
 suppose the oivners of a brick and wooden house, each to insure $3000 on 
 their buildings, and $1000 on their furniture—the owner of the brick buil¬ 
 ding will pay annually $20—the owner of the wood will pay $60. Dif¬ 
 ference, ::::::: $40 00 
 
 The owner of the wood house must paint, at least once in five 
 years, at a cost of at least $100, which makes an annual expense of $20 00 
 
 $60 00 
 
9 
 
 And besides these, the owner of the wood will be at the expense 
 of repairs not called for in a brick house, amounting annually to at 
 least : : : 2 : : : : 10 00 
 
 Increased annual expense of wood house, : : : $70 00 
 
 Which amount is the annual interest of one thousand dollars. So that one 
 would be fairly warranted in paying one thousand dollars more for such a 
 brick house than for a wooden one. „ 
 
 Let us next enquire what is the actual difference in cost. Your Commit¬ 
 tee have been favored with fall and accurate information on this point from 
 some of the most upright and respectable mechanics in the city, from which 
 they now proceed to deduce their conclusions. 
 
 It is important that there should first be a distinct understanding of the 
 parts respectively necessary to a brick and wooden building, as on examina¬ 
 tion it will be discovered that so many are common to both, that for the pur¬ 
 poses of a relative calculation, the items may be much narrowed. The roof 
 and the greater part of the inside finish is common to both—the foundation, 
 where a good wooden house is to be built in a city, must be of brick, and of 
 very nearly the same dimensions as in a brick house. If the roofs of both be 
 incombustible, the difference will be confined to the shell of the two buil¬ 
 dings, and to the extra window frames, the jamb linings, bond timbers, and 
 furring in a brick house. But on the other hand, it must be borne in mind 
 that the chimnies of a brick house are worked into the wall; whereas in a 
 wooden building, stacks of chimneys are run up inside the weather boarding, 
 each of which being about 5 feet long, by from 2 to 3 feet deep, the conse¬ 
 quence is, that in a wooden building there is actually added to the expense, 
 about one quarter of the bricks and wall which would construct a brick buil¬ 
 ding. Then, the wood house must be painted outside, whereas it is optional 
 whether the brick house be pointed or not, and thus these heavy items of 
 expense are added to the wooden house. Your Committee, from these con¬ 
 siderations, were prepared to expect that the relative difference between 
 the two would be much less than was generally supposed, and accordingly 
 they have now before them estimates, furnished by several of the most intel¬ 
 ligent and substantial master builders in brick and wood, in our city, who 
 offer to finish and deliver the keys of 
 
 A brick building, 40 by 20, two stories high, plain finish, for $3,067 00 
 A wooden building, same size and finish, for : : 2,896 00 
 
 Difference, :::::: $171 00 
 
 The calculations are all predicated upon even the present extravagant 
 prices of materials, and your Committee are assured that the foregoing esti¬ 
 mates afford fair profits at those rates. 
 
 Your Committee, however, have not limited their investigations to mere 
 results. They have endeavored to get data, which could be laid before the 
 public, upon which every citizen can make a calculation for himself. There 
 is no mystery in these subjects, and a superfluity of light never yet has 
 done injury to the truth. Your Committee have, therefore, endeavored, 
 from such information as they could command, to ascertain the particulars 
 required in each sort of building, and to estimate their cost,. They now pro* 
 
10 
 
 ceed to submit a statement of the relative cost of those parts of the two 
 buildings which are not necessary to both, and these are taken from the es- 
 timat.es of several different mechanics. . , 
 
 Before entering upon this matter, however, your Committee would see ' 
 to correct one great misapprehension, which seems to have possessed the 
 public mind. The quantity of bricks required in a brick building is far less 
 than is supposed. Every citizen may at once satisfy himself on this point 
 Let him pile together a few bricks, and he will find that for all substantial 
 purposes of calculation, it will take thirteen and a half bricks for each foot 
 in length and heighth of a wall one brick and a half thick ; or, as it is usual¬ 
 ly called, a fourteen inch wall. To ascertain the number of bricks required 
 for a house of such a wall, he need only multiply the whole external dimen¬ 
 sions by the height of the house, from the foundation, and then by multiply¬ 
 ing this product by thirteen and a half, he will discover the number of bricks 
 necessary. The quantity saved from this calculation, by the openings 
 required for the windows and doors,, will be sufficient allowance for contin¬ 
 gencies. Thus, in a house forty by twenty, the external girth is one hun¬ 
 dred and twenty feet, which, multiplied by the heighth, say twenty-eight 
 feet, including the foundation and parapet, is three thousand three hundred 
 and sixty, and this multiplied by thirteen and a half, makes forty-five thou¬ 
 sand three hundred and sixty the bricks required. But in our estimates we 
 have added two thousand bricks more, so as to allow a thicker wall in the 
 foundation, and to cover all possible contingencies. 
 
 Supposing, then, each house to be 40 by 20, of two stories, 
 the brick house will require, with the foundation and chim- 
 nies complete, 47,000 bricks, which at present prices will cost, 
 when laid at the present rate of $25 per thousand, : : 
 
 The extra cost of window and door frames will be, say $3 
 each, : : * : : : : : 
 
 The jamb linings required in a brick house, and notin wood, 
 
 The furring and bond timbers, with the workmanship, : : 
 
 Total, : : : : 
 
 The wooden house will require in place of the 
 above, 12,000 feet lumber, at $20, : : : $240 00 
 
 Carpenter’s work and nails used in framing, weath¬ 
 er boarding, and making door and window frames, : 550 00 
 
 Bricks and brick work for chimnies and founda¬ 
 tion, : : : : : : 420 00 
 
 Painting outside, : : : : : 100 00 
 
 -1,310 00 
 
 $1,170 
 
 00 
 
 60 
 
 00 
 
 60 
 
 00 
 
 65 
 
 00 
 
 $1,355 
 
 00 
 
 Difference, 
 
 $45 00 
 
 But to make a perfectly fair estimate, your Committee think that to this 
 difference must he added the difference of cost between a roof which is in¬ 
 combustible, and one of shingles, because the system established by the 
 Ordinance requires this change. In making this estimate it must be borne 
 in mind, that although we have followed the customs of our ancestors, (who 
 
11 
 
 living in cold climates, to get rid of snow, gave a great pitch to roofs,) 
 yet this plan can be advantageously dispensed with. Flat roofs are 
 common in all Southern Countries, and tend not only to ornament and con¬ 
 venience, but to security. It is easy from such a roof to command the whole 
 building in cases of fire—and by a very slight inclination of the roof to one 
 side or to the centre, the rain water can be conducted by a single gutter into 
 a cistern below, and thus secure to its inmates one of the greatest blessings 
 in our country—a supply of good water. A flat roof too has much less sur¬ 
 face, than where there are two sides with a great pitch, and therefore the 
 expense of covering material is much less. The protection from the firing 
 of chimnies, and from sparks in time of conflagration is complete ; and when 
 to these advantages is added its durability, the comparison is decidedly in 
 favor of a metallic roof. 
 
 Nevertheless in estimating the expense of the two systems, the difference 
 between this species of roof, or between slate or tiles and shingles must be 
 added to the cost of the Brick House. Your Committee are informed that 
 slate roofs can be safely used with but a slight pitch, if parapet walls are run 
 up to a height of two feet or thereabouts above the eaves, as a protection 
 against winds, and that such a roof would be cheaper than one of tin. But 
 as they wish to make estimates upon facts and not upon conjecture, they will 
 assume the tin roof and compare it with shingles. 
 
 The tinning and tin of roof for the house above, will cost, at 
 $16 per square, :::::: $125 00 
 
 And the boards, nails and workmanship say : : : 20 00 
 
 145 00 
 
 Shingling same would cost : : : : : 85 00 
 
 60 00 
 
 And if to this difference be added the former difference of : 45 00 
 
 The actual difference between the two buildings will be $105 00 
 
 Some of the estimates furnished your Committee, vary in some degree 
 from the items of the above calculation; but in all cases an addition of $100, 
 will cover the entire variation. So that by no estimate in the possession of 
 the Committee, will the cost of the brick building, roof, and all, exceed the 
 wood more than $205 00. By referring to the calculations already made, 
 it will be seen that this difference will be made up in three years by the ex¬ 
 tra expense incurred in a wooden building. 
 
 It may be said, however, that there are many brick buildings, in which 
 this estimate will be far short of the actual cost. Your Committee are not 
 prepared to deny that the man who amuses his fancy in building, or who em¬ 
 ploys a fancy builder, may spend as much money upon a house as may suit 
 that fancy. They have made no calculations suited to such cases—their 
 estimates are intended for.plain men, who by hard work have learnt the value 
 of money and know the proper mode of using it; and who, while they desire 
 substantial dwellings, are not disposed to indulge their fancy at the expense of 
 their pockets. It is for such as these last only, that their estimates are 
 designed, and they believe', by such they will be found just. 
 
X 
 
 # V 
 
 „ jL _ 
 
 12 
 
 Your Committee now proceed to state that the foregoing estimates 
 have been made for the best work and materials; but, that by using infe¬ 
 rior materials, much more can be saved on the cost of the wooden build¬ 
 ing than oh the brick. They deem it fair, therefore, to make an estimate 
 of this reduction. 
 
 In the wooden building, about 8,000 feet of the lumber 
 may be used from rafts, at $12 per M., making a difference 
 or saving on the price on the other estimate of 
 The workmanship may be reduced by jobbing work and other 
 •contrivances, to $400, which would save, say 
 and the bricks and brick work used in the wooden house, 
 may be furnished for $380, saving - 
 
 On the brick building, there may be saved, by second 
 quality bricks, the difference between $1,170, and $980, 
 
 Making a difference in favor of the wood of - 
 And if the pointing of the front of the brick house be ad¬ 
 ded, say, ------ 
 
 The whole difference to be added is - 
 To which, add former difference, 
 
 It makes the total difference between brick and wood to be 
 To this should be added, as in the first estimate, the dif¬ 
 ference of expense between a shingled roof and one of metal 
 or tile, which on such a house as that above described, is 
 
 Making the whole difference between the brick and wood 
 to be - 
 
 And if to this be added the same, 
 to cover all variations of estimate; the total difference of cost, 
 
 even of cheap and inferior wooden buildings will be 
 
 A difference which will be made up in four years by the extra annual 
 expense of a wooden building. 
 
 If the account be stated in another form, it will stand thus: 
 
 The actual value of a brick building, 40 by 20, over a 
 wooden building, has been shewn to be - - - $1,000 00 
 
 But the actual cost of a brick building over a wooden, in 
 any event, does not exceed - - - 287 00 
 
 So that the true difference in favor of brick is $713 00 
 
 Without taking into account any of the advantages, of durability and 
 security to the peace of families, and the property of the country. 
 
 Your Committee cannot refrain from expressing their surprise at the 
 result of their investigation, and should some errors exist in their calcu- 
 
 flM 
 
 $64 
 
 00 
 
 150 
 
 00 
 
 40 
 
 00 
 
 25-4 
 
 00 
 
 190 
 
 00 
 
 $64 
 
 00 
 
 18 
 
 00 
 
 82 
 
 00 
 
 45 
 
 00 
 
 127 
 
 00 
 
 60 
 
 00 
 
 187 
 
 00 
 
 100 
 
 00 
 
 287 
 
 00 
 
13 
 
 lations,even making every allowance for them, the result shows at how 
 cheap a rate the infinite benefits of the fire proof system may be purchased. 
 
 But the second proposition yet remains to be disposed of. It is said 
 that no supply of materials can be had for the demand, to be occasioned 
 by the new system. Your Committee might safely have dismissed this 
 part of the subject by referring to the example of the city of London, 
 and to the unvarying laws of trade. But desiring, fairly, to canvass 
 every proposition, they have proceeded to collect such facts as may de¬ 
 cide this question. Let us inquire then what quantity of material will 
 probably be needed, and the probable supply. 
 
 It is ascertained that less than 500 dwellings fronting on the streets 
 have been destroyed. The average of these dwellings, when rebuilt, 
 will not exceed in size the house upon which our estimates have been 
 founded. 
 
 Assuming that as an average, then the 500 houses would 
 require, each, say 47,000 bricks, in all, . - 23,500,000 
 
 And the outbuildings, say one half, - - - 11,850,000 
 
 In all, say—bricks, - 35,250,000 
 
 No person has been so sanguine as to expect the burnt 
 district to be built up in less than three years, so that in each 
 year would be required one-third, or, - - 11,750,000 
 
 But there are now on the ground a quantity of bricks, 
 which may be used at once, and which may be safely esti¬ 
 mated at .... - 3,000,000 
 
 So that the remainder wanting the first year is - 8,750,000 
 
 Let us now see whether the supply is equal to the demand. To as¬ 
 certain this fact, your Committee have taken the pains to enquire into the 
 number of Brick Yards now in operation, and those about to commence, 
 and what supply may be had from each. They find that there are now 
 in entire operation 6 brick yards, which together furnished last year, 
 five millions of bricks. That many of these are being enlarged—and 
 that there are twelve new Brick Yards just about to commence, which 
 are prepared to deliver annually eight and a half millions more, making 
 in all an expected annual supply of thirteen and a half millions, from our 
 own resources, without adding a single imported brick. Besides these, 
 the enterprising builder of the new stores in Pearl street, is organizing a 
 Brick Yard on Gadsden’s wharf and another across the river, from which 
 he expects to supply annually from three to five millions more, making 
 in all an excess nearly double the first year’s demand. Your Com¬ 
 mittee have no doubt that as soon as it is known abroad, that bricks 
 here are commanding a price equal to $16 per thousand, and that our 
 system calls for a permanent supply, we shall have an abundant importa¬ 
 tion; and in the course of a short time, the price will return to the old 
 range of from 9 to 10 dollars per thousand. At this rate they have sold 
 for many years before the late fire; and when they return to that price, a 
 brick building will be cheaper than one of wood. 
 
 Your Committee have heard some complaints that upon lots with small 
 
14 
 
 fronts, the extra space required for brick walls prevents the proprietor 
 from building—but they find this complaint to be without just foun¬ 
 dation. A clause of the wise old Law'of 1713, above alluded to, 
 provides for this very difficulty, and never having been repealed, it 
 is yet the Law of the Land. It enacts, “That every person building 
 with brick shall have liberty to set half his partition wall in his next 
 neighbor’s ground, so he leave a toothing in the corner of such wall 
 for his neighbor to adjoin unto, who when he shall build, such neighbor 
 adjoining shall pay one half of the said partition wall, so far as he makes 
 use of the same.” The person building of brick may therefore in such 
 case save not only his ground, but one half the expense of one of his walls. 
 
 Your Committee have now according to the best means which they 
 could command within the short time allowed them, discharged the duty 
 which has been assigned them. They cannot but express their gratifi¬ 
 cation at the prospect of gaining a great benefit at so slight a cost as the 
 foregoing statements evince. The greatest sacrifice demanded is of the 
 present comfort and convenience of the citizen. They would respect¬ 
 fully urge that in a matter so vital to the permanent interests of the coun¬ 
 try, every true patriot should come forward and lend his aid. If an ene¬ 
 my had partly laid our city in ruins, and were yet threatening the re¬ 
 mainder, where would be found the man who would not put forward all 
 he owned on earth to save the remnant from destruction? And is there 
 less to be offered at the altar of our country when that enemy is embo¬ 
 died ia the selfish interests of a few, who rather than forego present ad¬ 
 vantage, would see our city subjected to the conflagrations of another 
 century? The wooden system has been exhausting the resources of our 
 city since its infancy. It has laid it in ruins, times without number. No 
 sooner have we recovered from one calamity, than we are overwhelmed 
 by another still more dreadful, and the extension of the city is but adding 
 the means of destruction. The State too has embarked her resources in 
 opening Rail Roads to the interior. Our merchants and people are cre¬ 
 ating new channels for commerce—but of what avail is the whole, if it 
 be collected in a place, which under the wooden system has been well 
 named by a Northern Editor, a mere Tinder Box of combustibles? It is 
 well known to every business man, that no city can offer inducements to 
 safe business where the risks of insurance are high, or the insurance it¬ 
 self difficult to be effected. No house of trade can go on, where its 
 stock is constantly at hazard from fires. Every inducement of true 
 interest combines with every motive of patriotism, to encourage us in 
 our course. 
 
 Your Committee, therefore, cannot but recommend the firmest and 
 most determined stand on this subject. The crisis which is to de¬ 
 cide our fate for another century, has now arrived, and upon the for¬ 
 titude and energy of the public authorities, at this moment, depends the 
 future destiny of our city. If we give ground, as was done in 1717, we 
 shall again show a harvest to be reaped by the light of our burning homes, 
 “amid the cries and the shrieks of women and children.” It has requir¬ 
 ed upwards of a century to restore the public opinion to the point from 
 whence it then departed, and another century of disaster will scarce suf- 
 
15 
 
 fice to convince those, whose present interests or necessities, have shut 
 their eyes to the true interests of the community. Your Committee, in 
 every view of the subject, are convinced that there must be a change 
 of system; and whatever may be the consequences for the present, there 
 cannot be a doubt that the day is not far distant, when its advantages 
 will be apparent to all, and when the prelent sacrifices, which shall have 
 purchased so great a blessing, as even a partial exemption from these aw¬ 
 ful calamities, will be regarded as the noblest offering of patriotism. That 
 it may please the Almighty Disposer of events so to rule the destinies of 
 our beloved city as to secure to it these great advantages, and so to iruide 
 the Counsels of our §tate, that like a kind but determined parent, she 
 may, while she assists in raising us from our present affliction, break loose 
 the trammels which have fettered our prosperity, and lead us to the at¬ 
 tainment of more permanent and desirable happinesses the earnest pray¬ 
 er of every member of your committee! 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 C. G. MEMMINGER, 
 DAN’L. HORLBECK, 
 
 M. C. MORDECAI. 
 
 CITY COUNCIL. 
 
 Mat 7, 1838. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred a Bill to prevent the erection of 
 Wooden Buildings, and to provide greater security from fires, together with 
 certain resolutions on the same subject, have had the same under consid¬ 
 eration, and respectfully submit the following Report:— 
 
 * Your Committee, in common with their fellow citizens, have deeply de¬ 
 plored the storm of desolation which has just sw r ept over our city, and while 
 they have been observing its ravages, they have been compelled to remark 
 that they form but a portion of the ruins which deface our city. Around 
 them, in various directions, remain the yet recent traces of former confla¬ 
 grations, and in the short period which has intervened since the destruction 
 of St. Philip’s Church, no less than five extensive fires have desolated vari¬ 
 ous sections of our city. The rapidity with which calamities of this na¬ 
 ture pass away from the public recollection, is an indication of their fre¬ 
 quency, and furnishes an additional reason why your committee should 
 bring facts more distinctly to your view. The great fire which destroyed 
 the Church alluded to, occurred only in the year 1835, and in the same 
 year there w T as another which laid waste what was estimated as l-8th of 
 the city. Since that period we have been visited by the fire which burnt 
 the Carolina Hotel; by another in the lower part of King-street: by ano¬ 
 ther corner of King and Broad, and by another in Queen-street. The pub¬ 
 lic market has within a period of a few years been four times destroyed, 
 and in every case of conflagration, it has raged beyond its point of starting, 
 and threatened or destroyed a large section of the city. 
 
 These facts have induced your committee to believe that there must be 
 some peculiar cause for an evil so continued and alarming. In searching 
 for it, they have naturally inquired into the history of other cities, and they 
 find that while New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, have been 
 
t 
 
 16 
 
 comparatively free from such visitations of an extensive character; the past 
 history of Fayetteville, Augusta, Savannah and Charleston, is but a repeti¬ 
 tion of the same awful detail of calamity. In continuing their investiga¬ 
 tion, your committee find that even in Baltimore and Philadelphia these visi¬ 
 tations have been less frequent of late years, and that Augusta has been 
 enabled to take her position along with them. These considerations at 
 once point to some course of policy common to these cities, and not adop¬ 
 ted by the others, who like ourselves, so frequently suffer from fire. Your 
 committee think that the legislation of the various cities at once indicates 
 what that policy is. In all the Northern cities above alluded to, laws have 
 been passed preventing the erection of wooden buddings, and since the 
 last great fire at Augusta, that spirited town has adopted the same line of 
 policy, and has already reaped an exemption from disasters, which with her' 
 have been as frequent and destructive, as they now are with us. Fayette¬ 
 ville and Savannah too, were wooden cities, and like us, they have been 
 learning the lesson of disastrous experience. Wherever a change of pol¬ 
 icy has been evinced in the prevention of wooden buildings, the calamities 
 from fire have been diminished, and although accident and negligence 
 must in every city kindle occasional conflagrations, yet in a city of brick, 
 (unless there be some unforeseen and uncommon occurrence, like the ex¬ 
 cessive and extraordinary cold, which froze the water in the pipes, during 
 the great fire at New York,) the destruction is soon arrested, and its rava¬ 
 ges much restrained. On the other hand, every fire in a wooden City ad¬ 
 vances with alarming rapidity, and sweeps its course over whole sections; 
 leaving to the wretched inhabitants, scarcely time to save themselves and 
 their families. The great fires of Fayetteville and Savannah, have afford¬ 
 ed awful illustrations of these truths, and the memories of our own citizens * 
 will furnish details, which appalling as they were, stand as living witnesses 
 of the truth. 
 
 Within the limits too of our own experience, comparisons can be made, 
 which must strengthen this conviction. The most dense and thickly built 
 section of our ow T n city, is that near the wharves on Cooper River, and 
 their vicinity, and yet while other portions of the city have been ravaged 
 again and again, this section has for many years, been almost entirely ex¬ 
 empt from conflagrations. In tracing the course of this remarkable differ¬ 
 ence, your Committee have found on the Statute Book of our own State, a 
 Law, forbidding the erection of Wooden Buildings in this region, passed as 
 far back as the year 1787—a Law which in its wise conception and now 
 solid results, evinces in the strongest contrast, the wisdom of those great 
 statesmen, who had before that day achieved our independence, and 
 stamped their character upon the institutions of our country. So striking a 
 difference in the history of parts of the same city, and where the part most 
 exempt from fire, contains during a great portion of the year, produce of a 
 most inflammable character, must carry conviction to the minds of all. 
 Your Committee therefore consider it beyond a doubt, that the true cause 
 of our own repeated calamities from fire, is to be found in our Whoden 
 Buildings. 
 
 The question then, which we are now to determine, is whether we shall 
 follow the enlightened policy, adopted by every other intelligent community, 
 
17 
 
 and recommended to us as well by our own experience, as by the advice of 
 the fathers of the Revolution; or whether we shall adhere to our wooden 
 system, and continue the victims of catastrophe after catastrophe, until the 
 energy and enterprise of the country are driven from it. The very state¬ 
 ment of such an alternative would seem to your Committee sufficient for its 
 decision. But were there any doubt, it would be removed by considering 
 for a few moments some reasons, which should operate more strongly with 
 us, against Wooden Buildings. 
 
 The supply of water for the use of our city at all times scanty, is partic¬ 
 ularly so when most needed. A season of continued drought, while it in¬ 
 creases infinitely the danger from fire, withdraws the very means of extin¬ 
 guishing it, by drying up our wells and cisterns. The recent conflagration 
 furnishes a striking example. The houses had become so dry, that a sin¬ 
 gle spark was sufficient to ignite them; and the rapidity with which the 
 fire progressed and the intensity of the heat, not only created a high wind, 
 but produced currents and eddies which hurrying the flames in various di¬ 
 rections, formed the basis of new conflagrations. Those individuals who 
 were exerting themselves to protect others, perceiving the alarming and 
 uncertain course of the fire, were driven to the protection of their own 
 homes, and consternation and terror spread far and wide. The flames, thus 
 left to expend their own fury, swept onward like a tempest, and the resin¬ 
 ous vapors of the wooden buildings, converted the atmosphere into a sea of 
 fire, which overwhelmed every thing within its reach. Your Committee, 
 in these remarks, are indulging in no figures of rhetoric. They confidently 
 appeal to many who were witnesses of the atmospheric phenomena to 
 which they refer, and who can testify as to their effects. It needs no skill 
 in natural philosophy, to understand the necessary action of highly inflam¬ 
 mable gasses, driven forward by the fury of an intensely excited atmos¬ 
 phere, upon a city of wood, parched by a season of uncommon drought, and 
 thereby deprived of all means of protection. 
 
 But even amidst all these disastrous contingencies, the resistance of 
 brick was, at last, the preservation of what remains of our city. When 
 the morning breezes from the north aided our efforts in staying the tide of 
 desolation, the stand was made in brick houses in almost every direction. 
 But for the aid of Shelton’s Hotel, and of Mr. Kelsey’s brick house and 
 kitchen, the fire in King and Liberlfy-streets, would have acquired a new 
 base of operation—and even the exertions here, would have been useless, 
 except for the additional resistance of the brick houses on Society-street, 
 and Mr. Yeadon’s house in Wentworth-street. So at the commencement 
 of the fire, but for the stand made in King-street, at Mr. Horlbeck’s and 
 Mr. Ladevese’s brick houses, the fire must have extended down King- 
 street.—So too East Bay was saved by Mr. Aiken’s brick houses on Market- 
 street. It is true, that many brick houses were afterwards destroyed, but 
 it was not until the conflagration had acquired such power through the 
 ministering aid of the wooden buildings, and had created such a tempest 
 of wind, that all human obstacles were overthrown. 
 
 Your Committee, then, cannot resist the conclusion, that the exclusion of 
 wooden buildings from Charleston, is demanded, not only by sound policy, 
 but by every motive of interest and of self-preservation. 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 I 
 
 But it is said that such an exclusion is unjust and oppressive upon the 
 poor. Your Committee claim for themselves the feelings common to our 
 nature, of sympathy with those who, being deprived of many of the com¬ 
 forts of life, are known among us by the designation of “the poor.” They, 
 therefore, were induced to enquire how it could be imagined, that a policy 
 was injurious to the poor, which had been adopted in cities where the poor 
 are infinitely more numerous than they are with us. According to the best 
 judgment of your Committee, the poor are the very persons who are the 
 severest sufferers from fires in wooden cities. The rapidity with which 
 any conflagration advances, tends directly to the ruin of him whose means 
 of saving his all, are limited. The rich man having friends and money and 
 resources at hand, can command the services of negroes, of horses, of car¬ 
 riages, and of drays to transport his family and his wealth beyond the 
 reach of danger. But the pcor man can command nothing but his own 
 powers, and these are required to provide for the security of his wife and 
 children. If he can save these, he must be content to abandon his little 
 all—for how can his slender means avail, to remove his furniture or his ef¬ 
 fects? And if they did avail, where, in the mean time, shall he find safety 
 for his dismayed and houseless family? Your Committee have again alas! 
 the fatal experience of the late fire as evidence of their assertion. How 
 many widows, bearing along their hapless children? How many parents 
 cheering the steps of their despairing families, might then be seen, flying 
 before the desolating tempest, and abandoning their all! In a city of 
 brick, such incidents are but rare, for there the resistance of the material 
 gives time both for checking the fire, and for removing from its reach. 
 
 Thus considering the matter, your Committee could not imagine that the 
 policy of preventing wooden buildings would find objection among the 
 poor; well knowing that this class of our fellow citizens, although, in the 
 order of Providence, not permitted the same means with the rich of con¬ 
 tributing to the public treasure, are yet second to none in their patriotism; 
 and are ever ready to peril life and all that is dear in advancing the honor 
 and true interest of their country. Your Committee, therefore, took some 
 pains to make enquiry, and so far as they have yet been able to learn, they 
 have heard no complaints from the poor. In every instance in which they 
 have been able to trace this clamor, they find it raised by those who have 
 self styled themselves the friends of the poor, having no superior claim to 
 that character which your Committee can discover, unless it arise from a 
 desire to build * cheap houses for themselves or comfortless tenements for 
 the poor, to be hired at an exorbitant rent, thereby wringing from them their 
 hard earnings to furnish means of rebuilding, whenever a new fire shall oc¬ 
 cur. 
 
 Your Committee think it susceptible of the clearest proof, that nothing 
 could contribute more to the comfort and safety of all those who earn sub¬ 
 sistence by their daily labor, and who, in the opinion of the Committee are 
 among the most valuable portions of society, than small and substantial 
 brick dwellings. It will be shewn, hereafter, that in the long run, even at 
 present rates, such buildings are better and cheaper than wood, and w’hen it 
 is taken into the account, that, at present, the rent which the poor man 
 
19 
 
 pays for a wooden building is fixed at a rate which contemplates its proba¬ 
 ble destruction, or which, at all events, covers its additional repairs and In¬ 
 surance, it will at once be seen, that independently of the chances of losing 
 his furniture and effects, his condition is worse in a wooden building than 
 in one of brick. Nothing can pjove this more conclusively, than the fact 
 that those cities from which wooden buildings are excluded, contain more 
 persons in indigent and middling circumstances than are to be found in 
 Charleston, and are so effectually under their government, that were this 
 policy not found advantageous to them, it could not be continued a day lon¬ 
 ger. 
 
 Your committee would gladly make provision for any of our citizens, 
 who, under the existing difficulties are unable to find a shelter for them¬ 
 selves or their families. They have made inquiries for such persons, and as 
 yet none have been reported to them. They had proposed th$t the city au¬ 
 thorities, while forbidding the erection of wooden buildings, should protect 
 as far as possible, those who were unable to protect themselves; and if 
 there were any such indigent persons, that temporary buildings should be 
 erected lor their accommodation. It may chance, however, that your com¬ 
 mittee, from the multiplicity of their engagements, may not have made all 
 the inquiries requisite. It would be prudent, therefore, to institute further 
 investigation, and if the occasion demands it, proper provision should be 
 made. Your committee, therefore, recommend the adoption of the resolu¬ 
 tion on this subject which was referred to them. 
 
 But it is said that admitting the expediency of excluding wooden build¬ 
 ings, it is impossible to pursue such a policy at present—that the expense 
 of any other material and the necessities of the present time alike forbid it. 
 Your Committee are deeply impressed with the necessity which now bur¬ 
 thens our people, and have given to it the consideration which it justly mer¬ 
 its. They would gladly remove or mitigate its pressure, but unfortunately 
 they can perceive nothing but increasing evil from yielding to the argument 
 now sought to be deduced from it. The very extent of the calamity, rend¬ 
 ers still more urgent the necessity of providing against its recurrence. 
 The finger of Providence seems to point out the remedy. At least one- 
 third of our city is now in ruins, and there never was such an opportunity 
 for securing its future safety. The wonderful preservation of the brick 
 stores in Pearl-street, not only shews what can be done by energy and in¬ 
 combustible material, but by furnishing accommodation to many merchants 
 now in King-street, will enable them to give their stores to the retail tra¬ 
 ders who have been burnt out. If we then follow out the course indicated; 
 one-third of the city, and that too in its very heart, will at once be placed 
 upon a new basis, and se great an impetus will be given, that the rest must 
 eventually follow. 
 
 With respect to the expense of materials, and the difficulty of procuring 
 them, your Committee have no doubt that these are merely temporary in¬ 
 conveniences. Charleston has, at her door, the ocean high way, and should 
 the law now proposed, be finally passed; your Committee feel assured, that 
 in a short time, brick houses will be erected as cheaply as wood. The en- 
 terprize of our countrymen is unbounded; you have only to create a con- 
 
I 
 
 
 
 
 » 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 20 
 
 slant market, and your supply will be constant. • Already have your Com- 
 mittee heard enterprizes projected of sending even to Europe, and they 
 are much deceived, if the domestic and foreign supply together, will not 
 put at our disposal every thing we may need. Some of your Committee 
 have had experience in building, and they feel assured, that before the late 
 extraordinary advance in prices, (an advance which was but temporary) a 
 brick building in the course of ten years, would cost less thau one of wood. 
 
 There remains one other consideration of this matter, which, in the 
 opinion of your Committee, is conclutive. An application has been made to 
 the State to aid our citizens with her resources. We are all citizens of 
 the State as well of the city, and surely none of us would desire, much 
 less expect, that the means of the State should be invested in property, 
 which a single night might utterly destroy. If, therefore, we would seek 
 the assistance of our brethren in the State, we must prove ourselves wor¬ 
 thy of it, by nerving ourselves to the efforts necessary on our part. It is 
 the^merest vision to imagine that they will aid us, until we take the meas¬ 
 ures so essential to security. 
 
 Your Committee having now canvassed the general proposition, and 
 having, as they think, shewn the expediency and necessity of excluding 
 wooden buildings from the city, the next inquiry is, how shall this be done, 
 and to what extent 1 ? 
 
 The most effectual measure of prevention which occurs to your Com¬ 
 mittee, is to declare, by a State law, that wooden buildings erected within 
 the city, are a common nuisance, and ought to be abated like other nuisan¬ 
 ces. This would be an effectual and complete remedy; but it is one beyond 
 the present powers of the city authorities, and on that account application 
 should be made to the Legislature for proper enactments. Your Commit¬ 
 tee, however, are of opinion that the City Council have power to take other 
 measures, which, although more slow in their progress, will eventually 
 overcome the evil. The Charter of the City, gives to the City Council, 
 “full power and authority , from time to time , to make and establish every bye 
 law or regulation that shall appear to them requisite and necessary, for the 
 security , welfare and convenience of the said city, or for preserving peace , or¬ 
 der and good government within the same' 1 
 
 Your Committee are of opinion, that under this clause, your Honorable 
 Body have authority to pass the ordinance referred to them. That author¬ 
 ity is conferred not only by the general words of the eharter already quo¬ 
 ted, but by some of the more special grants, and the security of the city is 
 as much concerned in the provisions of the proposed ordinance, as it is in 
 the ordinance forbidding gunpowder from being kept in the city, or the 
 many other regulations which have been enacted under this clause, and 
 which have had the force of law for fifty years. 
 
 The only question remaining then, is to what extent shall the prohibition 
 be extended? Your Committee have been much embarrassed by this part 
 of their duty, but after the most mature deliberation, they think that the 
 exclusion should be total in all parts of the city, where nature has interpo¬ 
 sed no barrier. Upon the marshes which are daily flowed by the tide, it 
 would be impossible and useless at present to build of brick; and these 
 
 Q 
 
21 
 
 alone, seem to your Committee, to need exception. It is true that upon the 
 burnt district, there are many landholders, who are in daily need of build¬ 
 ings, and this necessity is evinced in the vain effort which is now making 
 to outrun the law. Your Committee are informed that among these indi¬ 
 viduals, are some who openly threaten to set the law at defiance; while 
 there are others who have innocently commenced their buildings before 
 they had notice of any law. The latter are entitled to our sympathies, 
 and will have just claims upon the city for an indemnity against any loss 
 they may innocently suffer in yielding to the laws, and your Committee 
 recommend the adoption by Council, of the resolution to that effect, which 
 has been referred to them. 
 
 The other portion of our fellow-citizens who, it is said, threaten de¬ 
 fiance to the law, your Committee cannot believe to be so rashly advised. 
 In every well ordered community, a contest with the law will ever prove 
 vain. The law must govern, be its requisitions what it may. In a re¬ 
 publican country like ours, the law is but the will of a majority of the 
 people, and he is not only wanting in patriotism, but in common pru¬ 
 dence, who sets himself to oppose it. Eventually he must submit, bur- 
 thened with all the consequences. Your Committee therefore, cannot 
 but hope that such rash counsels will be abandoned—at all events, they 
 can form no motive with the public authorities for swerving from their 
 duty. Whatever is the law, must and will be executed. 
 
 Your Committee therefore, proceed to express their opinion, however 
 hardly it may bear upon particular individuals, that in this matter, there 
 can be no middle policy. No wooden buildings (other than mere sheds 
 for workshops) commenced since the fire, should be erected or progres¬ 
 sed with. All should be placed upon precisely the same footing. If 
 temporary wooden buildings are permitted, who will be the first to com¬ 
 mence the more permanent brick? Will any prudent man commence 
 a costly edifice of brick, while his neighbor may put a fire trap of com¬ 
 bustible materials, directly under his eaves? Can it be expected, that 
 the enterprising and public spirited, will erect permanent edifices, while 
 around them are hamlets, which a spark may convert into a torrent of 
 fire? Besides, is there any hope, that the State would lend its aid, when 
 the security on which it loans, is to be enveloped amid a mass of com¬ 
 bustibles, which may soon rqduce the whole to ashes? It is vain to ex¬ 
 pect it; and every citizen is bound to make up his mind to the alterna¬ 
 tive. We are in a common calamity, and unless we stand together firm¬ 
 ly, we can do nothing. Your Committee have none of them escaped 
 their share of the common calamity—one of them sees buried among 
 the ashes of our prostrate city, the work of years of his life. But they 
 are willing to make common cause with their fellow-citizens. They 
 think that the very urgency of the case will provide its own remedy, and 
 that when all are satisfied that they must gird up in reality to the task; 
 relief will be soon at hand. The concentrated energy of a whole peo¬ 
 ple can work wonders—and in the present case, the object in view is so 
 transcendent in value and so full of promise, that the noble daring and 
 fortitude of our people will be aroused in its pursuit. It lays anew the 
 
22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 foundations of our city, upon a rock which, by the blessing of God, will 
 be permanent and secure. The accomplishment brings with it unnum¬ 
 bered blessings, safety for the present, security and prosperity for the fu¬ 
 ture—and will, if steadily maintained, advance our beloved city far be- 
 yond its former station. It will make her all we had so fondly hoped, 
 the pride of Carolina, the home of hospitality, the queen city of the 
 
 S °Your Committee, therefore, respectfully recommend the passage of the 
 bill and resolutions referred to them, and herewith reported. 
 
 C. G. MEMMINGER, i 
 
 OTIS MILLS. > Committee. 
 
 S. P. RIPLEY, > 
 
 AN ORDINANCE 
 
 To prevent the erection of Wooden Buildings, and to provide greater 
 security from Fires . 
 
 1. Beit ordained by the Mayor and Aldermen of Charleston , in City 
 Council assembled, That it shall not be lawful to build, erect or con¬ 
 struct within the city of Charleston any wooden or framed building of 
 any description. 
 
 2. Any building framed of wood, or having more wood on the out¬ 
 side of the building than that required for door and window frames, 
 doors, shutters, sashes, porticoes, and piazzas, shall be deemed a wooden 
 building and subject to the penalties of this ordinance; and the roof of 
 every building, and of every piazza and portico shall be covered with 
 some material not combustible, otherwise they shall be deemed each to 
 be a wooden building and subject to the penalties prescribed by this or¬ 
 dinance for the erection of wooden buildings. 
 
 3. If any person shall build or construct, or cause to be built or con¬ 
 structed any wooden buildings within the limits of the city, such person 
 shall, upon conviction before any proper tribunal, forleit and pay to the 
 city a fine of Five Hundred Dollars, and also a further sum of Twenty 
 Dollars for every veek during which any such building shall remain 
 erected within the city contrary to the Provisions of this Law; and in 
 case the said building shall not be pulled down and removed, or other¬ 
 wise made conformable to the provisions of this law within three months 
 after such conviction, the person or persons so convicted shall in addi¬ 
 tion to the said penalty of Twenty Dollars per week, be subject to a 
 further penalty of One Hundred Dollars for his, her, or their neglect, at 
 the expiration of every three months from the date of such conviction, 
 until the said building shall be pulled down and removed, or otherwise 
 made'conformable to the provisions of this law. 
 
 4. Every person who shall be employed in the building or construc¬ 
 tion of any building contrary to the provisions of this ordinance, shall on 
 conviction thereof before any court of competent jurisdiction, forfeit and 
 
 Ci 
 
23 
 
 pay to the city* the sum of Five Dollars for every day he may be so em¬ 
 ployed; and if any person so employed shall have in his employ slaves 
 or persons of color, he shall forfeit and pay an additional sum of Two 
 Dollars for each hand for every day during which such person maybe 
 engaged in the erection or construction of such building. 
 
 5. Every unfinished wooden building within the city, the construction 
 or building whereof shall be continued after the passing of this law, shall 
 be subject to its provisions; and any person who shall, after the passing 
 of this law, proceed in the further construction or erection of such building, 
 or thereafter cause the same to be erected or built, shall be subject in all 
 respects to the same penalties as are prescribed in the 3d Section of this 
 Ordinance; and every person employed in the turther construction or 
 erection of such building shall be subject in all respect to the penalties 
 prescribed in the 4th Section. Provided, however, that nothing in this 
 clause contained, shall extend to any building which shall have been 
 commenced and the frame thereof erected prior to the 27th day of April 
 last. 
 
 6. Every building hereafter erected within this City, shall have, be¬ 
 tween the separate tenements thereof, sufficient brick or stone partition 
 wails, and shall also be finished with sufficient outer walls of brick or 
 stone; and no wall of any building shall be deemed sufficient unless the 
 same shall be at least twelve inches thick in the lower story, and eight 
 inches thick above the lower story; and every person offending against 
 the provisions of this Section, shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit and 
 pay to the City, a fine of One Hundred Dollars, and also the further sum 
 of Ten Dollars for each and every Month during which the provisions of 
 this Ordinance shall remain not complied with. 
 
 7. Whenever hereafter anyffimlding already erected, shall be roofed 
 or covered, it shall be roofed and covered as new buildings are hereby di¬ 
 rected to be done; and the owner of such building and all persons con¬ 
 cerned in roofing and covering the same contrary to the provisions of 
 this clause, shall be subject to the same penalties as though the said build¬ 
 ing had been newly erected or constructed. 
 
 "8. None of the provisions of this Law shall, during the next twenty 
 years, extend to any marsh lot within the limits of the city, upon which 
 the tide flows. Provided, however, that at the expiration of the said 
 twenty years, all wooden buildings standing upon any of the said lots, 
 shall be pulled down or removed, by the owners thereof; and the owner 
 or owners, so neglecting to pull down or remove the same, shall be subject 
 to the same penalties in all respects, as are provided in the third section 
 of this hw. 
 
 9. The City Council may, by resolution, extend permission to me¬ 
 chanics to build, and use as workshops, such temporary sheds as may be 
 necessary for the purpose of rebuilding the Burnt District, for such time 
 and under such regulations, as the said Council shall deem meet. 
 
 10. It shall be the duty of the City Marshals, and they are hereby 
 strictly enjoined, to give immediate information of all offences against 
 this Ordinance, and one half of the penalties recovered in each case 
 
24 
 
 shall be paid to the Marshal, or to any person who shall inform against 
 and prosecute any offender. 
 
 Ratified in City Council this eighth day of May, in the year of our 
 Lord, 1838, and in the 62d year of American Indepen¬ 
 dence. 
 
 H. L. PINCKNEY, Mayor. 
 
 By the Mayor. 
 
 William Roach, Clerk of Council. 
 
 CITY COUNCIL. 
 
 May 5, 1838. 
 
 The following Preamble and Resolutions reported by Mr. Memmin- 
 ger, from the Special Committee were adopted : 
 
 Whereas, The determination of the City Council to prevent the 
 erection or completion of Wooden Buildings, may operate with particular 
 hardship upon those citizens who had commenced such buildings before 
 they were aware of such determination ; and whereas the delay which 
 must occur in the construction of Brick Buildings, may bear severely 
 upon those who at present may not be able to procure dwellings, therefore 
 Resolved , That the City Council will indemnify any citizen, who, 
 since the late fire, shall in good faith have commenced the construction 
 of any Wooden Building, before the publication of the Mayor’s Procla¬ 
 mation to prevent the erection of such building ; provided such citizen 
 will immediately discontinue and pull down such building, and render in 
 his claim for indemnity to the City Council. 
 
 Resolved , That the Council will endeavor to provide a temporary 
 shelter for such persons as are unable to find dwellings under existing 
 circumstances ; that a Committee be appointed to ascertain what build¬ 
 ings are requisite for such purposes, in addition to those under the control 
 of the C ty, and if further accommodation be requisite, then that the said 
 Committee procure a-proper site, and cause a large temporary Wooden 
 Building to be constructed upon a proper plan, for such tenants as 
 may require the same; or that they report any other measures which 
 they may deem expedient. 
 
 . 
 
 
I 
 
 jR E VIE W 
 
 OF THE OPINION 
 
 / 
 
 JUDGE COWEI, 
 
 THE] SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 
 
 * 
 
 IN 
 
 THU CASE OF ALEXANDER McLEOD. 
 
 * 
 
 BY A CITIZEN OF NEW YORK. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY THOMAS ALLEN. 
 
 1841 . 
 

 
 4 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/ 
 
 TO 
 
 THE 1ION. DANIEL, WEBSTER, 
 
 Secretary of State of the United Stales , 
 
 The following Review of the Opinion of Judge Cowen, of the Su¬ 
 preme Court of the State of New York, in the case of Alexander 
 McLeod , is respectfully inscribed, by 
 
 A CITIZEN OF NEW YORK. 
 
 

REVIEW, <fcc. 
 
 The importance of the questions involved in the opinion delivered by- 
 Judge Co wen, of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in the 
 case of Alexander McLeod , and the erroneous principles of national law 
 put forth in that opinion, seem to require that the true doctrines involved 
 in the case should be placed in a correct light before the country. To 
 that end, we have ventured to embody the result of our examination of 
 the subject in the following review of Judge Cowen’s opinion. 
 
 The opinion is deficient in methodical arrangement of the several po¬ 
 sitions taken and maintained by the Judge ; and this confusion is increas¬ 
 ed by a badly arranged citation of authorities, and a rambling mode of 
 discussing the subjects. It is also much too long; being nearly double 
 the length required to discuss the matters really in issue, even in Judge 
 Cowen’s mode of discussing them. Why, for example, go through 
 with an examination of the question whether our courts have jurisdic¬ 
 tion, and a right* to try a foreigner for a crime committed within our 
 State, and quote the authorities bearing upon the subject to prove the 
 jurisdiction, when not a person, lawyer or layman, ever doubted it! and 
 when the Judge himself finally says, u want of jurisdiction has not been 
 put on the ground that McLeod was a foreigner.” 
 
 The other branch of the question of jurisdiction, discussed at great 
 length by the Judge, seems to us an equal waste of labor and learning. 
 As we understand it, the case of McLeod does not involve any question 
 of jurisdiction : for it must be conceded that our courts have jurisdiction 
 over all cases of murder committed within the boundary of our State. 
 McLeod's c ase presents for consideration—not a question of jurisdiction, 
 but a question of guilt or innocence ; whether the homicide with which 
 he is charged be a crime according to the law of nations. 
 
 If a sheriff should, in pursuance of a sentence, hang a person con¬ 
 victed of murder, and after the execution it should be ascertained that 
 the person executed was innocent, and a grand jury should thereupon 
 indict the sheriff for the murder of the person executed, the sheriff could 
 not interpose an objection to the jurisdiction of the court, but would 
 
6 
 
 MW 
 
 rely for his defence and justification upon the fact of a conviction by a 
 court of competent jurisdiction; thereby showing that the homicide in 
 him was not a crime. 
 
 So also if a soldier should be tried by a court-martial, and sentenced 
 to be shot; and, after his execution, those engaged in it should be in¬ 
 dicted for murder; their defence would not be a want of jurisdiction in 
 the State coitrt, but a justification before that court, under a regular court- 
 martial, conviction and sentence, thereby showing that the homicide was 
 not a murder. 
 
 Suppose, after the peace with Great Britain, a British soldier had come 
 within our State, and had been arrested and indicted for murder com¬ 
 mitted in the attack on Buffalo during the war; he would not think of 
 raising a question of jurisdiction in the court, but would rely on the 
 law of nations to justify the homicide, and relieve him from the charge 
 of crime. Indeed, whenever a question of the jurisdiction of a court is 
 raised, it necessarity admits the charge or claim preferred. The plea to 
 the jurisdiction is one of confession and avoidance; surely the counsel 
 of McLeod never intended to admit, for a moment, the crime of mur¬ 
 der, with which he was charged, and seek to escape its consequences by 
 alleging that the court had not jurisdiction over the offence! In this 
 part of the opinion, therefore, we think the Judge must have been fight¬ 
 ing a shadow of his own casting. 
 
 There is,'also, another part of this opinion, and no inconsiderable part 
 of it, that appears to be a waste of learning and authorities. It is that 
 part in which the Judge proves, beyond question, “ that every voluntary 
 entrance into neutral territory, with hostile purposes, is absolutely un¬ 
 lawful;” yet, after an elaborate discussion of this question, a citation of 
 authorities at great length to prove the unlawfulness of the violation of 
 our territory by England, the Judge says, “ that the act was one of mere 
 arbitrary usurpation ; was not denied on the argument ; nor has this , 
 that lam, aware of, been denied biy any one except England herself” 
 
 We concede that the authorities cited show that the hostile attack up¬ 
 on the Caroline, and the violation of our territory, was unlawful; that 
 is, without adequate cause; but not one of all the authorities which pro¬ 
 nounce a violation of territory unlawful, denounce upon the military of 
 the nation, under whose authority it is done, any personal penalty. 
 
 If we examine history, we shall find that quite as many wars have 
 been commenced without, as with adequate cause, when tested by the 
 general reason and sense of mankind; yet no one ever thought of 
 making that the test of the impunity belonging to the military engaged. 
 Such a test can only be applied to controversies between individuals, 
 where there is a common arbiter or judge to decide; never between na- 
 
7 
 
 tions, who admit no judge but themselves. The argument, therefore, 
 on the side of McLeod , is not at all weakened by not denying that the 
 attack was unjustifiable on the part of his nation. 
 
 In the examination of this subject, we shall concede what has never 
 been denied, and what has taken so much of this learned opinion to 
 prove, to wit: that a foreigner is liable to be tried by our courts for 
 crimes committed within the State; that the courts have jurisdiction in 
 all cases of murder committed within the State; and,for the sake of the 
 argument, that the hostile expedition, in which the Caroline was burn¬ 
 ed, and Durfee killed, was an unlawful violation of our territory. 
 
 We proceed, then, to the discussion of the main question involved in 
 this case, to wit: whether McLeod is entitled to the impunity of a 
 soldier in time of war. 
 
 The points sought to be established by the affidavit of McLeod , are 
 thus concisely stated by Judge Cowmen : 
 
 “ That the Niagara frontier was in a state of war against the contigu¬ 
 ous province of Upper Canada; that the homicide was committed°by 
 McLeod r , if at all, as one of a military expedition, set on foot, by the 
 Canadian authorities to destroy the boat Caroline; that he was a British 
 subject; that the expedition crossed our boundary, sought the Caroline 
 at her moorings in Schlosser, and there set fire to and burned her, and 
 killed Durfee, one of our citizens, as it is lawful to do in time of war.” 
 
 From such a state of facts Judge Cowen takes his position in rela¬ 
 tion to the rights and liabilities of England and her military, as follows: 
 
 “ I deny that she can, in time of peace, send her men into our territo- 
 tory, and render them impervious to our laws, by embodying them and 
 putting arms in their hands. She may declare war; if she claim the 
 benefit of peace , as both nations have done in this instance , the moment 
 any of her citizens enter our territory , they are as completely obnoxious 
 to punishment , by our law , as if they had been born and always resid¬ 
 ed in this country . 
 
 “ I will not, therefore, dispute the construction which counsel put 
 upon the language or the acts of England. To test the law of the tran¬ 
 saction, I will concede that she had, by act of Parliament, conferred all 
 the power which can be contended for in behalf of the Canadian author¬ 
 ities, as far as she could do so.” 
 
 This, w r e confess, is meeting the question boldly; and we accept, for 
 the sake of the argument, and for the present, the concession of the suffi¬ 
 ciency of the power conferred on the Canadian authorities. Before we 
 leave the subject, however, we will dispense with this concession, and 
 establish the sufficiency of this power, by the most clear and conclusive 
 authorities. 
 
 Upon the question as before stated by Judge Cowen, he applies to 
 it the law of nations, as follows: 
 
8 
 
 “ To warrant the destruction of property, or the taking of life, on the 
 ground of public war, it must be what is called lawful war by the law 
 of nations; a thing which can never exist without the actual concurrence 
 of the war-making power. This, on the part of the Linited States, is 
 Congress: on the part of England, the Queen. A state of peace and 
 the continuance of treaties must be presumed by all courts of justice till 
 the contrary be shown; and this is a presumptio juris et de jure, until 
 the national power of the country in which such courts sit, officially de¬ 
 clares the contrary.” 
 
 Now the entire error in the opinion of the Judge arises from the erro¬ 
 neous principle of international law which he here lays down. 
 
 All will agree that the war which affords impunity to those engaged 
 in it, must be a lawful war. But by the term lawful war is not meant 
 a “ solemn and formal war” only; on the contrary, it comprehends eve¬ 
 ry description of war, except hostile expeditions set on foot for pui poses 
 of plunder and pillage, without any apparent cause. 
 
 Rutherforth says: “ If one nation seizes the goods of another nation 
 by force, upon account of some damage, Ac. such contentions by force 
 are reprisals. There may be likewise other acts of hostility between 
 two nations, which do not properly come under the name of reprisals, 
 such as the besieging each other’s towns, or the sinking of each 
 other’s fleets, whilst the nations in other respects are at peace with one 
 another. These are public wars , because nations are the contending 
 parties. But as they are confined to some particular object, they are of 
 the imperfect sort,” Ac.— B. ii. 9, s. 10. 
 
 In opposition to this authority, it will be seen that Judge Cowen starts 
 with the proposition that, so long as the entire peace of the two nations 
 is not broken up—in other words, until Congress shall declare war against 
 England, or the Queen of England against us, there cannot be a state 
 of war that will warrant the destruction of property, or the taking of life 
 in conflict, on either side. To controvert this proposition, we bring not 
 only Rutherforth, as above cited, but Vattel, in language if possible still 
 more explicit.— B. Hi, c. 4, §67. 
 
 “ A war lawful and in fonn, is carefully to be distinguished from an 
 unlawful war entered on without any form, or rather from those incur¬ 
 sions which are committed either without lawful authority or apparent 
 cause, as likewise without formalities, and only for havoc and pillage. 
 Grotius, b. iii, chap. 3, relates several instances of the latter. Such were 
 the wars of the Grandes Compagnies , which had assembled in France 
 during the wars with the English; armies of banditti which ranged 
 about Europe purely for spoil and plunder. Such were the cruises of 
 Filbusticrs, without commission and in time of peace; and such in gene¬ 
 ral are the depredations of pirates. To the same class belong almost 
 all the expeditions of the African corsairs, though authorized by a sove- 
 
9 
 
 reign, they being founded on no apparent just cause , and whose only 
 motive is the avidity of captures. I say these two sorts of wars, lawful 
 and unlawful , are to be carefully distinguished; their effects and the 
 rights arising from them being very different.” 
 
 Here we have Vattel, distinguishing all the hostile collisions of na¬ 
 tions into “ two sorts of wars ;” the one sort being undertaken “ without 
 apparent cause,” and for “ havoc and pillage ,” and all that do not come 
 under this head being of the other sort. Having thus divided wars into 
 “ two sorts,” the one he calls unlawful war, the other lawful war. 
 
 Vattel does not, like Judge Go wen, call all wars unlawful that are 
 not formally and solemnly declaredly the “ war-making power” of a Go¬ 
 vernment, but he pronounces all hostile attacks lawful wars, if made 
 with lawful authority, and for “ apparent cause,” and not for u pillage 
 and havoc” 
 
 Chancellor Kent, too, admits that a fonnal declaration of war is not 
 essential to make the war lawful. All that is required to make a 
 lawful war is, that the hostilities be authorized by the proper authori¬ 
 ties.—1 Kent Com. 54. 
 
 “ Since the time of Brinkershoock, it has become settled, by the prac¬ 
 tice of Europe, that war may lawfully exist by declaration which is 
 unilateral only, or without a declaration on either side . It may begin 
 with mutual hostilities. In the war between England and France, in 
 1778, the first public act on the part of England was recalling its Min¬ 
 ister ; and that single act was considered by France as a breach of the 
 peace between the two countries. There was no other declaration of 
 war, though each Government afterwards published a manifesto, in 
 vindication of its claims and conduct. The same thing may be sai(^ 
 of the war which broke out in 1793, and again in 1803, and indeed in 
 the war of 1756. Though a solemn and formal declaration of war, in 
 the ancient style, was made in June, 1756, various hostilities had been 
 carried on for a year preceding.” 
 
 In the same explicit manner Rutherforth speaks, denying the neces¬ 
 sity of a declaration of war to make the war lawful: 
 
 « The only real effect of a declaration of war is, that it makes the 
 war a general one, or a war of one whole nation against another whole 
 nation ; whilst the imperfect sorts of war, such as reprisals, or acts of 
 hostility, are confined to particular persons, or things , or places ”— 
 Ruth. B. 2, ch. 9, sec. 8. 
 
 Thus, it will be perceived, a lawful war may be commenced with¬ 
 out any formal declaration, and it may be manifested by an act of hos¬ 
 tility, without any previous notice; and whether the war becomes a 
 general one or an imperfect war, depends upon the extent to which 
 hostilities are carried. It will always be a lawful war, if the hostili- 
 
- 
 
 10 
 
 ties are authorized by the proper authority, and are not mere wanton 
 depredations, without any apparent cause. 
 
 These questions do not depend entirely upon the opinions of ele¬ 
 mentary writers upon national law. They have been illustrated by 
 judicial, decisions, in cases of hostilities upon the ocean. 1 Dodson s 
 Admiralty Reports , 247. 
 
 A declaration of war was issued by Sweden against Great Britain, 
 on account of the encroachments of the latter upon her rights as a neu¬ 
 tral nation. It was contended before Sir William Scott, that the two 
 countries were not, in reality, in a state of war, because the declaiation 
 was unilateral only. “ I am, however, perfectly clear,” says Sir Wil¬ 
 liam Scott, “ that it was not less a war on that account; for war may ' 
 exist without a declaration on either side. It is so laid down by the 
 | best writers on the law of nations. A declaration of war by one 
 
 country only is not, as has been represented, a mere challenge, to be 
 accepted or refused at pleasure by the other. It proves the existence 
 £ * of actual hostilities, on one side at least, and puts the other party also 
 into a state of war; though he may, perhaps, think proper to act on 
 the defensive only.” 
 
 The same principle of impunity applies to hostilities upon the land or 
 sea. When they are wanton and malicious , and fox plunder and spoils , 
 at sea, they are called piracy. Hostilities by land, from similar motives 
 and for like objects, are called robberies. Decisions, therefore, in rela¬ 
 tion to hostilities at sea, and the impunity or liability of vessels and 
 crews, furnish the rule of impunity or liability to be applied to the mili¬ 
 tary, in cases of hostilities upon land. 
 
 11 Wheaton, 41, Story says: “ A piratical aggression by an armed 
 vessel sailing under the regular flag of any nation, may be justly sub¬ 
 jected to the penalty of confiscation for such a gross breach of the law 
 of nations. But every hostile attack, in a time of peace , is not neces¬ 
 sarily piratical . It may be by mistake, or in necessary self-defence, or 
 to repel a supposed meditated attack by pirates —it may be justifiable, 
 and then no blame attaches to the act; or, it may be without just ex¬ 
 cuse , and then it carries responsibility in damages. If it proceed fur¬ 
 ther ; if it be an attack from revenge and malignity, from gross abuse 
 of power and settled purpose of mischief , it then assumes the character 
 of a private unauthorized war, and may be punished by all the penal¬ 
 ties which the law of nations can properly administer.” 
 
 The same principle is recognized in 1 KenVs Com. 188 : “ An alien, 
 under the sanction of a national commission, cannot commit piracy 
 while he pursues his authority. His acts may be hostile, and his nation 
 responsible for them. They may amount to a lawful cause of war, but 
 they are never to be regarded as piracy .” 
 
 How perfectly does this principle cover the case in question. The 
 
 Q 
 
11 
 
 attack upon the Caroline was hostile and unlawful, and the British 
 nation must be held responsible for it. It amounts to a lawful cause 
 of war; but those engaged in it, acting under lawful authority, can 
 never be regarded as robbers or plunderers , or liable to be punished 
 criminally. 
 
 This principle has been fully recognized in the judicial decisions of 
 the English courts. We have not the case at hand as reported, and # 
 
 therefore avail ourselves of it as extracted by Chancellor Kent._1 Kent 
 
 Com. 190: 
 
 “Jn the English admiralty, in 1801, it was contended that the 
 capture and sale of an English ship, by Algerines , was an invalid 
 and unlawful conversion of the property, on the ground of being a 
 piratical seizure. It was, however, decided, that the African States 
 had long acquired the character of established Governments, and that 
 though their motives of justice differ from those entertained by the 
 Christian Powers, their public acts could not be called in question; and 
 a derivative title, founded on an Algerine capture , and matured by a 
 confiscation,^ way, was good against the original owner.” — Citing 
 The Helena , 4 Rob. 3. 
 
 Shall it be said that an English court has held an Algerine capture 
 lawful, because made under the sanction and authority of that Govern¬ 
 ment; and a title thus acquired valid against the original English owner 
 of the captured vessel; and yet the Supreme Court of New York de¬ 
 cide that a hostile attack upon us, made (not without apparent cause) 
 under the sanction of the British Government, shall not protect the 
 military engaged in it from the punishment due to cold-blooded mur¬ 
 der! We regret to say it has been so said and decided. 
 
 The decisions of the courts of England and the United States, in re¬ 
 gard to the impunity of vessels and crews when acting under the au¬ 
 thority of Vheir Governments, are decisions merely carrying out principles 
 long since adopted by the most approved elementary writers upon na¬ 
 tional law, and giving to those principles the authority of solemn adju¬ 
 dications by the highest judicial tribunals of the world. 
 
 These elementary writers, when speaking of war generally, and more 
 particularly in reference to hostilities upon land, hold that whenever the 
 hostile attack is made under the authority of Government, it becomes an 
 affair between the two nations, and no individual responsibility rests up¬ 
 on the actors. 
 
 Thus, Vattel, speaking of war that is unjust on the part of the sove¬ 
 reign who waged it, but lawful, because not without apparent cause, 
 and not for havoc and pillage, says: 
 
 “But as to the reparation of any damage—are the military, the gen¬ 
 eral officers aud soldiers, obliged, in consequence, to repair the injuries 
 Avhich they have done, not of their own will, but as instruments in the 
 
12 
 
 
 | 
 
 
 u 
 
 I 
 
 hands of their sovereign!” “It is the duty of subjects to suppose the 
 orders of their sovereign just and wise/’ (fee. W hen, therefore, they 
 have lent their assistance in a war which is afterwards found to be un¬ 
 just, the sovereign alone is guilty f . He alone is bound to repair the in¬ 
 juries. The subjects, and in particular the military , are innocent; they 
 have acted only from a necessary obedience.’’ “Government would 
 be impracticable, if every one of its instruments were to weigh its com¬ 
 mands,” <fcc.— Vattel, b. fit, c. 11, sec . 18T. 
 
 « Nothing of all this takes place in a war void of form and unlawful , 
 more properly called robbery , being undertaken without right without 
 so much as apparent cause . It can be productive of no lawful effect, 
 nor give any right to the author of it. A nation attacked by such sort 
 of enemies, is not under any obligation to observe towards them the 
 rules of war in form. It may treat them as robbers .”— Vattel , b. 3, c. 
 4, § 68. 
 
 i Thus we have u these two sorts of wars , lawful and unlawful ,” car¬ 
 ried through by Vattel to their consequences; and all persons engaged 
 are entitled to have “ observed towards them the rules of war ” except 
 those engaged in u incursions committed without apparent cause, and 
 only for havoc and pillage.” 
 
 The same position in regard to the immunity of soldiers is also main¬ 
 tained by Rutherforth: 
 
 “ The external lawfulness of what is done in a war, in respect of the 
 members of a civil society, extends to public wars of the imperfect sort, 
 to acts of reprisals, or to other acts of hostility, &pc. —JS. ii. c. 9, s . 15. 
 
 And again he says: 
 
 “ Neither the reason of the thing, nor the common practice of nations,, 
 will give them any other impunity , or allow them any otherwise to ob¬ 
 tain property in what is taken , where war has been declared, than in 
 the less solemn kinds of war, which are made without a previous decla¬ 
 ration,” &c. “ In the less solemn kinds of war , what the members do- 
 
 who act under the particular direction and authority of their nation, is 
 by the law of nations no personal crime in them; they cannot, there¬ 
 fore, be punished consistently with the law, for any act in which it con¬ 
 siders them only as the instruments, and the nation as the agent.”— 
 Idem , b. ii , c. 9, s. 18. 
 
 We here leave this branch of the case,believing that our readers, from 
 our citation of authorities, must be satisfied that, if the expedition in 
 which McLeod is said to have been engaged, was executed under law¬ 
 ful authority, he was guilty of no personal crime in the violation of our 
 territory, the destruction of the boat, or the death of Durfee. 
 
 We now proceed to show that the hostile attach took place under 
 lawful authority. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that Canada is separated from its mother 
 country by an ocean of three thousand miles. That a revolution was- 
 
 G 
 
13 
 
 attempted in Canada, and the disaffected of the colony had not only 
 the sympathy of our people generally, but were, to a great extent, coun¬ 
 tenanced and succored by our citizens residing upon the borders. 
 
 Under this state of things, the British Government gave orders and 
 authority to the chief officer in Canada for his instruction and guidance 
 in meeting the difficulties then presented and anticipated. 
 
 Not being able to foresee what might take place, the authority was 
 made as general as the nature of the case would admit, and the exi¬ 
 gencies seemed to require; and was, no doubt, intended to vest in the 
 chief officer in Canada power to do whatever the home Government 
 would have done under like circumstances. He was, says the British 
 Minister, “ empowered to take any steps, and to do any acts, which 
 might be necessary for the defence of her Majesty’s 'territory, and for 
 the protection of her Majesty’s subjects.” 
 
 This is a power most general and extensive in its terms. The ob¬ 
 ject is, “ the protection of her Majesty’s territory and subjects.” To 
 insure this end, the Canadian officer is authorized to do any act neces¬ 
 sary for this protection; and this necessity must, in the nature of 
 things, depend upon the judgment and discretion of that officer. The 
 authority does not limit the officer to any specified measures, or confine 
 his acts to the Canadian territory. As England might, in defence of 
 her Canadian subjects and territory, authorize a hostile attack upon the 
 Caroline, under such circumstances as presented themselves to the Ca¬ 
 nadian authorities, it would seem to follow that the Canadian officers 
 had power, under their orders, to do the same thing. 
 
 By saying that the sovereign of England might authorize such a 
 hostile attack as was made on the Caroline, we do not intend to say it 
 would be an attack that could be justified to the world. We only 
 intend to say that it would be so far justifiable or excusable as to fur¬ 
 nish impunity to the military acting under such an order. 
 
 But have we a right to scrutinize and limit an authority of this kind, 
 whilst England sanctions the act done under it, and when the object 
 and effect of such limitation is, to make murder of an act, which, 
 under a liberal construction of the power, would render the accused 
 innocent of the slightest crime? 
 
 We think the construction which we give to this power receives con¬ 
 firmation from Burlimaqui , pt. 4, ch. 1, sec . 4. Speaking of the 
 power of magistrates or generals, this author says: “They cannot 
 lawfully undertake any act of hostility of their own head, and without 
 a formal order of the sovereign, at least reasonably presumed, in con¬ 
 sequence of particular circumstances .” 
 
 But England approved this act, by not immediately disclaiming it > 
 

 r 
 
 by knighting Mac Nab, the chief projector of it, # and has since officially 
 recognized the attack as one embraced within the powers conferred 
 upon the Canadian authorities. Mr. Fox, the British Minister, in a 
 communication to our Government, says: 
 
 “ The transaction on account of which McLeod has been arrested, 
 and is to be put upon his trial was, a transaction of a public character, 
 planned and executed by persons duly empowered by her Majesty’s 
 colonial authority to take any steps and do any acts which might be 
 necessary for the defence of her Majesty’s territories and for the protec¬ 
 tion of her Majesty’s subjects; and that, consequently, those subjects 
 of her Majesty who engaged in that transaction, were performing an act 
 of public duty for which they cannot be made personally and indi¬ 
 vidually answerable to the laws and tribunals of any foreign country.” 
 
 But Judge Co wen denies that an approval by the British Govern¬ 
 ment can, in any way, operate to screen McLeod from the punishment 
 
 I due to the crime of murder, for the part he is supposed to have taken in 
 
 the attack. To maintain this position, the learned Judge goes into an 
 elaborate citation of authorities, which, to avoid the appearance of in¬ 
 justice towards him, we here transcribe : 
 
 “An order emanating from one of the hostile sovereigns, will not 
 justify to the other every kind of perfidy. The case of spies has been 
 already mentioned. An emissary sent into a camp with orders to cor¬ 
 rupt the adverse general, or bribe the soldiery, would stand justified to 
 his immediate sovereign.— Vattel , b. 3, ch. 10, sec . ISO; though even 
 he could not legally punish a refusal. In respect to the enemy, orders 
 would be an obvious excess of jurisdiction. 
 
 “ The emissaries sent by Sir Henry Clinton, in 1781, to seduce the 
 soldiers of the Pennsylvania line falling into the hands of the Ameri¬ 
 cans, were condemned and immediately executed. 4 Marsh. Life of 
 Wash. 366, 1st edt. Entering the adverse camp to receive the treache¬ 
 rous proposition of the general is an offence much more venial. It is 
 even called lawful in eveiy sense as between the sovereign and em¬ 
 ployee. Vattel , b. 3, ch. 10, §181. Yet in the case of Major Andre, 
 an order to do so was, as between the two hostile countries, held to be 
 an excess of jurisdiction. 
 
 “ These cases are much stronger than any which can be supposed 
 between nations at peace. In time of war, such perfidy is expected. 
 In time of peace, every citizen, while within his own territory, has a 
 double right to suppose himself secure; the legal inviolability of that 
 territory, and the solemn pledge of the foreign sovereignty. 
 
 “ The distinction that an act valid as to one may be void as to ano¬ 
 ther is entirely familiar. A man who orders another to commit a tres¬ 
 pass, or approves of a tresspass already committed for his benefit, may 
 be bound to protect his servant, while it would take nothing from the 
 liability of the servant to the party injured. As to him, it could merely 
 
 * Burlimaqui seems to consider such an act of the subordinate officer approved , unless 
 the sovereign officially disclaims it.— Burl, pt. 4, ch. 3, sec. 19, quoted at length hereafter. 
 
15 
 
 have the effect of adding another defendant, who might be made 
 jointly or severally liable with the actual wrong-doer. A case in point 
 is mentioned by Vattel. b. 3, ch. 2, § 15. If one sovereign order his 
 recruiting officer to make enlistments in the dominion of another in 
 time of peace between them, the officer shall be hanged notwithstand¬ 
 ing the order, and war may also be declared against the offending 
 sovereign.— Vid. a like instance id. b. 1, ch. 6. § 75. 
 
 “ What is the utmost legal effect of a foreign sovereign, approving of 
 the crime his subject committed in a neighboring terfitory ? The ap^ 
 proval, as we have already in part seen, can take nothing from the 
 criminality of the principal offender. Whatever obligation his nation 
 may be under to save him harmless, this can be absolutely done only 
 on the condition that he confine himself within her territory.— Vattel , 
 b. 2, ch. 6 , § 74. Then, by refusing to make satisfaction, to furnish, 
 or to deliver him up, on demand from the injured country, or by ap¬ 
 proving the offence, the nation, says Vattel, becomes an accomplice.— 
 Id. % 76. 
 
 “ Blackstone says, an accomplice or abettor; (4 Com. 68 ;) and 
 Rutherforth, still more nearly in the language of the English law, an 
 accessory after the fact.— B. 2, ch. 2, § 12. No book supposes that 
 such an act merges the original offence, or renders it imputable to the 
 nation alone.” 
 
 The rights and duties of nations are not, in general, happily illus¬ 
 trated by reference to the rights, duties, and liabilities of individuals. 
 In relation to the case of trespass, put by the Judge, we agree that the 
 effect of another person’s approving it might make him a trespasser also, 
 and would not discharge the liability of him who actually committed it; 
 and the reason is, that the approver had no more right to make the 
 entry than the actual trespasser. 
 
 We think it cannot fail to strike every one, that the examples given 
 by Judge Cowen, in which the authorization or approval by the sove¬ 
 reign cannot protect the criminal, are all cases wheie the act done is 
 unlawful in itself, whether committed by sovereign or subject. The 
 enlistment of soldiers in the dominions of another nation, without its 
 consent, is, by the law of nations, a crime, whether the enlistment be 
 made by the sovereign in person or by a recruiting officer.— Vattel^b. 1, 
 ch. 6, sec. 75. 
 
 Spies also are not the less criminal because they are authorized by 
 their sovereign, since the sovereign could not himself lawfully act 
 the spy. 
 
 We cannot better answer Judge Cowan on this head than by tran¬ 
 scribing one other of his examples, and annexing to it a quotation of 
 his from Locke: 
 
 “ Suppose a prince should command a soldier to commit adultery , 
 incest , or perjury ; the prince goes beyond his constitutional power.” 
 
16 
 
 T 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 So Says Mr. Locke [on Gov. B. 2, ch. 19, sect. 239,] of a king even m 
 his own dominions : “ In whatsoever he has no authority , there lie is no 
 king , and may be resisted ; for wheresoever the authority ceases , the 
 king ceases too, and becomes like other men who have no authority.” 
 
 Examples to show that a subject may not do an act, with or without 
 his sovereign’s authority, fall far short of showing that what he may do 
 by the direction of his Government, may not receive equal validity from 
 a subsequent approval of the act by that Government, as if it had directed 
 it originally. 
 
 We have already, as we think, established the position, that the hos¬ 
 tile violation of our territory, resulting in the destruction of the Caro¬ 
 line and the killing of Durfee, had the same been ordered by the Bri¬ 
 tish Government, would have protected the military engaged in it from 
 any personal liability. We now maintain that the subsequent approval 
 of the attack, especially under the circumstances of the original order 
 and the situation of the mother country in relation to her colony, and 
 of Canada in relation to our border, furnishes equal impunity and pro¬ 
 tection to all concerned in it. 
 
 The authorities quoted by Judge Cowen on this head, as we have 
 already shown, do not in the slightest degree impugn the correctness of 
 this position; whilst the authorities we shall now produce will fortify 
 and fully sustain it. 
 
 Burlimaqufpt. 4, ch. 3, sec. 18.—“ A mere presumption of the will 
 of the sovereign would not be sufficient to excuse a Governor or any 
 other officer who should undertake a war, except in case of necessity, 
 without either a general or particular order. For it is not sufficient to 
 know what part the sovereign would probably act if he were consulted 
 in such a particular posture of affairs; but it should rather be consider¬ 
 ed in general what it is probable a prince would desire should be done, 
 without consulting him, when the matter will bear no delay and the 
 affair is dubious.” 
 
 Now certainly sovereigns will never consent that their ministers should, 
 whenever they think proper, undertake without their order a thing of 
 such importance as an offensive war, which is the proper subject of the 
 present inquiry. 
 
 Sec. 19.— u In these circumstances, whatever part the sovereign would 
 have thought proper to act if he had been consulted ; and whatever suc¬ 
 cess the war undertaken without his order may have had ; it is left to 
 the sovereign, whether he will ratify or condemn the act of his minis¬ 
 ters. If he ratify it , this approbation renders the war solemn , by re¬ 
 flecting back , as it were , an authority upon it ; so that it obliges the 
 whole commonwealth. But if the sovereign should condemn the act 
 of the Governor, the hostilities committed by the latter ought to pass 
 
 Q 
 
17 
 
 for a sort of robbery , the fault of which by no means affects the State, 
 provided the Governor is delivered up and punished according to the law 
 of the country, and proper satisfaction be made for the damages sus¬ 
 tained.” 
 
 8 Peters , 522.—Story, speaking of the seizure of an American vessel 
 and cargo by a Spanish vessel, says: 
 
 “ If she had a commission under the royal authority of Spain, she 
 was beyond question entitled to make the seizure. If she had no such 
 authority, then she must be treated as a non-commissioned cruiser, enti¬ 
 tled to seize for the benefit of the crown; whose act , if adopted and 
 acknowledged by the crown , or its competent authorities , become equally 
 binding. Nothing is better settled, both in England and America, than 
 the doctrine that a non-commissioned cruiser may seize for the benefit 
 of the Government; and if his acts are adopted by the Government, the 
 property, when condemned, becomes a droit of the Government. ,, 
 
 Upon these authorities, and for the reasons before stated, we have 
 come to the conclusion, that the approbation of the attack by the British 
 Government has removed all doubt about the sufficiency of the original 
 authority of the Canadian officers. 
 
 We have thus far discussed this matter, as if the question, as to the 
 relation in which the United States Government stands to the British 
 Government, in the matter of this attack, was an open one—one in which 
 the judiciary of the country is at liberty to decide by a direct applica¬ 
 tion of the principles of the law of nations to the facts as they might be 
 established by proof; and in this view of the matter, we feel confident 
 of having established, by the facts and the law , that the attack upon 
 the Caroline was made upon sufficient authority from the British Gov¬ 
 ernment ; or, if the authority was in any respect equivocal, that it has 
 been ratified by the British Government, so as to require of the judiciary 
 of the country, upon the facts and the law , a judgment establishing the 
 perfect impunity of the military engaged in the expedition. 
 
 We now propose to show that the character of the expedition against 
 the Caroline , and the relation in which the two countries stand in refer¬ 
 ence to.it, has been settled and decided by our Government to be that 
 of “ lawjul war ” of the “ imperfect sort and that courts of justice are 
 not at liberty to pronounce a different judgment from that pronounced 
 by the Government of the country. 
 
 Has our Government determined the relation in which the two coun¬ 
 tries stand to each other in reference to the impunity to which McLeod 
 is entitled, as being one of this military expedition? 
 
 In May, 1S38, shortly after the destruction of the Caroline, in a com¬ 
 munication to the British Government, our Minister, Mr. Stevenson, 
 characterized the attack as “an invasion of the territory and sovereignty 
 
18 
 
 U: 
 
 of an independent nation by an armed force of a friendly Power;’ 5 and 
 Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, in his letter to Mr. Fox of the 24th 
 April, 1841, says: “the Government of the United States has not 
 changed the opinion which it has heretofore expressed to her Majesty’s 
 Government, of the character of the act of destroying the Caroline.” 
 
 Can language be better adapted to define the first act of war by one 
 nation upon another, where there has been no previous declaration of 
 war, than that employed by Mr. Stevenson to characterize this attack 
 by Great Britain? 
 
 So long ago, then, as May, 1838, the Executive Department of our 
 Government determined that the attack upon the Caroline was an act 
 of war, and so far as that act of hostility was concerned, placed the Bri¬ 
 tish Government in that relation to our own. 
 
 In the letter of Mr. Webster, before referred to, he recites the ground 
 upon which the British Government place the hostile attack, so far as 
 the military engaged in it are concerned, and the assent of our Govern¬ 
 ment to this same view of the matter . 
 
 Mr. Webster in his letter, says: 
 
 “ The President inclines to take it for granted that the main purpose 
 of the instruction was, to cause it to be signified to the Government of 
 the United States that the attack on the steamboat ‘ Caroline’ was an act 
 of public force, done by the British colonial authorities, and fully recog¬ 
 nized by the Queen’s Government at home; and that, consequently, no 
 individual concerned in that transaction can, according to the just prin¬ 
 ciple of the laws of nations, be held personally answerable in the ordi¬ 
 nary courts of law, as for a private offence; and that upon this avowal 
 of her Majesty’s Government, Alexander McLeod, now imprisoned on 
 an indictment for murder, alleged to have been committed in that attack, 
 ought to be released, by such proceedings as are usual and are suitable 
 to the case.” 
 
 After this recital of the position in which the British Government 
 places the matter, Mr. Webster, speaking in behalf of our Government^ 
 says: 
 
 “ The communication of the fact that the destruction of the ‘ Caro¬ 
 line’ was an act of public force, by the British authorities, being formal¬ 
 ly made to the Government of the United States by Mr. Fox’s note, the 
 case assumes a decided aspect. 
 
 “ The Government of the United States entertain no doubt that, after 
 this avowal of the transaction as a public transaction, authorized and 
 undertaken by the British authorities, individuals concerned in it ought 
 not, by the principles of public law and the general usage of civilized 
 States, to be holden personally responsible, in the ordinary tribunals of 
 law, for their participation in it. And the President presumes that it 
 can hardly be necessary to say that the American People, not distrustful 
 v 
 
19 
 
 of their ability to redress public wrongs by public means, cannot desire 
 the punishment of individuals, when the act complained of is declared 
 to have been an act of the Government itself.” 
 
 In a letter of instructions to the Attorney General, which was also 
 communicated to Mr. Fox, Mr. Webster says: 
 
 “ Tliat an individual forming part of a public force and acting under 
 the authority of his Government, is not to be held answerable as a pri¬ 
 vate trespasser or malefactor, is a principle of public law sanctioned by 
 the usages of all civilized nations, and which the Government of the 
 United States has no inclination to dispute.” 
 
 Judge Cowen / makes a criticism upon the communication of the 
 British Minister, which, perhaps, requires a passing remark. He says: 
 
 “ Even the British Minister is too just to call it war j the British 
 Government do not pretend it was war” 
 
 As words in a promise, indicative of an undertaking to warrant, 
 amount, in law, according to “ CoxoeiVs Treatise ,” to a warranty , 
 without the use of the term wan'ant , so, in the letter of the British 
 Minister, a description of hostilities that by the law of nations consti¬ 
 tutes “ imperfect war,” is equivalent to the assertion in terms that it 
 was war of the imperfect sort . 
 
 But the Judge, evidently not feeling much confidence in his criti¬ 
 cism upon the British Minister’s communication, afterwards seems to 
 admit that our Government, so far as it could, had decided the question 
 in regard to the character of the hostile attack, and, consequently, in 
 regard to the individual liability of those concerned in it. 
 
 The language of the Judge is this: 
 
 “ But it is said of the case at bar, here is more than a mere appro- . 
 val by the adverse Government; that an explanation has been de¬ 
 manded by the Secretary of State; and the British Ambassador has 
 insisted on McLeod's release, and his counsel claim for the joint di¬ 
 plomacy of the United Stat^and England some such effect upon the 
 powers of this court as a certiorari from us would have upon the 
 county court of general sessions. It was spoken of as incompatible 
 with the judicial proceedings against McLeod in this State; as a suit 
 actually pending between the two nations, wherein the action of the 
 General Government comes in collision with, and supersedes our own. 
 
 “ To such an objection the answer is quite obvious. Diplomacy is 
 not a judicial but executive function: but the objection would come 
 with the same force, whether it were urged against proceedings in a 
 court of this State , or the United States .” 
 
 But the Judge insists that “ the Executive power has charge of the 
 question in its national aspect only ;” by which, from the context, we 
 must understand, that the two Governments may agree that the hostile 
 attack was of that character which furnishes impunity to the military 
 concerned, yet that the courts, Federal and State , may determine 
 
r 
 
 j 
 
 20 
 
 u 
 
 otherwise, and inflict criminal punishment upon the offenders ! How 
 u the Executive power has charge of the question in its national as¬ 
 pect,” and yet its decisions be void of all efficiency and effect upon the 
 subject decided upon , is, we confess, beyond our comprehension. The 
 General Government cannot, it is true, after deciding the question, 
 issue any mandate to a court to carry its determination into effect, or 
 remove a cause, or withdraw a suitor or criminal from the custody of 
 the courts. But its decision becomes binding upon all courts or tribu¬ 
 nals where the question arises; and thus the Executive department of 
 the Government “ has charge of the question in its national aspect,” 
 and the law makes its decision all-powerful and efficient. 
 
 It can hardly be necessary to resort to any course of reasoning, or 
 to the citation of authorities, to show that the Executive of the United 
 States possesses all the power in regard to the matter in question that 
 usually belongs to the Executive department of every Government. 
 
 “ The command and application of the public force to execute the 
 law, maintain peace, and resist foreign invasion, are powers obviously 
 of an Executive character, and require the exercise of qualities so cha- 
 racteristical of this department, that they have always been exclusively 
 appropriated to it, in every well-regulated Government upon earth.” 
 
 1 Kent's Com . 286. 
 
 The memorable attack of the British ship of war Leopard, Capt. 
 Humphreys, upon the frigate Chesapeake, Capt. Barron, in which 
 several American sailors were killed, became the subject of discussion 
 between the two Governments, and resulted in an adjustment, in which, 
 amongst other things, England offered “ the American Government a 
 suitable pecuniary provision for the sufferers in consequence of the at¬ 
 tack on the Chesapeake, including the families of those seamen who 
 unfortunately fell in the action, and of the wounded survivors.” 
 Could Captain Humphreys afterwards iftve been proceeded against 
 in a court of our country, and held personally responsible, notwith¬ 
 standing the Executive department of our Government had settled the 
 whole matter with the British Government? There cannot be a doubt, 
 ' as. we think, that this adjustment of the matter, “ in its national as¬ 
 pect,” was an adjustment of the matter in every aspect, and binding 
 upon all courts and tribunals of the country. 
 
 This principle has been judicially recognized in England. There, 
 where the Executive department of the Government has determined the 
 relation in which the British Government stands towards any other 
 country, in regard to hostilities, such decision is conclusive, and in ail 
 the courts precludes any further examination or agitation of the ques¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Ci 
 
21 
 
 15 East . 81.—This was a case of insurance, and the cause turned 
 upon the question whether the trade to St. Domingo was, at that time, 
 with a country at peace with England. 
 
 Lord Ellenborough says, “ this is a grave question, and depends in a 
 great measure upon the consideration of the Orders in Council which 
 have been referred to. I agree with the Master of the Rolls in the case 
 of the Pelican , that it belongs to the Government of the country to de¬ 
 termine in what relation of peace or war any other country stands 
 towards it, and that it would be unsafe for courts of justice to take 
 upon them, without that authority, to decide upon those relations. 
 
 “ But when the Crown has decided upon the relation of peace or war 
 in which another country stands to this, there is an end of the ques¬ 
 tion ; and in the absence of any express promulgation of the will of the 
 sovereign in that respect, it may be collected from other acts of the 
 State. The Master of the Rolls, in the case of the Pelican, lays down 
 the rule generally 1 that it belongs to the Government of the country 
 to determine in what relation any other country stands towards it, and 
 that the courts of justice cannot decide upon the point ? by which I 
 must understand him to have said that they cannot decide adversely 
 to the declaration of the sovereign upon that point. 
 
 “ For want of a declaration by the Crown at one period, different 
 verdicts were given in different causes, in respect to commercial adven¬ 
 tures of the same description to Hamburgh . But courts and juries 
 cannot do otherwise than decide secundum allegata et probata in such 
 particular cases without regard to other proof in other causes.” 
 
 This, let it be remembered, was a private litigation between indivi¬ 
 duals ; and the court held that the determination of the Government , 
 as to the relation in which another Government stands towards it, con¬ 
 trolled the rights of the parties litigant, and put an “ end to the ques¬ 
 tion .” How much stronger is the reason for the application of the 
 rule to our country and Government. 
 
 Without such a rule, conflict and collision arise between the Ex¬ 
 ecutive and judicial branches of the General Government, and between 
 the General and State Governments. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan, of the Senate, has well described the conflict which 
 such adverse decisions, between the Executive and judicial departments 
 of the Government, will produce : 
 
 “ The judicial authority will be on one side of the question, and the 
 Executive Government on the other. Whilst the judiciary decide that 
 McLeod is responsible in the criminal courts of New York, the Secre¬ 
 tary decides that he is not . By prejudging this pending judicial ques¬ 
 tion, the Secretary has placed himself in an awkward dilemma, should 
 the Supreme Court of New York determine that the recognition and 
 justification by the British Government of the capture of the Caroline, 
 does not release McLeod from personal responsibility.” 
 
 3 * 
 
22 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 The mode of remedying this difficulty, and preventing such conflicts 
 in the two departments of Government, suggested by Mr. Buchanan, 
 is, we confess, most extraordinary. It is that the Secretary of State, 
 representing the Executive Department of Government, shall suspend 
 the decision of a (question pending with a foreign Government until 
 the question shall have been judicially decided; and this course is sug¬ 
 gested even in a proceeding where the Government is not a party, and 
 where a decision may be delayed until those interested in the question 
 
 see fit to bring the matter to a close! 
 
 One remedy for what Mr. Buchanan calls this “ awkward dilemma,” 
 is, the rule which prevails in England: when the Executive Department 
 has decided a question between our own and a foreign Government, 
 which properly belongs to the Executive Department to decide, “ courts 
 of justice cannot decide adversely.” Such a rule produces consistency 
 and harmony in every department of the General Government, and pre¬ 
 vents all collision with the Judicial Departments of the State Govern¬ 
 ments. Without such a rule, the intercourse of our Government with 
 other nations becomes empty diplomacy ; when national matters, discuss¬ 
 ed, agreed on, and settled by the proper Executive Department, are not 
 only disregarded by the Judicial Department of the Government, but are. 
 perfectly annulled by adverse decisions and judgments, and executions 
 carrying into effect those judgments. 
 
 If, in England, the determination of the Government as to the relation 
 in which another Government stands to it, shall control the rights of in¬ 
 dividuals, in a litigation with which the Government is not the most re¬ 
 motely connected, and in which the public has no interest, how much 
 stronger is the reason for applying the rule to criminal courts; especially 
 when the guilt or innocence of the accused is made to depend upon the 
 decision, as to the relation in which another Government stands to our 
 own, in a hostile collision, where the accused was an actor, unconscious 
 at the time of the possibility that the part he took could subject him to 
 the imputation of crime? 
 
 We have now concluded our examination of the great principles of 
 national law involved in the case of McLeod, and we feel great confi¬ 
 dence in saying we have, by the most ample authority, maintained, 1st. 
 That a hostile attack and violation of our territory, in time of general 
 peace, by the authority of the British Government, with apparent cause, 
 
 I is so far a “ lawful warf of the ic imperfect sort f as to furnish impuni¬ 
 
 ty to the military engaged in it. 
 
 2nd. That the instructions given to the Governor or chief officer of 
 Canada, under the circumstances and situation of that colony, contain¬ 
 ed sufficient authority to legalize the attack; or, if that be doubtful, then, 
 
 Q 
 
23 
 
 3d. That the sanction by the British Government of the attack, sup¬ 
 plied any possible deficiency in the instructions. 
 
 4th. That the Executive Department of our Government has decided, 
 that the relation in which Great Britain stands towards our Government/ 
 as to the affair of the Caroline , is that of “ imperfect war;” and that 
 “ individuals concerned in that transaction ought not, by the principles 
 of public law, and the general usage of civilized States, to be holden 
 personally responsible/’ and, 
 
 5th. That such decision, by the Executive Department of our Gov¬ 
 ernment, is final and conclusive upon all the courts in the United States. 
 
 It remains for us now to inquire whether the mode of relief, by 
 habeas corpus , sought by McLeod , ought, under the circumstances, to 
 have availed him. 
 
 Upon this branch of the case Judge Co wen, for the sake of argu¬ 
 ment, concedes to McLeod the impunity which he claimed, as being 
 one of the military force who made the attack upon the Caroline, yet 
 decides that he cannot be discharged upon habeas corpus, because the 
 grand jury have indicted him for murder. 
 
 The principle advanced by the Judge is, that a man charged with mur¬ 
 der by the finding of an indictment by a grandjury , cannot , under any 
 circumstances , be admitted to bail, or be discharged on habeas corpus. 
 We readily concede that in a case where a person cannot be admitted 
 to bail, he cannot be entitled to a discharge on habeas coi-pus. 
 
 The Judge has cited several cases were applications where made to ad¬ 
 mit to bail persons charged with murder. The cases cited, however, 
 are all cases where the application was made before indictment; and 
 what is said by the judges about the effect of an indictment, as 
 precluding the possibility of letting to bail, is mere dicta ; that question 
 not having arisen in a single case cited. But although Judge Cowen 
 admits that his cases u were all before indictment foundf he says the 
 principle of refusing bail after indictment fox murder, u has never, that 
 we are aware of, been departed from in practice under the English 
 habeas corpus act.” Had the Judge searched as diligently for cases in 
 favor of this application, as he seems to have done for cases against it, 
 he certainly would have come to a different conclusion as to the exis¬ 
 tence of authorities for letting to bail after indictment, whatever might 
 have been his conclusion as to the true principle of law. "W hilst the 
 Judge has not been able to cite a single case where, after indictment, 
 the question of bail has actually arisen, we have been able to find seve¬ 
 ral, where the question has not only arisen, but where the prisoner has 
 been let to bail after indictment for murder' and other high crimes. 
 

 24 
 
 
 u 
 
 3 Bacon Ab. 436, title Habeas Corpus: “ Also the court will sometimes 
 examine by affidavit the circumstances of a fact on which a prisoner 
 brought before them by an habeas corpus hath been indicted , in order 
 to inform themselves, on examination of the whole matter, whether it be 
 reasonable to bail him or not . And agreeably hereto, one Jackson, 
 
 (4 Geo. III.) who had been indicted for piracy before the session of 
 Admirality on a malicious prosecution, brought his habeas corpus in the 
 said court, in order to be discharged or bailed. The court examined 
 the whole circumstances of the fact by affidavit; upon which it appear¬ 
 ed the prosecutor himself, if any one, was guilty, and carried on the 
 present prosecution to screen himself; and thereupon, the court, in con¬ 
 sideration of the unreasonableness of the prosecution, and the uncertainty 
 of the time when another session of Admirality might be holden, adrai*- 
 ted the said Jackson to bail. 
 
 3 East. 165, King vs. Marks. Le Blank says: “ This court have 
 clearly a right to bail the parties accused in all cases of felony, if they 
 see occasion, whenever there is any doubt either on the law or the 
 facts of the case. 
 
 Woodworth, J. in the case of Tayloe , 5 Cow. 55, cites with appro¬ 
 bation this rule of Le Blank. He says: ‘ The court will bail when¬ 
 ever there is any doubt on the law or the facts of the case.’ ” 
 
 It is true these were cases before indictment. But the rule is laid 
 down without limitation ; and we can see no reason for limiting it to 
 cases before indictment, especially where the prisoner shows “ there is 
 doubt on the law of the case,” and more especially when he shows 
 that “ by the law of the case” he is innocent of the crime imputed to 
 him. 
 
 Bacon Ab. 35, title, Bail in criminal cases: “So if a man be con¬ 
 victed of felony upon evidence by which it plainly appears to the court 
 he is not guilty of it,” he will be let to bail. Why, then, not let him 
 to bail before conviction, “ if it plainly appears to the court that he is 
 not guilty of it.” 
 
 5. Mod. Capt. Kirk’s case: Mr. Montague moved that Mr. Kirk 
 might be admitted to bail, “ for that he was very dangerously ill by 
 reason of the badness of the air and the inconveniences of the prison.” 
 There had been an inquest by the coroner for murder, and also an in¬ 
 dictment by the grand jury. 
 
 I The counsel who opposed the motion for bail, said, “ It is true your 
 
 lordship has power to bail in treason or murder ; but you will not 
 exert that power unless it be in extraordinary circumstances, as in some 
 cases that have been quoted, and especially in such where the prosecu¬ 
 tion isdhought not to be well grounded. [Holt, Chief Justice.] In 
 
 Cl 
 
25 
 
 this case I do not think the affidavits are full enough. It does not ap¬ 
 pear that by this imprisonment they are in danger of their lives.” 
 Here is no intimation that the indictment precludes all inquiiy; on 
 the contrary, the refusal to bail is upon a full inquiry into the merits 
 of the facts upon which the application is founded. 
 
 In Coke's Entries , 354 to 356, are three cases, copied from the rolls 
 of the court, where there had been indictments for murder , and the 
 prisoners afterwards let to bail. 
 
 1 Salk , 104.—J. S. being committed upon an indictment for mur¬ 
 der, moved to be bailed. “ Rokesby and Turton were for bailing 
 him, because the evidence upon the affidavits read did not seem to 
 them- sufficient to prove him guilty. Holt, Chief Justice, and Gould , 
 contra. The evidence does affect him, and that is enough. The 
 allowing the freedom of bail may discourage the prosecution; there¬ 
 fore it is not fit the court should declare their opinion of the evidence 
 beforehand ; for it must prejudice the prisoner on the one side, or the 
 prosecution on the other.” Here, too, the merits of the application 
 were looked into ; and although bail was refused, it was not because 
 there was an indictment , but because the court were equally divided 
 upon the merits of the application. 
 
 Judge Co wen cites a case on the same page as the above, to show 
 that a person cannot be let to bail under any circumstances after in¬ 
 dictment ! and yet overlooked the one cited above ! 
 
 The case cited by Judge Co wen is the case of Lord Mohuns , and 
 even in that, it does not appear from the report in Sakl. whether he had 
 or had not been indicted,! The case is referred to in 2 Strange, 911, 
 Rex vs. Dalton. The Chief Justice there said, “ that the Lord Mo- 
 hun's case was at Lord Holt’s chambers, and not in court, as the book 
 reports it; and that the lords bailed him after indictment for murder 
 was found." 
 
 Another case may be added, of a person indicted for murder being 
 let to bail. We refer to the late case of the young student, who was 
 indicted for the murder of Professor Davis, at the University of Vir¬ 
 ginia. 
 
 As to the right of courts to bail, there is no difference between cases 
 of murder or the highest grades of manslaughter.— See Sutherland's 
 opinion in Taloe's case , 5 Cow. 55. 
 
 Selfridge , indicted in Massachusetts for manslaughter, was let to bail 
 after indictment. Goodwin , indicted in New York for manslaughter, 
 was, after one trial, and the jury not agreeing, let to bail by Chief 
 Justice Spencer. — Wheeler's Crim. Cas. 434. 
 
 Thus it will be perceived, that whilst Judge Cowen is not able to 
 

 cite a single case, where, upon application to bail after indictment for 
 muider, the court has said the fact of an indictment was conclusive 
 against it , we have been able to cite several cases in which the appli¬ 
 cation was made after indictment / in some of which the indicted 
 person was let to bail , and in others refused. Yet in none of these 
 cases is the idea advanced that the indictment precludes all inquiry . 
 In all of them the power is conceded, but not to be exercised, “ unless 
 in extraordinary circumstances.” All the cases to be found in which 
 the idea is advanced that an indictment precludes all inquiry , are cases 
 where no indictment had been found ; and the remarks of the judges 
 upon tliat point are mere dicta , and unworthy the character of grave 
 authority. That the court have the power to look beyond the indict¬ 
 ment, may be proved to the common sense of every one, by a few 
 examples: 
 
 Suppose, upon circumstantial evidence before a grand jury, a person 
 is indicted for the murder of another, and is arrested and imprisoned to 
 take his trial; suppose such prisoner should afterwards sue out a habeas 
 corpus , and upon being brought before Judge Co wen, should make a 
 profert of the supposed murdered man, in full life and vigor, his iden¬ 
 tity placed beyond all question; would Judge Co wen say, there being 
 an indictment by a grand jury precludes all inquiry, and you must 
 continue in prison until a court shall be held for your trial? Such are 
 the doctrines of his opinion! 
 
 Suppose Robinson , the murderer of Ellen Jewett , should be again 
 indicted by a grand jury, and arrested, and finally brought before Judge 
 Edwards on habeas corpus , for a discharge, on the ground that he had 
 been once tried for the same offence and acquitted. He produces the 
 record of acquittal; yet, by the decision of Judge Cowen, the Judge 
 who tried him would refuse to look behind the indictment, would re¬ 
 fuse a discharge, and remand him to prison to wait the sitting of a 
 court, there to go through the form of producing before a jury the re¬ 
 cord of his former trial and acquittal! 
 
 Judge Cowen fancies that he has cited a case even stronger than 
 the one we have supposed, of a second indictment of Robinson. He 
 says: 
 
 “ In Rex vs. Acton 2, Str. 851, the prisoner had been tried for the 
 murder, and acquitted. Afterward, a single justice of the peace issued 
 a warrant, charging him with the same murder , upon which he was 
 again committed. On an offer to show the former acquittal in the 
 clearest manner, the court refused to hear the proof. On the authority 
 of this case, Mr. Chitty, at the page just cited, lays down the rule that 
 the court will not look into extrinsic evidence at all.” 
 
27 
 
 Now this case is stated by the Judge entirely wrong. The person 
 was not arrested for the same offence. The defendant was the keeper 
 of a prison, and was indicted by four several indictments for four seve¬ 
 ral murders, and the question on the trial was, whether a place called 
 the strong room was a proper place to confine disorderly prisoners in, 
 the four prisoners having died whilst so confined. The jury acquitted 
 the defendant. A single justice afterwards, upon a new information of 
 a fifth person having been put into that room, and dying, thought fit to 
 commit the defendant again for a fifth murder. 
 
 The court refused to bail the defendant, and he remained until the 
 Assizes; when no bill being found, he was discharged. 
 
 Thus, instead of being, as Judge Co wen supposed, a commitment 
 a second time, after acquittal for the same offence , it was for an entire 
 new offence. We cannot but express our surprise that the Judge should, 
 even if he had found such a monstrous case, cite it with approbation. 
 
 Suppose a person in 1816 had been arrested and indicted for murder 
 and arson, committed in the attack on Buffalo, by the British, during the 
 war. Suppose such person brought up by habeas corpus before the 
 Supreme Court, claiming the impunity of a soldier in time of war. 
 Could the court say, we are satisfied that you cannot be guilty of mur¬ 
 der, but as the grand jury have found an indictment , we are precluded 
 from looking into the matter, and you can neither be discharged or let 
 to bail, but must remain in prison until the proper court sits for your 
 trial ? 
 
 Such are clearly the doctrines of Judge Cowen. He says: 
 
 “ It is proper to add that if the matters urged in argument could 
 have any legal effect in favor of the prisoner, I should feel entirely clear 
 that they would be of a nature available before the jury only. And 
 that according to the settled rules of proceeding on habeas corpus , we 
 should have no power ever to consider them as a ground for discharging 
 the prisoner.” 
 
 Now, instead of such a rule prevailing, we have seen that in nume¬ 
 rous cases, both in this country and in England, prisoners have been let 
 to bail after indictment for murder and other crimes of the highest 
 grade. We have also seen “ that after a man has been convicted of 
 felony, upon evidence by which it plainly appears to the court he is not 
 guilty, he will be let to bail.” 
 
 In the famous conspiracy cases in the city of New York, after the 
 Lamberts had, by writs of error, reversed the judgments against them, 
 Hyatt and Mowet, who were under sentence and suffering punishment, 
 by separate indictments and convictions, applied to the Supreme Court, 
 and were discharged on habeas corpus , without being put to their writs 
 of error to reverse the judgments. 
 
 \ 
 
28 
 
 r 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 v * 
 
 U 
 
 The true rule upon the subject of bail or discharge, after indictment 
 for murder, undoubtedly is, for the judge to refuse to bail or discharge 
 upon any affidavits or proof that is susceptible of being controverted on 
 the other side. When, however, the prisoner’s evidence is of that posi¬ 
 tive and certain character that it cannot be “ gainsaid” then the pri¬ 
 soner is entitled to be bailed or discharged, as in the case where the man 
 supposed to be murdered is living; where the prisoner has been tried 
 and acquitted of the same offence; or where the supposed murder was 
 a homicide committed in a war between two nations. 
 
 As applicable to the case under consideration, if the attack on the 
 Caroline was authorized and sanctioned by the Canadian authorities 
 and the British Government, the evidence of such authorization fur¬ 
 nished by the British Government and the United States is of that con¬ 
 clusive and record character that it cannot be controverted at the trial. 
 If produced at a trial of the indictment, it would show a state of war 
 between the two countries of the “ imperfect sort” stated by Ruther- 
 forth, but nevertheless a “ lawful war ” which furnishes, under the law 
 of nations, an impunity to McLeod, a soldier engaged in it. If such 
 would be the effect of that evidence on a trial of the indictment, then, on 
 habeas corpus , the same incontrovertible evidence authorizes a discharge 
 by the court. 
 
 Another ground upon which the application for a discharge ought to 
 have prevailed is, that our own Government has settled the character 
 of this hostile attack. It has decided it to be an “ imperfect sort of 
 war,” and that “ individuals concerned in it ought not to be holden 
 personally responsible.” That decision being, as we have shown, bind¬ 
 ing and conclusive upon courts, the prisoner ought to have been dis¬ 
 charged on his habeas corpus. 
 
 We here dismiss this subject, hoping, for the character of our coun¬ 
 try, that the judgment of the Supreme Court may be reviewed, and an 
 opinion so unsound in all its parts, as we conceive Judge Cowen’s to 
 be, rendered nugatory as an authority for the future. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 BEFORE TKK 
 
 AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 
 
 AT TIIE CLOSE OF ITS 
 
 FOURTEENTH ANNUAL FAIR, 
 
 On the 3GtI» o* October, 1841, 
 
 BY 
 
 GEN. JAMES TALLMADGE, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF TIIE MANAGERS. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 HOPKINS AND JENNINGS, PRINTERS, 
 No. Ill Fulton-8treet. 
 
 1841. 
 
u 
 
 * 
 
 New-York, Nov. 21st, 1841. 
 
 Gen. James Tallmadge, 
 
 Dear Sir: Address at the close of the 14th Annual 
 
 Tho underrigned hav.n^taten^^ £ ^ uke „ by you , logether with the facts 
 
 r^“L,of ioo much importance to 
 
 - - - - 
 
 city of soliciting a copy of that address from you, for publication. 
 
 y ’ Respectfully your obedient servants, 
 
 Adoniram Chandler, 
 
 T. B. Wakkman, 
 
 Rosewell Graves, 
 
 D. Henderson, 
 
 n., .nroc P 14 nWKM,. 
 
 Geo. c. De Kav, 
 
 L. D. Chapin, 
 
 John Campbell, 
 
 W. P. Dissosway, 
 John Travers, 
 
 B. Gardiner, 
 
 Geo. Bacon, 
 Edward Clarke, 
 Alfred Stillman. 
 
 New-York, Nov. 26th, 1841. 
 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 The reports which I havo seen of the Address at the close of the Fair, are certainly 
 imperfect and different from what I intended, and supposed I had delivered. My object was 
 to show the necessity for Equality and Reciprocity in trade, and that the commercial regula¬ 
 tions of other governments, not having been countervailed by ours, had occasioned the de¬ 
 pression of the labouring classes, and the derangement of our currency, financial concerns, 
 and navigation. 
 
 The address was spoken extempore, with a general reference to the documents and facts 
 before me. 
 
 A summary of the address is now sent, and submitted to your discretion. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 JAMES TALLMADGE. 
 
 To Adoniram Chandler, Esq. ) 
 and others — Committee, &c. ) 
 
 a 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Fellow-Citizens : 
 
 We rejoice to meet you on this 14th Anniversary of the American In¬ 
 stitute. It has been our lot very often to meet you on these occasions; 
 and always, on our part, with increasing satisfaction. It is with exulting 
 pride we find we have your marked approbation of our whole course. 
 
 The American Institute was incorporated many years since, for the pur¬ 
 pose of advancing the Agriculture, Commerce, and Manufactures of 
 our country. It avows itself alike the champion of each, but in particular 
 and especially of commerce. It is the interest of the country to do justice 
 to her commerce. Secure to that an open trade and unrestricted enter¬ 
 prise, it will in return not only build up a commercial marine, and estab¬ 
 lish our naval strength, but will provide a market for agriculture and man¬ 
 ufactures, which will be sufficient, and all they ask, for their protection 
 and indemnity. 
 
 We have a country unsurpassed in its advantages by any other portion 
 of the globe ; and blessed with a government, soil, and climate, unequalled 
 by that of any other. Look at the mighty progress we are making in in¬ 
 ternal improvements. Already this country, which led the way in canals, 
 has 3,700 miles of canal navigation, pouring in its abundance; and 4,500 
 miles of railroad. Thus we have about 8,000 miles of these useful public 
 works, equal in value to about $160,000,000, expended for the benefit and 
 happiness of the whole people. No country on earth, ancient or modern, 
 can produce any thing in physical achievements at all comparable to this. 
 How different, and how much better is this, than those monarchical and 
 despotic governments which waste their revenues, and can boast only of 
 their columns to heroes, pyramids to kings, and marble palaces, standing 
 as monuments of the oppression and subjection of the people from whom 
 such abundance has been wrung. 
 
 We have had, during the progress of the present Fair, addresses deliv¬ 
 ered on various subjects of public interest, and especially on agriculture 
 and the culture of silk. You have, on our previous anniversaries like this, 
 been addressed by the wisdom and the learning of the land; by a Baldwin, 
 a Burges, an Everett, a Davis, a Kennedy, a Southard, a Webster, and 
 many ^others: in fact, orators have preceded us, and facts and circum- 
 
4 
 
 u 
 
 stances have been adduced by them, espousing and illustrating the princi¬ 
 ples of encouragement and protection to the great interests of agriculture, 
 commerce, and manufactures. They have so brought their eloquence and 
 reason to bear, that I venture to say, there is not a book extant, combining 
 at one centre, and containing so much intelligence in the same space, on 
 these subjects, as the desk of the American Institute. 
 
 My purpose on the present occasion, is to call your attention especially 
 to Commerce and its attendant consequences. It is perhaps sufficient for 
 the purposes of the country, and in gradual advancement; buti* is not what 
 it ought to he. The extent of our country, its benign and varied climate, 
 with its exuberant and virgin soil, has fitted it for every production and 
 every pursuit. The genius and irrepressible spirit of our people have a 
 course that is onward. They aspire to active pursuits and deeds of enter¬ 
 prise as the price of success, and their claim to prosperity. 
 
 Internal commerce is not what of right it ought to be. Our increasing 
 population, and the superabundant productions of our land, push it for¬ 
 ward to a state of partial prosperity. But it bears no just proportion to the 
 advance of internal improvements, and what the attendant circumstances 
 of the country invited it to become. Providence has showered down 
 blessings upon us. We have been spared from the great scourges of 
 mankind ; either war, pestilence, or famine. Yet our country is despond¬ 
 ing and suffering under embarrassments. 
 
 Agriculture is abundant, but has no market! Manufactures withering, 
 and at a stand. Labour depressed. This strong arm of supply and de¬ 
 fence is not employed and protected as it should be. The Revenue is di¬ 
 minishing, the Treasury exhausted. The Currency deranged, and credit 
 destroyed. Foreign commerce is growing on us at an, alarming extent. 
 
 Is it not time that we should arouse the attention of the Government to 
 these facts, and warn it of our condition? 
 
 The causes leading to such disastrous results, are worthy mature con¬ 
 sideration. We cut the following article from a city paper, we believe 
 from the Journal of Commerce of September : 
 
 « The Revenue law will go into operation on the 1st proximo. It may 
 produce changes in the state of our trade, of which the extent cannot yet 
 be foreseen. At present, our trade with the Continent of Europe, and with 
 France particularly, is in a condition which, it would seem, unwise legis¬ 
 lation can alone have brought about It is almost altogether in the hands 
 of foreigners. Of the packet-ships recently arrived from France, with very 
 valuable cargoes, four-fifths of these, certainly, and perhaps nine-tenths , 
 were for foreign account, or consigned to foreign houses here. With the 
 intelligence, industry, and enterprise of the American merchant, it is quite 
 impossible that any equal competition should have shut him out so com¬ 
 pletely from the French trade ; and therefore it is, we say, that unwise le¬ 
 gislation must be at the bottom of it. 
 
 “ In anticipation of the new duties on silks and other merchandise, the 
 produce of France, now free, very large assortments have arrived and are 
 
5 
 
 arriving. So that the calculation of revenue from this source will, for the 
 first portion of the current fiscal year, be disappointed, the country being 
 stocked with free goods.” 
 
 Yes, fellow-citizens, “unwise legislation” has crippled the energies and 
 the resources of the country. “ Our trade is in a condition which unwise 
 legislation can alone have brought about Nine-tenths of the importations 
 from France are on foreign account The same may be said as to importa¬ 
 tions from England, and from Germany. We are advocates for free trade. 
 We have opened our ports to the productions of foreign countries. We 
 receive foreigners with open arms, and extend to them all our civil rights 
 and privileges, but are not willing to become their inferiors in this land of 
 our birth. This monopoly by them of our foreign trade, and of importa¬ 
 tions, must have a cause. If it does not spring from, it is sanctioned and 
 tolerated by, our own “ unwise legislation.” It is high time our govern¬ 
 ment placed us on a footing of equality with other nations. Foreign goods 
 are imported on foreign account, accompanied by a foreign agent, or con¬ 
 signed to one previously stationed here, to hold possession of the goods — 
 to sell them — draw the specie, and remit the proceeds by the return packet. 
 Our regular merchants pay taxes and rents, and may look from their stores 
 to witness what they severely feel, the facilities afforded to this process 
 of foreign trade. The American importing houses have been superseded, 
 and but few of them remain. This change in the course of the importing 
 trade, is declared by foreigners to be necessary, as a consequence of our 
 bad currency and loss of credit. The diminution of our imports at the pre¬ 
 sent time, compared with our exports, comes not from any salutary meas¬ 
 ures, adopted by our government, but arises from our former great indebt¬ 
 edness, and the present doubtful safety for further liabilities. The most 
 visionary nullifier, could not ask a better illustration of the effects of our 
 late public measures, than these facts present. 
 
 If our government did not before know, it was informed by despatches 
 from the American Minister, General Cass, Oct, 28, 1839 — 
 
 “ That in 1836, France imported into the United States, value, 238 mil¬ 
 lions of francs. She received as imports from the United States, value, 
 110 millions of francs.” The balance paid in specie. 
 
 Again: 
 
 “All the expoitations from France to the United States, are manufac¬ 
 tured articles; none of them giving employment to American manufac¬ 
 turers. The articles imported into France from the United States, are in 
 their natural state,” — (raw materials.) 
 
 A g u\v: 
 
 “ Two-thirds of all the importations introduced from France into the 
 United States, are free of duty. Not one article imported into France from 
 the United States is exempted from duty. The great American staple, 
 cotton^ imported into France, pays a duty of between four and five per cent 
 upon its value more than Egyptian cotton, thus far operating as a bounty 
 in favour of the latter. Upon silks imported into the United States from 
 
u 
 
 countries east of the Cape of Good Hope, a duty of ten per cent, is levied, 
 while French silks are free of duty : a regulation which has driven the 
 India and China silks from the American markets, and which operates as a 
 bounty upon the introduction of French (and English) silks; a product 
 constituting almost one half in value of the amount of the importations of 
 
 the United States from France.” . 
 
 This despatch added-“It will be useless to pursue the matter m any 
 other way, than by announcing to the French government at once, a deter¬ 
 mination to render the commercial intercourse between the nations, per - 
 fectly reciprocal , by countervailing regulations, and of adopting those without 
 delay; if the concession demanded is not immediately made. 
 
 In a despatch of General Cass to our government, February Id, 1«4U, it 
 is said * “ We have no reason to expect any favourable change in the sys¬ 
 tem of tobacco admininistration in France, by which our tobacco can be 
 admitted upon anything like a principle of reciprocity, unless we are pre¬ 
 pared to change our mode of application; and to enforce, by our own 
 laws, that equality of which we are deprived. I have endeavoured to 
 give a general view of the commercial relations existing between France 
 and the United States, and to point out the inequality which exists — 
 an inequality resulting from the laws of France, and which is so great, 
 that our exportations to that country do not exceed one half of our im¬ 
 portations, and the balance must be remitted in specie.” 
 
 Again: —“The history of modern trade scarcely exhibits and instance 
 of greater inequality, than the commercial intercourse which now exists 
 between the United States and France. 
 
 It may be asked, what our government did, upon despatches containing 
 such extraordinary and momentous facts? The answer must be, noth¬ 
 ing ! ! The long and yet continued duty of 10 per cent, on China silks, as 
 a bounty upon the importation of French and English silks, is matter for 
 curious and interesting inquiry. 
 
 As the greater portion of our commercial business is with England we 
 must proceed more particularly to speak of her; reminding you, that our 
 commercial business and regulations with France and Germany, are much 
 upon the same disadvantageous condition as with England. She is the 
 principal cause of the present inequality of our commercial intercourse with 
 the nations of Europe. She is a sea-girt isle, and justly considered the gem 
 of the ocean. Her unrivalled position and her attention and superior com¬ 
 mercial policy, has enabled her to hold her own trade; and she is busied to 
 gain and supplant ours. We were once her colonies ; but by the strength 
 of our arms, and the wisdom and virtue of a Washington, we freed our¬ 
 selves. She has since gone on colonizing the world by her commercial re¬ 
 gulations ; and by our own “ unwise legislation,” she has again reduced us 
 almost to a colonial condition. Her measures have been, her corn-laws , 
 (to name them is enough ;) her colonial system, and discriminating duties, 
 to encourage her own commerce and depress that of other countries. All 
 these proceedings have been left years past, by our government unresisted 
 
7 
 
 and without measures of retaliation. We have with her a treaty of reci¬ 
 procal navigation ; under which she has flooded us with her manufactures J 
 and in return, takes little or nothing from us: she drains us of our specie and 
 even of that obtained by other sources of trade; and yet prohibits, by rate 
 of duties, every article we can send her in return, but cotton. Political 
 quacks may put plans of finance and currency upon paper as often as they 
 please, and call them Bank, Sub-Treasury, or any other name of delusion* 
 No bank or currency can stand: there is no commercial condition of a country 
 which can be sound and healthy , “ unless we render the commercial intercourse 
 between the two nations equal, by countervailing regulations” 
 
 Let the treatment of American tobacco in the markets of Europe il¬ 
 lustrate the condition of our trade in England, and which is also in sub¬ 
 stance the same with France and Germany. The duty in England on leaf 
 tobacco, is 3s. sterling per pound, which is about thirteen hundred per 
 cent, on the cost Tobacco stemmed and pressed in casks, is called 
 “ manufactured,” and the duty is 9s. sterling, or about two thousand 
 per cent on the cost This whole subject of tobacco will be best dis¬ 
 posed of by a reference to a “ Report on the regulation , etc . etc . of for¬ 
 eign countries on tobacco , by Joshua Dodge, late Special Agent of the 
 United States of America to Germany, March 16, 1840.” The Report 
 concludes with these astounding remarks : 
 
 « Europe levies a revenue of about $30,000,000, on about 100,000 hogs¬ 
 heads of American tobacco, which cost in the United States about $7,000,000.” 
 « England alone levies about $17,275,700, on about 18,000 hogsheads of our 
 tobacco, in the form of duties, excise, licenses, etc.; being equal to about two- 
 thirds of the expenses of their navy; and about equal to the whole expenses of 
 the government of the United States of America .” 
 
 Look at the article of rice . The cost being $3,25 per cwt., the duty is 
 15s. sterling ; and more than the value of the article. This is to encourage 
 the rice of their East India possessions. 
 
 With all due deference to nullification, the American Institute main¬ 
 tains, that the southern planters, who have tobacco or rice lands, are entitled 
 to the full benefit of their production, and ought to be protected in a mar¬ 
 ket ; and the full benefit of their crops ought not, by the neglect of our 
 government, to be given over, for such enormous profits, to foreigners. 
 
 Flour is met by prohibitory duties. The article of salted pork is subject 
 to a duty of six dollars per barrel; and fresh pork is prohibited; to aid their 
 agriculture. Lumber is subject to a duty of prohibition, in American ves¬ 
 sels, in order to support their shipping interest Shingles are charged with 
 a duty of $3,25, in American vessels; and, in many cases, trading vessels 
 are admitted from their own ports and colonies nearly duty free, and thus 
 breaking up the fruits of the voyage. 
 
 In addition to such numerous facts, England is now busy endeavouring 
 to render herself independent of us soon, in the article of cotton. She will 
 soon be enabled to place it on the footing of tobacco. She has, about two 
 years since, purchased our cotton gins, and hired men from this country 
 

 V 
 
 ; i 
 
 
 8 
 
 upon liberal salaries, to go out to India, to teach the natives how to ra.se 
 and produce cotton. She sent out for this purpose, at one tune, 105 bar¬ 
 rels of cotton seed, obtained from this country, with steam engines and other 
 necessary implements; she is also encouraging its gi o\\ th an pro 
 in E-ypt, in Brazil, and in Texas. The climate and so.l of these coun¬ 
 tries,"are congenial to the production of cotton; and Great Britain is teach- 
 ing them the art. Colombia, in South America, has sent to this city, orders 
 for Sea Island cotton-seed ; in hopes to rival South Carolina in that un¬ 
 equalled production of the world. The beginning results of these measures 
 already appear in the late British price currents ; we see it stated that 
 70,000 bales of cotton had arrived from India, and had lessened the price 
 of cotton in the market. Another British price current states: 
 
 «Imports of American cotton. ^92,230 
 
 Last year,. 1 ’ 116 ’ 202 
 
 Decrease — bales, . • • 323,972. 
 
 The course of trade and commercial regulations, is the cause of our 
 great indebtedness abroad; of the balances of trade, almost uniformly 
 against us, and the consequent continued drafts upon our specie. I took 
 from a city print, the last of September, this notice : 
 
 “ The specie shipped in masses, is as follows: — 
 Gladiator, for London, .... 
 Louis Phillippe, for Havre, 
 
 Great Western, for Bristol, 
 
 Akbar, for Canton, via Liverpool, 
 
 $230,000 
 
 346,000 
 
 271,340 
 
 250,000 
 
 $1,097,340.” 
 
 Although this shipment was for a single week, it may, perhaps, be sub¬ 
 stantially correct to consider the drafts on us for specie, as equal to one 
 million of dollars per month, and exhausting the specie we derive from 
 other sources of trade. It is now ascertained that since July, seven mil¬ 
 lions of specie have been sent out to France and England, and almost en¬ 
 tirely for untaxed 1 uxuries. No currency, or banks , or agriculture, or manuf ic- 
 tures, can stand up and prosper, under such a condition of commerce . 
 
 Among the effects of those measures, are — the derangement of com¬ 
 merce ; the drawing away specie ; the depression of internal commerce ; 
 the destruction of labour ; and, above all, the alarming and ruinous increase 
 of American commerce, in foreign vessels. 
 
 The Edinburgh Review, for July, 1840, endeavouring to show the inter¬ 
 ests which would be sacrificed in a war with the United States, says: 
 
 « On the average of the last four years, the proportion which the ton¬ 
 nage of ships from the United States, entering the ports of the United King¬ 
 dom, bore to the tonnage of our whole trade inwards, (including coasters,) 
 was as one to nine and a half. And the corresponding amount for the United 
 States, shows that the tonnage employed in the trade with the United 
 Kingdom, is no less than one fourth of ihe whole tonnage employed in the 
 foreign commerce of the Union” 
 
 
 r 
 
9 
 
 The documents sent to Congross on 2d March, 1841, show the tonnage 
 and vessels which entered the United States in 1840: 
 
 “American vessels, No. . 7,211. Ton. , 1,576,946 
 
 Foreign “ “ . 571. « . 712,363.” 
 
 Thus showing, one-third of the American commerce, in number of ves¬ 
 sels and tonnage, is in foreign bottoms ; and principally under the British 
 flag. This is by reason of the discrimination and advantages of a mar¬ 
 ket, given by other governments against our commerce and carrying trade. 
 British vessels visit, with facilities, our Eastern ports, and take our pro¬ 
 duce by way of Halifax and Brunswick, to foreign markets, which are 
 closed, by high duties, against American vessels. It is thus that five-sixths 
 of the commerce of Maine is in British vessels; as is also two-thirds of 
 the commerce of Georgia. The table of the tonnage of that State is: 
 
 “ American,. 23,204 
 
 British,.. 41,721.” 
 
 In April last, I went up the Savannah river. There were then eleven 
 large English ships lading with Georgia timber. No American vessel. 
 
 If such an undue proportion of our commerce, carried on in foreign ves¬ 
 sels, to the exclusion of the American flag, is beneficial either to the parti¬ 
 cular States, or to the nation; the Chesapeake, the Delaware, and the 
 Hudson, ought to be opened to a participation of the benefits. But if not, 
 the subject has long required the action of Congress, and calls for a just 
 protection to our own carrying trade. 
 
 The commerce and navigation on the Western Lakes, exhibit a case 
 yet more extraordinary: 
 
 “ Lake Ontario. 
 
 
 Vowels. 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 American, 
 
 f , 
 
 599 
 
 63,517 
 
 British, ^ 
 
 Lake Erie. 
 
 * 
 
 1,011 
 
 215,080 
 
 Detroit — American, . 
 
 
 7 
 
 503 
 
 “ British, 
 
 . 
 
 155 
 
 12,000.” 
 
 Buffalo , Cleaveland, and other places, seem to be omitted; and the tables 
 are too imperfect to state the commerce of the Upper Lakes. It is, how¬ 
 ever, matter of public report, that some of the principal flouring mills at 
 Oswego, and other places, are grinding on Canadian account. One line of 
 transportation had eighteen schooners, busily employed in carrying flour to 
 Kingston. It is there branded, as Canadian manufacture, and passed down 
 the St. Lawrence, to be carried in British ships to a foreign and rival mar¬ 
 ket. At Cleaveland , it is known, there are several Canadian houses, and 
 houses with Canadian partners, engaged in the jyroduce brought by the 
 Ohio Canal Their operations are so extensive, that many of them have 
 steam engines to unload from canal boats, and to reship in vessels for King¬ 
 ston. One among the many letters, appearing in the public prints, will best 
 tell the course of this British business in American produce, and from which 
 American vessels are excluded, by discriminative duties: 
 
 2 
 
 a 
 
77 
 
 a 
 
 10 
 
 [Extract of a letter.] 
 
 “CleavALAND, September 26,1841. 
 
 * IT. O# jLjYCllUJg . 1 m 
 
 Kingston, at a fraction below the previous sales. 
 
 The store-houses in Kingston are not large enough, and shantees are 
 built to hold the American produce, sent there to be reshipped and compete 
 with our vessels and commerce in foreign markets. Much of the produce 
 of eleven States and Territories, bordering on the Lakes and western 
 waters, is thus diverted and sent down the St. Lawrence, checking the free 
 commerce of this city and country, and goes to aggrandize our naval and 
 commercial rival. In vain did Perry fight, with matchless valour, for the 
 mastery of the Lakes. The one ship which “headed off,” from the line 
 of battle, and would not join in the fierce fight, must have been gifted with 
 second-sight, and foresaw the inutility of conquering in war, that mastery 
 which was so soon, and so ingloriously, to be surrendered in time of peace. 
 
 The tolls on the Welland Canal suddenly rose from £12,000 to £50,000 
 sterling; and the tolls and freight of the New-York Canals fell a correspond¬ 
 ing amount, after the treatv with England, which sacrificed to us the West 
 India trade. That Canal aided to divert much of the trade of the Upper 
 Lakes; and her commercial regulations have secured to England also, the 
 transportation and market of this portion of American produce. 
 
 It is one of the commercial regulations of England, that American pro¬ 
 duce, arriving at a port of her colony, is naturalized as Colonial produce, 
 and may be re-shipped in British vessels to the mother country, or to any 
 other colony, or foreign port; while a like voyage is prohibited to an Amer¬ 
 ican vessel. It is thus that a large portion of the produce of the States, 
 bordering on the Lakes, on being sent across, to any British settlement, be¬ 
 comes naturalized ; and is sent, by the way of the St. Lawrence, to foreign 
 markets, in British vesselsthus encouraging ship-building, and the 
 shipping interest of England, and furnishing an effectual nursery for British 
 seamen. It explains why five-sixths of the commerce of Maine, and two- 
 thirds of that of Georgia, and now nearly one-third of the commerce of the 
 United States, is carried on, and increasing, in British vessels. It tells this 
 country, why her labourers and mechanics are unemployed; why the 
 amount of New-York ship-building is lessening yearly ; why many of those 
 she has, are unemployed, and her general prosperity is unequal to the advan¬ 
 tages of her situation and enterprise. Add to these circumstances the coun¬ 
 tervailing and prohibitory duties of England against the agriculture and the 
 commerce of this nation, all disregarded and supinely acquiesced in, by our 
 own government, and the present depressed and disastrous condition of the 
 currency and the country cannot be misunderstood. The balances of trade 
 
 ■ 
 
11 
 
 against us the last six years, is nearly three hundred millions of dollars, 
 or articles which could have been manufactured in this country ; to say 
 nothing of the two hundred millions of State stocks sold in Europe in the 
 same time. How mysterious it is that our finances and currency are de¬ 
 ranged, and business depressed !!! Congress and our Government have 
 been tinkering at the system of banks, while they shrink with dread from 
 looking at the real causes. 
 
 The injurious effects of these measures on New-York alone, are worthy 
 of consideration. In 1835, the freight which came to tide-water, on the 
 New-York Canals, was 753,191 tons, and required over 1,400 vessels, of 500 
 tons each, to transport it to this city and to a foreign market. It gave life and 
 activity to our towns and cities, by a continued employment and an in¬ 
 creasing demand for labour, materials, and mechanic skill; and formed an 
 important item in our domestic and foreign commerce. The tolls, business, 
 and freight on our canals have been greatly lessened by this diverted trade- 
 The diminution exceeds in amount the growth and increasing production of 
 the West. 
 
 The statistics of ship-building, for 1840: 
 
 “ Maine, there were built, 
 
 Vessels. # 
 
 . . 181. 
 
 Ton9 
 
 Massachusetts,. 
 
 . .113. 
 
 
 New Jersey,. 
 
 
 
 Maryland,. 
 
 . .Ill . 
 
 
 New York, ......... 
 
 
 
 Thus showing the comparative condition of your commercial emporium. 
 It has been diminishing in amount for the last several years. How could 
 it be otherwise, under the commercial regulations of other governments, 
 and almost the abandonment of our own ? In common with the nation, it 
 has claims for relief and protection in its just rights and pursuits. 
 
 Spain deems it correct and wise, to follow illustrious precedents. She too 
 naturalizes the produce of other countries, in order to command its carrying 
 trade in her own vessels. Our cotton is prohibited going to Spain in Ame¬ 
 rican vessels; while, if sent to her colony of Cuba, it is there naturalized, 
 and then shipped in Spanish vessels to the mother country, or a foreign 
 market A considerable commerce of this kind is now carried on from Ha- 
 vanna; to the loss of New Orleans and to American vessels. Our government 
 yields to all this. It ought to support our trade and commerce, or with¬ 
 draw like the Chinese, and be ready in our turn, to be murdered, because 
 we will not eat opium. 
 
 The cotton of Texas and the Red River would come to New Orleans, as 
 its port of business, deposit, and shipment for market; but a duty amount¬ 
 ing to prohibition against foreign cotton ; as a protection of this staple of 
 the Southern States (and which oppose its extention to the staples of other 
 states,) compels it to turn aside into the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans 
 suffers the loss of its business, and American vessels are deprived of its 
 carrying trade. 
 
 Much is said about free trade. England sends books on Political Econ 
 
12 
 
 compelled it to resume duties for the sake of revenue. 
 
 ln P lS34 by the official statement to Parliament, the quantity 01 leaf to. 
 
 to the price of Virginia and Kentucky tobacco in the London market, (in 
 bond,) according to the same author, in 1834. 
 
 The duty levied on Pot and Pearl Ashes imported into Great Britain 
 from the United States, is 6s. sterling, or $1,44 per cwl.; while from British 
 Colonies ashes are admitted free of duty. The effect of this has been to 
 drive the trade in ashes from the northern states to Montreal and Quebec, 
 whence they are carried to England in British vessels. Thus in 1834 the 
 imports of ashes from the British Colonies, (Canada, &c,) were 84,937 cwl. 
 and onlv one cwl. from the United States. 
 
 In 1838, England raised, by duties levied on Cotton from the United 
 States, $2,434,949, while she prohibits, or burthens with heavy duties, every 
 article of our agricultural produce. Foreigners, and agents for foreign bu¬ 
 siness, may well huzza!! for such a Free Trade. \t is according to 
 the English book. Will any person with American feelings join in such a 
 
 clamour] 
 
 It is not true that the American Institute , is an advocate for a High 1 a- 
 kiff. It maintains equality and a perfect reciprocity in trade. It proposes 
 to offer to other governments, free trade, equality and reciprocity. Our bu¬ 
 siness is to offer to England and to France to come to some agreement, for 
 a just and equal trade ; to take our tobacco and rice on equal terms ; to 
 make American productions free, and reciprocal: and if this is refused, to 
 adopt countervailing regulations, as a defence against their unjust measures; 
 and to put on their broadcloths, silks, and manufactures, the like duties 
 they put on tobacco and the agriculture of our country. Their aggres¬ 
 sions, to be our rule of resistance. 
 
 It is the object and wish of America, to walk in the paths of peace. Give 
 a clear deck, or an open field, and she will ask no favours of the world. But 
 with all our keen sagacity, and what with politics and president-making, 
 our country is not going in advance, as she ought, with all her natural 
 advantages. With keen and vigorous governments abroad, careful of their 
 interests; and with party rulers here at home, intent only on their places and 
 party discipline, it is no matter for wonder that currency is deranged, com¬ 
 merce depressed, and, in short, t all the concerns of the country embar¬ 
 rassed. 
 
 These things explain why, among other things, our commercial marine 
 is languishing. Strife may come and find our marine deranged and our 
 hardy seamen driven to other pursuits, and one half of the trade of our 
 
 Cl 
 
13 
 
 country in possession of foreigners. War may come, and we may blow the 
 trumpet, and call for these naval heroes in the hour of need, to “ hold their 
 steady march upon the mountain wave,” and they may not be within our 
 call; and all this too, while it is the declared policy of our country to en¬ 
 courage navigation; and especially long voyages, as a nursery for sea¬ 
 men. For this object a bounty is paid on the fisheries ; and drawbacks al¬ 
 lowed on the re-exportation of foreign articles. The amount does not ap¬ 
 pear in the table, but is believed to be nearly equal to one million of dollars. 
 
 In the face of such facts, the last revenue bill has surrendered the China 
 trade to British shipping !! Tea from China, was before, and has been a 
 long time, duty free, in American vessels; and ten per cent duty if in for¬ 
 eign vessels. In the last revenue bill this little discriminating duty of 10 
 per cent, is repealed, and it enacts, that tea shall be duty free,« from China,” 
 or “ any other place.” This must be in favour of British shipping; and 
 in compliment to a duty of two thousand per cent, on our tobacco, and du¬ 
 ties operating as a prohibition against rice, flour, and the productions of our 
 agriculture, unless diverted to those channels, giving the carrying trade to 
 British vessels. The old stale teas of British stores, are now to be sent to 
 this country in British vessels, dutyfree. * ✓ 
 
 While we gave to France a free trade in her silks, wines, and luxuries, 
 as a reward for the embarrassments inflicted by her, on our commerce and 
 agriculture, we have yet continued the duty of 10 per cent, on silks from 
 beyond the Cape of Good Hope, which operates as a tax on us, and as a 
 bounty on the silks of France and England. 
 
 With the protecting duty long since allowed on New Orleans sugar, a 
 bounty was given, in the nature of a drawback on the importation, refining, 
 and exportation of foreign sugars. When the duty was diminished, the 
 bounty remained unregarded. This omission did not offend nullification, as 
 it only greatly increased the exports of Cuba, created a few millionaire 
 refiners in this city and in Boston ; and presented the rare circumstance 
 of a bounty paid by this country for supplying Russia with West India 
 sugar ! — The last Congress, in mercy to the empty treasury, repealed this 
 bounty, so far, as to be only equal to the duty paid. Such a state of things 
 could not have been the intention of any Congress or any administration; 
 but engaged and engrossed as they are in president-making, and in squab¬ 
 bles of party politics, it is only their heedless legislation. They have not 
 had time to insist on equality and reciprocity in trade, and take the proper 
 retaliatory measures against the injurious commercial regulations of other 
 governments. In olden times the messages of our Presidents dwelt on the 
 support and condition of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. In lat¬ 
 ter years, these subjects are deemed too unessential to gain admittance into 
 such public documents. 
 
 We do not speak of any of these things as partisans. The American In¬ 
 stitute belongs to no party. It censures all parties alike. Party spirit and 
 the discipline of party, is the bane of our land, and the curse of our country. 
 The Institute calls for support to our agriculture, commerce* and man- 
 

 14 
 
 ufactures, and to procure such legislation as will put us on an equality with 
 other nations in all our commercial pursuits. 
 
 There is no defect in our institutions, or in the character of our people, 
 which occasions the present depression of our concerns, foreign and do¬ 
 mestic. We stand elevated in the eyes of the world for capacity to produce. 
 
 If Russia wishes to build a vessel, she sends to New-York for one as a model 
 When she needs an imperial steam frigate, New-York is emp oye o ui 
 it. Spain also sends to New-York for steam-vessels of war. Is a cotton 
 factory or a steam sugar-mill wanted, America furnishes it. Does Prussia 
 need a flouring-mill, she sends to Baltimore for machinery. An American 
 is selected as engineer, while Dantzic sends her citizens to to 
 
 learn the art of grinding wheat. Austria sends to Philadelphia for loco, 
 motives. The Grand Sultan sent here for our Eckford to instruct them in 
 ship-building, and for our Porter, to impart capacity and valour for their de. 
 fence. When Egypt wakes up from her Pharaoh sleep and finds that the 
 hands of her subjects and her bullock-mills are not the most perfect m the 
 world for digging canals, she too sends for tools and steam-engines. When 
 Texas wants machinery, she sends to Lowell and Patterson; and Eng an 
 — even England herself sends to Philadelphia for locomotives, for she can 
 build nothing to equal them. It is only in our own country, that American 
 genius and enterprise are not sustained and honoured. 
 
 Were there vouchsafed to us this free trade, or reciprocity which we ask, 
 American productions, would meet the eye of the traveller in every country 
 and clime. Even now an American peace-maker, built by the inventor, 
 frowns from the ramparts of Constantinople. In saying a peace-maker, I do 
 not mean a Quaker ; their chaste and beautiful principles ill accord with 
 this degenerate age. I refer to Cochran’s repeating gun, which must soon 
 come into general use. While we have such weapons to defend us, we 
 need not fear to assert boldly our claim to reciprocity and free trade. This 
 is not the only instance in which members of the Institute have been called 
 abroad to superintend the building of inventions, the offspring of their own 
 minds, and which wil 1 long stand as monuments of American skill. 
 
 Having, perhaps, hereafter no better opportunity to express the deep obli¬ 
 gations which the American Institute feels under to the U, S. Naval officers 
 on this station, I will improve it by saying that we should be most happy 
 to reciprocate, and have looked about us for the means of so doing. 
 
 We can only offer you, gentlemen, in return our sincere thanks, and the 
 beautiful nautical instruments which are now before you, manufactured by 
 members of this Institute, which, by their near approach to perfection, will 
 give you greater confidence in crossing the mighty waters; and should 
 these fail which we offer you with one hand, we hold in our other a Francis 
 Life Boat to succour and to save in the last extremity. 
 
 as- The President then announced the delivery of the premiums, commented upon various 
 specimens and individual manufactures; and the affairs of the exibition closed with music 
 from the Naval Band. 
 
 Cl 
 
15 
 
 U* The memorable “ armed neutrality ” of the North, under the auspices 
 of the Empress Catharine, formed for the defence of “FREE TRADE,” 
 was overthrown in the wreck of the French Revolution. 
 
 “ Russia was prosperous in 1816, ’17, ’18, and T9; but, fascinated with the 
 theories of Adam Smith and J. B. Say, she adopted a new tariffin 1818, on 
 the delusive plan of letting trade regulate itself* In this tariff she abro¬ 
 gated her prohibitions, and lowered her duties. The country was imme¬ 
 diately deluged with foreign goods, and in due course, drained of its specie, 
 as we have been in past years, to pay for the surplus of those imports, which 
 far exceeded its exports. The most disastrous consequences took place. 
 Circulation was stopped. Distress and wretchedness overspread the land. 
 The manufacturers, as was the case in this country, first fell victims to this 
 mistaken policy. Agriculture next felt the shock ; and finally, bankruptcy 
 swept away a large proportion of those commercial houses whose cupidity 
 had paved the way for the misery of their country.” 
 
 The following statement of the sufferings of the country is taken from 
 
 a circular of the Emperor of Russia, signed by Count Nesselrode : _ 
 
 (published 1827:) 
 
 “To produce happy effects, the principles of commercial freedom must 
 be generally adopted. The state which OdoptSi whilst others reject them, must 
 condemn its own industry and commerce to pay a ruinous tribute to those of 
 other nations. J 
 
 “ From a circulation exempt from restraint, and the facility afforded by 
 reciprocal exchanges, almost all the governments at first resolved to seek 
 the means of repairing the evil which Europe had been doomed to suffer; 
 but experience, and more correct calculationsi because they were made from cer¬ 
 tain data, and upon the results already known, of the peace that had just taken 
 place, forced them soon to adhere to the prohibitory system. 
 
 “ England preserved hers . Austria remained faithful to the rule she had 
 laid down, to guard herself against the rivalship of foreign industry. France, 
 with the same views, adopted the most rigorous measures of precaution. And 
 Prusssia published a new tariff in October last , which proves that she found 
 it impossible not to follono the example of the rest of Europe. 
 
 “ In proportion as the prohibitory system is extended and rendered per¬ 
 fect in other countries, that state which pursues the contrary 'system makes 
 from day to day sacrifices more extensive and more considerable. * * * It 
 
 offers a continual encouragement to the manufactures of other countries _ 
 
 and its own manufactures perish in (he struggle,, which they are as yet 
 unable to maintain. 
 
 “ It is with the most lively feelings of regret we acknowledge it is our 
 own proper experience which enables us to trace this picture. The evils 
 which it. details, have been realized in Russia and Poland since the con¬ 
 clusion of the act of the 7-19 of December , 1818* AGRICULTURE 
 WITHOUT A MARKET, INDUSTRY WITHOUT PROTECTION, 
 LANGUISH AND DECLINE. SPECIE IS EXPORTED, AND 
 THE MOST SOLID COMMERCIAL HOUSES ARE SHAKEN. 
 The public prosperity would soon feel the wound inflicted on private 
 fortunes, if new regulations did not promptly change the actual state of 
 affairs. 
 
 “ Events have proved that our AGRICULTURE and our COMMERCE, 
 as well as our MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY, are not only paralyzed, 
 BUT BROUGHT TO THE BRINK OF RUIN.” 
 
 * Tho tariff did not go into operation till 1820. 
 
 ■ 
 

 
 
 DISCOURSE, 
 
 ON 
 
 THE OBJECTS AND IMPORTANCE 
 
 THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 PROMOTION OF SCIENCE, 
 
 ESTABLISHED AT WASHINGTON, 1840, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 BY JOEL R. POINSETT, 
 
 SECRETARY OF WAR AND SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTION. 
 
 JBajSfjington: 
 
 P. FORCE, PRINTER 
 
 1841 . 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Washington, January 5, 1841. 
 
 Sir: The undersigned Committee, appointed to make arrangements for 
 the Annual Meeting of the National Institution for the Promotion of Sci¬ 
 ence, and the delivery of an Address upon the occasion, in common with the 
 large and highly respectable auditory who attended the delivery of your Dis¬ 
 course, on the 4th instant, have received the highest gratification from the 
 able manner in which the duty assigned to you by the Society was performed. 
 
 Believing that no better mode of making known the objects of this Insti¬ 
 tution can be adopted than by the publication of your excellent Discourse, we 
 pray that you will yield to our wish, by placing it at the disposal of the Insti¬ 
 tution for that purpose. 
 
 In expressing to you the highly intellectual gratification we derived from 
 the delivery of your Address, we take the occasion to offer to you, in behalf 
 of the Society and for ourselves, our warmest thanks for the service which, 
 on this occasion, you have so ably rendered to the interests of the Institution. 
 
 We are, Sir, with great respect, your obedient servants, 
 
 ALEX. MACOMB, ROB’T LAWRENCE, 
 
 N. TOWSON, JNO. M. WYSE, 
 
 W. W. SEATON, JNO. T. COCHRANE. 
 
 PETER FORCE, 
 
 To Hon. Joel R. Poinsett. 
 
 Washington, January 6, 1841. 
 
 Gentlemen : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your commu¬ 
 nication of the 5th instant, requesting a copy of the Discourse delivered be¬ 
 fore the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, on its annual 
 meeting. 
 
 In acceding to your request, which I do very cheerfully, I beg leave to ex¬ 
 press my grateful acknowledgments for the indulgent and very flattering 
 terms in which it is conveyed, and to assure you, that it will be a source or 
 great gratification to me to have, in any manner, contributed to the success 
 of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science. 
 
 I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 Gen. A. Macomb, 
 Gen. N. Towson, 
 W- W. Seaton, 
 Peter Force, 
 
 J. R. POINSETT. 
 
 Robert Lawrence, 
 
 John M. Wyse, 
 
 John T. Cochrane, Esqs., 
 
 Committee. 
 
u 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 The duty assigned me on this occasion is of such a 
 character that I regret it has not devolved on some one 
 more capable of performing it. To do justice to the 
 subject requires more knowledge than I possess, and 
 more leisure than I now enjoy; and I feel constrained 
 to solicit your indulgence, while I explain the origin of 
 the Institution for the Promotion of Science and the 
 Useful Arts, and attempt to describe, as plainly and 
 briefly as the subject will permit, its objects and im¬ 
 portance. 
 
 The lovers of science, literature, and the fine arts, 
 residing in this District, felt sensibly the absence of 
 those resources which are found elsewhere, and are 
 necessary for the attainment of knowledge. They were 
 mortified to perceive that the great advantages possessed 
 by the public authorities at Washington were neglect¬ 
 ed, and that, at the seat of Government of this great 
 nation, there existed fewer means than in any other city 
 of the Union of prosecuting those studies, which, while 
 they impart dignity and enjoyment to existence, lead to 
 the most useful practical results. They believed it to 
 be their duty to arouse the attention of Government to 
 these deficiencies, and, at all events, to address them- 
 
u 
 
 6 
 
 selves to the task of supplying them, as far as could be 
 done by their individual and combined exertions. For 
 these purposes they have formed an association, and 
 applied themselves to collect specimens of geology and 
 mineralogy, and other objects of natural history, and, 
 for the short period of its existence, the efforts of the 
 Institution have been eminently successful. They have 
 entered into correspondence with other learned societies, 
 and have been encouraged to proceed by their appro¬ 
 bation, and have profited by their generous coopera¬ 
 tion. They have invited the assistance of their fellow- 
 citizens in the most distant States and Territories, and 
 hope, by their aid, to collect documents and facts illus¬ 
 trative of the early history of our country, specimens of 
 its geology and of its mineral and vegetable produc¬ 
 tions, and, if not to preserve the animals and plants them¬ 
 selves, which are passing away before the progress of 
 settlement and cultivation, at least to perpetuate their 
 forms, and the memory of their existence. They hope 
 to be able to illustrate these subjects and others con¬ 
 nected with them by a series of gratuitous lectures, 
 and entertain a confident expectation that numbers, 
 whose duties compel them annually to assemble here, 
 will view with interest collections of the natural produc¬ 
 tions of America, drawn from every State and Terri¬ 
 tory in the Union, and, becoming sensible of their utility, 
 will contribute on their return to swell their amount, 
 and to spread throughout the country a taste for literary 
 and scientific pursuits. 
 
 The Institution for the Promotion of Science and the 
 Useful Arts, will, as its name indicates, embrace every 
 branch of knowledge ; and its members, believing such 
 
7 
 
 a combination essential to its success, have divided them¬ 
 selves into eight scientific classes, namely: Astronomy, 
 Geography, and Natural Philosophy; Natural History; 
 Geology and Mineralogy; Chemistry; the application 
 of Science to the useful Arts; Agriculture; American 
 History and Antiquities; and Literature and the Fine 
 Arts. It is of these branches of science, and of some 
 of their most important divisions, that it is my intention 
 to treat, and to endeavor to explain their effect upon the 
 physical, moral, and social condition of mankind. 
 
 During a long period the sciences were independent 
 of each other in their progress. It was essential that 
 facts should be discovered, carefully studied, well con¬ 
 sidered, analyzed, and classed, in order to obtain a 
 knowledge of their causes and first principles, and, by 
 that means, advance each science to a certain degree 
 before their points of contact, the mutual assistance they 
 afford, and the influence they exercise upon each other, 
 could be fully understood. It is especially since the 
 end of the last century that the progress of the human 
 mind, in the study of the sciences, has so wonderfully 
 developed their reciprocal relations—advantages due 
 altogether to the alliance of the synthetic and analytic 
 methods followed by Gallileo and his disciples, and 
 systematized by Bacon. Thus it is that chemistry and 
 natural philosophy have made'.such rapid progress. 
 They cannot move forward one without the other; and 
 they shed their light on physiology, on the arts and 
 manufactures, and on every branch of natural history. 
 
 Not only do the sciences mutually aid each other, 
 but the arts and sciences do so likewise. Some of the 
 arts depend for their execution upon an intimate ac- 
 
u 
 
 8 
 
 quaintance with the higher branches of science, if not 
 in the workman, at least in the person who directs his 
 operations; and there are important branches of science 
 which could make no progress, if the philosopher who 
 studies them had not found the arts sufficiently ad - 
 vanced to supply him with the instruments and appa¬ 
 ratus of which he stands in need. It is especially to 
 those arts which are susceptible of great perfection and 
 exactness in their execution, that the sciences are most 
 indebted. The brilliant discoveries in modern times 
 in electricity, magnetism, optics and astronomy, and in 
 chemistry, physiology, and natural history, would still 
 have been in their infancy, if the arts had not provided 
 the necessary astronomical and mathematical instru¬ 
 ments, and the thousand ingenious inventions which 
 furnish the philosophical apparatus of the scientific in¬ 
 vestigator. 
 
 The rapid and extraordinary improvements which 
 the world has experienced, during the last half century, 
 in commercial intercourse, in manufactures, and in all 
 that contributes to civilization and to the comforts and 
 conveniences of life, are due altogether to the application 
 of science to useful purposes, and of the useful arts to 
 the progress of science. In this march of intellect, so 
 far as it leads to practical results, our country has kept 
 pace with the most enlightened nations of the world, 
 and, in many instances, the application of scientific 
 principles to the most beneficial uses, has been effected 
 by the ingenuity and great powers of combination of 
 our own fellow-citizens. Every river valley, the shores 
 of every inland sea, and the coasts of every ocean, are 
 largely indebted for the advantages they now enjoy, to 
 
 I 
 
9 
 
 the success of bulton, in applying a well-known prin¬ 
 ciple to the great purposes of navigation. Whatever 
 may be the advantages which other nations have de¬ 
 rived from this use of steam, (and they are doubtless 
 great,) our own vast territories, watered as they are by 
 noble rivers and extensive inland seas, received from it 
 an impulse which advanced them centuries on their 
 road to wealth and power. Labor-saving machinery, 
 invented by our countrymen, is not only profitably em¬ 
 ployed at home, but is to be found in almost all the 
 manufactories in Lurope. But while the merit of fer¬ 
 tile invention is accorded to us by all, we are reproached 
 for not cultivating the principles on which these inven¬ 
 tions themselves are based, and for neglecting some of 
 the most important branches of science. M. De Toc- 
 queville, who has so ably depicted our institutions, af¬ 
 fects to consider America as being still a province of 
 England, in this particular; and the absence of original 
 efforts in literature, philosophy, and the fine arts, in our 
 country, has led to the assertion, by others, that demo¬ 
 cracy is fatal to them ; and that where its spirit spreads, 
 they will take flight. Although these charges and as¬ 
 sertions are much exaggerated, they cannot be alto¬ 
 gether denied. It is, however, incorrect to attribute 
 this to democracy, which, so far from being inimical to 
 science, renders the mind independent in thought and 
 action—invigorating and fitting it for any pursuit. The 
 causes are to be found in the circumstances of the coun¬ 
 try, which compel men to enter early on the theatre of 
 life: there is little leisure in youth for the acquisi¬ 
 tion of the exact sciences, and for men of more ad¬ 
 vanced age, the opportunities and means are too rarely 
 b v 
 
u 
 
 10 
 
 presented for the successful prosecution of such studies. 
 The disposition is not wanting, and if we are behind 
 Europe in the practice and knowledge of astronomy, 
 geography, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and all the 
 branches of natural history, it is owing to the condition 
 of our country, which requires all her sons to labor, 
 and does not admit of a class of learned men of leisure ; 
 and in some measure, also, to the want ol such an In¬ 
 stitution as ours. For the success of these pursuits, a 
 central establishment is essential, where the student 
 from any part of our vast country, after passing through 
 the usual course at college, if destined for a learned 
 profession, may resort to receive instruction in the higher 
 branches of science, and where he will find instruments, 
 collections, books, and instructors, provided for his use, 
 by the munificence of individuals or the patronage of 
 his Government. And here I would remark, that some 
 of these branches of knowledge, and the highest among 
 them, cannot be cultivated and rendered extensively 
 useful without the aid of Government. Astronomical 
 observations, to be relied upon by the navigator, must 
 derive a character of authenticity from the Government 
 itself. Individuals may acquire a knowledge of the 
 science, and possess the best books and instruments, and 
 occupy themselves with this delightful pursuit: they 
 may become good observers and make accurate calcu¬ 
 lations, but without the stamp of authenticity, which a 
 Government alone can give them, navigators will not 
 repose confidence in their tables. An observatory to 
 be useful must be national; and it is a reproach to a 
 people, second to none in commercial enterprise, and 
 inferior to one only in the extent of their trade, to be 
 
11 
 
 altogether dependent upon the calculations of others 
 for the requisite tables to determine their position, and 
 to trace their path on the ocean—to be obliged to bor¬ 
 row that knowledge, without which our fleets and 
 trading vessels could not venture to lose sight of their 
 own shores. 
 
 This Institution attaches the greatest importance to 
 Astronomy. It stands in the first rank among the 
 sciences, and may, indeed, be termed the only perfect 
 science. It has contributed more than any other to the 
 development of human knowledge, carrying along in 
 its progress the physical and mathematical sciences, as 
 well as contributing to the advancement of the mechanic 
 arts, and, in this respect, acting as the pioneer of civili¬ 
 zation. The science of astronomy has swept from the 
 human mind the prejudices and terrors which were 
 formerly inspired by eclipses and the appearance of 
 comets; it has determined, with extraordinary preci¬ 
 sion, the duration of the day as an unit of time, and, 
 counting from thence, the duration of the seasons to 
 that of the solar year, and of the different revolutions 
 of the celestial bodies ; it furnishes to history the pe¬ 
 riods to regulate its calendar, and positive rules to fix 
 the epochs of its chronology. Possessing the most com¬ 
 plete knowledge of the dimensions of the solar system, 
 it has reached such accuracy that it can determine at 
 pleasure, and with perfect exactness, what has been the 
 state of the Heavens at a given period in past ages, and 
 what it will be in time to come. By this wonderful 
 knowledge, the celebrated astronomical ephemerides 
 are annually produced, by which the navigator finds the 
 movements of the celestial bodies calculated for him 
 
u 
 
 12 
 
 in anticipation, and by means of which he traces his 
 course in the heavens, and directs his bark with safety 
 towards the ocean’s vast and uniform horizon. 
 
 When we reflect on the high degree of perfection to 
 which astronomy has attained, the admirable theories 
 which direct its practice, the numerous methods of cal¬ 
 culation and observation it possesses, and the marvel¬ 
 lous coincidence which exists between the results of the 
 actual observation of phenomena with those announced 
 beforehand, by means of these theories and methods, we 
 are tempted to believe that this noble science has reach¬ 
 ed the utmost limit to which the genius of man can ele¬ 
 vate it. So far, however, is this from being true, that 
 at no period has the science been more vigorously pur¬ 
 sued ; at none were astronomers more numerous or 
 more actively employed; and never have they united, 
 in a higher degree, the power of genius with a profound 
 knowledge of physics and mathematics, combined with 
 ability in the use of the powerful instruments which the 
 mechanic arts have placed in their hands. 
 
 The perfection to which I have described astronomy 
 as having reached, relates only to the solar system—to 
 that restricted space in the heavens occupied by the 
 sun, the planets with their satellites, and the comets 
 which visit it at distant epochs. The solar system com¬ 
 poses the celestial universe peculiar to the inhabitants 
 of this world, and is but a point in the infinite space 
 filled with myriads of shining bodies, the desire to com¬ 
 prehend which is so much the more exciting and ardent, 
 as it elevates the mind to the contemplation of the di¬ 
 vine origin of all these wondrous works. Science is 
 now occupied with persevering ardor in this sublime 
 
 
13 
 
 study. It seeks to avail itself of the perfect astronomy 
 of the solar system to comprehend that of the whole 
 starry firmament, and, from the known dimensions of 
 the one, to measure the unknown dimensions of the 
 other, in the same manner as from the dimensions of 
 the terrestrial globe those of the solar system were dis¬ 
 covered. The researches on the parallax of the fixed 
 stars, which leads to a knowledge of their distance with 
 regard to us; the measure of their own movements, and 
 especially that of the motions of the solar system ; the 
 system of double and groups of stars, the mutual rela¬ 
 tions of which would seem to afford evidence of the 
 existence of other solar systems; the study of nebulae; 
 the changes which certain stars experience in the quan¬ 
 tity of light which emanates from them; why stars, 
 perfectly known and described in the astronomical cata¬ 
 logues, have disappeared from their places and been no 
 more seen, while others have appeared in other parts 
 of the heavens, where, if they had existed before, they 
 could not fail to have been discovered; finally, what is 
 the physical constitution of the universe, and w hat the 
 universal law which governs it, are the mighty subjects 
 now undergoing investigation—investigations which 
 can be rendered successful, only by constant and precise 
 observation of the phenomena of the heavens by means 
 of the most powerful and exact instruments, aided by 
 and kept on a level with the general progress of science 
 and the arts, so that astronomical observations, profiting 
 by an enlightened theory, may reach the highest pos¬ 
 sible degree of exactness. 
 
 The least civilized Governments have understood the 
 necessity of prosecuting these investigations. Observa- 
 
u 
 
 14 
 
 tions are making in every part of the world where hu¬ 
 man knowledge extends; and astronomy is fostered every 
 where with that liberality and even magnificence which 
 the grandeur and importance of the purpose demand. 
 The labors of the astronomers of the present age are 
 not sufficiently appreciated, because they are not seen 
 and generally understood. They work, in the silence 
 of the night, to produce results for future ages. It is 
 only by successive comparisons, made at far distant 
 epochs, of the state of the heavens, well observed and 
 described, that the laws which govern the celestial uni¬ 
 verse will appear, as the changes produced by those 
 law's operate on time and space. These labors will 
 form a basis, a term of comparison for the future, as the 
 labors of the ancients, although much more imperfect 
 and limited, have served as the means of comparison 
 for the astronomy of modern times. Less eclat, there¬ 
 fore, is awarded to this pursuit, and the public, dazzled 
 by the frequent and brilliant discoveries in other branches 
 of natural philosophy, does not do equal justice to those 
 of the astronomer. The reason is, that the time has not 
 yet arrived to bring to full light the fruits of their long 
 and patient vigils; but at no epoch of history has astro¬ 
 nomy, both theoretical and practical, counted among its 
 votaries so many illustrious men, as since the commence¬ 
 ment of the present century; at no period has the vault 
 of heaven been explored with so much genius, profound 
 knowledge, ability, and physical means, as at this day; 
 and never has been commenced a monument to the 
 glory of science and human intellect more sublime than 
 that of which astronomy is now laying the foundation. 
 Shall we not add one stone to this structure? Will we 
 
 - 
 
 ■ 
 
15 
 
 expose ourselves to be denied our just title of a moral, 
 religious, intelligent, and enlightened people, by refu¬ 
 sing to inscribe the United States of America among the 
 names of the civilized nations of the earth which will 
 be found engraved upon the columns of this magnifi¬ 
 cent temple ? Are we not a navigating and commer¬ 
 cial people ? Does not our flag float on every sea, and 
 visit every accessible region of the world ? And shall 
 we not have our national observatory, our astronomical 
 archives, and our celestial ephemeris? Shall we any 
 longer leave our navigators exposed to the disgrace of 
 acknowledging that, without the astronomical epheme- 
 rides published in Europe, they could not with safety 
 navigate distant seas ? I hope not. I believe it to be 
 only necessary to point out to the intelligent people of 
 this country the usefulness, not to say the necessity of 
 such an establishment, for them immediately to appre¬ 
 ciate the object, and, so far as the powers of the Go¬ 
 vernment extend, to furnish the means to carry it into 
 effect. I am aware that this has already been ably 
 done in a report on the proper application of the Smith- 
 son bequest, presented to Congress, at its last session, 
 by a gentleman with whom I am happy to be associ¬ 
 ated in promoting the progress of science. His long 
 continued efforts to establish a national observatory 
 will, I trust, be finally crowned with success, and I shall 
 always reflect with satisfaction on having, on the first 
 occasion that presented itself, seconded, however feebly, 
 his liberal and enlightened views. 
 
 Second to astronomy in its importance to the wants 
 and interests of navigation, and essential to those of 
 commerce, is Geography; a science which equally re- 
 
16 
 
 quires the fostering care of Government. In this respect 
 it has been more fortunate than astronomy. The ex¬ 
 pedition of Lewis and Clark, undertaken by direction 
 of Mr. Jefferson, and destined to explore the route across 
 the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, that of the 
 brave and gallant Pike, and those under that enter¬ 
 prising officer and accomplished observer Long, still 
 further to examine that portion of our territory; the 
 coast survey which is now in progress under the learned 
 and accurate Hassler; the exploration of the country 
 lying between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers by 
 that indefatigable and scientific traveller Nicollet; and 
 the expedition under the command of Lieut. Wilkes, 
 intended to explore unknown seas, to discover new 
 sources of commercial enterprise, and to point out the 
 dangers which beset the path of the navigator, while 
 it sweeps from the charts those islands and shoals which 
 have no existence, save in the imagination of former 
 hydrographers; have been fitted out and supported by 
 the Government, and have attracted the favorable no¬ 
 tice of scientific men throughout the world. The Geo¬ 
 graphical Society of France speaks, by its President, 
 of that expedition in the following term : “ In calling 
 your attention to the voyages round the world, and to 
 other maritime enterprises which have, in our time, 
 so largely contributed to the establishment and pro¬ 
 gress of geography, I have to observe, that it is no 
 longer from our old Europe alone that these great ex¬ 
 peditions set forth. The new world now rivals the old. 
 The Government of the United States of America— 
 of that nation which, in less than half a century, has 
 taken a prominent station among the maritime pow- 
 
 Cl 
 
17 
 
 ers —sends out, in its turn, an exploring expedition to¬ 
 wards the Antarctic pole.” There is every reason to 
 hope that the results of this expedition will prove as 
 useful and honorable to the nation as its conception was 
 creditable to its authors. It is a remarkable fact, that 
 three national expeditions on voyages of discovery and 
 for purposes of science, were traversing the same ocean 
 at the same period; the American and French squad¬ 
 rons being in sight of each other, in a stormy sea, on an 
 unknown and ice-bound coast, and striving with each 
 other for the honorable distinction of priority of disco¬ 
 very. We await with impatience the rich harvest of 
 new scientific observation and physical facts which the 
 return of our exploring squadron will bring us. Much, 
 however, remains to be done for the advancement of 
 geography in our country. The vast inland seas which 
 form our northern boundary, covered as they are with 
 vessels, and teeming with commerce, have never been 
 explored by the hydrographer. The navigator sails 
 over them with dread, for there exists no chart to warn 
 him of the dangers he may encounter; and the works 
 erected by Government along their shores for refuge in 
 times of storm, are too incomplete to answer the pur¬ 
 pose. As to the interior of our country little is known 
 scientifically and accurately. It may be said that it is 
 the province of the States to construct maps of their 
 several territories. It may be so, but without some 
 common centre, from whence uniform plans and in¬ 
 structions issue, State maps will be laid down upon dif¬ 
 ferent projections, and be wanting in astronomical accu¬ 
 racy. A map of the United States, to be useful, ought 
 to be constructed upon an uniform plan, and under the 
 
 c 
 
u 
 
 18 
 
 immediate direction of the scientific officers of the Uni¬ 
 ted States. Such a work is required by the best inte¬ 
 rests of the country. Its completion would develop the 
 vast resources of our extensive possessions, enable the 
 Government to comprehend all their relative advan¬ 
 tages, and to open new avenues of commerce. It would 
 aid the emigrant in his search after advantageous set¬ 
 tlements, direct the merchant to the readiest route for 
 the transportation of goods, teach the farmer where to 
 seek a market for his produce, point out to the soldier 
 whence to draw his supplies, the shortest, lines of com¬ 
 munication, and the best sites for encampment, or for 
 the erection of permanent works of defence. In short, 
 such a work would be eminently useful to all classes of 
 our fellow-citizens, and contribute largely to the com¬ 
 merce and security, and to the rapid settlement and im¬ 
 provement of our country. All the Governments of 
 Europe have been sensible of the importance ol geo¬ 
 graphical knowledge, and trigonometrical surveys of 
 every empire and kingdom are completed or in progress 
 there. In those countries geography was first culti¬ 
 vated for warlike objects; their maps were originally 
 military, and many of them are constructed with such 
 minute accuracy, that armies may march and encamp, 
 and sentinels be posted, with no other knowledge of the 
 country than such maps afford. With their aid alone 
 positions are chosen, and all the chances of war calcu¬ 
 lated in the closet as on a chess-board. By their means 
 the statesman can determine on the expediency of open¬ 
 ing a canal or of constructing a road, and becomes pos¬ 
 sessed of a perfect knowledge of the climate, the struc¬ 
 ture, and the physical resources of the country, the 
 
 ■ 
 
 m 
 
19 
 
 interests of which it is his duty to watch over and pro¬ 
 mote. We are without any of these advantages; our 
 maps are so inaccurate, that large amounts are some¬ 
 times wasted in attempting to construct roads and ca¬ 
 nals which are found to be impracticable, or which lead 
 to no beneficial results when executed. So important 
 is this branch of science considered, that the Govern¬ 
 ments of Europe have depots of maps from the earliest 
 ages, and that of France, especially, possesses an ex¬ 
 tensive collection, beginning at the thirteenth century. 
 Societies, too, exist in their principal cities, who aid the 
 Government, by preparing instructions for expeditions, 
 whether for purposes of science or exploration, them¬ 
 selves giving premiums for maps and charts, and fitting 
 travellers out at their own expense, and sending them 
 to explore unknown regions. In short, these institu¬ 
 tions spare no pains to encourage and promote the ends 
 of science, and their success has been equal to their 
 zeal. 
 
 Intimately connected w'ith geography, and, indeed, 
 forming a part of it until it was lately erected into a 
 separate science, is Ethnography. It consists of the 
 knowledge of the habits, manners, and customs of the 
 different nations of the earth. Their food, their dress, 
 their festivals, marriages, and funerals; the education 
 of their children ; the rank their women hold in socie¬ 
 ty, by which the degree of civilization is so clearly 
 defined; the division of labor among them; their mode 
 of living, whether by hunting, fishing, or agriculture; 
 their traditions, laws and manufactures, and other 
 analogous subjects, make up this important branch of 
 science. 
 
u 
 
 20 
 
 Philology, regarded in itself as a science, is likewise 
 a branch of geography. Although its chief object is, 
 from the variety of languages which exist on the sur¬ 
 face of the earth, to trace the history of mankind, it 
 tends greatly to facilitate the commercial intercourse 
 of the world. It is only within the present century 
 that the various idioms of nations, not possessed of the 
 art of writing, have been seriously investigated; but 
 great progress has been made in the acquisition of this 
 knowledge within that period, and not only vocabula¬ 
 ries, but dictionaries and grammars have been pub¬ 
 lished, of languages hitherto unknown except by name. 
 Formerlj’, missionaries and traders alone paid attention 
 to the languages of savage nations. The former, having 
 in view only their own laudable objects, kept their works 
 in manuscript; the latter confined themselves to a few 
 meagre vocabularies, dispersed through books of travels, 
 and of little use to the philologist. At length “the com¬ 
 parative science of languages” was instituted, and the 
 philologists and learned societies of the United States 
 have contributed their share to the promotion of this 
 science, by making known the forms and character of 
 our Indian languages. 
 
 The student of geography requires likewise to be 
 well acquainted with meteorology and terrestial mag¬ 
 netism, the configuration of the earth, the distribution 
 of heat, the movement of the waters of the ocean, the 
 geological structure of the soil, and the geography of 
 plants and animals, and to all these subjects the atten¬ 
 tion of the Institution ought to be directed. 
 
 It was proposed at the last session of Congress to 
 establish magnetic stations, and to institute a series 
 
 Cl 
 
21 
 
 of corresponding observations in the United States. 
 Permanent stations for this end have been established 
 by nearly all civilized nations; and not only have 
 they been extended into Asia, Africa, and America, 
 but expeditions have been undertaken to the Antarc¬ 
 tic seas, for the purpose of pursuing these researches. 
 Our exploring squadron was likewise furnished with 
 the necessary instruments, and our officers instructed to 
 avail themselves of every opportunity to make mag¬ 
 netic observations, while similar and corresponding ob¬ 
 servations were directed, and have been carried on, at 
 Boston and at Washington. 
 
 We trust that the Government of the United States 
 will not withhold its further cooperation, but will en¬ 
 able some of its officers to carry out the views of the 
 learned societies throughout the world, and give its aid 
 to the efforts now universally making to determine, with 
 precision, the laws of terrestrial magnetism. 
 
 The enjoyment afforded by the study of Natural His¬ 
 tory is exhibited in the zeal with which the naturalist 
 pursues his investigations. Poverty presents no obstacle, 
 and distance sets no bounds to his pursuits. Pestilen¬ 
 tial climates and the savage wilderness amidst the glare 
 of equatorial suns and the gloom of polar nights, are 
 eagerly sought and explored as fields of new discovery. 
 Toil, exposure, and physical ills in every form, are en¬ 
 dured without a murmur, when engaged in examining 
 the riches of nature, and when each step leads to a new 
 and high enjoyment. The pure and intellectual grati¬ 
 fication afforded by pursuits which tend to the progres¬ 
 sive development of the wonders and beauties of the 
 physical world, would seem to warrant the conclusion 
 
u 
 
 22 
 
 that it is one of the purposes for which our faculties 
 were imparted to us. 
 
 There are persons who entertain the opinion that 
 the study of natural history is only an amusement, or 
 the gratification of an useless curiosity. If they were 
 to examine the subject more carefully, they would per¬ 
 ceive that natural history is the basis of domestic and 
 public economy, and that it contributes essentially to 
 the prosperity of families and the wealth of nations, by 
 the resources which its productions offer to agriculture, 
 to commerce, to the arts, to manufactures, and to all the 
 wants of life—that it is to the study of natural history 
 that civilized man is indebted for the use and enjoyment 
 of the best races of domestic animals, the abundance of 
 his food, the variety of his drinks, the comfort and 
 warmth of his clothing, the beauty and solidity of his 
 furniture, the remedies which restore him to health, the 
 metals which multiply his force and contribute to his 
 defence, and for most of the luxuries and enjoyments of 
 his existence. Cuvier, than whom no one was better 
 able to give a correct opinion upon the advantages of 
 this study, says: “ The habit acquired in the study of na¬ 
 tural history, of mental classification of a great number 
 of ideas, is one of the greatest advantages of this science. 
 It teaches method which may be applied to all other 
 studies. He who has cultivated this science merely for 
 amusement, is surprised at the facility it affords him in 
 disentangling the most difficult affairs. It is,” he goes 
 on to say, “ sufficiently extensive to satisfy the most pow¬ 
 erful, and sufficiently varied and interesting to calm the 
 most agitated mind. It sheds consolation in the bosom 
 of the unhappy, and stills the angry waves of passion.” 
 
 Cl 
 
23 
 
 Natural history, agriculture, commerce, and the use¬ 
 ful arts, go hand in hand ; wherever the first is encour¬ 
 aged, the other branches, which depend much upon it 
 for their support, will flourish ; but wherever it is neg¬ 
 lected or lightly regarded, the other branches languish 
 and lose their value. How many substances of rare 
 materials grow throughout this vast region which are 
 unknown in the United States, but which might be¬ 
 come articles of extended commerce, if every State in 
 the Union would seriously set to work to explore its 
 resources in the three great kingdoms of nature. 
 
 It is true that some of the States have set the exam¬ 
 ple of geological surveys, and have made collections of 
 mineral and geological specimens; but what, for the 
 most part, has become of these collections ? They are 
 dispersed where neither the Government nor the people 
 generally can make use of them. For the promotion 
 of science and the useful arts, we require a central in¬ 
 stitution, in which all the natural productions of this vast 
 territory may be exposed to public view, for the benefit 
 of the people, and which may contribute to the advance¬ 
 ment of the sciences, by affording the means of compari¬ 
 son with natural and analogous productions of other 
 parts of the world. 
 
 Zoology presents a subject of more varied interest 
 than any other branch of natural history. To be well 
 acquainted with it, requires that the student should be 
 versed in several other branches of science. He ought 
 to possess a knowledge of human and comparative ana¬ 
 tomy, and of chemistry, physiology, and geology, in 
 order that he may understand the subject of fossil re¬ 
 mains and the formations in which they are found. 
 
u 
 
 24 
 
 In the early ages zoology was forced upon the con¬ 
 sideration of man by his exposed condition and his 
 wants. He was compelled to defend himself against 
 ferocious beasts of prey; to domesticate the most docile 
 and intelligent animals to aid him in his labors, and to 
 hunt and destroy others for food and raiment. For these 
 purposes he had to study the habits of beasts, birds, and 
 fishes, and investigations, originating in necessity, gra¬ 
 dually extended into a science. This study furnishes 
 one of the most useful and instructive occupations for 
 the mind. 
 
 Every branch of this science is of the highest interest, 
 from the zoophites, the low'est order of animated crea¬ 
 tion, to thevertebrated animals, including man, the high¬ 
 est of the works of the Creator. The study of the phy¬ 
 sical structure and moral development of man is most 
 curious and instructive, whether we trace him from the 
 simple child of the forest to the perfection of his spe¬ 
 cies, which he has reached by the cultivation of the arts 
 of life and by the light of religion; whether we regard 
 the circumstances which, in some situations, confine him 
 to the hunter, or to the pastoral state, while, in others, 
 they permit the full development of all his faculties as 
 an agriculturist; or whether we contemplate the va¬ 
 rieties of the species, from the Caucasian, from which 
 we claim descent, to the American, the Mongolian, or 
 the African. The uses of these studies, independently 
 of the enjoyment their pursuit affords, are to be found 
 in ministering to the wants and pleasures of man, and 
 in prolonging his existence; for it cannot be doubted 
 that the investigation of the comparative anatomy of 
 inferior animals has contributed to a more perfect know- 
 
 Ci 
 
25 
 
 ledge of the human frame, and to essential improve¬ 
 ments in the medical art. 
 
 It is to the study of the zoology of America that the 
 efforts of the Institution ought to be chiefly directed. 
 No other country presents greater or more interesting 
 varieties in the animal creation, and none more abounds 
 in fossil remains. Many of the former are fast fading 
 away before the hunters and trappers, who pursue them 
 for food or for furs; and their extinction will solve the 
 important problem, whether the hunter tribes can be¬ 
 come purely agricultural, and maintain themselves by 
 the sweat of their brow. The red man of our forests 
 and the hunter tribes of South America, are, as far as 
 I have been able to observe, different from the agricul¬ 
 tural Indians that inhabit Mexico, Peru and Chile. The 
 former are the descendants of uncivilized men, hunters 
 like themselves, and whether they are susceptible of 
 the moral culture of the agricultural race, remains 
 yet in doubt; the latter, on the contrary, have tilled the 
 earth, and subsisted on the product of their labor from 
 time immemorial. Physically and morally these two 
 classes have always appeared to me widely different, 
 and I have doubted their having a common origin. The 
 aborigines of Mexico, Peru, and Chile, were found by 
 their European conquerors in a high state of civiliza¬ 
 tion. In their knowledge of the useful arts, except the 
 art of war, they equalled their invaders, and their agri¬ 
 culture was carried to great perfection, for Indian re¬ 
 mains of extensive works of irrigation are still to be 
 found in those territories. There exists evidence, like¬ 
 wise, of their having been inhabited, for centuries be 
 fore the conquest, by a race still more highly advanced 
 
 D 
 
u 
 
 26 
 
 in the arts of life; and even within our own limits, 
 the tumuli of the West denote the existence in that 
 country, at one period, of a superior race to that 
 which the first white settlers found there. These are 
 subjects which it is expected will engage the atten¬ 
 tion of the Institution, the examination of which can¬ 
 not fail to shed light on our early history. 
 
 Geology assumes in this country a greater interest 
 than elsewhere, from the vastness of the region, from 
 the great extent of its contiguous formation, and from 
 its being a comparatively unexplored field for sci¬ 
 entific investigation. It is important to ascertain 
 whether this portion of the world has, like that al¬ 
 ready examined, been subjected in its creation to 
 great general rules of construction, or, if that order 
 has been departed from, to know in what particulars. 
 Such investigations have already been carried to 
 some extent, but the results are not universally 
 known; and the geologist cannot ascertain, with 
 any precision, the laws which govern the forma¬ 
 tions of this portion of the earth, and the relative 
 order of their distribution, without some central 
 place where specimens may be deposited, facts 
 reported, and all necessary information obtained. 
 Sensible of the advantages to be derived from con¬ 
 ferring together to compare facts and mutually to 
 correct theories, the geologists of the United States 
 lately assembled at Philadelphia, and separated, it 
 is understood, with the intention of meeting annually. 
 Wherever such combinations exist, they have pro¬ 
 duced the most beneficial results; and the existence 
 of a museum of natural history here, will render 
 
 Cl 
 
 ■ 
 
27 
 
 Washington the most desirable place of meeting for 
 the scientific associations of the Union. 
 
 The great importance of geology is derived from 
 its usefulness. There is scarcely a vocation in life 
 which will not feel the value of and derive benefit 
 from a competent knowledge of the geological struc¬ 
 ture of the earth. It will teach the miner to distin¬ 
 guish between deposits which are rich and such as 
 are sterile in ores; in what manner they vary in dif¬ 
 ferent formations, as well as the varieties and pecu¬ 
 liarities of the metals each produces; which are the 
 most easily worked, and which furnish their own 
 tluxes; where, from certain indications, the mineral 
 vein may be pursued with every probability of suc¬ 
 cess, and where its farther pursuit would result in 
 disappointment, and waste of labor and capital. In 
 short, the study of geology opens, as it were, the 
 interior of the earth to the miner, and enables him 
 to predict with great probability, if not with abso¬ 
 lute certainty, the existence or absence of valuable 
 minerals beneath the surface. This knowledge is 
 important in this country to all classes; foremigrants, 
 whether farmers or mechanics, are interested in be¬ 
 ing able to select localities in the neighborhood of 
 veins or fields of coal, which the geologist can ascer¬ 
 tain by unfailing indications, and on the existence of 
 which, in some situations, the comfort of our people 
 so much depends. Fortunately for us, they are vast 
 and accessible, beyond all precedent in the old 
 world, and form an element of the wealth and pow er 
 of the United States. 
 
 To the civil engineer this study is of the highest 
 
u 
 
 28 
 
 importance. It will enable him to point out locali¬ 
 ties where the best building materials are to be 
 sought; to direct lines of communication, so that 
 they may run near the requisite materials, and avoid 
 difficulties which might prove costly to overcome, as 
 well as to bring these communications within a con¬ 
 venient distance of formations yielding materials of 
 profitable trade, such as coal, iron, and other useful 
 metals, and mineral manures. 
 
 The agriculturist will find, in a knowledge of ge¬ 
 ology, the means of ameliorating and increasing the 
 products of the soil, by enabling him to discover the 
 existence of accessible beds of the mineral manures, 
 which produce such lasting and beneficial effects 
 when applied to the soil. 
 
 Indeed, the knowledge of geology contributes, in 
 an essential degree, to all the useful arts; and it is 
 obvious that collections of geological and mineralo- 
 gical specimens, brought from every part of our 
 country and rendered generally accessible to the 
 people of the United States, being exhibited at the 
 seat of Government, will tend to the advancement 
 of knowledge, and its diffusion among our fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 The reciprocal relations which exist between 
 the several branches of science are, perhaps, more 
 strongly exemplified in that of geology than in any 
 other. This science makes every day large exac¬ 
 tions upon other branches, compensating them, how¬ 
 ever, by its discoveries within and its enlargement 
 of their respective circles. It calls upon the com¬ 
 parative anatomist to give the domain, the habits, the 
 
29 
 
 epoch of (he nondescript skeleton. Did it inhabit 
 the sea or the land ? Was it carnivorous or herbivo¬ 
 rous ? It calls upon the botanist, in return for the 
 trees and plants which it discovers and brings to the 
 surface, to say what soil gave them root and nourish¬ 
 ment, and in what climate they existed. It fills the 
 cabinet of the conchologist with disentombed trea¬ 
 sures, the models of extinct reigns, and calls upon 
 him to give them date and sequence. Indeed, it can 
 scarcely be described as one science, so numerous 
 are the problems presented by it which demand the 
 most minute knowledge of the tributary branches of 
 conchology, zoology, botany, hydrography, minera¬ 
 logy, and general physics. 
 
 Among the numerous sciences which geology puts 
 under contribution, none bear a more intimate re¬ 
 lation to it than Mineralogy. Geology deals with 
 masses; but it is by the aid of mineralogy that 
 the simple elements of these masses are unfolded, 
 and their various constitutions identified. Geology 
 teaches us that a certain mountain ridge is composed 
 of granite; mineralogy informs us that granite is a 
 compound of quartz, feldspar, and mica. When 
 the geologist describes the strata forming the solid 
 crust of the earth, the dykes by which they are frac¬ 
 tured, and the mineral veins dispersed among them, 
 he uses terms devised by the mineralogist to indicate 
 their differences of character and condition. Geolo¬ 
 gy extends its vision over almost illimitable space; 
 mineralogy examines every substance with a micro¬ 
 scopic eye. Geology tends to extensive generaliza¬ 
 tion; mineralogy to minute specification. What the 
 
i ■ u 
 
 30 
 
 geologist finds constituting the mountains, hills, val¬ 
 leys, and plains of the entire earth, the mineralogist 
 has before him, within the narrow compass of his 
 own cabinet. Thus, although apparently separate, 
 these sciences have a close affinity to each other. 
 
 As sciences, mineralogy and geology are both of 
 modern origin. They date from the latter half of 
 the last century, and, although so young, have al¬ 
 ready assumed their position among the most exalt¬ 
 ed of older origin, and are deemed equally worthy 
 to occupy the attention of the profoundest minds. 
 From the days of Werner, (1773,) mineralogy has 
 advanced rapidly, and is now generally and deserved¬ 
 ly a popular study. In most of the leading institu¬ 
 tions in this and other countries, it constitutes a por¬ 
 tion of the regular course of instruction; collections 
 are distributed over our owh country, and many pri¬ 
 vate citizens exhibit great zeal in this pursuit. To 
 the arts and manufactures mineralogy contributes 
 many necessary and useful materials. The painter 
 owes to it many of his pigments; the dyer many of 
 his colors; the jeweller looks to it for the discovery 
 of his most precious gems; the chemist for many of 
 his compounds; the mason for his cements. The 
 smelter learns through it to detect his ores, the pot¬ 
 ter his clays, and the architect would often have 
 saved himself the chagrin of seeing his finest works 
 passing into premature and hopeless decay, had he 
 been guided by it in the selection of his materials of 
 construction. 
 
 There is still something wanting to give to the 
 science of mineralogy that further practical usefui- 
 
 m 
 
 c 
 
31 
 
 ness for which it is so well adapted, and which, in 
 this country, is so much needed. Within the terri¬ 
 tory of the United States, almost every variety of 
 mineral, useful or necessary to the wants of man, is 
 found in greater or less abundance. In our southern 
 States, gold; in our western, copper, lead, and zinc ; 
 and almost in all, iron and coal, in inexhaustible 
 quantities. Chrome, bismuth, antimony, manganese, ' 
 cobalt, and many others, are known to exist, and 
 perhaps further investigation will add platina, tin, 
 and silver. But little has yet been done to avail our¬ 
 selves of these productions. Mining, as a profession, 
 is unknown to us. Educated as agriculturists, mer¬ 
 chants, mechanics, or professional men, we pass al¬ 
 most unnoticed these sources of individual and na¬ 
 tional wealth. The time has surely arrived for turn¬ 
 ing our attention to them. If we are not to await their 
 slow development under the pressing necessity of 
 our wants, we must begin at once to induce persons 
 to enter on this new pursuit, by educating them for it. 
 Geology and mineralogy, thoroughly taught, will en¬ 
 able them to undertake the search after these hidden 
 resources with every prospect of success. Geology 
 will point out the places in wdiich they are to be 
 found; mineralogy will detect them amidst the use¬ 
 less materials by which they may be surrounded. 
 
 It is not to the practical miners of Europe, or of 
 other countries, that we ought to look for improve¬ 
 ment in the profession of mining. In so important a 
 matter we must depend upon ourselves. We are 
 capable of accomplishing it, and should not hesitate 
 to set about it. Our people have no superstitious in- 
 

 
 
 
 
 • i ■ 
 
 ' 
 
 
 u 
 
 32 
 
 fluences to overcome, and while they are free to re¬ 
 ceive and ready to embrace instruction in other mat¬ 
 ters, there is no reason why they should not be en¬ 
 lightened in this. 
 
 It is believed that the most powerful agent to effect 
 this beneficial design will be the existence of an ex¬ 
 tensive cabinet, at the seat of Government, of speci¬ 
 mens of geology and mineralogy, drawn from every 
 portion of our territory, and so arranged as to pre¬ 
 sent, at one view, all the mineral resources of each 
 particular State, and where these important sciences 
 may be taught by courses of lectures, which, together, 
 will form a school of mining that cannot fail to be 
 extensively useful, and lead to the early and full de¬ 
 velopment of this great source of individual pros¬ 
 perity and national wealth. 
 
 Botany has undergone such great and important 
 changes since the close of the last century, as to alter 
 entirely the character of the science; changes which 
 are due, in a great measure, to the improvements in 
 the construction of the microscope, to the discoveries 
 in vegetable chemistry, and to the exchange of arti¬ 
 ficial methods of arrangement for an extended system 
 of natural affinities. The adoption of the philosophi¬ 
 cal views of Gothe, together with the recognition of 
 an universal unity of design throughout the vegetable 
 world, have likewise largely contributed to give to 
 this science its present highly improved condition. 
 
 A certain degree of knowledge in botany is de¬ 
 sirable to every one. It leads to a comprehension 
 of the properties and uses of the trees of our forests, 
 and teaches to distinguish wholesome from delete- 
 
33 
 
 rious plants, as well as to discover those that possess 
 medicinal properties, which abound in our country. 
 Although not enumerated among the principal de¬ 
 partments of science into which the Institution is 
 organized, the importance of it has not been over¬ 
 looked. It will be one of the most cherished objects 
 of the National Institution, to establish, at some fu¬ 
 ture day, a botanic garden, where plants of every 
 country and every clime may be introduced, and 
 their properties studied. 
 
 In none other of the wonderful w orks of God are 
 to be seen stronger evidences of beneficent design 
 than in the propagation, growth, life, and death of 
 plants; and the pursuits of the botanist are not only 
 useful, pleasing, and healthful, but are calculated to 
 elevate his thoughts “from nature up to nature’s 
 God.” 
 
 It is difficult to understand any physical science or 
 useful art without the aid of Chemistry; and the In¬ 
 stitution has very properly devoted an entire section 
 to this science. By its means, the component parts 
 of all substances become known, whether mineral, 
 vegetable, or animal, of air or of water. It teaches 
 us to detect those which are deleterious, and to com¬ 
 pound such as are healthful. It guides the manu¬ 
 facturer in the preparation of the various materials 
 of his art, and the agriculturist in the application of 
 manures which give fruitfulness to barren and worn 
 out soils. 
 
 Chemistry, although it owes its origin to the la¬ 
 bors of the ancient alchymists, is, as a separate sci- 
 
 fi 
 
I u 
 
 34 
 
 ence, of modern date. The great improvements and 
 discoveries which render it so important an auxiliary 
 to kindred sciences, and to the useful arts, were 
 made towards the close of the last century, since 
 which period its advancement has been w'onderfully 
 rapid. It is intimately connected with geology and 
 mineralogy, and without its aid those sciences would 
 be incomplete. We owe to it some of the most use¬ 
 ful and beneficial applications of science to the arts, 
 and it may be considered as the foundation of tech¬ 
 nology. 
 
 With a view to promote the principal object of its 
 creation, the Institution has devoted one section to 
 the application of science to the useful arts. Tech¬ 
 nology, the name given to the science which teaches 
 this application, is not found in the encyclopedias 
 and w r orks of a similar character published fifty years 
 ago, and until that period the application of the prin¬ 
 ciples and discoveries of science to the useful arts 
 was not pursued in such a manner as to render it a 
 constituent part of the operations of the manufac¬ 
 turer. The foundation of this science has, however, 
 since then been solidly laid, and in the rapid pro¬ 
 gress of discovery within that period we have the 
 promise of a noble superstructure. We are indebted 
 to France for the first impulse given to this pursuit, 
 and it appears, from the late able report of Professor 
 Bache, that Prussia and other Germanic States have 
 established institutions for teaching technology. The 
 only college in the United States in which courses of 
 lectures on this branch are given, is, I believe, that 
 of Cambridge, in Massachusetts. These have been 
 
 Cl 
 
33 
 
 continued nearly twenty years under a bequest of 
 the late Count Rumford. In the Franklin Institute, 
 also, valuable lectures have been delivered; still but 
 little, comparatively, has been effected towards dif¬ 
 fusing this knowledge among the working classes of 
 this country. 
 
 In civil engineering, now become a branch of uni¬ 
 versal importance, scarcely a step can be taken with¬ 
 out the guidance of mathematical and mechanical 
 science. A Brindley may occasionally appear with 
 intuitive genius, and accomplish wonders of art, but 
 such an example stands only as an exception to the 
 rule, if it really be one, for it might be shown that 
 even his extraordinary genius was not a perfect sub¬ 
 stitute for those scientific principles which are the 
 guide of the engineer. An individual who undertakes 
 the construction of either civil or military works with¬ 
 out a scientific knowledge of the laws of hydrosta¬ 
 tics, hydraulics, and pneumatics, the stress, pressure, 
 and other properties of the materials employed or 
 operated upon by him, will probably fail in them, as 
 is evinced by the experience of almost every day. 
 
 The invention of the steam engine, which has been 
 justly denominated “ a present from science to the 
 arts,” illustrates fully the importance of this know¬ 
 ledge. Had Watt been merely a handy and intelli¬ 
 gent workman, those beautiful combinations which 
 render this the most perfect of human devices, could 
 never have been devised by him. It was, doubtless, 
 to the combination of scientific knowledge with me¬ 
 chanical skill, that we are indebted for the fruits of 
 his labors. Many improvements have been since 
 
u 
 
 36 
 
 made by others in the details of the steam engine, 
 but its leading principles remain unchanged. 
 
 To the union of scientific knowledge and practical 
 skill we are likewise indebted for that valuable in¬ 
 strument, the refracting telescope, which, for most 
 purposes, has superseded the reflector. In the con¬ 
 struction of this instrument, Dollond accomplished 
 what even Newton had given up as unattainable; the 
 result, not of mere ingenuity, but of that combination 
 of science with art by which ends are attained to 
 which we should never be led by any chance or ac¬ 
 cident. 
 
 As I had occasion before to observe, the pro¬ 
 gress made in astronomy, navigation, geography, 
 and the kindred sciences, are due immediately to the 
 perfection of the instruments prepared by the me¬ 
 chanician ; but these instruments owe their perfec¬ 
 tion, if not their very existence, not to mechanical 
 skill alone, but to mechanicians whose minds are 
 deeply imbued with the principles of the science 
 for the advancement of which those instruments were 
 to be employed—men who fully comprehended the 
 nature of the ends to be attained, and could them¬ 
 selves apply the instruments they had made, without 
 which knowledge they could not, in many instances, 
 have constructed them. It is to the philosophical 
 and mathematical makers of philosophical and math¬ 
 ematical instruments, that the several national ob¬ 
 servatories are indebted, in a great measure, for the 
 
 I value of their observations. 
 
 The application of chemistry to the arts, before al¬ 
 luded to, would probably afford examples of the value 
 
 Cl 
 
37 
 
 of the alliance between science and the arts more nu¬ 
 merous than those furnished by mechanical philoso¬ 
 phy. The minute accuracy of modern chemical analy¬ 
 sis has made us intimately acquainted with the actual 
 composition of most of the bodies upon which we 
 have occasion to operate. Upon this accurate know¬ 
 ledge of the chemical constitution of bodies was 
 founded the discovery of the uniform combination 
 of the constituents of compounds in definite propor¬ 
 tions, and the construction of the tables of chemical 
 equivalents; a discovery which introduced a degree of 
 certainty in carrying on the thousand arts dependent 
 upon chemical action, which could not have been 
 attained by experience and observation alone, how¬ 
 ever skilfully conducted. The chemical manufac¬ 
 turer who is ignorant of this discovery, or does not 
 apply it in the prosecution of his art, is like a ma¬ 
 riner at sea without compass or quadrant. 
 
 I cannot forbear to notice here three very recent 
 and valuable discoveries in the application of science 
 to the useful arts, each of which is of a very striking 
 character. I mean the daguerrotype, the electro¬ 
 type, and the electro-magnetic telegraph. By the 
 former, we are supplied with pictures of the works 
 of nature and of art, imprinted by the rays of light 
 with a minute accuracy that cannot be attained by 
 the best directed pencil in the hands of the artist. 
 By the second, medals, engravings, sculptures, and 
 many other works of art, may be multiplied to an in¬ 
 definite extent, and with perfect faithfulness, by a 
 process the most simple. To what extent this elec¬ 
 tric action upon metallic solutions may be carried, it 
 
u 
 
 is impossible to foresee; but it has been recently ap¬ 
 plied to the gilding of metals, and is likely to super¬ 
 sede all other processes of gilding hitherto in use. 
 And by the last, a skilful combination of electricity 
 and magnetism conveys intelligence from post to 
 post, however distant, with perfect accuracy and with 
 the speed of light. 
 
 This rapid view of the advantages of technology, 
 although, from the limited nature of this address, 
 necessarily imperfect, will show the importance of 
 its being embraced in any system intended to diffuse 
 useful knowledge among our fellow-citizens. 
 
 This Institution has allotted one entire division to 
 Agriculture. This must be considered the most im¬ 
 portant, as it is the most necessary of the useful arts, 
 as well as the most essential to our existence in a 
 state of civilization. The hunter or the shepherd 
 can do no more than supply himself and his children 
 with food. Such a people have no surplus for those 
 who follow other pursuits; whereas in an agricultu¬ 
 ral community a portion of the people only are en¬ 
 gaged in raising grain and cattle to supply the re¬ 
 mainder with food, Avho, in their turn, are employed 
 in the useful or fine arts, or in the pursuits of litera¬ 
 ture and science; and it may be safely asserted that 
 the degree of civilization in any country will be in 
 proportion to the perfection of its agriculture. Cicero 
 says, “ there is no better pursuit in life, none more 
 full of enjoyment, or more worthy a freeman,” and 
 surely there is none which contributes more largely 
 to the wealth and independence of a country. Like 
 all the useful arts, it is dependent upon science for 
 
 C 
 
 ■ 
 
39 
 
 its perfection. Sir Humphrey Davy’s work upon 
 agricultural chemistry shows its intimate connection 
 with that science, and we have already remarked the 
 application of geology to its uses. One of the great¬ 
 est improvements of farming in modern times, so 
 fruitful in improvements of every kind, is the free 
 use of mineral manures. Lime, in some form or other, 
 must enter into the composition of every soil, to ren¬ 
 der it fertile; and where the chemist fails to detect 
 it in the land, he supplies it artificially. A know¬ 
 ledge of the analysis of soils is therefore necessary 
 to every good farmer. The use of mineral manures 
 is beginning to be well understood, and to be gene¬ 
 rally practised in our country; but there are two 
 things that appear either not to be fully comprehend¬ 
 ed, or not to be sufficiently brought into successful 
 operation; the one is to make a given quantity of 
 land yield, for a series of years, the maximum amount 
 of produce it is capable of by high culture and a ju¬ 
 dicious rotation of crops, and the other is the art of 
 irrigation. The great economy of making a small 
 portion of land yield as much as a large one, must 
 be too obvious to require explanation, and the man¬ 
 ner of effecting this important object is to be learned 
 by the application of scientific principles to husband¬ 
 ry. The wonderfully fertilizing effect of water has 
 been understood for ages, and the art of irrigation 
 has been practised from time immemorial. The 
 scriptures are filled with beautiful poetical allusions 
 to this art, which proves its antiquity, and it is still 
 practised in every part of Asia, throughout the south 
 of Europe, and in that portion of America settled by 
 the Spaniards. In those countries are seen extensive 
 

 i 
 
 40 
 
 works of irrigation, and where the depth of the bank 
 of the river and the low level will not allow canals 
 being taken out for the purpose, the Persian wheel, 
 an instrument of great power and antiquity, is used. 
 Often, indeed, water is drawn by this means from 
 deep wells, to irrigate the fields, while in our finely 
 watered country this great advantage is neglected. 
 I have traversed, in a period of drought, the rich 
 and fertile valleys of Virginia, and seen the corn and 
 grass perishing for want of moisture, while a bounti¬ 
 ful stream ran gurgling along the side of the hill, 
 wanting only to be tapped to restore the withering 
 plants and scorched grass to new life and vigor. In 
 the South, irrigation is practised in the cultivation of 
 rice, but only in the low country, by means of the ebb 
 and flow of the tide, and for that plant alone. With 
 this exception, there, as elsewhere throughout our 
 country, the farmers do not avail themselves of the 
 great natural advantages they enjoy in having the 
 means of irrigation within their reach, but trust alto¬ 
 gether to the uncertain seasons. As a thorough know¬ 
 ledge of this art would more than double our agri¬ 
 cultural products with the same labor, this Institution 
 will confer a benefit on their fellow-citizens, by in¬ 
 structing them in the best methods of watering and 
 draining their fields. In the south of Europe canals 
 of irrigation have been constructed by the ablest 
 engineers of the age, and I cannot but think that our 
 own civil engineers would find their account in be¬ 
 coming acquainted with this art, while at the same 
 time they might render an invaluable service to their 
 country. 
 
 Entymology, which teaches the nature and habits 
 
 
41 
 
 of insects, is an important branch of natural history 
 to the planter and farmer. It will enable him to pro¬ 
 tect his fruit trees, his grain and cotton fields, from 
 their ravages; and an acquaintance with ornitholo¬ 
 gy will aid him to distinguish what birds serve as 
 auxiliaries for this purpose. 
 
 It will be the duty of this Institution, likewise, to 
 use its best endeavors to introduce into our country 
 new varieties of wholesome, nutritious, and pleasant 
 articles of food. With our extended commerce, this 
 duty may be readily performed; and here let me remark, 
 that agriculture has attained a high degree of perfection 
 only among great commercial nations. The two arts 
 depend mutually upon each other, and the cultivation 
 of the one leads to the extension and advancement of 
 the other. 
 
 In astronomy, geology, mineralogy, and the various 
 other branches of natural history and sections into which 
 our Institution is divided, our labors must bear a near re¬ 
 semblance to those of similar societies elsewhere. But 
 the duties that devolve upon the department of Ameri¬ 
 can History and Antiquities are essentially different from 
 those required in any other quarter of the globe. While 
 in the early history of those nations, the historian, com¬ 
 pelled to grope his way through a labyrinth of barba¬ 
 rism, ignorance, and fiction, is bewildered in his search 
 after truth, the light of science, dawning upon the whole 
 course of American history, points out to the careful in¬ 
 vestigator a safe and illumined path from the great new 
 continent in the south back to the island of St. Salva¬ 
 dor. 
 
 The discovery of our continent; its first settlements; 
 
 F 
 

 u 
 
 
 42 
 
 the growth of the colonists in intelligence, wealth, and 
 love of freedom 5 the triumph over oppression, the esta¬ 
 blishment of a republican Government, and the subse¬ 
 quent proof of its happy adaptation to the wants of 
 man, are all subjects peculiar to the history of our own 
 nation, and are now being illustrated and treated with 
 equal industry and ability, and by master hands. The 
 documentary history of that revolution which secured 
 to us and to our posterity the blessings of civil and 
 religious liberty, now being published through the en¬ 
 lightened liberality of Congress, has been collected by 
 Mr. Force, of this city, through whose zeal and un¬ 
 tiring industry every document of a publick nature has 
 been collected which tended to prepare and carry on 
 that revolution, and he is gathering together every inte¬ 
 resting material calculated to illustrate this great event; 
 while the luminous pages of Mr. Bancroft contain al¬ 
 ready an admirable account of the early settlement and 
 colonial history of our country, and give promise of a 
 work far surpassing any other that has appeared, in pro¬ 
 found research, in brilliancy and beauty of style, and 
 in every quality which can interest and gratify the his¬ 
 torian, and secure his confidence in its truth and faith¬ 
 fulness. Both of these gentlemen, I am happy to say, 
 are members of our Institution. 
 
 It will be our province to aid the societies already 
 formed in the United States in collecting and preserving 
 such materials as may develop and substantiate the truth 
 of the events of our history; and especially will it be 
 our duty to inquire into that of the people we have dis- 
 posessed. We are only the settlers of this continent. 
 Who are, and whence came its aborigines ? The In¬ 
 dian race, now fading from the earth; their mounds 
 
43 
 
 and pyramids, and temples and ruined cities; their 
 various revolutions and states of society, have long been 
 subjects of investigation, and to assist in tracing this 
 mysterious people from their present degraded condi¬ 
 tion up, through days of glory, to their origin, is a duty 
 that belongs to the department of American history and 
 antiquities. Fortunately for our infant Institution this 
 department is well composed and well organized. An 
 association of individuals devoted to historical re¬ 
 searches, with enlightened liberality, joined the Insti¬ 
 tution upon its formation, and transferred to it their 
 books, and the valuable records of their transactions. 
 They have since continued their labors under the au¬ 
 spices of this association, and from the industry and 
 intelligence which have hitherto marked their investi¬ 
 gations, there is reason to calculate upon results emi¬ 
 nently useful to the public and honorable to the Insti¬ 
 tution. These investigations will be essentially aided 
 by the historical researches now making by a very able 
 and distinguished American writer, (if I am rightly in¬ 
 formed,) into the records of our sister republic of Mex¬ 
 ico. That portion of this continent was inhabited by 
 an agricultural and civilized race at the period of its 
 conquest by Cortez, and there exists some painted me¬ 
 morials that would seem to indicate their early immi¬ 
 gration and settlement. The followers of the Spanish 
 conqueror, and especially the Catholic clergy, who were 
 indefatigable in their efforts to spread the light of Chris¬ 
 tianity throughout that country, had great opportunities 
 of becoming acquainted with the traditionary lore of 
 this simple people, and have doubtless left valuable re¬ 
 cords behind them. That the southern portion of Mex¬ 
 ico, at least, was inhabited by a still superior race long 
 
l! U 
 
 |; 44 
 
 prior to the conquest, is sufficiently shown by the ruins 
 of cities, of palaces and temples, in the most southern 
 provinces bordering on Guatemala. Whether they 
 were overpowered and destroyed by the red men, whose 
 march is indicated by their rude devices as from north 
 to south, and whether either had any connection with 
 the aborigines we have displaced, are subjects of great 
 interest to the American historian; and we congratu¬ 
 late ourselves that they will be investigated by one who 
 has given such evidence of his industry and capacity 
 as the accomplished author of “Ferdinand and Isa¬ 
 bella/’ 
 
 The last section, that of Literature and the Fine Arts, 
 cannot be treated worthily without exceeding very much 
 the limits of this discourse. The importance of culti¬ 
 vating and using our utmost efforts to improve the lite¬ 
 rature of our country, must be apparent to all. It is 
 the vehicle of science, and upon its character the dig¬ 
 nity and reputation of a nation depend. It exercises a 
 controlling influence on the public liberties. The pa¬ 
 triotic citizen who would, either in the forum or through 
 the press, warn his fellow-citizens of impending danger, 
 or enlighten them on their interests—who would dissi¬ 
 pate ignorance, correct error, or reform abuse—must 
 borrow the tones and wield the energies of literature. 
 Our freedom reposes on the guarantee of our political 
 institutions; and who can wrest them from our pos¬ 
 terity, with a competent literature to inculcate and vin¬ 
 dicate its doctrines and principles, and to proclaim its 
 rights ? 
 
 Literature and the fine arts go hand in hand. The 
 flourishing condition of the first is a sure prelude to the 
 advancement of the latter; and their united influence 
 
 
 
45 
 
 add, in a high degree, to the enjoyment of human ex¬ 
 istence. Their progress has every where kept pace 
 with that of the moral and social condition of mankind, 
 and their history marks, with unerring truth, the rise 
 and fall of nations. In tracing that history, it is grati¬ 
 fying to perceive that while literature and the arts con¬ 
 tribute so largely to improve and refine mankind, they 
 have flourished most in those countries where free in¬ 
 stitutions prevailed, and where liberty loved to dwell. 
 In other countries, a taste for literature and the fine 
 arts is confined to a favored few—the aristocracy of 
 birth, of wealth, or of talent; and there such a distri¬ 
 bution is natural and may be sufficient, because these 
 classes alone govern those countries. Here , the people 
 reign—all power is centred in them; and if we would 
 have them not only maintain their ascendency, but use 
 their power discreetly, no expense or pains should be 
 spared to inspire them with a love of literature, and a 
 taste for the fine arts. To effect this, the effort must 
 be made here. It must originate at the seat of Govern¬ 
 ment, and spread from this place over the populous 
 plains and fertile valleys of the land. Could a greater 
 curse fall upon this country than that the sons of the 
 intelligent, and enlightened, and virtuous men who 
 achieved our independence and secured our freedom, 
 should become less intelligent, less enlightened, and less 
 virtuous than their sires ? That these valleys and plains, 
 instead of teeming with a race burning with the love 
 of freedom, and ever ready and able to vindicate their 
 rights, should be filled by a people supine and ignorant, 
 the fitting tools of demagogues and tyrants ? 
 
 In a free country, literature may and will flourish by 
 the well-directed efforts of individuals; but the arts re- 
 
46 
 
 quire the protecting hand of Government. They owe 
 their origin, their progress, and their present condition 
 to that source and to religious enthusiasm. Their first 
 object was to personify the god-like forms of heathen 
 idolatry, and to hand down to posterity the image of 
 the heroes to whom a nation owed its gratitude. They 
 subsequently became the means of recording the mira¬ 
 cles of the true faith, and of spreading the history of 
 the Christian church over the world. In our favored 
 land, they would commemorate the heroic deeds of our 
 forefathers, their achievements and sacrifices in the 
 cause of independence, their deep devotion to the free¬ 
 dom of their country. To a certain extent, this has 
 been effected by the liberality of Government; statues 
 have been erected, paintings executed, and medals struck 
 by orders of Congress. Copies of such pictures, statues, 
 and medals, should be spread far and wide over the land, 
 that they may penetrate into every hamlet, and inspire 
 the people universally with gratitude and emulation. 
 From the advancement of the fine arts, we may pro¬ 
 mise ourselves great improvements in the architecture 
 of our private and public buildings; in the former, a 
 better adaptation of the arrangements to the comforts 
 and conveniences of life; in the latter, more suitable 
 forms and arrangements for the purposes of business. 
 We are led away by the imposing appearance of mas¬ 
 sive colonnades and splendid porticos, and apply them 
 equally to temples and to buildings intended altogether 
 for the transaction of public business. This is a mis¬ 
 take which the more chastened taste will correct. 
 
 A collection of models and paintings at Washington 
 could not fail to be highly useful. It would aid the 
 cultivation of the art of design, which cannot be too 
 
 
 £1 
 
47 
 
 strongly recommended. It multiplies the resources and 
 enjoyments of the professional man, and is an essential 
 accomplishment to the architect, the machinist, the arti- 
 zan, and the mechanic. It ought to be taught in our 
 common schools; and every mechanic should be able 
 to sketch with accuracy his own plans, and to copy 
 those of others, so as to be able to profit by every im¬ 
 provement that comes under his observation. 
 
 The science of Music, although not so manifestly 
 useful, exercises great influence over the moral and 
 social condition of society. It is taught in the common 
 schools in Germany, and there music constitutes the 
 chief amusement of the people. Instead of hearing in 
 their streets the indistinct roaring of senseless rhymes, 
 out of time and tune, the Germans may be seen assem¬ 
 bled in groups, after the labors of the day, singing in 
 parts the delightful music of their inspired composers, 
 elevating their voices in grateful adoration to their 
 Maker, or chanting some of the spirited patriotic songs 
 for which the father land of the Teutonic race is so 
 celebrated. Whoever has witnessed this contrast— 
 whoever has been startled with the discordant sounds 
 of the one, and enraptured with the exquisite harmony 
 of the other, will understand the advantages that are 
 likely to accrue to the cause of temperance, of morality, 
 and of religion, by cultivating the science of music, and 
 making it a part of the education of the people. 
 
 I have thus endeavored to explain the objects and im¬ 
 portance of the Institution we have established at Wash¬ 
 ington, so far as the limits of an address will permit, 
 but have been necessarily compelled to omit many topics 
 of nearly equal interest with those which have been 
 treated. Enough, however, has been said, I trust, to 
 
u 
 
 48 
 
 impress upon you the important advantages which the 
 people of this country would derive from the existence 
 of such an establishment at the seat of Government. 
 
 In every country in Europe, those who cultivate the 
 arts and sciences enjoy the advantage of finding in each 
 capital a central establishment, such as we propose. 
 
 In London, the Royal Museum, which was com¬ 
 menced by the enlightened liberality of an individual, 
 and subsequently enriched by similar bequests, and now 
 liberally patronized by Government, possesses all that 
 is necessary to protect and encourage literature, science, 
 and the arts. 
 
 The society for the promotion of science and the 
 useful arts in Dublin, having an extensive museum of 
 natural history, a botanic garden, and school of design, 
 fulfils effectually the objects of its institution, and justi¬ 
 fies the very liberal patronage of the British Govern¬ 
 ment. There students in every branch of science find 
 the means of improvement, and some of the most ac¬ 
 complished artists in England have been instructed in 
 this school. 
 
 In this country, we are best acquainted with the mu¬ 
 seum, botanical and zoological gardens, and liberal 
 course of instruction, at th eJardin desPlantes, in Paris, 
 where strangers resort, from every quarter of the world, 
 to consult the collections and listen to lectures, which 
 are open to all who choose to attend them. These 
 courses of lectures are delivered by the ablest and most 
 eloquent men in France, on every branch of science. 
 In the summer, botany is taught in a garden abounding 
 in all the vegetable productions of the world ; zoology 
 in the midst of specimens of every known animal, and 
 other branches of natural history, with the advantage 
 
49 
 
 of extensive collections, which are augmenting daily 
 by an enlightened and active system of exchanges; 
 chemistry and technology are illustrated by well con¬ 
 ducted experiments and admirably adapted apparatus, 
 and every branch of natural philosophy taught with 
 clearness and precision, and explained by the most am¬ 
 ple means of illustration. These lectures are attended 
 by students who have completed their academic course, 
 and by men of science who seek to increase their know¬ 
 ledge. 
 
 There can be no doubt that a National Institution, 
 such as we contemplate, having at its command an ob¬ 
 servatory, a museum containing collections of all the 
 productions of nature, a botanic and zoological garden, 
 and the necessary apparatus for illustrating every branch 
 of physical science, would attract together men of learn¬ 
 ing and students from every part of our country, would 
 open new avenues of intelligence throughout the whole 
 of its vast extent, and would contribute largely to dis¬ 
 seminate among the people the truths of nature and 
 the light of science. 
 
 A fortunate concurrence of circumstances offers a 
 favorable occasion to carry all these important objects 
 into immediate effect. A liberal and enlightened En¬ 
 glishman, foreseeing the benefits which would result to 
 science throughout the world, by its successful cultiva¬ 
 tion in the vast and extensive field offered by these 
 States and Territories, with enlarged views and praise¬ 
 worthy philanthropy, has bequeathed a fund to be em¬ 
 ployed for the sacred purposes of increasing and dif¬ 
 fusing knowledge among men. This bequest will ena¬ 
 ble the Government to afford all necessary protection 
 
 G 
 
u 
 
 50 
 
 to the promotion of science and the useful arts, without 
 the exercise of any doubtful power, by the application 
 of the annual interest of this fund to the establishment 
 of an observatory, the erection of suitable buildings to 
 contain the collections, and for lecture rooms, the pur¬ 
 chase of books and instruments, and the salaries of pro¬ 
 fessors and curators. Specimens of natural history are 
 rapidly accumulating. The exploring expedition has 
 already sent home a large collection, which remains 
 packed away in boxes in a room belonging to the Phil¬ 
 adelphia museum, generously loaned by the company 
 for that purpose; and we may anticipate from the ability 
 and well known zeal of the naturalists who accompan¬ 
 ied it by order of Government, that the squadron itself, 
 shortly expected, will return richly freighted with ob¬ 
 jects of natural history. I cannot believe that after all 
 the labor, pains, and expense incurred in procuring them, 
 these specimens are not to be brought to Washington, 
 to be arranged and exhibited here. A geological sur¬ 
 vey of the Territory of Iowa was made a few months 
 since, by order of the Government, and numerous val¬ 
 uable specimens collected by Mr. Owen. Mr. Nicolet 
 has brought with him interesting collections made in 
 the country he visited, and Doctor King, of Missouri, 
 lately sent to the lead region on business connected with 
 the ordnance office, while there collected specimens of 
 minerals which are likewise destined for Washington. 
 The ordnance officers who have lately returned from 
 Europe, have brought with them numerous specimens 
 of the iron ores used in the foundries there, and mea¬ 
 sures have been taken to procure, as objects of compari¬ 
 son, those of the United States. 
 
 Several individuals have transmitted donations to the 
 
 
 o 
 
51 
 
 Institution, while others have deposited their collections 
 with us, from a desire to have them preserved, and, at 
 the same time, to benefit science. We have reason to 
 believe that this will be extensively done as soon as the 
 Institution is firmly established. There are many of 
 our countrymen who, like Sir Hans Sloan, the founder 
 of the British museum, look forward with regret to the 
 sale and dispersion of their collections, made at great 
 cost and pains, and desiring to have them preserved 
 entire, would deposit them with an institution which 
 will be as stable as the Government that protects it. 
 For these purposes, and especially if it be intrusted, as 
 we hope it will be, with the specimens of natural his¬ 
 tory collected by the exploring squadron, it will be ne¬ 
 cessary that measures should be early adopted to have 
 erected on a suitable site, on the public ground, a plain 
 fire proof building, to contain them, where the increas¬ 
 ing and valuable collections may be displayed, and be 
 examined by the scientific inquirer, and where he may 
 resort for evidence to support his theories or to correct 
 his views. We hope that this further contribution to 
 science will not be withheld. The expeditions them¬ 
 selves have received the favorable notice of every civi¬ 
 lized nation, and were fitted out in obedience to the will 
 of the people, who would not desire to see the fruits of 
 so much toil and danger perish for want of this trifling 
 additional expense. We cherish the hope that they will 
 form the foundation of a National Museum, and con¬ 
 tribute to spread the light of science over our land. 
 
 My colleagues have already exhibited so much zeal 
 and industry, that they require no exhortation from me 
 to persevere in their efforts to promote the objects of 
 our Institution, and in their contributions to the union 
 
52 
 
 and progress of the arts and sciences. Constituted as 
 this Society is, few of its members can bestow their 
 whole time to the purposes of the Institution ; but all 
 may devote some portion of it to this object. The 
 mind requires relaxation from the labors of a trade, or 
 profession, or the cares of state ; but, like the soil we 
 cultivate, it need not be left for that period to grow up 
 in noxious weeds. Relaxation from intense application 
 to our important duties may be found in the pursuits of 
 literature and science. It is an error to suppose that 
 letters cannot be cultivated without neglecting the ful¬ 
 filment of the obligations we owe to our families or to 
 our country. On the contrary, the man who devotes 
 his leisure to the acquisition of knowledge will invigo¬ 
 rate his mind and better fit himself to fulfil his more im¬ 
 portant duties, than if he had passed those moments in 
 frivolous amusements; and the pursuit itself, by lead¬ 
 ing us to an intimate acquaintance with the works of 
 nature, cannot fail to elevate our minds to the contem¬ 
 plation of that Being who “ in wisdom has made them 
 all,” and to inspire us with devout gratitude to Him 
 who has endued us with intelligence to comprehend his 
 marvellous works. 
 
 Cl 
 
 ■ 
 
* 
 
 ' 
 
 VXBIUStinNl ©33 SHBBIPIBCDE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE HONORABLE JUDGE GANTT, 
 
 RE8IOHIIO HIS OFFICE AS LAW JUDGE. 
 
i?an53TSR@a ins®®!! ®^sj®i$\ 
 
 House of Representatives, Tuesday, ) 
 November 30 th, 1841. $ 
 
 The Speaker laid before the House a Communi¬ 
 cation from the Honorable Richard Gantt, resigning 
 the Office of Law Judge; which is as follows : 
 
 Columbia, Nov. 30th, 1841. 
 
 To the Honorable the Speaker , and Members of the House of Repre¬ 
 sentatives : 
 
 Gentlemen :—It is with a grateful recollection of the favors 
 of my country, that I approach you for the purpose of surren¬ 
 dering my public trust into your hands. Twenty-six years ago, 
 I was appointed to the highly responsible office of Law Judge. 
 During that long period, I have, to the best of my abilities, dis¬ 
 charged the duties thereby devolved upon me. That I may not 
 have discharged them perfectly, is, I have no doubt, true; but 
 honesty of purpose, and purity of intention, have (I trust,) ever 
 attended my efforts. By the mercy of God, I have been spared 
 beyond the ordinary limit of human life, in the full enjoyment of 
 all my bodily, and (as I think,) mental faculties. 
 
 I feel that it is time to leave the perplexities and vexations of 
 public life to younger men. The repose and quiet of home, are 
 necessary to the happiness of old age. To these blessings my 
 attention has been directed for some time, and my resignation now 
 is the result of a fixed determination, which was disclosed to my 
 friends the first day of your present session. 
 
i u* . n 
 
 Be pleased, gentlemen, to accept my resignation of the office 
 of Law Judge, and with it, the assurance, that my prayers will 
 ascend to the Throne of Mercy and Grace, for blessings on the 
 State, in whose service I have spent so many happy years. 
 
 Respectfully, your fellow-citizen, 
 
 RICHARD GANTT. 
 
 Mr. Rhett, by leave, introduced the following 
 Resolutions, which were adopted by both Houses: 
 
 Resolved, That the Legislature appreciate highly 
 the motives which have induced the Hon. Richard 
 Gantt to resign the office of a Law Judge. 
 
 Resolved, That as a testimonial of their regard for 
 his person, and their estimate of his long and faith¬ 
 ful public services, one year’s salary of thirty-five 
 hundred dollars, be appropriated for his use, and be 
 paid to him at the adjournment of the Legislature. 
 
 Resolved, That his letter of resignation be entered 
 at length on the Journal of the House. 
 
 Resolved, That these Resolutions be sent to the 
 Senate for concurrence. 
 
 
 
 From the South Carolian. 
 
 TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO JUDGE GANTT. 
 
 Columbia, Dec. 1, 1841. 
 
 An unusually large number of the Bar of the State 
 of South Carolina, embracing eminent members of 
 the Profession, from every section of the State, at¬ 
 tending upon the Legislature, and the Courts of Ap- 
 
 i 
 
peal, this day assembled in the Court House, to take 
 into consideration the resignation of the Hon. Rich¬ 
 ard Gantt, late President of the Law Court of Ap¬ 
 peals: whereupon, on motion of Solicitor T. N. Daw¬ 
 kins, the Hon. James Gregg, of the Senate, was 
 called to the Chair, and Solicitor Thomas J. Withers 
 was appointed Secretary. 
 
 The Hon. D. L. Wardlaw, Speaker of the House 
 of Representatives, read to the meeting the following 
 valedictory letter from Judge Gantt: 
 
 44 Gentlemen of the Bar of South Carolina: 
 
 44 1 cannot resign the station which I have so song filled as a 
 Judge, without feelings of regret, that the abdication of my seat 
 will separate me, for the remaining portion of my life, from the 
 brotherhood of the profession to which I have been regularly bred, 
 and dedicated the most of my life. It is with unfeigned satisfac¬ 
 tion, that I can acknowledge the courtesy and kindness which you 
 have always manifested toward me, particularly as years rolled on, 
 and required your greater indulgence. 
 
 The law is an ennobling science, and the characteristics of its 
 votaries will be found in the deep-seated sense of honor, patriotism, 
 and love of right, with which your bosoms are fraught. 
 
 May God in mercy direct you in the course which leads to fame, 
 honor, and wealth, and bless you with every comfort, calculated t© 
 render life happy. Farewell— 44 a long farewell.” 
 
 In haste, 
 
 R. GANTT.” 
 
 Mr. Speaker Wardlaw submitted the following 
 Resolutions, which, being unanimously adopted, were 
 ordered to be so entered : 
 
 Resolved , That the Members of the Bar have re- 
 
6 
 
 u 
 
 ceived, with deep emotion, the valedictory letter ol 
 his Honor Judge Gantt, and entertain towards him, 
 in heart felt sincerity, all the kindness that he has 
 inferred from the courtesy which they have endea¬ 
 vored to practice, and which was rendered less to 
 his high station, than to his uniform benevolence and 
 dignity. 
 
 Resolved , That in Judge Gantt, the members of 
 the Bar recognize one, who, at the Bar, eminent for 
 his learning, and unequalled for his persuasive elo¬ 
 quence, gave an example of that “ sense of honor, 
 patriotism, and love of right,” which he is now 
 pleased to regard as characterizing the votaries of 
 the law; and who, on the Bench for twenty-six years, 
 has maintained a character for integrity and con¬ 
 scientiousness, that would not have been unworthy 
 of the great and good Sir Matthew Hale, whose pre¬ 
 cepts he delighted to quote and practice. 
 
 Resolved, That as Judge Gantt has been pecu¬ 
 liarly distinguished for his kindness towards the 
 younger members of the profession, his tenderness 
 towards the accused, his love of truth and justice, 
 and his practice of temperance, and every Christian 
 virtue, so he is the peculiar object of affectionate 
 regard, and in his retirement may be assured, that 
 he carries with him the good wishes of the whole 
 professional fraternity. 
 
 Resolved , That we humbly and devoutly beseech 
 that God, in whose fear his days have hitherto been 
 
 
 
spent, to render the remainder of Judge Gantt s 
 days as serene and happy, as a good conscience, and 
 the remembrance of a life well spent, may be ex¬ 
 pected to make them. 
 
 On motion of the Hon. B. F. Perry, member of 
 the House of Representatives, from Greenville, 
 
 Resolved , That copies of the proceedings of this 
 meeting be tendered by the Chairman thereof, to 
 His Honor Judge Gantt, and to the Courts of Ap¬ 
 peal, and be published in the newspapers. 
 
 J. GREGG, Chairman. 
 
 T. J, Withbrs, Secretary. 
 
1 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 THE CITIZENS OF KNOXVILLE, 
 
 ox 
 
 THE 10TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1842, 
 
 * 
 
 T1IU SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN. 
 
 BY TIIOS. W. HUMES. 
 
 KNOXVILLE, TEN.: 
 PUBLISHED BY E. G. EASTMAN. 
 
 1842. 
 
Knoxville, Feb. 10, 1842. 
 
 T. W. Humes, Esq.: 
 
 Sir:— The undersigned, Committee of Arrangements for celebrating the 
 Fiftieth Anniversary of the settlement of Knoxville, tender you their thanks for 
 the very interesting address you delivered before your fellow-townsmen on 
 the occasion, and request a copy for publication. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 
 E. ALEXANDER, 
 
 CL M, IIAZEN, 
 
 E. G. EASTMAN, 
 JAMES WILLIAMS, 
 HU: L. McCLUNG, 
 JOHN WILLIAMS, 
 
 >Com.of Arrangements. 
 
 Knoxville, Feb. 10, 1842. 
 
 Gentlemen :—A copy of the Address delivered on the Fiftieth Anniversary 
 of the settlement of Knoxville, in compliance with your request, is placed in 
 your hands for publication. 
 
 With sentiments of esteem, 
 
 I am, yours respectfully, 
 
 E. Alexander 
 and others. 
 
 5 
 
 Committee . 
 
 THOS. W. HUMES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 mm 
 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 We have assembled, fellow-citizens, to celebrate an event of fifty 
 years ago. To the aged men and matrons in our midst, it may seem 
 but as yesterday, so brief are the measures of time that belong 1o our 
 past lives; but to the young, exulting in vigorous life and revelling in 
 the rich promises of hope, halt a century is full long enough to throw 
 around the occurrences which marked its advent, all that deep, perhaps 
 melancholy, interest, that attaches to the history of the olden time. The 
 actions of the wise, the brave, the good of the pas*, appear to us, through 
 the dim vista of many years, with a placid radiance—not dazzling into 
 blind admiration, but exciting tranquil delight mingled with reverence. 
 We look upon them, not as we look upon the actions of living, 
 breathing men around us. The actors themselves have gone from the 
 earth—are forever disrobed of their humanity—have passed away into 
 the illimitable future, of which life and death in their highest, most im¬ 
 perishable forms, are the elements. They are not of us nor with us ; 
 and as one cycle of years is followed by another, since they knew death, 
 tiiey seem farther and farther removed from and beyond us, and we lin¬ 
 ger over theii deeds with still stronger emotions of awe. What if the 
 feeling be unfavorable to the indulgence of a cold and severe criticism of 
 their character and works? They may surely he allowed some freedom 
 from the lash of our censoriousness, when the teeming world around 
 us and our individual lives, are so loud and frequent in their calls for its 
 application. The quaint expression of my Lord Bacon, in the legacy of 
 his u name and memory to men’s charitable speeches,” aptly conveys the 
 universal trust bequeathed the living by the dead, and it is but justice that 
 we deal with it generously. 
 
 Fifty years ago ! How crowded, to the liv ing remnants of a departed 
 generation, now within these walls, is the half century, that is gone, 
 with pleasant and bitter remembrances! And yet if truly wise, even 
 as they look upon the images of broken hopes and violated resolutions 
 and severed affections that so throng its silent avenues, they cannot 
 wish that the waters of Lethe he rolled over it, for those^ very resolu¬ 
 tions and hopes and affections have taught them a lesson of stern import, 
 which they have treasured in their hearts. Blot out the Past| to them! and 
 they are robbed of the riches! solace of their age, except in the hopes 
 they may have garnered up in Heaven. It is indeed more familiar to 
 them than the Present. The things of yesterday they may forget, when 
 those of long time ago have a vividness to their mind’s eye, that is forci¬ 
 bly illustrative of the recreative power of memory. See that venerable 
 

 4 
 
 man as he bends over his desolate hearth-stone ! In the beautiful lan¬ 
 guage of Scripture, so expressive of physical decay, “ the keepers of 
 his house tremble” and u those that look out of his windows are dark¬ 
 ened.” His ears are closed forever to the voice of human sympathy. 
 Wife—children—friends—all gone ! Like the once cheerful fire that 
 burned at his side, they have left him with their dust and ashes. He is 
 alone but not solitary. See! his countenance radiant with joy ; his lips 
 murmur inarticulate sounds. He is communing with the dead! Once more 
 the forms of departed friends pass before him—once more he catches 
 the smile of his wife—once more the merry laughter of his little ones 
 rings in his ears. Memory has brought the shadowy throng around 
 him and filled his chamber with the music of the loved and 
 lost. 
 
 The past has indeed a charm to the old, that they only can appre¬ 
 ciate ; and to those who mingled in the early scenes of Knoxville, and 
 who yet linger upon the stage, the occurrences of to-day cannot but be 
 gratifying. Standing almost isolated from their former associates, in the 
 midst of a new generation, even the 'public events of their youth, with 
 many of which the mystic chain of association may have indissolubly 
 bound their hearts, seem in some sense their especial property. To 
 those who are yet in the summer of life, those events will have a differ¬ 
 ent interest—perhaps fewer attractions. When the pulse beats strong 
 and full and the heart is thrillingly alive to the excitements of the pre¬ 
 sent, the past engages but an occasional emotion, unless from its deep 
 bosom, the terrible shape of some huge misfortune or fearful crime, 
 rears itself aloft and throws its baleful shadows forever on the path. 
 With the young and the mature, now, like an ever-gaping Maelstrom, 
 swallows up so many thoughts, that few are spared even from the busi¬ 
 est workings of the brain. Wealth must be hoarded, as often under the 
 spur of emulation as the love of gain. The fierce impulses of Ambi¬ 
 tion, seldom lofty in its nature or tangible in its purpose, must be obey¬ 
 ed ; and the calls of every hungry passion, too often complete and pre¬ 
 serve the tumult of the mind. 
 
 It is honorable to you, my fellow-citizens, to stop awhile, as you have 
 to-day, the current ot your busy cares and unite in celebrating the birth 
 of the place, consecrated to you as the theatre of your childhood’s pas¬ 
 times or of your u manhood’s joy and mourning, conquest and loss:” at 
 least, endeared to you by all the clinging ties of home, family, and friends. 
 The mistress of the world had her natalis urbe , and before the pride 
 of conquest and the lust of power had eaten into her heart, her citizens 
 shed no blood in the sacrifices of the day. If, catching the spirit that 
 prompted their rejection of all that might defile the solemnity of such 
 an occasion, we have come together, banishing all party animosities and 
 jealousies, as impure and unworthy of admission to the scene, it may be 
 that the act of their burial, even if it be but temporary, will give a new 
 spring to the prosperity of Knoxville and date an important era in its 
 history. 
 
 On the 7th of August, 1790, William Blount, of North Carolina, re¬ 
 ceived his commission as Governor of the Territory south of the river 
 Ohio, by appointment of President Washington, and arrived in the 
 
 Q 
 
5 
 
 country in the following October. It is probable he took up his resi¬ 
 dence in the vicinity of this place, then covered with a thicket of brush¬ 
 wood, early in’91. A manuscript narrative of an old soldier, who with 
 a company of militia on their way to Cumberland, encamped lor six 
 weeks about that time near the creek west of town—where, according 
 to his account, the soldiers wrestled so much as to give the place the 
 name of Scuffle-town, which it yet bears,—mentions the encampment 
 of John Walts and Double Head before the cabin ol Gov. Blount, then 
 standing on the knoll between the hill on which East Tennessee University 
 now is and the river. The treaty ol Holston concluded with the Cher- 
 okees on the 2d of July, ’91, was held on the bank of the river at the 
 foot of Water street, where a few rude shanties were erected for the re¬ 
 ception of Government stores ; and in the words of an ancient act, u Gov. 
 Blount having determined to fix the srat of Government on the spot,” 
 u it was deemed expedient there to establish a town,” which was u ac- 
 cordingly laid out in February. ’92, immediately below the second creek 
 that runs into Holston on the north side below the mouth ol French 
 Broad, by James White,” original proprietor of the soil, u and called 
 Knoxville, in honor of Maj. General Henry Knox, then Secretary ol 
 War.” It will be observed that this determination of Gov. Blount, is 
 given in the act, as the reason par excellence, for the establishment of the 
 town, and most sufficient reason was it. Whether it be esteemed weigh¬ 
 ty enough to have satisfied the speculating wise-acres of 1836-7, who 
 laid out cities in swamps and primitive forests that they had never seen 
 and bought and sold them at ever-increasing premiums, or considered so 
 trivial as to be classed with the insignificant causes that have so often 
 decided more important events in all ages of the world, it was certain¬ 
 ly respectful to His Excellency thus to honor his head quarters, as well 
 as politic, by adding to the extrinsic dignity of bis official character in 
 the eyes of the savages. We might stop to speculate upon the motives 
 which prompted the Governor to fix upon this spot for his seat of Gov¬ 
 ernment, and inquire if the reasons which moved his decision, have not 
 since multiplied in number and force and should not be equally operative 
 with our present law-givers ; but it would scarcely be apposite to our 
 purpose. His Excellency may not have been able to adopt the asser¬ 
 tion of Themistocles the Athenian, who, when asked in raillery at a 
 feast to play upon the lute, replied he “ could not fiddle, but he could 
 make a small town a great city yet is unquestionable, that to his sin¬ 
 gle will we mainly owe the existence of our town, when if it had been 
 put to vote after republican usage, it might not have been, or d it had, 
 been any where else than ‘immediately below the mouth of Second creek.’ 
 The only inhabitants of the town at the lime of its establishment, were 
 John Chisolm, Mr. McLemee, Hugh Dunlap, now living at Paris m this 
 State, and Samuel and Nathaniel Cowan. The first kept a tavern ; 
 Mr. Dunlap and the Messrs. Cowan sold merchandize. It was not un¬ 
 til the 11 th of June, ’92, that Knox county was established by an ordi¬ 
 nance issued by the Governor. 
 
 His Excellency being sincerely devoted to the interests of the country 
 and anxious that all important intelligence should be promptly^ brought 
 to the knowledge of the people, induced the immigration of Mr. Koul- 
 
 
i 
 
 f 
 
 * 
 
 stone, a printer, who arrived in the country with the materials of his 
 trade in ’91. Knoxville at that time having no existence beyond a pros¬ 
 pective one based upon the Governor's intention, the disciple of It-alist 
 halted at Rogersville and in that place, on the 5th of November, "91, is¬ 
 sued the first number of the Knoxville Gazette. By this wilful anachro¬ 
 nism, not only was Knoxville anticipated in its existence by several 
 months, but in the exigency of the oecasion, was forced into an ideal 
 being and given a local habitation for the nonce in the village of Rogers* 
 ville. The office was, however, soon removed to Knoxville itself, and 
 Rogersville relieved from its ambiguous position and the constructive 
 imputation, that not content with its proper name, it had usurped the title 
 of the embryo seat of Government. 
 
 The “Gazette” was the first paper published within the limits of the 
 present State of Tennessee, and flourished its diminutive proportions 
 every week, no doubt much to the gratification of its subscribers. It was 
 rather dingy of hue and scanty in its allowance of matter for intellectual 
 regalement, but even had its readers been possessed of the enormous swal¬ 
 lows of the public now-a-days, enabling them to gulp down with per¬ 
 fect listlessness any imaginable quantity of literary trifles, they 
 had no leisure fur the indulgence, from their, necessary avocations and al¬ 
 most perpetual strife with the savages. Mr. Roulstone continued its 
 publication for many years, and performed in the intermediate time all 
 the duties of Printer to the Territorial and State Governments. The 
 patronage thus enjoyed, would however scarcely excite the envy of the 
 modern practisersof his art, as the entire cost of the Acts and Journals 
 of ’92, was only six hundred dollars, in consideration ot which sum, 
 all proclamations and other public acts of the Government were also 
 printed. Regarded as the pioneer of newspapers in the country, the 
 Gazette engages an interest which its intrinsic merits would not obtain. 
 Solitary and alone in the midst of an extensive territory, its adventitious 
 importance was necessarily considerable. The publisher was a man of 
 rather more than ordinary capacity, but seldom ventured opinions, con¬ 
 fining himself to the more easy and ordinary duty of chronicling passing 
 events. The time was one of constant physical action and the people 
 were too much engrossed with tire labors ofthe field and the terrible per¬ 
 ils that environed them, to pay much heed to the strife of opinion through¬ 
 out the Union, with regard to the powers of the Federal Government. 
 Not that they were insensible to the importance of grave political 
 questions. To the enduring truths promulged in the Declaration of In¬ 
 dependence, theirconsciences eloquentl y responded. Their love ofcountry 
 had all the fixedness of a principle and all the ardor of a passion. Mow un¬ 
 like in this, to too many of our own day, who regard it in the severe 
 light of a duty : not murmuring indeed at its imposition, but still enter¬ 
 taining it as some men hold their marriage ties—cherishing their wives 
 from motives of conventional propriety and not with the pure unbidden 
 gushings-forth of the heart. We know it is a custom to sneer at all 
 delineations of the lofty patriotism < f our countrymen of the last cen¬ 
 tury which contrast so strongly with the lack of vitality in that of our 
 contemporaries, as tiie work of flippant fancy; but we doubt if the 
 representation ever surpasses justice. If it be an illusion, we would 
 
 *Q 
 
 
 aa 
 
i 
 
 not have it-destroyed. We love to contemplate their glowing zeal— 
 their never-ceasing care—their almost paternal tenderness lor their 
 country. There is something ennobling in the picture. We think bet¬ 
 ter of humanity as we dwell upon it, and better of our race. It reflects 
 a charm upon our country itself that attracts towards her the best affec¬ 
 tions of her children; for the object that can absorb such care and ten¬ 
 derness and zeal, must indeed be worthy. But it is not an illusion. The 
 men of old cherished a patriotism that stands out in bold relief, like 
 the piety of primitive Christians. They loved their country, not merely 
 under the impulse of duty. She appeared to them in all the freshness 
 and beauty of a virgin bride, and the full tide of their affections was 
 poured out at her feet. Oh ! if every American could catch a spark of 
 the fervid spirit that burned in their breasts, what magnificence of 
 spectacle would the Republic present ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the pledges of perpetual amity made by the Chero- 
 kees at the Treaty of Ilolston, they very soon afterwards gave decided 
 evidences of hostility. The Government, being well aware of the con¬ 
 stitutional propensity of the savages to deck their persons and wigwams 
 with the proofs of their skill and courage, in the shape of scalp-locks, 
 was apprehensive that the news of St. Clair’s defeat by the North* 
 western Indians in November, ’91, would stimulate the Southern tribes 
 to arms. Whether influenced by that disaster or not, the Cherokees of 
 the five lower towns, lying Northwest of Chattanuga mountain, early 
 in ’92, declared for war, having first indulged themselves with the 
 amusements of a scalp-dance and an eagle-tail dance, which were of 
 course performed in a very bloody humor and in utter contempt of the 
 spirit in which such entertainments are conducted in civilized life. The 
 Little Turkey, Principal Chief, was by no means disposed to wink at 
 this premature turbulence, and in the heat of iiis anger, promptly pro¬ 
 scribed the dancers from all intercourse with the rest of the nation'.— 
 The white men were not however satisfied of Little Turkey’s ability, 
 whatever may have been their opinion of his disposition, to enforce up* 
 on Ids refractory subjects a non-intercourse law that would include Chris¬ 
 tian settlements; and prudently took measures for their own defence.— 
 The result proved that they had not misconceived their danger. The 
 savages commenced their predatory warfare early in the Spring. The 
 white man was shotdown*at his plough by an unseen hand;—children 
 gathering berries were tomahawked and scalped ; the quiet family were 
 roused at midnight by a war-whoop and the morning sun looked down 
 upon their butchered forms and the smoking ruins of their dwellings.— 
 A terrible apprehension hung round ever} 7 fire side. As the marauders 
 only prowled through the country in petty bands, they confined their dep¬ 
 redations to solitary houses, the way-farer and the laborer in the field, 
 but their approaches to Knoxville were, in many instances, too close 
 not to beget a mistrust of safety in the infant town. 
 
 The Treaty of Holston provided for the delivery of certain valuable 
 goods to the Cherokees and the annual payment to them of a thousand 
 dollars; but in the following December, the President was unexpected¬ 
 ly visited by an embassy headed by Bloody Fellow, intent, among other 
 objects, upon the substitution of fifteen hundred dollars in goods for the 
 
thousand in money* This request was granted and the ambassa¬ 
 dors returned home accompanied by a United States agent with about 
 thirty five hundred dollars of personal presents to the Chiefs, warriors, 
 and interpreters, and seventeen hundred of goods. 1 he division of this 
 treasure was to take place at Coyatee in May, ’92, and so pressing were 
 the solicitations of the Chiefs to Gov. Blount to honor it with his pres¬ 
 ence, that he at length consented. Never met man with more compli¬ 
 mentary reception, than that given to His Excellency by the delighted 
 savages, whose animal spirits were elevated to fever heat by the goodly 
 array of cloths and beads. Even the warriors of the lower towns 
 could not absent themselves from the enticing ceremony, but made their 
 appearance with their hands clean-washed of the blood of their recent 
 slaughters and their faces in the very interesting dress of a ground of 
 black paint sprinkled over with flour in token that they l< had been at 
 war, but were now for peace.’ 5 The Governor’s Address, filled with just 
 complaints and closed with a demand for the restitution of prisoners, 
 was answered by the breath of Nickajack with a profusion of prom¬ 
 ises: and the Hanging Maw followed with an announcement of the 
 grand national council to be held at the beloved Eustanaula in thirty 
 nights, when Bloody Fellow, otherwise General Eskaqua by appoint¬ 
 ment of President Washington, would render a report of his recent visit 
 to Philadelphia. 
 
 Before that time arrived, important influences changed the temper of 
 the Chiefs. The Spanish authorities in Florida and Louisiana had 
 watched with much jealousy the extension of our settlements in the val¬ 
 ley of the Mississippi; and while the Government of the United States 
 was constant in its efforts to cultivate terms of amity with them, they 
 did not hesitate under the pretence of compliance with their treaties 
 with the Indians, to furnish them with arms and ammunition for their 
 frequent forays. John Watts was met a few miles distant from Coyatee 
 upon his departure from that place, by an Indian runner who delivered 
 him a letter addressed to himself and-Bloody Fellow, from Mr. Panton, 
 a British merchant in Pensacola, who had realized immense gains from 
 the Indians and whose interest urged him to encourage them to hostili¬ 
 ties with the Americans, as in that event his traffic would be enlarged. 
 The letter invited them in the name of O’Neal, Governor of Florida, to 
 visit Pensacola with ten pack-horses, promising them arms and ammu¬ 
 nition from the Governor and goods from Panton to the extent of their 
 wants. The wily trader, in a personal interview with Little Turkey, 
 tempted him with similar inducements, and not altogether unsuccessfully. 
 The letter of Panton was written from the house of McDonald, a Scotch 
 resident in the nation, to which place Watts instantly departed, and being 
 furnished with a letter from McDonald to Gov. O’Neal, started without 
 delay for Pensacola. Bloody Fellow accompanied him but a short dis¬ 
 tance. The Eustanaula council on the 23d of June was called with an 
 especial view to his presence, but he failed to be there. Little Turkey 
 however was present, and in the captious spirit which the tampering of 
 the Spanish agents had imparted him, advanced a claim with regard to 
 a boundary line that had never before been arrogated. No reply was 
 made by the council to the letter of Gov. Blount which was laid before 
 
9 
 
 it, proposing the appointment of commissioners to extend and mark the 
 line agreeably to the Treaty of Holston. On the 26th of October, the 
 day proposed, Judge Campbell, Chas. McClung, and Jno. McKee at¬ 
 tended on the part of the United States, but the Cherokees were unrep¬ 
 resented and the line was run without being marked. 
 
 Upon Watts’s return in August from Pensacola, Gov. Blount invited 
 him in courteous style to visit Knoxville, but he treated the request with 
 entire neglect and proceeded to Will's town, where the Cherokees were 
 assembling from all quarters to hear his report and recreate themselves 
 with a green-corn dance. Watts addressed them, told of his visit to 
 Florida, lauded the Spaniards, denounced the Americans, and advised 
 war. Bloody Fellow replied in opposition. “ Look!” said he, “ at 
 that flag. Don’t you see the stars in it? They are not towns; they 
 are nations.” Upon dispersing for a short time, the young fellows, who 
 as Watts said <c were always wanting to go to war,” reduced their per¬ 
 sons to a condition of comparative nudity, and modestly covering the 
 naked parts with black paint, commenced a war-dance, which they 
 prolonged throughout the night. This ebullition of feeling no doubt had 
 its influence, unless all demagogues have white faces. The next day the 
 debate was renewed and much enlivened by the speech of a Shawnee, 
 who gave his auditors the gratifying information that he had killed three 
 hundred men and the time was come that he should kill three hundred 
 more. The war-dance was resumed after a declaration for war by the 
 council, and continued until dawn around the United States flag, upon the 
 stars of which, the warriors, as if in contempt of Bloody Fellow’s 
 poetical allusion, occasionally tried their skill as marksmen. Indeed he 
 seemed sotoconstrue it, for lie threatened them with violence unless they 
 desisted. The next day the council met by adjournment at Lookout 
 Mountain town. The party numbered six hundred. Calculating upon 
 an accession of two or three hundred, it was resolved to form four equal 
 divisions, attack and desolate the Holston settlements as high up as the 
 big island of that river, then scatter in small companies and perlorm the 
 same offices upon the French Broad settlements up to its head ; but on 
 the ensuing day the direction of their purposes was changed, perhaps 
 from caprice, to the Cumberland settlements. Two days were given 
 for preparations for the incursion. But alas! for the inconstancy of 
 savage virtue. A few hours elapsed and they “ put an enemy in their 
 mouths that stole away their brains.” The same day on which John 
 Watts arrived in Pensacola, witnessed the departure from the place of 
 another Cherokee Chief who delighted in the significant name of Una- 
 catahe or White-Man Killer. Stopping at his own house just long 
 enough to enlist the company of his wife for a new journey, he came 
 on with her to Knoxville and feasted with the perfect non-chalance of 
 an intimate friend upon the hospitality of Gov. Blount at his own house 
 for ten consecutive days. He made no professions of business but 
 abundant professions of friendshi p. In regard to the results of his ob¬ 
 servation at Pensacola, he was uniformly silent, and equally so as to the 
 object of his visit to Knoxville. It is not improbable that he was dele¬ 
 gated by Watts to spy out the nakedness of the place and thatthe com¬ 
 pany of his help-mate was intended to cover his purposes of espial from 
 
10 
 
 ‘the white-mar^s eye* He at length departed With a canoe laden with 
 whiskey, and on tlie same day on which his tawny brethren determined 
 in council at Lookout Mountain town upon their attack on the Cumber¬ 
 land settlements, Unacatahe landed with his liquid treasure at the month 
 of Lookout Mountain creek, fifteen miles distant, 1 he news of his 
 arrival soon reached the council-men and a deputation was instantly 
 started for the fire-water. Of course there was no talk the next day 
 and no preparations for the proposed irruption, for the warriors with 
 few exceptions were stupid with intoxication, and the idea of an im¬ 
 mediate inroad was altogether abandoned. Deraque, a t renchman* 
 and Finnelston, a half-breed, were sent forward to Nashville, with a 
 promise to return in ten nights with a report of the country’s condition 
 for defence. Had Unacatahe represented Knoxville and the adjoining 
 settlements as open to attack, the arms of the party would no doubt 
 have been turned against them. But be seems to have left hero with 
 very strong impressions of the belligerent qualities of the citizens ; for a 
 blow received in a drunken fray at a tavern, lie magnified into a dread¬ 
 ful beating and garnished with threats from the townsmen to shoot him, 
 and these imaginary evils were made the subject of a formal complaint 
 from the Glass to the Governor. Deraque and Finnelston had assumed 
 the capacity of spies, with the intention to put the whites upon their 
 guard ; and on their arrival at Nashville, they made a full disclosure to 
 Gen. Robertson of the designs of the savages and informed him of the 
 resolution of the council to write letters to Gov. Blount in a pacific spiiit, 
 to deceive him as to their purposes. This fact Robertson communicated 
 to Blount by express, but it did not reach Knoxville until the Governor 
 had received and acted upon the fraudulent letters, one of which came 
 from Bloody Fellow, inwhom he had reposed much confidence. The 
 warriors at Lookout Mountain town, however, did not wait the return of 
 their faithless emmissaries to Cumberland, but after recovering from the 
 effects of the fire-water from Knoxville, dispersed, and only two hun¬ 
 dred of them, headed by John Watts, were found with the formidable 
 band of Creeks, shortly afterwards repulsed from Buchanan’s Station. 
 Watts was severely wounded, and upon partial convalescence,—disap¬ 
 pointed and chagrined, and moved by the apprehension which was pre¬ 
 valent among the Cherokees that Gen. Sevier with his entire brigade 
 then under arms would enter the nation and destroy their villages, 
 sent a delegation to Gov. Blount with pacific assurances. They arrived 
 at Knoxville on the 5th of January, ’93, and after a stay of ten days, re¬ 
 turned under the protection of an escort. The instructions to Gov. 
 Blount from the War Department authorized him to keep the militia in 
 service only during the existence of immediate danger, and as lie was 
 led by present appearances to indulge hopes of quiet to the settlements, 
 he discharged all the troops at Knoxville, leaving but one company of 
 infantry and twenty-five horsemen of Sevier’s brigade in service. But 
 the ravages of the Indians, principally Greeks, in small parties, knew 
 no abatement, and the people were goaded and harassed almost to 
 frenzy. The Federal Government was unwilling in the midst of a 
 fierce contest with the Northern tribes to enter into war with those of 
 the South, and was positive in its refusal to Gov. Blount’s request for 
 
11 
 
 vigorous offensive operations, against the Creeks and Lower Chero 
 kees. Bitter were the complaints of the frontier settlers against a poli¬ 
 cy, which appeared to hold their lives and property as of trifling value, 
 and eager were they, upon the occurrence of some fresh horror, to pur¬ 
 sue the enemy to his own hunting grounds and there take their revenge. 
 In several instances, they assembled in large parties for this purpose and 
 in one, at Gamble’s Station, were only dispersed by a proclamation of 
 the Governor. In these days, when the spirit of disorder is so rife as 
 to threaten with violence the very foundations of society, it would be 
 dangerous perhaps, even if consistent with a dutiful reverence for the 
 law, to apologise for such ebullitions of passion. 
 
 The early inhabitants of the country were gifted in an eminent degree 
 with a high-toned spirit of independence. It was this, when suffering 
 acutely under a sense of wrong, that led them to spurn the injustice, real 
 or imaginary, of their rulers, and to the formation of the short-lived State 
 of Franklin. And although liable to excesses, when coupled with a 
 sensitive heart or inflammable imagination, yet under the tutelage of an 
 enlightened reason and discreet will, no ingredient of human character 
 is more noble or laudable. We would detract nothing from its merit 
 nor extenuate aught of its perversions. The President, although unable 
 to meet the wishes of the borderers in regard to offensive operations, was 
 sedulous to cultivate a friendly temper among the Indians, and in the 
 prosecution of his efforts to this end, requested Gov. Blount to invite 
 the Cherokees to send a deputation with him to Philadelphia. He ac¬ 
 cordingly held a conference with them at Henry’s Station on the 17th of 
 April, when he earnestly pressed them to a compliance with the Presi¬ 
 dent’s request, but they declined a decision at the time and warily pro¬ 
 crastinated it until it was useless. 
 
 Shortly afterwards an event occurred which occasioned sincere re¬ 
 gret to his excellency and to the people of Knoxville. The Chickasaws 
 had been the fast friends of the Americans and many of them had fought 
 gallantly under our flag. To the Shawnees they were highly obnox¬ 
 ious and the deputation from that nation, which visited the Creeks and 
 Cherokees in January, ’93, to excite them to war with the United States, 
 as they passed through the Cherokee Teritory, were vehement in 
 their threats of ruin upon the Chickasaws, for the aid they had rendered 
 the army of St. Clair. The Creeks, too, regarded them with bitter feel¬ 
 ings, and a recent occasion of quarrel bad fanned the flame ot resentment 
 and kindled a war that promised to be unusually ferocious. The Creeks 
 were numerous and powerful. The Chickasaws were brave, but loo 
 few, unaided, to contend successfully with their haughty and insolent 
 foes; and in the emergency of the case they called upon the white-men 
 for help, and reminded them of their mutual agreement to be as one man 
 in regard to both enemies and friends. It was of course politic, as it 
 was a matter of gratitude and good faith, to avoid any cause ot 
 offence to a tribe that had proved its friendship in all times ot danger 
 and was now involved in a war, originating from the relations in which 
 that friendship had placed them. Two Chickasaws who were at Coy. 
 Blount’s on a visit, went with a Cherokee who was attached to their 
 company into the woods to look after their horses. About six hundred 
 
yards from the Governor’s house they were fired upon by some dastardly 
 whites to whom it was supposed the Cherokee was odious, and one of 
 the Chickasaws received a mortal wound. He died the next day, and 
 just before expiring, desired, with much magnanimity, of his companions, 
 that satisfaction should be taken only upon his murderer. Aware of 
 the morbid sensitiveness and clannish spirit of the Indians, and no doubt 
 truly sorry for the occurrence, Gov. Blount was solicitous that such res¬ 
 pect should be paid to the remains of the deceased, as might efface 
 from the minds of his brethren the evil impressions which the manner 
 of his death would create. He was buried with military honors,—the 
 Governor walking with the brother of the departed warrior at the head 
 of the funeral piocession as chief mourners—followed by a large number 
 of the citizens of the town and adjacent country. The regret and in¬ 
 dignation was general. A reward of a hundred dollars was proclaimed 
 by his excellency for the detection of the offenders, and mounted men 
 scoured the country in search of them. The injured manes of the 
 Chickasaw slept quietly and his aggrieved countrymen, accepting 
 the honor rendered his dead body and the assurances of the white- 
 men’s sympathy, in the spirit with which they were tendered, banish¬ 
 ed all thoughts of resentment, and the bonds of national amity 
 were as strong as before. Notwithstanding, the influence of the event 
 upon the disaffected among the Cherokees,—several of that nation be¬ 
 ing here at the time who did not fail upon their return to rumor so 
 gross a violation of tlie laws of hospitality,—was necessarily unfortu¬ 
 nate. An outrage as little susceptible of palliation followed close upon 
 the heels of that which we have related, and furnished the turbulent men 
 of the lower towns an excuse for retaliation that was not neglected. 
 Prior to Gov. Blount’s departure for Philadelphia, a party of Indians 
 murdered Mr. Gilham and his son in the neighborhood of Bullrun 
 block house, sixteen miles from Knoxville, and Maj. Beard with a com¬ 
 pany of fifty six men was despatched in pursuit of the marauders, under 
 instructions not to cross the Tennessee river. These orders were trans¬ 
 cended and about day-break of the 12th of June, they reached the house 
 of Hanging Maw, where a number of Cherokees bad assembled by in¬ 
 vitation of the Government, for purposes of business with Maj. King and 
 Danl. Carmichael. In the blindness of their rage, Beard’s men attacked 
 the part}r, killed several, including Hanging Maw’s wife, wounded the 
 old chief himself, and only desisted from burning the house at the earn¬ 
 est instance of King and Carmichael. On being informed of this vio¬ 
 lence, Smith, the Secretary of State, Gov. Blount being absent, wrote 
 from Knoxville to the Hanging Maw and other Chiefs, urging them not 
 to take redress into their own hands, but to visit their great father, the 
 President, and he would give them satisfaction. The reply of the Hang¬ 
 ing Maw is too good to be lost. It betrays much perturbation of feel¬ 
 ing; and his contempt for the Secretary is so overflowing, that it finds 
 vent in almost every other sentence. But he lamentably wants versatil¬ 
 ity of language. 
 
 “Covatee, June 15th, 1793. 
 
 “Friend and Brother:—It is but a few days since you were left in the 
 place of Governor Blount. While be was in place, nothing happened. 
 
13 
 
 Surely they are making their fun of you. Surely you are no head¬ 
 man nor warrior. I am just informed you will take satisfaction for me, 
 and I shall reckon it just the same as if I had taken i* myself. 1 reckon 
 you are afraid of these thief’s, when you talk of sending to Congress. 
 If you are left in the place of Governor you ought, to lake satisfaction 
 yourself. It was but a few days since I was at your house, and you 
 told me that nothing should happen to me nor any people at my house; 
 but since that, blood has been spilt at both our houses. I reckon that 
 the white people are just making their fun of you. Governor Blount 
 always told me that nothing should happen me as long as I did live, but 
 he had scarcely got out of sight until I was invaded by them, and like 
 to have got killed. I think you are afraid of these bad men. They 
 first killed the Chiakasaws at your house, and this is is the second time 
 of their doing mischief. I think you are afraid of them. When is the 
 day that a white man was killed at my house? I think the white men 
 make fun of you. Now, blood is spilt at both our houses by your people. 
 I think they are making fun of you and won’t listen to your talks.” 
 
 Smith, under the strong impression that avowed war was now inevi¬ 
 table, renewed the orders given by the Governor some weeks previous, 
 to hold one third of the militia of Washington district constantly pre¬ 
 pared to march to the defence of the frontiers. A court-martial was 
 ordered for the trial of Beard, but no punishment was ever inflicted upon 
 him. The feelings of the borderers were now exasperated by the con¬ 
 tinued ravages of the Indians, to a point that mocked at longer forbea'r- 
 ance, and parties of armed volunteers assembled and marched into the 
 Cherokee nation in defiance of the remonstrances of the Secretary. 
 One of these, consisting of a hundred and eighty men, returned from an 
 incursion against the Indians on the 13th of August, and the statements 
 which the prisoners they had taken concurred in making, that almost 
 the entire nation was gatheringto the council at Eustanaula, preparatory 
 to an inroad upon the Holston settlements, confirmed tiie prevalent ap¬ 
 prehension of danger. The cry was raised for preparations for defence, 
 and many reproaches were uttered against the authorities for their ap¬ 
 parent supineness. It was known to the savages that a quantity of 
 goods and ammunition was in store at Knoxville, and the general im¬ 
 pression was entertained that it would be made the object of attack. 
 The Governor was still absent and the militia of the upper counties un¬ 
 der Sevier was not expected until September. 
 
 Since April, the Spaniards had made professions of amicable inter¬ 
 ference between the United States and the Indians, but were either in¬ 
 sincere, or fickle in their policy; for it is unquestionable that they did 
 not hesitate to incite the latter to the proposed descent upon the Holston 
 settlements, which contemplated the destruction of Knoxville. Re¬ 
 venge for the affair at the Hanging Maw’s was made the ostensible rea¬ 
 son for the inroad, and was so mentioned in the letters of Spanish agents 
 and applauded as a laudable motive. 
 
 On the 12th of September, Jaudenes, with the approval of the Bar¬ 
 on de Carondalet, Spanish Governor at New Orleans, transmitted in¬ 
 structions to Governor White at Pensacola to furnish the Cherokees with 
 seven hundred pounds of powder and fourteen hundred of ball for this 
 
intended foray. Little Turkey, who no longer previous than the 5th of 
 June had written to Gov. Blount, that at a recent meeting with an em¬ 
 bassy from the “Northward Indians,” he had answered their allusion to 
 the readiness of Spanish aid, by roundly declaring that the Spaniards 
 “was a lying, deceitful, treacherous people,—was not real white peo¬ 
 ple, and what few he had seen of them looked like mulattoes;” -this 
 same veritable Little Turkey was the bearer of Jaudenes letter. 1 he 
 agency of the Baron de Carondalet was afterwards admitted by Messrs. 
 Jaudenes and Viar, Spanish Commissioners, in a communication to Mr. 
 Jefferson, Secretary of State, and defended upon the ground ol the trea¬ 
 ties of ’84 between the Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Talapuches and 
 the Government of Spain; and the apology would have some specious¬ 
 ness, if by any process of diplomatic magic the independent nation 
 of Cherokees could be transformed into a tributary of either of those 
 tribes. Three fourths of the savages assembled for the incursion were 
 Creeks; one hundred were horsemen. According to Haywood, their 
 march was delayed until the receipt of the ammunition from Flo¬ 
 rida. 
 
 Their entire number has been variously estimated, from nine to fifteen 
 hundred, but was most probably about the latter. Secretary Smith, in 
 his report of the invasion to the Secretary of War, states that in many 
 places they marched in files of twenty-eight abreast, each of which was 
 supposed to be composed of forty men, but afterwards declares the es¬ 
 timate too low. Knoxville, the object of plunder and ruin to this for¬ 
 midable band, and which the news of its coming had reached, could at 
 that time muster but forty fighting men; but these forty were no cravens 
 to fly at the approach of danger, even though it presented itself in the 
 terrible shape in which it then menaced them. Here were their homes, 
 their families, their all; and with an alacrity and zeal worthy of the crisis, 
 they prepared to defend their firesides. A knowledge of Indian cun¬ 
 ning, with other reasons, induced them to conclude that the approach 
 of the savages to the town would not be made by the main western road, 
 but in a more northern and circuitous direction; and they determined to 
 meet them on the ridge, over which the road to Clinton now passes, 
 about a mile and a half from town, and there by a skilful arrangement 
 of their little company, check their march, and, if possible, alarm 
 and intimidate them. Leaving the two oldest of their number to mould 
 bullets in the block-house which stood on the spot now occupied by 
 the Mansion House and which • contained three hundred guns belonging 
 to the United States, the other thirty-eight proceeded under the com¬ 
 mand of Col. James White to station themselves on the soutli side of 
 the ridge we have mentioned, with an interval of twenty feet between 
 each man. Orders were given to reserve their fire until the Indians were 
 brought within the range of every gun, when at a given signal, they 
 were to pour in upon them a well-directed volley, and, before the savages 
 could recover from their surprise, secure their own retreat to the block¬ 
 house, and there, with their wives, mothers, and children around them, 
 sell their lives at a fearful price, or scatter from the port-holes a shower 
 of leaden hail among the besiegers that would drive them from their 
 banquet of blood. Happily neither of these contingencies awaited 
 
15 
 
 them; for the Indians were so delayed by their own dissensions, that 
 they were unable to reach Knoxville before daylight, and therefore 
 abandoned the attack. This fact, however, detracts nothing from the 
 excellence of the courage—the dauntlesness of the heroism—exhibited 
 by the citizens. The Rev. Mr. Foster, whose elegant pen has recorded 
 an account of the event, justly declared, that “ an incident fraught with 
 so much magnanimity in the early fortunes of Knoxville, should not be 
 blotted from the records of her fame. It is an incident on which the 
 memory of her sons will linger without tiring,) when the din of party 
 shall be hushed and its strife forgotten. Those men of former days 
 were made of sterner stuff than to shrink from danger at the call of 
 duty. And it will be left to a future historian to do justice to that little 
 band of thirty-eight citizens, who flinched not from the deliberate ex¬ 
 posure of their persons in the open field, within the calculated gun¬ 
 shot of fifteen hundred of the fleetest-running and boldest savages.” 
 
 The delay of the Indians until the approaching dawn deterred them 
 from their contemplated assault upon the town. This delay was mainly 
 attributable to their differences in consultation upon a point which Provi¬ 
 dence intended should never come within reach of their decision. Con¬ 
 sidering the particular purpose of their inroad as certain of accomplish¬ 
 ment, the question arose among them, whether they should massacre all 
 the inhabitants of Knoxville or only the men. Hanging Maw, less sangui¬ 
 nary than others, protested earnestly against an indiscriminate slaugh¬ 
 ter; but the opposition to his clemency lacked nothing in zeal and ob¬ 
 stinacy, and the halt was prolonged until they determined it was pru¬ 
 dent to forbear the attack. They had indulged, however, with such con¬ 
 fidence the expectation that day-break would find their hands filled with 
 reeking scalps, that they could not altogether forego a sacrifice of vic¬ 
 tims. Cavet’s Station, eight miles from Knoxville, near the present 
 resident of Joseph Lonas, was a convenient object for their rapacity. 
 It was the morning of the 25th of September. They had marched all 
 night, excepting the time consumed in fruitless debate, and about sun¬ 
 rise commenced their attack on Cavet’s; but were received with such 
 spirited resistance by the three men in the building who alone were armed 
 with guns, that two of their number were soon killed and three others 
 wounded. Their habitual duplicity and cunning were brought into ser¬ 
 vice; and through Bob Beng*, a half-breed who spoke English, a con¬ 
 ference was opened with the whites, and assurances given them that their 
 lives should be spared upon surrender and their persons exchanged for 
 Indian prisoners. Cavet and his party, including women and children 
 thirteen in number, consented to the proposals, but had scarcely crossed 
 the threshold of the door, when the ferocious Double Head and his fol¬ 
 lowers fell upon and murdered them all with the exception of a child 
 who was saved by John Watts, taken as a prisoner to the Creek nation, 
 and afterwards tomahawked. It is due to Boh Benge to state, that he 
 strove to avert their fate. Leaving the Station in flames, the Indians 
 retreated rapidly in the direction of Clinch, for they knew that Gen. 
 Sevier was then at Ish’s Station, eighteen miles below Knoxville, with 
 four hundred men under arms, and that the news of their outrage would 
 soon reach his ears, spread over the country, and bring him speedy re- 
 
16 
 
 inforceraents. Had they continued to Knoxville it would possibly have 
 become their prey; but as has usually been the case with large parties 
 of Indians, particularly when composed of different tribes, their num¬ 
 bers constituted their weakness,—disunion took the place of harmony 
 essential to success, and the light of day scared them from the consum¬ 
 mation of their scheme. 
 
 Sevier, acting under orders from Secretary Smith, did not long delay 
 pursuit. Expresses were instantly despatched over the country and a 
 few days brought reinforcements that swelled his command to seven 
 hundred men, which were formed into two divisions,—that fiom the 
 AVashington District under Col. Blair, and the other, from Hamilton Dis¬ 
 trict, under Col. Christy. Striking across the Tennessee at one of the 
 upper fords below the mountains, they reached Eustenaula on the Coosa 
 on the 14th of October. Learning there that the Indians under Watts 
 had passed by but a few days previous, on the way from their recent 
 invasion to a town on Hightower; after some delay for refreshment, 
 they pressed on to that place, and on the 17th arrived at the junction of 
 the Hightower or Etowah and Coosa. The savages had entrenched 
 themselves behind the southern hank of the Etowah, opposite the usual 
 ford. Col. Kelly, with a part of the Knox county regiment, was order¬ 
 ed to the attack and attempted a passage half a mile below. The di¬ 
 rection of the movement seems to have been taken through an error of 
 the guides, hut it operated successfully as a ruse in drawing the Indians 
 from their position. Observing this and satisfied of the impracticabili¬ 
 ty of crossing at the lower point, the main body of Kelley’s party, 
 under the command of Capt. Evans, dashed up to the ford, crossed the 
 river and ascended the opposite bank in the lace of superior numbers 
 of the enemy, who had returned to the spot but not in time to recover 
 their ambush. The savages were repelled with some loss and fled 
 with precipitation. Several Spanish guns were found in their encamp¬ 
 ment. Sevier’s army crossed the Coosa unmolested, and, after destroy¬ 
 ing several deserted towns lower down the river, returned to Knox 
 county with the loss ot only three men. The cessation of hostilities 
 by the Indians which followed, was attributed to their fear of a repeti¬ 
 tion of this visit. The troops employed in this expedition were refus¬ 
 ed payment by the Secretary of War, on the ground that it was under¬ 
 taken without authority from the President and in violation of instruc¬ 
 tions from the Department of War to Gov. Blount forbidding offensive 
 operations against the Indians. In ’96, Hugh L. White, who served 
 the campaign, petitioned Congress for remuneration, with the view of 
 establishing a principle that would apply to all his fellow-soldiers; and 
 in January, ’97, Andrew Jackson, from the Committee of the House of 
 Representatives to whom the petition was referred, reported a resolu¬ 
 tion in favor of provision by law for the payment of the troops. 
 
 The feelings of impatience in the Territory, under the forbearing poli¬ 
 cy of the Government towards the Indians, were given vent to in Octo¬ 
 ber by the Grand Jury of Hamilton District, composed of the counties 
 of Knox and Jefferson, in an address to the Governor. They represent¬ 
 ed the distress and indignation of the people in strong colors ;—expres¬ 
 sed the hope that Congress would now regard an appeal for the protec- 
 
17 
 
 lion of the Territory,—and suggested to His Excellency the fact, that 
 they were entitled to an Assembly of Representatives, under the Con¬ 
 gressional ordinance of 5 87, which accorded them the right, whenever 
 their tree male inhabitants numbered five thousand. Two days after¬ 
 wards, the Governor ordered an election of members to a Territorial 
 Assembly; the election was held on the 22d and 23d of December; 
 thirteen members were chosen from nine counties, Knox sending tw r o, 
 and the Assembly met in Knoxville on the 4th Monday of February, 
 ’94. On Monday nothing was done besides the appointment of the 
 Speaker and Clerk. On Tuesday, a procession w r as formed of the 
 members; and preceded by their Speaker and the Governor, they 
 went to a place of worship, where the Rev. Mr. Carrick delivered a 
 sermon, the text of which the curious in such matters may find in the 
 2d and 3d verses of the 1st chapter of Paul’s Epistle to Titus. The 
 citizens of Knoxville, for many years subsequent to its establishment, 
 had but an occasional sermon, and we may conclude were better led to 
 appreciate the value of the privilege; while to the people of the coun¬ 
 try, fifteen miles were considered but a trivial obstacle to attendance 
 upon ministerial services. This public evidence of their religious re¬ 
 spect given by the Assembly was in keeping with the general disposi¬ 
 tion of the people. The early inhabitants of the country felt, as did 
 the leaders of the Revolution against Britain, that the race is not to the 
 swift nor the battle to the strong, and w 7 ere deeply imbued w r ith devout 
 reliance upon Him, who is able “ to break the arrow' of the bow, the 
 shield, the sword, and the battle.” Who but men so impressed, would 
 have dreamed of a chaplain loan army of 1500 or 1800 militia, bent 
 on an arduous campaign through the most unfrequented wdlds, against 
 distant savages? Yet such w T as the case in the expedition of 1776, 
 under the command of Col. Christian. He appointed Mr. Cummings,* 
 a Presbyterian clergyman, chaplai^i, and the reverend gentleman march¬ 
 ed the entire route. 
 
 The Assembly recommended to the Governor offensive measures 
 against the Indians if possible, and adopted an address to Congress, re¬ 
 counting the grievances of their constituents and urginga declaration of 
 war against the Creeks and Cherokees; and a bill was introduced into 
 Congress, upon the presentment of the memorial at its ensuing session, 
 for the relief of the Territory but eventually failed. Upon the conclu¬ 
 sion of its labors, the Assembly w as prorogued by the Governor to the 
 4th Monday in August, when it again met. Wisely regarding Learning 
 as the handmaid of Religion, and essential to the perpetuity of liberal 
 principles and free Government, in September they established a Col¬ 
 lege in the vicinity of Knoxville, which was called “Blount,” in honor 
 of the Governor. The reasons for its establishment are given in brief but 
 comprehensive terms in the preamble of the act, and just precedence 
 rendered to the education of the morals. 
 
 “Whereas the Legislature of the Territory are disposed to promote 
 the happiness of the people at large and especially of the rising genera¬ 
 tion, by instituting seminaries of education, w here youth may be habit- 
 
 * Tradition differs as to the name of the chaplain. Mr. Rhea, the lather qt 
 the late Hon. John Rhea, of Sullivan county, is asserted to have been the clergy¬ 
 man alluded to. 
 
 3 
 
Hated to an amiable, moral, and virtuous conduct, and accurately instruct¬ 
 ed in the various branches of useful science and in the principles ot the 
 
 ancient and modern languages.” . 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Carrick was appointed President. The original 1 rus- 
 tees numbered manv worthy and eminent men. 1 hey vv^ere, His Excel¬ 
 lency Gov, Blount; Hon. Danl. Smith, Secretary of the Territory; Hon. 
 David Campbell and Hon. Joseph Anderson, i erritorial Judges, Gen, 
 John Sevier, Willie Blount, and Archibald Roane, afterwards Govern¬ 
 ors of the State; Col. James White, Col. A. Kelly, Col. Win. Cocke, 
 Joseph Hamilton, Francis A. Ramsey, Charles McClung, George Roul- 
 stone, George McNutt, John Adair, and Robert Houston, 1 he institu¬ 
 tion preserved its corporate existence until 1807,when the Trustees re¬ 
 solved, that provided the General Assembly established East lennessee 
 Colle ge within two miles of Knoxville, the act for the establishment ot 
 Blount College might be repealed and its funds incorporated with those 
 of the former: and the resolution, by the compliance ot the Legislature 
 with this provision,"was carried into effect. East Tennessee College 
 was established by law on the 26th of October, 1807, as one of the two 
 Colleges in the State for which 100,000 acres of land south of French 
 Broad and Holston and west of Big Pigeon rivers, had been set apart by 
 act of Congress the previous year. The act of the Legislature con¬ 
 templated its establishment on ten acres of ground two miles from Knox¬ 
 ville, conveyed in trust for that purpose by Moses White; but the Trus¬ 
 tees being authorized to use the building previously occupied by Blount 
 College, it was retained in town and not removed until many years af¬ 
 terwards to the present site of the University. 
 
 At the same session, in ’94, Knoxville was established by law, and 
 Col. James King, John Chisolm, Joseph Greer, George Roulstone, and 
 Samuel Cowan were appointed its commissioners. And whether for the 
 encouragement of the growth of the town, or to repair recent disasters, 
 and perpetuate the existence of the settlements which savage rapacity 
 threatened to destroy, or from general motives of justice and propriety, 
 the Assembly a few days afterwards passed an important act, that may 
 perhaps lead the bachelors present to long for the return of such halcyon 
 days. It was as follows: 
 
 “Be it enacted by the Governor, Legislative Council, and House of Rep¬ 
 resentatives of the Territory of the United States of America , south of the 
 river Ohio , That the tax on marriage licenses shall in future cease to be 
 collected! 55 
 
 We have previously remarked that after the expedition of Sevier, 
 the Indians were less active in the prosecution of hostilities than before. 
 In May, 5 94, strong professions of a disposition for peace were made by 
 the Hanging Maw on behalf of the nation. Many of the upper towns 
 had been and still were pacifically inclined and were soon led to assume 
 decided friendly relations. In July, Mr. John Ish was killed and scalp¬ 
 ed a few yards from his block-house, eighteen miles below Knoxville; 
 and John Boggs, with eight or ten Indians, under the direction of Maj. 
 King, were instantly despatched in pursuit of the murderers. The trail 
 of their flight was found and followed until the pursuing party was over¬ 
 taken by a runner with the news that one ol the lugitives was behind 
 
23 
 
 a degree that would scarcely have been expected in a frontier village of 
 a few^years, growth. 
 
 The subsequent history of the town is not without interest, but we 
 have not made it our province to relate it. The year ’97 was remark¬ 
 able for the ravages in the neighborhood of the Harpes,—two brother- 
 demons in human shape,—whose thirst for blood was a fierce, relent¬ 
 less appetite, that could only he whetted, not gorged, with victims.— 
 Their series of murders appears to have had its commencement in this 
 county. From here they passed into Kentucky, where the oldest, 
 whose head was a paragon of hideousness, and who has been made the 
 villain hero of a romance by Judge Hall of Cincinnati, consumma¬ 
 ted his career of crime. 
 
 The introduction of steam-boat navigation upon the Holston, giving 
 a new impetus to the prospeiity of Knoxville, and the terrible crisis of 
 the fate of the town, when it reeled like a drunken man under the strong 
 breath of the pestilence, will always be regarded by its friends with 
 interest, but are familiar occurrences to all, and we may be pardoned 
 for omitting such a notice of them as their importance deserve. 
 
 Fellow Citizens: —This anniversary of our town’s nativity, you 
 properly signalize as a holiday. But in vain is it so,—in vain this uni¬ 
 versal joy and thronged assembly,—in vain the imposing procession and 
 festal board; if we hail not the dawn of another half century upon 
 the fortunes of Knoxville, with keener perceptions of our duty to each 
 other, our Country, and our God, and with firmer purposes to perform 
 them. Before us is the Future, with all its bright promises and undevel¬ 
 oped mysteries; and among its actors we are to mingle. Fifty years 
 hence!—We too will have taken our positions on u that wide plain 
 where the innumerable armies of the dead are encamped in stations 
 which centuries have made.” Another generation will here occupy oor 
 places and perhaps repeat the celebration in which we this day join.— 
 Butin all human probability how much larger the assembly. These 
 suburbs may be crowned with substantial edifices, and the busy hum of 
 'thousands of voices rise from streets where now but hundreds mingle. 
 n This picture of external prosperity is pleasant, but graver questions oc- 
 a hur. 
 by 
 
 Co]. “What constitutes a State ? 
 
 Blount Not high-raised battlement or labor’d mound, 
 
 Cavet’s v Thick wall or mounted gate; 
 
 John W Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned; 
 
 M Not ^ a y s an( l b roa< Karm 5 d ports, 
 
 i law a conk Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; 
 held on the 7. Not starr’d and spangled courts 
 
 present Wat Where low-brow’d baseness wafts perfume to pride ; 
 
 Per of the lovvf 0: “ e ?> hi S h ™ inded n * n * * * 
 
 * PUe la ! k f * en > who their duties know, 
 
 . corr oboratcnow their rights, and knowing, dare maintain.” 
 and interceded in the* 
 
 friendship with much gi that here moves and acts fifty years hence, be 
 nated by agreement, for ai-pf freedom ? Simple in their habits—of unbend- 
 the meeting ended vfd with an ardent Patriotism and a sublime 
 
Hated to an amiable, moral, and virtuous conduct, and accurately instruct¬ 
 ed in the various branches of useful science and in the principles ot the 
 
 ancient and modern languages.” . 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Carrick was appointed President. The original Trus¬ 
 tees numbered manv worthy and eminent men. they were, His Excel¬ 
 lency Gov, Blount; ‘'Hon. Danl. Smith, Secretary of the Territory; Hon. 
 David Campbell and Hon. Joseph Anderson, Territorial Judges; Gem 
 John Sevier, Willie Blount, and Archibald Roane, afterwards Govern¬ 
 ors of the State; Col. James White, Col. A. Kelly, Col. Wm. Cocke, 
 Joseph Hamilton, Francis A. Ramsey, Charles McClung, George Roul- 
 stone, George McNutt, John Adair, and Robert Houston, The institu¬ 
 tion preserved its corporate existence until 1807,when the Trustees re¬ 
 solved, that provided the General Assembly established Last lennessee 
 Colle ge within two miles of Knoxville, the act for the establishment of 
 Blount College might be repealed and its funds incorporated with those 
 of the former: and the resolution, by the compliance ot the Legislature 
 with this provision,"'was carried into effect. East Tennessee College 
 was established by law on the 26th of October, 1807, as one of the two 
 Colleges in the State for which 100,000 acres of land south of French 
 Broad and Holston and west of Big Pigeon rivers, had been set apart by 
 act of Congress the previous year. The act of the Legislature con¬ 
 templated its establishment on ten acres of ground two miles from Knox¬ 
 ville, conveyed in trust for that purpose by Moses White; but the Trus¬ 
 tees being authorized to use the building previously occupied by Blount 
 College, it was retained in town and not removed until many years af¬ 
 terwards to the present site of the University. 
 
 At the same session, in ’94, Knoxville was established by law, and 
 Col. James King, John Chisolm, Joseph Greer, George Roulstone, and 
 Samuel Cowan were appointed its commissioners. And whether for the 
 encouragement of the growth of the town, or to repair recent disasters, 
 and perpetuate the existence of the settlements which savage rapacity 
 threatened to destroy, or from general motives of justice and propriety 
 the Assembly a few days afterwards passed an important act, that ma 
 perhaps lead the bachelors present to long for the return of such halcyu 
 days. It was as follows: s 
 
 t(, Be it enacted by the Governor , Legislative Council , and House of d 
 reseniativcs of the Territory of the United States of America , south each 
 river Ohio , That the tax on marriage licenses shall in future cea/easing 
 collected!” e path to 
 
 We have previously remarked that after the expedititou deemed it 
 the Indians were less active in the prosecution of hostilities* guard for 
 In May, 5 94, strong professions of a disposition for peace* from Knox- 
 the Hanging Maw on behalf of the nation. Many of tl property had 
 had been and still were pacifically inclined and were sc ust have been 
 decided friendly relations. In Jul} r , Mr. John Ish Governor had 
 ed a few yards from his block-house, eighteen nwrial Legislature to 
 and John Boggs, with eight or ten Indians, undr -e, and on the 29th ot 
 King, were instantly despatched in pursuit ofaw fortaking a census ot 
 of their flight was found and followed until flat of the enumeration, for 
 taken by a runner with the news that or' form a State Constitution. 
 
 more than the requisite sixty 
 
23 
 
 a degree that would scarcely have been expected in a frontier village of 
 a few^years, growth. 
 
 The subsequent history of the town is not without interest, but we 
 have not made it our province to relate it. The year ’97 was remark¬ 
 able for the ravages in the neighborhood of the Harpes,—two brother- 
 demons in human shape,—whose thirst for blood was a fierce, relent¬ 
 less appetite, that could only be whetted, not gorged, with victims.— 
 Their series of murders appears to have had its commencement in this 
 county. From here they passed into Kentucky, where the oldest, 
 whose head was a paragon of hideousness, and who has been made the 
 villain hero of a romance by Judge Hall of Cincinnati, consumma¬ 
 ted his career of crime. 
 
 The introduction of steam-boat navigation upon the Holston, giving 
 a new impetus to the prospeiity of Knoxville, and the terrible crisis of 
 the fate of the town, when it reeled like a drunken man under the strong 
 breath of the pestilence, will always be regarded by its friends with 
 interest, but are familiar occurrences to all, and we may be pardoned 
 for omitting such a notice of them as their importance deserve. 
 
 Fellow Citizens: —This anniversary of our town’s nativity, you 
 properly signalize as a holiday. But in vain is it so,—in vain this uni¬ 
 versal joy and thronged assembly,—in vain the imposing procession and 
 festal board; if we hail not the dawn of another half century upon 
 the fortunes of Knoxville, with keener perceptions of our duty to each 
 other, our Country, and our God, and with firmer purposes to perform 
 them. Before us is the Future, with all its bright promises and undevel¬ 
 oped mysteries; and among its actors we are to mingle. Fifty years 
 lienee!—We too will have taken our positions on “ that wide plain 
 where the innumerable armies of the dead are encamped in stations 
 which centuries have made.” Another generation will here occupy our 
 places and perhaps repeat the celebration in which we this day join.-— 
 Butin all human probability how much larger the assembly. These 
 suburbs may be crowned with substantial edifices, and the busy hum of 
 thousands of voices rise from streets where now but hundreds mingle. 
 This picture of external prosperity is pleasant, but graver questions oc¬ 
 cur. 
 
 “Wliat constitutes a State ? 
 
 Not high-raised battlement or labor’d mound. 
 
 Thick wall or mounted gate; 
 
 Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned j 
 Not bays and broad-arm’d ports. 
 
 Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride; 
 
 Not starr’d and spangled courts 
 
 Where low-brow’d baseness wafts perfume to pride ; 
 
 No : men, high minded men ;— 
 ######* 
 
 Men, who their duties know. 
 
 But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain.” 
 
 Will the generation that here moves and acts fifty years hence, be 
 worthy the inheritance of freedom ? Simple in their habits—of unbend¬ 
 ing virtue —deeply imbued with an ardent Patriotism and a sublime 
 
■v 
 
 Faith ? Fellow citizens:—Your hands may spin the warp of their 
 destinv. You may make or mar their fate. Tile streams of your in¬ 
 fluence,—of each and all-humble or haughty—as sure as the light of to¬ 
 morrow, will glide down the coming half-century, mingling as they go, 
 and sweeten or embitter the hearts and lives of your children s children. 
 Eloquently has it been written :—“It is a high, solemn, almost awful 
 thought for every individual man, that his earthly influence which has had 
 a commencement, will never, through all ages, were he the very meanest 
 of us. have an end. What is done is done; has already blended itself with 
 the ever-living, ever-working Universe, and will also work there for 
 good or for evil, openly or secretly, throughout all tune. 
 
 Fellow citizens :—Let us enter upon the Future with this high and 
 solemn thought ever-present with us, urging us to union of action in 
 promoting the common good— beautifying our social intercourse with 
 pleasant charities, and moving us to all noble conceptions and worthy 
 deeds. 
 
 LETTER FROM HUGH DUNLAP, ESQ. 
 
 Paris, Ten., January 19, 1842. 
 
 Mr. Eastman —Dear Sir : In your paper of the 22d ult. and the 
 5th inst. 1 observed arrangements making for the celebration of the 
 semi-centennial anniversary of Knoxville. 1 am the only man, whom 
 I know to be alive, who was living there when the lots were laid off.— 
 It would be a source of unmixed pleasure to be present at the celebra¬ 
 tion, if my health and the weather permitted. I could not conceive a 
 pier her gratification than to meet at the festive board the children of 
 those adventurous and worthy men who first settled Knoxville, and 
 who were the more endeared to me by the very perils incident to its 
 settlement. 
 
 At the treaty of Holston, in 1791, there were no houses except shan- 
 tees put up for the occasion to hold Government stores. Gen. James 
 White lived in the neighborhood, and had a block-house to guard his 
 family. At the tieaty of Holston they used river water entirely, 
 until Trooper Armstrong discovered the spring to the right of the street 
 leading from the court-house to what is now called Hardscrabble. He 
 at the time requested Gen. White, in a jest, to let him have the lot in¬ 
 cluding the spring when a town was laid off; and when the town was 
 laid off the Geneial preserved the lot and made him a deed to it.— 
 These facts were told me by Gen. White himself, for I was not present 
 at the treaty. 
 
 1 left Philadelphia, with my goods, in December, 1791, and did not 
 reach Knoxville until about the 1st of February, 1792. I deposited my 
 goods and kept store in the house used by the Government at the treaty, 
 though 1 believe the treaty itself was made in the open air. At the 
 time I reached Knoxville, Samuel and Nathaniel Cowan had goods 
 
there; John Chisolm kept a house of entertainment; and a man named 
 McLemee was living there. These men, with their families, constitute 
 the inhabitans of Knoxville when I went there. Gov. Blount lived on 
 Barbary Hill, a knoll be^ow College Hill, and between it and the river. 
 It was then approached from town by following the meanders of the 
 river. The principal settlements in the county were on Beaver Creek. 
 All the families lived in forts pretty much in those days; and, when 
 the fields were cultivated, there was always a guard stationed around 
 them for protection. There was a fort at Campbell’s Station, which 
 was the lowest settlement in East Tennessee. The next fort and set¬ 
 tlement were at Blackburn’s west of the Cumberland Mountains ; the 
 next at Fort-Blount, on the Cumberland river; the next was a fort at 
 Bledsoe’s Lick; and then the French Lick, now Nashville. 
 
 The land on which Knoxville is built, belonged to Gen. White. In 
 February, 1792, Col. Charles McClung surveyed the lots and laid off 
 the town. I do not recollect on what day of the month. It excited no 
 particular interest at the time. The whole town was then a thicket of 
 brushwood and grape vines, except a small portion in lront of the river, 
 where all the business was done. There never was any regular public 
 sale of the lots ; Gen. White sold any body a lot, who would settle 
 on it and improve it, for eight dollars ; and in this way, and at this 
 price, the lots were generally disposed of. 
 
 in the year 1793 the Creeks and Cherokces leagued together and 
 raised an army under old Watts, a half breed, the head of the Cherokee 
 nation, to destroy the white settlements. There were said to have 
 been 1500 men under Watts. Double Head was a mere subordinate 
 under Watts, though his fame has been more lasting and wide spread, 
 because of his vindi ctive and ferocious character towards the whites, 
 and his turbulence among Ids own people. They marched as far as 
 Cavet’s, seven miles from Knoxville, and made an attack upon his house. 
 After resisting for some time the assaults of the Indians, Cavet, his 
 son, and a militia man, the only men in the blockhouse, capitulated 
 under a promise that the family should be spared. After they surren¬ 
 dered they were murdered, and the mother, two grown daughters, and 
 perhaps some small children, were brutally despoiled and butchered.— 
 This massacre, though horrid and heart-rending, was the salvation of 
 Knoxville and the whole circumjacent country, for their force was 
 powerful enough to have overrun and depopulated the white settlements. 
 The Creeks committed the murder, against the wishes of the Cliero- 
 kees—a dispute arose among them about it—Watts refused to proceed 
 farther, and the whole army of savages was virtually disbanded, and 
 they returned to their villages and wigwams. A child of Cavet’s was 
 not killed at the block house. It was taken prisoner—two Creeks 
 claimed it—they had their tomahawks drawn on each other, when a 
 third party*, to quiet the rival claims, tomahawked the child. It was 
 thought for some years the child was living, but the Indians afterwards 
 told all the circumstances. 
 
 In 1793, the first Government troops were stationed in Knoxville 
 under the command ofCapt Carr, a revolutionary officer; his Lieu- 
 tenat, Ricard, had him arrested, a lew months after their arrival, for 
 

 26 
 
 : SS . Carr was chained at the efforts of his Lieutenant to 
 rim and resigned, ami llieard was promtoed to Carr 8 office. 
 
 Etheldred Williams has since erected 
 
 drunkenness, 
 supplant hi 
 
 They built their.barrack where - T , . ,, c 
 
 a brick house, opposite the Courthouse. I believe the Convention of 
 
 1796 sat in it. .. . TT Q . , 
 
 In 1793, Col. Christy, who was commanding the U. b. troops at 
 Knoxville, died, and was buried with martial and masonic honor on 
 what is now College Hill. It was a magnificent procession—by iar the 
 ijiost splendid funeral that had ever been witnessed in the Territory.— 
 In the same year died Titus Ogden, a merchant, and paymaster to the 
 troops and of the Indian annuities which Gov. Blount was Superintend¬ 
 ent of, the four tribes of Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws and Choctaws, 
 
 I mention the death and burial place of these two men, as I have been 
 tojd, that in digging the foundation for the College, two skeletons were 
 exhumed, and supposed to have been those fo Indians buried there. They 
 were no doubtthe bones of Col. Christy and Titus Ogden. I was at the 
 burial of both, and did not suppose that the graves of two men, so noted 
 in their day, and buried “ with all the pomp and circumstance of war, ” 
 would have been so soon forgotten. Col. King and myself were, at the 
 time, and for several years afterwards, commissaries for all the troops 
 stationed in East Tennessee. 
 
 After the county had increased in population sufficiently to protect 
 itself, in a great measure, from the incursions of the Indians, it was 
 kept in constant alarm for some time by the depredations of the Harps, 
 tw^ men who were fugitives from their native State. They made a 
 crop on Beaver Creek, and furnished the butcher in Knoxville, old John 
 Miller, for some months with hogs, sheep, and cattle they had stolen 
 from their neighbors. They afterwards secreted themseflves and made 
 marauding expeditions against the lives and property of the citizens. 
 One of them had two wives, sisters of the name of Rice. 1 he first 
 man they killed in Knox county was young Coffee, on Beaver Creek. 
 Johnson was their next victim, murdered within two miles of Knox¬ 
 ville. I had attempted to take them on several occasions and they kill¬ 
 ed Bullard under the impression it was me. They killed Bradbury af¬ 
 terwards, who, I believe, was the father of Gen. Bradbury of the Senate. 
 They left Knox county in 1797 or 8, and their villanies made their sub¬ 
 sequent history notorious. 
 
 I beg you to excuse the length of this letter—I cannot think of those 
 early times without in some degree living them over again. 1 under¬ 
 
 stand a distinguished literary gentleman of your county is collecting 
 materials to write the early history of Tennessee. I hope lie may not 
 falter in an undertaking where the materials are so rich and the fame 
 so certain. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 HUGH DUNLAP. 
 
 C.i 
 
■ 
 

 ■ 
 
ORATION, 
 
 POLITICAL, HISTORICAL AND MORAL, 
 
 ON 
 
 INTEMPERANCE 
 
 AND THE DEPRAVITY OF MORALS, 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C., 
 
 AT TEMPERANCE HALL, THE 9th OF AUGUST, 1841. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH PAINTINGS AND TRANSPARENCIES, DESIGNED 
 TO CONVEY A JUST SENSE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 
 PERSONS WHO ARE GOVERNED BY SENTIMENTS OF 
 ORDER, MODERATION AND SOBRIETY, AND 
 THOSE WHO ARE UNDER THE DO¬ 
 MINIONS OF COARSE AND 
 VICIOUS APPETITES. 
 
 BY J. LABATUT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE ORATION AND PAINTINGS 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C.: 
 BURGES & JAMES, PRINTERS, 
 No. 143 Meeting-street. 
 
 1843, 
 

ORATION. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS:— 
 
 If we intend to ascertain the extent of our know¬ 
 ledge on the progress of civilization since the epoch of 
 our independence,—this vast republic the admiration of 
 the world, by the wisdom of its laws, and of its govern¬ 
 ment, would display, on this point of view, but one rapid 
 succession of phenomena—and discoveries in the inven¬ 
 tions of genius, and the useful arts; the national indus¬ 
 try during so long a time pressed, and groaning under 
 the shackles of despotism, breaking these disgraceful 
 chains, its humiliating bondage, would show to the sur¬ 
 prised world the most beautiful spectacle, so flattering 
 to the heart of man, the spectacle of a free people, and 
 worthy to be such, elevating their mental and moral 
 faculties, and who proud of the feeling of their liberty, 
 of a liberty conquered at the price of so many sacrifi¬ 
 ces, would show at the same time the power of valor 
 strengthened by sobriety, temperance and frugality, by 
 the example of these modern Cincinnati,—their illustri¬ 
 ous and virtuous chiefs so heartily animated by the love 
 of country. 
 
 Among so many celebrated and wise men who have 
 afforded so powerful an assistance to the glory of this 
 republic, as much by their spirits and patriotism as by 
 their distinguished virtues, who is not moved, amazed 
 with admiration at the names of Washington and 
 Franklin, these saviors of their country. 
 
 The one, with an handful of undisciplined soldiers, 
 in the midst of the greatest dangers, overwhelmed with 
 sufferings and privations, compelled continually to 
 struggle against superior and experienced forces, and 
 in spite of such an adverse fortune, standing unmoved 
 
by his patience, firmness and courage. Calm in the 
 most threatening dangers, full of anxieties for his sol¬ 
 diers, a retreat quickly combined was the forerunner of 
 victory. It is so, that by an unheard of perseverance, 
 and the most skilful military tactics, he was able, during 
 eight years of incessant battles, to oppose a powerful 
 army, to resist forces numbering three times his own, 
 and terminate his military career under the laurels of a 
 victory which has broken forever the irons of despotism 
 and conquered a glorious independence for Ins country. 
 
 The other, in the meditation of the highest thoughts, 
 concentrated day and night in the advancement of the 
 moral good, entirely devoted to his country for the hap¬ 
 piness of the people, the same as the philosopher of 
 Greece, the truth never struck liis ears too late. It is 
 at the school of these sublime virtues that he acquired, 
 and will have forever this bright flame of light and 
 wisdom. The important services that this great man 
 has rendered to the State, either in public debate, or in 
 his diplomatic missions, have erected for.him in the 
 hearts of posterity one imperishable monument. The 
 words coming from his mouth as so many oracles, col¬ 
 lected with avidity, stamped in the hearts of his coun¬ 
 trymen this noble enthusiasm of valor and patriotism, 
 which has directed them to the triumph of their cause. 
 So much is it true, that it belongs only to these privi¬ 
 leged beings to display their superiority in the most 
 difficult circumstances. 
 
 If some philosophers have raised their voice to spread 
 the lights, and give themselves the examples of good 
 morals, many learned legislators, many celebrated ora¬ 
 tors, whom the power of eloquence has echoed all over 
 Europe, by the wisest laws, have established the foun¬ 
 dation of a constitution, the admiration of the world, 
 and which must be a pattern to generations to come for 
 the happiness of mankind. 
 
 In the productions of genius, and the useful arts, it 
 was unusual to find some individuals, who under the em¬ 
 pire of despotism were obscure, unknown, and passed 
 
5 
 
 a miserable life, but who at the first cry of liberty’s 
 triumph, awaking from their lethargy, displayed by the 
 most beautiful master-pieces in every kind of arts, all 
 the faculties of the intellect and of the imagination that 
 nature had so profusely endowed them. At that time, 
 this predestinated people wanted nothing of the essen¬ 
 tials : Pure, chaste in their morals, the citizens were 
 sober and laborious. Luxury did not dare to appear 
 among them. The train of European vices, this des¬ 
 troying scourge, had not yet polluted their peaceful 
 retreats. Satisfied, and contented with their fate under 
 the laws of their constitution, they had in mind only to 
 enjoy in the bosom of peace, and virtue, the great fa¬ 
 vors bestowed on them by the blessing of Providence, 
 as the reward of their toils and labors. 
 
 Since the glorious epoch of our independence, by 
 one of these phenomena, the only one perhaps in the 
 annals of the world, from obscurity and oppression, 
 fighting for the most holy cause, they have seen a new 
 nation arising as brave as industrious, whom destiny 
 allowed to succeed it, and place it in the first range 
 among the nations by its humanity and benevolence. 
 The time, and many glorious deeds of benevolence, are 
 a sufficient testimony that we were worthy of such a 
 destiny. What more wonderful in this republic, where 
 instruction is so generally diffused, the wisest institu¬ 
 tions brightening under the superintendence of morals, 
 than this spirit of philanthropy, of fraternal benevo¬ 
 lence, and the hospitality so generously offered to so 
 many unhappy victims—all these numerous emigrations 
 from Europe, all these oppressed or banished from dif¬ 
 ferent countries, escaped from slaughter, from the fury 
 of anarchy or persecution, all these people have been 
 rescued, on this hospitable land,—they found an asylum 
 of peace, assistance, refuge, encouragement in their 
 industry—even several nations have been assisted in the 
 time of distress. 
 
 By an effect appearing as a wonder, eight years of 
 war, sufferings and privations of every kind, had re- 
 
duced us to a distress very oppressive to every class in 
 the community. An enormous deficit in the finances, 
 the government greatly indebted, no ships, no com¬ 
 merce, the agriculture without laborers, and the people 
 without the necessaries of life: in the midst of so 
 many evils, in so critical a situation, as an electric fire 
 the spirits are animated by a new vigor, their industry 
 awake, a noble emulation kindling all hearts. In the 
 work-shops their activity is increasing, new ones are 
 erected, manufactures increase in numbers, in the car¬ 
 penter’s yard the axe is resounding, and very soon nu¬ 
 merous ships flattering the hopes of commerce, the 
 exchange of industry and agricultural produce give way 
 to the circulation of wealth and abundance. 
 
 Agriculture so long neglected is rising to a bright 
 degree. Extensive forests fall under the axe, enrich 
 the country ; all is animated by the impulse of a new 
 life; all appear with a new face; the laws are in vigor, 
 honest magistrates at the head of the government, and 
 by a wise administration the citizens closely united for 
 the common welfare of the country, from the North to 
 the South, it is but one family of brothers. Peace and 
 happiness as Heavenly gifts are coming to strengthen 
 the bonds of their union. 
 
 Under so many happy auspices a republic just rising 
 from the cradle, having reached to such a pinnacle of 
 greatness and prosperity, always victorious among so 
 many political convulsions, which for some years ap¬ 
 peared to threaten her from every side, such a republic 
 to stand firm on its proper equilibrium by keeping its 
 strength and its dignity, its only and most solid sup¬ 
 port, must be in a constant inspection on the morals of 
 the people.* 
 
 What do we see in the pages of history? Too 
 many examples of degenerated republics conquered, or 
 nations destroyed by the fatal consequences of vices, 
 crimes, and depravation that follow intemperance; 
 
 * Sparta, Syracuse, were governed by wise laws. Citizens were sober; their 
 morals severethere, great virtues have appeared among them. 
 
7 
 
 their chiefs or leaders governed by the vilest passions, 
 the magistracy disgraced, entrusted to the base souls, 
 soldiery effeminated, licentiousness unpunished, reli¬ 
 gion profaned, citizens plunged in brutality and de¬ 
 bauchery, and in this great chaos of corruption and 
 disorder they fell an easy prey to ambitious conquerors. 
 
 Such has been the fate of these unhappy republics. 
 What a lesson for posterity! Look at Carthage in the 
 glorious days of her greatness and opulence! Proud 
 of her treasures, she considers herself unconquerable; 
 but soon, by an insulting ostentation accumulating all 
 the vices in her bosom, she becomes the easy prey of 
 a conqueror: and this great, ambitious warrior, the 
 terror of Asia, Alexander the Great, in the delight of 
 Babylon, after having polluted his reason in the orgies 
 of a banquet, killing his best friend, Clitus, and these 
 monsters, the scourge of mankind, Nero, Caligula, 
 Domitian, plunged in the most shameful excesses of de¬ 
 bauchery and drunkenness, regardless of the life of 
 men, sacrificing them at their caprices by the most hor¬ 
 rible tortures. 
 
 At the present day on this continent where we arc 
 living in, how many have witnessed the frightful scenes 
 among these children of the forest, by the immoderate 
 use of strong beverages and spirituous liquors! The 
 father in his fury running at his wife and children, dag¬ 
 ger in hand, brother killing his sisters, quarrels among 
 them always ending in a murderous and tragical man¬ 
 ner, and the greatest number of them sinking to the 
 grave, pitiful victims of these tatal beverages. 
 
 Can we contemplate such frightful scenes without 
 horror ? Ah! let us draw the curtain on these terrible 
 pictures! Let us be transported to the happy ages of 
 Titus, Trajean, Marcus Aurelius, where the great me¬ 
 tropolis of the world wisely governed by these worthy 
 emperors, beheld in its bosom a people of warriors 
 transformed into heroes, and wise men in these happy 
 reigns, where justice and w'isdom held the reins of 
 empire, feared, beloved and respected by the neighbor- 
 
ing nations under her subjection. She valued as her 
 most glorious triumphs their love and their tribute of 
 respect. More zealous of the happiness of their peo¬ 
 ple than of the splendor of the purple, these men, demi¬ 
 gods, whose names will go down to remotest posterity, 
 appeared to be on the earth but to teach their succes¬ 
 sors to extend the happiness of mankind, and to govern 
 the people by exhibiting themselves as examples of the 
 most sublime virtues. 
 
 Behold the imitators of these heroes in those sages 
 to whom we owe this glorious independence, whose 
 blood has stained the floor of the temple of liberty, 
 and who must be regarded as the liberators of mankind! 
 
 We have done great things. Our progress in the 
 inventions of genius and the useful arts have been very 
 rapid. In our various enterprises, success has exceed¬ 
 ed our hopes. In laws, sciences, arts, commerce, agri¬ 
 culture, naval tactics, mechanic, military art, experience 
 has proved that we want nothing to become a powerful 
 nation. Extensive forests were over all the country. 
 Driving away those dangerous hordes who inhabited 
 them, we there carried the axe and the plough. The 
 country has been more enlarged. Fertile fields have 
 taken the place and extent of these uncultivated lands, 
 from which abundant crops have been gathered, and 
 increased our wealth by an active commerce. Our 
 seaports, our arsenals, our towns and our canals, are a 
 great proof of the industry of the people. We have 
 erected handsome buildings; some consecrated to re¬ 
 ligious worship, some to alms-houses, and public in¬ 
 structions. In the country are many primary schools; 
 everywhere are useful establishments. In our diploma¬ 
 tic relations honorable treaties of alliance and com¬ 
 merce with the principal European nations have been 
 confirmed and made permanent. 
 
 Among our maritime exploits a single one would be 
 sufficient to exalt the American valor, if it was less 
 known, by the bright deeds and heroical actions of one 
 of its officers, the intrepid Decatur , the honor and glory 
 
9 
 
 of his country. What no nations prior to us dared 
 execute, under the command of this officer, a handful 
 of brave men, and a few ships, were sufficient to van¬ 
 quish and subdue those formidable barbarians of Al¬ 
 giers, the terror of the Christian world, to compel them 
 to an humiliating capitulation, after having burned their 
 ships, bombarded their town, and broken the chains of 
 our unhappy countrymen lying in slavery under the 
 rod of the most cruel treatment. 
 
 If we must be proud of this maritime exploit, there 
 are also many others no less bright which have heaped 
 up the measure of glory of this infant republic, by the 
 prodigies of valor of the immortal Perry, Hull, Lau¬ 
 rence, Porter, which throw the most brilliant lustre on 
 the naval tactics of these heroes of the sea. 
 
 If we cast our eyes on our officers of the army, who 
 would dare to contend the palm with the valiant Jack- 
 son in his military deeds! By so bright a trophy, 
 America will attest for a long while the glory of her 
 arms; and those illustrious veterans, McComb, Gaines, 
 and Brown, all indicated their laurels : how many were 
 the victories, how many the glorious campaigns under 
 the command of these chiefs! 
 
 It would be too long to present the list of all those 
 valiant men who have been so prodigal of their blood 
 for the country. It is to the pen of history that the 
 fame of these valiant warriors belongs. 
 
 By this rapid sketch of American valor, of the power 
 of this republic, of its government, of its wealth, of 
 the industry of the people, they must see as a phe¬ 
 nomena by the blessing of Providence its gigantic 
 march to have attained this point of greatness where it 
 stands in half a century. 
 
 Considering the time past since the first days of our 
 independence, to be sure we have made extraordinary 
 progress of every kind. We have made also very ex¬ 
 tensive progress in our knowledge, except in the most 
 important of all, the knowledge of our moral duties 
 and the indispensable necessity to put them in practice. 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 
 
 
 The fundamental point of a well ordered State, and 
 without which it has no strength, no consistence, no 
 solidity; that which must govern a free people jealous 
 of their liberty, upon which depends the peace of the 
 union, the salvation of the republic; that which may 
 secure this beautiful edifice we have erected at so high 
 a price, and cemented with the blood of our forefath¬ 
 ers, our Constitution ; that which, after all, ought to be 
 examined at the foundation, the basis of all the others, 
 and that which unhappily has been neglected. 
 
 These are not the vain dissertations, the chimerical 
 reflections of a visionary, but indisputable truth, which 
 at first sight must appear sensible by the impressions 
 which take place, and particularly if they bring to mind 
 all these political convulsions or dissensions, all these 
 troubles continually arising, these overwhelming ca¬ 
 lamities, which for many years have spread desolation 
 in the union, and aggravated the public distress, and 
 are the probable evidence of a general looseness in our 
 moral duties, having a tendency to strike at the foun¬ 
 dation of this republic, and of a free and powerful 
 people to make them miserable, on the eve to be 
 chained again under the rod of despotism, chastise¬ 
 ment of our ingratitude towards that Providence which 
 has blessed us so profusely. 
 
 Brave Americans! Good and sensible people! You 
 all, here, who lend an ear to what I have the honor to 
 tell you in the sincerity of my reflections, and of my 
 ardent wishes for your prosperity, who among you, to 
 such probable evidences, so amazing, is not sensible, 
 and does not feel in his heart this secret inspiration of 
 a prompt and steady reform in our moral duties and 
 propensities ? How to resist this interior voice which 
 continually gives us notice of the dangers that threaten 
 us, if we do not hasten to put a salutary bridle on our 
 passions and depravity of manners. It is here we 
 must exclaim, O, tempora ! O , mores ! 
 
 Our forefathers were sober, and we are to-day in a 
 very lamentable situation by the evils and disorders 
 
11 
 
 which surround us, by the fatal propensity to intem¬ 
 perance, which has engulphed so many victims and 
 reduced to beggary so many families. 
 
 Our forefathers lived on the simple necessaries of 
 life. They were laborious. At their homes, no luxury, 
 no pride, no vain ornaments. A healthy house, some 
 convenient furniture, and that’s all; having in view only 
 the useful, the love of order, labor and economy kept 
 them within the bounds of a wise moderation; the 
 taste of frivolousness had no votaries among them. 
 
 With us, our tables magnificently dressed, abound in 
 superfluities, elegance and profusion, whilst so many 
 unhappy and honest mechanics in these days of distress 
 have scarcely a morsel of bread, and are without any 
 employment in the lines of their professions; in our 
 houses, our furniture, our equipages, a refining luxury 
 which reveals too much our vanity, afflicting contrast 
 of the public distress increasing every day; every¬ 
 where an insulting ostentation, a thirst of riches, an 
 immoderate ambition to reach to fortune, and too often 
 by means unworthy of an honest soul— 
 
 Auri sacra fames quid non mortatia pectora cogis.— Vir. 
 
 Our forefathers spent an orderly life. Their morals 
 were pure. It was in the bosom of their families and 
 choice friends that they were enjoying their sweetest 
 pleasures and innocent recreations. The European 
 vices did not pollute their retreats. Of all this great 
 train of fashionable things, of knicknacks, of bluster¬ 
 ing pleasures, nothing attracted their attention. Their 
 children growing under their eyes in the strictness of 
 these principles, increasing in wisdom and virtue, were 
 calculated early to become useful citizens to their coun¬ 
 try, and from whose nursery we have seen issued so 
 many great men who have added so much to the glory 
 of this republic by the valuable services they have 
 rendered to the State, differing very much from these 
 bands of young bachelors out of work, who abound 
 to-day in our towns and cities, spending their time in 
 frivolous amusements. Happy are those who escape 
 
12 
 
 
 the contagion of bad company, so dangerous in this 
 modern Babylon of the North, the General entrepor of 
 all the vices scattered among us, and perhaps the spring 
 of this depravation, which commands us to-day so im¬ 
 periously to stop its current, if zealous of the pros¬ 
 perity of the union we are found to enjoy again in its 
 bosom these peaceful and happy days, which are al¬ 
 ways the fruit of a sincere return to good order, tem¬ 
 perance and the practice of virtue. 
 
 After having shown by a series of facts the picture 
 of the disorder, and the consequences of our depravity 
 compared with the state of purity in the time of our 
 forefathers to the rising of this republic, that would not 
 do justice to this class of virtuous and respectable 
 families who characterize so worthily the American na¬ 
 tion, to envelope in this proscription the whole mass of 
 the nation, and to pass in silence the tribute of respect, 
 of esteem, and of admiration, due to their merit, by 
 the order, the decency and the good example which 
 reigns among them, not speaking of the eminent vir¬ 
 tues that distinguish them: this spirit of benevolence, 
 this love of our fellow-beings, of which so many fami¬ 
 lies in distress, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, 
 have received the favor of their assistance at all times; 
 how interesting to behold in these happy families mo¬ 
 thers directing to their eyes the first lessons of child¬ 
 hood on the principles of sound morals, infusing in 
 these young hearts the noble sentiments which ought at 
 an early period to arise in men worthy of their ances¬ 
 tors. To kindle in them this love for their country, 
 this quick perception of great souls, who alone must 
 carry them in the path of honor and virtue, and in the 
 harmony of their conjugal union, fathers acting anx¬ 
 iously for the happiness of their children, keeping at 
 home order, temperance and economy. 
 
 If we have seen among us so many deeds, so many 
 noble actions, so much greatness and magnanimity, the 
 worthy heroines of America have displayed by the most 
 beautiful acts of benevolence and humanity, some ex- 
 
13 
 
 amples which could not be by us too well imitated, and 
 who have very seldom appeared in other nations. 
 These deeds are too glorious to omit relating. 
 
 Greece, formerly so renowned by so many great 
 men and heroes, the cradle of the fine arts, which has 
 enriched us by so many master-pieces, in her late war 
 with Turkey, in spite of all her prodigies of valor, be¬ 
 hold her children breathing their last under the Maho¬ 
 metan sword, reduced to the last extremity of misery 
 and despair. At their cries, their needs striking our 
 ears, a noble ardor awoke in the bosoms of these hero¬ 
 ines. The donations, the contributions, the sacrifices 
 to afford relief to this unfortunate nation, are nothing 
 for them. At their expense provisions of every kind, 
 arms, clothing, victuals, are shipped; and soon, under 
 the protection of Providence, these provisions arriving 
 safe in their ports, are distributed among them, to re¬ 
 vive their hopes and preserve them from a horrible 
 death. Everywhere humanity triumphant by their in¬ 
 fluence. 
 
 Were 1 but able to shew you the picture of all their 
 deeds, how many dried tears! how many unhappy be¬ 
 ings saved from the grasp of despair! how many indi¬ 
 gent families assisted in their need! what cares and 
 attentions to provide the sick in their diseases with the 
 things necessary! how many widows and orphans have 
 obtained relief in their miseries ! Heavenly daughters, 
 their committees, their laws, their institutions, will ever 
 cause them to be considered as the worthy sovereigns 
 of America ; perhaps we are indebted to them for the 
 only virtue that is left. 
 
 I will not speak of those debauchees, vile slaves of 
 the senses, who although endowed with a superiority of 
 talent and genius, always inclined to brutishness, to a 
 disorderly life, can draw but one part of their superi¬ 
 ority, that which, is to disgrace them in their own eyes, 
 and those of their fellow-citizens, by the degradation 
 which ought to elevate them above themselves. 
 
 If we must trace the first causes of the evils, the idle- 
 
14 
 
 ness, the bad company, the bad examples, these are 
 the most dangerous rocks where so many victims are 
 wrecked by their imprudence, and carry desolation into 
 families. The reason is, this fine Heavenly gift once 
 prostrated in the shameful cause of intemperance, what 
 is a man in this abject situation ? Senseless of his 
 dignity, plunged in the dulness of his intellectual facul¬ 
 ties, what is he good for ? of what utility can he be in 
 society ? He does not feel the worth of his existence. 
 Does it not pollute the fine faculty which so eminently 
 distinguishes us from the other beings ? does it not of¬ 
 fend the Divinity who has created us in his resemblance, 
 to descend from his dignity to the lowest degree of the 
 brute 1 
 
 Let us cast our eyes on this picture ! What a spec¬ 
 tacle in her house for a woman is such a wretch! 
 how awful for children for whom he must be the sup¬ 
 port, the monitor, the protector ! what a disgusting and 
 hideous object! to what extremities does this wretched 
 being in his fury resort, does it not enable him to carry 
 against these innocent victims ! what is the reason why 
 honor is nothing for him! this reason which has been 
 given to us to elevate our souls to its Creator—to this 
 divine spirit which calls to mind continually his celes¬ 
 tial origin! this torch which must carry lights in the 
 vicissitudes of life, among so many errors and prejudi¬ 
 ces which surround us ! It is here, fellow-citizens, that 
 the scene must be awful, and infuse in our hearts love 
 and gratitude for this divine attribute with which the 
 Almighty has blessed us in his goodness and omnipo¬ 
 tence. Look at the man so disgraced, deprived of his 
 reason ! What is he ?—nothing;—a heap, without 
 form, of disorganized matter—a body without life, 
 without feeling—an outcast of nature. 
 
 O man ! sublime work of the creation ! image of thy 
 Creator! immortal soul! look at thy nothingness ! re¬ 
 turn to thyself! be ashamed! be humbled! Go out 
 from the abyss where thy vices have engulphed thee ! 
 change thy life! repent thee ! walk under the eyes of 
 
15 
 
 a God, the supreme ruler of the world! It is a god 
 of goodness, of mercy; He wishes but thy welfare; 
 He has been always the protector of virtue and inno¬ 
 cence ; be just, sober, and fear nothing! 
 
 Let us oppose to this picture that of a well ordered 
 family! What an interesting spectacle, and worthy of 
 admiration! a mother instructing her daughter, giving 
 to her these first lessons in morals, which in the age of 
 reason ought to elevate her mind to higher thoughts; a 
 father in the bosom of a sweet repose of peace, of 
 happiness, recreating himself near a virtuous wife and 
 beloved children, far from blustering pleasures, the 
 bustle of fashionable assemblies. In this family all 
 breathe joy, piety, contentment. The hour is not neg¬ 
 lected ; all has its place, and its time; sobriety, order 
 and economy appear together; man is careful of his 
 business, the wife of her domestic duties: they are her 
 pleasures, because she cares for them with zeal. In 
 this harmony of the conjugal union, quarrels and dis¬ 
 putes never disturb the order of their harmony. Uni¬ 
 ted by the bonds of the most tender affections, it is so, 
 that in the bosom of virtue, love and friendship, are 
 transforming into flowers the thorns of life. 
 
 In politics, as in morals, the most upright men, the 
 most high minded, can fall in error, innocent victims 
 of deceitful illusions. Like this beautiful, luminous 
 globe of light rolling over our heads, the human spirit 
 has its limits beyond which it cannot go, and in spite 
 of all its might, it has not been gifted with the power 
 to attain at the degree of perfection which foresees all 
 the obstacles in the various circumstances of life. The 
 greatest, the most eminent philosophers themselves 
 have acknowledged their weakness; but reason, if we 
 use it well, it may preserve us from the errors insepa- 
 ble from human nature; if it is an infallible guide, or 
 the best, in this thorny career over which we must run, 
 have we anything dearer than this high faculty ? Does 
 it not, must it not control all our actions ? must we not 
 avoid all the occasions which could be the cause of 
 
16 
 
 altering it, from so many examples under our eyes, of 
 the fatal consequences of intemperance, and ot disor¬ 
 derly propensities in the absence of so salutary a check. 
 Ah! of how many evils we would be rescued, it less 
 blinded by our propensities, we were directing them to 
 the profit of morals, by the assistance of so powerful 
 
 a faculty ? .. 
 
 If the excesses of intemperance are great evils to 
 any man addicted to such a vice, these evils are much 
 more serious in the society where he is overwhelmed 
 by scorn and contempt, and these excesses, in intoxi¬ 
 cating his reason, may induce him to commit some ac¬ 
 tions deserving chastisement by the laws. 
 
 From such an argument, it does not follow, that to 
 be temperate, sober, and of a well ordered life, we 
 must totally divest ourselves of our habits and natural 
 propensities. Such severe maxims would place man 
 in a permanent war against his own nature, warring 
 with himself, and rendering him burthensome to society, 
 but all admonish us, all assure us, that our sensual pro¬ 
 pensities must be governed by reason, for the sake of 
 our own welfare, and that, the fear of consequences, 
 often frightful, that may happen to us, and to society, 
 if we are not assisted by so noble a faculty. 
 
 If temperance is an essential virtue for our happi¬ 
 ness, for the good order of society, intemperance is 
 one of the most pernicious vices, carrying with it all 
 the others. It is best then, that we do all in our power, 
 by a continual vigilance of our honor to guard against 
 this fearful vice, to resist our propensities, and to con¬ 
 tract early the habit of resistance; this habit once 
 taken may render very easy things that at first sight 
 may appear impossible. We must only have well ob¬ 
 served the horrible effects of intemperance, added to 
 an strong resolution, to destroy this vice. 
 
 Temperance, says an old writer, is the vigor of the 
 soul. It supports the strength, a quality worthy of the 
 consideration of men. 
 
 These thoughts corroborated by experience, teach us 
 
17 
 
 the utility and the obligatory duty of a steady reform 
 in our vicious propensities, and principally those addic¬ 
 ted to the immoderate use of strong and spirituous 
 liquors, who destroy secretly their mental faculties, and 
 make them unfit for any employment in society. 
 
 Let us here consider the man in the great political 
 chain of social order ! Let us see him in his relations 
 with society, of which he is a member, to co-operate 
 and share in the common welfare ! Rich or poor, every 
 man has to fulfil some duties. Long habit in the prac¬ 
 tice of these duties can give us the appearance of a 
 scrupulous probity. To fulfil rightly these duties, we 
 must understand them—the importance of some of 
 which requires knowledge, and our reasoning. It is 
 not in prostituting our reason that these duties can 
 be rightly fulfilled. The first of these duties, the most 
 essentia) to the conscience, will be always the homage 
 and deference due to our Creator ; the others, which is 
 due to society by the good examples of regularity in 
 morals, a scrupulous attention, an unblameable punctu¬ 
 ality in the line of our profession, and it is not a being 
 subordinate to his vicious propensities, addicted to his 
 sensual appetites, day and night in the taverns, the cof¬ 
 fee houses, scenes of impurity, who will fulfil these 
 duties with the zeal and the necessary attention that an 
 honest man ought to possess. The appearances will 
 take the place of reality—little by little the spirit will 
 fall in heaviness, that will be but a routine—the idleness, 
 the dissipation will be the cause infallibly of a negli¬ 
 gence in the order of these duties. The application, 
 the exactness will be no more the same ; the passion ot 
 blustering pleasures coming next after the love of labor, 
 interest, cupidity will not delay to go beyond the lim¬ 
 its of the delicacy; fraud and corruption will follow. 
 These things getting a foothold, many people will be 
 anxious to perform the same things, from the example 
 of these honest gentlemen, who have only such a name. 
 The example will be pernicious. Society will be suf¬ 
 fering. From the class of private men, the evil will 
 3 
 
reach as far as the administration of public business. 
 The equilibrium will be disordered—the people, victims 
 of such a depravity, will soon be burthened by its ef¬ 
 fects. Troubles will begin to arise from every side, 
 the outcries of party will be echoed; in this conflict of 
 interests, of public opinions, the spring of all these 
 elements of discord, everybody with animosity will 
 defend his parly. 
 
 From that, all these hostilities directed against an 
 Administration surrounded itself by the innumerable 
 difficulties of this perverted order; from that, all these 
 plots framed by various interests, assisted by the power 
 of eloquence for the success of their cause; patriot¬ 
 ism, liberty, are but mere words—it is the reign of ego¬ 
 tism. Then the cup of evil is full; the State is sink¬ 
 ing; it has no strength, no consistence, no solidity. 
 These are the real causes why a great nation may fall 
 from its strength, and its dignity, and be transformed 
 into a miserable people by the relaxation of their moral 
 duties. Like an honest man who knows not how to 
 keep a bridle on his passions, may fall in a shameful and 
 disorderly situation by the same cause. In such an 
 alarming crisis, the only remedy to this evil, is a gene¬ 
 ral and a steady reform in the morals, and this reform 
 can only be commenced by temperance. 
 
 From all the human calamities which have afflicted 
 us for many years, and which have reduced us to our 
 present state of distress, the most pernicious, the most 
 disastrous, and which the consequences have been the 
 most fatal to society, is this relaxation in our moral du¬ 
 ties, which has produced among us the excess of in¬ 
 temperance. This vice, which always appears in com¬ 
 pany with the others, is one of those which has been 
 the most important to begin to destroy, by the disorder 
 increasing so rapidly in our towns and country, like a 
 violent stream threatening us with the greatest dangers. 
 
 By the numerous Societies which have been estab¬ 
 lished on all sides, they must but applaud the zeal, the 
 activity, and the efforts of the numbers to combat and 
 
19 
 
 destroy this vice, or, at least, by a salutary curb, to 
 make it unable to prejudice. The list of the members 
 of these Societies increasing every day, has shewed 
 with what eagerness these real friends of order have 
 adhered to their establishments to bring again to tem¬ 
 perance those who have been deserters, giving them¬ 
 selves the example. This proceeding, worthy of a wise 
 people, must attract the real friends of order, the 
 gratitude of their fellow-citizens, and the Divine Pro¬ 
 tection for the success of an enterprise as useful as 
 honorable, a general reform in our moral duties ; the only 
 way to see rise again among us peace, abundance and 
 prosperity, and for which, in my humble capacity, I will 
 do all in my power to co-operate to so worthy a deed, 
 the public happiness. 
 
e 
 
 A 
 
 LECTURE, 
 
 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 GEORGIA. HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 * 
 
 IN THE UNITARIAN CHURCH, 
 
 • * 
 
 SAVANNAH, 
 
 On Wednesday, 29 th March, 1843 . 
 
 BY EUGENIUS A\ NISBET. ’ 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 SAVANNAH : 
 
 W. T. WILLIAMS* 
 
 U I 
 
 ♦ 
 
 1843, 
 
LECTURE. 
 
 There is something very remarkable in the cir¬ 
 cumstances which attended the planting of the cola* 
 ny of Georgia. The enterprise had its origin, neith¬ 
 er in individual cupidity, the lust of conquest, or 
 national vanity. It was begun neither to extend nor 
 to strengthen empire. It was conceived, not in the 
 councils of the State, or the cabals of Party, or the 
 conclaves of the Church. Its projector was prompted 
 neither by love of adventure and fame, like Raleigh 
 —by pride and avarice like the Hidalgos of Spain 
 —by the expectation of a provincial lieutenancy like 
 the warriors of Rome—nor by hereditary hatred like 
 the African Hannibal. The object, was not, at the 
 beginning, to diffuse and increase knowledge amongst 
 men, to enlarge the sphere of the useful arts, or to 
 stamp upon the virgin soil of the new world, the then 
 virgin principles of popular liberty. These it is true 
 were its fruits j but even holier than these were its 
 en( j s —higher than even these sublime altitudes arose 
 its aims. It was based upon Christianity, and its 
 end w*as Charity. It was conceived in the unsolici¬ 
 ted, unbought, Divinely sanctioned benevolence of a 
 warm and generous heart; in the councils of a 
 bright, strong and commanding intellect. So beau¬ 
 tifully romantic, so fresh and pure and picturesque 
 was tRe charity of the design, that about it played 
 the sunshine of regal favor—upon it united the couit, 
 the camp and the country, and philosophy, smoothing 
 
her furrowed brow, caressed, benignantly, the crusa¬ 
 ders of love. 
 
 The lands lying between the Savannah and the AI- 
 atamaha, and from the head springs of these streams 
 westwardly to the Pacific, were erected into the Pro¬ 
 vince of Georgia and placed in the hands of corpora¬ 
 tors in trust, not for the crown of Great Britain— 
 not for the use and benefit of military adventurers, 
 or commercial monopolists, but for the poor . The 
 Charter was a Trust deed, and “ the distressed of 
 England and the persecuted protestants of Europe” 
 were the Cestui que Trusts. In the annals of char¬ 
 ity, men have given estates and time and talents to 
 the poor. Royal beneficence, by private bestowals, 
 has wiped the tears of suffering from the marred face 
 of humanity; and foundations have been laid by as¬ 
 sociated benevolence, to provide homes for the wan¬ 
 derer and the houseless: but when before did the 
 State, by public authority, plant on the basis of hu¬ 
 man suffering and human sympathy, an empire, 
 whose territory is broader than the lands of Europe, 
 whose soil is richer than the flooded fields of the 
 INile, and whose climate is sw'eeter and more varied 
 than than that of Arabia, the blessed ? Never— 
 never. This instance stands alone, sublime in its 
 isolated beauty and magnificence. George First 
 sold the sceptre of the west, to gratify the caprice of 
 royalty, indulge a favorite, or foster a fashionable 
 sentiment. But the far reaching vision of Oglethorpe 
 saw in the remote future, the gorgeous outline of 
 the Western State, with liberty and law, knowledge 
 and virtue, resting secure beneath its protecting 
 shade. An empire of love, a new earth, wherein 
 might dwell righteousness, unscathed by European 
 crime, tyranny and intolerance ; where virtuous 
 
5 
 
 equality might constitute the basis of Government ; 
 where peace might reign in prophetic fullness, and 
 where man might rise to meet the descending digni¬ 
 ty of the Divine nature. It was indeed a glorious 
 vision—but no impracticable dream of the day, as 
 the event has proven. 
 
 Upon your beautiful bluff, now skirted with the 
 world’s commerce, Oglethorpe planted no standard 
 but that of the cross—unfurled no banner but the 
 blood stained banner of God. The wan-worn mul¬ 
 titude came hither with none of the pride or pomp 
 of conquest, they seized the soil with no victor 
 shout, but with songs of rejoicing and with pecans 
 of praise. One of the signs of old which heralded 
 the coming Saviour, found amidst the selfish phar- 
 iseism of Jerusalem, was the preaching of the gospel 
 to the poor. And one of the signs of the seventeenth 
 century, seen amid the thrones of the old world, was 
 the Trust benefactions for the poor, bestowed by 
 Britain’s Imperial power. Little did the crowned 
 heads of Europe then think that the colonists of 
 America, would, in less than half a century from 
 that day, realise a new political dispensation. At 
 the head of the colonists came General Oglethorpe, 
 who united in himself the charity of the Moravian— 
 the zeal of the Wesleys—the chivalry of the Crusa¬ 
 ders—the dignity of the British aristocracy, and all 
 the fascinations of genius and science. He was potent 
 enough to bend to his views conflicting party interests, 
 to subsidise the pen of the poet, and to harmonise 
 the always warring opinions of religious sects. In 
 the infancy of the the colony, he was its sustaining 
 spirit—in its weakness, its strength—in despondency, 
 its hope, and in triumph its pride. A young man, 
 yet wise and paternal, a man of wealth, yet a labor- 
 
er; a man of letters, yet of sound practical judg¬ 
 ment ; a warrior, yet gentle as peace and bland as 
 innocence ; a monarchist, yet tolerant of Republi¬ 
 canism ; a cynosure at the court of St. James, yet a 
 voluntary exile from its courtly halls. Others gave 
 to the enterprise patronage or means ; he gave him¬ 
 self. For aught that I know, upon the very spot up¬ 
 on which is now gathered this array of fashion, of 
 beauty and talent, beneath primeval protecting pines, 
 he pitched his tent. Here he gave laws to the colo¬ 
 ny, conciliated the savage kings who came to do the 
 honors of Aboriginal hospitality., organized a mili¬ 
 tary, reconciled conflicting interests, ordained the 
 worship of God, founded your beautiful city, and 
 planted the germ of those elevated sentiments which 
 live at this day in the descendants of the people of 
 that day. Nor was he alone ; greatest, but not 
 solely great, around him gathered many lofty spirits: 
 among them were men of God ; the ardent and 
 devoted Wesleys—the stauncher and sterner Whit¬ 
 field. Such was the beginning, now sec the end. 
 With the usual vicisitudes of weal and woe, the colo¬ 
 ny grew into Vigorous adolescence, contending suc¬ 
 cessfully against division, disease, Aboriginal wars, 
 Spanish arms and the step dame charities of the pa¬ 
 rent State. At length came the Revolution of ’ 76 , 
 into which she entered with promptness, and whence 
 she emerged with glory. Beyond the Western At¬ 
 lantic is heard the voice, as it were, of many thunders 
 —it comes booming across the seas like the dis¬ 
 charge of Milton’s celestial artillery—it strikes the 
 thrones of Europe, and lo! they tremble—it smites 
 the sceptre of Brunswick and it is shivered. The 
 masse-* of the old world, aroused from the stupor of 
 ages, catch the uproar as it dies eastwardly in the 
 
4 
 
 distance, and rejoice, yet with alarm and apprehen¬ 
 sion. What voice is this? It is the voice of popu¬ 
 lar liberty, announcing to the listening earth, that all 
 Governments are trusts, and that political power is 
 hut a delegation, from the people, to be exercised for 
 their benefit and revoked at their pleasure Georgia 
 became one of those thirteen brilliant gems, which 
 yet in history adorn the race. And upon the doc¬ 
 trine of governmental trusts, was reared that stupen¬ 
 dous social fabric, the American Union, whose phy¬ 
 sical resources, intellectual power and moral gran¬ 
 deur overawe the nations. This is the end. 
 
 But where now is the trust, for the poor 1 Did it 
 cease with the independence of the States ? By no 
 means; its spirit yet lives, and its obligations rest 
 with more emphatic impressiveness than any where 
 else, upon the Georgia Historical Society. In a most 
 interesting sense it is a Trustee for the Poor—the 
 People are the Poor. You have assumed to be 
 guardians of the Literature of the State. A part of 
 the duty of the Society in fulfilling this Trust, is to 
 build up and sustain a Home Literature . How best 
 to discharge this duty, is the enquiry, to which I in¬ 
 vite your attention. 
 
 Literature is a term of wide and rather indefinite 
 meaning. In its most comprehensive sense, it em¬ 
 braces all knowledge amongst men, whether written 
 or orally communicated, or yet retained in the mind. 
 
 The books and knowledge of an age or a State, 
 therefore, constitute the literature of that age or 
 State. Thns we say the literature of Greece, or 
 of Rome, of the fourteenth century, or of the age of « 
 Elizabeth. A more limited meaning, defines the 
 learning acquired and promulgated in one depart¬ 
 ment of letters or of science. So we say Polite Li- 
 
terature, meaning thereby the lighter and more fan¬ 
 ciful books or acquirements of the day. So the Li¬ 
 terature of the Arts. By Home Literature, I desire 
 to designate the knowledge of our own People, 
 whether found in books, taught in the schools, or 
 promulgated from the Pulpit, from the Hustings, or 
 at the Bar. 
 
 It may be said that no one of the States can create 
 and maintain for herself a separate and distinctive 
 literature; that the same language, the same descent, 
 the same social and political institutions, will, of 
 necessity, form for all the States the same litera¬ 
 ture. The grounds of the objection are not true. 
 The habits, climate, and social, and to some extent, 
 political institutions of the States are different, and 
 the literature of each, will be and ought to be, adapt¬ 
 ed to the varied condition of each. Until the Govern¬ 
 ment of the Union is consolidated, we neither desire 
 nor expect a consolidated literature. Until some 
 great central city, the seat of a central government 
 shall arise to dictate to the empire, all laws of fash¬ 
 ion, taste, property and privilege, we shall hold the 
 power of moulding to our condition our own litera¬ 
 ture. Paris is France, is the boast of the Gallician 
 metropolitan. Here, we rejoice to say, the People 
 are the commonwealth. Admit, however, the truth 
 of the position, it is still the duty, and because of its 
 truth more imperiously the duty of the guardians of 
 education and letters in Georgia, to do their part in 
 giving form and direction to the literature of the 
 Union. 
 
 Among the responsibilities of the ruling minds of 
 a State, perhaps the greatest, by no means the least, 
 is that of starting its literature upon proper princi¬ 
 ples and directing it to proper ends. It derives pe- 
 
9 
 
 culiar weight here, from the fact, that we occupy a 
 ' position in reference to the subject, which no age of 
 the future can possibly hold. We are present at the 
 beginning—the past with its lessons of experience 
 and the future with its hidden destinies, are before 
 us. Letters and government, so influential upon 
 each other, start here together in the race of improve¬ 
 ment. We have no religion to dig from the rubbish 
 of Pagan centuries, or to fabricate in the laborato¬ 
 ries of merely intellectual philosophy; the Paganism of 
 antiquity we have buried in the dust which eighteen 
 hundred years have cast upon fallen empires, and 
 the religion of the intellect uninspired, has yielded 
 reluctant supremacy to the religion revealed from 
 heaven. We have an established religion, grafted 
 upon the conscience and ordained of God. The 
 American Union, is quite ns striking in its formation, 
 as was the settlement of the colony of Georgia; 
 there was for this great empire no past, no pro¬ 
 gression from barbarism to refinement; our progeni ¬ 
 tors were neither iguorant savages, nor cultivated 
 Pagans ; our foundations are laid amid the broken 
 < fragments of a by gone world ; we have beheld its 
 glory and seen its shame ; we are the compacted 
 embodiment of its political virtues ; the arteries of 
 fallen States, are obstructed in death and the fluids 
 which gave them life, flow through our veins—a 
 giant progeny, mature at birth. Upon the youthful 
 brow of Columbia have settled the frosts of age, but 
 they are the hoar concretions of Europe, and Italy, 
 and Egypt, and Assyria, and Greece. She has wis¬ 
 dom without personal experience—the strength of 
 manhood, not having known the impotence of infan¬ 
 cy. She enjoys, it is true, a literature, acquired not 
 by creation, but by appropriation. I eculiai to her 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 self, Georgia may be said to have laid only the foun¬ 
 dations of literature; upon this foundation we are 
 called to build—it is a serious vocation. The soil is 
 fallow and rich and lies kindly to the sun ; it invites 
 the sower’s care. We live in the springtime of let¬ 
 ters, let us cast the seed that others may reap the 
 harvests of summer and gather the fruits of autumn. 
 
 “ Let me write the ballads and I care not who 
 makes the laws,” is a saying replete with truthful¬ 
 ness. Domestic airs and national songs catch and 
 embody, and contribute in forming, the public senti¬ 
 ment : laws are but the expression of that senti¬ 
 ment. John Howard Payne’s Home, because of its 
 theme and the soft and soothing music to which it is 
 set, rather than because of its intrinsic merit, does 
 more to inspire and maintain the domestic virtues, 
 than a thousand homilies ; and the Star Spangled 
 Banner of the virtuous and enlightened Key (now 
 alas! no more) has curbed the lawlessness of ambi¬ 
 tion, nerved the arm of the soldier, and cheered the 
 Tar, amidst the storms of the deep and the wilder 
 horrors of the battle. It is like another star set in 
 the flag of our country ; who can listen to its poetic 
 patriotism and fail to feel its inspirations ? The 
 Marseilles Hymn and the Jacobin Songs unchain¬ 
 ed the Demon spirit of Parisian Democracy—the 
 spirit of Burns lives on the hills, in the glens and amid 
 the braes of Scotland—victory perched as often 
 upon the clarions of Napoleon, as upon his Eagle 
 Banner—and the armies of America shall always 
 march to triumph to the stirring notes of Hail Colum¬ 
 bia; whilst each human heart that beats upon this 
 green earth, tells its pulsations responsive to some 
 song of love, embalmed in music. 
 
 One might certainly say with truth, “ let me write 
 
11 
 
 the books, and make the speeches, and educate the 
 youth of a country, and I care not who makes its 
 laws.” The manners, morals, and politics of the 
 people, emanate from those primary thoughts and 
 elementary principles which they derive from books 
 and oral instruction. The nursery, the fireside, the 
 school room, the university and the library, are the 
 moulds in which character is cast—character, both 
 personal and national, intellectual and moral. The 
 parent, the school master, the author and the law 
 maker, derive their knowledge, and oftentimes their 
 moral principles, from books. As the instructor, so 
 also as a general rule, is the learner. In our country, 
 the laws and their administration depend upon the 
 virtue and intelligence of the people. Let the guar¬ 
 dians of the people see to it, that they read the right 
 sort of books. 
 
 Suppose for a moment that the multitudes who 
 now dwell upon our soil were subjected to the sole 
 influence of Byron’s misanthropic and licentious, yet, 
 most seductive and brilliant verse; or to the persuasive 
 and kindly, yet irreligious rhapsodies of Shelley ; to 
 the amorous ditties of Moore, or the infidel philoso¬ 
 phy of Godwin, or the demoralizing novels of Bul- 
 wer—(Eugene Aram for example, wherein guilt and 
 crime are so hung about with the drapery ol virtue, 
 that they lose their hideous forms, and the reader 
 becomes so enamored with the homicide, that he fiist 
 excuses, then justifies, and finally imitates the infer¬ 
 nal heroism of the murderer)—what would be the 
 state of public morality 1 
 
 Displace wholly the legitimate Drama, and substi¬ 
 tute the tricks of the mountebank, the song of the 
 Bacchanal,the senseless imitations of Mr. Rice, volup¬ 
 tuous hints and sensual double entendres, and the 
 
12 
 
 motive poetry of Fanny Elssler, and would not the 
 stage become infinitely more than it is the pander 
 to vice ? 
 
 Sweep from our firesides and draw away from the 
 bosom of our families, the Bible, the Catechism, the 
 Sunday School Tract, the Temperance document, 
 and the Religious biography, and place within the 
 chambers of our wives and upon the toilets of our 
 daughters and upon our school house forms, the le¬ 
 gends of an obscene mythology, the impracticable vi¬ 
 sions of romance, magazines merely of fashion, poe¬ 
 try steeped in licentiousness, and philosophy guiltless 
 of homage to God, and would you not surely poi¬ 
 son the fountains of social life 1 Burn the com¬ 
 mentaries of Madison and Hamilton and import the 
 tory doctrines of British statesmen, and you educate 
 your citizens for monarchy ; or make for the people 
 “The Rights of Man” a manual, and you make them 
 anarchists. Tear down the bulwarks of the Protes¬ 
 tant faith, and see a world submerged beneath a 
 moral deluge. Read the history of French literature 
 and then read the history of the French Revolution. 
 Read the history of the French Church, then read 
 the history of the “Goddess of Reason.” These il¬ 
 lustrations, better than the closest analysis, show the 
 importance of the subject. Its extent may be under¬ 
 stood by reflecting that the literature of a State em¬ 
 braces all that is written, from the tales of the nurse¬ 
 ry, for example, to the “Novum Organum” of Bacon. 
 It touches either directly or remotely every interest 
 of humanity, both for Time and Eternity. 
 
 The English, French, German and Italian litera¬ 
 ture among us, is both an aid and an obstacle to the 
 growth of out own. Were we content with this, it 
 is true our taste would be delighted, our knowledge 
 
13 
 
 extended and our judgment strengthened, but per¬ 
 haps all at the expense of morality and republican¬ 
 ism. We want a literature founded upon our own 
 institutions, in harmony with the sympathies of our 
 people, and wholly auxiliary to Christianity. In so 
 far as foreign books are the media through which 
 bad politics, bad manners and bad theology are in¬ 
 troduced into our country, I unhesitatingly pronounce 
 them evils. Social life in the States, is more in dan¬ 
 ger of being corrupted by foreign books than any 
 thing else. Wealth and liberty and knowledge, give 
 birth to luxurious living; simplicity is called vul¬ 
 garism; and sated with the novelties which home af¬ 
 fords, we look abroad for new modes of indulgence. 
 There is great, and often among us, ridiculous rever¬ 
 ence for any thing foreign ; foreign thoughts, foreign 
 principles, foreign conduct. Homebred virtues, the 
 stamina of honorable life, are despised, and we ape 
 the follies of London or Paris with more than provin¬ 
 cial subserviency. These we find in many of the 
 books they send us. To guard against the evils,whilst 
 we extract the virtues of foreign literature,is the impe¬ 
 rious duty of every American citizen. It is right, in¬ 
 deed it is a measure of necessary self-defence, to pro¬ 
 tect our altars and our homes and our institutions 
 from those influences which the old world wields 
 through the press ; doubly dangerous as to Lngland, 
 because of that sameness and sympathy of character 
 and vernacular identity, which characterises the peo¬ 
 ple of the two countries. 
 
 The literature of France is more to be dreaded 
 here than that of any other country of Europe. Of 
 late years her scientific discoveries have been more 
 numerous and useful than those of Great Britain. 
 But this good is counterbalanced by the rottenness 
 
14 
 
 of her entire moral system. They are a light heart¬ 
 ed, generous, enlightened people, but impulsive and 
 fierce as the whelpless tigress. Their philosophy is 
 changeable and visionary, and the religion of the 
 state is an amalgam of human pride, human pas¬ 
 sion and human pageantry. Their philosophers are 
 the greatest propagandists of moral error—“ Tirneo 
 Danaos et dona ferentes” They know not God 
 and reverence not his name ; therefore I fear their 
 literature. Strange have been the dealings of Pro¬ 
 vidence with that gallant people ! The end is not 
 yet, and will not be, until retribution shall have ful¬ 
 ly atoned for the past and guaranteed the future. 
 
 Far be it from me to undervalue the inheritance 
 we derived from England. It is the richest that 
 ever was bequeathed—a boon worthy both the donors 
 and the recipients. Although she drove us to Inde¬ 
 pendence by political oppression and religious in¬ 
 tolerance, yet even that coercion was a blessing, inas¬ 
 much as it gave to humanity a refuge, lighted up the 
 new world with the beacons of Freedom, and adorn¬ 
 ed her ten thousand plains with temples dedicated to 
 the true God. England is our parent still. We are 
 bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh. We are of 
 the venerable Anglo-Saxon blood. We speak the 
 language of her kings and her people, in which (if I 
 might become for the nonce a prophet) is yet to be 
 written the laws of universal domination, and in 
 which is already writtten the purest and deepest lit¬ 
 erature of the world. I honor England for her an¬ 
 cient renown; her moral power; her intellectual 
 strength; her indomitable enterprise, and her Pro¬ 
 testant faith, and I almost venerate her, as the great¬ 
 est of all secular instruments in the hands of Provi¬ 
 dence for propagating the gospel. For whether she 
 
15 
 
 wills it or not, she is the Missionary of the Cross. 
 Religion must needs tollow in the track of British 
 commerce and conquest. When her power breaks 
 the seal of national exclusiveness, whatever else it 
 may accomplish, it lets in the blaze of the gospel 
 day. The philosophy of .Newton and Bacon is ours, 
 and so are the numbers of Cowper and Coleridge, 
 of Rogers and Montgomery, of Wordsworth and 
 Burns. We live and breathe amid the sublimely 
 magnificent creations of Milton, the almost inspired, 
 the light dispensing blind man of Albion’s sea-girt 
 isle: in moral stature, gigantic as his own Lucifer 
 “ in shape and gesture proudly eminent,” in purity, 
 serene and lovely as his own Adam before the fall. 
 And who does not count himself fortunate that has 
 read and still delighted may read again, the plays of 
 Shakspeare X We can say of Scott as Tacitus said 
 of Agricola: “Bonum virum facile crederes magnum 
 libenter ” We have the right to weep over the 
 touching tenderness of Mary How’itt, and to be 
 soothed and reformed by her most graceful simplici¬ 
 ty and truthfulness ; to mourn over the tomb of Miss 
 Landon, and to be stirred with the passions, stern 
 and tender, of Joanna Baillie. Were I called to 
 designate the greatest critic of this age, and unsur¬ 
 passed by any writer of any age, I should point to 
 Macaulay. But why enumerate X Are not the ver¬ 
 dant lanes and fruitful fields, the palaces and the 
 cottages, the classic valleys and castle-clad hills the 
 trials and the triumphs, the religion and the laws, 
 the eloquence and the honor of old England, all our 
 own X 
 
 And yet—and yet the publications of our father- 
 land come to us tinctured, nay, strongly marked, 
 with the theories of government, church establish- 
 
16 
 
 ment, and style of manners peculiar to her. In all 
 things she is true to her interests. Her letters as 
 well as her arms subserve this end. Her great wri¬ 
 ters, with few exceptions, from the very necessity of 
 their position, are the advocates of her institutions 
 and the apologists of her policy ,both state and eccle¬ 
 siastical. Her political system, however it may in 
 some respects approximate to, is still in antagonism 
 with ours. A throne encircled with a privileged or¬ 
 der and supported by a vast property monopoly, she 
 claims to be the perfection of government; whilst we 
 lay the foundations of good government in popular 
 equality, knowledge and virtue. We dare not for¬ 
 get that the money, and the arms, and the public sen¬ 
 timent of Great Britain, are pledged to undervalue 
 those representative principles which we value so 
 highly. Her social system takes its form and body 
 from her political institutions. She has adroitly 
 mingled the forms of the church with the forms of 
 civil office. She holds the ministry to a strict alliance 
 with the crown, by dispensing earthly favors to the 
 devotees of the cross. The sanctified heart, she 
 knits to the state, by feeding it to the full with the 
 pottage of power, whilst the Gothic grandeur of the 
 establishment sheds upon her wide empire the influ¬ 
 ence of a divinely approved system of civil polity. 
 Arrayed against what one of her latest historians 
 calls innovation, stands a prodigious concretion of 
 power; its elements are knowledge, time, opulence, 
 religion, physical strength, interest, pride and the 
 press : by innovation, he means any and every at¬ 
 tempt to change, either her own system or that of 
 Europe. Aside from and opposite to all this, stands 
 the tower of American Liberty, reared in simple 
 beauty and chastened magnificence, upon the basis 
 
17 
 
 of tree opinion. We rejoice in that liberal and wise 
 policy, which has made England and America the 
 joint pacificators of the world—the co-working ben¬ 
 efactors of the race. We claim not the right to in¬ 
 graft republicanism upon her ancient stock; we sub¬ 
 mit not to be innoculated with her social poisons: 
 but we shall so submit, unless we protect our liter¬ 
 ature from too strong an infusion of trans-Atlantic 
 books. These books are not unfrequently the foeted 
 exhalations which the sun of prosperity engenders 
 in the carcass of a calm world. They reveal the hor¬ 
 rors of the prison house, number the sorrows of a 
 crowded population, detail the incidents of crime- 
 packed cities, feed the fancy with voluptuous details 
 of high life, relax the tone of truth and justice, and 
 enervate the spirit. Such books are dangerous com¬ 
 panions for the young; and such are the books which 
 American publishers offer in too great prolusion to 
 American readers. What then is to be done ? Ex¬ 
 clude the whole mass of foreign literature by prohib¬ 
 itory duties or penal enactments 1 No, by no means. 
 But first amend the law of copyright, give counte¬ 
 nance to, and demand for, home productions, and so 
 purify the public taste and so rectify the standards of 
 public sentiment, that the people may appropriate 
 what is good and discard what is evil. 
 
 It is true in relation to books as it is of commerce, 
 that demand causes production ; it is not true how¬ 
 ever that increased supply lessens demand ; the 
 more we read the more we want to read. Intellect¬ 
 ual appetite is but whetted by feeding. The more 
 the energies of the intellect are tasked, the more 
 vigorous it grows. Indeed there is no assignable 
 limits to mental improvement, either in individuals or 
 nations. There must, however, be a beginning. 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 Readers are indispensable to the production ol books, 
 and the mind must be cultivated before it can acquire 
 a taste for letters. Although but little refinement is 
 necessary to the appreciation and patronage of some 
 kinds of literature, yet an enlightened public is in¬ 
 dispensable to science, philosophy and the arts. The 
 rude minstrelsy of the Troubadours, the songs of 
 Scotland, and the early lays of England, even the 
 heroic numbers of Homer, were heard and loved and 
 patronised by ignorant multitudes; yet the age of 
 Augustus could alone inspire the polished strains of 
 Virgil; the knowledge of the age of Elizabeth could 
 alone evoke from the recesses of mind, the standard 
 British classics; whilst schools and colleges and uni¬ 
 versities are founded upon the tardy literary accumu¬ 
 lations of centuries. In execution, therefore of the 
 trust which devolves upon us, it would seem to be 
 indispensable to educate the people. Not assuming 
 that our people are destitute of education, I do yet 
 assume that education should be conducted, in our 
 State, upon the foundations of the Bible, and exten¬ 
 ded until all men shall be the readers of books and 
 the judges of literary merit, and shall furnish in them¬ 
 selves standards of correct sentiment. 
 
 The State ought to be the chief patron of educa¬ 
 tion ; it is a common want, nay, a common necessi¬ 
 ty; and in as much as light is with us the great con¬ 
 servative agent of liberty, it is a mean of the most 
 unquestioned political policy. It is as much the duty 
 of the government to educate the people as to protect 
 them from foreign foes or domestic violence. Igno¬ 
 rance is the most fearful of all the foes of freedom, and 
 that violence which is more destructive to individual 
 happiness and social security, than intestine wars, 
 sectional collisions, or legal insubordination, is the 
 
19 
 
 violence of unsubdued personal passions. No one 
 doubts the obligation of rulers to secure to the citi¬ 
 zen the rights of property and of person and of con¬ 
 science. And what is property worth if the mind be 
 so dark that it knows not its uses, or the privilege of 
 locomotion when the intellect is imprisoned: and what 
 avails it to talk about the rights of conscience, when 
 that conscience slumbers steeped in the stupefaction 
 of ignorance? The error of all governments is and has 
 been to provide for freedom, external defences, ar¬ 
 mies and navies for national security, whilst the em¬ 
 pire of the individual heart and mind has been left to 
 take care of itself. No nation is stronger, or wiser, 
 or happier, than the individuals who constitute it. 
 The only legitimate end of government, is to make 
 wise and happy individual man. If these be truths, 
 the obligation of government to educate the people 
 is demonstrated. 
 
 But that the governments of this union can be effi 
 cicnt patrons of education or of literature, is more 
 than questionable. Experience thus far, denies its 
 practicability, and particularly the experience of our 
 own State. And here the experiment ought to be 
 held a fair one, because there has been no controver¬ 
 sy about the constitutional power, nor has there been 
 any deficiency of means. Starting with an ample 
 outfit, our system of Poor school and Academic edu¬ 
 cation has proven a palpable failure. 1 he operation 
 of like causes has to a great extent impaired the use¬ 
 fulness of our university. The agents of that system 
 are too numerous, badly selected, and all irresponsi¬ 
 ble ; over it there is not and cannot be an efficient 
 visiting power; and its appointed head, the Legisla¬ 
 ture, is beyond all other depositories of such a power, 
 unfit for its conduct, either in outline or in detail. It 
 
20 
 
 wants all the elements of a good literary patton, sta¬ 
 bility, liberality, and enlightenment. The halls of 
 the Capitol are theatres for party manoeuvering; 
 Apollo and the Muses give place to Momus and 
 Mercury ; Minerva presides in the temple only when 
 the worshippers have retired. Education is subjected 
 to the whirl of party mutations : to build up and 
 tear down and then to rebuild with the purpose of 
 future demolition, seems to be the vocation of ma¬ 
 jorities. And with the adverse currents of party 
 politics mixes a deep and bitter flow of denom¬ 
 inational rivalry. Religious jealousy, not the least 
 active principle in free states, adds its venom to a cup 
 already so drugged with disastrous elements. What 
 a commingling of all the ingredients of ruin ? It is 
 perfectly miraculous that the University of Georgia 
 has lived at all under such guardianship. Its growth 
 has not been healthful and steady, and it would long 
 ere this have added one more to the monuments of 
 popular folly, but for the watchful care of its officers, 
 and enlightened minds operating in its behalf, with¬ 
 out the region of politics. It would be to-day a magni¬ 
 ficent foundation of letters, had it even been let alone. 
 I do not mean to say that it has not been and is not 
 now a useful college ; it has done great good : its in¬ 
 fluences are felt in the villages and towns of the State, 
 in her laws, in the pulpit and in the councils of the 
 Federal Government. What has made it what it is, 
 though still so much below what it ought to be? Why 
 the voluntary appreciation among the people of the 
 importance of education, and the active sympathy of 
 a few good and great men? an appreciation which 
 is daily widening its healthful circle, and which it 
 will be the business of this Society to make univer¬ 
 sally prevalent. No, none but despotism by its iron 
 
21 
 
 nerve,or aristocracy by its moneyed accumulations can 
 be, through the exercise of public power, profitable 
 patrons of letters. Could we attain to that state of 
 social perfectibility, when all are enlightened and all 
 virtuous, then would the people, through public 
 aeents, sustain education. To attain this state is 
 the desideratum, and until attained the good and 
 enlightened must act apart from the state. In 
 one sense, however, our republics cherish educa¬ 
 tion and literature. The fundamental law, in all 
 its provisions for freedom, fosters all learning.— 
 Under shelter of the constitution, the people are 
 free to teach and to learn ; to accumulate proper¬ 
 ty, and to apply it to educational purposes. Let¬ 
 ters find their guarantees in security of property, 
 freedom of the press, and in that intellectual liberty 
 which claims all the realm of thought as its own do¬ 
 minion. These depend upon no caprice, personal 
 or legislative. Education too in the popular mind, 
 is happily associated with the permanence of our in¬ 
 stitutions ; to bestow it, is therefore a suggestion 
 of patriotism. These are the foundations upon 
 which Science rears her temples ; within these walls 
 of political privilege, we plant our infant literature; 
 the genial heavens above it, the state around it, and 
 all men its cultivators. 
 
 The Church has done and can do more for edu¬ 
 cation in Georgia than the State. Its denomination¬ 
 al divisions make it more useful in this regard than 
 if acting as one body. In each of the leading sects of 
 the State, there is combination, without unwieldiness, 
 unity of plan and concentration of means. A gen¬ 
 erous rivalry, stimulates to effort; the struggle is who 
 shall do most. All build upon the same great moral 
 platform, and about each pupil taught in the schools 
 
22 
 
 and colleges of the churches, is cast the influences, the 
 restraining, humanizing and ennobling influences of 
 Christianity. Oglethorpe University, the colleges at 
 Oxford and Penfield, the Female College at Macon 
 and the Montpelier School, are the first fruits of the 
 union of religion and education. Education is the 
 handmaid of religion, and Christianity is the benign¬ 
 ant mistress of literature ; both deal with the mind : 
 standing aloof from the selfish toil and noisy strife of 
 politics, they seek to enlighten and regenerate the 
 soul. The teacher and the preacher are abroad to 
 ransom a fallen world, one from ignorance, both 
 from sin. Christianity comes with her commission 
 from God, and adding human means to divine pow¬ 
 er, asserts her empire over the heart and will. All 
 human knowledge needs her guiding power, else it 
 but bewilders and misleads. Science unsanctified 
 enhances capability to work evil, but steeped in the 
 fount of God, prepares humanity for the reception of 
 the Gospel. Perversions and corruptions of our holy 
 religion court the darkness, because their deeds are 
 evil; but the true faith has its happiest play in the 
 broadest fields of light. False religion, like the bird 
 of night, lives only in gloom; her liberty is alone 
 sustained by an all pervading intellectual bondage. 
 Mere worldly wisdom darkens the heavens that it 
 may rule on earth ; it seeks to be itself a God, whose 
 divinity prevails so long only as knowledge is withheld 
 from the masses. But when the lamps of knowl¬ 
 edge are lit at the blazing throne, how gracefully and 
 healthfully their mild beams mingle with its glo¬ 
 rious effulgence 1 An educated ministry and a pure 
 church, I am satisfied, are the safest depositories of 
 education. The Bible must be the corner stone of 
 a Home Literature. It is the radiating focus of all 
 
23 
 
 knowledge. To know God, is to be inspired with 
 a proper self respect; allied to Him, and with Him 
 forever to dwell, how little are the honors and estates 
 of time. To realize the destiny of the spirit is to 
 walk this earth its master in spite ofchance or change. 
 “ Celuinque Tueri, et erectos ad Sidera, tollere 
 vultus .” 
 
 Knowledge of God, alone inspires a just sympathy 
 for our fellow creatures. We weigh them in the 
 scales of immortality and learn their value. They 
 are to us brothers—in suffering here, in beatitude 
 hereafter ; co-labourers in time, co-heirs in eternity. 
 
 Knowledge of God, alone gives freedom to intel¬ 
 lect and a wise direction to genius. Without it the 
 mind, like Lucifer fallen, ranges ruler of a nether 
 world ; with it the superextended veil is rent; a 
 quicker and deeper energy seizes the spirit, and its 
 course, like the first created beam is over all the 
 empire of heaven. It was this knowledge which 
 brought the Pilgrims to the Plymouth rock, the 
 Hugonots to Carolina, and the Saltzburgers to the 
 Savannah ; which founded the American Union, and 
 which in the fulness of time shall emancipate the 
 world. 
 
 Union of the Church and schools need not be 
 dreaded, provided there is no union at the same 
 time of Church and State. The most potent and 
 disastrous combination which history exhibits, is 
 that of the Church and the State, with letters. 
 Clothe the government with the livery of religion, 
 and arm both with the panoply of letters, and you 
 organize a resistless tyranny. Christianity withers 
 in the embrace of the State ; she is no longer of God 
 but of men ; she is her own counterfeit, and a curse. 
 Instead of controling the heart by principle, she con- 
 
24 
 
 trols conduct through the political good she has at 
 her bestowal. Linking together the hopes of hea¬ 
 ven and the offices of earth, and holding the keys of 
 knowledge, the government commands the obe¬ 
 dience of the subject. This is the cement that binds 
 together the masonry of European thrones. In Swe¬ 
 den the ministry is learned. To be able to read is 
 a term of communion, and communion necessary to 
 civil office, and the clergy are the school masters. 
 And what is the result ? The superabounding of 
 crime and a compact despotism. The statistics of 
 Sweden show, in her most enlightened districts, one 
 criminal to one hundred and fifty of the people; a re¬ 
 sult seen no where else. On the contrary, where 
 religion and letters act together, apart from the state, 
 the most healthful morality prevails, as in New- 
 England. 
 
 Whilst our constitution and laws make education 
 a right of the citizen and protect him in its acquisi¬ 
 tion and use, the conscience is left free. Religious 
 tests are prohibited ; divine worship is shielded from 
 molestation ; the sanctity of the Sabbath is recog¬ 
 nised, and justice administered, and official fidelity 
 secured, by the oath on the holy Evangelists. 
 
 To build up a literature it is important to secure 
 to literary labor a just reward ; not in titles, or privi¬ 
 leges, or pensions, but the law should give to literary 
 men absolute property in the productions of their 
 minds, as in the cotton bags of the planter, the fa¬ 
 brics of the manufacturer, or the profits of any in¬ 
 vestment whatever. The law throws around the cap¬ 
 ital of mind no adequate protection. Authors are less 
 favored than any other class of citizens. From no 
 kind of wealth does the nation derive such perma¬ 
 nent benefit, as from the creations of genius, the 
 
25 
 
 improvement of the arts and the discoveries of 
 science. Compared with these, gold, and stocks 
 and credits are but as vanity and a lie. Who shall 
 say that the knowledge of the citizen is not his own, 
 acquired as it is at great pecuniary cost, laborious 
 toil and not unfrequently at the sacrifice of health, 
 competence and domestic bliss 1 If God has ordain¬ 
 ed property in any thing, it is in the results of men¬ 
 tal labor, as a bounty to production ; and reason and 
 expediency confirm the justice of the Divine appoint¬ 
 ment. If mind is the rightful property of man, na¬ 
 tive and cultivated, its product also is his rightful pro¬ 
 perty. It is true that the identification of thought as 
 the property of one person to the exclusion of all oth¬ 
 ers, is difficult, sometimes impracticable ; yet when 
 impressed in intelligible characters, systematized and 
 promulgated, there are tangible and visible and de* 
 scribable marks about it equal to its identification ; 
 and all who publish do so, or ought to do so, liable to 
 that restraint which is necessary to the inviolability 
 of the rights of others. Copyrights ought to be an 
 unrestricted property, transmissable as an inheritance 
 and vendible in the market. A book would be an 
 available property, only so long as demand exists for 
 it; the value of it would depend upon its merit; the 
 field of competition, therefore, would be a fair one. 
 The Court of King’s Bench, in England, after the 
 most industrious investigation, and upon argument 
 alike solemn and profound, determined that unre¬ 
 stricted property in his writings was the common law 
 right of the author; a right founded in the eternal 
 equity of things, and that the “jus disponendi et 
 fruendi ” belonged to him and his assigns. This 
 decision, however, the policy of the House of Lords 
 revoked, and now the rights of authors in England 
 4 
 
26 
 
 are regulated by statute. In our country this whole 
 matter is placed by the constitution in the hands of 
 Congress. That instrument provides “that Con¬ 
 gress shall have power to promote the progress of 
 science and the useful arts, by securing for limited 
 times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to 
 their respective writings and discoveries. Theie 
 seems to be in this clause, a prohibition against un¬ 
 limited property; yet it is fortunate for authors that 
 limited times may mean any time short of all time. 
 It is matter of admiration to me, that the bold re¬ 
 formers of’76, did not, with their usual disregard of 
 time-honored errors, abolish all restriction upon lite¬ 
 rary property. The legislation of Congress under 
 this article of the constitution, is to my mind, exceed¬ 
 ingly unwise. It gives to citizens and resident for¬ 
 eigners, the exclusive right to their writings for the 
 term of fourteen years, and if alive at the expiration 
 of that time, for an additional term of fourteen years. 
 This is scarcely therefore, an inheritable commodity; 
 and that strong stimulant to exertion, the hope of pro¬ 
 viding for offspring, is wanting to the man of letters. 
 The law exacts of him a charity which it requires of 
 no body else, and imposes a tax upon him, which if 
 laid upon any other labor, would dissolve the govern¬ 
 ment. One of the worst features of Federal legisla¬ 
 tion upon this subject is the denial to foreigners of 
 the rights of literary property in the union. This is 
 sheer injustice to the foreign author—to the domestic 
 author—and is the occasion of introducing into the 
 country that mass of literature, which I have endea¬ 
 voured to show is dangerous to our institutions. Pol¬ 
 icy, justice and comity, require an international copy¬ 
 right law. It is a demand of the age and sooner or 
 later must be granted. British Books being unpro- 
 
21 
 
 tected, the press pours forth daily tons of foreign 
 sheets : sheets that will sell for a day, stimulants to 
 the passions, and panders to licentiousness. These 
 displace the protected books of our own writers aud 
 drive them from the market. The fair dealer never 
 could compete with the smuggler ; he must give up 
 the trade or sink his fortune in the enterprise. As 
 the meanest currency will always supplant the best, 
 so the most worthless books supplant the sterling 
 coin of letters. The calumnious notes of Mr. Dick¬ 
 ens circulate through every State of this great union, 
 whilst the Columbus of Irving is found only in the li¬ 
 braries of the rich. If foreign books were protected, 
 the vast sums now paid for them would be paid to 
 home authors ; demand for home products would be 
 stimulated, supply increased and prices lessened; 
 literature would be as cheap as it now is in a few 
 years, and no books from abroad would be re-printed 
 here but such as are of sterling worth and congenial 
 with our institutions. 
 
 What! says the enthusiast, do you mean to say 
 that money will inspire genius and develope litera¬ 
 ture l Would you degrade the etherial mind by 
 trailing it amid the filth aud fcetor of earth’s avarice? 
 Fame kindles the immortal fire; glory beckons the 
 wrapt adventurer, and standing far above the high¬ 
 est levels of time, invites him heavemvard. True it 
 is, glory often woos and wins the Nine, but want of- 
 tener. Let man be whatever else he may, he is still 
 a money loving animal; and until the poet who does 
 not provide for his household, is less an infidel than 
 other men, it is his dnty to write for money if 
 he can make it no other way. Aside from the 
 motives which the Bible furnishes, the greatest 
 of all stimulants to human effort is the good that 
 
 / 
 
2ii 
 
 money gives. Here and there, in the lapse oi years, 
 you behold one, or a few, who seek reward in the 
 good they are to accomplish, or in a name, which 
 shall travel with the descending centuries. Newton, 
 for example, whilst balancing worlds and analy¬ 
 sing the machinery of the universe. Why should it 
 be held a reproach to write for pay ? When self-sa¬ 
 crifice becomes a duty, then let men of genius starve 
 for charity’s sake, but not until then. Is it dishonor¬ 
 able for the hero, the patriot, or the preacher to take 
 his hire 1 Is it wrong for the planter to enjoy the 
 products of his estate 1 Is it mean for the high born 
 inheritors of princely revenues to hold them ? Is in¬ 
 dependence an unworthy motive? You answer, no. 
 It is, therefore, also light that the man of letters 
 should profit by his labors. Let it be understood 
 that an estate can be acquired by writing, and even 
 here, in this our high toned southern land, the land 
 of genius and of generous impulses, there would be 
 no scarcity of writers. Let facts attest the motive 
 of some of the most gifted spirits of the age. For 
 his works complete, Chateaubriand received half a 
 million of francs ; Goethe, 30,000 crowns; Moore, an 
 annuity of five hundred dollars for his Irish melo¬ 
 dies ; the Wizard of the North, the incomparable 
 Scott, realised and lost a princely fortune for his nov¬ 
 els ; and Byron, whose lowest flight has been repre¬ 
 sented as a condescending stoop of his sublimated 
 nature, deigned to pocket twenty-one hundred pounds 
 for but one canto of his Childe Harold. 
 
 I had desired to show what already has been done 
 in the work, to the completion of which your efforts 
 are invoked, and to advert to the agency which the 
 Georgia Historical Society has had in laying the 
 foundations of a Home Literature, but the time al- 
 
29 
 
 ready occupied admonishes me to forbear. It will 
 be conceded that the material for domestic literature 
 is abundant; I mean to say that the climate is pro¬ 
 pitious, themes are numerous and some of them pecu¬ 
 liar, and the capability of our people unquestioned. 
 Our climate is favorable both to intellectual vivacity 
 and vigor; not so voluptuous as to enervate, or so 
 ardent as to relax, but kindly and varied. We de¬ 
 claim it is true about our Southern sun, tropical heat 
 and summer lassitude, forgetting that Georgia em¬ 
 braces the most happy medium latitudes, alike re¬ 
 moved from the intense frosts of the north and 
 the fervor of the line. Our State lies beneath 
 the parallel that passes over Palestine, the valley of 
 Cashmere, and the most beautiful isles of the sea. 
 It is the region of rice and the long staple, of the 
 mountain laurel and the magnolia. The description 
 of Canaan, with slight modification, would truly re¬ 
 present it. “ A good land, a land of brooks of wa¬ 
 ter, and of fountains and depths that spring out of 
 valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley and 
 vines and fig trees and pomegranates, of oil-olive 
 and honey, whose stones are brass and out of whose 
 hills thou mayest dig iron.” If localities, as some 
 imagine, make great men, then ought Georgia to 
 abound in them. From the tropical coast to the 
 snow-capped ridge, stretches fair and wide the terri¬ 
 tory of genius. The Piedmont of the Alleghanies, 
 mighty mountains, fertile plains, brilliant autumnal 
 skies, the sun of the tropics, and the breath of an 
 almost perpetual spring, must, if physical causes 
 may, make men great; great in mind, in virtuous 
 ends and aims. No where does nature bear to man 
 a richer inheritance. The earth of Georgia is full of 
 metal, richer than its gold. It teems with scientific 
 
30 
 
 mysteries ; with traditions coming fiom far, far be* 
 yond the flood ; with elements of Alchemy which 
 Chaldean sages knew not of; with records which 
 speak of God. Is there not inspiration in her Alpine 
 solitudes; in the bare and barren summit; in gorges 
 where lie embedded the frozen accumulation of ages; 
 in colourings which the orient beam or occidental 
 ray paints upon the mighty range; in the singing 
 brook, the dashing torrent, the cataract, the wheel¬ 
 ing circles of the Apalachian Eagle, and in the “old 
 red hills of Georgia.” Were 1 a poet, I would bathe 
 my spirit in these fountains of song. 
 
 Geology, Agriculture, Mineralogy, Botany and 
 Natural History, invite to research. The history, 
 the veritable romance of history, of the Aboriginal 
 tribes, remains to be written, their origin traced and 
 their social system elucidated. Themes for romance, 
 for song and moral teaching, are found in the fanci¬ 
 ful traditions, spirit worship, relentless wars, person¬ 
 al heroism and wild wood orgies of the Creeks, the 
 Cherokees and the lichees. Aside from all that has 
 been written or spoken upon the subject of Ameri¬ 
 can constitutions, there is yet an object to be accom¬ 
 plished, worthy the highest ambition. It is to trace 
 the origin of our social system through the history 
 of the Anglo-Saxon race; to exhibit the resemblan¬ 
 ces and dissimilitudes between it and all other sys¬ 
 tems of government; to show its harmony with, or 
 ill adaptation to, the ever changing habits of the 
 people: to point out the errors which experience has 
 made manifest, and suggest the reforms which na¬ 
 tional progression requires. But is not the temple 
 of all learning, open here, as elsewhere, to all its vo¬ 
 taries 1 The recollections of the past and the visions 
 of the future, human hope and human destiny, the 
 
31 
 
 charities of social life, the sympathy of kindred na¬ 
 tures, arts and arms, truth and duty, and pride and 
 passion, and woman’s love and God, all, all invite to 
 literary enterprise. It is a mark of mental nobility 
 to aspire. Who would not rejoice to belong to the 
 -peerage of renown ? 
 
 

 ft 
 
 
 
 
 
\fc 
 
 A 
 
 LECTURE 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 FBMUARI Mil AND MUCH ITII, till. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SUBJECT OF EDUCATION. 
 
 BY SAMUEL K. TALMAGE, 
 
 President of Oglethorpe University. 
 
 SAVANNAH: 
 
 PRESS OF LOCKE AND DAVIS.BAV STREET. 
 
 1844 . 
 

 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 SAVANNAH, MARCH 7, 1844. 
 
 Reverend and Dear Sir:— I have been instructed by the Board of Man¬ 
 agers and the Committee of Arrangements, to express to you the unanimous 
 thanks of the Georgia Historical Society, for the able and interesting Lecture 
 delivered before them on the evening of the 29th ult. and 4th inst., and res¬ 
 pectfully to request of you a copy for publication. 
 
 I am Reverend and Dear Sir, 
 
 With great respect and esteem, 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 I. K. TEFFT, 
 
 _ ^ _ Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 Rev. S. K. Talmage, 
 
 Pulaski House. 
 
 PULASKI HOUSE, MARCH 7, 1844. 
 
 Dear Sir :—Your favor of to-day is before me, conveying the kind express¬ 
 ions of the Board of Managers and of the Committee of Arragements of the 
 Georgia Historical Society. 
 
 I comply with their request to furnish a copy of my Address for publication; 
 not however without some hesitation, as it was not prepared for the public 
 eye. Being on the eve of leaving the city, my engagements prohibit a need¬ 
 ful review of the sheets. 
 
 I am, Dear Sir, 
 
 With great respect and esteem, 
 
 Your Obedient Servant. 
 
 SAMUEL K. TALMAGE. 
 
 I. K. Tefft, Esq. 
 
 Corresponding Secretary 
 
 and Chairman Committee Arrangements. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 — 
 
 Gentlemen of the Historical Society , 
 
 And Respected Audience: 
 
 It is with pleasure that I respond to the call of the Society I now 
 address, and bring to it my humble tribute, that I may testify my strong 
 sense of the value of this Association, and my earnest interest in 
 its welfare and progress. 
 
 In all the annals of man, and in the history of her sister Colonies, 
 perhaps no State, in looking back to her origin, has occasion, more 
 than Georgia, for the exercise of an honest pride. Whilst the other 
 States of this happy Union are distinguished as having their founda¬ 
 tions laid in an ardent love of liberty and a just appreciation of the 
 rights of conscience, Georgia can superadd to these motives the 
 Spirit of Heaven-descended charity. Instead of serried warriors, 
 with their blood-stained banners, to lay her foundations—instead of 
 the spirit of cupidity and a reckless disregard to the rights of 
 humanity, which have too often marked the progress of society, her 
 sons can point to the spirit of their founders with proud exultation, 
 and challenge the world for a purer origin. Philanthropy suggested 
 the project; Philanthropy nerved the arm, and sustained the spirit 
 that carried forward the enterprise. And we would be recreant to 
 the claims which such a source imposes, did we not dwell upon it, 
 and hold it up to posterity as a rich legacy of example. And where, 
 more fittingly, shall such an Association convene to rehearse the 
 deeds of disinterestedness and valor, than in this ancient City, where 
 every spot is associated with some pleasant memorial of the past—its 
 perilous enterprise, its heroic adventure, its patient endurance; on 
 this spot, where the generous heart of Oglethorpe often palpitated* 
 with intense anxiety, and where his brow was knit with care for the 
 cherished object of his strong affection; on this spot, where the 
 pure-minded Saltzbergers planted their tents to return thanks to 
 God for his guiding hand amid the wild waste of waters; here, 
 
6 
 
 where the conflict of the Colonial and Revolutionary struggles 
 centred; and here, too, where the Wesleys expended their pious 
 efforts, and Whitefield breathed his soul of fire— Whitefield, the 
 most gifted for popular effect of all orators, save Demosthenes and 
 Chatham, that ever charmed the human ear. 
 
 The past history of Georgia abounds, Gentlemen, with thrilling 
 incidents, and especially when taken in connection with her resources 
 and prospects, is abundantly worthy of being embalmed in a grateful 
 remembrance. The story of her origin will yield a rich tribute to 
 humanity, in the developement of the benevolence of her founder 
 and his colleagues. Her resources and her climate are unsurpassed 
 in any land under the broad expanse of Heaven. Her present posi¬ 
 tion is so signally propitious, and her facilities for improvement so 
 vast and multiplied, that every consideration of the past ought to be 
 brought to bear upon us, to stimulate us to action. Sublimely in¬ 
 spiring is the memory of that past—cheering the present—animating 
 the future prospect—if we prove not utterly derelict to our duty and 
 unworthy of the destiny to which the unerring finger of Heaven 
 seems to point. 
 
 Let those, then, who have habits and facilities for research, rescue 
 from oblivion the noble sacrifices and perils incurred in founding the 
 Colony — ennoble, in burning eloquence, the lofty enterprise of the 
 first Colonists — and transmit their example on the historic page to a 
 grateful posterity, to inspire them with sentiments worthy of such an 
 origin. Others, I respectfully submit, might, under your patronage, 
 employ their powers in developing the resources for future great¬ 
 ness, and bring their results to your shrine as a thank-offering for 
 the past. Some might discourse on the natural history of a'State 
 teeming with the most luxuriant productions, botanical and mineral; 
 some, on the geological remains which lie richly embedded along 
 your coast. Whilst interspersing with, and giving variety to, the 
 disclosures of the past, others might unfold the advantages of our 
 commanding local position, and show how nature intended that the 
 great valley of the Mississippi and the Mexican Gulf should be united 
 to the Southern Atlantic through a door, which the God of nature 
 has specially opened for our entrance. Others, again, like the Man¬ 
 tuan bard to the citizens of ancient Italy, might, by the eloquence 
 of their strains, teach how to fertilize those lands we have been 
 murdering with cruel hand, and thus arrest that destructive spirit of 
 
7 
 
 emigration which clothes in frowns one of the brightest Edens on 
 earth, and which retards the spirit of improvement that would else 
 place Georgia on an enviable elevation among States and Nations. 
 And others still, might profitably investigate the peculiar diseases of 
 our climate, with the remedies nature has planted hard by, to relieve 
 the ills of smitten humanity. Thus the Past and the Present, com¬ 
 mingling their streams, could be made to bear with fertilizing povfer 
 upon the Future. The sanguine expectations of the first settlers 
 of Georgia were not the wild dreams of enthusiasm—for the facili¬ 
 ties of progress are multiplied almost beyond parallel, and we have 
 only to avail ourselves of them, and a vast work is done. 
 
 By the indulgence of those at whose call I have the honor to 
 appear before you, I design to speak of the claims which the rising 
 generation have upon us, that we may train them up worthily of the 
 ancestors whose names they bear, and suitably to the times and the 
 position they are called to occupy. 
 
 It is one of the strong proofs of the wisdom and the far-reaching 
 discernment of the early emigrants to this land, and the first actors 
 in the scene, that the cause of education commanded so much of 
 their attention. The foundation of the best schools of learning in 
 the States*was laid during the Colonial period, and those institutions 
 were all the result of private munificence. Nor was this subject 
 overlooked in Georgia. Though Whitefield’s early efforts in behalf 
 of his fondly cherished Bethesda at first only contemplated, by a 
 noble charity, the corporeal wants of the unfriended and the lonely 
 orphan, yet his views soon expanded into a plan for endowing a 
 College on the model of Princeton. He never fully carried out his 
 purpose, principally because the Government at home refused to grant 
 a charter on those liberal principles, in the spirit of which his endow¬ 
 ment was raised. Still, his efforts were not entirely in vain. This 
 City, and through it the State, is to this day reaping the fruits of his 
 efforts, and those of his coadjutors. 
 
 Mankind are, in the Providence of God, created and placed in a 
 situation in which they must inevitably receive much from their fel¬ 
 lows, and impart much in return. The rising generation catch their 
 tone and character from their predecessors. Our race is sent into 
 this world weak in body, plastic in mind and in heart, and imitative 
 in spirit, that parents, teachers, guardians, rulers, may control and 
 mould them. “ J Tis education forms the common mind.” A nation 
 
8 
 
 will rise or lall rapidly, accordingly as education advances or recedes, 
 Seldom, if ever, does it stand still; elements are always at work to 
 elevate or to prostrate. It is not in mental as in physical nature, 
 that a fallow ground may become richer; constant culture is the 
 price paid for the moral crop. 
 
 In view of what children may be made by education and example, 
 an ancient Greek philosopher says : “ Let the child he viewed with 
 aive.” And indeed the rising generation should be looked upon as 
 a race of giants in embryo; for it is only necessary that the adult 
 educators of one generation should feel their powers and apply fully 
 the means at their command, and their successors may be made 
 giants, intellectually and morally. Let every child be regarded 
 mentally as an infant Hercules, slumbering in his cradle—let every 
 expansion be given to his growing powers, and sublime may be the 
 result. There is truth in the poet’s paradox: “ The child is father 
 of the man.” 
 
 The object of education is to make man intelligent, wise, useful, 
 happy. In its enlarged and proper sense, it is to prepare him for 
 action and felicity in two worlds. The intellect, the heart, and the 
 body, are the subjects upon which to operate; there is an intimate 
 connection between them all; they are mysteriously united, and 
 mutually affect each other in a wonderful manner; their secret com- 
 munings and reciprocal influences none can fully comprehend or 
 explain. 
 
 When the infant opens his eyes upon the creation, he is surrounded 
 by a world of wonders. As the faculties of the growing child are 
 expanded and his powers developed, new and strange objects meet 
 his eye and invite his attention at every turn. Above, beneath, 
 around, within, if he is trained to observation, all teem with impene¬ 
 trable phenomena. If the mind be left in ignorance, and not trained 
 to thought, investigation and enquiry, when the first novelty of 
 external objects is worn off by familiarity, and the glories of nature 
 have become common by a superficial inspection, the mind will sink 
 into a savage indifference. You may, perhaps, awaken a transient 
 emotion in the mind of ,an untutored savage, when you introduce to 
 his view some of the wonderful or sublime scenes of nature. Whilst 
 he stands on the summit of some lofty mountain and gazes upon the 
 wide landscape of hill and valley, and plain and forest, or as he views 
 the rolling ocean, and sees its waves dashing against the shore, and 
 
y 
 
 then again retiring in angry murmurs to the raging deep, there may 
 arise some mysterious whisperings within him of a Divine power to 
 be feared. When the earthquake causes the ground to tremble be* 
 neath him, or a dark eclipse shuts out the light of day from his vision, 
 and throws its mournful pall across the earth, he may feel as though 
 the Great Spirit were coming down with his tokens of wrath for 
 those sins which disturb his conscience. But under ordinary cir¬ 
 cumstances he treads over the earth with the stupidity and indifference 
 of the brute creation. His selfishness and his passions are all that 
 stimulate him to action. He is like the blind man walking in dark¬ 
 ness, dead to the beauties and the charms which glow around him. 
 
 But awaken attention and thought within the youthful mind — 
 lead him to the Pierian fountain and let him imbibe its delicious 
 draughts — conduct him to the temple of science — allure him to 
 the charmed society of the Muses — unlock the treasures of knowl- 
 edge — unfold the pages of history — introduce him to the acquain¬ 
 tance of the refined arts — let him know the properties, the relations, 
 the laws, the constituent ingredients of the works of the moral, the 
 intellectual and the physical world—and there is mentally a new 
 creation begun. 
 
 As the youthful votary of science advances in life, and explores 
 further the fields of nature and art, he finds new worlds of wonder 
 perpetually arising before him ; instead of approaching nearer the 
 boundary, it seems to recede forever from him. Each successive 
 advance up the hill of knowledge opens a wider and more extensive 
 expanse to his view, and he finds that he can never reach the limit ; 
 his eye dances with joy, his heart is thrilled with delight, from new 
 discoveries ; but a shoreless, unsounded deep is still around and be¬ 
 neath him. Sir Isaac Newton, after having “ scanned the heavens 
 and walked among the stars,” and listened to the music of the spheres, 
 still felt, in view of the unexplored worlds of discovery yet untouched, 
 “ like a child picking up pebbles on the shores of the ocean.” 
 
 When the scholar surveys what has been written in history and 
 sung in poetry, and what remains undescribed and unsung — when 
 he lifts his telescope against the heavens, or with his retort and 
 crucible in hand goes forth and puts nature to the torture to reveal her 
 secrets — when he sees what the pencil and chisel have done to make 
 the canvass speak and the cold marble breathe, and almost to 
 realize the fabled imagery of peopling mute nature with living divini¬ 
 ties— when he dives into the ocean of mind, and finds how much of 
 2 
 
10 
 
 unexplored and unsatisfactory result is left, after all the investigations 
 of the metaphysician, he feels that time is too short for his work. 
 And yet a vast amount can be learned, and boundless progressive 
 movements are yet to be made, and there must be a beginning and 
 a progress. Others have started lower and later in life than he, and 
 their names are indelibly engraven on the register of learning, and 
 their works destined to live, the rich and common inheritance of all 
 coming ages. 
 
 In childhood, the first object is, to exercise the senses and learn 
 the qualities of those things on which life, and health, and freedom 
 from pain depend. In early youth, a knowledge of letters and the 
 simplest rudiments of science is all that can be infused into the mind. 
 It is true, there are important moral lessons to be learned at this 
 period. The child should be taught to exercise restraint of passions 
 and prompt obedience to authority. It is vain to object to forestalling 
 the mind with religious sentiments at that age, before the judgment 
 has taken her seat on the throne, and before an intelligent choice can 
 be made, lest prejudice may sway the mind and give an unjust bias, 
 to the disadvantage of future correct decision. It would be well to 
 consider that passion, and prejudice and error will have anticipated 
 the earliest moral instruction; they are in the field beforehand, and 
 habit is forming and will be soon found forging and riveting its 
 chains; and the lessons taught at that age are written in letters of 
 adamant. First impressions are often indelible—they prove last im¬ 
 pressions. So that, if we wait for the expanding powers, there is a 
 counteracting evil influence in advance of us. There is no estima¬ 
 ting the dependance of after life and of eternity itself, on the bias, 
 given to the heart and the mind at .this early period. “Train up a 
 child in the way he should go,” is Heaven’s unerring direction, 
 “ and when he is old he will not depart from it. u 
 
 In fostering affection and waking up a spirit of enquiry, the foun¬ 
 dation is laid for the social habits and intellectual progress of all 
 future time. 
 
 A great and good man has recorded in his memoirs the painful fact 
 that, from being excluded from the family circle for five years of his 
 early youth, without a moment’s interval, in pursuit of his education, 
 he never could recover that filial and fraternal affection to his relatives, 
 which conscience and judgment demanded of him. That pure foun¬ 
 tain which spontaneously gushes up in the bosom of the family was 
 stopped, and he could never renew the current. A distinguished 
 
11 
 
 and successful votary of science bears testimony that, for his insa¬ 
 tiable thirst for knowledge, and any degree of success to which he 
 attained in its cultivation, he was indebted to the promptings of a 
 sedulous mother, whose uniform answer to his enquiries was “ Read 
 my son, and you will know.” Whilst the illustrious and unfortunate 
 Byron, in his description of one of his heroes, has revealed the 
 secret of the waywardness of his own life, when he exclaims: 
 
 11 And thus untaught in youth my heart to tame, 
 
 My springs of life were poisoned.” 
 
 And here comes in the nameless power of woman over our mental 
 and moral destiny. She stands at the head of the fountain of life 
 and directs its flowings to gladden and to fertilize, or to wither and 
 to curse. 
 
 It has been a matter of dispute at what age the intellectual educa¬ 
 tion should commence. To this enquiry, I would unhesitatingly 
 answer, though in the face of high authority, that the mind should 
 be drawn to study at the earliest point and to the greatest extent that 
 can be employed, without weariness or disgust to the child. A love 
 of learning can be infused at a very early period, and all that is then 
 gained is clear gain, and brings its tribute of compound interest in 
 after life. 
 
 The comparative advantages of a public and a private education, 
 was formerly a much agitated question. There are some strong 
 reasons alleged in favor of a private education, but it appears to 
 me that those in favor of a public course greatly preponderate. 
 The means and facilities of instruction will, of course, in a properly 
 organized public institution, be more largely concentrated. The 
 advantage of a wholesome emulation, (for the mind acts more power¬ 
 fully under excitement and impulse,) the friendships formed by early 
 association, and the experience and knowledge of mankind acquired 
 even at that age, preparing for future life, must not be overlooked. 
 It is true, there is no small hazard to be incurred to the morals and 
 the sentiments, as many institutions are unfortunately now organised. 
 And where a large collection of young men are congregated, during 
 an age peculiarly exposed to temptation, the most critical and peril¬ 
 ous period of human existence — when the passions are strong and 
 the inexperience entire — and when the youth is excluded from all 
 the wholesome restraints of the domestic roof; vicious example some¬ 
 times makes fearful havoc among the thoughtless and unstable. 
 There are perils to be encountered (it must not be disguised) which 
 
12 
 
 many a wreck of ruined youth has mournfully confirmed, as it floated 
 by, mocking a father’s hopes, blasting a mother’s fondest anticipa¬ 
 tions, and withering her heart Still it is believed that, with a rigid, 
 vigilant and paternal care and supervision, backed by the constant 
 appliance of moral and religious truth, the College may be made the 
 abode of purity and refinement, and the costly sacrifice of hecatombs 
 of victims may be saved, whilst the great benefits of public educa¬ 
 tion are enjoyed. 
 
 The safest and best mode of College organization to promote to 
 the fullest extent all the objects of a thorough and proper educa¬ 
 tion, is a subject of enquiry worthy of the thoughtful consideration 
 of the philanthropist. There is much wild and visionary speculation 
 afloat in our land, even among able men, as to having a few great 
 institutions of learning; the practical error of which arises from want 
 of accurate observation of the facts and circumstances of the case. 
 If we were driven to the alternative of choosing between having the 
 many well educated, or a few profoundly instructed at the expense 
 of leaving the multitude in comparative ignorance, the necessities 
 of our republican institutions would seem to demand the former as the 
 least evil. The age at which our youth are found at public institu¬ 
 tions, and the demands of our republican forms of government, call 
 for the extensive diffusion of a liberal education that does not require 
 a long series of years of study. We need facilities for liberal 
 instruction spread within local distances easily accessible, and 
 demanding but moderate expenses to complete the course, only guard¬ 
 ing against such a multiplication as will distract and divide patronage 
 beyond the means of collecting adequate libraries, apparatus, mu¬ 
 seums, and competent boards of instruction. 
 
 A late experiment has been made in a sister State, in advance of 
 the condition of learning in our infant nation, of a large Central 
 College. The patronage of the Legislature was lavished upon the 
 project, and the sanction of great names invoked to its aid. A corps 
 of learned professors was imported from abroad, unacquainted with 
 the genius of our people, to deliver their profound lectures to an 
 audience of youth not qualified to appreciate or understand their 
 refined and labored speculations, for want of more thorough research. 
 The movement was a total failure, the plan was entirely changed. 
 
 To this day, Eton College and Harrow of England, I will venture 
 to say, are far more efficient sources of discipline and enlightenment 
 than Oxford and Cambridge, so far as the undergraduate is concerned 
 
13 
 
 In the latter places, much that is valuable in mental discipline is 
 unlearned, whilst extravagance, dissipation and indolence are the 
 prominent accomplishments gained. There can be no substantial 
 superstructure without a broad and solid foundation, and it is to this 
 that the practical man will look in all projects relating to the great 
 cause of education. Let our institutions advance with the progress 
 of the nation, without attempting to press forward a hot bed growth. 
 Supply and demand should go together. I would not be understood, 
 far from it, as an advocate for lowering the standard of education; 
 but on the contrary, for elevating it as fast as it can practically be 
 done. But a large shadow is less desirable that a substantial, valuable 
 reality, of half its dimensions. • 
 
 That the State is bound for her own interest, as well as for that 
 of the citizen individually, to patronise and promote the cause of 
 liberal education, admits not of a question. That she must sustain 
 institutions of her own, or that many will remain uneducated, is 
 equally clear. But the practical question is, after all, embarrassed 
 with difficulties; legislative control is a very uncertain patron of 
 letters; party spirit is often very unclassical in its tastes; sectarian 
 bigotry often interferes with the best interests of public education; 
 State institutions belonging equally to all parties, political and reli¬ 
 gious—all feel fully authorized to interfere, and in the strife, every 
 thing that is sound and solid suffers. What is the prospect, think 
 you, for literary appropriations in a Legislature, where an honorable 
 Senator is able to correspond with his absent family only by the aid 
 of an amanuensis, and where that family must needs call in a neigh¬ 
 bor to read the letter for them; and where an honorable member of 
 the other House is heard to say, “ When he was a child, one man 
 was enough to teach a school, but now the times are so altered, they 
 must set up half a dozen lazy fellows to teach the boys.” But the 
 serious obstacle is, the difficulty of the introduction of any definite, 
 distinctive religious instruction. -Where all are to be suited, none 
 can be suited, and the pious parent must consent to leave the heart 
 of his beloved child uninstructed. Lord Brougham, after his splendid 
 failure to advance education, has conceded, in his letter to the Bishop 
 of London, that the Clergy must undertake the work. The Chris¬ 
 tian Church then must do far more, directly in the work of education ; 
 a work in which she has hitherto been criminally deficient. And 
 the protection against a miserable spirit of proselytism must be found 
 in a friendly rivalry, as to the patronage of letters, where those who 
 
 » 
 
14 
 
 ~ 
 
 U 
 
 are the most liberal will find the largest support. Religion, mingling 
 its restraints with enlightened mental instruction, is the safest dis* 
 ciplinarian. Inexperienced, enthusiastic, impassioned, thoughtless 
 youth, exiled from the benign influence of the domestic circle in 
 pursuit of education, from the sleepless vigilance of maternal affec¬ 
 tion, and from the wholesome restraints of the father’s eye, requires 
 the hallowed influences of religion to prevent the blessings of culti¬ 
 vated intellect from being purchased at the too dear sacrifice of 
 prostrated morals and corrupted sentiments. Education, unaided 
 by moral influences, is but the beautiful flower of a poisonous plant, 
 more destructive as it is more attractive, spreading contagion all 
 around, and filling the atmosphere with the principles of death. 
 
 Within a few years past, much has been said in favor of a system 
 of manual labor in connection with mental instruction. The theory 
 is a beautiful one; “ Mens sana in sano corporc ,” is a good maxim. 
 The idea of promoting health of body, together with practical in¬ 
 dustry and economy during a course of education, is pleasant to 
 contemplate, and I am not surprised that this plan has found nume¬ 
 rous advocates. But it is not every theory, however beautiful, that 
 will endure the touch stone of experiment; experience is the test of 
 truth. Out of a large number of institutions founded on this prin¬ 
 ciple, in various parts of the country, some of them under circum¬ 
 stances highly favorable, not one, I believe I may say, has succeeded 
 to the expectations of the projectors. The bodily system, that must 
 be housed and relaxed a considerable portion of the day for study, 
 cannot endure those alternations of heat and cold and storm, that 
 must be encountered in any systematic plan of manual labor. The 
 student requires some hours of relaxation from a regular routine of 
 exercises, incompatible with the complicated and impracticable 
 plan of combining regular study with labor. The occupations con¬ 
 flict too much with each other, to promote them both successfully. 
 
 The visionary theory must be abandoned, except as a charity for 
 poor youth, who must forego the blessings of education, or labor to 
 find means for a limited course. As a charitable institution, it 
 deserves the consideration of benevolent men, who might in this way 
 rescue many a poor and promising youth from ignorance. Here 
 genius might be nursed, and raised from its lowly obscurity and 
 made a blessing to the country—for true genius is a vigorous shoot, 
 that needs only to catch a ray of light to enable it to burst its cere¬ 
 ments, and push its way to an enviable superiority over more favored 
 
15 
 
 plants; and in a State where we have thirty thausajui adult, wuo 
 cannot read, with so little to hope from legislation on the subject, it 
 micrht be well for the friends of education in this wav to advance the 
 
 o 
 
 public weal. It might not be amiss, also, to restrict the sacred 
 privilege of the elective franchise to those who can at least read their 
 votes — for to make the vote of an entirely unlettered man equal to 
 that of a Washington or a Franklin, sometimes potent to turn the 
 scale and to decide the destiny of a people, is to hazard all to igno¬ 
 rant tools of designing politicians, and to the weak and willing 
 instruments of contemptible demagogues. 
 
 Allow me to invite your attention to the appropriate studies of a 
 College course. Perhaps our Colleges and Universities have adopted 
 in the main the most judicious selection of subjects, to occupy the 
 youthful mind in its training, to discipline the faculties, and lav the 
 foundation for future practical life. 
 
 In looking over the course of study in various liberal institutions, 
 but little difference is to be found, except in the order in which 
 studies are pursued. The defect of some consists in taxing the 
 mind prematurely, before its powers are sufficiently developed, and 
 in postponing certain departments that might be called into practical 
 use before the leaving the College walls. Using terms in their most 
 general sense, the departments of knowledge may be comprehended 
 under three great divisions, viz : Physical Science, Mental and Moral 
 Science, and Philological Science. Under the first, Physical 
 Science, I would embrace Mathematics, Astronomy, Natural Philo¬ 
 sophy, Natural History and Chemistry. The second explains itself. 
 The third, Philological Science, includes the study of Languages and 
 Belles-lettres. The value of mathematical studies for mental dis¬ 
 cipline, I believe, none deny; they tax the mind to close thought, 
 severe application, and vigorous exercise of the judgment and the 
 reasoning powers. This is eminently the case with the pure mathe¬ 
 matics. As to the application of mixed mathematics to natural 
 philosophy, it is indispensable to any tolerable knowledge of it* 
 principles; it is the only ladder by which we can climb up to the 
 stars, or descend into the deep mysteries of the natural sciences; it 
 is the language by which these sciences reveal their arcana to man. 
 The value of mental and moral philosophy is equally admitted: it 
 reveals to man the knowledge of the powers and faculties of his 
 mind, and in its ethical rules, bis duties as a social being and a moral 
 agent. The claims of what I have denominated philological science 
 
16 
 
 are more controverted in this age ot ultra utilitarianism, when money 
 seems to be the great object of pursuit, and when Mammon seems 
 to have set up his idol in almost every family—his altar in almost 
 every heart. 
 
 In some old and respectable institutions of our country, the question 
 has been gravely started, whether the studies of Latin and Greek ought 
 not to be abandoned, or at least confined within a far more limited 
 space. Against this opinion, I seriously protest, and boldly pronounce 
 it one of the most alarming literary heresies of the age. Allow me 
 to dwell for a moment on this subject. As a means of discipline for 
 the mind, I am firmly persuaded that the study of languages, and 
 especially of the ancient languages, calls into wholesome and har¬ 
 monious exercise more of the intellectual powers than any other 
 department of study; it exercises simultaneously the memory, the 
 taste, the fancy, the judgment, and the powers of discrimination. 
 The Greek and Latin are, in their structure, the most perfect lan¬ 
 guages in existence, and their writers have attained to the purest 
 and most finished standards of uninspired composition. It is almost 
 impossible to master the anomalous structure of modern languages, 
 without that acquaintance with the principles of government that is 
 to be gained alone from the ancient. To them we must resort for a 
 proper and clear idea of the power and dependance of words. The 
 ancient languages are the roots of the modern — the key to unlock 
 the treasures of all the refined languages of this age. The nomen¬ 
 clature of the natural sciences, and the technical languages of the 
 arts and learned professions, are borrowed from these sources. The 
 inlets to the fountain of all historical information is found through 
 the ancient languages. Without a knowledge of these, we must 
 take our information on trust, and the authority of others. True, 
 we have translations of many of their best works—but a good writer 
 always suffers from translation. There is a power in language and 
 style w r hich discriminates the peculiar qualities of the mind, and 
 which genius claims as its own. *You may peruse the translation of 
 an author, but it will be like culling a flower that has been dried on 
 the stalk — the fragrance and the beautiful tints are gone— the una¬ 
 dorned substance alone remains. 
 
 I repeat it, the most finished of uninspired productions on earth are 
 those of the Greeks and Latins; they have gone to'the ultima Thule 
 of refinement, the perfection of style. The works of literature and 
 art of the Grecians and Romans challenge our admiration; they 
 
ever have been, and probably ever will remain, the standards and 
 models of perfection. The overweening arrogance of many super¬ 
 ficial moderns, in talking of the improvements and advancement of 
 the modern world, of its inventions, and discoveries, and progress in 
 literature, compared with all former times, would be rebuked and 
 humbled by a fair examination. 
 
 In the Arts —the ancient cement, the Tyrian die, their mode of 
 embalming, their mechanical skill in elevating solid bodies of incre¬ 
 dible weight, cannot now be equalled. An original portrait of Sappho 
 was in existence in the time of the Emperor Trajan, seven hundred 
 years after it was painted. Where is the artist now that can give 
 such perpetuity to a painting? A few scores of years, and modern 
 works are found stowed away in the attic with the worn out 
 lumber. 
 
 I confess myself utterly at a loss to account for the profoundness 
 and brilliancy of learning and of art in ancient Athens. The human 
 mind must have been cast in a finer mould, and then all its powers 
 kept on a stretch to have attained to their unapproachable superiority. 
 Or they would seem to have been like a race of demigods, scorn¬ 
 ing the ordinary beaten track, and soaring into higher regions and 
 on swifter pinions. It might have been partly owing to their games, 
 exciting enthusiasm and a thirst for fame — partly to their climate 
 and scenery, “ their consecrated groves, their haunted streams, their 
 flowery plains, their azure mountains,”—partly to the genius of the 
 people, and their indomitable pains and study. But whatever be the 
 cause, the fact is clear. To find the golden mines of literature, we 
 must always repair to Greece and Rome, and especially to the former; 
 for prostrate Athens, by the enchantment of her literature, conquered 
 her haughty Roman conquerors, and gave laws to their minds — a 
 noble triumph of letters over brute force. It was like the moral 
 charms of woman, imparting strength to her weakness, subduing at 
 her feet the superior physical power, and taming the rugged ferocity 
 of the proud lords of creation. How ardently they labored, we may 
 learn by reading the profound criticisms of their five great Belles- 
 lettres writers— Aristotle, Cicero, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 
 Longinus, and Quintilian. 
 
 Would you have an instance of the e'xtent and the results of the 
 labors of the ancients? A stranger in visiting ancient Athens, might 
 have had his attention drawn to a group of thoughtless children, 
 amusing themselves in the street; his special notice is attracted to 
 3 
 
 n 
 
18 
 
 one youth more unpromising than the rest — a lisping, stammering, 
 short-breathed boy — in every motion hideously, almost spasmodically 
 contracting his muscles, and with a constitutional infirmity amounting 
 almost to deformity. The stranger departs, with sympathy for the 
 poor youth, who, if he lives, will afford sport and ridicule to his 
 neighbors, and never be heard of, or remembered, but as a lusus 
 natures. At an interval of thirty years, that stranger revisits Athens. 
 The city is all in tumult; the anxious, agitated crowd are assembled, 
 hanging spell-bound upon the lips of the Grecian Orator, as he scathes 
 by the lightnings, and stupifies by the thunders of his eloquence, the 
 partisans of Philip. That speaker, whose spirit-moving strains and 
 whose soul of fire kindles every heart into a consuming flame, is the 
 same ignoble youth who was never to have been heard of without 
 pity, but whose name is now, in the ends of the earth, familiar as 
 a household word — incorporated into every language as a synonyme 
 for eloquence, and whose fame is engraven in letters of adamant on 
 the register of immortality. 
 
 How shall we account for this mental phenomenon ? The problem 
 is solved in the languageof the classic poet: “Irnprobus labor omnia 
 vincit ”— or by the higher authority of Heaven’s inspired record: 
 “ Seest thou a man diligent in business? he shall stand before kings ; 
 he shall not stand before mean men.” 
 
 In Poetry — to pass by Homer and Hesiod —where else can you 
 find the deep breathing pathos of Sappho, the graceful ease of 
 Anacreon, the burning sublimity of Pindar, the gentle sweetness 
 of Theocritus, the glowing fervour of JEschylus, the impassion¬ 
 ed grandeur of Sophocles and Euripides, the melting tenderness 
 of Menander, of whom one beautifully says : “ The lyre he touched, 
 was formed of the strings of the human heart?” To these questions I 
 unhesitatingly reply, that beyond the limits of the Sacred Scriptures, 
 you will nowhere find these qualities, in all the annals of uninspired 
 literature. 
 
 In Philosophy —visit in imagination ancient Athens, go to the 
 Academy of Plato, and then to the Lyceum of Aristotle, and then 
 to the Portico of Zeno, and then wander along the banks of the 
 Ilyssus, and see those groves crowded with philosophers and their 
 thousands of disciples, and listen to their sage precepts. Who 
 would not labor to acquire an intimate knowledge of that refined 
 language, which was the medium of communication and the vehicle 
 of thought to these giant minds. It is not surprising that Cato 
 

 19 
 
 should have been converted from his hostility to every thing Greek, 
 and have applied himself, in his old age, to the study of a language 
 so rich in lessons of wisdom and virtue. 
 
 In the Fine Arts — in sculpture , the inimitable Phidias has left 
 all modern artists at an unapproachable distance behind ; he breathed 
 his very soul into the inanimate material. With a mind heaving 
 with deep emotion, and big with lofty conceptions, and thoughts all on 
 fire, he seized the chisel, and, as if by the touch of a magician’s 
 wand, the cold marble became instinct with impassioned life, and 
 glowed with inspiration. The Elgin monuments in England con¬ 
 tain specimens of the skill of Phidias that cannot be equalled. 
 Michael Angelo, the wonder of the fifteenth century, and the glory 
 of Italy, of modern artists, has approached nearest to Phidias, but 
 though intoxicated to madness with the love of his enchanting art, 
 his productions are unnatural in the comparison. 
 
 In Architecture —the stately Doric, the chaste Ionic, the luxuriant 
 and gorgeous Corinthian orders of Greece, are now the admiration 
 of the world, and will doubtless ever stand confessed the model and 
 perfection of the art. 
 
 In Painting —the productions of Zeuxis and Apelles, judging 
 from the accounts of their intoxicating and more than oratorical 
 influence on the crowds they drew around them, must have been 
 finished specimens of absolute perfection. The Helen of the for¬ 
 mer was the wonder of the age. To finish the picture, Zeuxis pro¬ 
 cured six of the most beautiful maidens from Crotona to sit for the 
 face, from a combination of whose beauties he sought to embody 
 ideal perfection. One of them, from diffidence, was unwilling to 
 unveil her face before him. When the multitude crowded around to 
 gaze upon the picture, and the enthusiastic shouts of admiration 
 rent the air, the painter himself was the only dissatisfied spectator; 
 his exclamation was, “ Oh, for the blush of the sixth maiden!” Such 
 was his exquisite sense of the ludicrous, that he fell a victim to the 
 power of his own pencil; he died in a convulsion of laughter at the 
 sight of the picture of a grotesque old woman he had painted. You 
 are all familiar with the incident of the painted grapes of Apelles. 
 When the birds alighted on the picture to peck the fruit, the painter 
 was mortified that the boy bearing the basket of fruit was not striking 
 enough to frighten the birds away. He exposed his pictures to the 
 public, and invited general criticism, that all their faults might be 
 corrected. An humble cobbler ventured to criticise a foot, which the 
 
20 
 
 painter altered at his suggestion; when the mechanic, by this piece 
 of deference, was emboldened to make other criticisms, the painter 
 gave a reply which is said to be the origin of the Latin proverb: 
 “ Ne sutor ultra crepidam .” 
 
 I have adverted to these improvements in the arts of the ancients 
 to shew that, if we are to repair to them at this day as models in the 
 fine arts, we should exhibit no less deference to their language and 
 style , in which they labored with equal industry and success, and 
 which are far more important subjects for attention. Indeed, it 
 admits of a serious question, whether without a constant familiarity 
 with these unchanging standards, any modern language would not 
 rapidly decline into provincialisms, vulgarisms and barbarisms. Few 
 men in modern days have been found to excel as eloquent writers or 
 speakers who have not been classical scholars. Shakspeare, Burns, 
 Franklin, and Patrick Henry have been adduced as examples to 
 show what men could accomplish without a knowledge of ancient 
 languages; but they are only exceptions, to make the very best of 
 the objection. As to Shakspeare, it would appear that he had some 
 knowledge of Greek, as he exhibits a familiarity with portions of 
 Grecian literature, that seem never to have been translated in his 
 day; and the superiority of the others might, and doubtless would 
 have been much greater, had they been aided by classical learning. 
 
 The value of classical literature is greatly enhanced, from the 
 consideration that we must repair to Greece and Rome, as to the 
 fountains and depositories of a vast proportion of the knowledge we 
 gain of ancient history. In searching for the annals of history, and 
 the sources of knowledge on this subject, we are met by the pain¬ 
 ful fact, that many of the most interesting productions have been 
 obliterated by the waste of time. Indeed, as all early written docu¬ 
 ments could be preserved only in the fugitive form of manuscript, it 
 is wonderful that so much has escaped the casualties that were en¬ 
 countered, and has been transmitted to so late an age. Fire, and 
 sword, and superstition, and the devastating hand of ages, and the 
 ignorance of men, have made fearful inroads and ravages upon the 
 productions of mind; they have obliterated much, and given us only a 
 glimpse of more, just serving to awaken a curiosity which can never 
 be fully satisfied. Like the leaves of the Sybil, their value is the 
 more enhanced, in porportion as their number is diminished. 
 
 The investigation of the history of early manuscripts is full of pain¬ 
 ful interest. The writings of A ristotle were found with the grand- 
 
21 
 
 son of one of his disciples, and purchased by a Roman, aiid deposited 
 in a mutilated form in a Roman library, in the best days of the Re¬ 
 public. They came well nigh being finally lost amidst the lumber 
 of manuscripts in a later day in modern Italy, and were only acci¬ 
 dentally saved and brought to light. The whole of the writings of 
 Livy, and also those of Varro, appear to have been in existence in 
 the days of Petrarch, and were seen by him. Now, after ransack¬ 
 ing the whole world, only thirty-five of the one hundred and forty 
 books of Livy are to be found; and as to Varro —the “ walking 
 libraryand contemporary of Cicero —who wrote five hundred 
 volumes and seven hundred lives of distinguished Romans, and from 
 whom Pliny borrowed largely in the compilation of his profound 
 Natural History—scarcely a fragment of Varro is now to be found. 
 Cicero —the orator, statesman, philosopher, and scholar—probably 
 the most accomplished man upon whom the sun ever shone, gained 
 his wonderful stores of knowledge by devoting his days and nights to 
 Varro’s admirable library of manuscripts gathered from Greece. 
 
 Some of the early historians, whose writings would have poured 
 a flood of light on the dark annals of antiquity, have entirely disap¬ 
 peared, except so far as a few fragments have been incorporated into 
 the works of others. Sanciioniatiio, the Phoenician, who wrote a 
 history of his country, is lost—a work of which, Porphyry gives us 
 just enough to enable us to realize the loss the world has sustained. 
 Manetiio, the Egyptian, is not to be found, and the light which is 
 lost to the world by the disappearance of his history of Egypt, 
 is poorly compensated by what Josephus and Eusebius have gleaned 
 from his pages. Berosus, the Babylonian, and great historian of 
 Chaldea, is represented to the world only by a few meagre fragments, 
 which Josephus has rescued from his works. The mysterious splen¬ 
 dors of the Hetrusci, a wonderful people of ancient Italy, the remains 
 of whose refinement are now to be found only in some English 
 Cabinets and the Museum of the Vatican, and whose curious relics 
 amaze the antiquarian, must now remain forever a wonder to the 
 world. The stately monuments of Egyptian Thebes, with her hun¬ 
 dred gates—that classic land “where Moses meditated, and Plato 
 wandered, and Euclid composed his elements”—must ever remain a 
 sealed book; her monumental ruins lie scattered upon the earth like 
 a prostrate forest, and the voice of her unexplored and inexplicable 
 antiquities rolls solemnly over us like thunder tones, demonstrating 
 the impotence of man to rescue his works from oblivion and ruin. 
 
22 
 
 u 
 
 For the most authentic records of antiquity, next to the Sacred 
 Scriptures, we are mainly indebted to Herodotus, Thucydides, 
 Xenophon, and Plutarch. Herodotus, after travelling to an in- 
 , credible extent, and the most laborious and pains-taking research, 
 wrote the history of the Lydians, Ionians, Lycians, Egyptians, Per¬ 
 sians, Greeks and Macedonians. “ His style is gay and splendid, free 
 and flowing; ” his accuracy and fidelity are not questioned, and the 
 correctness of his geographical delineations is receiving constant 
 confirmation from modern discoveries. Thucydides is the great 
 historian of the Peloponnesian war, and carries back his history to the 
 close of that of Herodotus. “ He is grave, intelligent, judicious and 
 exacthis energy and brevity sometimes render his style harsh and 
 obscure. He was stimulated to an ambition for historical fame, and 
 excited even to weeping, when a youth of fifteen, by hearing Hero¬ 
 dotus recite his histories to enraptured crowds at the Olympic 
 games. Of Plutarch, that prince of biographers, who throws an 
 immense flood of light on contemporaneous history, a profound critic 
 and classical scholar has said, if every work of ancient profane his¬ 
 tory was doomed to destruction but one, and he had his choice of 
 selection, that one should be Plutarch’s Lives. Of Xenophon, I 
 need not speak, whose smooth and mellifluous periods have made 
 him every where a favorite author. 
 
 The other historians, who treat of these early times, are Diogenes, 
 Laertius, Orosius, Arrian, Diodorus Siculus, Cornelius Nepos, 
 and Justin. 
 
 The ancient historic Muse called to the aid of the Roman Empire 
 a splendid galaxy of talent, learning and research, to portray her 
 glories and to transmit her fame to posterity. The principal early 
 historians to whom the moderns are indebted for their data on the 
 subject of Rome, are (besides some of those already mentioned,) 
 Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Polybius, Sallust, Caesar, Suetonius, 
 Tacitus, and Dion Cassius. To complete very nearly the list of 
 ancient historians of any repute, I have only to add the names of 
 Appian, Qajintus Curtius, and Velleius Paterculus. 
 
 It is fortunate for history, that whilst a large proportion of every one 
 of the most distinguished of these authors is lost, a sufficient portion 
 of each one is retained to cover almost every point of Roman his¬ 
 tory, and to illustrate it to a considerable degree of satisfaction. 
 
 Dionysius, in the age of Augustus, spent twenty-four years in 
 Rome, searching all the Greek and Latin authors to prepare a history 
 
 
23 
 
 of Rome, which appeared in twenty-four books, called Roman An¬ 
 tiquities, only eleven of which are extant containing the history of 
 the Kings. Diodorus Siculus, of the same age, spent thirty years 
 in compiling a historical Library—fifteen of the forty books of which 
 are all that are now to be found. Polybius wrote a general history 
 in forty books, five of which remain, besides a meagre epitome of 
 the rest, compiled in the tenth century. He was carried a hostage to 
 Rome, and being detained there for seventeen years, had a fine oppor¬ 
 tunity to lay in those wonderful stores of knowledge which are so 
 remarkable in what remains of his writings. Livy is supposed to 
 have copied and incorporated into his Latin History whole books 
 verbatim from the original Greek of Polybius — and it is not to his 
 credit that, after his plagiarisms, he simply speaks of the author as 
 “ haudquaquam auctor spernendus. ” Brutus, the murderer of 
 CjEsar, is said often to have retired from the field of battle to his 
 tent, to be absorbed in the pages of Polybius describing his an¬ 
 cestors. Still, Livy is a beautiful writer, abounding in elegant 
 narrative and useful reflections. Polybius and Tacitus, are perhaps 
 the most remarkable of ancient historians for profoundness and inti¬ 
 mate knowledge of human nature. The last of the ancient histo¬ 
 rians, and the most elegant in style of his age, was Dion Cassius, who 
 died A. D. 230; he spent ten years in collecting materials, and twelve 
 years in preparing his eighty books, twenty only of which remain in 
 a mutilated form, besides a meagre epitome compiled by Xiphilus 
 during the dark ages. 
 
 It was from the ancients that mediaeval Italy, with her poets, histo¬ 
 rians, painters and scholars, borrowed her literature — Italy! that 
 bright land which caught the expiring rays of science, and reflected 
 them over Europe, lighting up a flood of glory when darkness had 
 long brooded over the face of the deep. 
 
 Such is a glance at the treasures of Greece and Rome. Their 
 works embody ages of thought and research, conveyed in the most 
 perfect dialects ever spoken, and clothed in a style of elegance and 
 beauty that human pen has never equalled. If parents had only a 
 more correct conception of these ancient store-houses of wisdom, 
 and these treasuries of mental discipline, more seldom would the 
 message be conveyed to teachers: “ I want my son to be made a 
 mathematician, chemist, natural philosopher; but as to the useless 
 lumber of Greek and Latin, I care not to have his time wasted upon 
 it.” 
 
 
24 
 
 
 
 1 had wished, on this occasion, to advert to some other topics, 
 but the time already occupied admonishes me to close. I will only 
 add that there is an alarming process of corruption going on in this 
 country, in the adulteration of the English language, which demands 
 a serious note of warning and rebuke. The innovations upon our 
 mother-tongue are such, that if not speedily arrested, we shall soon 
 require a glossary to enable us to appreciate the eloquent strains, 
 drawn from the well of English undefiled, in which Milton and 
 Shakspeare, and Dryden and Pope, have sung, and Addison and 
 Macauley, have so beautifully discoursed. At the hazard of the 
 charge of rashness from certain quarters, I will venture to say that 
 Noaii Webster, in canonizing hundreds of provincialisms and 
 barbarisms, by inserting them in his American Dictionary , has 
 committed an outrage on the Saxon tongue — and the most alarm¬ 
 ing feature of the case is, that distinguished patrons of letters in the 
 Northern Colleges have lent the sanction of their names to his 
 unauthorized production. If it is not beneath the dignity of the 
 occasion to specify a few of the strange words that are beginning to 
 straggle and obtrude their unlawful forms, even into judicial decisions 
 and grave senatorial debates, I would say, that the barbarous words, 
 lengthy for lengthened, jeopardize for jeopard, talented for almost 
 any thing, illy , as an adverb, for ill, progress, as a verb, for advance, 
 &c., should be scouted from the circles of the refined. I trust a bar¬ 
 rier will be raised, in the South at least, against these lawless corrup¬ 
 tions, and that, by the common consent of our scholars, these and 
 similar unauthorized and unwarrantable terms will never be permitted 
 to cross Mason and Dixon’s Line, to poison and corrupt our mother 
 tongue. 
 
 But I must close, and in doing so, I owe an apology to this So¬ 
 ciety for whatever of inappropriateness this address contains, as there 
 is no other general association of liberal and enlightened men in 
 the State, to whose protection to commend these important topics. 
 May the Historical Society long live and flourish, to enlighten the 
 sons of Georgia as to the past, and to reflect the hallowed light of 
 that past on their future pathway to the fame and renown which the 
 great and generous Oglethorpe so fondly anticipated for the Colony. 
 May it prove, under a benignant Providence, a pillar of cloud in the 
 day of prosperity to shade and to guide-—a pillar of fire in the night 
 season of depression and gloom, to illuminate and cheer. 
 
 / 
 
 
w 
 
 THE PROPOSED ALTERATION 
 
 op 
 
 G6 
 
 
 IN 
 
 SOUTH CAROLIIVA. 
 
 —- % 
 
 DISCUSSED BY 
 
 “ THE BLACK SLIIGGABB.” / 
 
 HAMBURG: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE REPUBLICAN OFFICE. 
 
 1644 . 
 
To the glorious minority of 28 , the following Essays, (originally published 
 in the Charleston Courier during the last summer, and kindly called for in a 
 more enduring form,) are respectfully dedicated, with this parting advice: 
 (XT If you fail to save the Judiciary, then prepare to defend the Senate ! 
 
[Vetus Carmen.] 
 
 Vetus Lignum Cremari — 
 Vetus Liber vesari — 
 
 Vetus Vinum gastari — 
 Vetus Amicus amari — 
 Vetus Culpa emendari — 
 Vetus Homo honorari — 
 Vetus Signum observari — 
 Vetus Nummus reservari — 
 Vetus Lex dominari — 
 
 Vetus Judex opinari — 
 Vetus Billa ignorari — 
 Vetus Tempus revocari — 
 Vetus Hostis condonari—et 
 Vetus Fides ccelo dari! 
 
 [Old Song.] 
 
 Old Wood to be burnt— 
 
 Old Books to be learnt— 
 
 Old Wine to be gusted— 
 
 Old Friends to be trusted— 
 
 Old Faults to be corrected— 
 Old Folks to be respected— 
 
 Old Signs to be observed— 
 
 Old Coin to be preserved— 
 
 Old Laws to rule us— 
 
 Old Judges to school us— 
 
 Old Bill to be ignored— 
 
 Old times to be restored— 
 
 Old Foes to be forgiven—and 
 Old Faith to come from Heaven! 
 
IJ . 
 
 THE JUDICIAL TENURE. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 “ Sirs, by your leave, a word before you strike.” 
 
 In England, whence we have borrowed as much as we could, the Judicial 
 Tenure seems to have undergone few changes and those evidently for the bet¬ 
 ter. In the days of Alfred, 880, not only was the Judge tenant at will, but he 
 was sometimes transferred from the bench to the gallows in a very summary 
 way— exempli gratia the forty-four whom the “ glorious Saxon” resolved should 
 cease to live, not only as Judges, but as men. After the experience of 800 years 
 Judges became more trust-worthy or Judge makers less suspicious; and in order 
 to maintain both the dignity and independence of the Judges in the Superior 
 Courts, it was enacted by the Stat. 13, W. 3, C. 2,1701, that their commissions 
 should be made (not as formerly, durante bene placito , but) quandiu se bene 
 gesserint and their salaries ascertained and established; but that it might be 
 lawful to remove them on the address of both houses of parliament. And by 
 the noble improvements of that law in the Statute 1 G. 3 c. 23, 1761, enacted 
 at the earnest recommendation of King George III. himself from the throne, 
 the Judges were continued in their offices during good behaviour, not¬ 
 withstanding any demise of the Crown, (which was formerly held imme¬ 
 diately to vacate their seats) ; and their full salaries were absolutely secured 
 to them during the continuance of their commissions, by which means the 
 Judges were rendered completely independent of the King, his ministers, and 
 his successors; his Majesty having been pleased to declare, that “ he looked 
 upon the independence and uprightness of the Judges as essential to the impar¬ 
 tial administration of justice, as one of the best securities of the rights and li¬ 
 berties of his subjects, and as most conducive to the honor of the Crown.” It 
 may not be uninteresting to glance at the several attempts which have been 
 made to regulate (I trust not after the Cleveland fashion) the Judiciary of 
 South-Carolina. I pass by the first and second Charter—the Proprietary 
 Government—the sacred and unalterable Constitution of John Locke— the 
 Royal Government, &c., (as connected with times when men were “ excited 
 with a laudable and pious zeal for the propogation of the Christian faith, and the 
 enlargement of his Majesty’s dominions,” and the subject of voluntary taxation) 
 —with the single remark that the good behaviour principle seems to have been 
 very acceptable. And, I will not venture to touch on the various amendments 
 which have been offered from time to time, by those who seem to have thought 
 that the Judiciary was a fit and proper subject on which the youthful legislator 
 was alike authorized and bound to try “ the amending hand.” The changes of 
 tenure, or rather the attempts to change the tenure will furnish sufficient mate¬ 
 rials for the present. 
 
 In the Constitution of 1776, (1st Statutes 128), which yet can scarcely be 
 considered a Constitution, since, tho’ framed by delegates immediately from 
 the people, it could be altered or rejected by an Act of ordinary Legislation, it 
 was provided—Section XX, p. 133—that all other Judicial officers (except Jus¬ 
 tices of Peace) shall be chosen by ballot, jointly, by the General Assembly and 
 Legislative Council; and except the Judges of the Court of Chancery, com¬ 
 missioned by the President and Commander-in-Chief, during good behaviour, 
 but shall be removed on address of the General Assembly and Legislative 
 Council. In the Constitution of 1778, (1st Statutes, p. 137,) which was an 
 Act of Legislation, and was subject to be altered by a majority, after ninety 
 days notice, the provision of’76 is repealed—(Section XXVII). In the Con¬ 
 stitution of 1790, (1st Statutes, p. 184,) which was a real, true Constitution—a 
 
 " : — 
 
[ 5 ] 
 
 system of Government reduced to writing—framed by special delegates directly 
 from the people—and not to be altered or amended by an Act of ordinary Le¬ 
 gislation—it was provided (Art. Ill, Sect. 1st Statutes, p. 189) that 
 
 “ The judicial power shall be vested in such superior and inferior Courts of Law and 
 Equity as the Legislature shall from time to time direct and establish. The Judges of 
 each shall hold their commissions during good behaviour; and the Judges of superior 
 Courts shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for their services, which shall neither 
 be increased or diminished during their continuance in office; but they shall receive no 
 fees or perquisites of office, nor hold any other office of profit or trust under this State, or 
 the United States, or any other power.” 
 
 It was also provided by Art. Y. p. 190, that all civil officers were liable to be 
 impeached. [See 1st Dessure’s Equity—preface, pages xii—xxii.] 
 
 Not to go further back than 20 years—in 1824, (if I remember correctly,) a 
 bill was introduced to amend the Constitution so as to limit the Judicial Tenure 
 to 65 or 70 years, but failed for want of a constitutional majority. 
 
 In 1827 the effort was renewed, and though the bill was passed by a bare 
 majority, it was, after hot debate, sent to the Senate, who coolly resolved in 
 general terms, that a bill so passed in Senate ought not to be sent to the House. 
 (Exquisite rebuke to the youngsters.) In 1828 (1st Statutes, p. 196) the Con¬ 
 stitution was amended as follows :—“ If any civil officer shall become disabled 
 from discharging the duties of his office, by reason of any permanent bodily or 
 mental infirmity , his office may be declared to be vacant, by joint resolution 
 agreed to by two thirds of the whole representation in each branch of the Le¬ 
 gislature : provided, That such resolution shall contain the grounds for the pro¬ 
 posed removal, and before it shall pass either house, a copy of it shall be served 
 on the officer, and a hearing be allowed him.” And it was hoped by the con¬ 
 servative party that innovation would stay her course. But she “ doth mock the 
 meat she feeds on.” 
 
 In 1835 that same old Bill was introduced, and after various propositions, 
 sixty-five years was put to vote—yeas 77, nays 28 ; whereupon, although the 
 majority was nearly constitutional, the House, mindful of the paternal admoni- 
 ion in 1827, did not send the bill to the Senate. From the period last men¬ 
 tioned, this part of the Constitution was allowed to rest until 1839, when the 
 assault was renewed more fiercely than ever, but more firmly and triumphantly 
 than ever repelled—for the first and last .time within recollection this amend¬ 
 ment was rejected by a majority ! Yet, with a perseverance and zeal worthy 
 of a better cause, the enemy rallied in 1841 and succeeded in obtaining a vote 
 of 72 to 28, which though not a constitutional majority, encouraged them to 
 make another effort in 1843, when the following amendment passed in the 
 House by a vote of 87 to 28 (the 28 remained firm) and in the Senate by a vote 
 of 30 to 12. So their being constitutional majorities, the amendment has been 
 published that the people may consider the matter in their sovereign capacity, 
 and instruct their Representatives accordingly. 
 
 11 A Bill to alter and amend the first section of the third article of the Constitution . 
 
 “Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in Gen¬ 
 eral Assembly, that the first section of the third article of the Constitution be altered and 
 amended to read as follows : 
 
 “ The judicial power shall be vested in such superior and inferior Courts of Law and 
 Equity, as the Legislature shall from time to time direct and establishthe judges of each 
 hereafter to be elected shall hold their commissions during good behaviour until they have 
 attained the age of sixty-five years, but no longer; and the Judges of the Superior Courts 
 shall at stated times receive a compensation for their services which shall neither be in¬ 
 creased nor diminished during their continuance in office; but they shall receive no fees 
 nor perquisites of office, nor hold any other office of profit or trust under this State, the 
 United States, or any other power.” 
 
 “ In the Senate House, the nineteenth day of December, in the year of Our Lord one 
 thousand eight hundred and forty-three. We certify that the above bill has been read 
 during the present session three times in the House of Representatives, and three 
 times in the Senate, and was agreed to by two-thirds of both branches of the whole 
 representation. 
 
 “ ANGUS PATTERSON, Speaker of ths House of Representatives. 
 
 “ W. F. COLCOCK, President of the Senate .” 
 
. ] 
 
 It is supposed that the amendment will be consummated, for the simple rea* 
 son that the people will not trouble themselves about the matter, and the new 
 representatives will consider silence consent. 
 
 One, who has been waiting in vain for some more distinguished and valo¬ 
 rous champion to come to the rescue, hopes he will be excused if he ventures 
 to stand in the breach and strike a blow for the Constitution—though too weak 
 to repel the foes, it may be that he can throw a bomb-shell into their ranks. 
 
 Haying thus waked up the besiegers, who seem to be enjoying a Siesta, I 
 will give them time to resume their arms, and then, 
 
 “ As chief, who hears his warder call 
 ‘ To arms !’ the foemen storm the wall.” 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 “THE EFFECT WAS TREMENDOUS-THE BASTION WAS RESTORED.*’ 
 
 The proposed amendment is unmeaning, nugatory, suicidal, and undesisn - 
 ealy mischievous. ° 
 
 The words are—the Judges of each (Court,) hereafter to be elected, shall 
 hold their commissions during good behaviour, until they have attained the age of 
 sixty-five years, but no longer. With what curious felicity is not this expressed! 
 I he Judges, hereafter to be elected, shall hold by the tenure of good behaviour , 
 until sixty-five, but no longer. By what tenure are they to hold after sixty- 
 five ? And what prevents a man over sixty-five from being eligible ? The 
 original clause fixed the tenure, and in amending it, the words “ until,” &c., 
 have been inserted, so that the limitation of sixty-five applies to the tenure of 
 good behaviour , and does not operate as a distinct, substantive disqualification. 
 No doubt the meaning was this : The Judges shall hold their commissions 
 during good behavior, provided, however, that no one shall hold a commission 
 as Judge, after he shall have attained the age of sixty-five years. Look at it. 
 No lawyer will (I think) say, after it has been pointed out , that the plain 
 meaning of this clause is not that, up to the age of sixty-five years, the Judges 
 are to hold, by good behaviour, and that it is perfectly compatible with holding 
 after sixty-five years. Indeed, it positively declares that the poor Judges here¬ 
 after to be elected shall hold on until sixty-five years. I take it to be certain 
 that not a word of this amendment can be altered at the second session any 
 more than an act can be altered after it has been referred to the En^rossino- 
 Committee. Indeed, I recollect an instance in the English Parliament, as far 
 back as 1600, (Townsend’s Hist. Col., p. 209, Jefferson’s Manuel, pages 137 
 and 179,) where it was determined unanimously, that after a bill was engross- 
 ed nobody should be allowed to look into it. But our Constitution is express. 
 One Legislature makes the bill—the next receives or rejects it, as it is. The 
 result then is, if this amendment be adopted a man over sixty-five years is still 
 elligible to the bench, and the Judges after they attain sixty-five years will hold 
 bene placito. Perhaps a resolution or quo warranto ( horresco referens ) might 
 express the blene placito of the State against the Judge who should read the 
 amendment as it is written—and perhaps not. But it does appear to me that 
 for the sake of plain meaning—for the sake of grammar—the Legislature 
 should reject an amendment, which, (however well the present generation 
 may understand its object,) will not be regarded by posterity as a fair specimen 
 
 of the genuine mother tongue! It would disfigure our Parliamentary records_ 
 
 it would be talked of by the Rev. Sidney Smith and Captain Hall, and 
 would be enough to endorize the venerable Coke, who declared most emphat¬ 
 ically that the English language was as copious and significant, and as able 
 to express any thing in as few and apt words as any other langucage that was 
 
[ 7 ] 
 
 spoken at his day. Do not for a moment suppose that I mean any thing dis¬ 
 respectful to the intelligence or ability of those who drew or voted for this 
 amendment. On the contrary, I am certain the mistake must have occurred 
 just as other mistakes occur when a measure is proposed which it is under¬ 
 stood will pass—-just as the Virginia act directed a new Court House to be 
 built out ol the old, which was not to be pulled down until the new one was 
 finished—-just as in North Carolina, it was made an indictable offence to alter 
 the mark of an unmarked hog—just as in England, one-half ol seven years’ 
 transportation was allotted to the informer and the other half to the King—just 
 as in the amendment of 19th December, 1810, it was forgotten to dispense 
 with the requisition of a tax receipt, as contemplated in the filth section, article 
 1st, of the State Constitution. 
 
 It may be that the absurdity I see in the phraseology of the amendment, is 
 to be ascribed to the drowsiness which will sometimes overcome one who 
 agrees with Sancho in the advantages of sleep. But there was an oversight 
 committed in a more important matter than language. I flatter myself I have 
 a thrust against which there is no parry! I do not mean the informality of the 
 certificate which sets forth the titles of the presiding officers incorrectly. This 
 mistake l regard as totally unimportant. I doubt if such a mistake would viti¬ 
 ate a common act . But constitutional amendments are not to be ratified at the 
 first session. The certificate is intended for purposes of identity and publica¬ 
 tion, and it is sufficient for the new Legislature to be satisfied from the jour¬ 
 nals and the inspection of the original bill, that the amendment was duly read 
 and published. I rely on an objection less easily obviated. 
 
 You mark that the original clause of the Constitution, (of which this is the 
 amendment,) is the 1st section of art. Ill, adopted in 1790, (sec. 1st Statutes 
 191,) and reads thus: “The judicial power shall be vested in such supe¬ 
 rior and inferior Courts of Law and Equity as the Legislature shall from 
 time to time direct and establish. The Judges of each shall hold their com¬ 
 missions during good behaviour, and the Judges of the superior Courts shall, 
 at stated times, receive a compensation for their services, which shall neither 
 be increased nor diminished during their continuance in office ; but they shall 
 receive no fees or perquisites of office, nor hold any other office of profit or 
 trust, under this State, or the United States, or any other power.” 
 
 In former amendments (1839 for instance) the word each was substituted by 
 the words “ the superior Courts of Law and Equity.” But the contemplated 
 amendment—(evidently with a view to copy the original clause exactly, age 
 excepted,) proposes to read thus : “ The Judicial power shall be vested in such 
 superior and inferior Courts of Law and Equity as the Legislature shall from 
 time to time direct and establish. The Judges of each , hereafter to be elected, 
 shall hold their commissions during good behaviour until they have attained the 
 age of sixty-five years, but no longer; and the Judges of the superior Courts, 
 &c.,” which amendment will (if consummated) take effect in December, 1844, 
 and become part and parcel of the Constitution ! Therefore, under this amend¬ 
 ment, ( which will be the latest , and which will of course repeal all pr ior clauses 
 of the Constitution repugnant thereto) the Judges hereafter to be elected of each 
 inferior and superior Court of Law and Equity (to wit , Ordinaries) will hold 
 their commissions during good behaviour. Now the oversight was simply this : 
 It was forgotten that the original clause of 1790 had been amended in a very 
 important feature by the amendment of’1828, (1st Statutes p. 196, section 4th,) 
 which declares, “ All civil officers, whose authority is limited to a single elec¬ 
 tion district, a single judicial district, or part of either, shall be appointed, hold 
 their office, be removed from office, and in addition to liability to impeachment, 
 may be punished for official misconduct, in such manner as the Legislature 
 previous to their appointment, may provide,” and which was expressly intended 
 to make all Judges of inferior courts (of a single judicial district, Ordinaries for 
 instance) hold not during good behaviour, but as the Legislature may provide* 
 
Then if this amendment be adopted, it will repeal the amendment of1828, and 
 all Judges of inferior courts, hereafter to be elected, will hold by good beha¬ 
 viour until sixty-five years of age. W ill any member of the next Legislature 
 consent to alter the Tenure of Inferior Judges in order to prevent a Superior 
 Judge from attaining sixty-five ?—most assuredly not! So confident do I feel 
 at this stage of the combat, that I fearlessly let down the draw-bridge and take 
 the open plain against all comers ! Can there be a doubt as to the°irresistible 
 potency of this Legal Torpedo? If you are not with me shoulder to shoulder 
 will you not give a silent plaudit when you witness the beauty of the explosion ! 
 You know that in the State, ex relatione Hats vs. Harley (1st Mills Rep! 
 267 m 1817) and in other cases, it was decided that an Ordinary was a Jud<m 
 under the Constitution, (1790,) and therefore held for good behaviour, and 
 therefore all Acts limiting the tenure were void. You know that in order to 
 reach the case, the amendment of 1828 was adopted, and that in the State ex 
 Relatione vs. Hunter (1st Cheves Rep. 288 in 1840), it was decided that 
 the amendment of 1828 did affect the clause of 1790; (though not naming it) 
 and that an Ordinary no longer held by good behaviour but under Acts of the 
 Legislature. And you see that this amendment of 1844 will, in turn, affect the 
 amendment of 1828, (though not naming it) and thus restore Ordinaries statu 
 quo (age excepted). In vain will it be said that the amendment of 1844 will 
 be consistent with the amendment of 1828. An amendment to cover the whole 
 ground should have been drawn to this effect : That the Judges of each should 
 ho d by good behaviour, &c., provided,, however, that all civil officers, whose 
 authority is limited to a single Judicial District, &c., shall hold as the Legisla¬ 
 ture shad direct. There is a wide difference between prior and subsequent 
 Caws relating to the same subject matter, and prior and subsequent Laws fixing 
 a single point. Thus, in 1790, the Constitution declared that all Inferior 
 J udges, excepting Justices of the Peace, who were provided for in another 
 clause, should hold by good behaviour. In 1828 the Constitution declared that 
 a certain class of Inferior Judges should be excepted and should hold under the 
 LfS^ture. In 1844, the Constitution will declare that all Inferior Judges 
 shall hold by good behaviour. An Act (say in 1820) declares that all inferior 
 Judges shall be paid in fees. An Act of 1830 declares that Ordinaries shall 
 be. Paid m salaries. An Act of 1840 declares that all Inferior Judges shall be 
 paid in tees, to the amount of one thousand dollars, but not more. Could there 
 be a question whether the Act of 1830 was repealed ? Will it be said that up 
 to sixty. five years the Ordinary is to hold by the tenure of good behaviour, and 
 ajter sixty-five as the Legislature shall direct? This would indeed square 
 with my notion that the limitation of sixty-five years applies to good behaviour; 
 but it would be difficult to say why the Superior Judges should not be allowed 
 the benefit of that construction. Will it be said that it was intended to repeal 
 the amendment of 1828. Then it is a question of expediency, and I do not be- 
 lieve that the Legislature would ever knowingly repeal that amendment. But 
 it was not intended. This was an oversight. Yes ! and there was another 
 oversight— to which the attention of the advocates of this amendment is most 
 earnestly requested . 
 
 Magistrates (formerly—until 1839—called Justices of the Peace and of the 
 Quorum,) hold their offices under the present state of things as the Legislature 
 by act have directed or may hereafter direct : because although the Constitu- 
 tion, Art. HI Sec. 1, declared that the Judges of both Superior and Inferior 
 Courts should hold their commissions during good behaviour, (and Justices are 
 Judges of Inferior Courts— 2d Nott and M’C—d., 168, 3d M’C— d 106, Cheves 
 P;, 7 -) Yet the same Constitution, Art. VI. Sec. 2, provided that all officers 
 other than as specified, (and Justices are not,) should be appointed as hither- 
 t( ? ' ^ rt * ^ 11 provided that all laws of force at the passing of the Constitution 
 should so continue until altered or repealed by the Legislature; and by the 
 7th provision it was ordained, that the Legislature should, at their next meet- 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 Hig, elect Justices of the Peace, and that in future all commissions of the 
 peace should expire at fixed periods, to be declared by law. All which articles 
 and provisions being adopted simultaneously , were construed harmoniously to¬ 
 gether. So that Justices of the Peace, though Judges of the Inferior Court, did 
 not participate in the benefits of the good behaviour principle ; and if the Con¬ 
 stitution of 1790 had been construed otherwise, the 4th section of the amend¬ 
 ment of 1828, would be conclusive as to their tenure. But if the present 
 amendment succeed, being the latest, it will of course repeal all prior clauses 
 •of the Constitution repugnant thereto; and all Judges of each Superior and 
 Inferior Courts of Law and Equity —all Magistrates for instance—hereafter 
 •to be elected, shall hold their commission during good behaviour, &c. Thus 
 our friend Mr. Shallow, who has hitherto been content with the titles of Armi^e- 
 ro, Justice of the Peace and Coran , custalorum and retaloram, will, to the as¬ 
 tonishment of his friends and the public, and himself, find thurst upon him the 
 additional honor of being “ Judge for sixty-five years at least.” 
 
 Let not the reader suppose that the jocoseness with which my argument is 
 put forth, is any thing more than oil to the razor. Let him examine the argu¬ 
 ment seriously, closely, searchinjiy; and I feel confident he will see that this 
 amendment will and must repair So far as Judges of Inferior Courts, hereafter 
 to be elected, are concernecblthe fourth section of the amendment of 1828, and 
 every other clause and secticfn fixing the tenure of Inferior Judges—just as the 
 amendments of 1808 (Representation), of 1810 (Elective Franchise), of 1816 
 l S 5 in fnn 0f CoL * rt )\ of 1820 (Pendleton District), of 1828 (Impeachment and 
 Official Tenure), of 1834 (Oath of Office), as soon as adopted became a par- 
 amounUaw of the land, as being the latest emanations of the will of the peo¬ 
 ple. Even if doubts could be entertained, as to the effect of this amendment 
 N on other P a rts of the Constitution, would not prudence suggest rather to leave 
 the Constitution as it is, than to adopt a measure, one of the first and least con¬ 
 sequences of which will certainly be, to bring that Constitution, (after it has 
 been hacked and mangled) before that very Judiciary, against the supposed 
 dotage and imbecility of which the amendment itself is directed. And if that 
 Judiciary can extricate themselves and the Constitution from the “Serbonian 
 'bog,” they will be more fortunate than one of their admirers. 
 
 Be that as it may, I rely on the plain and palpable fact, that in framing this 
 •amendment, other important portions of the Constitution have been entirely 
 overlooked, and that for this there is no remedy, unless it be a fresh start at 
 amending in 1845. Meanwhile, least my flank should be turned, I will retire 
 to “ Castle Dangerous,” and (if need be) prepare another bomb-shell, or some¬ 
 thing worse. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, (said a quiet voice on the right,) I demand the yeas and nays. The Speak¬ 
 er infonned the gentleman, that part of the yeas and nays could not be found. 
 
 The proposed amendment, if not unmeaning and suicidal, and if not repeal¬ 
 ing (undesignedly) the amendment of 1828, was not passed constitutionally at 
 the last session, and therefore cannot be consummated at the next. By the 
 Constitution, 1st art., 11th sec., (1 Statutes, p. 187,) a majority of each House 
 is a quorum to do business. By art. 1, sec. 16, (1 Statutes, p. 187,) no bill 
 or ordinance can have the force of law, until it shall have been read three 
 times, and on three several days, in each House. By art. XI, (1 Statutes, p. 
 192,) “no convention of the people shall be called unless by the concurrence 
 of two-thirds of both branches of the whole representation. No part of this 
 Constitution shall be altered, unless a bill to alter the same shall have been 
 read three times , (prima vice, secunda vice, tertia vice,) in the House of Rep- 
 
 Q 
 
[ 10 j 
 
 resentatives, and three times in the Senate, and agreed to by two-thirds of both 
 branches of the whole representation. Neither shall any alteration take place, 
 until the bill so agreed to , be published three months previous to a new election 
 for members of the House of Representatives ; and if the alteration proposed 
 by the Legislature shall be agreed to, in the first session, by two-thirds of the* 
 whole representation in both branches of the Legislature, after the same shall 
 have been read three times, on three several days, in each House, then, and not 
 otherwise, the same shall become a part of the Constitution” 
 
 By the amendment of 1808, as to representation, (.1 Statutes, p. 195,)r 
 “ none of these amendments becoming part of the Constitution of this State, 
 shall be altered, unless a bill to alter the same shall have been read on three 
 several days in the House of Representatives, and on three several days in the 
 Senate, and agreed to at the Second and third reading , by two-thirds of the 
 whole representation in each branch of the Legislature ; neither shall any 
 alteration take place, until the bill so agreed to, shall be published three months 
 previous to a new election for members to the. House of Representatives ; and 
 if the alteration proposed by the Legislature shall be agreed to, at their first 
 session, by two-thirds of the whole representation in each branch of the Leg¬ 
 islature, after the same shall have been read on three several days in each 
 House, then, and not otherwise, the same shall become a part of the Consti¬ 
 tution.” By reference to the journals of the last session, (of the House, p. 42, 
 69, 98—of the Senate, p. 48, 58, 67,) it will be seen that this amendment 
 received a vote of two-thirds on the second and third reading, in each branch— 
 but on the first reading in each House, it received a bare majority. That is, the 
 journal states simply that the bill was “read the first time,” “received a first read¬ 
 ing,” and I have always understood the rule to he, that though in general you 
 cannot look behind legislative proceedings, and in particular, that a quorum is 
 always presumed to be present, unless the question was made at the time— 
 yet where the Constitution requires two-thirds, the vote must be taken by yeas 
 and nays , and recorded —because it is not an act of ordinary legislation, but is 
 an exercise of extraordinary power, in relation to which the Judiciary decide 
 between the people and their agents, who are not witnesses in their own be¬ 
 half. In the present instance, the President and Speaker do indeed certify in 
 the publication that the bill was read three times, and was agreed to by two- 
 thirds, but the journals show the facts. 
 
 The rules—the uniform practice of the Legislature against themselves—the 
 requisitions of the Constitution—good faith—and legal authority, all concur in 
 the position, that in all such cases, (where two-thirds are required,) the vote 
 of both houses should be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
 persons voting for and against the bill should be entered on the Journals, 
 (1 Kent, p. 239;) and that in the absense of such record, it is to be taken for 
 granted that only a majority voted for the measure. This I think will not be 
 denied ; and the precise question is, whether a constitutional amendment, not 
 relating to representation, can be valid, unless at the first session it received 
 a vote of two-thirds, on each of the three readings? I modestly, but with con¬ 
 siderable confidence, contend that such an amendment is not valid; and will 
 offer my reasons : I freely admit that the practice of the Legislature has been 
 uniformly (though not consistently) the other way. I cannot find any instance 
 of their treating a constitutional stranger so uncourteously, as to demand the 
 yeas and nays on his first introduction. But the question was never made—it 
 is time to abolish a bad practice, and I deny that Legislative practice can 
 modify a plain, though very useful clause in the Constitution, which was in¬ 
 tended to be and is a restriction on Legislative power. I find nothing in the 
 rules of the Senate on this point, except rule 21, (Journal of 1840, p. 8,) which 
 directs, that in all cases not embraced, usage and the manual of Parliamentary 
 practice shall govern. In the House, the rule XLVI prescribes that the first 
 reading of a bill shall be for information—no amendment shall be in order; if 
 
[ 11 ] 
 
 opposition be then made to the bill, the question shall be, “shall this bill be 
 
 fu Je u-M L i, , n ° °PP osltlon be mad e, or if the question to reject shall be lost, 
 the bill shall be ordered for a second reading without a question. I respect- 
 tully submit that this rule clearly shows the danger of permitting Legislative 
 practice on common bills to alter the Constitution, the object of which was to 
 prevent unguarded legislation on constitutional amendments— as to which the 
 Constitution is the rule of the House . Surely on constitutional bills two-thirds 
 ot the whole House is as essential, as on common bills a majority of a quorum; 
 and each reading of a constitutional bill is as important as each reading of a 
 common bill. Reading, means reading with the assent of the proper majority. 
 
 lust not a common bill receive a majority (express or implied) on each read¬ 
 ing . Must not a constitutional bill on each reading receive a constitutional 
 majonty, not implied or gulped at, but ascertained? 
 
 The Constitution says “ such amendments shall be read three times and 
 agreed to by two-thirds of both branches.” Does this mean that the “ three 
 readings are pro forma, and that though two-thirds are requisite to agree to 
 them at the last reading, a bare majority is sufficient for the first and second 1 
 1 he Legislature said that the first reading of a bill is only for information, but 
 the Constitution has said that the first reading of a constitutional bill is as im- 
 portant as the second or third. 
 
 The amendment to the Constitution in 1808, says, that at the first session 
 amendments relating to the representation shall be read three times, on three 
 several days, and agreed to at the second and third reading by two-thirds; 
 and at the second session, it says two-thirds, without specifying first, second, 
 and third reading ; whence it may be argued that, as to other amendments, 
 the two-thirds are required only at the third reading, and therefore as to rep. 
 resentative amendments, second and third readings were expressed, in order 
 o make the rule more stringent. On the contrary, I say the original Consti- 
 “ ‘ 0 o n rec l uir ed two-thirds at each reading, and therefore in the amendment of 
 1 08, second and third were expressed. If “agreed to ” means on its final 
 reading, why take a vote on any other reading ? Why not let a minority read 
 twice ! YY hy on the final reading any more than the first or second ? Why 
 not read pro forma three times, and on some other day vote? But the Constitution 
 says read three times, and agreed to by two-thirds. Yes! It is to be read three 
 times—that is one thing—and it is to be agreed to by two-thirds—that is 
 another—each reading is as necessary to perfect the bill as each link is to 
 perfect a chain. If you say reading is enough, and has no relation to the 
 majority, then why require a majority on common bills, at each reading ? I 
 admit that this may seem a technical objection, also that two-thirds of the 
 Legislature did, on the second and third reading, vote for this amendment, 
 which is therefore entitled to the full weight of an opinion so expressed as to its 
 merits. ■ And in fairness, I will present such information as I have found for 
 and against: In the United States Senate, (Manuel, p. 97,) Rule 43: “When 
 an amendment, to be proposed to the Constitution, is under consideration, the 
 concurrence of two-thirds of the members present shall not be requisite to 
 decide any question for amendments, or extending to the merits, being short of 
 the final question.” This may be correct, and it may be that on the first and 
 second reading of a constitutional bill a majority might decide a preliminary 
 'question, yet even conceding that a bare majority might amend a constitu¬ 
 tional bill, we know that after an amendment is adopted the question is put 
 on the hill as amended , to decide whether the bill shall be read; and on con¬ 
 stitutional bills it seems to me two-thirds must agree on each reading—which 
 is not reading a bill, but looking into it, considering it, &c., and when got 
 through with, the vote is taken, and it is ordered to have another reading , i. e. 
 to make another slep^ towards being completed. Reading is borrowed from 
 the English House of Commons, where after each reading the Speaker opens 
 to the House the substance of the bill, and puts the question whether it shall 
 
proceed any further. Besides, the Constitution of the United States does not 
 require three distinct readings of a proposition to amend the Constitution,, 
 (Art. V,) and does not require a Bill . Again, in the rules of the House, p. 39* 
 (Wardlaw’s Manuel,) I see — 
 
 “ Resolutions of the Senate, 1827, p. 68. 
 
 “In the Senate, Bee. 12, 1827. 
 
 “ Resolved, That a Bill to alter the Constitution, on a second reading, not having a ma¬ 
 jority of two-thirds of the whole Senate, is lost, and ought not to be sent to the House of' 
 Representatives.” 
 
 About the same time, on a bill to alter the Constitution, in relation to the 
 tenure of office by a Judge, a contrary decision was made by the House of Re¬ 
 presentatives, but not reduced to a formal resolution, which has been preserved.. 
 In 1831, the House of Representatives, on a bill to divide Pendleton into two- 
 Election Districts, decided that a less number than two-thirds of the whole Re¬ 
 presentation agreeing to the bill, at its second reading, could not send it to the 
 Senate ; but remarks were made concerning the difference in phraseology, 
 which exists bet\yeen the article of the original Constitution, concerning 
 amendments, and the section of the amendment of 1808 concerning any alter¬ 
 ation to be proposed of them. And in 1842, (Resolutions, p. 108,) the follow¬ 
 ing resolution was adopted by both Houses : 
 
 “ Resolved, That in the opinion of the Legislature, every bill to amend the Constitution,, 
 as well as to amend the amendments of the Constitution, should receive a vote of two- 
 thirds of the whole representation, upon its second reading in that branch of the Legisla¬ 
 ture in which it shall have been considered; otherwise, it shall not be sent to the other 
 branch.” 
 
 Several comments can be made on these resolutions. I have understood’ 
 that the resolution of the Senate in 1827, was in fact intended for the bill on 
 judicial tenure, which the House had at that very session sent to the Senate, 
 though passed by a simple majority at the second reading. It is certain that 
 the resolution of the Senate did not relate to a representative amendment, be¬ 
 cause none such passed the House in 1827. Then we have the broad distinct 
 declaration of the Senate, that a bill to amend the Constitution, not as to re¬ 
 presentation, must have two-thirds on the second reading or it is lost. So too, 
 we find the House deciding that less that two-thirds on the second reading 
 could not send the Pendleton election bill to the Senate, and it was intimated 
 that this was done because the Constitution as to representative amendments; 
 (as this bill was,) expressly says “second reading.” But from that fact, I 
 deduce an inference directly the reverse, viz :— that on all other constitu¬ 
 tional amendments all three readings are contemplated. The third reading 
 is also expressly mentioned in the clause as to representative amendments. 
 Are we therefore to conclude that the third reading is not contemplated in 
 the clause as to other amendments? Again—the joint resolution of 1842 
 assumes that two-thirds are required in the third reading only, and there¬ 
 fore directs (for reasons of expediency I suppose,) that such bills should 
 receive a vote of two-thirds on their second reading, or not go further.— 
 
 Surely if the Constitution meant the third reading o*dy, a bare majority_ 
 
 nay a minority—nay one member would have a right under the Constitution to 
 insist that the bill be read three times, and then the vote taken. I protest 
 against a construction, “which makes the Constitution a nose of wax,” which 
 inside of the House, declares that the Constitution does not mean on the third 
 reading only —therefore, two-thirds are required on the second reading ; but 
 outside of the House, declares that the Constitution does mean on the third read¬ 
 ing only, (except as to representative amendments)—therefore, two-thirds are 
 not required on the first and second reading, unless the Legislature so directs* 
 The Constitution has a fixed meaning. If it means that reading is pro forma, 
 then you must read the bill three times,'and take a vote to agree or disagree to the 
 bill, though but one member is in favor of it. If it means that reading depends on, 
 and is connected with the agreeing to, then all the readings are alike, and re- 
 
[ W ] 
 
 quire two-thirds at each. Will it be said that the Constitution merely requires- 
 that such amendments be read three times, and then adopted or rejected, and 
 that the House may fix the intermediate steps of proceedings, provided, \hev 
 comply with the constitutional requisition of two-thirds on the final vote ? This 
 is a shrewd suggestion; but wire-edged logic mil never cut. If (as it is assum- 
 ed petitione prmcipii) the House can provide by resolution, &c., the House 
 must take great care to keep within the limits of the Constitution. In this case, 
 the House adopts a resolution that two-thirds are necessary on the second read- 
 mg of a constitutional amendment; but the Constitution says, (Art. 1st, Sec. 
 11th) “ a majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business.” If 
 the clause had not been inserted, there could have been little doubt that a ma¬ 
 jority of the definite number [124] must be present, and then, that a majority 
 of that quorum would decide—(see 1 Bl. Com. 478—2 Kent, 293—Jefferson’s 
 Manua 1 , p 127—183.)^ In 1 McCord’s Reports, p. GO and 62, the Judge says 
 —“ lhe Constitution otthis State and of the United States require only a ma¬ 
 jority to constitute a quorum to do business, and I presume that rule would have 
 been adopted if they had been silent; and a majority of that quorum are suffi¬ 
 cient to decide the most important questions.” But our Constitution has ex¬ 
 pressly fixed the quorum in general; and, in special cases, required two-thirds 
 —therefore it is utterly unconstitutional for the House to exact a vote of two- 
 thirds (not of that majority, but) of the whole House, in any case excepting those 
 cases which the Constitution expressly mentions, as to "constitutional amend¬ 
 ments, impeachments, resolutions of removal, expulsions, conventions. To 
 explain more fully, the House, on the supposition that the Constitution requires 
 two-thirds, [83], on the third reading only, of a certain class of bills, declares 
 by resolution, that on the second reading of such bills, two-thirds [83] of the 
 whole body are necessary; whereas the Constitution, in another part, says 
 that a majority [63] shall constitute a quorum; and, of course, a majority of 
 that quorum must decide. In other words, the quorum fixed by the Constitu- 
 tion becomes felo de sc, and declares that they are not a quorum in a particular 
 case. The Constitution says 63 are a majority to do business. These 63 ac¬ 
 cept the authority, and by virtue of that authority, declare that 83 must be pre- 
 sent, and unite in doing one piece of business. Is not this as exquisite as enact- 
 ing that two-thirds of a future Legislature shall concur in repealing an act ? Is 
 it not as unconstitutional as the rule LXXX of the House (the Senate are more 
 Parliamentary,) which prescribes that those rules shall not be altered save by 
 a vote of two-thirds of the members present? Is a majority of one day, or of one 
 session, more potent— more a quorum than the majority of the next? Is a quo- 
 lum of the House competent alike to do business, and to restrain itself from 
 doing business alike to make laws and to unmake itself? Most emphatically 
 do I assert, that if the Constitution requires two-thirds on'the third reading only, 
 then the clause (art. 1, sec. 11th,) as to a quorum, applies, and the House”could 
 no moie exact a vote of two-thirds on the second or first reading of a constitu¬ 
 tional bill, or in any case not specified in the Constitution, than they could make 
 two-thirds a quorum to do business generally. Nevertheless it will lie contend¬ 
 ed that though the two houses may have inconsistently and unconstitutionally 
 attempted by resolution to unfix the quorum, and though both houses have (with 
 one exception in the House) uniformly, though unnecessarily, exacted a vote 
 of two-thirds on the second reading of such bills, and though in this instance a 
 vote, which happened to be two-thirds, was taken on the second reading, still 
 
 this amendment was read three times, and finally agreed to by two-thirds_ 
 
 precisely so. This brings us back to the true question, viz : Whether the 
 Constitution does not require an agreeing to, by two-thirds, on each reading. 
 
 All the world agree as to the third reading, and by reference to Journals 
 1831, pages 23, 35, 36—1835, pages 74, 75—1839, page 97—1841, page 
 ^ 1843, pages 65, 104, 116, &c., &c., it will be seen that both houses 
 
 Iia\e always thought two-thirds necessary on the second reading; yet I cannot 
 
M u ] 
 
 understand why two-thirds are requisite on the second reading and not on the 
 tirst. Either such amendment can be read three times without a vote and 
 then finally agreed to, or all readings are alike, and two-thirds are essential 
 -on each. As good luck would have it, I have laid hands on some old docu¬ 
 ments which 1 think settle the question. They are the opinions of Judge 
 Johnson, Ciieves, and Gantt, (the opinion of the last is a model for constitu¬ 
 tional argument,) in January, 1817, on the question whether the act 19 De¬ 
 cember, 1816, as to sittings of the Court (see pamphlet A. A. 1816, p. 18, 
 not to be found in the Statutes at Large,) was constitutional, being ratified on 
 the same day as the constitutional amendment of 1816, under which the act 
 was passed. A majority of the Judges decided that the act was not constitu¬ 
 tional, on the grounds, as I see in Judge Johnson’s opinion, (who was in the 
 majority,) and in the opinions of the others who were in the minority —that the 
 •constitutional amendment was not perfected, (and therefore the Legislature 
 were not authorized,) when the act was read the first and second time —that the 
 mere reading of the bill certainly was not all that was intended by the Consti¬ 
 tution, it looked to the assent ofi the House at the several readings. This was 
 not denied by the other side — they said that the Legislature must be presumed 
 to have acted constitutionally : that similar acts had been passed before, and 
 that the act was valid even under the Constitution, before it was amended. 
 But the decision is a very important one, because it shows that at each read¬ 
 ing of the common bills, there must he a valid assent; and if reading a com 
 mon bill requires the assent of an authorized majority, surely reading a consti¬ 
 tutional amendment requires the assent of a constitutional majority. But it 
 will be said, the XI Art. as to amendments is not affected by the Art. I. sec. 
 16, as to common bills, and that such amendments need not be even ratified in 
 the usual form. Be it so ! the Legislature in amending the Constitution do 
 exercise extraordinary powers under the Constitution, which is to be strictly 
 construed against them. The consummation and validity of an amendment 
 depend on the agreement of two-thirds , under the forms 'prescribed by XI Arti¬ 
 cle ! If the article had said once read and agreed to by two-thirds, would it 
 not be clear, that upon the reading two-thirds must assent ? and because it says 
 read three times and agreed to, is it enough that a bare majority — that a minor¬ 
 ity assent on the first and second times 1 On common bills a majority of the 
 House [63] must be present, (or presumed to be present,) to constitute a quorum, 
 and of course ex necessitate, and even in the absence of any constitutional 
 provision, a majority can “read.” But on constitutional bills the whole House, 
 {124] whether absent or present, is set down as the quorum, and two-thirds 
 {83] must “ read and agree to ” three times ! Surely this “ agreeing to” is as 
 important as the reading ! Agreeing to was inserted in direct relation to the 
 two-thirds —if these two-thirds are not requisite, simply reading would have 
 been enough—as in the 16th Sec. Art. I. If those who framed the Constitu¬ 
 tion did not mean as I construe them, they certainly expressed themselves very 
 •awkwardly; and if allowed to write ofl this clause, so as to suit my present) 
 argument, I should be at a loss for language more intelligible or precise. 
 
 If the matter were doubtful, the Constitution and the people should have the 
 benefit of that doubt. But I now advert to a difference of phraseology which 
 the Constitution uses touching amendments, and which I deem conclusive . 
 
 The clause, (as to amendments generally,) Art. XI, directs that they shall be 
 by bill at one session, read three times and agreed to, by two-thirds. But the 
 clause, 1808, as to representative amendments, (1 Statutes, p. 195) says by 
 bill of one session, read on three several days , in each House, and agreed to by 
 two-thirds at the second and third readings, and as to both classes of amend¬ 
 ments it is directed, that the alteration shall be agreed to at the second session, 
 by two-thirds, after the same shall have been read on three several days (says 
 the clause of 1808,) or three times, on three several days, (says the 11th Art.) 
 svhich is the same. Whether the clause of 1808 dispensed with a constitu- 
 
E 15 ] 
 
 tional majority at the first reading, because it required three separate days , and 
 not as the 11th Art. three times, (which might be in one day,) I will not pause 
 here to inquire ; but I beg attention to the remarkable fact, that, under both 
 clauses, the amendments are to be.introduced by bill at one session, which is 
 read three times and agreed to by two-thirds. Then the bill so agreed to is to 
 be published, and at the next session the alteration proposed is to be agreed to 
 or rejected, after having been read on three several days. In other words, at 
 the first session you proceed by bill , which is read three times, one step after 
 another, subject to be amended at each time. But at the second session it is 
 not in the shape of a bill, but as a fixed proposition, to be adopted or rejected, 
 (not amended,) after having been read (for information) on three several days.. 
 JNow the practical difference is immense. At the second, session it is imma- 
 ^f ial wliet . her . y° u take tlie vote on the first, second, or third reading, or on all. 
 1 he Constitution says, that the proposed alteration must be agreed to by two- 
 thirds, after having been read on three days . So that an amendment might be de¬ 
 feated at the third reading, though at the first and second readings it had two- 
 thirds, and it might be adopted at the third reading, though at the first and second, 
 (supposing the vote to be unnecessarily taken,) it had been less than two- 
 thirds. But at the first session, if you do not require two-thirds to agree on 
 each reading, (as in common bills you require a majority to agree on each 
 reading,) the consequences evidently is, that the original bill is on its first and 
 second reading, amended and altered, and metamorphosed and agreed to by a 
 majority, and on the third reading only, you will have the judgment of two- 
 thnds as to the alteration to be proposed, which may be very different from 
 the various amendments. Whereas, (if I bo right,) at each successive stage, 
 you have the concurrence of two-thirds to ensure correct and wise alterations- 
 • lake the amendment before us as an illustration. If two-thirds had been re- 
 quired at the first reading, there would have been one more chance to avoid the 
 mistake of making the sixty-five years limit the tenure of good behaviour, (in¬ 
 stead of operating as a disqualification,) and the still more unfortunate mistake 
 ot attacking (unintentionally) the amendment of 1828, which is regarded as 
 very important, and against which I have never heard of the slightest objection. 
 
 I insist that this bill, not having been read and agreed to three times, by two- 
 thirds, is not before the people ! 
 
 . How this irregularity is to be made available, it is not for me to suggest. It 
 is sufficient that it be pointed out. If this amendment was unconstitutionally 
 passed, the members, whether new or old, will sooner abandon a favorite mea- 
 sure than violate the Constitution in amending it. 
 
 This view becomes more important when we consider the nature and object 
 of the Constitution, and the necessity of opposing in limine all constructions of 
 that instrument, which, (though relating to matters seemingly unimportant,) are 
 based on erroneous principles. 1 am aware that several politicians assert, (as 
 was said— obiter dictum—inState vs. Williams 2d M-Cd. 301) that the Con¬ 
 stitution of our State confers on the Legislature general power, subject only to 
 limitations (directory or prohibitory) as therein found. Hence it is argued 
 that the presumption is in favor of the Legislature until you point out the limita¬ 
 tion contrary to the rule which should govern us in construeing the Constitu¬ 
 tion of the United States. I doubt such notions. Our Legislature has Legis¬ 
 lative authority, but this is by express grant. Art. I. s. 1. I do not think 
 they have any valid claim to the omnipotence of the British Parliament, and 
 when they undertake to alter the Constitution, they should be held to a strict 
 observance of the mode therein prescribed, which must have preference to all 
 rule. The presumption is in favor of the people, by whose mighty hand the 
 Constitution was delineated. Nor in these views am I unsupported. In 
 Dozier case, 1835, said Judge Butler, (in that lucid, emphatic and nervous- 
 language which he always uses when he touches constitutional questions). 
 
 “ It is the great purpose of a Constitution to restrain arbitrary power. Limited 
 
[ 16 ] 
 
 “ Prerogative, Definate Jurisdiction and strict Common Law,” is a maxim of 
 Lord Coke’s—“ it ouglit to animate all who profess to be governed by the 
 “ prescription of Law and limitations of the Constitution.” 
 
 Said Judge Nott, in 1 Mills Reports p. 46. “ The object of the Constitution 
 
 “ is to settle and establish the great and fundamental principles of the Govern- 
 “ ment, to prescribe the duties, define the powers, and limit the authority of 
 “ the various functionaries in such a maimer as will best secure the rights and 
 “ liberties of the people.” 
 
 To use the language of the Court in 2d. Tread. Rep. 664, [1814]. “ The 
 
 “ Judiciary has been emphatically styled the sheet-anchor of the government . 
 “It is not subordinate to the Legislature, but co-ordinate with it, and indepen- 
 “ dent of it. The election of the Judges is confined exclusively to the immedi- 
 “ ate representatives of the people. They have, by the Constitution, a freehold 
 “ in their offices, of which they cannot be divested by the Legislature. By the 
 “ immutability of their salaries, as well as by their exclusion from every other 
 “ office, all inducement to prejudice, partiality or bias is removed, and every 
 “ prospect of increasing their own power cut off. The people themselves 
 “ have thus drawn around this branch of the government every guard which 
 “ could secure its purity, and preserve its independence ; and it is the duty of 
 “ (the people) to see that it is not weakened or impaired by Legislative inva- 
 “ sion.” 
 
 Listen to Judge Harper, in 2d. Hill’s Reports 272, on the powers of a Con¬ 
 vention called for a special purpose—“ I should not have considered this part 
 “ of the subject so much at large, if I did not regard it as of the deepest practi¬ 
 cal importance to freedom, and the security of our institutions. Why is it 
 “ that to affect an amendment of our State Constitution, two-thirds of both 
 “ Houses of two successive Legislatures must concur ; and in the mean time 
 “ the proposed amendment must be published for three months. Why is it 
 “ that to call a convention of the people, two-thirds of both branches of the 
 “ Legislature must concur. It is for the security of those fundamental institu- 
 “ tions on which the rights of individuals, and especially the rights of a minority, 
 “ are supposed to depend. It is to prevent great changes by a mere numeric 
 “ cal majority in the Legislature, acting perhaps hastily, under excitement and 
 “ with partial information. It is to secure that the intended changes shall be 
 “ brought fully to the view of the people, and canvassed before them ; that 
 “ their opinions may be informed and their judgments determined respecting 
 “them; and from the forms that must begone through , that time enough for 
 “these purposes shall be allowed.” 
 
 With the alteration of a single word, I fully subscribe to the resolution of 
 1841 [p. 126]—“ That a due subordination to the laws by every class of citi- 
 “ zens is an essential feature of Republican Government; that a claim to 
 “ exemption from Legislative [ legitimate ] authority is contrary to the true 
 “ theory of our government; and, if admitted, establishes within the State an 
 “ aristocracy irresponsible to the law.” 
 
 These forms, (said Mr. Onslow, the ablest among the Speakers of the House 
 of Commons,) these forms, as instituted by our “ ancestors, operate as a check 
 “ and control on the actions of the majority ; and in many instances a shelter 
 “ and protection to the minority against the attempts of power.” 
 
 I repeat that under the Constitutions of 1776 and 8 (so called) the Legisla¬ 
 ture, perhaps, had some slight claims to the absolute authority of Parliament. 
 But every friend of republican, conservat ive, regulated, constitutional freedom, 
 will applaud to the echo what Judge David Johnson said in 1817 : “ Our Con¬ 
 stitution has wisely adopted the principle, that all power is originally vested in 
 the people, and that all governments are founded on their authority. The au¬ 
 thority, therefore, on which the Legislature acts is a special delegation of a 
 portion of that power, which was originally vested in the people, to their im¬ 
 mediate representatives. They have prescribed to them certain bounds and 
 
I 17 ] 
 
 limits within which they shall act, and also certain rules directing the manner 
 in which they shall act; they have no power, except what is expressly given 
 or necessarily implied. There does not then exist any such thing as a general 
 power of legislation in the representatives of the people, and every act done 
 without the limits of these rules is wholly void. 
 
 This constitutional argument may be regarded as worthy of attention—such 
 arguments are always unheeded until it is too late. And I feel no distrust to¬ 
 wards the Legislature who adopted this amendment, or rather put entire con- 
 1 ence in them collectively and individually. But the courtesies of yesterday 
 are often construed into the rights of to-morrow. There are no degrees (more 
 or less) in violating the Constitution; and even though in a minority of one, I 
 would therefore take greater pleasure and pride in reminding the majority of a 
 power greater than their own. However, I am tired of this distant cannonad¬ 
 ing, and will to-morrow march out with drum and colour to do battle at Phillip- 
 at ^arsalia. ot ^ er words—dropping the metaphor of a siege 
 
 which has been introduced only to keep my readers and myself awake, I will 
 go into the merits of the question. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Oh ! that for justice and the people’s sake. 
 
 The law would fix and fix without mistake, 
 
 That age in Judges, which will clearly show 
 Those just in dotage and those just not so. 
 
 [Original, I believe. 
 
 If the proposed amendment is not unmeaning, suicidal and mischievous; and 
 if it was constitutionally passed, it remains to be considered whether it is 
 expedient to adopt it; and I will endeavor to show that any limitation of the 
 Judicial tenure as to age, is unreasonable, unnecessary, and injurious to the 
 best interests of the State. 
 
 The presumption is against such limitation, as it is against all constitutional 
 amendments. Let its advocates satisfy the people that the alteration is called 
 for. 
 
 Up to 1776, our Judges held during good behaviour. From that time to 
 1790, they were to be addressed out of the way. But, in 1790, our Constitu¬ 
 tion was framed, with great care and deliberation, and for fifty years has the 
 independence of our Judiciary remained untouched. Even in 1828, the Legis¬ 
 lature would not go further than provide a summary mode of impeachment, and 
 it is a singular fact, that, during the 20 years of clamor against old Judges 
 experiencehas shown that such an amendment would have done far more harm 
 than good. Such an amendment is unreasonable. It undertakes to ascertain 
 and fix what cannot be ascertained or fixed. Why not sixty years ? Why 
 not seventy ? The rule is arbitrary, and if applied to other officers and other 
 men, would be regarded as either ridiculous or shocking! 
 
 Who does not know that in political life there is much more need of enemy 
 of purpose, vigor of body and protracted effort, and ability to bear up against 
 harassing care—in short, of general powers of endurance, than on the Bench ? 
 What would be the effect of applying this iron rule to the great men of the 
 present day?— Webster— -Clay— our own Calhoun— would be set aside 
 forthwith, while many others would soon be disposed of without inquiry and 
 without cause. How would the age of the Judge be ascertained? Would 
 you have it recorded ? or trust him on the question of age whom you will not 
 .trust on the question of dotage ! 
 
 What would be thought of a proposition that no man, after a certain age, 
 should hold any office or be a politician, or practice law, or be a physician, or 
 
— - 
 
 [ M ] 
 
 preach, or engage in merchandize, or attend to the duties of private life, (all 
 as important as playing the Judge, and some of them more difficult,) or to fix a 
 limit as to making wills and getting married ? There would be a general burst 
 of mingled laughter and indignation ! Such an amendment is unnecessary, 
 not only because Judges seldom live so long, and because the Bar and the 
 public are sufficiently quick (and sometimes too quick) in detecting the ap¬ 
 proaches of old age—but because the amendment of 1828, section 5th, (which r 
 luckily , this amendment does not repeal, because it is not repugnant,) express¬ 
 ly provides that two-thirds of the Legislature can, by resolution, (after due 
 notice), remove all officers, (Judges, too), who, at any age, are disabled by 
 reason of any permanent, bodily, or mental infirmity, from discharging the 
 duties of their office. Is not this the most judicious course ? Why provide a 
 remedy for all causes of bodily and mental infirmity, arising from age or any 
 other cause, and yet limit the tenure to a certain age ? Why furnish an 
 excuse to a disabled Judge to hold on until sixty-five ? If sixty-five is the 
 proper limit, Judges in general are competent up to that age. If not, why not 
 say sixty ? But, it is said, that delicacy, pity, &e., will prevent the Legislature 
 from enforcing the amendment of 1828. Ah ! indeed ? Then why permit 
 such an amendment to remain ? Why distrust the Judiciary? Why distrust 
 the Legislature ? Believe me, the Legislature who passed this amendment 
 were not only perfectly trust-worthy, but far more competent to decide (by the 
 same vote, too), each particular case, than to fix the rule itself. 
 
 What has been the experience of other countries? Of the United States 
 (according to my latest information) none have limited the tenure to a certain 
 age, except Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Alabama to seventy years, 
 New York to sixty years, and Mississippi to sixty-five years—Vermont and 
 Rhode Island have annual elections, New-Jersey elections every five years, 
 Georgia election every four years, Ohio seven years and Tennessee 10—the 
 rest during good behaviour. If it be said that elections at stated periods super¬ 
 sede the necessity of fixing the age, then it is obvious to remark, that those 
 elections are productive of greater evils than occasional instance of dotage. 
 Now the limit of seventy years is too extensive to be of any use. So that we 
 have two States, Mississippi and New York, who fix a certain age, while all 
 the others adopt our principle (expressly or substantially) , or something worse . 
 In the Federal Judiciary the want of such a limitation has been so little felt 
 that very few seem to have inquired by what tenure the Federal Judges did 
 hold, viz : good behaviour. In England, in France, and other countries, no 
 such unreasonable and arbitrary rule exists. Let us see what were the opi¬ 
 nions of different distinguished men on this question, not as authority, but as 
 the views of men, who are far more competent to instruct us in such matters, 
 than village lawyers, like myself, or village politicians. I begin with the fol¬ 
 lowing excellent remarks from the Law Journal, conducted by an association 
 of the gentlemen ofthe Philadelphia Bar. “ Let us examine the question then 
 in its broadest character, and inquire whether it is the dictate of sound policy, 
 that any limitation whatever should be prescribed. To this inquiry, but a sin¬ 
 gle argument can be given, in our view, in support of the affirmative : that it is 
 the effect of old age to impair the vigor of the mind, and therefore, that the in¬ 
 cumbent should not retain his office after reaching that period when such is the 
 usual result. In reply, we think that several answers might be given which do 
 away all the force of this consideration. The cardinal requisite for the judicial 
 office, in addition to incorruptible integrity in the incumbent, is a sound judg¬ 
 ment, which shall bring the requisite legal knowledge to the decision of every 
 controverted point. This faculty, which is in one sense created, and always 
 strengthened and matured by long experience, becomes at length, as it were, 
 the character and essence of the mind, and it is the last which deserts its pos¬ 
 sessors. It is not like the fancy or the imagination—which flourish most in 
 the prime of life, and then slowly loose their power. With the exercise of 
 
 a. 
 
t 19 ] 
 
 these a Judge has hut little concern ; they are more suitable qualities for tho 
 -advocate, and their influence, if powerful, is usually unfavorable to the discove¬ 
 ry of truth. The duty of a Judge is to compare, to discriminate, and then to 
 decide ; it is that of calm and grave deliberation, where the reason in its most 
 sober and serene exercise is called upon to weigh and determine. In the 
 proper use of this faculty, the progress of years adds to its soundness, instead of 
 diminishing it; and we see accordingly when looking at facts, that many of 
 the ablest and wisest Judges have retained the perfect command of all their 
 povvers, at a time far more advanced, than that which many would assign as a 
 limit for vacating the office. Not to mention other instances, Lord Mansfield 
 did not assume the office till he was fifty-two, and he did not resign it until he 
 was eighty-two. Lord Eldon and Stowell were each near eighty when 
 leaving the bench, and, though years have elapsed since this occurrence, they 
 seem still to be as able as ever. Lord Redesdal^, who has lately died at the 
 age of eighty, showed unbroken vigor till his death. In our own country, the 
 illustrious Chief Justice of our national tribunal has passed, years since, the 
 latest limit, [70], which is specified at the commencement of this number, with¬ 
 out the least vestige of infirmity as yet appearing; and Judge Washington 
 had reached it when the community were called to deplore his removal. Very 
 many instances might be mentioned, of a similar character. To fix any 
 period of life, then—even the latest proposed, as occasioning an exclusion 
 from the bench—will often deprive the public of talents and learning, which it 
 can ill afford to lose. Far more strongly does this remark apply, where sixty 
 years are fixed as the term; and we cannot point to a more striking illustra¬ 
 tion than that which has been lately furnished by the State ofNew York. The 
 tribunals of that State have been for years deprived of the judicial services of 
 Chancellor Kent, a man who has long been an honor to his country, and who 
 would grace any other country. While of him it may be said with truth, that 
 he presided long enough in the courts of law and equity in his native State, to 
 complete the full measure of his fame, and while he has, since his dignified 
 retirement, thrown a double weight of gratitude upon the profession and the 
 public, by the publication of his commentaries ; it may also be said that the 
 provision in the Constitution ofNew York, which required him to leave tlie 
 bench, has occasioned greater evil than would have followed from all the 
 superanuated Judges who might otherwise have retained their seats in that 
 State for half a century. But a cure for the evil, whenever it may exist, is 
 already provided for in the Constitution.” 
 
 Chancellor Do Agnessau presided with ability until 82—(Carolina Law 
 Journal, p. 174). At 70 Chancellor Bibb, of Kentucky, is fully equal to all the 
 labors of the Treasury Department. 
 
 \\ ho does not admire the veteran Coke , when at 77, in Parliament, he was 
 cheered to think of that noble record worthy to be written in letters of gold.— 
 26 Edw. III.—“Loans against the will of the subject are without reason, and 
 ii it is against tlie Franchise of the land , for Freemen to be taxed, save by their 
 6i own consent in Parliament assembled.” What a word is that Franchise ! 
 
 In an essay on old age, written by Cicero, nineteen hundred years ago , we 
 read as follows : 
 
 “ My strength has not yet been found to fail me, either in the Senate or 
 the assemblies of the people, when my country or my friends, my clients 
 or my hosts, have had occasion to require my service. * * * 
 
 It appears, therefore, that nothing can be more void of foundation, than to 
 assert that old age necessarily disqualifies a man for the great affairs of 
 the world. As well might it be affirmed that the pilot is totally useless and 
 unengaged in the business of the ship, because, while the rest of the crew are 
 more actively employed in their respective departments, he sits quietly 
 at the helm and directs its motions , (Clavumtenens sedet quietus ).— 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 If, in the great scenes of business, an old man cannot perform a part which* 
 requires the force and energy of vigorous years, he can act, however, in a no¬ 
 bler and more important character. If it is not by exertions of corporeal 
 strength and activity that momentous affairs of the State are conducted, it is 
 by cool deliberation, by prudent counsel, and by that authoritative influence 
 which ever attends on public esteem—qualifications which are so far from' 
 being impaired, that they are usually strengthened and improved by increase 
 of years. * * * Old age, it seems, disqualifies us from taking an active 
 
 part in the great scenes of business. But in what scenes, let me ask ? If in 
 those which require the strength and vivacity of youth, I readily admit the 
 charge. But are there no other ? None which are peculiarly appropriated 
 to the evening of life, and which, being executed by the powers of the mind, 
 are perfectly consistent with a less vigorous state of the body ? * * * If 
 
 )ou look into the history of foreign nations, you will find frequent instances of 
 flourishing communities, which, after having been well-nigh ruined by the im¬ 
 petuous measures of young and inexperienced statesmen, have been restored 
 to their former glory by the prudent administration of more discreet years-” 
 
 Ji. Johnsons authority might be thought against us, our opponents are 
 welcome to it. Speaking of Lord Bute, (1st Boswell, p. 522) the Doctor (who 
 was not in his dotage at seventy.jive) says, “He (Lord Bute) advised the 
 King to agree that the Judges should hold their places for life, instead of losing 
 them on the accession of a new King. Lord Bute, I suppose, thought to make 
 e King popular by this concession ; but the people never minded it; and it 
 was a most impolitic measure. There is no reason why a Judge should hold 
 qffiee for life more than any other person in public trust . A Judge may be 
 partial otherwise than to the crown; we have seen Judges partial to the pop¬ 
 ulace. A Judge may become corrupt, and yet there may not be legal evidence 
 agamst him. A Judge may become froward from age . A Judge may grow 
 unfit for his office in many ways. It was desirable that there should be a pos¬ 
 sibility of being delivered from him by a new King” 
 
 Such crude notions did a great man express on an important subject. 
 
 ' rom the bederalist p. 419: “According to the plan of the convention, all the 
 J udges who may be appointed by the United States, are to hold their offices during, 
 good behaviour; which is conformable to the most approved of the State Con¬ 
 stitutions—among the rest, to that of this State (New York). Its propriety 
 having been drawn into question by the adversaries of that plan, is no light 
 symptom of the rage for objection, which disorders their imaginations and 
 judgments. 1 he standard of good behaviour for the continuance in office of the 
 judicial magistracy is certainly one of the most valuable of the modern im- 
 piovements in the practice of government. In a monarchy, it is an excellent 
 bairier to the despotism of the prince ; in a republic, it is no less excellent 
 barrier to the encroachments and oppressions of the representative body . And 
 it is the best expedient which can be devised in any government to secure a 
 steady, upright and impartial administration of the laws.” And also p. 428: 
 
 “ The Constitution of New York, to avoid investigations that must forever be 
 vague and dangerous, has taken a particular age as the criterion of inability. 
 No man can be a Judge beyond sixty. I believe there are few at present who 
 o not c isapprove of this provision. There is no station in relation to which 
 i is le & s proper than to that of a Judge. The deliberating and comparing 
 faculties generally preserve their strength much beyond that period, in men 
 w 10 survive it; and when, in addition to this circumstance, we consider how 
 tew there are who outlive the season of intellectual vigor, and how impossible 
 it is that any considerable proportion of the bench, whether more or less 
 numerous, should be in such a situation, at the same time we shall be ready to 
 cone uc e, t at limitations offhis sort have little to recommend them. In a 
 repu ic w lere fortunes are not affluent and pensions not expedient, the dis- 
 
f 21 ] 
 
 mission of men from stations in which they have served their country, long and 
 usefully ; on which they depend for subsistence, and from which, it will be too- 
 late to resort to any other occupation for a livelihood, ought to have some better 
 apology to humanity than is to be found in the imaginary dangers of a super- 
 anualed bench” 
 
 I will even refer to Justice Storv, although I believe he would come under 
 the rule. 
 
 “ In order to avoid investigations of this sort, which must forever be vague 
 and unsatisfactory, some persons have been disposed to think, that a limitation 
 of age should be assumed as a criterion of inability ; so that there should be 
 a constitutional removal from office, when the Judge should attain a certain 
 age. Some of the State Constitutions have adopted a limitation. Thus, in 
 New York, sixty years of age is a disqualification for the office of Judge ; and, 
 in some other States, the period is prolonged to seventy. The value of these 
 provisions has never as yet been satisfactorily established by the experience 
 of any State. That they have worked mischievously in some cases is matter 
 of public notoriety. The limitation of New York, struck from its bench one of 
 the greatest names that ever adorned it, in the full possession of his extraordi¬ 
 nary powers. I refer to Mr. Chancellor Kent, to whom the jurisprudence of “ 
 New York owes a debt of gratitude that can never be paid. He is at once the 
 compeer of Hardwicke and Mansfield. Since his removal from the bench, he 
 has composed his admirable commentaries, a work which will survive, as an 
 honor to the country, long after all the perishable fabrics of our day shall be 
 buried in oblivion. If he had not thus secured an enviable fame, since his 
 retirement, the public might have had cause to regret, that New York should 
 have chosen to disfranchise her best citizens, at the time when their services 
 were most important, and their judgment most mature. Even the age of seven¬ 
 ty would have excluded from public service some of the greatest minds which 
 have belonged to our country. At eighty (said Mr. Jefferson), Franklin was 
 the ornament of human nature. 
 
 “ At seventy-five, Lord Mansfield presided at the trial of Lord George Gor¬ 
 don, and at eighty, still possessed in vigor his almost unrivalled powers. If 
 seventy had been the limitation in the Constitution of the United States, the 
 nation would have lost seven years of as brilliant judicial labors as have ever 
 adorned the annals of the jurisprudence of any country.”—3d Com. 487. 
 
 But I' will conclude these extracts, with the views of the lamented Legare,, 
 (Southern Review, No. Ill, August, 1828, p. 112). 
 
 “We take our leave of Chancellor Kent, in hope of soon meeting with him. 
 again. We have generally given him, throughout this article, the title which 
 he honored far more than it honored him, and which is an everlasting disgrace 
 to the greatest State in the Union, that he does not still bear. What a*mean 
 and miserable policy ! Lest it should have to pay their paltry salaries to a few 
 superanuated public servants, to deprive itself of the accumulated learning, the 
 diversified experience, and the ripe wisdom of such a man at the age of sixty. 
 A commonwealth, flourishing beyond example or even imagination, wantoning 
 and rioting in the favors of fortune, which have been poured upon it without 
 stint, chaffering and haggling in by far the most important concern of society,, 
 like an usurious pawn-broker, for a few thousand dollars. In some of the 
 poorer States, such stupid economy would be more excusable, or rather less 
 unaccountable, for nothing can excuse it. The rarest thing in nature—cer¬ 
 tainly, the rarest thing in America—is a learned and able Judge, at the same 
 time, that he is not only in the immediate administration of justice, but still 
 more, if it is possible, by his immense influence over the bar and the commu¬ 
 nity at large, beyond, all price. But we Americans do not think so, or rather 
 we act as if we did not. The only means of having a good bench is to adopt 
 the English plan—give liberal salaries to your Judges, let them hold their 
 offices during good behaviour, and when they begin to exhibit symptoms of 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 senility and decay, hint to them that their pensions are ready to be paid. The 
 last is a necessary part of the system—but it is what the American people can 
 never be brought to submit to. They are economical, (God save the mark) 
 and therefore will not spend money without a present and palpable quid pro 
 quo—they are metaphysical, and, therefore, they will not violate what is called 
 (we know not why) principle . They deem anything preferable. Extinguish 
 the light of a Kent or a Spencer—submit to the drivelings of dotage and imbe¬ 
 cility—nay, even resort to the abominations of an elective Judiciary system — 
 any thing, rather than adopt the plain, manly, and only sure means of securing 
 the greatest blessing but liberty, which civil society can attain to, the able 
 administration of the laws . 
 
 “In the present instance, the people of New York alone are the sufferers. 
 The distinguished person before us has laid up abundantly those miseris viatica 
 canis, which wisdom and virtue, and they alone, confer upon the chosen few— 
 which the world cannot give, neither take away.” 
 
 Such was the opinion of our Leg are. As to pensions, it is an open ques¬ 
 tion. But were not the labors of Legare more weighty, more multifarious, 
 more exhausting, more valuable, than those of a Judge. And how fanciful, 
 how absurd would it be to fix by law the period at which such men should be 
 too old to improve, to instruct, to enlighten their fellow men. True, the Judge 
 is in the service of the public, and I, for one, will never consent to enforce, in 
 behalf of the State, a principle which, as applicable to other officers and other 
 stations of life, would be considered— a doubtful experiment. 
 
 No. Y. 
 
 u Young folks think —old folks know."—Not original. 
 
 We who are opposed to the contemplated amendment, not only rely on the 
 constitutional objections, (which have been stated), but contend, (to use an ab¬ 
 stract which has been kindly furnished by a friend). 
 
 1. lhat so far from its being true, that at sixty-five, the minds of most men 
 are impaired, the general rule is the other way, and the exceptions are few; 
 and we could cite instances of distinguished men, evidently in the prime of 
 their intellectual power, at that age, or so near it, that we cannot possibly sup¬ 
 pose that the few years intervening can make a difference. Also instances of 
 great efficiency at a still greater age. 
 
 2. That the best minds mature latest, and the length of the period of after 
 efficiency is proportioned to the length of time required to attain maturity. 
 I his is a general law of nature and runs through all her works. 
 
 3. That if not impaired at sixty-five, then far more useful from greater at¬ 
 tainments and experience than those who would supply their places, even sup¬ 
 posing all other things than age and experience equal. But, 
 
 4. That other things would not be equal. The office being less desirable, 
 the standard of qualifications would be lowered, and you would have it filled 
 by men inferior naturally. 
 
 5. That such as would accept the office, their inferiors at least, would be 
 rendered still less efficient by the necessity of making some provision for the 
 period after sixty-five, which would withdraw their attention from their judicial 
 duties, and still worse (if they looked to other public office or popular favor in 
 any form) endanger their independence. 
 
 6. That under this amendment, promotion to the Bench,would be regarded 
 rather as the means of further advancement, than as furnishing an occupation 
 lor tile. At sixty-live, and even before, Judges would quit the Bench, some to 
 nnng.e in pontics, most of them to return to the Bar, where (from the opera- 
 
I ^3 ] 
 
 lion of various causes easily understood) they would exercise an undue and 
 mischievous injluence over the members of the Bar, the Jury, and their former 
 colleagues. This certainly will not benefit the people. 
 
 7. Even inferior men, inefficient naturally, and rendered still more so by 
 the causes mentioned, would be turned out of office in their prime, thus giving 
 us the worst part of that which is had , in exchange for the best part of that 
 which is good. 
 
 In answer to these positions, what reasons are urged in favor of the pro¬ 
 posed amendment? The printed arguments of one of its most able and zeal- 
 crus advocates in 1839 are before me. It is said “ that it is unnecessary to fix 
 any disqualifying age as to any oilier office under the government, because the 
 limited duration of the terms for which those offices are held, places it in the 
 power of the Legislature, or the people, to correct or prevent any evil which 
 may arise.” It must be observed, however, that a very important distinction 
 exists between the judicial and other offices. In no other than the former is 
 it necessary that the independence of the officer should be secured, in order 
 that the duties of the office should be effectually discharged. The Judiciary is 
 a co-ordinate branch of the Government, as essential as either the Legislative 
 or Executive, and it is a matter of the last importance that it should not be 
 subjected (except in the way of trial and impeachment) to Legislative control— 
 especially where that control is attempted to be exercised by wholesale enact¬ 
 ments in anticipation of imaginary evils. 
 
 It is said, “ that if we were called upon to elect a Judge, we w T ould of course 
 vote for a candidate aged forty-five rather than for one aged sixty five” Surely, 
 because life does not ordinarily last much longer than sixty five . But why not 
 fix the limit at forty five? It is clearly for the best interests of the State to 
 to vote for the more youthful candidate, supposing him to be as well qualified, 
 but it would not be for the interest of the State to establish a rule under which 
 the more youthful candidate would be cut off, when his mind has been well 
 stored with information and made wise by experience. 
 
 It is said “that Judges will not resign though in dotage.” Would it not 
 be cruel to make a Judge resign though in the full exercise of his faculties? 
 Leave the matter to his friends—to the public—to the amendment of 1828— 
 and let us not have a regular electioneering scramble, to come off at a certain 
 day—some three or four years hence—when, according to the legislative al¬ 
 manac, his honor, Mr. Justice Such-a-one, is to pop off." 
 
 It is said, “ that by the proposed amendment, incumbents, unfit for the dis¬ 
 charge of their duties by the infirmities of age, would go out by the silent and 
 inevitable operation of the laws, and that the State would always secure the 
 services of the most able and efficient men.” Yes, and those same able and 
 efficient men will in turn go out by that same operation, very inevitable, but 
 not very silent. 
 
 It is said, “ that the salary is high and would command the best talents— 
 the most efficient services and the brightest learning of the country.” Yes, 
 and this is the best guarantee which the State could have, that even sixty-five 
 would leave enough of those talents, those services, and that learning. 
 
 It is said, “ that during different periods the laws of South Carolina have 
 been mal-administered by imbecile dotage and incapacity, when many of her 
 sons could have been found, whose talents and whose learning would have 
 shed lustre on the bench,” Yes, in turn to be subjected to the same charges 
 (just as vxll founded) of imbecile dotage and incapacity. 
 
 It is said “that this amendment (operating in future, of course), would in¬ 
 crease greatly, but not too much, the chances of accession to the bench, and 
 in the same ratio would an inducement be held out to professional excellence ; 
 but as it is, one incumbent in his dotage may exclude from the public service 
 his superior in every qualification, for thirty, forty, or fifty years—(how soon 
 such dotage must have begun)—during which protracted term a succession of 
 
[ 2 * ] 
 
 brilliant luminaries might have filled and adorned the office.” Yes, to shine and 
 then to be extinguished by that same inevitable operation. 
 
 It is said, “ that the common argument against turning out an old public ser¬ 
 vant, is fallacious, and has no force ; that he has been paid for his services, 
 and that the country owes him nothing.” 
 
 The answer is, that if you turn out old public servants without cause, and 
 under an arbitrary rule, you do an injury to the country, and there can be no 
 fallacy in the argument, which says it is wrong to treat old public servants 
 harshly, not only without bene fitting, but actually injuring the people. 
 
 It is said, that the instances of Chancellor Kext and Chief Justice Mar¬ 
 shall are extraordinary exceptions. Age indeed ! No one supposes that, by 
 not fixing a certain age, we will therefore have many Kents and Marshalls. 
 But if such men are so rare, why exclude them at a time of life when their 
 faculties remain in full vigor ? And further, the rule, on the other side, will 
 not insure as many Kents or Marshalls, but on the contrary, will cut off, at the 
 age of sixty-five, all who (whether Kents or Marshalls, or not) have had the 
 opportunity of acquiring information and judicial, wisdom, only in order to give 
 place to ‘more youthful aspirants. But the instances are not so rare. Not to 
 mention living names, and not to go further back than our recollection —would 
 Judge Golcock, if he had remained on the bench, have been any less quali¬ 
 fied l Would he have exhibited less efficiency, firmness, sagacity and devotion 
 to the duties of his station, than when engaged in labors quite as difficult and 
 important, and far more harrassmg? Did we behold in Judge Nott less 
 promptness and perception, less rapidity of analysis, less diamond-like clear¬ 
 ness ! where his decisions less profound ? did his mind become less richly 
 stored with various learning, concocted and systematized by disciplined reflec¬ 
 tion? was his well balanced and dispassionate intellect less undisturbed by irreg¬ 
 ularities of temper, or less unbiassed by any eccentricities of system ? did he 
 devote himself to the duties of his high station with less indefatigable assiduity, 
 after he passed without the magic circle ? And Judge Dessaussure, affer he 
 had attained his three score years and five, were his services less valuable and 
 less faithful ? where his decrees less luminous and less Chancellor-like, than 
 they unquestionably had been when he was in the vigor of manhood? To say 
 mothing of the information, (legal and general), the experience, the judicial 
 wisdom, the familiarity with, and the deep insight into the principles ofjurispru- 
 <dence, which nothing but a continuance on the bench can give ? Was not the 
 mere presence of such judges, so learned and yet so practical, so paternal and 
 yet so dignified, so venerable and yet so efficient? Was not their presence 
 alone useful to the bar, improving to their colleagues, edifying to the public, and 
 grateful to the State ? 
 
 Again, it is said that in a Republic, the Judiciary is more formidable than 
 under a Monarchy. The reverse is the fact. In our own State, the Judges 
 held by the tenure of good behaviour, yet our Legislature, in 1834 , decided 
 that if they could not eject the incumbent, they could destroy the office by a 
 change of system, so that to use the very words of the Herculese in that debate, 
 •“ being without office, he is no longer an officer-” Republicans need not be 
 .alarmed when in England, (says De Lolme, speaking of the Judiciary), such is 
 4 he happy nature of this institution, that the judicial power, a power so formid¬ 
 able in itself, which is to dispose, (without finding any resistance), of the pro¬ 
 perty* honor, and life of individuals, and which, whatever pecautions may be 
 4 aken to restrain it, must in a great degree remain arbitrary, may be said 
 to exist, to accomplish every end intended, and to be in the hands of nobody.” 
 
 Again, it is said “ that the approaches of old age are so gradual, and its 
 -dotage and imbecility so difficult to be proved, that the remedy under the 
 .•amendment of 1828 cannot be applied.” In what does the difficulty consist? 
 The supposed imbecility or infirmity must be known to the Bar, must be per¬ 
 ceptive to the public, and will reach the Legislature by our representatives- 
 
[ 25 ] 
 
 Resolutions are introduced. The incumbent is heard without the formalities 
 of impeachment, and two-thirds of the Legislature decide (as they decide other 
 questions of great importance). Not governed by the rules of special pleading 
 and legal evidence, but guided by principles of honor, of justice, of duty to the 
 accused, and to the country. 
 
 Again, it is said, “ that our sympathies should be enlisted in behalf of the 
 suffering community, called on to pay large salaries for judicial services not 
 rendered, or which is an hundred fold more intolerable, for services that the 
 community would be better in not receiving—for justice mal-administered, for 
 an administration of the law that covers the whole machinery of justice with 
 contempt and ridicule. Such is the legitimate and necessary consequences in 
 occasional instances of our present system of tenure in the judicial office. We, 
 the people, want an administration of the law in our Circuit Courts that shall 
 inspire us with respect and confidence. It would be a far wiser policy to pay 
 your incompetent Judges to stay at home and do nothing, and then to pay other 
 persons who are competent to perform their duties, than to have the sacred 
 character of justice mocked and burlesqued in her holiest courts and temples. 
 How important is it that every day’s justice, which is administered at every 
 man’s door, should be meted out in an able, dignified, and discriminating man¬ 
 ner, inspiring an acquiescent feeling in the minds of the litigants and a general 
 confidence in the community! Tell the honest and poor man, whose rights 
 have been rudely trampled in a Court of Justice, that his remedy is in the Court 
 of Appeals, in Charleston or Columbia, and, in nine cases out of ten, he will 
 tell, with an incredulous smile, or perhaps with a sorrowful and dejected coun¬ 
 tenance, that the remedy to him is an illusory one, and that he cannot, and will 
 not risk the consequences of further defeat, which might involve his family in 
 want and privation.” 
 
 These are bitter words. This is indeed a lamentable picture to show the 
 deplorable though legitimate and necessary consequences of occasional dotage 
 on the Bench—dotage not only mocking and burlesquing the sacred character 
 of justice, but rudely trampling on the rights of the honest and the poor . 
 
 The answer to all this is obvious. It is very strange that if this has been 
 the state of things since 1839, and during other different periods, that the peo¬ 
 ple have scarcely yet discovered that they were so much wronged, or that a 
 remedy, plain, simple and easy, was in the hands of the Legislature itself. It 
 is still more strange, that their representatives should have been so lost to a 
 sense of their duties, as to have shunned the responsibility of applying a remedy 
 evidently in their hands. If the people were ignorant of their wrongs and 
 rights, and if their representatives had so acted, my sympathy would be deeply 
 enlisted in their behalf. But such a state of things is utterly incompatible 
 with the manly intelligence and quick sense of wrong which has always char¬ 
 acterized our people—utterly incompatible with the enlightened patriotism and 
 high sense of public duty, which has ever distinguished their representatives. 
 
 Fearing, however, that my readers are fatigued, I will suspend these re¬ 
 marks until a future number, which will have the decided merit of being the 
 last . 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 Judges and courts may flourish or may fade ! 
 
 Your breath can make them as your breath has made. 
 
 But these great principles, the country’s pride, 
 
 When once destroyed can never be supplied ! 
 
 ( Improved .) 
 
 Unless greatly mistaken, I have shown that the proposed amendment is so 
 framed that it does not effect the alteration intended—that it will repeal the 
 4th section of the amendment of 1828, as to inferior Judges—that it was not 
 
 4 
 
constitutionally passed at the last session, and that it proposes a rule, arbitrary 
 and unreasonable. I have also endeavoured to answer various arguments 
 which had been, (and do doubt will again be used) in favor of that rule. 
 
 Let us now take a more enlarged view of the nature and basis of the rule 
 
 itself. 
 
 It is subject to the fatal objection that while it proposes a remedy for an 
 evil, it does not direct your attention to the existence, or consequences, or 
 general or certain causes of the evil, but fixes a period at which it is assumed 
 that one of the several causes will produce certain effects—effects, too, which 
 are visible as soon as the assumed cause begins to operate. The evil com¬ 
 plained of is not that 
 
 “ A judge at sixty is a fool indeed,” 
 
 but that if the good behaviour principle be adopted, without restriction or limita¬ 
 tion, Judges will remain on the Bench after old age and other causes shall 
 have disabled them from discharging their duties. Thereupon it is enacted 
 that the attainment of a certain age, [sixty-five] shall remove all Judges, 
 whether disabled or not. 
 
 Surely the statesman will strike at the causes of disability, and if the causes 
 are beyond his control, and therefore their effects cannot be anticipated, he 
 will provide a remedy for the evil, to be applied when, and not before it ap¬ 
 pears. 
 
 This amendment is subject to the further objection, that if it removes one 
 Judge who is disabled from age, it removes another who is not: And as expe¬ 
 rience shows that of a given number at sixty-five, one half, at least, are better 
 qualified than the surrounding crowd of youthful aspirants, it is difficult to con¬ 
 ceive how the State can gain. 
 
 This amendment is subject to the further objection, that although it is not, 
 perhaps, repugnant to the 5th section of the amendment of 1828, and therefore 
 does not undesignedly repeal it, (since the one prescribes the tenure and the 
 other provides a summary mode of impeachments) still the two are inconsistent 
 in principle and theory. By the 5th section of the amendment of 1828, a reme¬ 
 dy, plain, simple, rational, not capable of being abused, is applied to all cases 
 of sickness as they arise. This amendment provides a remedy, (which will kill 
 as often as it will cure), not to actual sickness, but to sickness assumed . Why 
 employ a special physician who gives you nothing but salts at a stated period , 
 without any regard to the state of your health, when you have your family 
 physician who will prescribe according to the necessity of your case. 
 
 This amendment is liable to the further objection, that it proposes in some 
 way and to some extent, to meddle with the^judiciary department—the most 
 important—the weakest—the least dangerous—and the one that, above all 
 others, requires to be “let alone ”—especially in a Republic, where the con¬ 
 servative principles of the bar, and the independence of the judiciary, are far 
 more essential than even in a limited monarchy. 
 
 This amendment violates several leading principles in political ethics—viz : 
 That a Constitution should be in as general terms as is consistent with the 
 attainment of the object in view—that its general provisions should admit of as 
 few exceptions as practicable, and especially that it is far better to provide a 
 remedy which can be applied to evils as they arise, than to restrict the opera¬ 
 tion of a salutary principle by engrafting on it a limitation which will certainly 
 prove injurious , and yet prevent only one of the several evils apprehended. 
 By way of illustration, let us suppose we were framing a Constitution de novo , 
 and were about to draft the clause as to judicial tenure. Two important 
 objects are to be obtained. 1st. That the Judge shall hold by such a tenure, 
 that he will be entirely independent within the scope of his authority, and be 
 allowed to remain on the bench so long, that he will have every opportunity of 
 becoming familiar with his duties, oi increasing his fund of information, of 
 
[ 27 ] 
 
 acquiring experience, and of enlarging his judicial vision. 2dly. To provide 
 the means of punishing bad Judges and removing incompetent Judges. We 
 would look around and discover several elements entering into the schemes 
 originating with those who have turned their attention to these important 
 subjects. 
 
 1. The good behaviour principle. 
 
 2. The same to a certain age. 
 
 3. Elections at stated periods. 
 
 4. Impeachment as in case of crime. 
 
 5. Removal from office for disability from age, &c., by summary pro¬ 
 ceedings. 
 
 Now of these elements it would seem evident that the only one which is 
 connected with the first object, (the securing of good Judges), is the good be¬ 
 haviour principle. All the other elements limiting the tenure to a certain age, 
 elections at stated terms, impeachment and removal, all relate to the second 
 object, viz : providing a remedy for evils, inseparably connected with the Ju¬ 
 diciary, but not caused by the good behaviour principle. How, then, shall we 
 proceed ? That the good behaviour principle is the best calculated to form 
 enlightened and independent Judges, need not be argued in Carolina. But is 
 it not evident that in the way of remedy, nothing can be better than impeach¬ 
 ment for crime, and summary removals, (with due notice to the party to be 
 affected) in case of disability from age, or any other cause. And this remedy, 
 (unlike the limit to a certain age and stated elections), not only produce no iriju! 
 rious consequences, but is perfectly compatible with the good behaviour prin¬ 
 ciple. So that whether we select our tenure and our remedy apart from each 
 other, or in relation to each other, we come to the same conclusion. Indeed 
 I consider the present to be a contest between the advocates of the <r 0 od beha¬ 
 viour principle and some other tenure—for though we are now to choose a 
 remedy, we must do so in relation to the tenure. And why should we hesitate 
 in the choice of remedies, when the remedy which now exists is not only the 
 best, but also admirably suited to—in fact imperatively required by the exist¬ 
 ing tenure. Nor should it be overlooked, that in the proposed amendment we 
 have a striking illustration of the wisdom and necessity of opposing all consti¬ 
 tutional amendments, until satisfied that they are called for—that they will 
 operate well, and, above all, that they will harmonize with other parts of the 
 system. For here is an amendment which (not to reiterate the manifold 
 objections already stated), will not only introduce a new element into our 
 Judiciary system, but will clash and interfere, (very unexpectedly too), with 
 several clauses of the Constitution—clauses too highly prized to be expunged 
 without the courtesy of even verbal notice ! 
 
 But, the objections to the proposed amendment are not yet exhausted. It 
 will deter superior men from aspiring to the bench. No doubt the emoluments 
 the pleasures, and honors of Judgeship, will be still attractive, but certainly it 
 must be put down among the per contra, that at a certain age, the occupation of 
 life_the means of livelihood must cease. The same considerations which 
 render it painful for a Judge to resign, (and our opponents say that Judges may 
 die, but will never resign), the same considerations would operate strongly i n 
 deterring men—high minded—ambitious—rejoicing in the vigor of intellect— 
 from voluntarily accepting an office on the implied condition of admitting that at 
 sixty-five they will be disabled, and on the express condition that when sixty- 
 five does arrive, they shall be stultified according to law. Superior men will 
 be less anxious to wear the Ermine—inferior men will be still further deteri¬ 
 orated by the very rule which cuts short their judicial experience. 
 
 The proposed amendment is utterly incompatible with the independence 
 
 of the Judiciary? What is the independence of the Judiciary?_that a 
 
 Judge is allowed to hear and decide cases, without being put in fear _ 
 
 that he will not be mobbed—or, that if an exciting discussion should 
 
arise at the Bar, there will be a stout friend present to halloo “hurra for 
 the Court?' 1 No! it means this: That the Judge should not only be urj^on- 
 trolled in fact, within the scope of his authority, but also removed beyond the 
 operation of any cause, (proximate or remote), which would impair true moral 
 courage —that feeling of entire self-reliance which listens only to the mandate 
 of the law, and treads only the path marked out by duty—actuated by which, a 
 Judge is incapable, alike of usurping power and shrinking from responsibility. 
 A Judge, who depends for his salary, or his office, on the will of another, can¬ 
 not be independent. Is he independent, if he has not the assurance that noth¬ 
 ing, save bad behaviour, or the will of God, can deprive him of that office, which 
 is at once honor and livelihood] He is not independent, if he knows that at the 
 end of four years he must be subjected to the ordeal of an election. Is he in¬ 
 dependent, if he knows that at a certain age, he must abandon his present occu¬ 
 pation, and find or make patronage and friends in some other pursuit ] Surely, 
 if a Judge is independent, untrammelled in fact, and assured in feeling, when 
 he holds his commission during good behaviour, (that is, in his estimation, for 
 
 life), must he not be less untrammelled—less independent—less assured_less 
 
 fearless—less dispassionate—if any new element is introduced—if, instead of 
 an estate for life, he has an estate for a term of years ? We should be consis¬ 
 tent ; we should not limit the good behaviour principle, and yet hope to find it 
 as beneficial as if it was not limited at all. “ During good behaviour” was 
 inserted, not to prevent bad Judges from remaining on the bench—the im¬ 
 peachment clause, &c., would have been sufficient for that evil—but to offer 
 certain advantages to Judges, without which you will not have good Judges ; 
 and the idea of lessening the advantages, in order to get better Judges , (instead 
 of providing means for removing bad Judges), is as fanciful as the idea of re- 
 ducing your price m order to get a better saddle horse , instead of offering a 
 handsome price, and providing for unsoundness, if it should appear ! 
 
 But a more serious objection remains. What will be the effect of such an 
 amendment on the Judge himself] Instead of looking forward to a long life 
 of usefulness and honor—instead of calmly and sedulously devoting himself to 
 the duties of his station—he feels that every day brings him nearer to that fix¬ 
 ed period when he must descend from his station—lay aside the dignity which 
 has hedged him round—and mingle in the crowd of the next generation. His 
 days are numbered — and he watches the hour which will render him up a vic¬ 
 tim to the moral guillotine. Is he talented ]—is he well informed ]—has he 
 acquired the art of inspecting cases with judicial eyes ]—has he built up a re¬ 
 putation for learning, ability, experience, courtesy, wisdom, usefulness] All 
 these will be things of memory when the silent and inevitable operation of a 
 law, aibitrary, unnecessary, ill-advised, and mischievous, will make him give 
 place to those youthful aspirants. 
 
 And his colleagues—a settled and connected system of decisions was com- 
 bming the common and statutory law into a regular code. The fabric of the 
 law was rising into a beautiful structure of just proportions and consolidated 
 strength. The work may pass into able hands, but the unity of design, the 
 thorough understanding of each other’s views, and fixed habits of co-operation, 
 the communion of thought and labor—to his colleagues, all this is irrecovera¬ 
 bly (and wilfully) lost. For myself, I never hear the objections that are ur»ed 
 against old Judges, without recalling those beautiful lines of Johnson, in 
 which allusion is made “ to the sun in his evening’s declension, when he 
 remits his splendor but retains his magnitude—and' pleases more, though he 
 
 I have thus brought to a close a number of essays, which have no doubt 
 proved tedious. If any inaccuracies are pointed out, I shall cheerfully correct 
 
 M e nVf U1 T d ? fonc ? of tf ! e citadel 1 shaI1 leave to others. “Lay on 
 McDuff. Yet I beg the mailed warriors on the other side, to believe that I 
 have fought as an amateur. I am not the champion of the present Judiciary. 
 
[ 29 ] 
 
 Their rights are not involved, and I think we should settle such a contest with¬ 
 out reference to men. If their Honors should trouble themselves, so far as to 
 gaess who I am, they will recognize a servant of the law—one who is neither 
 an assailant nor a sycophant of the bench. Yet allow me to say to the public, 
 that in legal information, in ability, in general knowledge, in diligence, in 
 skill, in the faithful discharge of duty, in kindness, in talents, in high-minded 
 sense of honor, in character as Carolina gentlemen, our Judiciary is second to 
 none. Faults some of them must have , or they would not be men . Great and 
 many virtues have they all! 
 
 “ Be to their faults a little blind, 
 
 Be to their virtues very kind ”— 
 
 and never forget that a Judge, like memory and a faithful friend, requires to he 
 trusted ! 
 
 I have given a history of the judicial tenure in England and in South Caro¬ 
 lina. I have furnished all the information within my reach, whether for, or 
 against my views ; and I have endeavored to show, 
 
 1st. That under the proposed amendment, (which cannot be altered at the 
 next session), the limitation of sixty-five years applies to the tenure of good 
 behaviour, and does not operate as a distinct substantive disqualification; it 
 makes no provision for vacating the office, or defining the tenure after sixty- 
 five ; nor does it render a man older than sixty-five ineligible. 
 
 2d. That the amendment will undesignedly repeal the constitutional amend¬ 
 ment of 1828, as to the tenure of inferior judicial officers, and clash with all 
 the legislative enactments relating thereto, since 1828. 
 
 3d. That the proposed amendment was not constitutionally passed at the 
 last session, (not having been read and agreed to three times, by two-thirds of 
 both branches); and therefore cannot be consummated at the next session. 
 
 4th. That the proposed amendment is unnecessary, because the Constitu¬ 
 tion already provides for all cases of incompetency, viz : by resolution, after 
 due notice and full hearing- 
 
 5th. That the proposed amendment is unreasonable, arbitrary, uncalled for, 
 and condemned by the experience of other States and countries. 
 
 6th. That the proposed amendment will strike a fatal blow at the indepen¬ 
 dence and*usefulness of the Judiciary, and be highly detrimental to the best 
 interests of the State. 
 
 This question has been referred to the people. I call on the people not to 
 sanction an amendment which is imperfectly drafted ; which will affect inju¬ 
 riously other parts of the Constitution ; which is not expedient in itself, and 
 is entirely unnecessary, since another and a better remedy now exists. I 
 earnestly entreat the members of the Legislature to pause well before they 
 adopt an amendment, which has not been passed in accordance with the Con¬ 
 stitution, and which will transfer responsibility from themselves, on the avow¬ 
 ed reason that responsibility has not been exercised. Let them not regard 
 this as a struggle in which the interests of the future, or the feelings of the 
 present Judges are concerned. The Constitution is in danger. 
 
 If, however, the people should be indifferent (as they sometimes are) to a 
 question of vital importance ; and if their representatives should acquiesce in 
 the judgment of their predecessors, it will only remain that those same glorious 
 twenty-eight , who have hitherto opposed novelties, shall record their votes against 
 a measure which will not be the last effort of innovation—( Monstrum — in¬ 
 forme—ingens — cui lumen ademptum). Not to be too particular, and not to go 
 further back than five years, 'the advocates of change will renew the assault 
 on Grand Juries, on the Governor’s election, on two day’s election, on the loca¬ 
 tion of the Bank and public offices, on elections generally, on public salaries, 
 on the electors of President, on the basis of taxation , on the ballot box, on the 
 Court of Equity, and (growing bolder and bolder still), on the basis of repre- 
 
mentation. Influenced by the best of motives, but without reflecting a moment 
 on the consequences, several of our public men will, year after year, urge, as 
 they have urged upon the Legislature, measures which, if adopted, will inevi¬ 
 tably lead to further changes. In the very halls of Legislation, the spirit of 
 Liberty, instead of incense and sacrifice and crowded shrine, will behold 
 nothing but the shattered ornaments of her desecrated Temple ! The harmo¬ 
 nious and perfect action of the State Government will be disturbed_the sol¬ 
 
 emn guarantee of the Constitution will be broken down—the old and all ab¬ 
 sorbing question of upper and lower country ascendancy will be again revived 
 and the energies of the State—her character abroad—our best interests at 
 home—will be again merged and exhausted in a bitter and bootless conflict 
 among ourselves ! And even when calm is restored and the sunshine returns, 
 it will be the calm, not of peace, but of solitude —it will be the sunshine after 
 the storm—not to repair but to witness the destruction ! 
 
 \ et, 1 fondly trust, that better omens will prevail, and that neither presumpt¬ 
 uously, nor in vain, came to the rescue of the Constitution, one who 1 
 Is nominally , 
 
 “THE BLACK SLUGGARD.” 
 

 
 

HON. GEORGE EVANS, 
 
 SUBJECT OF THE REMISSION—IN CERTAIN CASES—OF 
 
 THE 
 
 DUTY UPON RAILWAY IRON 
 
 
 Printed by John T. Towers, Whig Standard Office. 
 
LETTER OF A MEMORIALIST 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Finance of the Seyiute, on the subject of 
 remitting the Duty on Railway Iron . 
 
 Washington, D. C., March 1 , 1844. 
 
 *To the Hon. George Evans, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Finance in Senate U. S. 
 
 Sir : I notice that you have reported a bill in the Senate, which, if adopted 
 by Congress, will extend the time of imposition of duties upon railway iron 
 in certain cases. As this question is vitally important to the productive in 
 terests of this country, allow me to present to you a few of the many reasons, 
 both of a general and special character, which seem to me applicable to the 
 question, though you are now doubtless possessed of better testimony in 
 the premises than I am able to set forth. 
 
 The article of railway iron was from July, 1832, to March, 1843, practi¬ 
 cally, duty free. The United States Government, acting upon the principle 
 that cheap and rapid intercourse conduced to national and individual pros¬ 
 perity, adopted, for that period, a policy which induced and enabled the 
 wealthiest sections of country, like Massachusetts for instance, to nearly per¬ 
 fect a system of railways, which afford them the means of locomotion and 
 transportation, to points of production, and points of consumption, for less 
 than one-half that it costs other sections, which, by reason of a more sparse 
 
 i mputation, and more limited means, have not yet constructed such roads. 
 
 am aware that the reply will be, that railway iron can now be purchased 
 as cheap (duty added) as when the earliest railways were built ; but, inde¬ 
 pendent of the fact of the increased value of money, those first finished en¬ 
 joyed more than an equivalent for any present reduction of price, in the ar¬ 
 ticle of the iron, by their novelty , monopoly of travel, and by increasing the 
 argicultural, and calling into existence the various manufacturing pursuits, 
 which, by the freights created, have rendered such lines profitable—like 
 the Worcester, # the Lowell, and Nashua railroads in Massachusetts. Take, if 
 you please, a few simple, plain reasons, which show practically their in¬ 
 fluence. The farmer at Rockford (Illinois) pays $20 per ton for the trans¬ 
 portation of his wheat to Chicago, some SO miles; at Woodstock, or Rut¬ 
 land, (Vermont,) $20 per ton for the transportation of his butter, cheese, and 
 
 *The market man for Westborough, on this railroad, paid to the inhabitants of that town 
 $50,000 the last year for milk vegetables, &c., sold at Boston. The eastern division of the New 
 York and Erie railway, during the six months prior to September 30, 1843, delivered 300,000 
 quarts of milk at New York, reducing the price from 6 to 4 cents the quart at an annual sav¬ 
 ing to that city of $120,000.—See supt’s report. 
 
pork, to Boston, 130 miles; and the same for his, return articles of consump¬ 
 tion. This is actually the price from those points by team or horse power. 
 Now, the farmer at Albany, (N. Y.) pays $5 per ton export for his pork to 
 Boston, 200 miles; and same price for his in.ports by cars upon the Wes¬ 
 tern railroad. Gypsum or plaster is, you are aware, much used for manv 
 soils. The farmer at Nashua, (N. H.) pays, delivered from the railroad, 
 (41 miles,) $5 per ton , at Fitchburg, (Mass.) about the same distance, he 
 pays (by team) $10 per ton. The cotton manufacturer at Nashua, with 
 4,000 spindles, makes 7,300 pounds of cloth per week ; and saying nothin*? 
 of the requisite excess of at least 8£ per cent, in the raw material, you have 
 7i tons per week import, and export, or 391—say 400 tons per annum, at 
 a cost of $2 per ton by railway, is $800. The Fitchburg cotton manufac¬ 
 turer pays 87 per ton, by team, is $2,800—leaving $2,000 balance in favor 
 of the Nashua manufacturer, to which you may safely add another $1,000 
 for facility of communication, and saving in the transportation of his starch 
 hour for sizing, coal, and bread stuffs. 
 
 1 lie illustrations above cited, will more or less apply to all our widely ex¬ 
 tended countiy, away from water communication, where steam and horse 
 power are put in competition. It is submitted, therefore, whether the impo¬ 
 sition of this duty, is now just, to the different sections of the country?—to the 
 younger and less wealthy States?—or accords with the genius and spirit of 
 our constitution and laws. ' 1 
 
 Again : It will not be denied that railroads (though in infancy) have been 
 contributors to national wealth, by increasing home production, mail facili¬ 
 ties developing new resources, enhancing in value, as they bring nearer to 
 market, the public lands ; that they were beginning, and if persisted in, will 
 ultimately consolidate and unite, by one vast system of inter-communica¬ 
 tion, this whole country.* How can Government he justified in imposing art 
 excessive if not prohibitory duty, upon the material, which said duty arrests 
 the completion of the feeble roads, commenced under an implied guarantee 
 0 eleven years policy, and thereby sacrificing the properly of individuals 
 and Mates, by depriving them of the power to finish them 1 Let it answer 
 this question to Michigan, who is now knocking at its doors for relief- to 
 Georgia, or any State, or individual company interested. T am aware that 
 it will be said that duties reduce the prices. ‘ This may be true, where om 
 manufactures come in competition with the foreign ; and it would undoubt¬ 
 edly be trueylhat our high duty on railway iron would reduce the price of 
 that article tn England, if the United States were the leading market. Hut, 
 in this case, their leading foreign market is upon the continent of Europe— 
 m France, Kelg,urn. Germany, and Russia. While by their redundancy 
 oi capital, the amount invested in the manufacture of this species of iron 
 is very great; the competition, as the writer knows from actual experience 
 for the sma llest orders,t strong ; and with their present capacity for supply, it 
 
 ra&SKSt Wn coaled from Buffalo to New York, by 
 Boston road, fiom Barilo to Boston, 560 m^St! hours X TsZS 
 
 tketrie 0 wSd ta fSS 
 
 forges aTouVof blast ’ COmmence ".e manufacture; besides, on.-third of the English 
 
5 
 
 can hardly be supposed that any demand from this country can permanently 
 affect the price, as will be perceived by the following schedule of 
 
 Prices of railroad and bar iron in Great Britain, from 1836 to 1844, as 
 furnished by Messrs Davis, Brooks , f Co ., of New York. 
 
 January, 1836, punched rails, in Liverpool 
 
 - 
 
 £6 
 
 12 
 
 6 free. 
 
 merchant bars, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 0 $24 duty. 
 
 April, 1837, punched rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 £10 
 
 5 
 
 0 free. 
 
 merchant bars, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 0 $24 duty. 
 
 Septem’r, 1838, T rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 11 
 
 0 
 
 0 free. 
 
 punched rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 0 “ 
 
 merchant bars, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 0 $21 duty. 
 
 January, 1839, T rails, in "Wales - 
 
 punched rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 11 
 
 0 
 
 0 free. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 0 “ 
 
 merchant bars, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 ' - 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 0 $21 duty. 
 
 January, 1840, T rails, in Wales - 
 
 Deeem’r,-, punched rails, in Wales 
 
 August, 1841, T rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 il 
 
 15 
 
 0 free. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 0 “ 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 0 “ 
 
 punched rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 7 
 
 0 
 
 0 •< 
 
 merchant bars, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 0 $13 duty. 
 
 May, 1842, T rails, in Wales 
 
 August, 1842, punched rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 
 7 
 
 0 
 
 0 free. 
 
 - 
 
 .. 
 
 5 
 
 0 
 
 0 “ 
 
 January, 1842, merchant bars, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 0 $14 duty. 
 
 April, 1843, merchant bars, in Wales 
 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 6 $25 duty. 
 
 August, 1843, T rails, in Wales, £4 17 
 
 6, to 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 0 $25 duty. 
 
 Novem’r, 1843, punched rails, in Wales 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 6 $25 duty. 
 
 [The difference in the manufacture is as follows : 
 
 The Tor edge rail, about Ts. 6d.; the flat rail, 5s. above the cost of the 
 ordinary merchant bar; refined rolled iron cost about £3 more than the 
 puddled bar.] 
 
 Again. No railways are known to have been commenced since the pas¬ 
 sage of this tariff*. Those now projected await the action of Congress upon 
 this question ; and I would now submit, if it be not due to the great iron 
 interest of (he State of Pennsylvania, that this article should be free, and for 
 the following reasons : 
 
 1st. It gives vitality to the lines now projected, arid many others, which 
 immediately created a demand for vast quantities of iron of better qualities 
 and prices,* affording profits to the maker above the heavy cost of trans¬ 
 portation. In the shape of iron, suitable for cotton, woollen, and other ma¬ 
 chinery, and for railroad work, for engines, cast iron wheels, spikes, chairs, 
 &c. Subjoined are some of the items of cost for construction of a railroad, 
 which will show how large a portion of the expense is in the above items, 
 copied from the report of the Western Railroad, to the Legislature of Mas¬ 
 sachusetts, for LS42, for I I7 r yy 0 - miles of said road, to wit: 
 
 Graduation and road bed - , - - $2,289,371 91 
 
 (In this work, the amount of iron used in the shape of dirt cars, drills, iron bars, and pick axes, shovels, 
 
 &c., is great.) 
 
 * One of the intelligent representatives of that State assured me that he was obtaining &S0 
 per ton for iron, which he sells at Pawtucket, Hartford, and Boston. Now the cost of railway 
 iron, duty added, will not exceed $54 per ton, while the investment is much heavier to make it 
 to advantage. It will be perceived at once, as railroads are what build up the manufacturing 
 interest, how deep his interest is in this question. It is the machinist at Pawtucket and Lowell, 
 who can afford great prices, for he will have good iron, of toughness aud strength. 
 
Bridging and masonry - - * 
 
 (Great amounts of iron for trussing bolts, sledge hammers, chairs, &e.) 
 
 Depot, buildings, aqueducts, &c. 
 
 Large iron rods for supporting roof, and strengthening the timber and iron pipe*) 
 
 Engineer department, instruments 
 Engines and cars, for 156 miles of road 
 The detail of the last item is as follows : 
 
 29 engines, iron or steel, (save the boiler lining) 
 
 29 tenders, nearly all iron say, of do. 10,000 pounds, x 
 
 ' 1,500 wrought iron. } 
 
 ' ' oxes. > 8,1 
 
 3S, &C J 
 
 >000 lbs. X 
 
 l 5,500 wheels and boxes. 
 
 ( 1,000 wr’t iron axles, 
 
 750 wrought iron. 1 
 
 2,750 wheels and boxes. > 4,000 lbs. X 
 500 wrought axles. ) 
 
 $977,961 74 
 
 $188,660 57 
 
 $190,248 86 
 $642,547 04 
 
 950,000 lbs. 
 290,000 lbs. 
 
 200,000 lbs. 
 44,000 lbs. 
 
 25 passenger cars (64 seat) 
 
 11 passenger cars, short 
 266 long freight cars j JjgI V" "*• X I - 782 ' 200 “*• 
 
 ( b00 wrought iron and steel. ) 
 
 17(J short freight cars. 1 2,500 castings. > 3,600 lbs. x 612,000 lbs. 
 
 ( 500 wr’t iron, for axles, &c. N 
 
 Here vou have of domestic iron, besides turn'tables, switches, 
 
 &c. ------ 3,878,000 lbs. 
 
 The weight of chairs for 100 miles, 10.000 lbs. to the mile, is 1,000,000 lbs. 
 The weight of spikes for 100 miles, 4,575 lbs. to the mile, is 457,500 lbs. 
 9,000 tons of the T rail, 52 to 56 lbs. to the linear yard, for 
 
 100 miles, duty $25 per ton, is - - - - $225,000 00 
 
 Cost at Cardiff, in Wales, as paid by the Fitchburg Company, 
 for 100 miles, $24 per ton, is - $216,000 00 
 
 it should be also born in mind, that, while the iron rails suffer but little 
 by abrasion, the cars and engines are constantly wearing out, and substituted 
 by new ones, while an enormous quantity of iron is used in repairs, which, 
 upoji the Western Railroad alone, for the engines, which are ail iron or 
 steel, in 1842, cost $38,611 07. And the Pennsylvania coal (for Crab en¬ 
 gines, made by Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, who now has a contract with 
 the Russian Government for 182 engines, at a cost of $4,000,000, for the 
 railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow) cost $11,078 04. 
 
 The estimate of spikes necessary to finish the New York and Erie 
 Railroad, is 1,057,224 pounds; of castings, chairs, <fcc., 4,383,268 pounds. 
 (See Engineer’s report.) 
 
 As I intend, in a future communication, to give some further detail of the 
 consumption of domestic iron for railway purposes, it is hoped the above 
 general facts will be satisfactory. I have deemed them important, because 
 some suppose that this consumption, immediate and prospective, is actually 
 more in tons than that of the rail itself* Now with such facts, with the 
 home consumption which these railways create, both directly and indirectly, 
 why, in the name of Pennsylvania, is this change of policy of stopping the 
 demand, nay, the very avenues, which are to give her the means of cheap 
 transportation for her iron, and create for her new markets ? And if she 
 advances, for II years to come, as rapidly in capital and skill in the manu¬ 
 facture of this article, as for the 11 years in which iron for railways has 
 been dutv free, will furnish that species of iron also, not only for this coun¬ 
 try, but for exportation. Time will not permit me to press this inquiry 
 further, but] hope enough has been said to arrest the attention of the able 
 
7 
 
 statesman of that great and growing State, and, with a candid examination, 
 I am confident of the result. 
 
 Again : The more extended a railway is, as a general principle, the more 
 profitable. Why stop their progress, when the average annual income of 
 the 5,000 miles now built in the United States is not supposed to exceed 1 
 per cent, on the investment? Will the Treasury receipts* for the current 
 year justify a tariff so unequal and disproportionate ? 
 
 Here are the prices of railroad stocks sold at the Stock Exchange, New 
 York, January l, 1844: 
 
 Those companies marked with a # have never paid any dividends. The 
 others average about 5 per centum per annum. 
 
 New York and Erie 
 Mohawk 
 Harlem 
 
 Utica and Schenectady - 
 Syracuse and Utica 
 Auburn and Syracuse 
 Auburn and Rochester - 
 Brooklyn and Jamaica 
 Long Island 
 New Jersey 
 Paterson 
 
 Troy and Saratoga 
 Troy and Schenectady - 
 Providence and Stonington 
 Norwich and Worcester - 
 New Haven and Hartford 
 Tonawanda 
 Buffalo and Niagara 
 Lockport 
 
 Buffalo and Attica 
 Saratoga and Washington 
 The stocks of Michigan and Illinois are considered without value, until the 
 few finished routes in those States substitute the heavy T rail, which depends 
 upon this duty. 
 
 The Southern railroad stocks are not much known, and very few of them 
 have ever made dividends. 
 
 There are several roads in New Jersey that are barely able to keep in ex~ 
 istence, but their condition is generally improving a little. 
 
 [The amount of railroad iron imported into New York since March, 1843, 
 was a small lot of about 500 tons for the Norwich and Worcester extension ; 
 and very recently a lot for the Harlem Company, of about 1,100 tons, now 
 in the hands of the Government, and about 800 tons for the Mohawk Com¬ 
 pany, in which duties have been paid. The total may be estimated at 2,500 
 to 3,000 tons.] 
 
 Further : Government has expended millions upon forts for the protec¬ 
 tion of her harbors—why prevent, or obstruct the building of railways, which 
 are not only to man these forts in the least possible time, but also, when they. 
 
 *10 a 15 per cent. 
 
 *52 a 53 
 
 do. 
 
 *42 a 43 
 
 do. 
 
 119 a 120 
 
 do. 
 
 105 a 106 
 
 do. 
 
 110 
 
 do. 
 
 104 
 
 do. 
 
 *75 a SO 
 
 do. 
 
 *70 
 
 do. 
 
 98 a 99 
 
 do. 
 
 *80 a 85 
 
 do. 
 
 *nothing. 
 *15 a 25 
 
 do. 
 
 *34 a 35 
 
 do. 
 
 *33 a 33 A 
 
 do. 
 
 *65 
 
 do. 
 
 *60 a 65 
 
 do. 
 
 *5 a 10 
 
 do. 
 
 •nothing. 
 75 a 80 
 
 do. 
 
 *40 a 42 
 
 do. 
 
 *Here are those of the custom-house at N. York above, being $2,016,586 83, for the first 24 
 days in February ; and those at Boston, from January 1 to February *24, 1844, being $813,285 52; 
 while, from January 1 to February, 24, 1843, they were $267,335 89 only. 
 
reach our frontiers, give to it the power ot concentrating troops and warlike 
 stores in case of border outbreaks, or foreign aggression, for a small fraction 
 of what it has cost heretofore? 
 
 Again : While the imposition of this duty was pending during the first 
 session of the 27th Congress, it was then asserted, as it has been ever since, 
 that there was abundance of capital ready to embark in the manufacture of 
 railway iron. It is submitted, that not one pound* of the T or edge rail has 
 been made. It is true, that a few hundred tons of the common plate rail 
 were made in Alleghany county, Pennsylvania, by a company which, since 
 this heavy duty was imposed, has become utterly bankrupt ; and it is said 
 that a few hundred tons of ike same article are now being made for some 
 road in Michigan. But the undersigned attempted himself, in behalf of the 
 Boston and Fitchburg Railroad, to purchase 4,000 tons of the edge rail 
 which is the only suitable one for any road, for cash , and totally failed. 
 The agent of the company, after keeping him in suspense some two mntohs, 
 informed him that he could not contract to deliver the iron at New Orleans, 
 or to any other point of ship communication, for $60 theton.t As this was 
 some $15 per (on (including freights to Boston) more than the iron would 
 cost, duty and all, the hope of using Pennsylvania iron was then abandoned. 
 And notwithstanding (he letters and memorials which are now being sent to 
 members of Congress asserting the ability and readiness to make the article, 
 for a reasonable price, the friends of remission deny both; ask the proof; go 
 farther, and say—“ take your time” u be sure you are right and when 
 you are ready to make and deliver (he edge rail at Philadelphia, Baltimore, 
 or New York, for 50 per cent, more than it costs delivered in England, they 
 will not only become purchasers, but join in petitioning for a revival of the 
 duty, should Congress afford them relief. 
 
 Upon the subject of memorials, allow me to notice a little more directly 
 some of the reasons as set forth in one of them to the Senate of the United 
 States against remitting this duty. 
 
 It said “ that railway companies now ask for a legislation peculiar to itself.” 
 
 A ns. It has been the policy of the Government for 11 years , and ire only ask for even-handed justice. 
 
 It is said “that Government has lost $4,000,000” by her liberal and enlightened policy. 
 
 Ans. This would have been gained, only at a more severe sacrifice , and Loss in the stocks of said 
 companies. —See sales of stock, page 7. 
 
 It is significantly asked, “ What has been the result of this policy upon the industry, curren¬ 
 cy, and credit of the country ?” 
 
 Ans. Let Massachusetts , which (as has been said) has brought her railroad system nearest to com- 
 pletion , having expended more than 18 millions for such roads , reply. 
 
 It said “ that the foreign manufacturer pockets the difference in price, instead of paying 
 it into the United States Treasury.” 
 
 Ans. Here a one-sided vieio is given , by citing only three years. The remaining seven would have 
 shown a different result, as will appear upon page 5 . 
 
 It said u that works erected for this purpose, will be forced into the manufacture of those 
 kinds of iron, which are highly protected.” 
 
 Ans. How many tons of railway iron have these works made ? And where have they been erected for 
 this purpose ? 
 
 It said “ that by this duty the construction of railroads will not be retarded more than they 
 ought to be. 
 
 Why retard them at all ? And then , again , in the same breath , (strange inconsistency,) “ that their 
 cost will not be sensibly increased .”— See page 6, where the duty is given for 100 miles* 
 
 The memorial then speaks of the “ extensive construction of solid and permanent roads.” 
 
 Do the memorialists mean to use the plate rail , the only kind yet made here ? 
 
 v One of the largest and most respectable houses in the iron trade in New York have given 
 out, standing orders lor the last year, but have not been able to obtain a pound. 
 
 f See also report of the Commissioners of the State of Michigan, upon buying: railway iron in 
 the United States. * J J 
 
9 
 
 U said “ that mbst of our great channels of communication have been constructed, and 
 mines opened by canals and railroads.” 
 
 Denied; but , if so, why put a stopper on the rest ? 
 
 This memorial then goes on to speak of “ States groaning under debts, which can only be 
 liquidated by rendering these works profitable, instead of encouraging, by special legislation-, 
 rival works, to the injury of those that have been made.” 
 
 I answer, that in the cafe of those States whose, works now remain unfinished, this duty makes them 
 CROAN still louder ; and where work3 “ have been made,” it smells of monopoly. 
 
 The memorial then says, (strange,) “ Railroads are not entitled to any exclusive favor, &i 
 they have not developed and unfolded the mineral resources of the country, but canals.”* 
 
 Can it be possible that those highly respectable memorialists have forgotten the Reading and Columbia 
 railroads ,f which run to their city ; the Mauch Chunk, which , with its branches , is 25 miles long, built 
 for the exclusive purpose of “ developing and unfolding ” the Anthracite coal; and while I would not 
 for one moment question the utility of canals, I would leave this memorial, by submittuig, that railroads f 
 if protected by Government , will, in the end, supersede them : because, in the coldest climates , they can 
 be used at all seasons of the year. 
 
 I ought., perhaps, before closing, to notice a single other objection from 
 another source. It is said “ that some of the long lines of railways extort 
 frosn Government an exhorbitant price for mail service ; therefore, Congress 
 ought not. to remit this duty.” This is precisely what such companies want, 
 because you shut out a proper competition by this prohibition. Other com-' 
 patsies are debarred from constructing roads, which would perform such ser¬ 
 vice for a fair price. It. is submitted, therefore, and mark that (flotation, from 
 the memorial above-named, which says, “ railroads will not be retarded more 
 than they ought be.” For the proof: Whether to retain this duty is not 
 special legislation, for th«t especial benefit of any such company ? 
 
 Permit me now to add two or three obvious reasons why the T or the 
 edge rail will not y,et be made. 
 
 1st. Want of capital. An investment of six millions of dollars would 
 probably be necessary for the ordinary demand, owing to the large expendi- 
 
 * By the report of the Navigation and Reading Railroad Company, for the past season it 
 would seem that they have transported 218,700 tons of coal to Philadelphia, at a cost’of 
 $278,800. By the interesting report of the Baltim®re and Ohio Railroad Company, we learn 
 “ that in pursuance of a proposition which was recently made to the Railroad Company, by the 
 Maryland and New York Iron and Coal Company, which company is possessed of the requisite- 
 funds for the construction of a railroad to Cumberland, and which is anxious to complete such 
 road in the shortest possible time, a negotiation was entered into which had terminated in a 
 contract with that company for the transportation of a specific quantity per day of coal and 
 other articles, for a period of five years. The terms of this contract are, that the Maryland 
 and New York Company engage to make a railroad from the mines to the depot in Cumberland, 
 and will furnish freight for one train of cars, supposed to transport 175 tons oPcoal per day for 
 300 days in the year; and the Railroad Company engage to transport that, amount of freight, 
 in the manner proposed, frpm the mines to Baltimore, at one and a third cents per ton per 
 mile., a distance of 188 miles, with ten cents per ton for transportation through the streets of 
 Baltimore; and one cent per ton per mile for 188 miles in addition, upon manufactured iron, 
 when required to be transported in horse cars; the Maryland and New York Company to load 
 and unload the cars. This contract is not limited to coal, but may embrace in addition, pig 
 iron, bar iron, fire bricks, castings, and other manufactures of iron.” 
 
 To show still more fully the cost of working a railroad at this low figure, here is the report 
 of the accomplished engineer, (Mr. Latrobe :) u It assumes that three locomotive engines will 
 be required to do the constant duty of two; each engine to be of twenty tofts weight, and to 
 draw thirty cars, carrying seven tons of coal each, making 210 tons of coal transported by each 
 train—that to conduct the business economically there should be two such trains daily, the dis¬ 
 tance travelled daily, down and up by each train, being ninety miles. Founding their estimate 
 on this basis, and supposing coal to be used for fuel at a cost of $1 68 per ton, the only wages 
 or compensation for services, being for enginemen, firemen, and two brakemen; one quarter of a 
 cent per ton per mile, being allowed for repairs and renewals of cars ; and the same amount 
 for wear and tear of road ; no allowance being made for the cost of the road—and 12 per cent 
 being allowed for contingencies, the aggregate of cost thus obtailied is 741-1000 cents per ton 
 per mile. Upon this estimate the transport of 105,000 tons during the canalling season of 250 
 days that is, two trains of 210 tons each per day. at the offered rate of 1 1-8 rent per ton pet* 
 mile, will give to the company a profit of <*18,722.” 
 t Now asking toy for relief. 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 
 Lire neressary for proper machinery (o make this kind of iron, which, after 
 all, is supposed to be only a fiftieth part cf what is required for other do¬ 
 mestic purposes in the United States. Or where 50 tons of iron are required 
 for common use, there is one used for railways. 
 
 2d. The manufacturers do not yet supply the demand for the merchant 
 bar, and other irons, which are more profitable with less capital. And lastly, 
 the distance of the mountain ores* from the seaboard, making the cost of 
 transportation of the iron about as much as the cost of manufacture in 
 Wales, and showing clearly that these ores will be more or less valuable, 
 only, as railroads are permitted to reach them. It seems to the undersigned 
 that this reasoning is conclusive. It so appears to many in the commercial 
 capitol of Pennsylvania,(Philadelphia.) which has memorialized Congressfor 
 this repeal, and what is more remarkable, said memorial contains the signa¬ 
 tures of eight presidents of her’railways, who are doubtless anxious to ex¬ 
 tend their roads with a full knowledge cf this fact. Here is another piece 
 of evidence, in an extract of a letter horn a commercial house in New York . 
 
 [extract.] 
 
 “ Allow me to call your attention to an advertisement in the Journal cf 
 Commerce, by which you will observe a proposal is made by the Sandusky 
 City Railroad Company, Ohio, for 1,600 tons of the ordinary fiat railroad 
 iron bar, of the size used by the Utica and Schenectady Company, (30 by 
 35 tons per mile.) 
 
 “ It is a well known fact, that the expense of transporting fiat bars of 
 iron from the western part of Pennsylvania, or Pittsburg, to Cleveland, cn 
 Lake Erie, ranges from $5 to $7 per ton, while, from the Hudson river, 
 via. Buffalo to Cleveland, it cos(s from $18 to $20. Now, with this heavy 
 protection, by the additional cost of inland transportation from the sea 
 board, and an almost prohibitory import duty of $25, (amounting to $38 or 
 $40 per ton.t) The manufacturers of Western Pennsylvania, (if there are 
 any there,) are unable to supply the most ordinary wants cf their own 
 vicinity, or any of the neighboring States. 
 
 “ 1 believe it is a fact beyond the reach of dispute, that not one step has yet 
 been taken, in any part of the Union, for the manufacture of the heavy T 
 or edge rail, with which the great roads throughout the country, in an un¬ 
 finished state, must be completed, there being neither permanency or safety 
 in the fiat rail, where speed and heavy trains are required.” 
 
 SIXTEEN 7 HUNDRED TONS OF RAILROAD IRON WANTED,—(COPT.) 
 
 Proposals, by letter or otherwise, will be received by the undersigned, at the office of the 
 Mansfield and Sandusky City Railroad Company, in Sandusky city, until the 15th of April next, 
 for the above quantity of American or imported iron, in flat bars, of good quality, weighing 30 
 to 35 tons to the mile, to be delivered free of charge on the waters of the Hudson, at New York 
 cr Albany, or at Buffalo, at Portsmouth, C leveland, or Sandusky, Ohio ; at Beaver, on the Ohio 
 river, or at some port on Lake Ontario, during the navigable season of 1844, and all by the 
 month ot September next, if practicable. ' 
 
 Proposers will please give the width and thickness of the bar, and the kind^of joint, and their 
 most favorable terms as to price and payment. Good references will be given and required, of 
 the abilitic; of each party 1° fulfil an J proposal that its officers or agents may accept. 
 
 C. WILLIAMS, Engineer. 
 
 Sandusky City, Ohio, Januainj 16, 1844. B. HIGGINS, Superintendent. 
 
 *The pubho improvements of the State of Pennsylvania are said to be within some 30 miles 
 cf the Great Western Iron Company, where, by the alternate layers of coal, and the ore, they 
 are best prepared for this species of manufacture. It is claimed that the article can be made 
 at the Montour and Wiikesbarre works, on the Susquehanna, Crane works, and on the Lehigh, 
 while in the very teeth of such a claim, is the fact, that the Reading railroad purchased Eng¬ 
 lish rails the pa t season. 
 
 1 Tc which may be added freight, insurance, from England, $5 to J8 per ton 
 
11 
 
 Before assigning any special reasons which bear upon the company whose 
 interests I more immediately represent, permit me to give one more illustra¬ 
 tion of the effect of this duty. Congress, by the act* of August, 184*3, im¬ 
 posed a duty of 8 cents the bushel, of 56 pounds, upon salt. For every 
 50 miles of railway from the purchasing market, where there is no water 
 communication, which this said duty upon railway iron prevents from con¬ 
 struction, it imposes a duty of at least 16 cents per bushel more, in the extra 
 cost of transportation.* 
 
 I know the opponents to this remission will say, that Congress cannot dis¬ 
 criminate; that there is an equal claim from the ship builder, as vessels are 
 also, common carriers, and why should not their iron be free? it seems to 
 me that the last named class are one step in advance of us. They have the 
 common element of water to run upon ,frce of charge , and are protected by 
 tonnage duties, while by your tariff upon (he rail, you say that,the enterpriz- 
 ing and persevering citizen shall not, though he will do it at great expense, 
 and risk of pecuniary sacrifice; and though he will confer, too, an admit¬ 
 ted national benefit, create artificial channels, to place himself, as near as pos¬ 
 sible, on a footing with those, who daily hear the music of old ocean's surge , 
 or witness the proud steamboat plouging the currents of our noble rivers and 
 lakes, or who even hear the shrill whistle, and puff of the locomotive upon 
 iron rails, duty free. 
 
 Once more : It is urged that to discriminate in favor of railway iron, is to 
 favor purse proud corporations rather than individuals. I will not waste 
 paper upon this objection. For how can railways be built but by Govern¬ 
 ment, or by associated individual effort? And if individuals here are wil¬ 
 ling to assume burdens which some of the most enlightened Governments 
 in Europe have been obliged to assume, to answer the demands of public 
 sentiment, why should this American Government, which claims to be still 
 more enlightened, under pretext of revenue, suck, almost, the last drop of 
 blood, from the veins of individuals, who associate, not from choice, but ne¬ 
 cessity9 It being well known, that the power of taking land for public 
 use can be exercised, only, by corporations, duly authorized by the Govern¬ 
 ment. My conclusions, then, are : 
 
 1st. Eleven years permission to import iron, duty free, lias given railways 
 to the richest sections of eon fit ry, with the power to undersell such other 
 sections, as were too poor to build them thus early. 
 
 2d. That while (though in infancy) railroads were beginning to unlock 
 our hidden resources,' to consolidate and unite us, while they were in a state 
 of progress, Government steps in, and, by a change of law, arrests their com¬ 
 pletion, sacrifices millions invested under a guarantee of said eleven years' 
 policy, to the ruin of some of her most industrious citizens. 
 
 3d. That upon this iron rail, American tariffs will have little or no effect, 
 as it is not now made here; that the leading foreign market to England is 
 the continent, and with all that consumption, it is estimated that one-third 
 of her forges are out of blast, while I have shown, by a table of prices, that 
 from 1838 to 1842, the article, though duly free, was constantly falling, 
 (with the American consumption increasing,) and by the competition of 
 British manufacturers, probably would have receded to its present price, ta- 
 
 * Salt at Nashua, N. H., 41 miles from Boston, cost 40 cents, by railroad, per bushel. Sait 
 at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, between 10 and 50 miles from Boston, cost 75 cents, by team, per 
 bushel. 
 
riff or no tariff; showing that the railway companies pay this duty of more 
 than 100 per cent. 
 
 4lh. That the immediate and prospective use of domestic iron for rail- 
 roads, alone, probably equals the weight of the rail ; consequently, every 
 ton* of railway iron imported, makes a demand for one ton of domestic man¬ 
 ufacture. 
 
 5ih. That, in consequence of this use of the new avenues which railroads 
 create for the development of the mountain ores, and cheap transit to points 
 of consumption, the impulse which they give to other manufactures, which 
 create a market for iron of qualities more profitable to make, Pennsylvania, 
 herself, if she would give strength and permanency to one of her great sta¬ 
 ples, has a deep interest in the remission of this duty, till more capital, and 
 a better preparation, exists for its manufacture. 
 
 6th. That if the object of this duty of 100 per cent, be revenue, it is un¬ 
 equal, and disproportionate; unwarranted by the present receipts of the 
 treasury, and levied upon companies, illy able to bear it, 
 
 7th. That in a national point of view, railways are the best protection to 
 our harbors and frontiers, by the facility with which troops, and munitions 
 of war, can he transported ; and therefore, in lieu of a prohibitory duty, they 
 deserve the fostering aid and support of this Government. 
 
 bth. That no T or edge rail will, for some years, be made for 50 per cent., 
 above foreign cost ; and perhaps I may add here, that the attempt to make 
 it in the present infancy of onr iron manufacture, would probably be disas¬ 
 trous, unless aided by a bounty from the Government. 
 
 9th, That, independent of this tariff, giving a monopoly in (ravel—in 
 ability to undersell in produce and manufactures (by cheap transportation) 
 to every section of country which would now build railways, were this duty 
 off, Government imposes, indirectly, for every 50 miles inland, (without 
 water communication,) an additional duty of 16 cents per bushel above the 
 S now paid, upon the poor man’s salt, in extra cost of delivery. 
 
 And, lastly, that the tendency of stopping new railways, by a preventive 
 liuty, is to make monopolies of the few already finished. 
 
 1 hese conclusions I shall endeavor to maintain, backed with many facts, 
 •which want of room will not permit me to insert here. 
 
 The reasons which your memorialists believe apply to them especially, 
 are— 
 
 1st, Fliey were chartered, had made surveys, and incurred much expense 
 in various ways, prior to the act of 1842. 
 
 2d. 1 his railway starts from the United States navy yard in Charlestown, 
 and penetrates the richest ship timber country in New England, and will 
 reduce the price of ship building material at that point, to the Navy De¬ 
 partment, from 20 to 25 per cent, 
 
 3d. This line of railroad is now chartered through the State of Vermont 
 to Burlington, will finally end at Ogdenshurg, upon the St. Lawrence, and, 
 it the policy of Government allows it to be completed, will be equal to 
 ~0,000 troops maintained and supported upon our northern frontier. 
 
 4th. It passes throughout the richest mineral regions in the United 
 States, producing iron, copperas, marble, (equal to the finest Carrera,) Man- 
 
 *By an estimate ol' the able and experienced superintendent of the Worcester railroad, (4i 
 
 On thishf’.L^snn ai ' nu ^ , y for the repairs of engines and cars, alone, is 300,000 lbs. 
 On this basis the 400 miles of railway, m Massachusetts, only consumes 2,400,000 lbs. 
 
#anese, Kaolin earth, snow white quartz, for sand paper and flint glass, 
 slate, soapstone, &c. And though they would be valuable with such 
 means of conveyance, are now, many of them, worthless. 
 
 5th. It brings Boston, the metropolis of New England, within 16 hours 
 of the capital of the Canadas, when completed to Burlington, and, by the 
 Cunard line of steamers unites the old world with the new. And should 
 Congress, in its wisdom, hereafter devise and mature some plan for the pas¬ 
 sage of goods,* and merchandise from the Atlantic, across the St. Lawrence, 
 by the payment of some small transit duty,t it would give much of the 
 .carrying trade between said Canadas and the mother country to United 
 States vessels, and to this line of railroad. 
 
 And lastly, your memorialists pray for a reduction of this duty, upon the 
 broad and immutable principle of equal justice to all— a claim , before which, 
 no arguments of mere political expediency can for one moment stand. 
 
 In behalf of the Boston and Fitchburg Railway Company. 
 
 A. CROCKER, President . 
 
 Note.— The amount paid for construction of railroads in Massachusetts, 
 up to December 3, 1843, with the Nashua, was $18,583,835. The di¬ 
 vidends received for the year ending December 31, 1843, $695,571. 
 
 Take any 20 of the railroads in the United States, including those in 
 New England, and they do not pay an average of 5 per cent, per annum, 
 on the actual amount of capital paid. Who are then benefitted? certainly 
 nor, the stockholders, but the public. 
 
 On page 1, the Worcester road (44 miles in length) is spoken of. Its de¬ 
 tail of furniture is 312 freight, and 24 passenger cars, and 18 engines, with 
 more than 2,000,000 lbs. of domestic iron used. Such facts show what, 
 probably, has not been duly considered by the iron interest, the vast con¬ 
 sumption of American iron, from the engine down to the spike, and its con¬ 
 stant use , by railways. That interest should also remember, that they can¬ 
 not now supply the demand for domestic purposes, should the railroads be 
 allowed to go on and finish. And that as near as can be ascertained, the 
 amount of capital paid in for non works, pretending to make the flat rails, 
 (snake head, travellers call it,) will not exceed one million of dollars, while 
 the railroad capital actually paid in, with a large portion of the roads un¬ 
 finished, exceeds one hundred millions. 
 
 ♦See the able report of the Secretary of the Treasury to the 28th Congress, upon this subject 
 | Some idea of the ultimate importance of this trade may be inferred, from the following ex 
 tract from the Merchant’s Magazine for January, 18^4 : “ Length of Canada, from the Gulf of 
 St. Lawrence to Goose Lake, is 1,000 miles ; width, from north to south, on the average, 300 
 miles. The area is 300,000 square miles, or two and a half times that of Great Britain and 
 Ireland. The population in 1831 was 800,000, in 1843, by estimate, 1,250,0000, about equal to 
 Denmark.” 
 
 The average value of the imports for eight years preceding, 1840 - - 6,711,941 
 
 The value of the imports for 1839, was ------ 8,905,752 
 
 Average value of exports for eight years preceding 1840 - 4,085,629 
 
 Exports for 1839, were. 4,380,571 
 
 The shipping that entered the ports of Canada for 1838, 560,285 tons ; that cleared, 424,251 
 tons ; less than the average for seven preceding years The Ridean canal is 135 miles long 
 from Kingston, on Lake Ontario, to the Chandieu Falls, on the Ottowa river, cost $1,000,000. 
 The area of Canada equals New England, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. 
 This vast tract of country, it is well known, can only use the St. Lawrence about 5 months in 
 a year, and by a liberal provision of this sort, the carrying trade would fall mainly upon New 
 York and New England. 
 
A. 
 
i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
\ 1 > 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 ORATION, 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 PHI KAPPA AND DEMOSTHENIAN SOCIETIES 
 
 of the 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, 
 
 AT 
 
 ATHENS, AUGUST 8, 1844. 
 
 
 By ALEXANDER B. MEEK, 
 
 Of Alabama, a Member of the Demosthenian Society. 
 
 
 
 
 CHARLESTON: 
 
 BURGES ft JAMES, PRINTERS. 
 
 1844 . 
 

 'U 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Demosthenian Hall, August 8th, 1844. 
 On motion of the Hon. Hopkins Holsey, 
 
 Resolved , That the thanks of this Society be tendered to the Hon. A. B. 
 Meek, for the eloquent, chaste and appropriate Address, delivered before the 
 Demosthenian and Phi Kappa Societies, and that a Committee of the regular 
 members be appointed to request a copy for publication. 
 
 SIR: 
 
 In pursuance of the above resolution, the undersigned Committee of 
 the Demosthenian Society, tender to you the cordial thanks of that body, for 
 the elegant, chaste and appropriate Address, delivered in the College Chapel, 
 before the two Literary Societies, and request a copy of the same for publi¬ 
 cation. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, 
 
 Hon. A. B. Meek. 
 
 D. H. WALKER, 
 W. A. DUNN, 
 
 E. U. HARRIS, 
 G. C WHATLEY, 
 R. R. HOWARD, 
 
 > Committee. 
 
 Athens, August 9, 1844. 
 
 GENTLEMEN: 
 
 The gratifying circumstances, attending my present visit to this com¬ 
 munity, are greatly enhanced by the polite manner in which the Demosthe¬ 
 nian Society has been pleased to welcome my Address. In compliance with 
 its request, which you have so politely presented, I place a copy at your 
 disposal. 
 
 Be pleased to accept, gentlemen, an assurance of my gratitude and respect, 
 and believe me to be 
 
 Your friend and servant, 
 
 MESSRS. D. H. WALKER, 
 W. A. DUNN, 
 
 E. U. HARRIS, 
 
 G. C. WHATLEY, 
 R. R. HOWARD, 
 
 ► Committee. 
 
 A. B. MEEK. 
 
ORATION. 
 
 GENTLEMEN OF THE LITERARY SOCIETIES: 
 
 The return to scenes, with which we have been 
 familiar in early life, constitutes much of the pathos 
 and poetry of manhood. The changes time has 
 made in each once familiar object, the developement 
 into new life and beauty of some, the decay, the sig¬ 
 nificant absence, of others, impress us with mingled 
 emotions of pride and tenderness. We look with a 
 calm gratification upon the improvements that have 
 been made; we mourn, with a patient sorrow, for 
 those things, which, too obviously, have passed away 
 from the earth forever. Such are my emotions to¬ 
 day. You have called me back, from a distant home, 
 over an interval of thirteen years, to the scene of my 
 earliest collegiate life. I have come, gratefully, at 
 your bidding, and find well-nigh all things changed 
 about me. The unadorned edifice, in which prayer 
 was wont to be said, and where the feeble voice first 
 attempted to pitch its tones to the music of elo¬ 
 quence, has passed from the view, and this beautiful 
 temple, with its architectural elegance, now occupies 
 the site. The fair village, that then lay in almost 
 pastoral quiet amid its embowering trees, has become 
 a populous town, the home of cultivated wealth, and 
 the mart of an active and far-reaching commerce. 
 
G 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 But the greatest changes have occurred with those 
 who then gave life and social pleasure to the scene. 
 Where are the young forms that bounded in the elas¬ 
 ticity and luxuriance of untamed feeling, upon yon¬ 
 der grass slope when last I looked upon it ? All gone 
 and changed ; scattered through all parts of this bu- 
 sy, diversified land of ours. Some of them are 
 holding high trusts in Legislatures and Congresses, 
 winning proud reputations for statesmanship and el¬ 
 oquence ; others fill noble places in the pulpit, and 
 professor’s chair ; and I have met not a few amid the 
 pine forests and wide prairies of Alabama, engaged 
 in the hot-handed struggle, at the hustings or the 
 barbecue, for this or that presidential aspirant. But 
 alas ! when I again have asked for others, I have 
 been answered, in melancholy tones, that their names 
 have been carved, for many a season, upon the mar¬ 
 ble of the grave yard! 
 
 One other remembrance comes before me at this 
 hour. I see the form of the venerable individual 
 who presided over this institution, at the period of 
 my first entrance into its halls. Through a long life, 
 he has devoted himself, with the love of a Christian, 
 and the capacities of a scholar, to the intellectual 
 and moral elevation of the young men of the South. 
 His exertions have been most nobly rewarded. Hun¬ 
 dreds, under his guidance, have passed up the paths 
 of usefulness, and reflected light upon the institu¬ 
 tions of the country. He has been the foster-parent 
 and vivifying spirit of this University. Now,—at 
 the period to which I revert,—in the fulness of his 
 fame, and while the sun of his life is sinking amidst 
 
 a 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 7 
 
 the mellowed clouds of three score years aud ten, lie 
 is about to sever his connection with this institution. 
 
 I remember the morning when we marched in proces¬ 
 sion to his residence, to take our leave of him. I 
 see him standing bare-headed beneath the grove, af¬ 
 fectionately grasping the hand of each student as we 
 passed, and fervently ejaculating in a voice tremulous 
 with emotion, while the tears streamed from his eyes, 
 “God bless you, my sons!” A few years,—and the 
 venerable patriarch was borne from the scene of his 
 earthly usefulness to the beatitudes of the Just ; but 
 while the walls of this institution remain, they will 
 stand a fitting monument to the memory of Moses 
 Waddell. 
 
 At the same period, to which my memory now 
 goes back, another distinguished individual shed the 
 light of his intellect and the influence of his example, 
 upon this community. Though his life was not spent 
 in the quiet bowers of literature, but in the turbulent 
 field of politics, yet he united much of the graceful¬ 
 ness of the scholar with the solidity of the states¬ 
 man, and was ever active in the promotion of those 
 enterprises which have for their object diffusion of 
 intelligence and virtue among the people. Neither 
 the blandishments of office, nor the voluptuousness 
 of foreign courts could corrupt his republican sim¬ 
 plicity, and he was, in all the leading features of his 
 character, the model of an American statesman. 
 This Georgia of yours owes him a debt of gratitude 
 for his services in the federal councils, and not till 
 talents and integrity, patriotism and statesmanship 
 

 8 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 are unappreciated in the land of Oglethorpe will she 
 neglect the fame of her Crawford. 
 
 Not inappropriate to the subject, upon which I pro¬ 
 pose to address you to-day, are these reminiscences 
 of two of the most eminent men in the history of this 
 State. They both struggled for the same end,—the 
 elevation of the best interests of our country. The 
 one sought to accomplish this by giving a proper im¬ 
 pulse and direction to our political institutions ; the 
 other placed his chief hope of regeneration, in the 
 establishment and diffusion of an elevated intellec¬ 
 tual system. The one was a statesman—the other a 
 scholar. Herein then we recognize, to some extent, 
 our subject, which is to include a discussion of the 
 influence, upon mental developement, of the physical, 
 social and political characteristics of our country, 
 and which I therefore call Americanism in Litera¬ 
 ture. An enquiry into the modifications, which our 
 forms of government, as well as our other peculiari¬ 
 ties, are destined to work in that chiefest of a na¬ 
 tion’s interests, its intellectual efflorescence, can ne¬ 
 ver be devoid of interest on an occasion like this, if 
 at all philosophically conducted. There are lessons 
 kernelled in such an enquiry for the instruction of 
 the statesman as well as the scholar. 
 
 But, at the outset, let us look a little into the legiti¬ 
 mate purposes of both governments, and literatures. 
 Mankind too frequently mistake these for ends, when 
 they are only means for the achievement of an end. 
 They are but instruments whereby to accomplish the 
 great design for Which man was created. And what 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE, 9 
 
 is that ? Is it to hold Congresses, crown kings, write 
 poems, fight battles, invent steam engines, or build 
 magnetic telegraphs ? Oh no! These are but epi¬ 
 sodes in the great epic of immortality. There is a 
 higher design, an ulterior purpose. What then is 
 that? I repeat. For what did God make man, and 
 place him on this revolving globe ? Is there any key 
 to this mystery of life and motion ? Why do the con¬ 
 stant generations come and go athwart this earth like 
 the waves of the sea upon a coast of breakers ? 
 Why this ceaseless production and reproduction ? 
 For what was this great complex machinery of 
 worlds, and centuries, and seasons, and souls,— 
 thought, sunshine and vegetation,—life, death, resur¬ 
 rection,—fashioned into shape and motion, and hung 
 out in the heaven of time? What good does it do? 
 What end can it accomplish? Ah ! these are the old 
 enigmas, which no (Edipus has solved. Reason, 
 revelation, only let us know that man is an immor¬ 
 tal, ethical being, and that the great law of his na¬ 
 ture is incessant progress,—progress to the infinite, 
 the eternal, the omniscient, the perfect. Ever on¬ 
 ward, never attaining ! All things, when aright, move 
 upward, unceasingly, by a great spiral revolution, to 
 the unattainable throne of God ! 
 
 This moral law obtains in this world as well as in 
 the next. Bards and prophets, from the old coun¬ 
 tries, have foretold and prayed for a state of intellec¬ 
 tual and moral perfection : not the wild dream of a 
 Condorcet, but a social millenium, when between the 
 smiling hemispheres of beauty and refinement, the 
 world should roll round in the warm flush, the purpu * 
 2 
 
10 
 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 reum lumen, of Divine intelligence and love.—For 
 this we implore when we say, “ Thy kingdom come!” 
 Not only do we invoke a moral dynasty, but also an 
 intellectual. The two must go together. *God is all 
 intellect, as well as all love ! Literature, in its purity, 
 no less than religion, is a scion of his beneficence, 
 and one of his provisions for the redemption of man. 
 All human institutions, whether intellectual or politi¬ 
 cal, should contribute to this great law of progress. 
 Unless they are founded upon and vivified by its spi¬ 
 rit, they have no right to be. They are tyrannies 
 and falsehoods and should be extinguished. In eve¬ 
 ry enquiry then, as to the value or solidity of a gov¬ 
 ernment or literature, we should measure them by 
 this standard, judge of them by this rule. 
 
 Bad governments and bad literatures tend ever to 
 the demoralization of the human family. They not 
 only retard, but roll back the wheels of progress. 
 The old tyrannies, and their intellectual systems, 
 were manifestations and promoters, not of civiliza¬ 
 tion, but of barbarism. Radically wrong in their 
 whole philosophies of man and life, they led upward 
 to no glorious zenith, but lay, like stagnant oceans, 
 weltering in rottenness and error, breathing pesti¬ 
 lence, woe, and degradation. This, in main part, is 
 why man, in the sixty centuries, has risen so little 
 above his primeval condition. 
 
 But in modern times, a better philosophy of both 
 government and literature has begun to prevail. 
 Mankind have learned that governments are some¬ 
 what more than games or machines kept in curious 
 motion for the amusement and edification of rulers ; 
 
 j 
 

 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 11 
 
 and literatures are beginning to be regarded, not as 
 the phantasmagoria of poets and dreamers, the sun¬ 
 set scaffoldings of fancy, but as something very far 
 beyond that. The old secret has come out that 
 man’s immortality has already begun, and, by these 
 things, you are moulding and fashioning him in his 
 destinies forever. 
 
 Surely now, no enquiry can be more appropriate 
 or profitable than whether this American govern¬ 
 ment, this American literature of ours, in what they 
 are now, and are destined to be, correspond with the 
 principles and designs of Providence, in the creation 
 of man: that is are they in faith with the great law of 
 intellectual and social progression ? The question is , 
 double, but it may still be answered affirmative¬ 
 ly. In my judgment, there has never been a social 
 organism in which the two greatest motive powers of 
 elevation, government and literature,—for under lit¬ 
 erature I now include religion,—were more happily 
 accommodated, or gave “fairer promise of a goodly 
 morrow,” from their reciprocal operations, than in 
 this young twenty-six headed giant of the West. Let 
 Sydney Smith sneer as he may, but verily this Amer¬ 
 icanism of ours, with all its physical, historical and 
 political aspects, is destined to be, as it already has 
 been, a powerful influence on man, and will necessa¬ 
 rily modify and fashion the literature of the world. 
 Literature, in its essence, is a spiritual immortality; 
 no more than religion a creation of man; but, like 
 the human soul, while enduring the mystery of its in¬ 
 carnation, is subject to the action of the elements, 
 is the slave of circumstance. In the sense in which 
 
 4 
 
12 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 we would now view it, it is the expression of the 
 spiritual part of our nature, in its intellectual action, 
 whether taking form in philosophy, history, poetry, 
 eloquence, or some other branch of thought. The 
 sum of all this, in any nation, is what constitutes her 
 literature, and it is always modified and colored by 
 the peculiarities about it. As the river, sliding un¬ 
 der the sunset, imbibes, for the time, the hues of the 
 heavens, so the stream of literature receives, from the 
 people through which it passes, not only the images 
 and shadows of their condition, but the very force 
 and direction of its current. Every literature, Greek 
 or Roman, Arabic or English, French, Persian or 
 German, acquired its qualities and impression from 
 the circumstances of the time and people. The 
 philosophic eye can readily detect the key, cause 
 and secret of each, and expose the seminal principle 
 from which they grew into their particular shape and 
 fashion. 1 he same scrutinizing analysis will enable 
 us to determine the influences among ourselves, 
 which are to operate in the formation of our litera¬ 
 ture ; as well as to decide whether it will comport 
 with those high spiritual requisitions which, I have 
 already avowed, should be demanded from it. Let 
 us then attempt to see how Americanism will deve- 
 l°pe itself in Literature. We shall discuss some of 
 its preliminary conditions first. 
 
 1. The physical attributes of our country are all 
 partial to the loftiest manifestations of mind. Na¬ 
 ture here presents her loveliest, sublimest aspects. 
 For vastness of extent, grandeur of scenery, genial 
 diversities of climate, and all that can minister to 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 13 
 
 the comforts and tastes of man, this heritage of ours 
 is without a parallel. In its mountains of stone and 
 iron, its gigantic and far-reaching rivers, its inland 
 seas, its forests of all woods, its picturesque and 
 undulating prairies, in all its properties and propor¬ 
 tions, it might well be considered, in comparison 
 with the eastern hemisphere, the work of a more 
 perfect and beneficent artist. To the eyes of the 
 Genoese mariner, the wildest dreams of Diodorus 
 and Plato were more than realized. Seneca sang,— 
 
 “-Venient annis 
 
 Saecula seris, quibus oceanus 
 Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens 
 Pateat tellus, Typhisque novos 
 Detegat orbes 
 
 Yet not even in the mirror of his prophetic fancy 
 were these more than Elysian fields glossed with all 
 their beauty and sublimity. Even the bilious British 
 satirist, who could see no good in all our institutions, 
 was compelled to confess that here 
 
 “-Nature showed 
 
 The last ascending footsteps of the God !” 
 
 Well nigh all this vast expanse of fruitfulness and 
 beauty, too, has been subject to the control of civi¬ 
 lized man. Our country has extended her jurisdic¬ 
 tion over the fairest and most fertile regions. The 
 rich bounty is poured into her lap, and breathes its 
 influence upon her population. Their capacities are 
 not pent and thwarted by the narrow limits which 
 restrict the citizens of other countries. No specu¬ 
 lating theorist, a Malthus, Stultz or Liceto, has 
 cause here to apprehend the dangers of over-popula- 
 

 14 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 tion. Room, bountiful room, is all about us, for 
 humanity to breathe freely in, and to go on expand¬ 
 ing in a long future.—Do these things afford no 
 promise of intellectual improvement ? Are they no 
 incitements to a lofty and expanded literature ? Do 
 they furnish no materiel for active, generous, eleva¬ 
 ted thought ? Is there no voice coming out from all 
 this fragrance and beauty and sublimity, appealing 
 to the heart and fancy of man, for sympathy, utter¬ 
 ance, embodiment ? Why, it was once said, that the 
 sky of Attica would make a Boeotian a poet; and 
 we have seen even “ the red old hills of Georgia” 
 draw inspiring melody from the heart of patriotic 
 genius.—Physical causes have always operated in 
 the formation and fashioning of literature. In all 
 the higher productions of mind, ancient and mo¬ 
 dern, we can easily recognize the influence of the 
 climate and natural objects among which they were 
 developed. The sunsets of Italy colored the songs 
 of Tasso and Petrarch ; the vine-embowered fields 
 of beautiful France are visible in all the pictures of 
 Rousseau and La Martine, you may hear the so¬ 
 lemn rustling of the Hartz forest, and the shrill horn 
 of the wild huntsman throughout the creations of 
 Schiller and Goethe ; the sweet streamlets and sunny 
 lakes of England smile upon you from the graceful 
 verses of Spenser and Wordsworth; and the mist- 
 robed hills of Scotland loom out in magnificence 
 through the pages of Ossian, and the loftier visions 
 of Marmion and Waverly. 
 
 Our country, then, must receive much of the cha¬ 
 racter of her literature from her physical properties. 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 15 
 
 If our minds are only original; if they be not base 
 copyists, and servile echoes of foreign masters; if 
 we can assert an intellectual as well as political in¬ 
 dependence ; if we dare to think for ourselves, and 
 faithfully picture forth, in our own styles of utter¬ 
 ance, the impressions our minds shall receive from 
 this great, fresh continent of beauty and sublimity;— 
 we can render to the world the most vigorous and 
 picturesque literature it has ever beheld. Never had 
 imagination nobler stimulants; never did nature 
 look more encouragingly upon her genuine children. 
 In poetry, romance, history and eloquence, what 
 glorious objects,—sights and sounds for illustration 
 and ornament!—I have stood, down in Florida, be¬ 
 neath the over-arching groves of magnolia, orange 
 and myrtle, blending their fair flowers and voluptu¬ 
 ous fragrance, and opening long vistas between their 
 slender shafts, to where the green waters of the 
 Mexican Gulf lapsed upon the silver-sanded beach, 
 flinging up their light spray into the crimson beams 
 of the declining sun, and I have thought that, for 
 poetic beauty, for delicate inspiration, the scene was 
 as sweet as ever wooed the eyes of a Grecian min¬ 
 strel on the slopes of Parnassus, or around the foun¬ 
 tains of Castaly. 
 
 Again: I have stood upon a lofty summit of the 
 Alleghanies, among the splintered crags and vast 
 gorges, where the eagle and the thunder make their 
 home ; and looked down upon an empire spread out 
 in the long distance below. Far as the eye could 
 reach, the broad forests swept away over territories 
 

 10 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 
 of unexampled productiveness and beauty. At in¬ 
 tervals through the wide champaign, the domes and 
 steeples of some fair town, which had sprung up 
 with magical suddenness among the trees, would 
 come out to the eye, giving evidence of the presence 
 of a busy, thriving population. Winding away 
 through the centre too, like a great artery of life to 
 the scene, I could behold a noble branch of the 
 Ohio, bearing upon its bosom the already active 
 commerce of the region, and linking that spot with 
 a thousand others, similar in their condition and 
 character. As I thus stood, and thought of all that 
 was being enacted in this glorious land of ours, and 
 wsa, in imagination, the stately centuries as they 
 passed across the scene, diffusing wealth, prosperity 
 and refinement, I could not but believe that it pre¬ 
 sented a nobler theatre, with sublimer accompani¬ 
 ments and inspirations, than ever rose upon the eye 
 of a gazer from the summits of the Alps or the 
 Appenines. 
 
 Such are some of the physical aspects of our 
 country, and such the influence they are destined to 
 have upon our national mind. Very evidently they 
 constitute noble sources of inspiration, illustration 
 and description. For all that part of literature 
 which is drawn from the phases of nature, from the 
 varying moods and phenomena of the outward world, 
 the elements and the seasons, they will be more 
 valuable than all the beauties of the Troad or Cam¬ 
 pania Felix. Rightly used, they would bring a fresh¬ 
 ness and spirit into the domain of high thought, 
 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 17 
 
 which would revive it like a spring-time return, and 
 we might take up, in a better hope, the exultation of 
 of Virgil,— 
 
 “ Jam ultima oetas Cumali carmidis venit, 
 
 Magnus ordo sceclorum nascitur abintegro, 
 
 Et jam virgo redit, Saturnia regna redeunt!” 
 
 2. These pleasant anticipations are also justified 
 in part, by the excellent and diversified character of 
 the population of our country. Herein will reside 
 one of the strong modifying influences of American¬ 
 ism upon literature. Though our population is com¬ 
 posed principally of the several varieties of the 
 Anglo-Saxon stock, yet every other race of Europe, 
 and some from the other continents, have contribut¬ 
 ed to swell the motley and singular combination.— 
 Coming from every quarter of the globe, they have 
 brought with them their diverse manners, feelings, 
 sentiments, and modes of thought, and fused them in 
 the great American alembic. The stern, clear-head¬ 
 ed, faith-abiding Puritan, the frank, chivalrous, im¬ 
 aginative Huguenot, the patient, deep-thoughted, 
 contemplative German,—pilgrims from every clime, 
 creed, and literature,—are to be found in contact 
 and intercourse here. They interact upon each 
 other to fashion all the manifestations of society, in 
 thought or deed. The contrasts and coincidences, 
 they present under our institutions, afford new and 
 graceful themes for the poet, the novelist and the 
 philosopher; and the historian will have to give us 
 pictures of life and humanity here, such as are found 
 not elsewhere. I need but allude, in this connection, 
 
 to the existence of three distinct races of men upon 
 
 3 
 

 18 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 
 i 
 
 our continent, with their strongly marked peculiari¬ 
 ties of condition, color and history. The immense 
 rapidity with which our numbers are increasing— 
 well nigh doubling in every fifteen years !—will pro¬ 
 duce an unexampled demand for knowledge, and act 
 as a powerful impetus to its elevation. Already has 
 the great and fluctuating intermixture of our popula¬ 
 tion had an influence upon the English language. In 
 no part of the world is our mother tongue spoken 
 with such general purity of pronunciation, as in our 
 country. The constant tide of internal emigration 
 tends to rectify the provincialisms into which sta¬ 
 tionary communities so frequently fall. Otherwise 
 is it even in England. The whole kingdom is bro¬ 
 ken up into dialects as numerous as her counties; 
 and the respective inhabitants are almost as unintel¬ 
 ligible to each other, as if they spoke languages radi¬ 
 cally distinct. Is it Utopian to expect the proudest 
 results, when One common language shall be employ¬ 
 ed by the many millions who are to occupy this 
 almost illimitable republic ?—But it is in the strong, 
 industrious and wholesome character of our popula¬ 
 tion, that the best hope for our national mind de¬ 
 pends. Their habits of life will generate a muscu¬ 
 larity of intellect, becoming their position and desti¬ 
 ny. No effeminacy of thought or feeling will be 
 tolerated among a people, composed of the choicest 
 varieties of every race, stimulating each other to 
 mental exertion, and accumulating wealth and power 
 with almost miraculous rapidity and extent. Such a 
 people, if they should have no powerful impediments, 
 are better fitted than any other to render the world 
 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 19 
 
 an intellectual illumination, and to bring round in 
 reality the poetic vision of the golden age. 
 
 3. Pass we now to the consideration of the most 
 potent influence of Americanism in Literature: the 
 form and spirit of our political institutions.—If there 
 is a truth strongly exemplified in history, it is, that 
 free governments are the best calculated of any, to 
 promote the intellectual and moral progress of man. 
 Of all the vast tyrannies of antiquity, how few con¬ 
 tribute to the advancement of letters! There is not 
 in existence a line of verse or philosophy by Chal¬ 
 dean, Babylonian, Assyrian or Phoenician author. 
 Populous, powerful and magnificent as those king¬ 
 doms were, they yet stand in history like the huge 
 pyramids of human skulls which Tamerlane erected 
 before the gates of Damascus, great, dumb monu¬ 
 ments of human misery and oppression. In beauti¬ 
 ful contrast are all the free states of the past. Under 
 their genial institutions, the arts, the sciences and 
 the refinements of life rose into prosperity and beau¬ 
 ty, and, like the swinging flower-gardens of oriental 
 sumptuousness, diffused a fragrance which still floats 
 upon the breezes of history. This is particularly 
 true of Athenian, Roman and Italian literatures. 
 Just in proportion to the liberty existing among them 
 at their respective eras, was the extent, the luxuri¬ 
 ance of their mental developement. It is so in the 
 nature of things. Tyrannies are restrictions upon 
 thought and its utterance. Their every influence 
 must be directed to the suppression of those great 
 truths of philosophy, religion, poetry and life, which 
 are the soul and effluence of every genuine litera- 
 

 20 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 ture, and which great men, the prophets, and apos¬ 
 tles, and martyrs of thought, are sent into the world 
 to preach. It is true that, under monarchies, there 
 have sometimes been glorious revelations of genius, 
 learning and intellectual luxury, as in the eras of 
 Augustus, Louis XIV, and Elizabeth ; yet they were 
 either outbursts of coming or going freedom, or con¬ 
 tained, in themselves, but little that could add to the 
 elevation or happiness of the mass of men. How 
 few truths, tributary to the perfect law of life, were 
 brought to light by any, the most gorgeous of these 
 intellectual dispensations ! 
 
 But this government of ours is established upon 
 principles more genial to the literature of humanity, 
 than any other that has ever existed. The noble, 
 broad, philosophic truths at the basis of our consti¬ 
 tution, the rocks upon which our house is built, are 
 all conducive to intellectual developement. The fun¬ 
 damental maxim, that all men are politically equal, 
 ' which has done so much to elevate humanity, infuses 
 into literature a new spirit, as well as into govern¬ 
 ment. The man of genius now, however obscure 
 his parentage, or humble his condition, can proudly 
 hold up his head, in the light of the common sun, un¬ 
 restricted, unabashed, by any of the miserable fic¬ 
 tions of prerogative, and utter forth, in the emphasis 
 of thunder, the solemn truths he has learned in the 
 Patmos of his imagination, and which shall make all 
 mankind feel that the propitious bend of the heaven 
 comes equally close to every descendant of Adam. 
 In its whole organism, our government provides for 
 the unrestrained exercise of mind. This is the per- 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 21 
 
 meating spirit of our political fabric. The sages 
 and statesmen who received their lessons of wisdom 
 between the clouds and thunder, covering the Sinai 
 of the Revolution, knew that literature had always 
 been the truest friend of the rights of man, and they 
 consequently provided, in all our fundamental char¬ 
 ters, for the encouragement of the faithful instruc¬ 
 tress. Freedom of conscience, freedom of thought, 
 freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, the 
 essentials of literature, are the pillars of our nation¬ 
 al edifice. No other government has ever held out, 
 in itself, so many incitements to intellectual action. 
 There is a pervading necessity for the application of 
 high thought to its management, in every department. 
 About its movement there is nothing of brute force; 
 all proceeds under the guidance ot constant, indis¬ 
 pensable mental power. That old dumb, central prin¬ 
 ciple of monarchies, about which Blackstone, De 
 Lolme and Montesquieu, were so much troubled, the 
 absolute sovereignty, is here an active, thinking, vital 
 essence, like the atmosphere we breathe, embracing 
 all, yet in every man’s bosom, and calling on each 
 for the exercise of his intellectual faculties. The 
 countless offices of our system, open equally to all, 
 are so many spurs to enterprize. How wide and 
 minutely diffused is the influence,—how constant, 
 how potent! All of us are daily invoked to the dis¬ 
 cussion and decision of questions, in law, philoso¬ 
 phy and economy, which demand, for their proper 
 adjustment, all the learning of experience, and the 
 profoundest operations of the mind. Universal suf¬ 
 frage is, in its end, universal knowledge. Democracy 
 
22 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 is the parent of literature. Verily, under these as¬ 
 pects, we may apply, in an intellectual as well as po¬ 
 litical sense, to every American citizen, the bold 
 parallel which Wordsworth draws to the Highland 
 freebooter: 
 
 “ The Eagle, he was king above, 
 
 And Robroy, he was king below!” 
 
 But, it has been said, that though our institutions 
 thus hold out excellent opportunities and stimulants 
 to intellectual exercise, they are yet prejudicial to 
 literature proper, because of their almost exclusively 
 political tendency. This is to some extent too true. 
 Very evidently the greater part of our talent has 
 hitherto been monopolized by politics. But that has 
 been owing chiefly to the infancy of our country. 
 In the outset of a government so peculiar as ours, 
 so complicated and popular, in which so many ar¬ 
 rangements without precedent had to be made, and 
 so many apparently conflicting principles adjusted, it 
 was natural that the talent of the country should be 
 principally directed to the affairs of State. The 
 shining names in our history, who had won distinc¬ 
 tion in our first political councils, became beacon- 
 lights to guide the emulous spirits of our youths into 
 similar careers. Both these influences have now 
 begun to subside. Besides, nations in their infancy, 
 like individuals, are apt to mistake the obvious and 
 fascinating for the useful and the true. As both ad¬ 
 vance in life, they acquire deeper and wiser lessons. 
 So far, we have rushed headlong into politics, as 
 much from the novelty of the attraction, as from 
 any other cause ; and the intellectual stature of men 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 23 
 
 lias been measured more by the number of offices 
 they have held, than by their solid contributions to 
 the permanent thought of the country. This is a sad 
 error, and must die out. As we grow older, we will 
 learn that literature is a far nobler pursuit than “ the 
 vain, low strife, that makes men mad and that the 
 philosophers, historians, poets and scholars, the 
 preachers and teachers, are the great men of the 
 time. Politics itself can never be a science ; never 
 more than a barbarian scramble for office, unless it is 
 purified and rounded into form by the spirit of lite¬ 
 rature. Already have other nations learned the ne¬ 
 cessity of making their statesmen out of their scho¬ 
 lars. At this moment the illustrious Humboldt is 
 prime-minister of Russia, and in France, we see 
 Thiers, Guizot, La Martine and Arago, all distin¬ 
 guished as authors, occupying the most prominent 
 political positions. 
 
 This spirit, at no distant day, must obtain in our 
 country. It is not our form of government or its 
 tendencies, that are inimical to literature. It is the 
 public taste that is depraved, the public mind that is 
 in error. Let these be rectified, as they are fast being, 
 under the progress of intelligence,—before the out¬ 
 pourings from institutions such as this all over our 
 country,—and literature may have a Lazarus-like re¬ 
 surrection in these occidental forests. Even now, 
 if common justice were done to the authors of our 
 country, in protecting them from the piratical and 
 nefarious system of plunder from foreign authors ; 
 if, guided by the plainest principles of justice, Con¬ 
 gress would allow the foreign writer, a copy-right to 
 
24 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 secure to him the labors of his own intellect, to 
 which he is as honestly entitled as the people of Ala¬ 
 bama are to their cattle which may stray across the 
 line into your Georgia; if we would protect our¬ 
 selves from this “ blue and yellow literature,” the 
 scum of the French .and British press, which is con¬ 
 taminating our morals, and depraving our minds ; if, 
 in short, we would be actuated by elevated senti¬ 
 ments of patriotism, justice, morality and love of 
 letters, to the adoption of an international copy-right 
 law,—we should have the heralding of as pure and 
 noble a literature as ever dawned upon the eyes of 
 Pericles or Tacitus, Ariosto or Addison. But ah! 
 the present Serbonian system is worse, far worse, in 
 its morals and moral effects, than Mississippi repu¬ 
 diation ! 
 
 4. Let us glance now at another aspect of Amer¬ 
 icanism from which we may hope something for lit¬ 
 erature. Our general goverment is constructed up¬ 
 on the principle of having as little to do as possible 
 with the internal, domestic affairs of society. By 
 its enumerated powers its rightful province and juris¬ 
 diction are mainly external. Consequently, after the 
 general, and, as they may be called, incidental influ¬ 
 ences, I have enumerated, and the fact that it guar¬ 
 anties to each state a republican form of govern¬ 
 ment, it has but one specified provision by which 
 it can encourage literature ; that is the power “ to 
 promote the progress of science and the useful arts, 
 by securing, for limited times, to authors and inven¬ 
 tors, the exclusive right to their respective writings 
 and discoveries.” Beyond this, the entire control 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 25 
 
 and jurisdiction of all the vast territories of intel¬ 
 lect,—the flowering Palestines of mind,—are left 
 exclusively to the separate population, of the several 
 republics composing the confederacy. Each state 
 is the legitimate and only guardian of all the great 
 interests of knowledge within her borders. Unlike 
 the general government, she can do every thing for 
 the promotion of letters not prohibited by her con¬ 
 stitution ; while the former can do nothing, for which 
 it has not an express grant of power. This leaves 
 the destinies of education, of literature, science, and 
 the arts, in safer and more potential hands than if 
 they were confided exclusively to national control. 
 In my estimation, our system of confederated sove¬ 
 reignties, one of the most marked features ol Amer¬ 
 icanism, is peculiarly favorable to the production of 
 a pure, earnest, life-bestowing, beauty-breathing lit¬ 
 erature. Let us elaborate a little the reasons for this 
 belief. 
 
 It was the benevolent desire of Henry the IV., to 
 which he was prompted by the philosophic mind of 
 his minister, Sully, to see all the kingdoms of the 
 earth united in peace under one harmonious govern¬ 
 ment. This generous vision, if feasible at all, could 
 only be realized under some system similar to ours. 
 Our confederacy is susceptible of indefinite exten¬ 
 sion. The addition of new states tends but more 
 firmly to confine the Union to its legitimate func¬ 
 tions, and to diffuse wider, and wider, the blessings 
 of democracy, peace, and social security. Under no 
 other organism, could these fundamental requisites 
 of literature, be so extensively attained. A vast 
 4 
 
u 
 
 26 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 consolidated government could but ill provide for the 
 comfort and welfare of its remote parts. It could 
 not meet the domestic wants and intellectual de¬ 
 mands of its diversified sections, nor proportion its 
 encouragements to the peculiar characteristics of 
 the people and the place. What general system even 
 of common-school education, would extend equally 
 to all parts of this vast and motley Union ? The sun 
 himself shines with a varying splendor upon the 
 sands of Nantucket and the corn-fields of Alabama. 
 In no vast, unbroken empire, has literature ever 
 flourished. The gigantic despotisms of Asia are 
 great Zaharas in the intellectual world. But one 
 star illuminated the darkness of that long, wide, Chi¬ 
 nese night,—the star of Confucius. Russia, with 
 her teeming millions, has never struck the harp of 
 Apollo, nor caught the glintings of the silver shield 
 of Minerva. There they stand, in blank, grey stu¬ 
 pendousness, like the sphinx upon the sands of 
 giving no answer to the questionings of intel¬ 
 lect ! So evermore with these giant consolidations. 
 Government must come down, and shape itself to 
 the varying conditions of men. As with us, it must 
 have its wheels within its wheels, each one, as in 
 the vision of the prophet, vital with a distinct inter¬ 
 est, yet moving out sympathetically to the whole. 
 This then becomes disembarrassed of those minute 
 details, and innumerable complex duties, which exist 
 in every social system, and which have to be observ¬ 
 ed and nourished before a literature can be created. 
 
 But this federated system prevents another detri¬ 
 mental influence of consolidated governments.— 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 27 
 
 Wherever there is a great central capital, the whole 
 intellectual wealth of the country, whether invested 
 in literature or politics, becomes accumulated in it. 
 It forms a conspicuous reservoir, to which all the 
 fountains have to flow, before they can be distributed 
 through the land. Imperious laws are there given to 
 the world of letters, and all other competition is 
 frowned down and destroyed before the fashions of 
 the metropolis. We see this illustrated in France 
 and England. Before genius can find an audible ut¬ 
 terance, it has to travel up to London or Paris : even 
 such men as Johnson and Voltaire were not exempt 
 from the necessity. They had to prune and warp 
 their intellects to the whims of the book-pedlars and 
 play-mongers in Grub-street, or the Rue de la Paix. 
 So evermore : Every thing provincial is denounced 
 and rejected. The best book, issued in Leeds or 
 Manchester, in Bourdeaux or Marseilles, is consign¬ 
 ed at once to oblivion, before the literary dictatorship 
 of the metropolis. No good thing can come out of 
 Nazareth ; there is no divinity among Gallilean pea¬ 
 sants. The result of all this is most pernicious. Poor 
 genius is compelled to languish in obscurity in the 
 provinces; the God dies in the manger; and the en¬ 
 tire literature of the country, instead of being the 
 large, fresh, oak-like growth of the heart of the 
 whole people, becomes the dwarfed and noxious ve¬ 
 getation of a hot-bed of vice and effeminacy. 
 
 These evil influences can never exist with us. Our 
 institutions disseminate their influence through every 
 portion of the Union. Each State has its own capi¬ 
 tal, whence proceeds the legislation which is to deve- 
 
u 
 
 28 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 lope and form the mind of its inhabitants. True, 
 as yet, these several centres are weak and uninfluen- 
 tial; but, as the States swell in power, wealth, im¬ 
 portance; as they begin to feel, each for itself, as 
 every community sooner or later must feel, the ne¬ 
 cessity for a home literature; then the advantages 
 of our distributive system will be happily discovered. 
 At the least, we shall always have a number of large 
 cities in this Union, at remote points, with equal 
 centrifugal forces; thus preserving our literature 
 from being concentred in one metropolis, while the 
 rest of the country is left in comparative darkness, 
 and the bright servitress becomes, as she too fre¬ 
 quently has been forced to be, a vile pander to the 
 bad passions of the enemies of free institutions. 
 
 The rivalry and emulation which must always exist 
 among the several states of the confederacy, will be 
 highly favorable to literature. Each state will be un¬ 
 willing to be surpassed by a sister in the promotion 
 of letters. This feeling has already given rise to 
 the many institutions for high learning which exist 
 in our country. Even now we have well-nigh a hun¬ 
 dred universities or colleges, a larger number than any 
 other country upon the globe. These are the nur¬ 
 series of that genius and talent, which must blossom 
 into beauty,—into literature. The young men of 
 each section will not consent to fall behind those of 
 any other in those elevated achievements, which 
 while they shed a morning-light of gracefulness over 
 the institutions of their country, will make their own 
 names as musical upon the lips of history as those of 
 Cicero or Milton, of Thucydides or Shelly. Every 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 29 
 
 one will strive to be faithful to the highest interests, 
 the honor and dignity, the faith and lineaments, of 
 his nourishing parent. The intellectual manifesta¬ 
 tions of each section will thus partake of the pecu¬ 
 liarities of the state in which they may arise, its mo¬ 
 ral and physical phases, and thus our national litera¬ 
 ture, while, in its parts, it is stimulated by a generous 
 rivalry, will imbibe an originality and freshness there¬ 
 by, that will make it not unlike our national govern¬ 
 ment receiving its vigor and permanence from the 
 individual prosperity of its component sovereignties. 
 
 The lessons of history, that experimental philoso¬ 
 pher, might be quoted in behalf of the position that 
 belles-lettres have ever flourished, to the greatest 
 advantage, under an associated system of small, in¬ 
 dependent States. But the illustrations are familiar, 
 and I shall pass on, content with only pointing you 
 to the contrast between the intellectual conditions of 
 Greece and Italy, during the existence of their repub¬ 
 lics, and when these were extinguished in the broad 
 expanse of consolidated dominion; as also to the 
 history of the Swiss Cantons, the Hanseatic Towns, 
 the Baltic Circle, and the present condition of the 
 States of Germany. Though none of them can be 
 compared, in excellent political arrangement, with 
 our country, yet it is certainly a significant fact that, 
 in proportion as they have approximated to the sys¬ 
 tem of confederated sovereignties, literature, science 
 and art have flourished in their borders. Well, then, 
 might Sismondi, in his glowing picture of the Italian 
 republics, a book every American should read, re¬ 
 gret, with a deep pathos, the extinguishment of their 
 
u 
 
 30 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 separate existence, as the stoppage-up of so many 
 well-heads of moral and social refinement. 
 
 We have now taken a general view of some of the 
 principal features of Americanism, as I call it,—its 
 governmental, social and physical aspects,—in refe¬ 
 rence to their influence upon the developement of 
 literature. These, it must be admitted, are highly 
 auspicious for the future, even if, as is too true, they 
 have accomplished but little as yet. They must 
 work out our intellectual redemption in the long to- 
 come, and give us a republic of letters, as vigorous, 
 symmetrical, lovely and expansive, as its kindred po¬ 
 litical system,—as the broad theatre upon which our 
 many millions are to move. This new literature is 
 to be something unlike any thing of the past. It is 
 not to be a re-production of the worn-out articles of 
 faith, philosophy, poetry or fable of antiquity. No, 
 God forbid ! I would not reproduce here, if I could, 
 that golden age of Augustus, nor those diamond 
 days of Elizabeth, of which we have before spoken. 
 No! Americanism has a destiny of its own to ac¬ 
 complish in literature. It has to work out a system 
 of thought, unlike any that has gone before, and 
 mirroring truly the new phases of humanity, of soci¬ 
 ety, of government, that are here coming forth. 
 The literatures of all other nations are entirely in¬ 
 adequate, unfit for Americanism. We must have a 
 literature congenial to our institutions, to our posi¬ 
 tion, to our great democratic faith. This we want 
 exceedingly now. We want a literature not unlike 
 that which Milton, and Marvell, and Sidney, and 
 Harrington, and Fletcher of Saltoun, foreshadowed 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 31 
 
 in the times of the protectorate: a literature, sailing 
 like a ship across the ocean of time, freighted with 
 the noblest interests, the Manilla ransom of humani¬ 
 ty, and bearing onward ever, all sails set, before the 
 steady breezes of that old Millenial progress. Yes ! 
 Americanism is to achieve important modifications 
 in the spirit and faith of literature. What some of 
 these will be, it is not difficult to determine. 
 
 Is it not singular that, in the six thousand years 
 we have been upon the earth, so little has been es¬ 
 tablished in political philosophy ? Few truths touch¬ 
 ing the rights or relations of man, the authority of 
 rulers, or the best forms and essential principles of 
 government, are of general reception even among 
 the most intelligent and cultivated minds. The de¬ 
 tails of policy and practice are still more diverse 
 and unsettled. Well nigh every government has 
 proceeded upon some radically erroneous tenet. 
 This has dislocated and disordered the whole ma¬ 
 chinery. Ours is the first that has squared its foun¬ 
 dations according to the immutable laws of human 
 nature. Taking for its polar-star, its watchword— 
 “ equality and justice to all,” it has been enabled, in 
 its spirit and practice, to comport with the acquisi¬ 
 tions of sound reason. Thus our government will 
 be able to present to the world, not only the model 
 of a system approaching perfection, but more cor¬ 
 rect and elevated postulates aiid maxims in political 
 science, than have ever before been propounded. 
 This we must do, in justice to ourselves and our in¬ 
 stitutions. The very text-books used in our schools 
 and colleges, and by our law students, are filled with 
 
u 
 
 32 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 iniquitous sophisms and falsehoods. All other go¬ 
 vernments are bending their genius and learning 
 against the faith and polity upon which we practice. 
 It is ours to justify these in the eyes of the world, 
 from the insidious as well as open attacks of our 
 enemies, and to sow broad-cast the exalted princi¬ 
 ples of democracy, until every people, within the 
 blue girdle of the sun, shall lift up their hands in 
 joy upon their hills, and shout aloud, in the ecstacy 
 of regenerating freedom. Political philosophy is, as 
 yet, scarcely a recognized science ; but 1 firmly be¬ 
 lieve that it is to be the destiny, as it certainly is the 
 duty, of our country, to give to the world lessons of 
 wisdom, in both its branches, of ethics and economy, 
 which will do more for the diffusion of truth, and the 
 elevation of man, than any other influence since the 
 writings of Luther and Melancthon. The Declara¬ 
 tion of Independence was the first star of the morn¬ 
 ing, but it will be followed, in the figurative language 
 of Shelley, by its “ flocks of golden bees,” until the 
 whole sky shall be luminous with truth and beauty. 
 
 Another great achievement for American genius, is 
 to rectify the erroneous spirit of history. From the 
 times of Herodotus to Hallam, all history has been 
 written wrong. It has been throughout a specious 
 and cunning defence of the assumptions of the few, 
 against the rights of the many. Kings and courtiers, 
 knights and warriors, Gengis Khans and Coeur de 
 Lions,—the tyrants and murderers of mankind,— 
 have been made to walk in stately procession, 
 through its dramatic scenery, while the mighty peo¬ 
 ple, each one more truly preserving the image of his 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 33 
 
 maker, have been treated as so many dumb beasts of 
 burden. Instead of being, as it was first called by 
 Dionysius of Halicarnassus, “ philosophy teaching 
 by example,” it has been, example distorting philoso¬ 
 phy. Well might Horace Walpole, in his dying 
 hours, exclaim “ Read me not history ; I will believe 
 any thing but that.” Verily, the world has always 
 been imposed upon by these lying Books of Chroni¬ 
 cles ! Look for instance, at the histories of the 
 French Revolution. What writer has ever faithfully 
 portrayed the spirit and incidents of that great strug¬ 
 gle for the rights of man ? All have attempted to ex¬ 
 cite our sympathies for the stolid Bourbons, and the 
 supercilious noblesse of the old regime , and to stir 
 our indignation against the tumultuous upheavings 
 of long depressed humanity. Even Scott prostitu¬ 
 ted his fine genius to the miserable task of framing 
 a distorted argument in defence of the aristocratic 
 principle; and the Reverend Archibald Allison has 
 recently strutted forth, in pompous tomes, to hurl 
 his anathemas upon every manifestation of democ¬ 
 racy, whether in France or America! 
 
 All this, I say, has to be rectified. The whole 
 volume of history must be rewritten in a different 
 spirit, with kindlier principles and a better faith. 
 Our sympathies should be stirred in behalf of the 
 suffering citizen, not the bloated despot: for the fa¬ 
 ther toiling in the long afterno.on of those days, gone 
 a hundred years ago, to earn a scanty subsistence 
 for his children, and not for the pampered patrician, 
 revelling in wealth acquired only by govermental 
 fraud and extortion. This is the spirit of our insti- / 
 5 
 
u 
 
 34 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 tutions, and should be the spirit of our liieratufe. 
 Written in this faith, what a change would take place 
 in the philosophy of all history, and chiefly of that 
 French Revolution! No longer should we have it de¬ 
 picted only as a savage outbreak of the worst pas¬ 
 sions of depraved humanity, but, what it was, in some 
 sort, an honest, faithful, yet terrible, bloody, and 
 dreadfully perverted struggle of an injured people 
 to free themselves from the grinding oppressions of 
 a long-continued loathsome tyranny The heart 
 sickening excesses and horrors of the time would be 
 charged, in the main, to those who attempted to re¬ 
 sist and crush the popular spirit. Through the 
 whole fell, demon tragedy, we should see one bene¬ 
 volent purpose at work, like the memories of his 
 youth in a bad man’s heart, which would justify 
 many acts now regarded with odium and reproach. 
 What a different estimate, too, would be placed upon 
 some of the most conspicuous actors in that bloody 
 drama. Robespierre is commonly represented as a 
 fiend incarnate. This sentence, it has recently been 
 contended, is, to a great degree, unjust. Those who 
 knew him well, say that in the private and domestic 
 virtues, in amiability of character, and in strong re¬ 
 ligious feeling, he was not the inferior of any of the 
 cotemporary leaders of the revolution. While it is 
 admitted that he was driven, by the exigencies of the 
 time, into many desperate expedients, over which 
 humanity must ever shudder; yet it is contended 
 that he was by no means the author of the long 
 catalogue of crimes which are laid at his door.* 
 
 ♦ Some interesting investigations, into the character and conduct of Robes¬ 
 pierre, will be found in the Democratic Review, for April, 1844. 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 35 
 
 How the truth may be I cannot now pretend to de¬ 
 termine ; but certainly we should receive the popular 
 versions with some critical hesitation, when we re¬ 
 flect that the commentators upon Robespierre and 
 the revolution, have, with scarcely an exception, been 
 monarchists or aristocrats. They have delighted to 
 heap all obloquy upon him and his party, because 
 they were the ultra-republicans of France, and would 
 hold no middle-ground short of unqualified free¬ 
 dom. It is success that turns the rebel into the 
 hero ; and if those Jacobin clubs had succeeded in 
 their effort to establish the broadest democracy, the 
 name of Robespierre, instead of being cast out 
 among men, as a synonyme for all that is brutal and 
 and bloody, might even, perhaps, have been recor¬ 
 ded in history, by these sycophantic dispensers of 
 fame, as one of the benefactors of the human family. 
 
 To do justice to this great revolution, as well as in 
 all the other chapters of history, is a part of the mis¬ 
 sion of Americanism It is a noble enterprise, and, 
 to my mind, presents a powerful inducement to the 
 cultivation, by us, of letters. Already has a native 
 author, of ample capacities, given us a glowing his¬ 
 tory of our own country, and of connected events 
 in Europe, conceived and executed in the right spirit, 
 with a genuine philosophy. Two others, inspired 
 by the same high faith, have thrown the sunlight of 
 American genius, over kindred provinces of history, 
 and become honored apostles of the creed which I 
 would inculcate to day. Already the names of Ban¬ 
 croft, Prescott, and Irving, are uttered by the genuine 
 lovers of the literature of humanity, with deeper re- 
 
u 
 
 36 
 
 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 gard than those of Tacitus, Livy, Hume, or Gibbon. 
 When American genius shall, in a similar spirit, have 
 encircled the whole field of the past; drawn out 
 from eras, governments, and occurrences, their pro¬ 
 per lessons of instruction ; weighed, in an equal ba¬ 
 lance, emperors and peasants, conquerors and cap¬ 
 tives ; and tried all by that great test of merit,— 
 what have they done for human progress ? then, and 
 not till then, can history assert any claim to the 
 attributes of philosophy. Oh ! ever be the past 
 brought to us in its truth, that it may guide us aright, 
 in our wanderings through the future ! 
 
 Other fields stand invitingly open, with similar 
 persuasives for culture by American mind. Poetry, 
 metaphysics, ethics, each and all, need accommoda¬ 
 tion to the faith and polity adopted here. In their 
 spirit, their essence, not in their form and embellish¬ 
 ment alone, they are philosophic powers for the pro¬ 
 motion of the highest happiness. Hitherto they 
 have achieved little of their proper evangelism in 
 the world. They have stood, with the materialists 
 of the last century, upon the external accidents of 
 man, and reasoned inward to the soul; rather should 
 they stand, like angels in the door of that temple, and 
 look out through its portals, upon the blue sky and 
 the green earth, the revolving wheels and the inclin¬ 
 ed planes, the ethical positions and relations, that 
 are framed and energized by the out-running laws 
 propounded in there. This spiritualism is the in¬ 
 creasing faith of the age ; and it alone is reconcila¬ 
 ble with enlightened democracy. How it must ma¬ 
 nifest itself in the more ideal part of our literature, 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 37 
 
 I would gladly linger to examine ; but we have tar¬ 
 ried too long with these imperfect speculations, and 
 must pass to a conclusion. 
 
 Though I have insisted that Americanism, in all 
 its various phenomena,—in the magnificent and im¬ 
 perial spread of our country, its diversified climates, 
 scenery, and productions—in the excellent character 
 of our population, their rapid increase and extension, 
 their hardy habits, and unity of language, faith and 
 feeling—in the noble principles of our national con¬ 
 stitution, and in the excellent arrangement and ope¬ 
 ration of our confederated system :—though in all 
 this, I have insisted that Americanism is highly aus¬ 
 picious to literature, and that in every department of 
 thought, there is imperious demand for the rectifying 
 spirit;—yet I would not be misunderstood. I have 
 little faith in American literature, in its tendencies 
 and achievements, thus far. We have shamefully 
 neglected alike our mission and its opportunities. A 
 multitude of pernicious influences, chiefly coming 
 from our social condition, have checked and thwart¬ 
 ed intellectual developement. Some of these I have 
 incidentally mentioned ; the others need not now be 
 enumerated. Suffice it to say, one of the strongest 
 impediments has been the timid and time-serving spi¬ 
 rit of the great body of the scholars of our country. 
 Entrusted with the care and keeping of the ark of 
 the intellectual covenant, they have yet suffered it to 
 be polluted by the hands of the ignorant and vulgar, 
 and have yielded themselves to the blind infidelity, 
 the anti-literary prejudice of the day. Shame, 
 shame, to the faithless disciples of this great religion 
 
38 AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 of the mind ! They have sold themselves and their 
 salvation for thirty pieces of silver!—It is to her 
 scholars,—those whom her institutions have nourish¬ 
 ed into intellectual manhood, that a country has 
 the best right to look for the preservation of her 
 highest interests, and they should be willing, with 
 Gallileo, to endure solitude, poverty, derision, even 
 martyrdom, in behalf of ths “ good old cause.” 
 
 Yes : the speculations we have indulged in to-day, 
 look chiefly to the future. Come however slowly it 
 may, a literature must come beneath these occiden¬ 
 tal sunsets. The influences enumerated, will work 
 out an intellectual reformation, as certain as the 
 laws of vegetation, or the going round of the day¬ 
 time. When the low philosophy and material pur¬ 
 poses, now dominant, shall have perished, as they 
 must, before the steady progress of education ; when 
 the hundreds of scholars, who are annually poured 
 out from our colleges and universities, shall have 
 swelled to thousands, all faithful to the high interests 
 committed to their guardianship ; when our literary 
 men shall appreciate properly the true dignity and 
 nobleness of their vocation; and when our country 
 shall feel the old necessity of employing in her 
 councils, her philosophers and scholars, instead of 
 the brawling demagogue and vapid dunce;—we shall 
 have the fulfilment of the vision whose prophetic 
 rays have touched our eyes to-day. The period 
 may be remote, but its advent is certain. The cause 
 of literature cannot be stopped. It is the cause of 
 civilization, refinement, virtue, religion, human pro¬ 
 gress ! Let us then abide in the faith that this coun- 
 
AMERICANISM IN LITERATURE. 
 
 39 
 
 try of ours, as she is destined to present to the 
 world, the proudest spectacle of political greatness 
 ever beheld, will not be neglectful of the other, the 
 highest interest of humanity, its intellectual ascen¬ 
 sion ; but that both shall flourish here, in unexam¬ 
 pled splendor, with reciprocal benefit, beneath the 
 ample folds of that banner, which shall then float 
 out, in its blue beauty, like a tropical night, brilliant 
 with the stars of a whole hemisphere! 
 
DELIVERED IN COLUMBIA, 
 
 STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY; 
 
 ON THE ANNIVERSARY- 
 
 ROB’T. WM. ROPER, 
 
 NOVEMBER * 8 , 1844 , 
 
 . <£olutnUi<r, S. <E- 
 
 ISSUED FROlt .^ORGAN’S LETTER 
 
 • • 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: ^ 
 
 The objects which convene us on the present occasion are of essential importance. 1 hey 
 involve the advancement of Agriculture with all its collateral relations—Agriculture, the 
 first of employments, the support of life, the source of health, independence and social com¬ 
 fort—a pursuit which awakens the solicitude of the husbandman, kindles the pride of the 
 patriot, absorbs the policy of the statesman, and constitutes the welfare of every community: 
 an elevated profession, whose superfluity originates commerce, connects the social bond of 
 the human family, and is the acknowledged standard of National intelligence and civiliza¬ 
 tion. I propose to review the subject in reference to the laws which govern it, as indicated 
 by modern discoveries and associated in its success with a system of domestic manufactures, 
 pointing out the relations in which they stand to each other and affect the true policy and 
 prosperity of the State of South Carolina. 
 
 The attainments of a modern age have enlightened the olden ignorant system ot cul¬ 
 tivation, and established principles which are still perfecting. No longer are precarious pro¬ 
 ductions of nature relied on to supply the simplest wants of humanity, nor does the scanty 
 culture of pastoral ages alarm with the spectre of famine. Seed is not now buried in the 
 earth with the indolent ignorance of nomadic life, nor abandoned to vicissitudes of seasons 
 to perfect, but Nature is carefully watched in her silent laboratory, her process detected, 
 her monitions adopted, and rich rewards received of choicest stores. A system of careful 
 preparation, with approved culture of land and crops is now resorted to, which renders 
 success comparatively independent of casual vicissitudes, and the triumphs of Agriculture 
 are attested by a proportionate increase of men and animals. 
 
 The progress of this art received its first rational impulse from the improvements of chem¬ 
 istry. That science discloses by analysis the elements which enter into soils and plants, 
 their adaptation to each other, and that success depends upon restoring the fertility of soils by 
 applying certain agents essential to reorganization.—That it is incumbent first to establish 
 the component parts of a soil, ascertain how to alleviate its defects, and next determine the 
 ingredients which constitute the grain, so as in culture to restore as many essential properties 
 as appertain to each.—That the atmosphere also performs in the general process important 
 functions by parting with its subtle gases to a renewed surface of the earth, supplying to 
 the plant vitality, solidity, color and beauty. From this science we learn that all soils are 
 ranked as defective, unless they contain a certain amount of calcareous matter, which enters 
 into the formation of all grain, and that lime is a chief acting principle. This fertilizer 
 has among the intelligent ever been known as such, but modern research elucidates its 
 mode of action, of entering into combinations with the acids of all decayed vegetable matter, 
 forming thereby a soluble manure. Hence in compost, its great importance as an ingredient, 
 decomposing all matter and adapting it to the fibres of the plant. It is indispensable there¬ 
 fore that soils should also contain vegetable matter, or humus, to be prepared as a pabulum 
 for plants or where this primary vegetable constituent does not exist naturally, that it should 
 be supplied from various sources, particularly the residuum of cultivation, or by a resort to 
 green crops for manure, which draw the largest portion of their substance from the carbonic 
 acid of the atmosphere and from water, and by addition of their substance enriches the soil 
 thereby. 
 
These are cardinal principles which science teaches, and which the ordinary claws j 
 farmers are slow to acquire. Their tuition has hitherto been limited to a system of "2 
 tion they have yet to become familiar with two distinct characteristics of -Agriculture A 
 The ft and ™ echamcal > and ‘hat success depends upon a judicious combination of bol' 
 
 m0 , dem res ® arch ls dail Y developing, the last, has from time immemorial be!' 
 
 pract ced, embracing the usual routine of ploughing, listing, hoeing and ditchino- Th? 
 are all indispensable aids, but without restoratives, prove as pernicious to the soil fs thl! 
 " C, “ ° f m “ !d " ° f * r0bu “ nourishment 
 
 The scope of this address does not permit me to enlarge upon particular systems of A™ 
 culture. My purpose will be accomplished by instances of the success fuScZ 
 Our country can furnish but isolated examples of its effects, for as yet no permanent Sand 
 State survey has in all its departments been undertaken and pursued We must W 
 abroad for facts for confirmation of its benefits to those densely populated countries the 
 attention to agriculture becomes an object of national existence, where t“creaseS 
 
 is”? L^ SheI uf aCle 1S re £ arded as a hl ghly important consideration, where due estimation 
 is placed on the economy of time, labor and expense of culture : where ffeaS 
 manures whether vegetable, calcareous or mechanical, is carefully scrutinized where annual 
 
 drnuaht^r lnt ° the11 ' mode °f application, and manner of counteracting effects of 
 Tn^.r f XC ? 1VeWet ’ and contributing under all circumstances to increased produ oJ 
 
 s “T’srrvt ^ 
 
 moting S Agricidtural science '^ucVT mnst .f? ceiTO instruction and see the necessity of pro- 
 by an & interdiange of imirfion W f plaC6S ln theroad ‘success, and if aided 
 
 brtions Premiunfs Periodica f n iv lntercourse am °i>g Farmers, by Societies, Exlii- 
 
 every fart, ^ speculation e^ or < i^^)roven^ent e 'we ) mav S tllen^p eCt 'h g, ^ d “ a ^ 
 
 tant cause of Agriculture. P ’ W6 may tll6n exult ln the advan ^ of the all impor- 
 
 stimulated TySmenf nad ° naI g reataess - . Agriculture must be 
 
 ample provision bv aid of Wilful mit Ument rr ! ust P r oceed from diversified industry, which 
 exchange°of such induu^rv^gi ves^ife^r^d ^ ^ an . a ° ne aff «dtime and means to indulge. The 
 becomes the desideratum of a business n ° ° ei H er P nse ? an( * an unembarrassed market 
 
 policy, interests wSS fierive^ZHJfT Y - & P erversion ° f «ntiment and sound 
 present antagonist positions thereto and Wf a § T1( r l ^ ture have been too often made to 
 In consolidated governments one’canint ^ t, P °!, ltlCal ? d f dal relations ofsociety 
 whole sections of country compelled to^end!,™^ 1 ^/ rend ®j ed tnbutar y to others, and 
 effecting results, which the^sano-ume or imo ndU j® P nvatl °ns and impositions, under plea of 
 perityof a whole community but which - f re ? ed malnt ain will ultimately tend to thepros- 
 awaited, a more permanent foundation f & 166 and matured reciprocal course of trade was 
 
 panent foundation of prosperity would be laid, and result in mutual 
 
5 
 
 \d protracted advantage. Unhappily, we pine under such a selfish governmental policy, 
 hich will compel to a course of conduct adverse to our wishes, foreign to our practice, cal¬ 
 culated to'establish selfish limited relationships, leading either to defensive, economical prac- 
 ® ! ces, or to an enlarged diversified system of labour, which ultimately will mar the prosperi y 
 1 f those whose short-sightedness and cupidity may drive us to an unsought rivalry. Inti¬ 
 mately connected with our future agricultural advancement is the necessity ot examining 
 me position we may be forced to occupy, to avert mercenary fanatical combinations, and 
 m-rest the downward tendency which depresses this State. We will proceed to trace the 
 
 husbandry, up to a comparatively recent period, has in the United States been ever con¬ 
 ducted on principles of reckless extravagance, attesting the thoughtlessness of human char¬ 
 acter. Where abundance prevails, inconsiderate waste is a usual concomitant, I tie 
 ^ ramped and impoverished European beheld in the New World the existence of boun ess 
 *brests and illimitable space, which the skies alone seemed capable of encircling, and he be¬ 
 came excited to eager curiosity, and greedy cupidity. The woodman s axe and plough- 
 chan’s furrow soon lacerated the primitive surface, and vast territories resounded to the crash 
 hf stately trees, the growth of centuries and the pride of nature. Affrighted herds, hitherto 
 'almost unconscious of the tread of man, fled from the beams of refulgent day, and sought in 
 
 “deeper recesses a more secure retreat—section after section became speedily occupied and 
 
 deserted, while no pang of remorse smote the heart of the desolating wanderer Abandon- 
 t'no- his humble log hut, scarce discerned among belted leafless trees, where no effort of indus¬ 
 try or taste kindled one pleasing reflection of the past, or conjecture for the future, with in¬ 
 difference he collects a few moveables, and commences another wandering march to perpe¬ 
 trate new enormities on some other blooming virgin soil. Thus has our country been liter¬ 
 ally laid waste by the insatiate occupancy of land, till hordes of a border population arenow 
 ■ -mening a prospect upon the broad Pacific. That mighty confine will roll back the tide of 
 ’population to its first springs. Already the early swell of a recoil is being felt and will con¬ 
 tinue. I hail the investigations of agricultural science as one evidence of its influence—and 
 beholl another furnished by the migrating population of Pennsylvania, and the eastern 
 states now concentrating on Virginia, occupying deserted habitations and improving aban- 
 doned fields which presented melancholy chasms to the way-worn traveller. 
 
 • Str mX and natural inducements will constantly he at work to promote this reaction. In 
 
 : a country like the United States, where wealth and consequence are open to every aspirant, 
 and become the reward of genius, where an extensive and fair arena is free to all the world, 
 the facilities offered by the older states must stand pre-eminent. 1 here the advantages of a 
 liberal education may be obtained. Society with its refinements weaves a light.but_ tenia- 
 ceous web, luxury presents its allurements, and an enlarged sphere of action ls af [ or “^.°J 
 demands of civilization, to new and countless sources.of 
 
 demands OI ClVlllZdllUIl, tu new anu. eu j . . , *.v lyottpr fnr 
 
 feelings, broken only by the relentless gripe of poverty, become again united with better for 
 tunes, and rising elastic from the conflict, the emigrant would once more participate in the 
 
 tnl ThSnfluence e of these considerations is beginning to be of frequent occurrence, and our 
 
 State would exhibit sound policy in turning back her wanderers, and rendering home so 
 
 dear as to banish every inducement to escape from a father land. 1 o accomplish * s, 
 highly important to scrutinise our habits, feelings and resources, and divested of selt-suth- 
 ciencv and absurd ignorant pride, have the independence and sober sense to ascertain our de¬ 
 ficiencies, and by comparing our wants and prospects with those of other states, ascertain our 
 relative position in the body politic, and mark out and pursue a future line> ofpo‘ J; 
 
 The early agriculture of South Carolina was principally confined to domestic supply- 
 Her first articles of export were lumber, tar, turpentine and peltry. Indigio ,nee andc t-_ 
 
 ton, were afterwards introduced, became staple commodities, and yielded large sources^tot 
 
 wealth. Indigo has been superceded by a better foreign article. Rice from favorable cir¬ 
 cumstances will probably remain a permanent culture. And cotton, once our wealth and 
 pride, can continue so no longer: a fairer bloom opens on other lands a ^ eve . Tyd ^™ P f “ ts 
 a more ominous warning that the sceptre has departed An investigation into these tacts 
 will lead me into the salutary but unseductive records of statistics. 
 
 The wide extent of new country opened to the culture of cotton, must force us t } 
 palm to more youthful competitors. The three gulph states, Louisiana, Mississippi an 
 
from a faithless venal embrace. Pride, character and safety are involved^ 7 ** 
 iease and to show the necessity, I will but glance at our sacrifices. effecting at( 
 
 nf i ii ^ otto ^ ro P.°f South Carolina is estimated at 61 710 274 lbs valuprl m- • 
 of dollars. The Rice crop at 80,000,000 lbs. worth two millions 'm*i • * SU 
 
 eight millions of dollars, the exported agricultural nroduct nf th* Qf \ i^ ln f an amount oi 
 some few articles may swell thecal to half a million more S ’ lumW ’ 
 
 Granite, Carpentry, EqSges ^ing Materials, La- 
 
 and a thousand other «SSf5,JZS2^ f ’ P ° rk ’ Flsh ’ Baskets > PaiI ^ Broom 
 travellers and absentee? * f ar - a mil lion is also expended! 
 
 and consequently the State lano-uishes ilLlor shes * hat ^ e . ® x P e . nd more than we make, 
 force, independent of mtdri^Sd SSZd ‘ ‘ T"« ^ 
 
 me ; hc ^t,;i„*.t? y f , ^ er “ ,r r lt n fr T•>“ *•*“ h s » 
 
 relative face employedAnrioo torn ™ *« non-slaveholding:. or Northern Stall. ■ 
 
 niAesample>ulSSforS^^^ ,n ^ th ? r ‘^population, not only’l 
 export provisions. That with reo-ard tn • e .? onan J unit J r > But by an excess enables them 
 numbers are allotted, sufficient 1 ^ comWnc^^ 141 7T’- and positive pursuits, adequ 
 
 making the success of each incidental toVe ” lanufac ‘ urin §' with an agricultural syste 
 tablish the practicability of the plan as T shall 7*' Som .® remarkable developments 
 with Southen adventure. P ’ 1 h 11 endeavour t0 illustrate, by comparing North 
 
 witffithe entire popuS^ffi^cVState of the { 1 J UmberS e . n g a £ ed in Agriculture, compai 
 one in 44: thus Rhode Islnn l nnH c fu Umon, vanes but from one individual in 2J, 
 Agricult^e, and Ohio ontfn di Car °Bna,have one individual in 2f engaged 
 
 the numbers engaged in Agriculture^are tffiol?!ff hin that J c ° m P ass ' ^‘wh 
 
 factures computed comnamt with the \ own od > and those engaged m trades and mar 
 how varied She SSmTrftWit becomes immediately appare: 
 the South and West and how nnrv.l or B; Bow their mechanical force preponderates ot 
 Rhode Island, as ffi been st a 7 ed P S a f lcuhural . are ,Pursuits of W latter. Th 
 one in five employed in trades and’manufaotiwM lnd l v * dua J> * n 2f engaged in agriculture, h 
 in agriculture has but one in r ->7 omni a - reS ’ 7° Bouth Carolina, with one in 2| engagi 
 men! more ffiarffig I m!st a!tachT P nT ^^manufactures. To makefiles! 
 state that Massachusetts has en<ri owl ; P endium at l Be hazard of prolixity, and proceed 
 11, New Jersey 1 in 13 New VVn-L- t ^ and manufactures one in 8£, Connecticut 1 
 Maine and Vermont i’in 22 • Wltpro” n’ ^ 6W Hampshire, 1 in 16, Delaware, 1 in 19, ai 
 Arkansas, 1 in 83 Alabama’ 1 in 82 1V S employs in the Mechanic Arts, butl in 8 
 
 1 in 40, Kenuckyand Indiana^ ll lt f 1 m 52 ’ Ten “e, 1 in 46,’Louisian 
 
 scale. From this it must bp anmmnt l ® odler Western States gradually decreasing in tl 
 States which have been demonstated so °dpfi 6 ' Ulalk est capacity, that the South and Wests 
 amount of their sever?/wS denendentsl?^ and manufactures must be totl 
 
 Georgia, has but one mechanic m 86 inhabit V 1 * for sjJPPty>oraccording to the schedule 
 South Carolina,one in 52° then J^ nd Massachusetts, one in every 8, an 
 
 must be in that proportion tributarv ?n Parollna , according to their requirement 
 
 P P non, tributary to Massachusetts or elsewhere. When we embrace a 
 
9 
 
 ..ho South and South Western States in this dependency, and call to mind that their products 
 %re onlv Cotton and Grain, both of which must seek a distant market, conviction must flash 
 : upon every Southern man, that for his country, a new order of things is necessary 
 ki No patriot or citizen of the South, can but feel humiliated and provoked, under such 
 Condition of things, or maintain that he is free. What is freedom. Is it that rig o * s _ 
 indolence which the savage, the dotard, or the inebriate enjoys ? Is it the right of loc°mo 
 union, to wander over all the earth, and return whence we came more wretched, impoverished 
 than before ? Is it the right of expressing particular opinions in politics, religion, or any 
 i (other subject? We enjoy all these : we squander our time, roam unchallenged, and exer¬ 
 cise the right of thinking, speaking and acting, even to licentiousness. But I maintain this 
 iiiis not freedom still. As long as we are tributaries, dependent on foreign labour and skill 
 Ttjfor food, clothing, and countless necessaries of life, we are in thraldom. We can only be in¬ 
 dependent under the influence of just laws by industry, by the exercise of our intelligence, 
 band by improving the advantages our country offers. , 
 
 Thus have I attempted to demonstrate our waning fortunes, our dependance and prostra- 
 i tration. The question'can naturally be proposed, what is the remedy? A response may 
 p come more readily from the politician. Southern oppression is sensibly felt, and has been 
 usably pointed out. By constructive interpretations the constitution has been stretched to cover 
 1= every encroachment, but the drapery cannot conceal the feet of the image. 1 here are con¬ 
 stitutional means of redress or alternatives. It would be out of character in me here to at- 
 v tempt to define them, but until some remedy is granted, we must use all the palliatives in our 
 . power. I speak as an agriculturalist, and wish you not to suppose I for a moment lorget 
 ; my proper subject. I say we can refuse to feed the oppressor. As agriculturalists, an im¬ 
 portant responsibility devolves upon us, and by somewhat of a change of habit it can be re¬ 
 in, deemed. One great error amongst us is, that we plant too much, and farm too little , ano- 
 ther, that we do not use a judicious economy in applying superfluous plantation labour to the 
 „ necessities of our own requirements, to our domestic wants, to the making of our own negro 
 l clothes, shoes and plantation implements. We allow the negroes to become an expense o 
 more than two and a half million of dollars for clothing, corn, bacon and tobacco, and their 
 
 ^This drain can be avoided. Abstract from field work, a few negroes, principally the old 
 and young, or those partially disabled to fabricate the articles just enumerated, and assume 
 *' that the value of these articles, heretofore purchased out of the proceeds of the crop is saved, 
 here will in addition be so much supplied, constituting the proprietor doubly a gamer, as he 
 ' has saved and made. Or let it be granted that the crop may be slightly diminished by vvith- 
 drawino- from tillage some inefficient hands, still a trifling proportion will be maintained be- 
 i tween the aggregate gain or loss. If in the gradual development of this defensive plan it 
 ‘ be found advantageous to the State to manufacture, the inhabitants of the upper districts 
 - possess the capababilities to do so, the falls of the rivers are with them, and they may as¬ 
 sume to other portions of the State, the present position of the North, supplying multifarious 
 commodities, and diffusing and receiving reciprocal advantages. In making these sugges- 
 tions, I point out to our upper countrymen a road to fortune. They can grow wheat, hay, 
 g-rain, and raise stock, and may always find as good a market at home, as does the Ken uc- 
 kian amongst us, and thereby, to a certain degree at least, remove exactions which press 
 heavily, and commensurately advance thereby the general prosperity. 1 he middle an 
 lower sections of the State must remain essentially agricultural. By such developments, 
 the farmer will learn that domestic manufactures, sectionally stimulates agriculture, in pro¬ 
 moting the raising of stock, grain, hay, butter, cheese, bacon, flour, and all those supplies 
 required for a class, removed from the tillage of the soil. These results have been demon- 
 ; strated in Spartanburg, and around many of our large manufacturing establishments, ihe 
 : effect of this diversity of labour has been to extend competence among the neighboring 
 people, to improve their morals, intelligence, and education, and establish a more respecta¬ 
 ble order of society. Dependent upon such a state of activity and industry, will be a conse¬ 
 quent internal improvement exhibited in living, in improved roads, or construction ol rail 
 : roads. Nor let it be lost sight of, that such a new order of things will place us in a state 
 of preparation against all the chances of war, and release from a position where at any mo- 
 ■ ment by supplies withheld, an enemy might cut of our means of subsistence, whilst his arms 
 completed a melancholy catastrophe. Such are some of the expedients to avert 1 ai lit legis- 
 
 
Jati°n to mitigate its stings, to remove its oppression, to build cities and villages with™ „ 
 ;it d r S ’ a A d be truly , a , n lnde P endent State. If South Carolina should? comneW 
 feder? * 7 ° f her , ca P 1 ‘ al from agriculture, we need not despair. No State in this?™ 
 
 tin?, 7 m ° re a ?? ted ‘° manufactur es than herself. He^ numerous rivtrs with ,W 
 ■ f r - r * rea ms, all furnish powerful and extensive water privileges. Her climate isr * 
 genial, and a valuable material furnished for manufactures at the very doors A mod J ” 
 back country yields the means of cheap supply; a highly improved road nassin????? 
 centre of the State, communicating with the far west, preset? facilities ?f trade & 
 pine land settlers offer a source of available labour. Our citizens have not W, ’ ? \ W 
 
 be ?i° US ? ? ese natural advantages; they are beginning now to think seriously or iffm 
 be allowed the cant phrase of a thrifty people, “to calculate” their own chanS of IS 
 True, indeed, we are late in entering the contest but we will have the experience nf th T 
 
 ^o^uuu ids., or near 7,000 bags of cotton into 1 746 714 varrU nf y j / ^ ’ 
 
 material. I he Iron Foundries employ 248 men with a canitnl nf i q non a r.-f 1 
 throughout the c ° u ntr y near $280,000 worth of cam? wre nailt anH?!??' 
 
 $257 r??' ? rms ° n f . of , our m . ost extensive branches of internal commerce A capital ol 
 
 2S:S‘;i.= 8 b r*sr; hilc -“a*. 1 
 
 makino- $578 30? Mur h ? ih ? ’ , ’ d h& man » fa etured into Saddlery, &c. $109,472 
 All thefefacSscon^ne^a£utTooTbT f T“ f ? value of »w matkal 
 
 tures°and r the plandn?o?far?i ng kk t e enchamment int0 being from their system of manufac- 
 
 which consume all the wool raised 1, ? Western States, are many Woollen factories, 
 with clothin?a(kpted tTTheir want^ th T \ Farmers around them, who are in turn supplied 
 mediate neighborhoods are independent nf if C ??P. ames c ° m mand the products of their lm- 
 gregate manufactures of these icrdat l ,,. e £ is atK)n , and require no protection. The ag- 
 amount to more 'than those of New En?la?d 1 ?ffi ; S hr0Ugh0Ut WeS ‘’ ar ® eStimated *° 
 
 ture, little attentionhas^bee??!? 10 ?^ Sbe6 h H . usbandr y- To this department of agricul- 
 170 lbs. of Wool, whffe Vermont J£? , the ? tate but232 > 981 Sheep, and rat 299,- 
 
 cuts 3,699,000 lbs. of Wool Ofthpr a P 0 Py. latl0n of300,000, raises 1,631,000 Sheep, and 
 to the production of Wool’ I would drawTfivn ° f ?7 State .’ aadb ° rderin ff Southern States, 
 ces, and would refer to historial facts narratedT ^ abl ® conclusi ° n from relative circumstan- 
 He says that “in 1826 , a deputation was !??™ Congress by Mr. Collamak, of Ohio. 
 
 P ltatl0n was sent from New Jersey, to Saxony, to purchase 
 
11 
 
 tegheep, which bore the celebrated Saxony Wool, and they brought out a number to this 
 Uumrv They were tried in Vermont, hut found too small and weak to stand the severity 
 , : . 1 ... • _ TVT _anr! nthp.r States farther south, they did 
 
 bf'theciimate, but in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other States farther south they did 
 *.verv well.” The mountainous climate of Spain and our own is similar and as line quality 
 4Wool might be grown in Pendleton, Greenville, Spartanburg and neighboring Alleghany 
 1 Mountains, as on those of Estramadura. If we trace the introduction of this peculiar breed 
 
 Mvlountams, as un must; ui uoiiamauuiu. ~-— 
 
 liof Sheep, now called Saxony Sheep, into Germany, we will derive additional encourage 
 Cent Me. Collamar continues, “in 1794, a small flock of fine Wooled Merino Sheep was 
 tt sent as a present by the King of Spain to the elector of Saxony, whence the entire product 
 
 bjof Saxony Wool, pow of such immense value. . , 
 
 «■ In 1809, the pressure on the Spanish Treasury, during the invasion of the French led to 
 w the sale of some valuable crown flocks. Our Consul, at Lisbon, Mr. Jarvis, obtained per 
 'Vmission to purchase and export 1400 of those rare animals to America, which were distri¬ 
 buted throughout the North, crossed with the native Sheep, and produced the first specimen 
 of fine Wool in the United States, save that Mr. Livingston obtained a few Sheep ot the 
 lj Spanish breed as a present, in 1792. The wool of Spain has long been imported into Eng- 
 1 land for the manufacture of fine cloths, and fifty years ago, there was not a pound of Wool 
 t made in Great Britain, or in any country in Europe, except Spam, fit to make the coat of 
 a gentleman. George III. tried the experiment of raising Merino Sheep in England, but 
 did not succeed ; 47,785,000 lbs. of wool are now imported into England the larger portion 
 „ of the finer quality from Saxony. In England, they have three breeds of Sheep, the Bake- 
 wells the Cheviots and the Southdowns, all long wooled, of which a fleece yields on an ave- 
 rao-e from 5 to 8 lbs., but no cloth is made of this material, being all employed m worsted and 
 J coarse goods. Such examples of humble beginnings, conducing to such important results, 
 
 : might excite emulation, and in due time, we also, be clothed with the habiliments of success- 
 
 Deficiencv of capital, is sometimes urged as a drawback to our success, but let the political 
 agitation of the State be once settled, capital will quickly come forth from its lurking places, 
 
 E and awaken every thing to life and vigour. Capital is like an icy virgin, it shuns tumult 
 
 * and war, and rejoices in law, order, and security. When our excitements shall have termi- 
 5 ‘ nated and our State’s rights be established, the facilities of the country for improvement will 
 
 invite* capital and workmen, and we will again begin to prosper. . . , , 
 
 : In every country, Agriculture, Commerce and Manufactures ought to be maintained; they 
 
 f constitute a bond of connection to the community, affording a more wholesome direction to in¬ 
 vestments. Works of national improvement and utility, ought to command the resources 
 
 * of an enlightened country, and become their care, their pride, and their support. Bank 
 Stocks should not lock up too much of our money, and under present aspects, it may be 
 
 * pernicious that so pervading a propensity exists to investments inlands and negroes, to 
 111 crrow rice and cotton, and they in turn, reinvested in lands and negroes. L nder most fa- 
 r vorable circumstances, such property is incapable of being readily “ nver£ j int ® ac ‘™ 
 
 capital and the precarious dependance of a crop is too often relied on, to meet all contingen- 
 
 * cies of’debt and family support. The votary of wealth under such a system, exists in a 
 state of anxious apprehension, sometimes of self-denial, whilst even in the midst of accumu¬ 
 lating possessions"" Often a’cashless condition compels to st.fle every generous imp^ 
 which might prompt to the patronage of the arts, or those scientific and liberal mstitu i s 
 which denote the prosperity, refinement and glory of a nation. In fact, the Planter too - 
 mn lives poor to die rich, and when death claims his victim hard earned accumulations 
 are distributed among children who inflict upon themselves a like penance to result in simi¬ 
 lar privations. This is no fanciful picture. Where amongst us can be pointed out such 
 fortunes amassed by individuals, as are accumulated in communities where agriculture, 
 manufactures and commerce are combined, where to acts of individual munificence, to pub- 
 lTcTstituUons, as distinguish Great Britain, or the New England States? On the contrary 
 under a purely agricultural system, we are constantly under whip and spur though jaded 
 and exhausted. The changes and fluctuations of the times, require a flexibility of occupa¬ 
 tion and our State must vary her pursuits. Then at once will be called into action new 
 sources of employment to various classes of the community—a diversifiedorderof 
 
 will be required in the capacity of Merchants, Engineers, Clerks, Seamen, Mill" rig , 
 Tradesmen, Superintendants, Labourers, &c. And might I not conjecture, without eroga- 
 
mg- rom the dignity or genius of the learned professions, that a goodly number might L 
 spared the honourable poverty and towering ambition of such pursuits, to participate m™ 
 surely in fortune s favours. Many a poor planter also, might find his circumstances imnro' 
 y employing himself, and perhaps his few hands, in some more lucrative calling liar, 
 reaping a scanty subsistence after a year of toil, and too often of blighted hopes. S ’ 
 
 th • h ? m f ® n of , the S . oudl have been lauded for their munificence and chivalry, but never for 
 their tnnft, and whilst listening to the syren voices of flattery, wily tempters have carried off 
 he substance. But our people should now learn the reality of their position andZtf 
 upon a broader stream of fortune than that they have hitherto floated upon Thelma! 
 be assured that dependance upon their own efforts will alone aid them, that the restrictive « 
 protective policy of the government is firmly fixed, and no considerations of feeling no proud 
 bonds, which past sufferings, past triumphs and future hopes, should have consecrafe’d wtity 
 rest one hour s pressure of the firm knot, which mammon himself has tied. Alas that e il 
 nence should have instilled this conviction, inculcated in such bitter anguish, loosening in 
 
 w^wl and banishm g from memory every enthusiastic reminiscence. BuUe 
 
 will not slumber under this vampire process, attempted to be disguised by legislative leger 
 demain; we will throw off the incubus, struggle with more practiced art, and manifest a deter- 
 mination never tamely to submit to the fate intended us. 
 
 Our State is rich in vegetable and mineral wealth ; the surface of the country presents 
 
 thTiX ’ U n alluvlaI . swa ™P t0 the granite mountain, from the arid pint- land to 
 the fertile mould, whence spring the umbrageous oak and hickory, with a varied climate 
 correspondmg to these locations. Besides our present staples, Silk may be maLf 
 ured the culture of Indigo may be resumed, at least to dye our home manufactures the ul- 
 ture of wheat may be greatly extended, whilst products of the torrid zone may be acclimated 
 and yield their luscious fruits. Superficial examinations of sections of the State prosecuted 
 S w Bla f bUr "k Dr - Co °P^ and Mr. Vanuxem, have given flattering promise of S 
 } Th* reasure ■ Thirty species of minerals and ten of rocks have been collect- 
 ed. The Iron of York and Spartanburgh has been tested at the Navy Yard of Washing¬ 
 ton, and awarded priority above all other qualities found in the United States. Other ore is 
 found m Abbeville and Pendleton. Marble of variegated colours may be furnished from 
 
 ^OT^andWendl^on 1681 ^^ 111 ^!! 3 ^ b ^ rnt cheaply and in abundant in 
 wit T 1 r tl • G ld , w . £ lu P ng P romise lny ites the sanguine digger to Spartan- 
 rgh, Lancaster, Union and Abbeville. Iron pyrites, from which sulphur may be ob¬ 
 tained, and copperas also, ,s discovered in York, Spartanburg and Abbeville Lead ore is 
 
 many of ^ ^ WhUe granite ° f Vari ° US pities is abundaati ” 
 
 , W i hilS ] r tUre P rese , nt , st0 our mountain districts these rich and glittering- treasures she 
 has based the country below the falls of the rivers upon a calcareous formation which when 
 spread upon the surface of the soil, imparts exhaustless fertility. This formation is’marl 
 and consists, according to Jackson, of a variety of clay containing carbonate of lime The 
 
 o R n e Sma 0 nu r re ^ 
 
 of the SteS 1 "' ,nd “ e* 
 
 To improve these prospects, we must avail ourselves of the proper means emnlovins-com¬ 
 petent instructors. We must have Agricultural and Geological sLveyom,¥onSmI m he 
 march of improvement and searching out the riches of the land. WY musAave Agriclltu- 
 ral and Geological Professorships in our colleges, and lectures on these subjects delivered 
 throoghoiittlie country, as now practised in Scotland, carrying information to the cottage of 
 
 YtenLtnt^d a nomWr° V t mg 6 lmpreSSi ° n that a ff ric ultural knowledge is intuitive. ° All 
 intelligent ana populous nations are now investirratino- thp • -i j 
 
 p| 0 ,™ g ,he ablesl ChcmisB a„4 Geologic t o2 y “=,„jL,* P „ c S he ta„™ f ’ ZonZ 
 
 the effects of exhaustion, or correcting deficiencies of structure. In England aScuUw 
 
 France^Germany and°Swk 'I ^ im P roved reports rendered’every year, 
 
 her “hilled sSfbv ffewarlfw ’ " beC ° me P rotot yP es > “d even Russia is cheering 
 
 ies or impatience of expected results will todi^aonL^ofAemSST 1 Thtin-' 
 
13 
 
 destinations are vet incomplete and under progress, and consistency as well as our own ad- 
 ‘Vantao-e will, I hope, prompt to a continuance. The end of all government is at last but 
 ndividual fruition and security, and in this enlightened age, these must be promoted by 
 Science. Permanent or increased population is a test of success, and in a population like the 
 United States, with an insatiate propensity to change, and South Carolina having so much 
 
 :o contend against, every source of employment should be laid open which could engage 
 
 ''capital, yield employment, retard emigration, and advance the power of the State. 1 look to 
 “the results of this survey as tending materially to this end, and would press it upon public 
 
 indeed I experience a personal attachment to this measure, and would indulge a gush of 
 Reeling in addressing an appeal to each member of the Legislature for this cherished hope. 
 
 Whilst an honored associate and co-worker with you, I encountered by the way side this 
 
 ' wretched foundling, feeble, friendless and exposed to the contempt and obloquy of a thought¬ 
 less multitude. I regarded its condition, was struck with its comeliness and promise, foster¬ 
 ed it in distress, and by your partiality and kindness, conferred on it a local habitation and a 
 name Now, that the foster father is removed to private life, and can no more in the rude 
 ^assaults of enemies, defend and protect the unhappy bantling, to your sympathy and generous 
 care 1 consign the poor orphan. Receive with favour the Agricultural and Geological sur¬ 
 vey of the State, continue your care—cherish and support, be its guardian and prop. 11 
 mow young, but promising, and will not fail at maturity to reward your nurture. Individual 
 c fortunes may yet be derived from it: like many an orphan it may bring the blessings of hea- 
 ' yen on the heart that pities, the charity that befriends, and become a crown of g' or y t° th ® 
 !i land where its honor dwelleth. And now gentlemen, breathing one aspiration for the ad¬ 
 vancement of my native State, and a God-speed to the efforts of this Society, I offer my 
 / thanks for your attention, and bid you my grateful adieu. 
 
 appendix 
 
 Expense on the Negro Population. 
 
 Corn , 300,000 bushels purchased at 50 cts. - - - * * ' 
 
 Bacon , to } the negro population say 81,750 negroes, 2 lbs. each per week, 
 
 Tobacco, to \ the negro population, say 163,000 at 12 lb. per annum, deduct¬ 
 ing 51,519 lbs. raised from 1,956,000 lbs. consumed, - - ‘ 
 
 Clothing, $6 13 to an adult, $3 06 to a child, average $4 60 to 327,000 
 
 slaves » ■ ■ ■ 
 
 Shoes, to’i the negro population at $1, * * * ' 
 
 Plantation Implements, to 163,000 negroes, at $1 10 to each per annum, 
 
 Usual Clothing to a Negro. 
 
 6 yards Woollen at 55 cts. per annum, 
 
 Needles, Buttons, Thread, Trimmings, - 
 6 yards Summer Homespun, at 10 cts. 
 
 Needles, Thread, &c. - 
 
 1 pair of Shoes, 
 
 1 Blanket in 3 years i cost per annum, at 
 1 Hat, Cap, or Handkerchief, - 
 
 $150,000 
 
 382,590 . 
 
 114,286 
 
 1,504,200 
 
 252,000 
 
 179,300 
 
 $2,582,358 
 
 $3 
 
 30 
 
 12 
 
 60 
 
 12 
 
 90 
 
 83 
 
 25 
 
 $ 6,12 
 

 Usual Food to a Negro. 
 
 
 Corn , 12 bushels per annum, at 50 cts.. 
 
 Salt, 12 quarts “ “ l ct. . 
 
 Bacon, 2 lbs. per week or 104 per annum, at 4£ per lb. - 
 
 Tobacco, 12 lbs. per annum, at 6 cts. and Pipes, ----- 
 
 $6 00 
 12 
 4 68 
 72 
 
 
 Plantation Implements. 
 
 $1152 
 
 1 Axe in 3 years 
 1 Spade u 
 
 1 Hoe “ 
 
 i, at $16 or per annum, $1,33, - 
 
 12 100, .... 
 
 12 1,00, .... 
 
 41 
 
 33 
 
 33 
 
 
 Produce of Grain in South Carolina. 
 
 $1 10 
 
 Indian Corn, 
 Rough Rice, 
 Wheat, 
 
 Barley , 
 
 Rye, - - 
 
 Buckwheat, 
 
 * * - • • 
 
 * • • • 
 
 14,722,8(6 
 
 3,080,000 
 
 968,354 
 
 3,967 
 
 44,738 
 
 72 
 
 Produce of Oats, 
 Produce of Potatoes, 
 
 18,819,936 
 
 1,486,208 
 
 2,698,313 
 
 Ratio of numbers engaged in Agriculture Trades and Manufactures, compared 
 engaged in Trades and Manufactures alone, in the North and South. 
 
 /s 
 
 Rhode Island, 
 Massachusetts, 
 Connecticut, 
 New Jersey, 
 New York, 
 
 New Hampshire, 
 Pennsylvania, 
 Delaware, 
 "Virginia, 
 
 Maine, 
 
 Vermont, 
 
 Ohio, 
 
 Agr. Tra. and Man. Tra. and Man. 
 
 one in 2J one in 5 
 u 
 
 H 
 
 H 
 
 H 
 
 H 
 
 3 
 6 
 
 H 
 
 2* 
 
 4 
 
 3* 
 
 4* 
 
 84 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 16 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 22 
 22 
 23 
 
 Kentucky, 
 Indiana, 
 Illinois, 
 Lousiana, 
 Tennessee, 
 North Carolina, 
 South Carolina, 
 Alabama, 
 Arkansas, 
 Georgia, 
 Mississippi, 
 
 Agr. Tra. and Man. 
 
 one in 3£ one in 
 
 4 “ 
 
 4 “ 
 
 4 “ 
 
 « 
 
 3£ “ 
 
 2 * 
 
 3 
 
 34 
 34 
 34 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 Tra. and Man. 
 
 33 
 
 33 
 
 36 
 
 40 
 
 46 
 
 52 
 
 52 
 
 87 
 
 83 
 
 86 
 
 90 
 
 Ratio between Population and Capital engaged in Manufactures. 
 
 New York, 
 Massachusetts, 
 Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio, 
 
 Connecticut, 
 New Jersey, 
 Virginia, 
 
 Rhode Island, 
 New Hampshire, 
 Maine, 
 
 Population. 
 
 2,428,921 
 
 737,699 
 
 2,001,566 
 
 1,519,467 
 
 310,015 
 
 373,306 
 
 1,036,799 
 
 108,830 
 
 284,574 
 
 501,793 
 
 Capital in Man. 
 
 $55,252,779 
 
 41,774,416 
 
 31,815,105 
 
 16,905,257 
 
 13,669,139 
 
 11,517,582 
 
 11,360,861 
 
 10,696,136 
 
 9,252,448 
 
 7,105,620 
 
 Maryland, 
 
 Kentucky, 
 
 Vermont, 
 
 North Carolina, 
 Tenessee, 
 
 South Carolina, 
 
 Georgia, 
 
 Alabama, 
 
 Mississippi, 
 
 Delaware, 
 
 Population. 
 
 469,232 
 779,828 
 291,948 
 753,419 
 829,201 
 594,398 
 691,329 
 a u 
 u u 
 
 78,085 
 
 Capita! in Man. ' 
 
 6,450,284 
 
 5,945,259 
 
 4,326,440 
 
 3,838,900 
 
 3,731,580 
 
 3,261,970 
 
 2,899,565 
 
 2,130,064 
 
 1,797,727 
 
 1,589,215 
 
 
15 
 
 The following: shows the number of horses and mules, hogs, black cattle and sheep, that 
 assed over the Paint Mountain, in North Carolina, for the South Carolina and Georgia 
 larkets: 
 
 In 1840 
 “ 1841 
 “ 1842 
 
 11 1843 
 
 Horses and Mules. 
 5181 
 
 5833 
 
 3840 
 
 4361 
 
 Hogs. 
 
 52,255 
 
 54,786 
 
 62,649 
 
 52,612 
 
 Black Cattle. 
 
 3243 
 
 3049 
 
 3318 
 
 3333 
 
 Sheep. 
 
 3245 
 
 2357 
 
 3192 
 
 3565 
 
 
 19,215 
 
 222,302 
 
 12,943 
 
 12,359 
 
 « 1844 to) 
 
 Aug. 31 $ 
 
 2090 
 
 4702 
 
 2656 
 
 2101 
 
 
 21,305 
 
 227,004 
 
 15,599 
 
 14,460 
 
 Export of 60,590,890 lbs. Cotton, - 
 “ 80,000,000 lbs. Rice, - - 
 
 “ Lumber and other commodities, 
 
 • 
 
 $6,000,000 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 
 
 
 $8,500,000 
 
 
 Imports of 1843. 
 
 
 Sugar, 
 
 Coffee, 
 
 Molasses, 
 
 Flour, 
 
 Corn, 
 
 Oats, 
 
 Peas, 
 
 Hay, 
 
 Bacon, 
 
 Lard, 
 
 Butter, 
 
 , Salt, 
 
 5,917 hhds. 
 
 38,294 bags, 
 
 4,359 hhds. 
 
 52,000 bbls. 
 
 300,000 bush. 
 100,000 “ 
 
 40,000 “ 
 
 24,826 bundles, 
 5,000 hhds. 
 
 20,000 kegs, 
 
 91,122 sacks, 
 
 5£ cts. 
 
 8£ or $13 
 
 24 cts. 
 
 $5 
 
 50 cts. 
 
 30 “ 
 
 62 “ 
 
 87 “ 
 
 6 “ 
 
 6£ or $3 
 $12 each, 
 
 $1 30 
 
 $383,922 
 
 501,722 
 
 135,000 
 
 260,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 30,000 
 
 24,000 
 
 74,478 
 
 300,000 
 
 60,000 
 
 225,000 
 
 118,458 
 
 \ The above was obtained from R. W. Brank, Keeper of the Toll Gate on the French 
 Broad River, in North Carolina. 
 
 Report of the Standing Committee of the Agricultural Society of South Carolina. 
 
 The Standing Committee of this Society, on the expenses incurred on Produce of the State, 
 "would beg leave to submit statements relative to the sums expended on domestic imports : 
 f They do not wish to touch on any speculative doctrine of political economy, involving the 
 ■necessity of mutual exchanges for reciprocal advantage, but propose to show in what articles 
 our money is expended, and whether any balance remains. The Committee leave it tothe 
 -good sense of the Society, and the community in general to determine, how far many of these 
 
 ■ expenditures are inevitable, or whether they may be moderated for the good of the State. 
 In the extended trade between the North and the South, it is very difficult to ascertain the 
 •accurate amount of what we buy, and the statement now submitted, does not pretend to effect 
 more than approximate to the truth. It may however, give some clue to the labyrinth of do¬ 
 mestic trade, and invite those well informed on particular items to add such correction as may 
 
 ■ finally lead to something like a correct statistic. The object of the Committee is simply to ex¬ 
 hibit a debtor and credit statement of our receipts and expenditures, as a suggestion of the 
 propriety of producing for ourselves much of what we now purchase so as to retain at home 
 so much of the proceeds of our labor as will enlarge the resources and comfort of every family 
 in the State. 
 
 To strike a balance the value of Exports must be stated. 
 
Cheese, - . . 
 
 Ploughs and Garden Implements, * 
 
 Northern Hardware, - 
 Machinery, - - * 
 
 Horses, Mules, Cattle, Hogs, - . ! [ 
 
 Eqm d page^ ateHalS ’ Lime > Granite > Carpentry, & c . 
 Furniture, ... 
 
 Shoes, 187 whites at $5, 163,000 negroes 
 Hats to i of 256,000 whites at $4, - ’ . 
 
 Dry-Goods, - - . . 
 
 Foreign Imports, - - . 
 
 30,000 
 20,000 
 ) 250,000 
 200,000 
 1,775,000 
 ’ 150,000 
 150,000 
 • 50,000 
 1,081,709 
 340,000 
 2,000,000 
 1,588,852 
 
 
 ' 
 
 The discount.against this sum, 
 
 for re-exportation, may be thus estimated, 
 Sugar, 383,922) • ’ 
 
 Coffee, 501,722 [ 1,020,644, deduct A 
 
 Molasses, 135,000 ) • * 9 
 
 Hardware, 250,000, deduct h 
 
 ^ ar< ^> 60,000, “ > 
 
 Foreign Imports, 1,588,852, « I 
 
 Dry Goods’, 2,000,000, « | 
 
 Deduct from $10,498,932 this amount, 
 
 $10,498,932 
 
 $255,161 
 
 62,500 
 
 15,000 
 
 526,284 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 1,858,945 
 
 ' 1 , 008,945 - 
 
 amount specified, though at present on^the Hpctp ^ ear ^P ast ^ as considerably exceeded the 
 fee and Molasses, pardcularly the fL £5?^, ■ T , he ^eater portion of our Sugar, Cof- 
 and distance. Much of this import is distributed :e ? eived ““stwxse, notwithstanding freight 
 all these items, shows a consMeE !?« throughout the State. The aggregate of 
 discounts for re-exports, to Georgia North CarnF ainS m t ^ le State, moderated by the probable 
 Although the cost of thelug^Sffeefnd^ m2 Tennessee > and*AlabamI 
 yet so large a portion comes coastwise Hurt T° Sy 1S mer £ e( ^ m & e Foreign imports, 
 
 that a deduction must be calculated as well from 8 t K™ ^f pear or \. ou ^ Custom-House books,’ 
 From the Foreign .imports a third maTv/d° d a f fr P* the Foreign imports! 
 
 Goods at least ofehalffheaSoSfD* and {lom the % 
 tivo millions, but it is impracticable to arrive'It „ y 10m dl .vt^ 0rd f I s probably more than 
 to Columbia, Georgetown and Hamburg , i n *fif ;ti 4 riate - The importation of Dry Goods 
 dependently’of our catalogue of expenses ' V ™> sldera % into our calculations. In- 
 Baskets, Pails, Mats, antfa thousand other artide?.ffSfh ?“* ^ ^ P ° rk ’ Fish ' 
 confirmed by the stationary amoupt of coin in the count, w f Tf that : we have no sur P [Us , ls 
 ports, the surplus would be paid for in specie but the ^° Ur , W??® ex ceeded‘.our inj- 
 
 an average of years, the amount of coin imnnrtpfl * / atements °f Banks show, that m 
 vmg, that we are not in a prosperous condifmn a ^ - ex P° rtec ^ balances—-incontestibly pro¬ 
 of individuals, may reflect some idea of thp p A v ^ ai ? ? 1 ^ c J v bat may be said-of a community 
 an example to the plantingln^resUn State or nati ™ ? and we refeffbr 
 
 generally encumbered with debt and comnlai ^ 1 W1 * esta blished that^tlfle planters are 
 necessaries of life. As we are essentiallv an n tr / hutar y every where for many of the 
 pathetic influence pervades other sections ^ P B ° plp ’ 2t is . fair to ™uclude"a sym- 
 
 reform. Ail which is respectfully submitted" ^ t * lat ° Ur anc ^ pursuits require 
 
 R W k Roper, Chairman. 
 
ROMANCE OF LIFE, 
 
 HISTORICAL LECTURE, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE TIIE 
 
 GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 ON THE 14th JANUARY, 1845, 
 
 BY ROBERT M. CHARLTON, 
 SI RUcmbet of sail) Socictri. 
 
 SAVANNAH: 
 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD C. COUNCELL—REPUBLICAN PREsaS. 
 
 1845 . 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF LIFE. 
 
 How strange is Truth! How sceptickal is Man! How he 
 yearns for the wonderful and the mysterious! How ardently he 
 pores over the fabled page of the Romancer, or starts as the visions 
 that the Poet has conjured up from an unknown land, rise before 
 him ! How he sighs for an existence in the primeval time, or longs 
 to wander amid the fairy and gorgeous scenes of the Eastern re¬ 
 gions! Shake him roughly, and strive to awake him from these 
 day-dreams — these half defined desires — and tell him, that here, 
 in his own land — now —in his own time above him, around 
 him, and within him —are mysteries more wonderful, and scenes 
 more beautiful, and events and passions more thrilling, than the 
 Romancer, in his wildest vein, has ever chronicled, or the Poet, in 
 his sweetest strains, has ever sung; and he would stare at you, as if 
 he were in doubt, whether you were a true and moon-struck mad¬ 
 man, that had indeed proclaimed such ravings to his ear, or whether 
 his own senses had deceived him, and his distempered imagination 
 had conjured you up from the glowing pages th at he has been so 
 intent on. And, yet, such is the wonderful fact.^^TIic Earth"teems 
 with mysteries — the sky shines with them — they float in the air 
 they swim in the deep —they flash from the dark-robed flouds— 
 they whisper in the gentle tones of the summer-wind — they speak 
 in trumpet tongues in the voices of the tempest and the thunder. 
 Cease thy longings for the ancient days, oh, dreamer! Close thy 
 book and look about thee, upon the volume of Nature. See there, 
 before thee, is a tiny insect, that thou canst scarce distinguish 
 from the grains of sand that surround it — watch it — it moves on 
 with an energy and an instinct that enable it to overcome or avoid 
 all obstacles. See—it has seized some object larger than itself, and 
 still it goes bravely on — nothing daunts it —nothing stops it 
 tread it under foot, (if you canst have the heart to attempt such 
 
7J 
 
 murder,) and it will rise up again beneath the ocean of sand and 
 turn once more to its labor. Dost thou know it? It is the ant, 
 that lion-hearted atom, toiling amid the heat of summer; and though 
 the season’s brightness and its warmth are bringing up and produc¬ 
 ing ten thousand enjoyments for this little traveller, he his busy, 
 gathering together his provender for the long winter time, when 
 frost, and snow, and cold, shall have locked up the granaries of Na¬ 
 ture. Thou wilt tell me, that I am mocking thee; that thou 
 canst see this daily and hourly; and is it less a mystery therefor? 
 If thou hadst read in those ancient legends before thee, of an insect 
 so courageous, that it would attack an animal often thousand times 
 its magnitude; of industry, so indefatigable, that it would climb 
 house-tops and mountains to pursue its course; of perseverance so 
 unflagging, that though repulsed a thousand times, it would still re¬ 
 turn and overcome the obstacle that impeded it — thy eyes would 
 have sparkled with interest and amazement: it is because it is 
 constantly before thee—because it belongs to the present time — 
 that thou lookest so disdainfully upon it. When did the Knight 
 Errants of thy heart do half as much? When did their bosoms 
 beat as high with valor and determination as this poor insect’s? 
 
 " But it has no loves —no burning jealousies —no blood-stained 
 victories!” How knowest thou that? I warrant thee, even that 
 tiny breast has grown gentler for some fond one that lived within 
 its little world; that its blood has flowed quicker when some Adonis 
 ant has flirted around the little coquet; that its path has been stained 
 by the trophies of its mimic battles. But thou wilt say, why dost 
 thou lure me from my glowing page, to point me to this moving 
 atom? Why not shew me the majestic mysteries of Nature? — 
 Why waste my time with a topic so insignificant? I answer, 
 because it is insignificant? I point thee there to one of the 
 smallest of Earth’s creatures, to ask thee if the atoms contain such 
 wonders, how much more the noble and lofty works of Nature? 
 Follow me, if thou wilt. Let us dive into the caverns of the Earth, 
 and mark the sculptured halls —the rocky avenues stretching miles 
 and miles below the busy haunts of men. Let us plunge into the 
 deep, and view the huge leviathan sporting amid the waters; or, 
 the rainbow-hued dolphin, as she flings back the bright rays of the 
 
5 
 
 
 glorious sun. Let us climb into the air, and behold the eagle, with 
 his untiring wing, and his unflinching eye, the noble image of in¬ 
 domitable perseverance and of brilliant genius, soaring proudly and 
 gazing fixedly towards Heaven’s brightest luminary! Oh, dreamer! 
 if the moments of thy life were multiplied by the sands of the des¬ 
 ert, they would be all too short to help thee to unravel these mys^, 
 
 teries that are around thee and above thee. 
 
 But dost thou still murmur ? Dost thou still complain ? Is it of 
 man —thine own species —his daring deeds —his perilous achiev- 
 
 men ts —his cruel wrath —his fierce jealousy —his devoted love — 
 his bitter sorrows— his exciting life— his thrilling death? Is it of 
 these that thou wouldst learn ? Is it these that charm thee so in the 
 wild legends of thy loved romance ? Once more, I tell thee, close thy 
 book! Stranger sights are passing before thee, all unheeded, whilst 
 thou readest. Thinkest thou that imagination can out-fly reality? 
 Whence did the Poet draw his materials ? Was it not from Nature ? 
 Was it not from man ? Thou dreamer! he has but softened the light, 
 lest the full blaze should have blinded thee — he has not drawn from 
 the busy scenes of life and touched them with a brighter or darker hue, 
 that he might excite thee wore, but he has veiled them with a master- 
 hand, lest they should seem too appalling, or too wonderful to thy 
 vision. Look up from thy page — here I will tear for thee, the bosom 
 of thy fellow. But first look into his face; it is bright, and smiling, and 
 beautiful; there is no trace there of sorrow, of anger, or of crime. 
 He has masked it like the miserable and despairing wretch, who has 
 fled from the anguish and distress of home, and clothed in his holi¬ 
 day garb, and wreathed with his counterfeit smiles, has come forth 
 into the haunts of his fellows, to cheat them into the belief that he 
 is happy — and to envy their better fortunes, while they, in their 
 turn, are alike deceiving and deceived. But now turn away from 
 his countenance, and look where I have laid bare his heart! Look 
 into that dark corner. There is revenge enough there for twenty 
 murders —there is envy enough there to blight the happiness of a 
 thousand lives —there is craving enough there to swallow up many 
 fields, and houses, and stores of gold. But not these alone. Look 
 again! There is ardent Sympathy, that gentle dew that falls so 
 softly and imperceptibly in affliction’s night-time coming, lik< 
 
charity, amid darkness and despair, but refreshing the parched 
 foliage of the heart, and preparing it to glisten and sparkle ’neath 
 the coming rays of Joy. Oh, heaven-born Sympathy! thou that 
 findestthy way into the lowest depths of crime, and bloomest amid 
 vices and passions, like the lovely floweret, blossoming amid the 
 * -weeds and rankness of the tomb. And, look again. There is 
 LovS^- faithful, devoted, Love — the charm of Life’s day — the genj/ 
 of Hope’s coronal —the balm of Earth’s wounds. Yes! in that 
 little heart, there are passions and vices, and virtues, the embryo 
 of lofty deeds, and base actions, that need but the touch-stone of 
 trial 01 temptation, to come forth from their hiding-places, and 
 astound the world with their daring, or their majesty. 
 
 And, yet, feeble, short-sighted, man, can discover none of this, 
 until it bursts from its covert. He cannot read 4 his neighbor’s 
 thoughts — nay — he cannot understand his own heart. If he be a 
 believer in the Holy Book, he knows that the human heart is deceit¬ 
 ful and desperately wicked; but he knows not liow deceitful or lww 
 wicked, and he flatters himself that this is a description of the 
 species in the aggregate — and not a delineation of his own partic¬ 
 ular heart. Alas! alas! If we had the gift of Elisha, to look 
 down into the hidden purpose of the bosom —hidden even from the 
 very flesh that covers it —we would spring back in horror, as from 
 a den of vipers, or from a loathsome sepulchre, into which we had 
 fallen unawares. How little did Hazael deem, when he blushed 
 beneath the searching glance of the Prophet, that he was then, in 
 heart, a regicide —a traitor —a murderer —the despoiler of Ilea- 
 ven’s heritage — the assassin of Earth’s daughters. And, yet, even 
 so it was. And if a Prophet’s eye were still upon earth to read the 
 secret recesses of the hearts before him, he might develop scenes 
 and deeds not yet beheld or performed, and which may never be 
 beheld or performed, but which are surely there, lacking but the 
 time, and opportunity, and occasion, to bring them forth, that the 
 imagination of the daring Romancer never conceived, and the wild 
 legends of the Poet never told. 
 
 There is a mystery in man, that man cannot solve; all other 
 things animate, or inanimate, are governed by fixed laws —the 
 eccentric comet is consistent in its eccentricity — the tides that 
 
7 
 
 come and go, differing each day as to the time of their return, yet 
 so differ, because of certain and immutable rules —the savage lion 
 has its hours of humanity and harmlessness, but those hours are also 
 prescribed by instincts and feelings, which can be understood and 
 acted upon. But it is not so with man: a creature endowed with 
 the noblest attributes, decked with the brighest virtues, contamina¬ 
 ted by the foulest vices, blackened by the fiercest passions, these 
 contrariant feelings and propensities are thrown into one common 
 mould, and so mixed together, that in the jolting of life s journey, 
 they come up, as it were, promiscuously, and startle with the rapid¬ 
 ity with which the darkest deed pursues after the retiring steps of 
 the most beautiful action. I am not romancing. I will prove my 
 assertions. I will take a leaf from a dark and bloody volume — 
 the French Revolution, that era of terror, when man seemed chang¬ 
 ed, not only into a fiend, but into an insane and inconsistent demon. 
 
 The scene is in Paris — the day — the memorable 2d of Septem¬ 
 ber, 1792;—thetime—night. Some hundreds of infuriate wretches 
 have presented themselves before the prisons, where the nobility and 
 gentry of France had been immured a few days previously, by order 
 of the infamous municipality. A mock tribunal is erected, and the 
 unhappy prisoners are successively dragged before it, a single question 
 is asked of each one of them, and he, or she, (for lovely woman was 
 amongst those doomed ones,) is condemned, and turned out to the 
 populace, who, with fierce cries and savage gestures, and hearts pant¬ 
 ing for blood, are waiting with pikes, and swords, and bayonets, to 
 pierce the wretched victims. One, by one, the condemned are de¬ 
 stroyed : there seems to be no cessation to this fierce thirst this 
 wild craving after blood. You might as well look for virtue or 
 humanity in that reckless mob of devils, as for ice in the burning 
 ■desert of Africa. Each victim —each new gush of blood — adds 
 to the frenzied excitement, and stifles more and more the small 
 voice of humanity. It would seem as reasonable to ask for mercy 
 from these furies, as to tender a respectful request to the hungry 
 tiger that has just tasted the blood of his victim, that he would 
 abandon his prey. But now mark the wonder. One of the prison¬ 
 ers is brought forth; he is presented before the tribunal; there is no 
 peculiarity about his appearance, his manners, his character, that 
 
u 
 
 could distinguish him irom the multitude of his fellows that have 
 been already slain: despairing of succor, he stands before his mock 
 judges: suddenly two of the wild beasts that surround him, hasten 
 to his side ; with swords dripping with blood, and hair tangled with 
 gore, with eyes bloodshot with watching and with revelry — the very 
 impersonation of cruelty — they range themselves by him—neither 
 of them has ever seen him before — neither has ever heard of him — 
 lie is alike unknowing and unknown. But they have taken an in- 
 terest in his fate — why, they cannot tell —perhaps it is the tie of 
 his cravat, or the shape of his buckle, or his countenance may have 
 brought back the memory of some lamented friend, who has long 
 slumbered in the grave - who can tell 1 - they cannot. But they 
 become his guardian angels: they suggest, by a pressure of his foot 
 the time when he is to speak, and they whisper to him the words of 
 safety. He is thus saved from the clutches of the judges. But he has 
 still to pass through a multitude of dangers; but his friends o 0 with 
 lam, proclaiming his acquittal, and putting aside, at the peril of their 
 own lives, the threatening weapons . —he has reached the verge of 
 the crowd, and he is safe. He offers his preservers money, but they 
 refuse it. All they ask in return, for their disinterested kindness 
 is, that they may view the meeting between him and his family! 
 He consents, and they go together to his home. The weary wife 
 hears the footsteps, and believes them to be her husband's murderers 
 coming to finish upon his helpless widow and offspring their work of 
 death. A slight tap, and the door is flung open, and with joy unspeak¬ 
 able, the wife clasps her lost and found husband to her bosom and 
 the poor babes crowd around them, with wild cries of happines^ and 
 pleasure. The blood-stained spectators look on with streaming eyes 
 and happy countenances; the tide of blood has been checked and 
 rolled back in their hearts, and the pure stream of benevolence is 
 
 . ° Wing W ‘ th * tS beautlful waves over the polluted track and cleans- 
 mg it from the guilty stain. -‘These are my benefactors_my 
 preservers" — exclaims the husband, and a thousand thanks are 
 
 rir * ’ and ten th0USand “**“8* invoked upon 
 
 delict Z m ‘" gIe . their tears together-all hearts bound with 
 7 13 lapp,UeSS and P eace until, suddenly, the tide of 
 
 ood returns ; the benefactors remember that they are losing pre- 
 
9 
 
 cious sport, that hundreds are being killed without their participa¬ 
 tion, and taking a hasty leave of their grateful friends, they rush 
 back to the carnage; a thousand times more eager for blood, because 
 of the suspension — tenfold more demons than they had ever been. 
 Read me this mystery, if thou canst. Turn to thy volume, if thou 
 barest, for a scene so terribly romantic as man —living and breath¬ 
 ing man —has here developed to thee. 
 
 The instance I have just offered, was intended to illustrate the 
 position, that the actions and motives of men are oft times mysteries 
 to themselves. But now I propose to adduce a few passages from 
 the annals of the same Revolution, to convince you, my audience, 
 that the most daring and chivalrous deeds of the fabled Knight, 
 are but the feeble representation of what has actually been performed 
 in Life’s Drama! 
 
 /^FhTscene is the Palace at Versailles. A crazy mob, composed 
 of the vilest dregs of the vile, has marched from Paris—all who 
 opposed them have been massacred, and the bloody heads are stuck 
 on pikes and borne aloft as banners: the grim features of the dead, 
 distorted and hideous as they are, yet being lovely and beautiful in 
 comparison with the terrific living visages of hate and vengeance 
 that crowd beneath them. On, and on, they come—they have entered, 
 like the toads of Egypt, the Legislative Assembly and the Halls 
 of the Palace — their cry is “ Bread and Blood — Death to Kings — 
 A has les Aristocrats /” They have ascertained that the Queen is 
 in a certain part of the Palace, and they have commenced firing at 
 the windows. In the midst of the firing, the Queen steps into the 
 open balcony, and faces the multitude eager for her blood. In 
 each hand she holds one of her children. A faithful subject throws 
 himself before her, to shield her with his life, but she gently puts 
 him aside, and stands unsheltered from the leaden hail. “ Away 
 with your children,” bursts from the lips of twenty thousand persons. 
 Well does Marie Antoinette understand that order—they wish to spare 
 the children — it is her life they crave. But with a heroism and a 
 cOtffhess that have never been surpassed, and though she knows that^ 
 they intend her instant death, she obeys the mandate, and sending 
 iu her offspring, again she steps into the balcony alone . Instantly, 
 
 
10 
 
 twice ten thousand voices raise their shouts of applause. Vengeance 
 has been stilled by the admiration which such undaunted heroism 
 has inspired in the bosoms of that chaotic mass. Does Romance 
 give you a brighter picture than this? 
 
 Another picture! The scene is changed. It is the massacre of 
 the Prisoners of which I spoke a few minutes ago. The legions of 
 Satan are on the outside of the prison walls, and one by one their 
 victims are thrown out to them, like morsels of meat to hungry 
 lions. An old man, in his turn, is thrust into the crowd. A hun¬ 
 
 dred weapons are up-raised, to find, in another moment, their scab¬ 
 bards in his body. But even then, when death seemed inevitable 
 both to him and to any one who should interpose in his behalf, a 
 lovely female —her golden ringlets floating to the midnight wind — 
 her beautiful eyes gleaming with heroic devotion and filial love — 
 clasps the old man by the neck, and defies the vengeance of the 
 populace. “ It is my father,” says she, “ strike, if you have hearts 
 to do it; but only through my bosom shall you reach my sire’s.” 
 Down fall the points of the weapons. The mob stand irresolute, 
 amazed and admiring at the courage of the sweet girl, and yet 
 incensed at being balked of their victim. How that moment of 
 irresolution would have terminated, no human mind can tell; but at 
 that crisis, one of the number of the assailants presents her with a 
 cup, filled to the brim with blood — the warm blood that they had 
 caught, as it streamed from the veins of the murdered nobles. 
 
 “ Drink,” says he, “ drink to the dregs. It is the blood of aristo¬ 
 crats — drink, and your father’s life shall be saved — drink ! ” She 
 takes the cup — the boon is too great to hesitate — with an averted 
 eye and a throbbing heart, that beautiful girl, at that midnight hour, 
 amid the yells of savages, and with the blaze of a thousand torches 
 flashing in her eyes, lifts the goblet to her lips and quaffs it to the 
 very last drop. The pledge is kept — the old man is saved; but 
 who shall tell the horror which the memory of that hour shall bring, 
 to the last moment of that maiden’s existence. Has Poetry a wilder." 
 sketch than this ? li ur 
 
 ,et us chan § e the the atre of Life’s Drama, and roll back the tide 
 of time some centuries. 
 
 to ti 
 \ sket 
 
11 
 
 We have crossed the ocean’s wave, and we are standing in the 
 newly discovered world. We are in the heart of a large and popu¬ 
 lous city, surrounded by a multitude of swarthy warriors-the 
 inhabitants of the land. On the right, is a long range of stone 
 buildings, surrounded by a wall of the same material, and within 
 the enclosure, you may see the sun’s rays flashing upon the bright 
 armor of steel-clad warriors. They are Spaniards, and they call 
 themselves Christians: a mere handful of men, they have fought 
 their way through immense masses of desperate savages, who, 
 though startled at the new animals —the cavalry —that for the first 
 time they had beheld — and amazed at the lightning, which, flashing 
 from the cannon of the invaders, had scattered death through their 
 ranks; yet, with the intuitive courage of brave men, have disputed 
 valiantly with their fierce foe, and now besiege them in their quar¬ 
 ters. This is Mexico — the far-famed capitol of the Aztecs. A 
 desperate battle is waging. From a lofty temple-the sanctuary of 
 their cruel gods, that overlooks the citadel of the Spaniards — the 
 Indians are raining down stones and missiles. The Spaniards see 
 the necessity of driving these foemen from their heights, and resolve 
 to effect it. With them to resolve, is to do. But before we follow 
 them to the perilous encounter, let us pause and survey the artificial 
 mountain, which they are about to climb in the face and despite of 
 an infuriate foe. It is a huge hill of stone, three hundred feet square 
 at the base, having five separate stones, one on the top of the other, 
 each smaller than the one upon which it is erected. A flight of 
 stairs winds round and round the huge mass, compelling those who 
 ascend, to pass four times around the temple, or nearly the space of 
 a mile, before they can reach the top. On the summit is a plain 
 capable of holding a thousand persons. It has no parapet, so that 
 whoever is pressed to the brink, falls over into certain ruin. On 
 one side of this area, are the sanctuaries of the Heathen Gods, on 
 whose altars, at the instant I am describing, eight human hearts, 
 just plucked from the owners’ bosoms, are palpitating and quivering 
 with the last throes of vitality. The half naked priests of this ter¬ 
 rible region, are officiating at the horrible sacrifice, which is intended 
 to propitiate their deities and give them victory over the invader. 
 
Now, turn back to the Spaniards: the gates of their citadel are 
 thrown open, and Cortes, their great leader, at the head of a small 
 and resolute band of three hundred chosen cavaliers, comes forth, 
 and fighting his way through the thousands who disputed his passage,' 
 reaches the base' of the temple and commences the ascent. On 
 every landing place they are assailed by the foemen; heavy stones 
 and burning rafters descend upon their devoted heads, and thinner 
 and thinner their ranks become as the blazing death sweeps them 
 down the sides of the temple; but pressing on, step by step, they 
 fight their way, until the retreating and the pursued have alike reached 
 the broad summit; and now the fierce strife rages with horrible 
 fury — the combatants know that there is no retreat. The Aztec 
 battles for his home, his country, his Deities : he fights beneath the 
 very presence of his colossal war-god. The Christian battles for 
 conquest and for life. Both nerve themselves for death: the foemen 
 beneath have ceased their strife, and by common consent, are gazing 
 at this aerial battle: the flash of the musket, with its deafening 
 noise; the loud yells of the Indian; the wild figures of the Aztec 
 Triests as they fly from spot to spot encouraging their ranks; the 
 falling bodies of the warriors as, driven over the edge of the tcocalli, 
 they drop lifeless from the terrible height; the blood pouring down 
 the lofty sides; the clash of arms; the combatants moving about as 
 it they were fighting in mid-air, give a character to the scene that 
 human language seeks in vain to pourtray. Fiercer and fiercer 
 grows the strife: the Spaniards are evidently getting the better of 
 their more numerous foe, but there is no yielding. Victory will 
 only come by extermination. But horrors of horrors! See!—two 
 warriors have seized on Cortes, and are dragging him on to the 
 brink of the precipice; encumbered with his armor, he is scarcely 
 a match for such odds; his strength is yielding; but he will not die 
 unrevenged; with a death grasp, the three have reached the extreme 
 edge. Another effort, and the Conqueror of Mexico will be a man¬ 
 gled corpse at the base of the edifice, and the destinies of a world 
 will be changed. And that effort is made ; down and down a body 
 orops from the fearful height : but, see ! — look ! — it is not Cortes, 
 it is the Aztec warrior, who has been hurled to ruin by the gallant 
 
IS 
 
 Spaniard. A blow of his good sword, and the remaining warrior 
 sleeps upon the bed of stone ; and once more, dashing into the thick¬ 
 est fight, is heard the General s war-cry. JThe battle is over the 
 Indians are stilled in death —and the victors tumbling down the mis¬ 
 erable god from his temple, descend themselves, to renew in a thou¬ 
 sand fights their perils, and their victories. 
 
 Has imagination ever invented so thrilling a romance as this? 
 
 Once more! We have rolled back the tide of time still nearer 
 to its fount. We are again in Europe, on the plains of Cressy ;—still 
 the din of battle meets our ears. England and France have met in 
 mortal combat. There, before you, a body of Bohemian cavalry, 
 commanded by Charles of Luxemburgh, are struggling with the 
 Britons; and, now, they are flying from England’s Prince, over¬ 
 borne in the fierce encounter. An aged and blind Monarch, the 
 King of those retreating forces, is stationed on a neighbouring 
 height, brought thither from his distant home, that he may once 
 more renew his youth, and listen to the stirring sounds of war, be¬ 
 fore death has closed his ears forever. The fugitives encounter 
 
 him._“Fly, sire,” cry they, “all is lost, and England’s ranks will 
 
 soon be upon you.” “ Yes, I will fly,” answers the lion-hearted 
 Monarch, “ but it shall be to the foe, and wot from him. Give me 
 my ancient sword. Turn my horse’s head to the enemy, and come 
 with me all ye that love Bohemia and honor. Let us retrieve our 
 country’s disgrace. Let me strike another blow at the haughty 
 Islander, and let me die.” A hundred men obey—linking their 
 horses’ bridles together, and throwing away the scabbards of their 
 swords, they plunge into the ranks of the advancing enemy and 
 battle manfully, carrying destruction wherever their phalanx moves, 
 until overpowered by numbers, they slumber in the arms of death. 
 And there, amidst that gallant rank, his white hair streaming to the 
 breeze; his sightless orbs turned towards his foemen; his feeble 
 hand grasping the weapon of his younger days; the blind and aged 
 King finds alike his country’s honor, and his own death. 
 
 If you insist upon it, that this incident would sound better in 
 verse, and you will pardon me for the apparent indelicacy of falling 
 back upon the resources of my more poetic years, I will give you 
 the same story in rhyme : — 
 
14 
 
 JOHN OF 
 
 T Hvas on the field of Cressy, 
 
 Where many a eallant knight 
 Of France’s boldest chivalry 
 Had fallen in the fight, 
 
 Bohemia’s blind and aged king 
 Ilad wandered from afar, 
 
 Once more to hear the trumpet sound, 
 The stirring notes of war. 
 
 Bohemia’s knights and stalwart men 
 Had mingled in the fray ; 
 
 But England’s prince and English arms 
 Had vanquished them that day ; 
 
 And banner trodden in the dust, 
 
 And friends and kinsmen dead, 
 
 Did Charles of Luxemburgh behold, 
 
 Ere on that day he fled. 
 
 They bore the tidings to Jus sire — 
 
 That blind and aged man — 
 
 And bade him seek, by hasty flight, 
 
 The wrath of England’s clan ; 
 
 But “ Never,” was his bold response, 
 
 “ Have I from foemen fled ; 
 
 And where my friends and honor are, 
 My life-blood shall be shed. 
 
 LUXEMBURGH. 
 
 J “ And ye, who would your native land 
 From vile disgrace regain , 
 
 ' Come with me to that hostile band, 
 And wash away the stain : 
 
 O, gird me with mine ancient sword, 
 
 \ And bear me to my foe, 
 
 | And let Bohemia’s stricken king 
 l But strike another blow.” 
 
 | They linked their bridles, rein to rein, 
 And onward swept that band, 
 
 ( O, never on this earth again 
 To view their native land; 
 j And, in the foremost of the throng 
 In honor and renown, 
 
 By overpow’ring numbers pressed, 
 Bohemia’s flag went down. 
 
 The sun hath dawned in glory 
 Above that field of blood, 
 
 And silence reigns unbroken, 
 
 Where once these foemen stood ; 
 
 And there, in danger’s foremost place, 
 In death, and sword in hand, 
 
 They found Bohemia’s aged king, 
 
 And all his gallant band. 
 
 I have selected incidents with which most of you are familiar, 
 and that are comparatively of modern date, and which have re- 
 recently been beautifully and graphically described by eminent his¬ 
 torians, so that you might not charge me with making the Romance 
 to prove my theory. But I might go on much further, my audience. 
 I might draw from the wells of ancient history, and half forgotten 
 legends. I might tell you of the chivalrous deeds of the Crusa¬ 
 ders ; of the patient sufferings of the Martyrs; of the warlike ac¬ 
 tions of Greece and Rome; of the perils and triumphs of our own 
 Fathers. From the annals of every country; from the history of 
 every century; from the trials of each sex; from deeds of beardless 
 boy and tottering sire, I might prove to you that the Romance of 
 Life is far more thrilling than the Romance of Fiction, and that 
 the heart, longing for excitement, need not go to the fabled page, but 
 can be filled by turning to the undoubted chronicles of the ages 
 that have passed. 
 
 And so you will admit — in truth, you cannot deny it — but you 
 will say, these are the records of the Past. Where shall we look 
 for the Romance of the Present. We have fallen into peaceable 
 and quiet times, and life jogs on with a tame and uninteresting gait! 
 Alas ! you do not see aught what is passing around you, if you hold 
 that doctrine. The scenes that I have been depicting, arose from 
 the same cause — the excitement of the passions and feelings of 
 man — and the same cause ever continues. Circumstances may 
 
15 
 
 
 make the masses to develope it more collectivi-l/'ak^one time than 
 another, but the human heart is the same, and the hjiman passions 
 are the same, at all times. Every man’s life is a rm»a»ce; every 
 man’s heart is a theatre, where the passions, theplsiSsIres, the vices, 
 and the virtues play their different parts. Circumstance is the call- 
 boy, at whose summons the respective performers start from behind 
 the scenes and exhibit themselves to the world at large ; but though 
 the circumstance should never come to call him forth, the actor is 
 nevertheless there:—like the precious gem, or the golden ore, 
 which remains imbedded in the earth, ready to be up-turned by the 
 miner’s shovel, but not the less there though that shovel should never 
 throw it up. 
 
 If you mean that such terrific and united outbursts as the French 
 Revolution are seldom to be met with, I agree with you thoroughly; 
 but you must not forget that the direful scenes then witnessed, 
 though startling from the number of the performers, and the magni¬ 
 tude of their crimes, were but made up of the actions of individuals. 
 Think you, that we have not persons at the present day, quite as 
 capable of murders and rapine, as each man who helped to swell the 
 mass of the French populace? If you doubt it, you must be blind 
 to the scenes that the earth daily witnesses; you must forget what 
 you have heard in courts of justice. There is no difference in the 
 man, or in the heart; the real difference is in the circumstance and 
 the occasion, or in the chord of sympathy which has been touched. 
 
 Yes ! life is a continued drama, that every man plays his part in 
 until death drops the curtain before him. Scenes of the most thrill¬ 
 ing interest are being constantly performed; every hour, every 
 house, every heart produces them ! Yes! scenes quite as thrilling 
 as any I have described. Do you doubt it? Ah! if I knew the 
 secret joys and sorrows of each heart that beats before me, how 
 soon could I touch the chords that would bring the tear-drop to 
 your eyes, or the joyous laugh to your lips. Events totally unin-/ 
 teresting to those around you, would be to you the scenes of tiro 
 most exciting character, in comparison to which, th e great actio ns 
 of the past would seem to you utterly 
 mind the mother of the happy hour, when 
 babe to her bosom, and forgot all her 
 
n 
 
 nntl corac into the world. If I could bring to her memory the gush 
 ol affection and the smile of happiness that marked that eventful 
 period of her existence. Or if I could bid the father remember the 
 
 wad of his hapless babe, writhing under the torture of disease, and 
 casting a look of mingled reproach and agony towards its parents, 
 as if to beseech them to remove its affliction; utterly unconscious, 
 poor infant, that the accustomed kindness was here all powerless, 
 and that an earthly parent’s hand could not turn aside the dart, sent 
 from the unerring quiver of an Almighty Father; altogether ignor¬ 
 ant, poor infant, that every pang it suffered, every cry it uttered, 
 every look of agony it gave, was stereotyped in the memory of the 
 sorrow-stricken parent, and that after years and years had floated 
 by, that pang, and cry, and look, would spring up even in the midst 
 of joy, like the thunder cloud darkening suddenly the noon-day 
 summer-sky ! 
 
 If I could present to you the image of life’s earliest love; the 
 bright young girl, who had wrapped her lover in her heart’s inmost 
 core and lived for him alone; and bring you back once more to the 
 marriage altar, surrounded by the accompaniments of youth, and 
 affection, and unmingled happiness, and then tearing you from that 
 altar, bring you gradually on to the scenes that had followed with 
 
 slow and sure steps upon all this brightness — the pang of sorrow, 
 the dart of disease, the heavy blow of misfortune, the cheek paling, 
 and the eye dimming, and the heart quivering, as death came to put 
 its blight upon the bright hopes of the wedding-day—Alas ! alas! 
 you would no longer dare to tell me, that the common and the daily 
 events that are passing around us, lack power to excite and thrill the 
 heart; not the heart of the great mass, it is true, but your own indi¬ 
 vidual heart. No, you would admit that life, daily life, has its scenes 
 and events of such exciting power, that the weary bosom longs 
 sometimes to wrap itself in death’s oblivion, and to lie down in the 
 silence and quiet of the grave. 
 
 Sut, thanks to a merciful Providence, these are not the only 
 scenes we witness; there is joy, unmingled joy; there is happiness, 
 unalloyed happiness; there is hope, beautiful hope; there is affec¬ 
 tion, darling affection; broad-cast over earth are sown the seeds of 
 —^pleasure, which grow up, nurtured by the hand of an omnfpo- 
 
 CL 
 
tent and all-wise Father; and these clouds that darken our sky, 
 and these tears that are wrung from our eyes, are but the early and 
 latter rain, that fall to soften the heart’s hardened soil, to bring up 
 the beautiful plants of virtue, and to bid them bud and bloom until 
 the heavenly husbandman shall transplant them to a more congenial 
 soil. Let us weep with those who weep, and joy with those that 
 smile, and joy also for those that mourn, as the wise husbandman, 
 who gladdens to see the dark storm, knowing that from its bosom 
 will flow the blessings, which will give joy for heaviness, and will 
 throw back, when it has passed, the varied hues of the beautiful 
 
 will no longer detain I have proved that life is 
 
 crowded with romance; that it teems in daily and domestic life, 
 and that he who is an attentive observer of nature and man, will find 
 enough to startle and amaze him, without turning to his fabled 
 pages. I have said, that each bosom has the germ of high and chiv¬ 
 alrous deeds, and terrible and blood-stained actions; that whenever 
 the occasion calls for the exhibition, the actor invariably comes forth. 
 The same hand that shapes the event, produces the performer. The 
 flint and the steel are always ready; suffered to remain apart, and 
 they remain flint and steel; let occasion and circumstance bring 
 them together, and a spark is produced, and a flame is kindled that 
 lights up the world for centuries. 
 
 A word of caution to my young friends, and I have done. 1 
 doubt not, that in each one of you there are mighty elements at 
 work; but I pray you, do not upset my theory, by rushing to the 
 circumstance, instead of waiting until the circumstance comes to 
 you. Don’t imitate Mahomet , who, when he commanded a moun¬ 
 tain to come to him, and it did not obey, went to it, cooly remarking, 
 “ that if the mountain wont come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go 
 to the mountain.” If the occasion wont come to you, do me the 
 justice not to go to the occasion: don’t fall into the error of believ¬ 
 ing that you musty each of you, be an ambuscade Adonis, or an em¬ 
 bryo Napoleon. I have only said you may he. Else, after you have 
 thrown your net around the heart of some fair one and have com¬ 
 menced hauling in, you may find that the intended victim has twisted 
 her meshes around your own affections, and is gradually drawing 
 
U 
 
 18 
 
 you home to your own discomfiture: or, what is worse, after you 
 have stirred up the elements of deadly strife, with a view of giving 
 a slight exhibition of your unrivalled prowess, you may be sur¬ 
 prised by a tremendous overthrow. Go on in your accustomed 
 course; pursue the paths of honor and usefulness, and when life 
 draws to its close, you will find consolation enough in the calm and 
 quiet of your evening sky, to take away from you all regret, that you 
 had not been called to play a hero’s part, and reap a harvest of crime 
 and suffering. 
 
 And now our dream is over! Back to your hiding places, ye 
 spirits of romance, and come forth again ye stern, and cold, and 
 practical genii of every day life! But stay. Come not yet. To -- 
 morrow will be time enough for you to resume your sway! To¬ 
 morrow, when the mechanic shall have gone to his toil; the lawyer 
 to his mists and labyrinths; the physician to his drugs and deaths! 
 But even then, come not alone; leave us not utterly, ye beautiful 
 guardians of our better hours; leave us still perception enough to 
 see, amid the rocks and thistles of our daily path, the glittering dia¬ 
 monds of hope, the golden threads of joy. Let us still love to look 
 upon the soft and angel-like hue of childhood — the image of its 
 Maker — not yet blackened and defaced by the vices of the world. 
 Let us turn still with delight to the sweet and brilliant eyes of wo¬ 
 man, and view, as in a glass, the ardent affection, and the high pur¬ 
 pose, and the deathless love that beam thence, to bless us, and to 
 cheer us, and to strengthen us in the terrible struggle of life. Let 
 us not look unmoved at the noble deeds of benevolence, that come 
 to shew that man has yet a purer spirit abiding within him. And 
 as we pass along the path that leads us to our graves, and as the 
 way becomes narrower and narrower, and the rocks above us are 
 shutting out more and more the genial light of day, still strew before 
 our tottering steps and feeble sight the blossoms of sympathy and 
 kindness; and when we have dropped into the tombs that bound our 
 career, plant one floweret over our bosoms and leave us to our rest.' 
 
 Good night, my gentle audience! When each or all of you 
 shall have leaped from the common paths of life, and become great 
 and renowned in the history of the world, remember the poor pil¬ 
 grim, who prophesied your greatness. If you should turn up a 
 
 —C- 
 
19 
 
 warrior, spare me, I pray you, from your glittering sword. If fate 
 should make you a civic hero, help me, I entreat you, to ascend the 
 dizzy ladder of honor and of fame: and you, my fair hearers, when 
 your happier, though less brilliant, hopes have been realised, leave me 
 some infinitessemal section of your hearts —some remote and nar- 
 row nook in your memories :— 
 
 11 Rosy dreams and slumbers light; 
 
 Fairy visions bless your sight; 
 
 One and all, Good night! Good night V’ 
 
 # 
 
 # 
 
 / 
 
 # 
 
INAUGURAL DISSERTATION 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SYMPATHIES OF THE SYSTEM. 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE 
 
 ©[£^M IF ^ © y 1L TY 
 
 OP THE 
 
 MEDICAL COLLEGE 0? THE STATE OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 FOR THE DEGREE OF M. D. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. MOSELY FITCH, 
 
 AND 
 
 I 
 
 RECOMMENDED BY THE MEDICAL COMMITTEE FOR PUBLICATION. 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C: 
 j. b. nixon, printer::::«81 meeting street. 
 1845. 
 
SYMPATHIES OE THE SYSTEM. 
 
 I am aware that in selecting the subject, “Sympathies of the 
 System,” I have chosen one apparently, and indeed, beyond my 
 depth, particularly if I pretended to inquire i:.to and give originalities 
 concerning its cause or agents; a subject abstruse in itself, and so 
 considered not only by Junior, but also by Senior writers. That 
 they thus esteem the subject, is evident from the manner in which the 
 majority of them (Physiologists,) handle it, which is cursorily enough. 
 They, and particularly the Pathologists are more interested, concern¬ 
 ing the effects of the phenomena, than its cause or agents; the former 
 being apparent, the latter obscure. As my object wiU be to dwell 
 more on the former—viz: The mysterious relations existing between 
 the particular organs, and the practical advantages to be derived from 
 an attention to this relation, I shall briefly rehearse the causes or 
 agents of this phenomenon, so considered by several writers, who 
 have as it were, just glanced at the subject, or at its approximation to 
 probability; the ideas of some of the first writers on the subject being 
 chimerical in the highest degree. 
 
 In the first place, I will endeavour to define the term Sympathy, 
 prefacing the definition, however, with this remark, that in using the 
 term Sympathy in Physiology, we speak of it just as we do that of 
 attraction of gravitation in Physics, the word in either case simply 
 expressing a law, and not explaining the power whose mysterious 
 movements constitute that law. I should say the term expresses that 
 intimate relation existing more or less, between various parts and 
 organs of the System, by the influence of which the parts so related 
 are affected similarly, in a greater or less degree, either normally or 
 abnormally. To illustrate this definition by an instance; let us take 
 the Stomach, the centre of Sympathies, than which there is no organ 
 in the human system, that possesses such powerful and extensive 
 relations ; let the irritation or inflammation be ever so slight, a similar 
 
J BJ fm 
 
 4 
 
 affection, shows itself in the head and other organs thus connected 
 with the Stomach, by symptoms varying according to the nature of 
 the part affected, and this affection will be modified by the degree of 
 irritation existing in the organ, primarily deranged. Thus, if a small 
 degree of irritation prevailed, the effect on the brain may be perceived 
 by headache, if in a greater degree, then delirium, or even convulsions 
 might result. 
 
 These connections between remote parts constitute one of the most 
 remarkable differences between organic and inorganic bodies. We 
 observe nothing similar in dead or inanimate nature; although she 
 abounds in apparently mysterious phenomena, most of them, however 
 being capable of solution on mechanical or chemical principles, further 
 investigations may still continue to develope their causes and ration¬ 
 ale; this is the more probable, since all her phenomena are connected 
 by palpable and material links; here, the chain is, in a measure 
 invisible, the connection evident; causa latet, while the effects are 
 apparent and obvious. 
 
 Some have even doubted the existence of this consent of parts— 
 this law of the animal economy. It is true, that we are not so inti¬ 
 mately acquainted with the causes or agents of this relation, and the 
 complex changes which take place in the different structures, when 
 its effects are strikingly manifest, as to enable us to make the broad 
 declaration, that such and such is the exclusive agent, that such and 
 such changes do take place; but what if all this cannot be proved to 
 a logical demonstration, does not this mystery stand on an equal foot¬ 
 ing with other—incomprehensibles of animal life? Has it ever been 
 demonstrated, or will it ever be, by what particular process the will 
 exerts its power over the muscular fibre ? How the special sensibili¬ 
 ties are adapted to their respective stimuli 1 Yet we are persuaded of 
 their existence, from the phenomena which they exhibit, and it is by 
 the same description of evidence, that we are or ought to be assured 
 of the existence of Sympathy. 
 
 The principle of Sympathy extends throughout the body, every 
 portion of it being susceptible of associative actions, by which means 
 the different parts are linked together, so as to form one harmonious 
 whole. There are however, certain organs of the System, which 
 possess this property in a more eminent degree, than others, as the 
 Uterus, the Brain, and particularly the Stomach, this last viscus being 
 denominated par excellence, the centre of Sympathies. 
 
5 
 
 It will be asked, what are the causes or agents of this mysterious 
 relation. This has been a vexata questio with all the first writers, who 
 have paid any attention to the subject. While some in their investi¬ 
 gations and hypotheses have approximated to what may now be 
 considered a rational view, others have diverged from the point with 
 more than centrifugal velocity. Whytt in the difficulty of the sub¬ 
 ject, considered the Soul as the only cause of Sympathy. Hardly at 
 this present day, can this view of the cause of the reciprocal relations 
 be esteemed an exceeding sound one. Some again have brought 
 a forward, the continuity of the cellular Texture, as the medium of 
 
 communication. I suppose its extensive diffusion, its existence in the 
 if structure of every organ, influenced them in this decision. Although 
 
 this theory was not quite so abstract as the former, but equally mea¬ 
 ts pable of being substantiated by experience and practical observation, 
 
 • and not even bearing the semblance of plausibility, it soon vanished 
 
 & among the things that were. The communication of parts by means 
 
 of bloodvessels, the continuity of the mucous membranes, as being 
 - exclusive agents, may be comprehended under the same category. 
 
 i There have been some again, who vividly appreciating the abstruse¬ 
 
 ness of the subject, have supposed Sympathy, devoid of all organic 
 ia connection ; others, again have thought that all the above mentioned, 
 
 ni were more or less concerned. Notwithstanding the diversity of theo¬ 
 
 ries advanced by writers on this point, the greater number have been 
 i unanimous in declaring the nerves to be the general medium of com- 
 
 :• munication between organs. The rapidity with which muscular 
 
 i power is exerted, the nerves being conductors of the stimulus applied 
 
 _the immediate perception by the brain of impressions produced by 
 
 j, external irritants, the almost equal rapidity with which some of the 
 
 Sympathies are manifested, &c., after delivery, the application of 
 irritation by suction or other mode, to the mammae, almost immedi¬ 
 ately bringing on contractions of the Uterus, influenced Physiologists 
 in directing their attention, as I have just remarked, to the nervous 
 system, as the mysterious connecting link by which distant organs are 
 supposed to react in this manner upon each other. We can only be 
 surprised, that all, were not unanimous on this point, holding as this 
 System has, from the earliest period of Physiological inquiry, such a 
 pre-eminent rank among the vital functions ; it having been considered 
 not only the essential instrument of vital association, but of vital 
 endowment, and therefore present in every body possessed of life, in 
 
6 
 
 the vegetable, as well as the animal; it being also conceived as the 
 lirst formed in the embryo, the growth and nutrition of the economy, 
 or of its different organs standing in direct ratio with the developement 
 and distribution of this one System. Hence, their idea of the suppo¬ 
 sed vast and extensive influence, wielded by this one of the vital 
 functions. 
 
 Later investigations however, have modified these views considera¬ 
 bly. The Doctrine of Schwan—omnia structura animalis et vegi- 
 tabilis excellula,—militates, somewhat against the precedence in 
 formation, of this one System, over the others. Dr. Carpenter 
 remarks : The independent character of the cells in which all organi¬ 
 zed tissues originate, might be of itself a satisfactory proof that in 
 animals as in plants, the actions of nutrition are performed by the 
 powers, with which they are individually endowed; and that what¬ 
 ever influence the nervous System may have upon them, they are not 
 essentially dependant upon it; moreover, there is an improbability 
 in the idea, “that any one of the solid textures of the Jiving body should 
 have for its office, to give to any other the power of taking on any vital 
 actions, ’ and this improbability becomes an impossibility, when it is 
 known, that no formation of nervous matter takes place in the embry¬ 
 onic structure, until the processes of organic life have been for some 
 time in active operation. That the functions of nutrition and secre¬ 
 tion are not dependent upon nervous agency, is shown from these 
 processes, going on with great rapidity in the vegetable kingdom, in 
 which it is said there is no trace of a nervous System to be found. I 
 say no trace, but I believe Brachet,/egarded the pith of the vegetable, 
 with the various knots or gan glia in its course, as a nervous System, 
 resembling the ganglionic or sympathetic in man, influencing the same 
 processes in that kingdom, viz : of nutrition and secretion, as it does 
 in the animal; his postulate however, needs confirmation. 
 
 In the animal kingdom, these processes take place with equal vigor, 
 long before the least vestige of a nervous system appears. That many 
 of the organic functions however, are directly influenced by this 
 system, is a matter about which there can be no doubt, and this 
 influence exerted sometimes in checking, and sometimes in otherwise 
 modifying, has been happily compared by Dr. Reid to the influence, 
 which the hand and heel of the rider has upon his horse; he thus 
 illustrates it. i he movements of a horse are independant of the rider 
 on his back, that is, the rider does furnish the conditions necessary 
 
7 
 
 for the movement of the horse, hut every one knows how* much these 
 movements are influenced by the hand and heel of the lider. 
 
 Of the mode in which the nervous system influences the organic 
 functions; it will be found that their ordinary function is to supply 
 the conditions, either immediate or remote for their maintenance, and 
 when its activity ceases, they feel its depressing and destructive influ¬ 
 ence immediately. The first mode in which it operates upon them, 
 is by acting upon the muscular fibre, rendering that through it sensible 
 to any stimulus applied, and the contractions thus induced, have 
 usually an important effect upon them, which varies however in each 
 individual case. Thus the process of nutritive absorption, which is 
 the very first stage in the operations of vegetable life, and which is 
 accomplished in plants by the accidental contact of the alimentary 
 materials, the gases, with the radical fibres, cannot take place in 
 animals, until the apparatus of prehension has been set in motion by 
 the will, that of deglutition by the reflex function, and that of the intes¬ 
 tinal canal by direct stimulation. The two former kinds of contrac¬ 
 tion being accomplished entirely through the nervous system, and 
 the latter influenced by it. We notice the intimate connexion, the 
 consentaneous action of organs with each other, as for instance, that 
 of the Uterus and Mammae, their equal growth and developement, no 
 important change, either normal or abnormal taking place in the one, 
 but what the affection is radiated to the other. We see that when the 
 first effort, is being made to show the full maturity of the organs, 
 attended with pain in the loins and back, a bearing down sensation, 
 &c., we observe the mammae also affected, which is shown by their 
 being in an irritable and tender state. Here we say, is a marked 
 instance of sympathetic communication between organs—sympa¬ 
 thetic movements of this kind, according to Doctor C. may be 
 excited either through the cerebro-spinal or the ganglionic systems. 
 The sympathetic movements of the muscles of animal life, may 
 be excited through the cerebro-spinal system, while those of the 
 contractile tissue of the viscera, are probably excited through nerves, 
 which though connected with the cerebro-spinal, act under peculiar 
 conditions, and are commonly spoken of as forming part of the sym¬ 
 pathetic system. It has been shown by Valentine, that all the con¬ 
 tractile organs which may be excited through the sympathetic or 
 visceral system of nerves, may also be made to act by stimuli, applied 
 to the roots of the spinal nerves ; but that each cerebro-spinal fibre 
 
LJ 
 
 8 
 
 appears to pass through several ganglia before being distributed to the 
 organs which it supplies. Thus the peristaltic motion of the intesti¬ 
 nal canal, the contraction of the Pharnyx, that of the (esophagus, the 
 peristaltic motion of the stomach, &c., all of which movements have 
 been thought due to a sort of reflex action, taking place through the 
 ganglia of the sympathetic system of nerves, may be excited by irri¬ 
 tating the roots of those spinal nerves indirectly distributed to the 
 different parts of the system. From the consideration of these facts, 
 Doctor C. states this general proposition, that all the evident move¬ 
 ments which can be excited by irritation applied to one part of the 
 body, in the contractile organs or tissues of another, are really effect¬ 
 ed through the true spinal cord; why the fibres of the visceral 
 nerves should be so peculiarly separated from the rest, we can at 
 present only speculate ; but it may not be considered improbable, that 
 by their peculiar plexiform arrangement in the various ganglia through 
 which they pass, connections are established between remote organs, 
 which tend to bring their actions into closer relation with each other,' 
 than would otherwise be the case. The existence of such connec¬ 
 tions, for the purpose of harmonizing the several movements of the 
 viscera, which are concerned in the various and complex operations 
 of digestion and its attendant processes, may be inferred from the 
 perfect conformity which exists between them, during all their differ¬ 
 ent states of regular action ; and still more perhaps from the pheno- 
 mena of their disordered conditions. 
 
 It has been maintained that the nerves are not the exclusive agents 
 of this relation of parts, and as a corroborative to this assertion, they 
 have brought forward the sympathy of the Glands, Parotid and Testes, 
 rendered strikingly manifest in disease: conceiving that they were 
 parts, the nerves of which had not the slightest connection. This 
 conceit however, has been negatived by experimental observations. 
 It has long been questio dubitationis what influence, how great, or 
 whether any at all, the cerebellum exercised on the Testes. I think 
 from the results of experiments performed by Muller, that this influ¬ 
 ence is incontrovertibly evident. He, immediately after the death of 
 a cat removed the skull as quickly as possible, laid open the abdomi¬ 
 nal cavity, exposing both Testes, their spermatic cords and vasa 
 deferentia ; the Testes lay perfectly still: upon irritating the cerebel¬ 
 lum with the point of a knife, immediately one testicle raised itself up 
 and moved from the spermatic cord on which it had lain, so as to form 
 
9 
 
 * nearly a right-angle with it, at the same time it became more and more 
 
 ~ tense, the greater the irritation, the more the Testicle moved ; but 
 
 the two Testes Aever moved together, stimulating the right lobes of 
 the cerebellum, and the right half of the commissure, the left Testicle 
 moved, and vice versa. The cerebellum, he found to be the part at 
 which the nerves of the Testes terminate, the nerves crossing each 
 other in the brain as those of the rest of the body do. If we do not 
 doubt these results, we can now solve the hitherto inexplicable sym¬ 
 pathy between the Testes and Parotid Glands, giving nerves as the 
 medium of communication. The nerves of the Parotid being capable 
 of being traced, in their ultimate roots, to the parts where the union 
 H of the nerves of the male sexual organs may be conceived to take 
 
 ii . place. I am rather inclined to consider the nerves as the exclusive 
 
 k agent of the Sympathies, conceiving that those sympathies of the 
 
 system, which are at present inexplicable, will be found upon further 
 research to depend upon some nervous connection now unknown. 
 
 Doctor 0. says, the rationale of the sympathetic disturbance between 
 e different parts of the system, which especially manifests itself in the 
 
 tendency to simultaneous affections with the same disease, becomes 
 apparent, if we consider the disease as a perversion of the ordinary 
 proceses of nutrition and secretion, and as dependant upon an ab¬ 
 normal state of the blood. He continues, when certain tissues 
 throughout the body are similarly affected, there is strong reason to 
 presume that the morbific matter is conveyed to it in the blood; this 
 is the case for example with regard to the mucous membranes, which 
 all manifest a tendency to inflammation, when arsenic has been intro¬ 
 duced into the system. Now, with great deference to the talent and 
 judgment of Doctor C. to whom I am so much indebted in this 
 essay, me judice, it would perhaps have been more difficult of logical 
 proof, but at the same time more plausible to have ascribed these con¬ 
 sentaneous affections primarily to lesion of the nervous system. We 
 know that'another mineral poison, Lead, introduced into the system 
 in a concentrated state, proves its deleterious power by its effect upon 
 the nervous system, giving rise to extremely severe cases of neuralgia. 
 As ardent a supporter as Dr. C. is of the independence (this term, of 
 course, used in a comparative sense,) of the functions generally, of 
 the nervous system, he admits that this system has considerable influ¬ 
 ence over the function of nutrition, and this, according to him, exerted 
 through the medium of its power of regulating the diameter of the 
 
10 
 
 arteries and capillaries, by which it controls in some degree the afflux 
 of blood, and of affecting those preliminary actions on which the 
 quantity and quality of the nutritious fluid depends. These being 
 his views, and I shifting the onus probandi, he could not show that 
 this morbid action, this perversion of the ordinary processes of 
 nutrition and secretion, was primary, but rather secondary from lesion 
 of some part of this system ; which I regard as by far the most plau¬ 
 sible view ; and this plausibility I regard as a test of all those theories 
 which are insusceptible of demonstration, i. e. that such theories 
 must depend for their maintenance, upon the degree of plausibility 
 they possess, seeing there is no other criterion for them. 
 
 I holding to Dr. Billings’ theory of Inflammation, viz : that there 
 is decreased arterial action from loss of tone of the vessels, which tone 
 is derived from the nervous system. Hence his (Dr. C.) presump¬ 
 tion, that when a certain tissue throughout the body is similarly 
 aflected, it is owing to a morbid cause, primarily conveyed to it in the 
 blood is not a probable one. I imagine that when once a tissue 
 becomes affected, which according to my mind, it does, primarily 
 from some lesion of the nerves, the nerves lose their power of regula¬ 
 ting the afflux of the blood, the vessels become dilated, the processes 
 of nutrition and secretion are secondarily affected, in fine inflamma¬ 
 tion supervenes : and it is natural to suppose, that when a certain 
 tissue is affected, one possessing similar nervous and sanguineous 
 distributions, if the morbid action is not immediately quelled, that 
 this will have a tendency to diffuse itself over parts of similar struc¬ 
 ture : even dissimilar tissues in juxtaposition will become affected, 
 through the medium of nervous communication ; serous membranes 
 almost always become affected from inflammation of the organs they 
 invest—inflammation of the fibrous tissue of the heart often extends 
 to its lining membrane—such affections have been considered results 
 of the law-sympathy of contiguity. 
 
 The knowledge and full appreciation of the particular Sympathies 
 of the System, of the various organs most intimately related, is of 
 considerable importance to the practitioner, and must greatly modify 
 his views of treatment. The idea of the sympathy of contiguity, 
 solves the rationale of the operation of certain medicines, such as aloes 
 in uterine cases, knowing that the Uterus may be excited to contrac¬ 
 tion, by irritation of the same nerves as those which excite the 
 rectum. 
 
 
w 
 
 By the sympathy of continuity, other medicinal actions, as in 
 Bronchial irritation, the cough being frequently mitigated, by applying 
 a demulcent to the upper portion of the Larynx, the soothing influ¬ 
 ence of which extends to the part irritated. 
 
 I have remarked before, the intimate relation between the Glands, 
 Parotid and Testes : I have noticed, that some writers on Practice, 
 recommend in metastasis of inflammation from the Parotid to Testes, 
 powerful counterirritants to the organ first affected, for the purpose of 
 recalling the morbid action from the organ secondarily inflamed ; ironi 
 statements that I have somewhere seen, it is asserted that their object 
 has never been accomplished : if so, it is in a high degree an impru¬ 
 dent and injurious measure, for may not tliis compound irritation, be 
 similarly and additionally radiated to the part secondarily acted upon t 
 Again, all are aware of the intimate relation existing between the 
 Brain and Stomach ; in children frequent vomiting being an almost 
 perfect diagnostic symptom of an affection of the former organ. 
 Delirium Tremens is a disease in point, the treatment of which has 
 been much modified of late, in consequence of an attention to this 
 relation. Heretofore every care had been considered as dependant on 
 a deranged state of the nervous function, brought on by a deprivation 
 of the accustomed stimulus, and according to this view of its Patholo¬ 
 gy, it was treated by a routine practice, giving stimulants, opium, 
 brandy, &c„ from the commencement. Of late however, that impor¬ 
 tant faculty of the mind, judgement has been more exercised. The 
 able and indefatigable Stokes, from closely observing all the primary 
 phenomena of the affection, was led to consider it a sequent of two 
 different causes, the one cause which I have mentioned above —an 
 absence of stimulus, the other an excess. It was natural to suppose 
 that an excessive quantity of stimulant liquors taken into the stomach, 
 would produce an intense irritation of the mucous surface of that 
 organ, which irritation, owing to the connection of the organs, would 
 be radiated to the Brain. In fine, he viewed the affection of the Brain 
 as secondary and depending on primary latent gastritis. Of course, 
 this idea of the Pathology, was perfectly at variance with the former 
 routine practice; the result and success of his treatment, verified his 
 idea of the primary stomachic lesion. Often, says he, have we seen 
 cases of violent outrageous delirium subside under the application of 
 leeches to epigastrium, and iced water, without a single drop ol Lauda¬ 
 num. 
 
12 
 
 The sympathy between organs having analogous functions and 
 structure, is also one generally known, e. g. that of the skin and 
 mucous membranes, which is most intimate. This is shown in 
 exanthematous diseases, in which the danger is in direct ratio with the 
 affection of the mucous membranes: and it is a fact well established, 
 that the direct rays of the sun, beaming upon the body in warm cli¬ 
 mates, induce Diarrhoea and Dysentery. The knowledge of this 
 connection leads to the practice in the latter named affections, of pay¬ 
 ing close attention to the cutaneous function. 
 
 The appreciation of the different Sympathies, is of great avail in 
 assisting one in the diagnosis of diseases, whether they be organic or 
 functional. Thus we know that dilatation of the pupils is not always 
 a certain mark of a lesion of the Brain, for worms often occasion it. 
 Morbid states of the stomach may give rise to amaurosis. The pres¬ 
 ence of hardened wax in the ear, has produced distressing and long 
 continued coughs. The relation, between the stomach and the heart 
 —practitioners, comparatively speaking, are often called upon to 
 diagnose cardiac affections, whether they be primary or secondary. 
 We know that a loss of tone of the digestive apparatus, frequently 
 produces palpitation, intermittent pules, &c,, which sympathetic dis. 
 orders are soon remedied, by treating the primary affection. 
 
 Some of the Sympathies are occult, i. e. in a normal state of the 
 system, not at all evident, but become strikingly apparent, when dis¬ 
 eased action takes place. Under this head will be included that of 
 the Brain and Liver—wounds of the head sometimes giving rise to 
 inflammation and abscess of the latter organ. 
 
 But of all the Sympathies there is none more marked,than that of the 
 Uterus and Mammae. We see that they grow and are developed pari 
 passu ; when the great change takes place in the Uterus significant of 
 its capability of performing ail its functions, we also notice the mam¬ 
 mae somewhat affected, becoming tender and irritable. I have before 
 mentioned as an effect of this association, that irritation or suction 
 applied to the mammae, when the Uterus after delivery is in a distend¬ 
 ed state, will bring on contractions of the latter organ. This relation 
 is evident in an abnormal state of the Uterus, as in Dysmenorrhea in 
 which Dr. Dewes observes, there are two distinct states of the affec¬ 
 tion, which in a prognostic point of view are worthy of attention. In 
 some cases the Mammae sympathise strongly with the Uterus, becom¬ 
 ing tumid and often very painful and tender to the touch; while in 
 
13 
 
 other cases the breasts remain wholly free from any affections of this 
 kind. The former cases, he thinks are much more manageable than 
 the latter. In diseases of the Uterus, the areola of the Mamma} be¬ 
 come dark-coloured. Again, it has been remarked, that in almost 
 every case, shortly after impregnation, peculiar sensations are expe¬ 
 rienced in the Breasts. These have been generally described as a 
 sensation of creeping or formication, with a fullness and heat in the 
 interior, and an itching over the surface. Almost immediately alter 
 conception, the Breasts enlarge, the glandular structure becomes de¬ 
 veloped, and one or more of the glandular lobules may be felt hard, 
 enlarged and tender to pressure. The Sympathy between the womb 
 and breasts is also shown by the effect which the periodical indisposi¬ 
 tion of the nurse during the time of suckling has upon the infant; the 
 secretion of the mammae becomes somewhat deranged, not only in the 
 quantity diminished, but it is almost invariably altered in quality ; 
 hence in a greater number of cases, where the nurses are unwell dur¬ 
 ing suckling, the infant will suffer griping pains in the bowels, pur¬ 
 ging, and sometimes convulsions. Dr. Campbell, in his remarks on 
 Rachia, observes, “ I have repeatedly, I think, traced Rachitis to a 
 child having been reared on the milk of a woman who menstruated 
 regularly while nursing.’* 
 
 The connection between these organs was noticed, according to 
 Dr. Good, even by uncivilized nations. He remarks, one ot the most 
 effectual means of increasing the flow of milk from the breasts, is a 
 slight excitement of the Uterus, as soon as it has recovered its tone; 
 and hence, the mother of an infant, living with her husband and her¬ 
 self in good health, makes a far better nurse, and even requires a less 
 stimulant regimen, than a stranger brought from her own family and 
 secluded from her husbands visits. Of this, indeed, many of the ru¬ 
 dest and most barbarous nations, but which are not always inattentive 
 to the voice of nature, have the fullest conviction ; insomuch that the 
 Scythians, according to Herodotus, and the Hottentots in our own da}/, 
 irritate the vagina, to increase the flow of milk in their cows and 
 mares. 
 
 I, from these facts, being fully impressed with the intimate connec¬ 
 tion of these organs, imagined that many cases of barreness in women, 
 when not dependent upon organic disease of the uterus, ovaries, &c., 
 might be remedied by applying suction to the Glands, until they took 
 on their office of secretion ; this new action being sympathetically 
 
14 
 
 radiated to the uterus , reacting on its nerves, and thus modify the 
 secretions of that organ. Dr. Dewees observes, that the incapacity 
 of impregnation will sometimes depend upon the imperfect condition 
 of the uterus or ovaries; if the former, it may consist in some de¬ 
 rangement of the secreting surface of the uterus ; and though there 
 may be a regular discharge of a colored fluid, and this so nearly re¬ 
 sembling the perfect secretion, as to deceive the senses, it may yet 
 want an essential condition or quality, and thus entail barreness; 
 hence all women are not fruitful, who have a regular catamenial dis¬ 
 charge, though as far as can be judged by appearances, the discharge 
 is in every way healthy, and at the same time the ovaries free from 
 fault. The internal surface of the uterus secretes a fluid called men¬ 
 ses ; now it will be evident, whenever this part is any way deranged, 
 its product also must be impaired; but the injury does not consist so 
 much in the imperfect elaboration of the menstrual fluid, as in the ina¬ 
 bility of the surface to furnish a healthy decidua after impregnation has 
 taken place; for there can be but little doubt that the same apparatus 
 furnishes both the one and the other. An ovary may be fecundated 
 and duly conveyed to the cavity of the uterus, but it is suffered to per¬ 
 ish there, from the want of a healthy decidua; it is therefore cast off 
 unperceived, at the next menstrual purgation, and the woman remains 
 relatively barren. 
 
 Now, acting contrary to an established law in Philosophy, non fin- 
 gere Hypotheses—my hypothesis is, that this new mamarial irritation, 
 reflected upon the uterus, at least, changes the former secretion, and 
 has a powerful tendency to bring it to a normal one. This view I 
 attempted to verify by experiment; the first I made was on one of the 
 oviparous species—a pigeon. At first sight it would appear absurd to 
 attempt to substantiate the effect of a Sympathetic relation in the hu¬ 
 man subject, by experiments made upon a different class ; but when 
 we consider that the nourishment of the young, in both very distinct 
 classes, is somewhat similar, viz : the young of the pigeon, for the 
 first few days, being fed on a pulpy secretion from the crop, which se¬ 
 cretion takes place a day or so prior to the expected hatching of the 
 ovum, the analogy will not appear so extremely harsh. I concluded 
 from this, that there might be some relation existing between the parts. 
 The first opportunity that I had of making a trial of this, was upon a 
 pair of “ Nun-Pigeons. I had had them for sometime, and they had 
 not bred ; they had (he amorous propensity well developed. As they 
 
 
15 
 
 copulated frequently without effect, I was led to notice them more par¬ 
 ticularly, I found that after several days connection with each other, 
 the female betook herself to her nest and there dropped an amorphous 
 mass, bearing some resemblance to an egg, shewing an imperfeet ac¬ 
 tion of the ovaria. To find whether bringing on this pulpy secretion 
 would have any effect upon the future fruitfulness of the female, 1 re¬ 
 moved her abortion and gave her two eggs, which I knew would 
 hatch ; they did so, she fed the young, and ever after bred. I only 
 obtained another case for trial, which resulted in a similar manner. 
 The result of these cases would argue something more than coinciden¬ 
 ces. I, however, would not lay so much stress on these experiments 
 as on the following. 
 
 The next experiment I made was upon one of the mammiferous 
 species, viz : Rabbits. The analogy here is not a perfect one, he¬ 
 ft tween the functions of the organs uterus and mammae of this species 
 
 and the human. They, the rabbits, have no regular monthly secretion 
 from the uterus; but they both form a decidua after impregnation. I 
 had four she-rabbits that did not bear. I made experiments on the 
 whole, two of which were successful. The manner in which I caused 
 a secretion from the glands, was by placing a litter of hungry young 
 rabbits in a cage with each of the barren. They would immediately 
 apply themselves to the teats of the old ones, which, after some little 
 demurring, they, the elder, bore quite stoically. In the course of a 
 week, three of them secreted milk, the fourth not at all. About six or 
 eight weeks after the secretion came on, two of them bred. I have 
 not had an opportunity of trying the effect of the secretion on the hu¬ 
 man species, relative to its remedying barreness, but would, the first 
 case that offered itself. 
 
 I had paid some attention to this subject before I visited Charleston 
 last winter; while there, reading “ Dunglinson’s Physiology,” I had 
 the fortune to come across a reported case, which would tend to sub¬ 
 stantiate my view. The case stands thus ; A lady of Alabama, who 
 had never borne children, or rather I should say a child, was re¬ 
 quested to take charge of an infant during the illness of its mother. In 
 the course of the night, the infant became restless and fretful; the la¬ 
 dy, to quiet it, put her nipple into its mouth. This was done from 
 time to time, until the milk began to flow. Sometime after she con¬ 
 ceived, and at the expiration of the usual time, was delivered of a fine 
 child. 
 
16 
 
 This remedy, if from subsequent observations, it can be so styled* 
 is a prepossessing one, not being of that kind called heroic, in the ad¬ 
 ministration of which, there are as many chances to kill as to cure ; 
 it being much preferable to continued draughts of such potations as 
 the “ Lucina Cordial,” et congenera medicamenta; and last, but not 
 least, from there being little inconvenience attending the process of ir¬ 
 ritation of the mammae. 
 
 Hoping, Gentlemen, that further attention will be paid to this inter¬ 
 esting association, I leave the subject in your hands. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 W. MOSELY FITCH. 
 
“ STERILITY.—By Marshall Hall, M. D. F. R. S. &c. 
 
 Dr. Marshall Hall throws out a suggestion on the treatment of ster¬ 
 ility, which may be tried under some circumstances. There is an ex¬ 
 traordinary sympathy between the mammae and the uterus, so that 
 the functional condition of the former, influences that of the latter, 
 “This Sympathy is partly nervous in its character,partly vascular, 
 
 As a reflex action, the uterus is made to contract after parturition, by 
 applying the newly born infant to the mamma 1 . As a vascular sym¬ 
 pathy, uterine haemorrhage and leucorrhcea occur from undue lacta¬ 
 tion.” Many cases of sterility, of course, occur from organic defect, 
 but when the cause is of a functional and less permanent nature, it be¬ 
 comes a question whether or not the uterus cannot be stimulated so 
 as to assume a healthy functional action, in the way suggested by Dr 
 Hall, who says ;— 
 
 Now, as I have already stated, for one week before and at the re¬ 
 turn of the catamenial period or flow,(when a vesicle probably bursts.) 
 the mamma; become tumid with blood, and tender from augmented 
 sensibility ; in a word, there is the condition which, after parturition, 
 leads to the secretion of milk. Might not this secretion be actually 
 excited under this condition, by the appropriate or other stimulus— 
 that is, might not the mammae be brought into the condition which it 
 obtains after parturition ? Might not an infant be applied and suck- 
 eied ? And might not the uterine system in the married and childless 
 be. brought into the healthy state required for conception ? In this 
 manner, not only the female, but the male mammae have been excited 
 to the secretion of milk in such abundance as to supply the infant with 
 abundant nourishment. (See Good’s Study of medicine, ed. 2, vol. 
 4, page 79.) But the case most to our purpose is that of a servant 
 maid, given by M. Bellor, in his “Cours de Medicine Legale.” 1811, 
 p. 70; “ Une fille de service, obligee de faire coucher dans sa cham- 
 bre un enfant qu’on voulait seuxer, et qui derangeait son repos, im- 
 agina de lui donner son sein pour apaiser ses pleurs, qui 1’ unportu- 
 naient; an bout de peu de temps cette fille eut assez de lait pour sat- 
 isfaire cet enfant.’* 
 
u 
 
 18 
 
 th ? n 1S ’ that when lhe mamm ® is excited at the re 
 turn of the catamenial period, a robust infant be repeatedly and 221 
 
 ttnng _v app ied, in the hope that the secretion of milk may be p • 
 ed, and that the uterine blood may be diverted from the ^ 
 
 - —~r ve«i ,„d uTTT" 1 tn; “ ,l 
 
 ’y«em and a proneness „ conception may b, ; n d„c,d , “*," lem ' 
 that the patient should aleep, J e „*»«“ P- 
 each catamenial period, „i, h an i, faM „„ ^ *■*» 
 
 Lancet, March 23d, 1844 n in n , 
 
 Practical Medicine and Surged Pan ninth" ' ° f 
 
 10 DR. MOULTRIE. 
 
 Respected Sir ;—These views of Dr H ’c i 
 Thesis was completed and while it was yet i„ thlh TZ ^ ^ 
 ceptor, Dr. Toland, for revision. * h ds oi m y Pr e- 
 
 dicine,” was so highl^p(eLeTwhh 'l Ret ">spect of Me- 
 
 •'« complete „„„£ of volnmc," an",.'"? "““'t'' h " °" kroJ 
 staled, after my composilory labor was finished" h!” ‘ ’“T’" 4 ’" 
 of the volumes, came to this nonpr << in reading one 
 
 read my view, 0 n the * ,1’ °" “ J h *™S previously 
 
 "I after reading ,|„ article, he bro’ngh, it mT" di ’" U, ‘ l “ 
 
 that prior to this time. I had not & ^ notlce * I am certain 
 
 tended to this point. Last wimp™ ° f 3 " y writer ’ w} ><ch 
 
 chum, who ridiculed the idea • I nevertf ^ ‘ he ° ry ‘° my 
 
 subject. It was pleasin 'to l’e 7, K Conclud ^ to treat the 
 
 medicine, like myself, corroborated by thc^imilaT 110 " 8 ° f f aSCiolistin 
 a star in the medical galaxy as Dr H r “*K view> of 80 Pliant 
 of Dr. H.’s for one idea whic , I h f ’ , “T*" 1 to this a «®le 
 
 deed had not thought of viz the 3 T ,IOllce<;I ln m y essay, andin- 
 infant to the breasts. You neree' n SU ‘!. a,)le time of a PPlying the 
 plication of tito 
 
 Witl,grea^^p:^" >n!,n, ‘ le ' r0 ' , • 
 
 w. MOSELY FITCH. 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NATIONAL CONVENTION 
 
 OF 
 
 FARMERS AND GARDENERS 
 
 FRIENDS OF AGRICULTURE; 
 
 HELD AT THE 
 
 AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 
 
 In the Park, (City of IVew-York,) 
 
 ON THE 11th AND 12th OF OCTOBER, 1844, 
 
 / 
 
 AND DURING THE 
 
 SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL FAIR. 
 
 Netn-Sork: 
 
 JAMES VAN NORDEN & CO., PRINTERS, 
 No. 60 William-Street. 
 
 1845. 
 
-— 
 
 i fj 
 
 
 4 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
PROCEEDINGS, &c. 
 
 The Convention met Friday, 11th October, 1844 , at 10} o’clock, A. M. 
 The meeting immediately proceeded to organize, and the following gentle- 
 men were unanimously elected officers of the Convention, viz . 
 
 Gen. James Tallmadge, of New-York, President. 
 
 Isaac R. Barbour, Mass. 
 
 John S. Pierce, Vermont, 
 
 Charles Nicoll, Conn. 
 
 Jacob D. Van Winkle, N. J. 
 
 Robert Laurence, City of Washington. 
 George Blight, Pennsylvania, 
 
 Edmund Elmendorf, N. Y. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Bennet, La. 
 
 > Vice-Presidents. 
 
 Henry Meigs, ? Secretaries. 
 
 Theodore Dwight, jr. ^ 
 
 Shepherd Knapp, } 
 
 A. P. Cumings, > Business Committee. 
 Edward Clark, ) 
 
 The call setting forth the objects, &c., of the Convention, was read 
 as follows: 
 
 National Convention of Farmers, Gardeners, and the friends of Agri¬ 
 culture, generally, from all parts o f the United States, on the call 
 of the American Institute of the City of New-York. 
 
 This Convention is proposed at the solicitation of agricultural gen¬ 
 tlemen of high consideration, who sincerely desire the prosperity of 
 
4 
 
 fi™!?- 1 in ! er ® s !’ and understand its condition. The time appointed 
 Reno^ g, r Fr K da A y ’ 1 lth of 0ct ober, 1844, 10 o’clock, A. M., at the 
 3‘°2’ °in ua Am< T£, an Institute, city of New-York, the first 
 
 thnS f | the 17 ,- h - A r U u a ‘ Fair of the Institute - It has been urged by 
 hose who solicited the call, that it should come from this Institute 7 
 cause by its act of incorporation it is constituted a national insti’ 
 tion, and required to extend its fostering care to agriculture in nar- 
 lcular, over all the states of the Union ; and further, that a call from 
 such an institution so centrally situated, devoted to the encouragement 
 of industry, would be free from all partisan influences which havTso 
 often obstructed the progress of the best designed associations formed 
 for other purposes, which might be imagined would exert an influence 
 
 N,w e v gre i P P a J Part 'f ,° fthe da >'- aad at the time of the great 
 .New-l ork Tair, is deemed altogether desirable, as it will insure a full 
 Convention. The proposers of this Convention further represen 
 that four fifths of the population of the Union are embraced in the 
 agricultural class ; that while other occupations, comparatively few 
 in number, have held such conventions, no national agriculturaf con- 
 vention had ever been heard of, although the scattered condition of 
 the farmers, etc., and the obstacles to their meeting and interchang¬ 
 ing knowledge with the facility and effect of ofher occupations 
 strengthened the necessity of their coming together, conversm* and 
 concerting measures for the general goodf °’ d 
 
 Evidence has been presented in replies to circulars and in repre¬ 
 sentations before the Farmers’ Club of the Institute, of great deterio¬ 
 ration in our improved lancis, the wheat crops from these lands beino- 
 reduced in a few years from 33 to 50 per cent.; that in En^lani? 
 
 are e ^MhT l' n H S 3rC encoura g ed > and agricultural schools’ 
 
 are established, and liberal premiums are bestowed, their crops of 
 
 wheat have in the same time doubled, averaging twenty-six bushels 
 per acre ; while our lands, run down by bad tillage, will not proba- 
 bly equal one halt the English average. Indeed, it has been seated, 
 that in Virginia, and many other places, large sections do not average 
 aver five to eight bushels the acre. Such a falling off in the g ,fat 
 itaple of about two thirds of the Union, is surelv sufficient to awaken 
 lolicitation and an earnest inquiry for the remedy, and a knowledge 
 >f its application, which other countries are in possession of. Chem- 
 stry is bringing into use manures of unappreciable value, which have 
 emained neglected for 150 and even 200 years, increasin-r by their 
 
 pplication the value of lands more than ten-fold ° Y Cr 
 
 The farming implements and labour-saving machines are found in 
 -me perfection in certain sections of our country, though vastly in¬ 
 ner to those employed in manufactures and the 'arts ; there are^till 
 
 XTSJry. ' lhe "■“ rior "»» “« ™de wwLZl ol 
 
 Appreciated i? l> T < ’ d - ( sl » ck portions of our country is 
 
 ,l?]» P , i ' 3,1 as 11 deserves; an inferior breed is raised it 
 
 cos . s it proper that the essential means for promoting this 
 
5 
 
 paramount department of industry, the basis of all others, should re¬ 
 main neglected ? The representatives of the tillers of the soil have 
 legislated bountifully for other interest, and totally disregarded the 
 interests of those who made them legislators, as if agriculture needed 
 no fostering ! 
 
 Who can reasonably object to a Home Department for agriculture, 
 planned on a scale commensurate with the millions it is intended to 
 protect and foster? The navy is provided with its department, 
 another has been created for your money, one for your diplomacy, 
 another for your postage; you have an immense edifice, with com¬ 
 missioner, examiner, clerks, &c., to take care of your patents ; but 
 for the vast interest of agriculture you have not a place where the 
 farmer has legitimately a right to put his foot to ask for information 
 relating to his pursuits, or to deposit that information for the use of 
 others, which his experience may have acquired. No national 
 means for concentrating a knowledge of the immeasurable labours of 
 four fifths of the population of a mighty empire, multiplying in a ratio 
 that defies all precedent in the history of the human race. 
 
 Agriculture, if it had met its deserts, would long since have shone 
 conspicuous among the other departments of the government. Who 
 is there that will question the foresight, the wisdom, or patriotism of 
 Washington? At the opening of the session of 1798, the last at 
 which he presided, he spoke to the nation's representatives as fol¬ 
 lows : “ It will not be doubted, that, with reference either to individual 
 or national welfare, Agriculture is of primary importance. In pro¬ 
 portion as nations advance in population and other circumstances of 
 maturity, this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the cultiva¬ 
 tion of the soil more and more an object of public patronage. Insti¬ 
 tutions for promoting it grow up, supported by the public purse; and 
 to what object can it be dedicated with greater propriety ? Among 
 the means which have been employed to this end, none have been at¬ 
 tended with greater success than the establishment of Boards, com¬ 
 posed of proper characters, charged with collecting and diffusing in¬ 
 formation, and enabled by premiums, and small pecuniary aid, to en¬ 
 courage and assist a spirit of discovery and improvement by stimu¬ 
 lating to enterprise and experiment, and by drawing to a common 
 centre, the results every where of individual skill and observation, 
 and spreading them thence over the whole nation. Experience ac¬ 
 cordingly has shown, that they are very cheap instruments of im¬ 
 mense national benefits.” 
 
 That session passed, and nothing was done. The farmers' repre¬ 
 sentatives had more important business to occupy their attention, but 
 not a whisper was heard against the wisdom of the recommendation. 
 Every man in the nation openly or tacitly assented. But it was 
 passed over. The utility of the measure was so obvious, and the 
 approbation it met so universal, that Gen. Washington, in his letter 
 to Sir John Sinclair, ascribed its failure to the short session and mul- 
 
6 
 
 tiplicity of failures. The Father of his Country, under date of March 
 6 th, 1797, wrote to the great benefactor of British Agriculture, as 
 follows : “ I am sorry to add, that nothing final in Congress has been 
 decided respecting the institution of a National Board of Agricul¬ 
 ture, recommended by me, at the opening of the session. But this 
 did not, 1 believe, proceed from any disinclination to the measure, but 
 from their limited sitting, and a pressure of what they conceived 
 more important business. I think it highly probable that next session 
 will bring this matter to maturity.” This recommendation, con¬ 
 ceived in wisdom and the purest patriotism, enforced by unanswer¬ 
 able arguments, has been passed unheeded forty-eight years. 
 
 In view of these and other cogent considerations, the American 
 Institute has been induced to call a Convention, and the farmers, 
 gardeners, and friends of agriculture throughout our country are 
 most respectfully invited to attend. Agricultural Societies, Clubs, 
 &c., are specially desired to meet and elect suitable delegates to at¬ 
 tend ; men of liberal and enlarged views, and comprehensive minds— 
 men who do not “ put their hands to the plough and look back,” (for 
 such there are.) and such never can benefit any convention. This 
 august meeting of the owners of the soil, the men on whom our hopes 
 and the hopes of our posterity must depend, cannot but ensure 
 respect. 
 
 In order to render the results of this convention immediately 
 available, a series of questions have been prepared, calculated to 
 elicit answers from practical farmers, and gentlemen of accurate ob¬ 
 servation. This is in accordance with the plan of the Silk Conven¬ 
 tion held during the Fair of 1843, on the call of the Institute, which 
 was attended with the happiest results. We assert, without the fear 
 of contradiction, that the report of the proceedings of that conven¬ 
 tion contains more useful practical information on that subject, adapt¬ 
 ed to our country, than has ever before been published. All the 
 most important observations and experiments made by two hundred 
 culturists, many of them having been engaged for years, whether 
 successful or unsuccessful, are there embodied. We propose to ex¬ 
 tend the means which have proved so successful in eliciting informa¬ 
 tion on the subject of silk to the great farming interest of the nation, 
 and, in order effectually to concentrate various minds to the same 
 point, and in conformity to the above plan, questions are annexed, to 
 which answers are desired ; and those who receive this invitation, 
 are requested to add any other useful information that is not em¬ 
 braced in the questions proposed, and if not able to attend, which 
 will be much regretted, they are desired to forward written answers, 
 that they may be inserted in the Report of the Convention, which 
 will be published ; a copy of which will be forwarded to those who 
 communicate, and to Editors who send us a published copy of this 
 oall. The observations, facts and experiments of many hundred 
 intelligent farmers from different -sections of different states, will be 
 
7 
 
 of great value to agriculture, while a Home Department, continually 
 collecting and sending forth information, will multiply production, 
 and give a richer face to our whole country. 
 
 James Tallmadge, 
 Adoniram Chandler, 
 William Inglis, 
 Shepherd Knapp, 
 Gi/rdon J. Leeds, 
 
 T. B. Wakeman, 
 
 E. T. Backhouse, 
 
 *\ 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 J 
 
 \ 
 
 Jeremiah Johnson. 
 Thomas Addis Emmet, 
 Henry Whitney, 
 Nicholas Wyckoff, 
 Edward Clark, 
 Philip Schuyler, 
 Thomas Bridgeman, 
 
 R. S. Livingston, 
 
 J. L. Smith, 
 
 Henry A. Field, 
 
 W. J. Townsend, 
 Ralph Lockwood, 
 Samuel Stevens, 
 
 D. J. Brown, 
 
 R. L. Pell, 
 
 Henry Meigs, 
 
 D. P, Gardner, 
 
 Committee to Ad - 
 ^ dress the Public . 
 
 Board of 
 ^ Agriculture . ^ 
 
 fjr* Editors of newspapers, and other publications, especially on agriculture, are 
 requested to notice the foregoing, and if published, and a copy of the publication for¬ 
 warded, a copy of the Report of the Convention will be directed to them. 
 
 General Tallmadge, the President, addressed the meeting as fol¬ 
 lows : 
 
 I rise for the purpose of expressing my strong sense of the dis¬ 
 tinguished honour which you, gentlemen, have conferred Upon me 
 by placing me in this position, as presiding officer of this convention 
 of practical agriculturists. From early life I have felt deeply for 
 the welfare and high advancement of agriculture. I have long 
 known and regretted that our agriculturists have not had justice 
 done them—and when I say this, I beg leave to state that I here 
 attribute no fault to our government. Gentlemen, it is your own 
 fault. The census shows that eighty out of every one hundred of 
 our population, are interested in the land ; and derive their subsist¬ 
 ence from labour on the soil. You have the numerical power ;—you 
 
8 
 
 bear the public burdens; and you shoulder the musket. It was, 
 and it is, for you to provide for your own great interests to assert 
 them—and to maintain them by the exercise ot your elective franchise. 
 
 Looking to the recently past condition of our country; the revul¬ 
 sions in all business—balances of trade against us—the exportation of 
 specie—broken moneyed institutions, leaving their ruins all over the 
 land—repudiation of solemn contracts ! Bankruptcy ! Disgrace !— 
 painful indeed to behold, and with this, too, a neglect of legislative 
 aid ; incredible almost, among a free and enlightened people! 
 
 Remember this great truth— That the fault is your own! You 
 are farmers; the country looks to you for subsistence and defence. 
 You possess the full power to carry into execution all your just views. 
 But they are neglected . 
 
 I maintain that we, as a nation, are on a footing of equality with 
 the nations of the earth! That we have the substance and the 
 power to show it. But from unwise measures, we have suffered 
 other nations to overwhelm us with their productions ! to draw from 
 us the last golden eagle: leaving us in foolish controversy as to the 
 real cause of all our misfortunes. It has become our positive duty 
 to assert, morally and practically , our total independence. What, 
 then , do we ask of the nations of the earth ? Mutuality ! Equality 
 in rights , and mutuality in dealing, is our doctrine—and to permit 
 very little or no intercourse on other terms. We hear of free trade. 
 Free trade doctrine, as the world now is, is a mere bubble, blown to 
 burst, leaving no traces behind. It is mere Mormonism . No, gen¬ 
 tlemen ! There is no free trade . There is indeed, practical farm¬ 
 ing, and we have heard of book farming. But who ever heard 
 of free farming in agriculture? The man who should dare to 
 proclaim over the country free farming with no fences , would 
 soon acquire the character of insanity, if not that of idiocy. 
 Whether any portion of the fund of half a million of dollars re¬ 
 cently subscribed in England, to encourage the doctrine of free 
 trade, would be applied in relief of such objects of commiseration, 
 is not certain. The honest and noble farmer of the interior has 
 been deluded by this airy bubble. He has been led to think 
 that there should be, or that there does exist, some great moral 
 equality of principle. This is pure delusion. Free trade cannot exist ! 
 never did exist ! Nor free farming. It has been stated that the fen¬ 
 ces in the state of Pennsylvania alone, cost upwards of one million 
 of dollars. It would doubtless be great economy to dispense with 
 all fences and enclosures, and to have free pasturage. But it is im¬ 
 practicable; and so is free trade. The wise farmer must take care 
 not only of his tillage, but of his fences. His idle neighbour, with his 
 fences all down, is his greatest nuisance . It would be better for man¬ 
 kind to be just with each other, so as to save the expenses of courts 
 and of all government. It is better nations should remain at peace, 
 yet, as the world is, w r ho but an insane man will propose to dispense 
 with the means of national defence and protection. Let us say to the 
 nations- — Take our agricultural productions in payment, and then we 
 
9 
 
 will deal with you ! We farmers wish to purchase our clothing from 
 our neighbour; but as he will not take our agricultural produce in 
 payment, we cannot any longer take his manufactures. We have not 
 specie, even for the costs, much less for 330 per cent, duties he charges 
 on our produce. Of necessity we must employ a part of our labour 
 to make our own clothing. I say to you, farmers! countervail them 
 till they come to terms. This is no idle theory. It would have saved 
 our country from the late disastrous revulsion ! These are no false 
 syllogisms. If you wish to know the state of your business, feel in 
 your pockets—the answer is there. If you find a balance in specie, 
 you never need lobby around your legislative halls for some act to 
 wipe off your debts. If, however, free trade must be the law of our 
 land, rather than extend it to foreigners, who do not give free trade 
 for our produce in return, I would first afford relief to our citizens 
 by obtaining for Yhemfree transportation on the canals. The cost 
 of our canal is less in amount, than the light-houses and expenses at 
 our seaports for foreign commerce. Take care of ourselves. It is 
 well to sympathize with the human race. But true charity begins 
 at home. He who does not provide for his own household is worse 
 than an infidel. 
 
 My mind has been strongly drawn to this question. The Ameri¬ 
 can Institute has called this Convention upon the promptings of 
 numerous sensible and practical men. I am happy to say to you, 
 that the Institute received its incorporation 44 for the encouragement 
 of domestic industry, in Agriculture, Commerce, Manufactures and 
 the Arts.” Its power is given alone for the encouragement of active 
 industry in them all. All these rest and are declared to be consequent 
 upon agriculture;—that omnipotent interest. Government is respon¬ 
 sible for aid to all these—and that government is in fault which does 
 not obtain or create a market for its citizens. A government which 
 permits us to be crowded out of the marts of the world, fails in the 
 object of its establishment. 
 
 How is it, farmers, as to your immense crops ? One single illus¬ 
 tration. I recollect the time when two, and even three dollars a 
 bushel, were given to you for your wheat. That money went to 
 the cultivators of our fields ! When the wars of Europe ceased, 
 we were doomed to raise it for fifty cents a bushel. We ought to 
 have more, but under the dispensations of our policy, we cannot hope 
 for more. 
 
 Have you ever calculated the cost of bringing your wheat to 
 market? But you all know it. From Michigan, or any place on 
 the Lakes, to Buffalo—that is ten cents a bushel ; on to Albany— 
 that is sixteen and three quarter cents , including ten cents canal 
 toll—To New-York three cents. Total, twenty-nine and three 
 quarter cents. At New-York the price being about eighty 
 cents—you see that thirty cents offleaves the farmer fifty cents a bushel 
 for the remuneration of his hard and honest labour. From this amount 
 he must deduct about twelve cents per bushel for transportation in 
 his wagon to the place of shipment; and also something for com- 
 
 2 
 
TD 
 
 mission and agencies. This illustration of the fate of one of our 
 crops, shows that of all others. Look at this, and you will see that 
 the farmer has not more than thirty-seven cents lei't for his bushel 
 of wheat. I his being so where land is cheap and productive, how 
 is it where land is of treble or quadruple value, and less fertile? 
 
 It is time, gentlemen, that we, the farmers of the United, Stales, 
 felt as one family. If other nations will not give us mutuality let 
 us have a home trade ! Let us take care of ourselves ! Our former 
 tariff gave us fifteen per cent, ad valorem—a protection of one and 
 a half, two, or three cents per bushel for wheat. The act of 1842 
 gives us twenty-five cents a bushel protection. 
 
 Germany ! Thence (Bremen) the whole freight of a cargo of 
 wheat to New-York, is from nine to ten cents a bushel. But 
 when imported in the hold of the ship, and with emigrants between 
 decks, at six or seven cents a bushel. Odessa, a region fruitful in wheat 
 to a proverb—producing over 25 bushels to the acre—a country of 
 “ uss > an ® er * s an d Turkish slaves, whose whole costume often consists 
 of a frock of one sheepskin in front and another behind—a country in 
 which there is scarcely such a thing as a barn—implements of domes¬ 
 tic labour, wretched and few—wheat winnowed by immense bodilv 
 labour, in throwing it up with shovels to the winds. Italy and the 
 Mediterranean ! 1 here, the poor labourer with his only food, 
 
 maccaroni, usks but for the addition of one luxury:—a garlic twice a 
 week to flavour it! These are countries peculiarly productive 
 and abounding with wheat, and with labour of the most abject and 
 servile condition. The costs of freight from the ports of the Medi¬ 
 terranean, according to circumstances, will average from twelve to- 
 sixteen cents a bushel. 
 
 1 he cost of transportation of a bushel of your wheat from the 
 YVest to New-York, is two thirds more than that from Bremen; and 
 about double that from the Mediterranean. The legislation of our 
 country had thus provided a premium in favour of foreign grain; and 
 had reduced our farmers to the unequal competition wiih the de¬ 
 graded and most servile labour of Europe. The act of 1842 alone 
 redeemed them from the humility of their condition, by the protect¬ 
 ing duty of twenty-jive cents a bushel. 
 
 In 1836 and 37, large quantities of barley were imported 
 on commission for brewers, in this city, at Albany, and the 
 intermediate towns on the Hudson. It cost, including all ex¬ 
 penses, fifty five cents per bushel. During the same years large 
 quantities ot rye were in like manner imported for distillers, 
 and all the cost was sixty-three cents. The market price of bariey 
 was at the time about one dollar per bushel, and of rye one dollar 
 v\enty- ive cents. This information I have from a source in which 
 e *V ue ^Hfide for its accuracy. The distillers and the brewers 
 a ie ime kept their own secret, while the consumers drank the 
 
 twrmtv f m U §usto, at the rate of one dollar, and one dollar 
 twenty-five cents a bushel. 
 
 These aie the results of laws which you yourselves do sanction. 
 
11 
 
 All our Atlantic cities can eat their bread cheaper from across the 
 wide ocean than from our own farms. Without the present protec¬ 
 tion of twenty-five cents a bushel, it would be so obtained. If we 
 do not make better arrangements, foreign nations will overwhelm 
 us with their productions, again take away our specie, and leave 
 your grain upon your hands, without either a foreign or domestic 
 market. 
 
 So much has been said in this country of Adam Smith, that I 
 feel the propriety of submitting a few words on the subject and 
 history of Political Economy. Holland, you remember, became the 
 great*emporium of commerce, and Flanders of manufactures. 
 These two countries are about equal in dimensions to a couple of 
 our counties. Their most prosperous condition existed about two 
 centuries ago. Great Britain then, far in the rear, encumbered with 
 her baronial power, lacking comparative civilization, began to per¬ 
 ceive the essential benefits to be derived from the examples of those 
 states. She began with them to encourage domestic industry ; and 
 when she could not establish reciprocity with Flanders, she shut 
 her out! The rivalry and strife, from these and other causes of 
 contention, ran so high, that Holland set about the invasion of Eng¬ 
 land. The curious will find an illustration of the spirit of that age, 
 by feference to an original proclamation now preserved in the New- 
 York Society Library, of Governor Andros, calling on these Ameri¬ 
 can colonies to aid the parent country in the then crisis of her peril. 
 It was in those days Van Tromp sailed into the Thames with a broom 
 tied at mast head, to show he had swept out the British Channel. 
 It was in those days the country was so entirely drained of its 
 currency, “ the shops in the city of London were closed ; and the 
 Bank of England began to pay in sixpences.” The science of po¬ 
 litical economy was moulded into a weapon for defence. 
 
 About 1070, Great Britain began to make books on political 
 economy—every one of them “ protection up to the hub !” accom¬ 
 panied with some six or seven hundred criminal laws , enacted to 
 enforce the laws of protection. Child wrote in 1070 —Gee in 1730— 
 Cantillon in 1750 —Mildmay in 1700. All the most distinguished 
 writers of England on political economy used the strongest language 
 in favour of protection of domestic industry. They wrote for the 
 government. Gee is nearly out of print; so much so, that perhaps 
 I possess the only copy among us. This book is entitled “The 
 Trade and Navigation of Great Britain considered “ Showing :— 
 That the surest way for a nation to increase in riches , is to prevent the 
 importation of such foreign commodities as may be raised at home : 
 
 That this kingdom is capable of raising within itself and its colonies , 
 materials for employing all our poor , in those manufactures which we 
 now import from such of our neighbours who refuse the admission of 
 our own” Gee states that his book was written by “ Order of the 
 Lords of Trade” It was printed, not to publish it, but to put a few 
 of them into the hands of some of the ministers of slate, and other 
 great men. He had understood by some great persons, “ that a 
 
12 
 
 discourse upon trade would be very acceptable to the king.” Such 
 was the uniform and yet unvarying doctrine of the government of 
 Great Britain, for one hundred years before our revolution, and is 
 her practice at this time. When that great event was rapidly ap¬ 
 proaching:—When Holland and Flanders were supplanted, so effectu¬ 
 ally, that their unoccupied canals, and museums of Chinese curiosi¬ 
 ties, only remain in token of their lost trade :—When England was 
 standing preeminent in arms and in commerce—lo ! the book of Sir 
 James Stewart makes its appearance—a book essentially teaching 
 the then new-born doctrine of Free trade. This book was published 
 in 1709. England had resolved to put out the lights by which her 
 course had been guided to fame and fortune. At length, in due 
 time, Adam Smith appears. His book was printed in 1775 and the 
 beginning of 1770. The first copy of his work cannot be found 
 among us. For one hundred years before our revolution, a high- 
 toned protection to home industry was enacted and enforced by the 
 severest penal laws. Since that time, about 70 years, the same 
 practice has continued, but all the books have been free trade—a 
 false light, erected to lead others on to shoals and quick-sands; and 
 to secure to herself the monopoly of commercial wealth, naval 
 power and prosperity. 
 
 Selling a sheep, or exporting a fleece of wool, was punished, fof the 
 first offence, by forfeiture of goods, his hand to be cut off and 
 nailed up in a market town ; and for a second offence, to suffer death. 
 This last act escaped the notice of British legislators, and yet re¬ 
 mains unrepealed, although unexecuted. 
 
 To entice an artificer,or any manufacturer.to leave Great Britain,to 
 practise or teach his trade, was punished with penalties more severe 
 than those now provided against enticing a slave from our southern 
 states ; while the artificer himself forfeited his estate, was declared 
 an alien, and incapable to take property by descent, gift or other¬ 
 wise. Jt was called “ Owling .”— 4 th Bl. Com. 
 
 When Mr. Schofield, of Waterbury, Connecticut, now living, 
 established his manufactory of buttons in that town, he had difficul¬ 
 ty to obtain artisans, and could not send them from England, but 
 was obliged to send them disguised, and ship them from Ireland as 
 common emigrants. Other manufactories, and especially those of 
 
 broadcloth, formerly encountered like difficulties, and expedients_ 
 
 often sent them first to Holland or to France, and from thence to this 
 countiy. Mr. Haight, of New-^ork, thus got out his carpet looms. 
 
 The export from England of any cotton or woollen machinery, 
 was prohibited by forfeiture and penalties. The earliest American 
 adventurers in the manufacture of cotton and woollen, encountered 
 many dangers, difficulties, delays and great expenses in getting out 
 machinery. It was obtained then only in parts £—from drawings, 
 and from the memory of artisans. But from the use of one cotn- 
 mon language, and the custom of emigration to this country, the 
 watchful hindrances of government officers and penal laws could 
 not have been eluded and overcome. By the act 14th George III., 
 
13 
 
 it is a forfeiture, and a fine of £290, to export any utensils for the 
 manufacture of cotton, linen, woollen and silk; and a like penalty 
 on the ship knowingly to bring them. 
 
 The desire of "Russia to manufacture, was thus prevented, 
 till within a few years. When they learned from an American 
 visitor, that this country made its own machinery, with Ameri¬ 
 can improvements on the best English models, orders were 
 immediately given to ship specimens from Lowell, to draw on 
 Russia for the costs to one hundred thousand dollars. This 
 opened a new and profitable trade with Russia; and which is 
 now carried on extensively from Lowell and Paterson, and, I believe, 
 Matteawan ; and the ports of Russia were also opened to American 
 cotton. England, watchful for the interests of her subjects, on 
 learning the opening of this new American trade, forthwith repeal¬ 
 ed her law against the export of machinery, and enabled her 
 people to enter into the competition and profit of this trade. 
 
 One word as to Adam Smith. He does not say he wrote for 
 Government, as Joshua Gee did. But the whole tenor of his work, 
 and the time and the circumstance, prove the fact. In the form of 
 a book on the Science of Political Economy , the colonies and their 
 interests, are interwoven in many of its pages, with extensive colour¬ 
 ing, like some of our party newspapers—with reasons for the burdens 
 imposed upon the colonies—urging upon them the justice of submit¬ 
 ting to Taxation , to aid in paying the national debt—with suggestions 
 of amelioration of their condition—with objections to monopolies and 
 corporations—of relief from the restrictions on their trade and manu¬ 
 factures—of pacification, by informing them that they were treated 
 better than either Greece, Rome or other nations had ever treated their 
 colonies ; and adding the very delicate proposition, “that if to each co¬ 
 lony which should detach itself from the general Confederacy, Great 
 Britain should allow a representation ; a new method of acquiring im¬ 
 portance, a new and more dazzling object of ambition would be pre¬ 
 sented to the leading men of each colony to draw some of the great 
 prizes which sometimes come from the wheel of the great state lot¬ 
 tery of British politics.” 
 
 Uo you inquire, who was this Adam Smith ? History affords 
 you the answer. He was a man of great talents and learning—he 
 was a professor of moral philosophy in the University of Glasgow. 
 He suddenly left that comfortable retreat, on being invited by Charles 
 Townsend to accompany the young Duke ot Buccleugh in his travels 
 on the continent; “ and upon conditions which assured the philosopher, 
 an amply competent independence of fortune for his future life.” It 
 gave him anopportunity to collect materials and time to write his book. 
 
 Do you ask, who was Charles Townsend ? “ He was a man of 
 
 splendid talents ; of lax principles, and of boundless vanity and pre¬ 
 sumption. He had belonged to every party, and cared for none.’ 
 He had been Secretary at" War under the Bute administration, and 
 left it with discredit. "He had married the widow, and become the 
 step-father of her son, the young Duke of Buccleugh. Under Lord 
 
14 
 
 Chatham, he^ was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and with the Duke 
 of Grafton, Treasurer, become one of the boldest advocates in Par¬ 
 liament, for the taxation of America. He was a distinguished 
 member of that administration, whose lot it was to succeed to the 
 crop, and reap the fruit of the Grenville measures and the t'tamp 
 -Act: —of that administration which gave Adam Smith the place and 
 living of “ one of the Commissioners of his Majesty's Customs in 
 Scotland,” —of that administration whose misguided measures drove 
 America into rebellion and revolution—whose corruptions provoked 
 and called into existence the riots and tumulluousassemblies in Lon¬ 
 don ! and aroused the caustic and terrible pen of Junius, to rccoid 
 them on the pages of history. Our existence as a nation is a living 
 monument of the events of that day. 
 
 Who can doubt but that the book of Adam Smith was the work 
 of a partisan and pensioned writer of the British Government ? “ The 
 right of taxation without representation ; and that not even a hob¬ 
 nail should be manufactured in America,” were the declared princi- 
 ples of the government. This was the foundation and cornerstone 
 of the American revolution. The seed of Great Britain’s old politi¬ 
 cal economy, was deeply planted with us, and among the nations of 
 the earth. She taught one doctrine to us, and practised another for 
 herself. And yet this book is the oracle put forward, smoothly to 
 wipe it all away. Having failed by arms to gain our commerce 
 and prevent our manufacturing, it is now endeavoured by this book 
 of Adam Smith, and the writings of the miserable herd of' govern¬ 
 ment retainers, who have succeeded him in dictionaries, magazines, 
 pamphlets, reviews and newspapers, to induce us to open our coun- 
 tiy to het fiee trade while instead of receiving our productions in 
 payment, she meets them with a prohibition by an average duty of 
 330 per cent, on all our articles except cotton. 
 
 I firmly believe that you are now furnished with a key to unlock 
 the secrets of Adam Smith s book. That book is not, however, wild 
 in principle. The theory is beautiful. It contains much useful in¬ 
 formation on points not affecting the colonies. To prevent being 
 misunderstood—he expressly says, “ it would be as absurd to expect 
 to see a system of unlimited free trade adopted in Great Britain, as 
 to expect that an Oceana or Utopia should ever be established in'it.” 
 
 Honest Joshua Gee gives you the true light. I say with him 
 “ the surest way for a nation to increase in riches, is to prevent the 
 importation of such foreign commodities as may be raised at home.” 
 
 At the time of the negotiation of the Treaty of Peace at Ghent, 
 Mr. Clay proposed to make a commercial treaty . on the basis 
 of free trade, between the two countries. One of the British com¬ 
 missioners replied, we are appointed to negotiate a treaty of 
 peace, and not a commercial treaty. But we could never agree to 
 have free trade. Our policy is fixed. It is a principle of the British 
 government to protect alike its subjects in every condition; whether it 
 is the humble miner that digs the ore ; the'shepherd that raises a 
 fleece of wool; the artisan that forms it into the finest fabric ; or the 
 proudest nobleman in England. 
 
15 
 
 When in London, in 1836, I mentioned this circumstance, and 
 the often repeated like proposition on the part of the United 
 States, to agree on free trade, to Nassau W. Senior, Esq., an au¬ 
 thor, and who then had in the press a second edition of his work on 
 Political Economy , and I requested of him to add a chapter to his book, 
 explaining what a nation should do, when it had thus offered free trade, 
 and which had been rejected: and I suggested the omission of this 
 chapter, as a defect in the book of Adam Smith. The answer was, 
 
 “ it is the business of the legislator , and not of the economist, to deter¬ 
 mine the conclusions, and decide how far they are to be acted upon.” 
 (Vide Ed. Review, Oct., 1837 , page 41 , where my question is more 
 fully answered in the review of Mr. Senior’s book.) All this means, 
 that free trade is a beautiful theory for a state of the perfectability 
 of man. Whenever such a political millenium shall happen, we 
 may not only have free trade, but may dispense with all govern¬ 
 ment, and live without locks on our doors. Until it shall so happen, 
 we must countervail the encroachments of other governments, and 
 defend ourselves by our own legislation and protection. 
 
 One of the most frequently quoted sentences from Adam Smith— 
 to oppose encouragement to Home Industry—is, “if a foreign 
 country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we 
 can make it, better buy it of them, with some part of the pro¬ 
 duce of our own industry , employed in a way in which we have 
 advantage.” Again, “it is an acquired advantage which one arti¬ 
 ficer has over another ; and yet they both find it more advantageous 
 to buy of one another than to make what does not belong to their 
 particular trades.” These truisms are put forward to decoy and de¬ 
 lude the unwary. Ask the question—what must be done? when 
 the foreign country will not take “ the produce of our own industry” 
 either in exchange or as payment. The answer is, it is not the busi¬ 
 ness of the “ economist ” to direct or “determine conclusions.” 
 The beautiful theory is thus exploded. The bubble is burst. The 
 real truth of practical life is evident. It is the business, and the 
 moral and public duty of the Legislature, to countervail the impor¬ 
 tations from the other country, and protect, “ the produce of our 
 own industry and to command and maintain an equality of rights , 
 and mutuality in dealings. “Free trade” arc idle words; mere 
 sound, like directions to be sober, orderly and honest , given to the in¬ 
 mates of our Five Points , without measures to enforce observance. 
 
 What is our commercial condition? Permit me to state from 
 authentic documents a few matters of fact. 
 
 TABLE. 
 
 Total export of articles , the growth or produce of the United States , to England , Scot¬ 
 land and Ireland , with the duties paid thereon during the years 1828,1839 and 1840 :— 
 
 1838 .Value.$50,481,624 Duties, $23,621,160. .46 7-10 pr. c. 
 
 1839 . « -. 50,791,981 “ 26,849,477. .52 8-10 “ 
 
 1840 . “ 54,005,790 “ 28,360,153. .52 5-10 “ 
 
 ___ tt __ - 
 
 
 << 
 
 Total.. 
 
 $155,279,395 
 
 $78,830,790Av50 5-10 “ 
 
16 
 
 Of the above, the value of cotton and tobacco, and the duties paid thereon, were as fol¬ 
 lows : 
 
 1838 
 
 1840 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 
 Duties. .$ 2,761,612 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 . “ .. 2,939,706 
 
 “ 19,860,898 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 . “ .. 46,074,579 
 
 " 1,942,337 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 
 “ 23,288,396 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 
 “ 3,247,880 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 
 “ 22,537,205 
 
 Total, 
 
 “ $143,653,340 
 
 $73,638,328 
 
 All articles other than cotton and tobacco, the growth or produce of the United 
 States, exported to England, Scotland and Ireland, during the same three years 
 amounted to $11,626,055, or $3,875,351 annually. Omitting cotton, Great Britain has 
 levied an average duty of 330 per cent, on all articles the growth or produce of the Uni 
 ted States. 
 
 The above table exhibits these remarkable facts : That all our ex¬ 
 ports to Great Britain during the three years, amounted to one 
 hundred and fifty-five millions, and of which sum one hundred and 
 forty-three millions was cotton and tobacco. Thus showing that 
 during the three years, the exports of all other articles amounted to 
 the sum of eleven million six hundred and twenty-six thousand and 
 fifty-five dollars, being the yearly amount of three million eight 
 hundred and seventy-five thousand three hundred and fifty-one dol¬ 
 lars, and including the rice, sugar, timber, &c., of the' southern 
 states, as all the yearly value of the exports to Great Britain from 
 this country, except cotton and tobacco. How insignificant does 
 this disclosure present the total exports and trade with Great Britain 
 from the grain growing states ! For this trade we have imports 
 from Great Britain, and mostly at the north, amounting yearly to 
 about fifty-five millions, of which somewhere about ten millions were 
 by our laws duty free! 
 
 Great Britain has made a discrimination of her duties on our ex¬ 
 ports—laying on the cotton of the planter a duty of from^iy to seven per 
 cent., and on the exports other than cotton an average duty of 330 per 
 cent. With the exhibition of such facts and such benefits, who will 
 any longer impute blame to Charleston , for a flurry and a flare-up, 
 in the shape of nullification and free trade, to hold on to her benefits 
 from such foreign regulations ? With legislation of your own coun¬ 
 try which sanctions, and a government which approves such unequal 
 results in commerce, how can you expect ever to have either a mar¬ 
 ket or fair price for your produce? 
 
 The difference afforded by British regulations of a duty of five 
 per cent, on cotton, and of three hundred and thirty per cent, 
 average duty on all other produce of the United States, explains 
 the cause of the many feuds among ourselves on all questions of 
 taiiff and revenue—ot constitutional doubts of encouragement to 
 domestic industry—the violence against any discrimination or pro¬ 
 tection—the necessity of a horizontal tariff, and a limit of our duties 
 to twenty per cent, ad valorem— and all which is well expressed to 
 adherents, by the commendation, of being “ a northern man with 
 southern principles.” 
 
17 
 
 The statement of the export of forty-five millions of cotton from 
 the southern states, in contrast with three millions eight hundred 
 and seventy-five thousand dollars as all the export from the grain 
 growing states, shows not only a depression of the interests of those 
 states; but should ever bring into consideration the immense value 
 of the varied domestic productions of those states, in agriculture and 
 manufactures; and which goes into the commerce with other 
 countries; or without exhibition, is consumed in the domestic 
 support of the nation. Without detailing the whole, let it suffice 
 to say;—the single state of Massachusetts, sends out yearly, 
 leather, shoes, hats and manufactures* more than equal in value 
 to the cotton crop of the whole south. A return and exhibit of her 
 yearly created wealth and production in agriculture and manufac¬ 
 tures in 1840, amounted to ninety-four millions of dollars. The capi¬ 
 talists of England, so well understand and appreciate the wisdom 
 of measures which lead to such results, that they readily supplied 
 on the credit of the state, the necessary funds for their Great West¬ 
 ern Rail-Road to Albany, and took the loan at a discount of about 
 seventy thousand dollars below par. Must it be added !—that the na¬ 
 tional government could not at the time make a loan, at par, to meet 
 its current expenses ! 
 
 Take out of our exports, cotton, and England would almost sink 
 without it. It is a raw material which she must have for her manu¬ 
 facturers, and she cannot exist without it. She has tried in vain 
 to raise it! She has ransacked the world to find it elsewhere, and not 
 to rely on us for it. 
 
 On the forty-five millions of cotton exported to England, compute 
 duties at the same rate of 330 per cent., which is charged on all other 
 articles exported from the United States, the amount of duties 
 would be----~-" $148,500,000 
 
 Deduct the 5 per cent, now charged, - 2,250,000 
 
 $146,250,000 
 
 This annual sum of 146 millions, as the difference between the 
 rate of the duty on the favoured cotton and the average rate of duty 
 on all the other exports from the United States to England, certain¬ 
 ly makes up a very comfortable purse; and which is the saving, and 
 belongs between the cotton planter of the South, and the English 
 manufacturer and trader. It affords a volume of very valuable ex¬ 
 planations of matters touching the past and the present. It ex¬ 
 plains, among other things, the feuds and mysteries in the administra¬ 
 tion of our own government, and the instability in all our concerns# 
 It tells why our exclusive patriots must have “ a tariff for revenue 
 only and to lessen that amount, they have opposed the reduction 
 of postage and the distribution of the land sales: an horizontal tariff, 
 and duties limited to 20 per cent, ad valorem, to meet the English 
 duties of 330 per cent, average rate, on the tobacco, rice, timber, 
 grain, and all the produce of the United States, other than cotton. 
 
18 
 
 It explains the peculiarities in our elections, and the conduct of men 
 and measures. It invites, and must be left to the deep reflection, 
 of every individual influenced by love of country. 
 
 The history of the growth and production of cotton , showing the 
 increase in the quantity, and the reduction in the price, is replete 
 with lessons of importance to this country. A single illustration 
 must suffice for the present occasion. The price has varied in the 
 New-York market, from 36 cents, to the present rate of 51 cents 
 per pound. 
 
 1830—1. 
 
 1843—4. 
 
 Crop, 1,038,000 bales, (400 lbs.,) at Ilf cents, or $47 per bale, 
 
 is . 
 
 Crop, 2,030,000 bales, at 5J cents, or $32 per bale, is 
 
 $48,680 000 
 44,660,000 
 
 $4,020,000 
 
 Thus showing, that double the quantity of cotton, in 1843, is 
 $4,000,000 less value than one half the amount in 1830. As the 
 quantity has increased, the price has diminished. For many years 
 past—take an average of ten years—the amount of production has 
 doubled, and the price has receded one half. It is a momentous 
 and desponding truth for the agriculturists of the south. Can the 
 increased demand for labour, for expenses and land, for this doub¬ 
 ling process, be much further sustained ? It is cause for anxiety, 
 that the recent English papers announce,«that the India Cotton has 
 increased last year 40 per cent., and so much improved in quality as 
 to compete with the New-Orleans, in the Liverpool market.” 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that the manufacturers of the North are 
 the steady customers of the South, and have, in every ten vears, 
 doubled their demand for domestic consumption. Had not their 
 manufactures been in the market, England would have stood without 
 a competitor, and would have named her own price to the cotton 
 planter, for his bales. She now looks soon to accomplish her 
 wishes, and to obtain her supplies from India. Wheat, cotton, the 
 shipping interest, and the carrying trade, as a nursery for seamen 
 and national defence, need better legislation, and without either 
 sectional prejudice or party diplomacy. 
 
 Great Britain would gladly pay the whole expenses of our Go¬ 
 vernment, for the privilege to introduce her manufactures into this 
 country, free from the hindrances of our tariff. The amount would 
 be only about twenty-six millions, to be taken out of the one hundred 
 and forty-six millions nowgained by the discrimination on cotton ; be¬ 
 sides the benefits to her manufacturing interests. She would assume 
 and pay to her subjects the whole of the debts now repudiated bv 
 some of our States, for the advantages of the free trade, which her 
 agents and partisans so busily endeavour to obtain for her 
 
 The grain growing states might with propriety assent to the 
 often repeated proposition of the South, for an horizontal tariff for 
 revenue; and limited to 20 per cent, ad valorem : and in return, to re¬ 
 quire that an horizontal tariff of other countries, placing cotton , and 
 
19 
 
 all the other produce of the United States, upon a uniform rate of 
 duties, should be enforced as the basis of our trade with them. If 
 the horizontal rule is essential for our imports, it is equally so for 
 our exports. Such a measure would adopt the free trade taught 
 by England, and might be enforced by an act of Congress prohibiting 
 the importation of the manufactures and produce of any country, 
 which did not accede to such a measure of equal and exact justice. 
 The known love of our cotton growing brethren for equal rights and 
 exact justice, will induce them readily to adhere to their own propo¬ 
 sition, thus carried into operation on equalizing principles. It would 
 be an harmonizing measure, and would remove and allay all the 
 feuds and vexed questions among ourselves, and which now agitate 
 our nation. 
 
 Real reciprocity in trade is indeed very excellent, if we could but 
 have it. It would be a thing we never yet have had or seen. Great 
 Britain can never afford it to us ; and were she to-morrow to repeal 
 her corn laws, and open her ports to foreign supplies, it would be no 
 manner of benefit to us. It would shorten the distances and freight 
 of the bread-stuffs from the Baltic, from Germany and from the 
 Mediterranean, which are now pressing to get into our market. 
 They would fill up immediately the British market, and undersell 
 and crowd us out. “ Wheat at Odessa is about forty cents per 
 bushel, and the cost of transportation from that port to London 
 about one third less than from the United States.” (Vide Jacob's 
 Report to Parliament .) 
 
 The agriculturists of England are amply protected by their 
 sliding scale of duties , so called. It secures to them, not only both 
 an high price and a steady home market, but also the control of 
 foreign importations. It is thus accomplished. A price is fixed for 
 grain: if the market price falls below it, then foreign grain is shut 
 out. If the market price rises above the price fixed, then foreign 
 grain may be imported on a high duty. As the market price goes 
 up in times of scarcity, the duty comes down. 
 
 To explain : If our government should pass a law that no wheat 
 should be imported when the market price at seaport should be 
 below $1 50 ; if it rises above $1 50, then importations to be admitted 
 on a duty of 50 cents a bushel ; if the market price should rise to 
 $1 75 per bushel, then a duty of 37 cents a bushel; if to $2 00, then 
 a duty of 25 cents ; if to $2 25, then a duty of 12 cents ; if to $250, 
 then to admit foreign importations, duty free , to prevent a famine. 
 Such is the English sliding scale of duties to protect their agricul¬ 
 turists. We farmers would think such a law of Congress afforded 
 us pretty good protection ; but it is only English free trade for other 
 countries. 
 
 It should be remembered the public documents show that the 
 home produce of grain in England, supplies the demand for her con¬ 
 sumption, within one nineteenth part of the whole amount required. 
 This small balance she obtains principally from and through her 
 
20 
 
 colonies ; securing the carrying trade to her shipping and ship build¬ 
 ing interest; and the residue she catches as she can, and where she 
 can drive the best bargain. We cannot gain any thing by, and we 
 have no motive to enter into, the scuffle ; we had better look about 
 and see all these things in a true light, and begin to take care of our¬ 
 selves. Follow the doings, and not the teachings of Great Britain. 
 That government exercises a paternal care for all her subjects. It 
 feels pledged that no one of them willing to labour, shall need em¬ 
 ployment or want a market for his productions. With her super¬ 
 abundant population to provide for, she has difficulties to encounter. 
 Hence, Protection to he r subjects , is her policy and practice; her 
 books and teaching for others is free trade. When the British 
 ambassador not long since opened his doctrine, and urged the French 
 government to the adoption of free trade, monsieur the minister 
 answered with a s'ilvous plait , " When your government begins to 
 practise iree trade, we will think of it.” 
 
 Previous to the commencement of manufactures in New-England 
 the western farmers found little market with us. In addition to 
 their grain; cattle, sheep, hogs, &c., in almost innumerable quantities, 
 are now continually driven out for the markets of Philadelphia, New- 
 York and Boston. Have free trade for one month, and all this only 
 market of the farmer of the West, will be broken up and their 
 prosperity gone. Now, the cattle of Missouri, Illinois, &c., are 
 driven^ out—fatted in Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Western 
 New-York, and sold at Brighton to feed the inhabitants of Boston, 
 Lowell, &c. It is the manufacturers, the ship-builders, and the 
 commerce of the Atlantic cities, which supply consumers, and create 
 this home market. 
 
 Before the establishment of manufactures among us, the East 
 India trade was a continued drain on our specie. We had nothing 
 else to ship, to carry it on. Manufactures are now supplied and 
 shipped in such amount, as nearly to equal the imports of that whole 
 trade. Agriculture cannot prosper, without the first prosperity of 
 commerce and manufactures. Very many farmers now have ex¬ 
 perience and intelligence to know this, and integrity to declare it. 
 You cost the country nothing, and you pay for diplomacy, ministers, 
 and every thing. You wish only a market, either foreign or domes¬ 
 tic—you are silent and forgotten. 
 
 I will not inquire the immense value of all your yearly crops. 
 But have you ever cast a thought upon your potato crop alone , as 
 to its value ? compared with ail your exports to England, (except 
 cotton.) The last census shows that one hundred and nine millions 
 of bush.els are the customary yield of one year, which, estimated at 
 a quarter of a dollar per bushel, gives $27,000,000 :—or seven times 
 the value or amount of all the residue of your exports to England, 
 (taking out the cotton and tobacco.) 
 
 Since the establishment of our government, we have already three 
 times tried free trade. Each time it brought us to the brink'of dis- 
 so ution and ruin. And why are we not satisfied with' the experi- 
 
21 
 
 ment t The first time was soon after the revolutionary war. England 
 crowded in her manufactures upon us. The price ot our labour was 
 reduced to thirty-seven cents per day. The government, without 
 adequate revenue, was obliged to resort to internal duties and 
 direct taxes. The second time was in 1816 and 1817, when in like 
 manner we were again flooded with foreign goods, and Matthew 
 Cary says labour was depressed to a still lower rate. A resort was 
 again had to direct taxes. The third experiment was about 1840-41, 
 a? the running down of the ever memorable and execrable compromise 
 act. Each time the balances of trade were against the country, and 
 its specie was drawn aw T ay. Universal distress took its place, and 
 crushed under its iron feet, the productive industry ot the country, 
 and the hopes of the nation. On the recent and last experiment, 
 the credit system added its charms to the triumph of destruction, 
 and the indelible stain, to remain for posterity, was deeply impressed 
 by Repudiation . 
 
 It has been long known that the mint of a country is not less ac¬ 
 curate and certain in showing the prosperous or adverse condition of 
 its commercial concerns, than a thermometer is to indicate the vari¬ 
 ations of the weather from heat and cold. More than one hundred 
 years ago Joshua Gee wrote: 
 
 “ To take the right way of judging of the increase or decrease of the riches of the 
 nation by the trade we drive with foreigners, is to examine whether we receive money 
 from them, or send them ours ; for if we export more goods than we receive, it is most 
 certain that we shall have a balance brought to us in gold and silver, and the mint will be 
 at work to coin that gold and* silver. But if we import more than we export, then it is 
 as certain that the balance must be paid by gold and silver sent to them to discharge that 
 debt. I am afraid that the present commerce of ours carries out more riches than it 
 brings home. W r hereas, formerly, great quantities of bullion were brought into this 
 country by the balance of trade, and coined into money ; the tables are turned, and as 
 fast as we import bullion, it is sent away to pay our debts. We send our money to foreign 
 nations, and by employing their poor instead of our own, enable them to thrust us out of 
 our foreign trade ; and by imposing high duties on our manufactures, so to clog the im¬ 
 portation of them, that it amounts to a prohibition.” 
 
 The almost prophetic accuracy of this quotation, will appear, on 
 reference to the last official returns from our mint : 
 
 “ Whole Coinage of the Mint and Blanches of the 17. S.from 1792 to 1843. 
 
 For 1836.$7,764,900 00 
 
 1837 . 3,299,898 00 
 
 1838 . 4,206,510 00 
 
 1839 . 3,576,407 61 
 
 For 1840.$3,426,632 50 
 
 1841 . 2,240,321 17 
 
 1842 . 4,190,754 40 
 
 1643. 11,967,830 70” 
 
 That this return of the mint should thus have contrasted so strongly 
 with the buoyancy and the spring given to business by the tariff of 
 1842, and exhibiting the amount of the whole coinage as two or 
 three millions per year, before the act; and the sudden rise of the 
 amount to nearly twelve millions in 1843, immediately after the 
 passing of the act, is very extraordinary. Its genuineness might 
 even l?e doubted in these times of party, did it not bear the name 
 of John Tyler, and date 20th of January, 1844. It must be true. 
 
n 
 
 All these great questions of commerce, in all their consequences, 
 are so immediately connected with agriculture and a market, I can¬ 
 not forbear to mention one other subject of great and commanding 
 importance to the nation—I mean our numerous reciprocity trea¬ 
 ties, so called. It is the misuse of the term, and the permitted abuse 
 of those treaties, which calls for remark and public consideration. 
 The injuries arising from those treaties are very great, as they are 
 expounded and carried into effect, on us. Most of the nations of Eu¬ 
 rope have Colonies in different parts of the ocean—the East or West 
 Indies. But to be brief, I must illustrate by a single case. Great 
 Britain readily makes a reciprocity treaty with the United States. 
 It bespeaks great equality and mutual "kindness. The flags and 
 ships of each other are put upon the same footing in each others' 
 ports, and to be received without distinction or discrimination. It 
 looks all well. In practice, under the treaty, an American and an 
 English vessel load at London with the same goods, and come in 
 together at one of our ports. The duties collected must be upon 
 the goods, and no difference in which ship the goods come. This 
 country has the right, and so has England, to lay whatever duties 
 she thinks proper on the importation of the goods into their respect¬ 
 ive ports. England accordingly imposed a rate of duties on pro¬ 
 duce from the United States, so high as to be a prohibition, and a 
 rate of duties on like articles from her own colonies, so low as to be 
 nominal. The effect of this is, that the American and the English 
 ships which came out together, can neither of them take a return 
 cargo of such articles from the United States to London, or any port, 
 on account ol the high duties. But the British ship can take the same 
 articles from our ports and sail to the nearest British colony, touch, and 
 then proceed on to London or any port. Her voyage is now from the 
 colony; and she pays only the colony duty on the very articles she 
 took from our port. Thus she sails around the reciprocity treaty . 
 The American vessel is not allowed to go from the colony to Eng¬ 
 land ; can make no voyage; has no market, and is left in our docks 
 to decay. The British vessel soon again returns with another 
 cargo of British manufactures. Thus, in the circle of her voyages 
 around the Reciprocity Treaty, she is in the sole possession of her 
 own and our carrying trade; encouraging their ship building and 
 shipping interest, and employing and training their seamen and ves¬ 
 sels in the very trade sacrificed to this country by our American 
 negotiations. 
 
 We have heard, to use a modern and homely phrase, of 
 “going the whole hog.” But what farmer's boy ever sup¬ 
 posed, because he had bargained for the old mother , that he had 
 bought the whole litter, not mentioned in his agreement. It is the 
 taunt of Europe, that none but American diplomatists, could ever 
 
 ave supposed a treaty with any nation, embraced their colonies 
 
 not mentioned in it. 
 
23 
 
 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 These few articles will serve to illustrate the whole : 
 
 Duties. 
 
 On boards or other timber, per load of 50 cubic feet, 
 
 On oars, per 120,... 
 
 On handspikes, per 140,. 
 
 On spokes for wheels, per 1,000,. 
 
 On firewood, per load of 216 cubic feet,. 
 
 On bacon, 112 lbs. 
 
 Beans, bushel,... 
 
 Beef, bbl. 
 
 Butter, 112 lbs. 
 
 Cheese, “ . 
 
 Feathers, “ ... 
 
 Flour, bbl . 
 
 Pork, 112 lbs. 
 
 Rice, “ .. 
 
 Spirits from grain, gall’s,.-. 
 
 Oil, linseed, ton,. 
 
 Tallow, 112 lbs. 
 
 Wheat per bushel, on sliding scale, prohibited unless 
 almost famine,. 
 
 From the U. S', From British colonies. 
 
 $7 68 
 36 00 
 9 60 
 19 20 
 
 2 40 
 
 1 75 
 
 2 26 
 
 3 58 
 5 00 
 2 37 
 5 00 
 1 44 
 1 87 
 1 37 
 5 62 
 
 30 00 
 79 
 
 00 
 
 $0 48 
 90 
 24 
 48 
 free 
 84 
 75 
 87 
 
 1 12 
 58 
 2 25 
 34 
 44 
 12 
 2 oa 
 
 5 00 
 06 
 
 06 
 
 The course of this trade, is, for British vessels to come into our 
 ports and take a cargo of American produce, and sail—if at the 
 east, for Halifax or an eastern province—if at a southern port, for 
 a West India Island—and having touched thus at a British colony, 
 the vovage is then homeward from such colony. This avoids the 
 reciprocity treaty—secures the carrying trade of our grain, timber, 
 &c.‘ as also the benefit of the discriminating duties in favour of the 
 Colonies. 
 
 The extent of the perversion and abuse, under the Reciprocity 
 Treaties, will appear in part from a recent treasury document, stating 
 “ the commerce and navigation of the United States.” It states the 
 “ clearances ” to the Province of New-Brunswick to be, 154 Ameri¬ 
 can, and 1,267 British vessels, (for nine months,) from 1st October, 
 1842, to 1st June, 1843. The American were mostly in pursuit of 
 plaster for the New-England states. The British vessels were in the 
 carrying trade of our timber, lumber and fish, and to touch only at 
 New-Brunswick, and thence home, paying only their colony duties 
 on our timber, &c., and which is prohibited to American vessels. 
 
 The table of“ entrances ” will illustrate. 
 
 
 American. 
 
 British. 
 
 431 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 
 . 8 
 
 50 
 
 
 . 2 
 
 31 
 
 &c., &c., &c. 
 
 These facts sufficiently show the destructive course of this business. 
 
 The trade on our lakes is equally bad !! 
 
 Niagara. 
 
 Genessee. 
 
 Oswegatchtie.... 
 
 Detroit. 
 
 &c., &c., &c. 
 
 American. 
 
 British. 
 
 
 224 
 
 . 38 
 
 88 
 
 . 95 
 
 212 
 
 . 2 
 
 31 
 
24 
 
 ^Ve have needed the services of a Perry, and a McDonough, on 
 our Lakes. Mark the preparation our government and legislation 
 are making, for such future events ! 
 
 In March, 1841, I came up the Savannah river, and there 
 saw eleven large British vessels lading with Georgia timber—no 
 American vessel there ! This course ol trade is not allowed to an 
 American vessel. Reciprocity in Trade, means — our ports open to 
 her commerce—her ports shut to our commerce. It is much better 
 oi her than free trade. In that, we should be in competition with 
 her; in the reciprocity trade we are shut out. 
 
 But this reciprocity trade is not restricted to our country or to our 
 productions. The treaty extends to Brazil, to Hayti, or any part of 
 the world where the enterprise and the voyage of an American ves¬ 
 sel can be defeated. 
 
 FREE TRADE. 
 
 r ‘Z 0re ' gn c t ofi ff are . char S cd ls ; 3d. per pound duty. Colonial Coffees only 6d., while 
 Coffees imported from the Cape of Good Hope, pay 9d. Now ae the cost of sending, in 
 
 is*on?»frnm^ I H d » ,n, i I a eCt W!>y ’ C , ofrces fr , om a forei g n country to the Cape of Good Hope, 
 n SSer « , ,f d ' per pou , nd; T , cry lar S e quantities are shippedirom Brazil and Hnyti 
 184o! nCe rC - shl[ ' ped to England.”— Report of a Committee to Parliament, 
 
 Contiiem P°5 ee , b !f n , 8ent / r r Ue United Kingdom, and from ports of the 
 
 back m h/l^ , A if I ' an r ed at thc Ca P° of Good Hope, »‘> d ‘hence to be brought 
 l,»r» ? v h U ? d o'. n , gd ° m ’ 1 fo , r ,' hc P ur P°se of supplying the necessary consumption 
 here ? Yes: from 26th Apr,I, 1838, to 24th March, 1840, it appears by the refurns 
 S" cargoes, importing more than 21,000,000 lbs. of foreign coffee, had arrived in the 
 Unuedjbngdom, from the Cape of Good Hope. The duty on that mode of carrying 
 coffee is 9d. per pound. If entered from a foreign country, Is. 3d. The duty saved by 
 the indirect importation would be £750,000 sterling, (aboutft3,750, 000.")-Examination 
 of McGregor annexed to Report. 7 
 
 The intent and meaning of this is, that the American vessel can 
 not take the coffees to pay Is. and 3d. sterling per pound, in Eng¬ 
 land. bhe is not allowed to go with a cargo from the English set- 
 tlements at the Cape of Good Hope to an English port. The Bri¬ 
 tish vessel takes the coffee, touches at the Cape, and thence her 
 voyage is home, where she pays 9d. per pound, duty—with onlv id. 
 or Id. per pound for increased cost of her indirect way. Should the 
 American vessel take a cargo and conclude to bear the difference of 
 duty, the English vessel would soon arrive, and with its difference 
 of duty in her favour (being twelve cents per pound) would under- 
 
 Se - lip \ mn ^° ^ mer * can vo yage. Thus the American ship-owner 
 with blighted hopes learns, that his own government has not only 
 negotiated him out of the carrying trade of his own countrv ; but has 
 also turned him out of the carrying trade between all other nations 
 an , England. . ^ IS apparent that the English government negotia¬ 
 ted for its subjects ; but it is very difficult to say for whom the 
 American government negotiated. 
 
 Our neighbours, the Spaniards, have also learned something of 
 ^ mo e ° com tperce, and ol the kindness of our government 
 
 provided a duM ?® 6 m T comn . 1 ? rcial arrangements. She too has 
 y on cotton, so high as to prohibit its importation in 
 
25 
 
 American vessels ; while it is brought from her colonies in her own 
 vessels at a nominal duty. Some lew years ago, I went from New 
 Orleans to Havana, in an American vessel laden in part with cotton. 
 
 1 noticed the course of the trade. On arrival at Havana, the cot¬ 
 ton became the produce of Cuba , and was then shipped as such, (with 
 the New-Orleans bags, and marks upon it,) in a Spanish vessel, for 
 Old Spain, and paying only the colony duty. 
 
 These measures show the devices to gain our trade, to exclude 
 American vessels, to injure their carrying trade, to lessen their 
 shipping interest and ship-building, to depress their commerce and 
 navigation, and all in violation of the faith of a treaty professing to 
 be reciprocal. 
 
 Among the many fruits of these measures, is the growing in¬ 
 crease, within the last few years, of foreign tonnage in the Ameri¬ 
 can commerce. Th e entries and clearances (not coasting) at some of 
 our ports are more than three quarters foreign. The official tables 
 are not now at hand to give particulars. 
 
 After the war of 1812, with England, her provinces of New-Bruns- 
 wick and Nova Scotia laid heavy duties ($4 per ton) on the export of 
 Plaster of Paris. It could not then be obtained from any other* 
 sources. The Onondaga plaster was not then much known, and 
 the canal of New-York was not yet opened for its transportation. 
 It was then deemed an essential in agriculture, and a price was paid 
 for it by farmers sometimes as high as thirty dollars per ton. It 
 became an important trade for those colonies, and to make their 
 monopoly complete, they each passed laws, prohibiting the export 
 of Plaster of Paris in any foreign vessel, (meaning any vessel of the 
 United States.) When those acts became known among us, Con¬ 
 gress promptly passed an act declaring the forfeiture of any ship 
 or vessel with Plaster of Paris, and denying an entry into our coun¬ 
 try, after the 4th day of July next, of the flag of any nation or her 
 colonies, which so excluded American vessels from their trade. 
 Jambs Madison “approved” the act, 3d March, 1817. The 
 British minister soon afterwards communicated to our government 
 the repeal of the colonial acts; and James Monroe issued the pro¬ 
 clamation suspending the act of Congress. ( Vide Laws of United 
 States.) 
 
 These were Presidents of the country, and not of the Party, They 
 belonged to the line of the revolution. Would they have listened 
 to free trade on one side? or endured, under a reciprocity treaty, 
 the prohibitions and practices now claimed and permitted under it? 
 The late Hon. Rufus King, a gentleman, a scholar and a statesman, 
 then our Senator, was efficient in passing the preceding act. A 
 doubt being expressed that the act prohibiting the entry of the 
 British flag, might lead to a war ; he promptly replied, “ I hope not: 
 but if it does, we must meet it. If we are not able to maintain our 
 Independence, we had better go back to the condition of colonies, 
 and get protection in that relation.” What a change has come over 
 the country ! 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 Gentlemen ! we must thoroughly understand our condition ; ap¬ 
 preciate its realities, and at all hazards maintain our independence 
 and our demands for equal rights as a nation. United as a people, 
 and acting with one spirit for the common welfare, other nations 
 would not dare’to encroach on our privileges. With more devotion 
 to our country, and less zeal in the discipline of party, our public 
 officers and representatives would not be found to lack capacity to 
 understand, nor time and spirit to take care of, the public interest. 
 The burdens fall on the agriculturists, and they must devise the 
 remedy. 
 
 The American Institute will communicate to you the proposition 
 and recommendation of the illustrious Washington, to establish a 
 Home Department for Agriculture; now too little regarded in the 
 strifes of foreign politics, and other domestic interests. The ex¬ 
 pression of your sentiments on these subjects, will aid to form a 
 public opinion, and promote the great results. 
 
 On motion of the Rev. Mr. Barlow, it was resolved, that the thanks of the 
 Convention be presented to the President for the very able and eloquent dis¬ 
 course just delivered ; and that he be requested to furnish a copy of the 
 same, with such additional notes and illustrations as he may think proper, to 
 be published in the Report of the proceedings of the Convention. 
 
 He aid that he had listened to the remarks of the President with unmin¬ 
 gled pleasure; and wished to see them put into a permanent shape, spread 
 upon the pages of the journal, circulated in the form of a tract, and read by 
 the mil.ions of our countrymen. 
 
 The subject which the honourable gentleman had handled with such distin¬ 
 guished ability, was one of vital consequence to the common weal, touching 
 alike the prosperity of the individual, and the independence of the country. 
 The facts and the reasonings upon them, which had been submitted to their 
 consideration, “came home to the business and bosoms” of the American 
 people, affected every branch of our domestic industry, lay at the foundation 
 of our national prosperity, and should be comprehended by every farmer 
 and mechanic, and, if it were not too much to hope for, might be profitably 
 studied by our politicians and statesmen, when they could find leisure for 
 such matters. 
 
 He thought that the country owed a debt of gratitude to that gentleman 
 for the services he was rendering to it. In serving ns the President of the 
 American Institute, and the Silk-growers* and Farmers* Conventions—in lend¬ 
 ing to those Institutions the support of his personal influence, and the aid of 
 his great experience and wisdom, he was performing a more valuable service to 
 his fellow-citizens than any party President had found leisure to render to his 
 constituents, and one which a future age would appreciate, however it might 
 be werlooked in the present one. The dispenser of truth to the masses oc¬ 
 cupies a position of higher moral dignity than the mere distributor of the 
 spoils and alms of government patronage to the hungry cormorants which 
 beset the public treasury. These Institutions are the nucleus around which 
 are to be gathered all the scattered facts and truths which may conduce to 
 the intelligent legislation of the country, and the proper direction of its indus¬ 
 trial energies ; and from these centres the streams of light should radiate 
 upon all the classes, and all the interests of the people. 
 
27 
 
 Truth emanating from this source would be likely to command their con- 
 fidence. The members of this body recognised no distinction of parties, po¬ 
 litical or religious. They had no purpose to serve but the good of the 
 country. They contemplated no measures but the collection and diffusion of 
 truth. No party motives could influence their action ; no party prejudices, 
 he hoped, would close the ears and hearts of men against opinions resulting 
 from experience and inquiry, and proposed in the spirit of candoui and kind¬ 
 ness. If it should ever be the good fortune of the American people to come 
 to any substantial agreement on the vexed questions of political economy—if 
 they could ever be brought to see that they have a common interest in ad¬ 
 hering to the right and just in regard to those principles—and that, if by 
 compromising them, “ one member of the body suffer, all the members suffer 
 with it;” these happy results will be brought about, not by the ephemeral and 
 sinister discussions of party hacks ; not by the interested special pleading of 
 partisan legislators, but by the silent and gentle suasions of truth and reason, 
 proceeding from this, and other similarly constituted bodies of honest, patiiotic 
 and practical men—men who come here to bring each one his own little 
 contribution of truth which he has gleaned from reflection and experience, 
 and who go home to carry to their neighbours all the truths which they can 
 bear away from the common stock of their associates. 
 
 A distinguished statesman has recently declared in public, his opinion that 
 the agricultural interests of the country need no protection. The ignorai ce 
 and fallacy of this opinion have been demonstrated in the address of our chair¬ 
 man, by arguments which can no more be disturbed than the bases of the 
 
 Rocky Mountains. . 
 
 All the changes have been rung in our ears on the imported theories of 
 free trade. It has been shown to be an unattainable impossibility—a phan¬ 
 tom used by knaves 10 mystify fools, a mad system of policy which could cot 
 be adopted by our country while it is rejected by all other countries, without 
 working immediate ruin of half our population, and the ultimate ruin of all. 
 
 It has been made evident that the systems of Political Economy which have 
 bewitched our demagogues and mystified so many better men, were in fact 
 manufactured in England for the especial use of foreign countries, and es¬ 
 pecially of the United States. Systems expressly designed to be “ honoured 
 in the breach” at home, and here “in the observance.” Great Britain 
 preaches free trade to other nations, but at home puts in force the most 
 rigorous system of protection. It is to be doubted whether in all Europe 
 there are ten men who are such besotted dunces as to think such a system 
 practicable or desirable at home ; but they like to see them spread here. In 
 this country, however, we shall never cease to have free trade politicians and 
 presses, while England is willing to foot their bills. The President justly 
 calls this 'political Mormonism. It is like Joe Smith’s preaching a com lumty 
 of goods to his dupes, while he himself held the key of the treasury. 
 
 The right of the American citizen to the protection of his industry against 
 the competition of the pauper-labour of Europe, and the duty of our govern¬ 
 ment to grant him that protection, have been proven with all the clearness 
 and certainty which can attach to any truth of science. 
 
 These are matters upon which it is important that American citizens 
 should be well informed. This would put an end to some of the vexatious 
 disputes which distract it, and give that stability to our legislation in the 
 premises, without which the manufacturing interests of the country will sus¬ 
 tain only a dying and precarious existence, and all branches of our national 
 industry be deprived of some portion of their just reward. 
 
29 
 
 The questions whether the labouring population of our country should be 
 permitted to manufacture for us,themselves and the country, and at the end 
 of every twelvemonth put seventy-five millions of dollars into their own 
 pockets; or whether, on the other hand, they shall be crushed into the dust 
 by a system of free trade, and their wages reduced to the standard of com¬ 
 pensation received by the Russian boor, the European peasant, and the half- 
 starved operative of England—are questions which touch the heart and life¬ 
 blood of the nation ; and they must be submitted to the judgments and ulti¬ 
 mate decision of the producing classes themselves. While they love to be 
 deceived by demagogues, nothing is easier than to deceive them. When they 
 come to understand their true interests, they will protect them. 
 
 It has been said that armies of principles can march where armies of sol¬ 
 diers cannot. Our country affords an illustration in point. All the military 
 forces of England could not reduce these states by arms. It is humiliating to 
 find that a few of her pensioned book-makers and editors can govern us by 
 theories, and reduce us to a condition more degrading than that of colonial 
 dependence. It is mortifying to perceive that American citizens have not yet 
 made up their minds on the issue, whether we shall do our own work, keep 
 our own money, protect our own poor, and maintain our position of proud and 
 virtuous independence, or whether we shall surrender to British theories, sup- 
 ported by British gold, those sacred rights which couid not be wrenched from 
 us in fair battle; allow our own country to be impoverished to increase the 
 overgrown wealth of Europe; buy their knick-knackeries at their own 
 prices while we have money or credit,—and when we have neither, to sub- 
 mit to the distresses of poverty at home, and the ineffable infamy of bank¬ 
 ruptcy and repudiation abroad. If England would come upon us with fleets 
 and armies, we would drive them back. Alas! “ our enemy hath written a 
 book.” It will do us more hurt in the long run than a million of armed 
 men could do ! She fills our cities with her importing merchants, buys up our 
 free trade editors with her loose change, manufactures our opinions for us as 
 well as our gew-gaws ; chains our intellects, while she palsies our hands; 
 sends us whole armies of vagabonds, paupers and felons to look after our 
 ballot boxes, and is in a fair way to make her theories and her bribes cost 
 us more money and national honour, than an hundred years of honest war. 
 
 The only hope of the American patriot, is in the diffusion of truth among 
 the people. The address of our venerable President has shed a flood of light 
 upon these questions ; and it is to be wished that it might be read, pondered, 
 remembered, and acted upon by every American who has a brain or a heart 
 fltill true to his country. 
 
 Some very interesting communications and discussions on vaiious 
 agricultural productions followed. 
 
 Mr. Hopkins, of Albany, produced very fine specimens of teazles, 
 and gave a highly satisfactory account of his mode of treating them. 
 
 Col. Clark and others gave their history. Many pertinent facts, 
 observations and experiments were communicated in course, and di¬ 
 rected to have a place among the records of the Convention. Com- 
 mittees were appointed to prepare an address and resolutions. 
 
 xienry Meigs, Esq., addressed the meeting at some length, with 
 great zeal and powers in favour of carrying into execution General 
 Washington s Home Department for Agriculture. 
 
29 
 
 A committee was appointed to prepare an address and resolutions, 
 and adjourned till 10 o’clock, to-morrow. 
 
 At 7|, P. M., the members of the Convention met to hear an ad¬ 
 dress on agriculture, which Dr. D. P. Gardner had been invited to 
 deliver, as follows: 
 
 Gentlemen :—We are told that the agriculture of England is vastly 
 in advance of ours; that her fields produce forty*and more bushels of 
 wheat the acre ; that she pursues a suitable rotation, and is worthy of 
 all imitation in the field. All these facts may be true, but I unhesita¬ 
 tingly assert that her agriculture is not worthy of imitation. Her lands, 
 tilled for ten centuries, have fallen into an exhausted state, and are alto¬ 
 gether different from ours in all that respects their mineral composition. 
 Her system of manuring proceeds on the principle of applying enovgh 
 at all events ; her farmers can see nothing but tons, cart loads and sloop 
 loads; they turn in 600 bushels of lime. There is neither economy nor 
 adaptation; with a few exceptions the substances applied are so com¬ 
 plex in composition that it is literally adding every thing under heaven. 
 A compost of stable manure, street dirt, animal offal, ashes, rape dust, 
 refuse from the maltster, soap maker, marl, and a dozen other things, 
 contains every element, and a great deal more, that every plant in the 
 world requires. Will men never learn that the grain of a crop of wheat 
 of twenty-five bushels requires but twenty-one and a quarter pounds of 
 salts from the earth. If such be the case, wherefore apply thirty tons 
 of manure? There is something in fault—either the composition of the 
 manure, the nature of the soil, or the time of application—for is it not 
 a lavish and extravagant addition ? This is not the farming for us to 
 pursue; we require economy, condensation, diminished labour, and 
 withal an increased crop. The mere forking, pitching and spreading 
 of such Titan masses, costs more than the entire cultivation of the land 
 with us. 
 
 Gentlemen, this is not agriculture; it is scarcely better than the plan 
 of Rkinning. They do not, it is true, exhaust their soil, but maintain 
 its fertility in pretty much the same way as a man maintains his trea¬ 
 sury who takes out a dollar with one hand and returns it with the other. 
 Sum3 of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum are paid by 
 lessees of five hundred acres for manures. It would be the same if 
 these farmers had no soil at all, but carried on operations on the flat 
 roofs of houses. The manure yields the crop, not the land. Yet they 
 pay for the soil twenty-five dollars the acre, rent. If you can trace 
 # economy, or adaptation to our wants, in these things, then encourage 
 onwards the present ill-judged imitation of our worthy ancestors in their 
 agriculture, which is the theme of most journalists, the pons asinoru?n 
 of many of our improvers. 
 
 But before I leave the subject of English agriculture, let me beg you 
 to consider, that the very trial they have passed through is of infinite 
 importance to us. I think too highly of the Anglo-Saxon intellect to 
 suppose that all this confusion and lavish extravagance is the result of 
 dullness, or a proof of want of mind; it is one of the fiery ordeals in 
 which all men’s actions and attempts at improvement must be tried. It 
 is a part of that onward march of inductive knowledge that accumulates 
 
30 
 
 materials for classification ; it is the triumph of experiment directed by 
 separate intelligences, and not yet elaborated by the united mind of the 
 age. With all its coarseness it is incomparably the best that has ap¬ 
 peared, and the people who have struggled through the chaos of our 
 art, are the first to desire, the first to receive, the indications of the 
 modern philosophy of agriculture. 
 
 As the heterogeneous labours of natural philosophers were found to 
 contain the germs of bright knowledge, and the method of mining and 
 separating the dross was shown by the imrportal Bacon, so that other 
 giant, Liebig, has taught men to discover, amidst the indefinite practices 
 of modern agriculture, the seeds of principles which ere long shall 
 spring up, bear blossoms and fruit to our benefit, and the benefit of 
 future man. 
 
 The English and Scotch are the pioneers in this new science of agri¬ 
 culture. In France it is yet a matter for scientific men ; in Germany 
 the occupation of the student; but in Britain it is in the hands of the 
 people. Already Johnston, Playfair and Traill, are searching through 
 the accumulated rubbish of practice to separate the pearls of trutli. 
 There is an enthusiasm evident on all sides, the first indications of a 
 combined intellectual movement, and before long those bold guesses of 
 the master intellect Liebig, will have been verified by practice, or re¬ 
 membered only as the scintillations of genius. 
 
 This is our path ; learning wisdom from the past, let us rush forward 
 with the first ranks. I am proud that in this assemblage I am not alone 
 in this desire ; that many are pursuing the same course as myself, emu¬ 
 lous of contributing something to that rapid advance of agriculture that 
 shall constitute it a science, profound, exact and brilliant. 
 
 A change has come over men . We trace the first dawnings of the 
 theory of gravitation centuries back ; we mark the appearance of mind 
 after mind, unfolding, step by step, the conception, and dying proud of 
 adding a drop to the well, immortalized by the establishment of one in¬ 
 sulated fact approaching to the generalization ; and thus, from Thales to 
 Newton, during twenty-three centuries, this discovery was moving to its 
 completion. From Hero to James Watt, upwards of eighteen centuries 
 elapsed before the expansive vapour of steam could be turned to its 
 present advantage. But in our day this is not the case; that very 
 machine, by giving wealth and ease to many, or as the false philanthro¬ 
 pist says, by “ throwing many out of employ, 1 ” has caused numbers to 
 look forward to scientific pursuits as a source of honour and distinction. 
 Knowledge does not now advance with the easy gait of one unem¬ 
 ployed ; she no longer trifles with butterflies on the way, and pays court 
 to a sutly monk, that bestows a passing notice, or turns to admire her 
 celestial form; the vigour of womanhood is in her frame, she moves 
 with activity, scarcely noticing her host of worshippers. All the energy 
 of rivals, all the eagerness of suitors, are the distinguishing marks of 
 her train. A day matures the labour of an age . The light of a new 
 fact scarce glimmers in the morning, and ere night it is in the zenith, 
 glorious with truth. And the disciples of truth; they must strive and 
 toil for a little fame ; no longer looking to chance or birth, but depend- 
 ing upon industry, enterprise, and extensive knowledge. For whilst it 
 is too evident that many have mistaken the necessity for profound attain¬ 
 ments in our age, and imagined that a smattering only is of advantage, 
 
31 
 
 there is no question they will neither attain distinction, nor enjoy even 
 an ephemeral reputation. The speculation of the superficial theorist 
 is dissected and laid bare with a rapidity that makes men cautious how 
 they expose themselves to ridicule, or the malice of their rivals. 
 
 Grounding our knowledge in the truths of those sciences which teach 
 the constitution of the soil, its minerals, the laws of their decay, and its 
 relation to atmospheric and subsoil water; of the vast aerial ocean that 
 is gathered over the earth, the laws of it 3 movements, composition and 
 change; the operation of cold, heat and electricity on its physical and 
 chemical characters. The organization of plants, the internal forces 
 which direct and control their fluids, the means of developement, and 
 the wonderful secrets of their florets and seed vessels, their capacity 
 for improvement; by what laws the peach is transformed to the necta¬ 
 rine, the sloe to the egg-plumb, or the crab to the Newtown pippin; 
 why the unpromising apium, poisonous and harsh, furnishes our tables 
 with sweet and crisp celery. The structure and life of animals, the 
 origin of their force, animal heat and movements, the adaptation of food 
 for producing muscle and fleetness, or developing fat. The mutual 
 reaction of these laws and truths upon one another. How the tough 
 fibre of wood becomes sugar in darkness, and gum yields animal muscle 
 in its combinations with ammonia. This glorious field of study, rich in 
 discovery, full of startling novelties, teeming with incessant instances 
 of wisdom, power and adaptation, will elevate the mind, enlarge our 
 conceptions of the Creator, and liberalize our relations to our fellow- 
 men. 
 
 But this is not all. The farmer, instinct with power over these truths, 
 feeling that his position gives him control over all the matter here con¬ 
 templated, directs the forces of nature to his wants and for his profit. 
 Does he discover that electrical energy is wanted to advance maturity? 
 he arranges the battery of Bain. Do his exotics demand more light? 
 he borrows the mirrors of the optician. In short, he is the master of 
 vegetation. With what anew and refined eye he looks upon the tender 
 shoot of grass as it bursts through the yielding earth, puts on leaf by 
 leaf, and swells into the symmetry of its ripened form. No longer a 
 worthless weed; no longer the selfish pride of proprietorship, or the 
 prospect of gain arise alone in his mind. Those leaves are the product 
 of his care; upon the barren sand his skill prepared their bed; his 
 science supplied the food, and now they rise to do homage to his power, 
 to return a thousand-fold the favours given. But what are these delicate 
 creations ? What is a blade of grass ? In structure no more than a 
 series of minute cells, the coats of which, endowed with the physical 
 power of a sponge, absorb some fluids and reject others. \ et so wisely 
 is this choice regulated, that only bodies of a peculiar organization can 
 enter. Starch, fats, and the azotized bodies called fibrine and casein, 
 find entrance. The forces which produce growth are so nearly resem¬ 
 bling those resulting in decay, that the distinction has not yet been 
 traced. The materials on which this force acts are the air, water, and 
 a slight portion of soil. Put them together by common chemical affinity, 
 and^they constitute no more that impure carbonate of ammonia, spirits 
 of hartshorn, and to that body they return. 
 
 You will say how simple is all this! What can be the origin of so 
 much admiration ? It is produced by the very simplicity. With these 
 
32 
 
 s ender means is constructed a work most various, pleasing and elabo* 
 late, which, even in form and diversified beauty, draws forth the admi¬ 
 ration of the whole human race. But these qualities are as nothing with 
 their sublimer destiny. These petty blades, so fragile, so defenceless, 
 that the insect cuts them down by myriads, the sun and frost lay waste 
 their vigour, and the chilling east wind drys up their juices—these 
 blades of grass, so little cared for, so numerous, so insignificant, are a 
 magazine of life . The men of to-day move in their several duties, inde¬ 
 pendent of thought for the morrow, the life-blood of that morrow, the 
 movement, the animal energy of that morrow, are resting latent in the 
 blades of grass—“ all flesh is grass.” 
 
 Unborn generations of our species are in the forest trees and lowlv 
 herbage of the field. The people of our day and of years hence, who 
 know no place amongst us, and are of the future, dwell together on the 
 tair earth. The conceit of Dante, in his “ Inferno,” that suicides are 
 hereafter doomed to an existence in the form of trees, was an extraordi¬ 
 nary thought. They who were no more than the grass of the field in 
 ie ,r origin, deserved no better fate than to return to their humble form, 
 when they valued the higher life so little. 
 
 How much power has been committed to our hands that we should 
 control, increase or dimmish the means of existence 1 How sublime 
 t le intellect granted us to govern the materials of life 1 Will any 
 ca * eless 'y P ur f ue llis cr aft, when there is so much within his 
 these tWngt? Una ° yed P CaSUre ’ as results from the contemplation of 
 
 Let all necessary knowledge form the groundwork of our art, and 
 each practical man will see means and opportunities for improvement 
 in his farm constantly before him. Farming is in its infancy, and there 
 is no more prospect of elevating it, except by a course of studies, than 
 
 now JTb 'T I" th i e mi " er ° r dyer> They embraced science, and 
 now see how far they have bettered themselves 1 
 
 mvSl! r Vr ng8 „ at Present? A worthy farmer, unskilled in the 
 y ® j n . ,. ? alhn g> requires assistance in an emergeney. His im- 
 
 his l?r kS ‘ ,,rC u 8lC r’ he . fears a heay y Iosf b and see ks the advice of 
 1 rn ? S ^ b [ 8 i hey detcrmine in conclave that the animal has a sore 
 iheTLl bCmg T,' OUS t0 S ive proprietor the best advice within 
 what I m ;'.r me r 10 an , a - ricuku, ' al j ourna l> and he finds there 
 on] y a , raontl) s,nce : that an extensive hog-master 
 an inch 7* Way ? ln . such case s makes a cut of some inches long, and 
 
 nentint ZZ 8ld< \ lhe Wi " d P ipe ’ and rubs in the a » d tur- 
 pentine, and to remove the apathy of the brute after the operation 
 
 v 1 *"' ‘s d iif, i him "'»«» r »- “.“h 
 
 ? 0 u kL l ni ;;n 1OU W1sa y the ,s an embellishment, but I assure 
 
 vengeance UDVarn * hed This is mercy and science with a 
 
 we^havi° haA US ^ Unj r l ' y SeVere ‘ What -lender opportunities 
 
 bank Youno- * r l 7 vxeneral Leatson, Lord Meadow- 
 
 expedient in’a^ricuWe /T’ 8trUck - ° Ut SOme novel and often des P e 'ate 
 S , ut excepting these, we have seen nothing but 
 
33 
 
 practical works, very excellent indeed, but utterly destitute of princi¬ 
 ples We have been recommended to keep cattle to make manure, at 
 a great expense; we have been incited to pay live hundred dollars for 
 imported sheep, and untold sums for Durham oxen; all this has been 
 
 presented to us as agriculture. ,, f 
 
 But principles were nowhere to be detected ; we searched for proof 
 of General Beatson’s success in burning clay, but found such opposition 
 as to be startled and dissuaded. Lime was even decried in many works. 
 Sometimes it was the order of the day to apply green manure, and again 
 to use rotted. Indeed, our honest exertions, and much reading, brought 
 us to the conclusion that each man had to carve out his own course and 
 examine the assertions of others with diffidence. And this is the point 
 to which every true friend of improvement must be brought, i here 
 are few statements of general advantage in agriculture; soils differ so 
 considerably, even manures are very different from different localities ; 
 plants are not at all alike unless the precise variety is stated, and the 
 knowledge of varieties is so difficult that few persons agree in their de¬ 
 scriptions. The farmer must judge for himself; guided by knowledge 
 he must examine and draw inferences, like the physician, in each case. 
 All that I would draw your attention to is the necessity of impressing 
 on the agricultural community that this knowledge is necessary, that 
 with it they can farm better, get better crops, and at less cost than in the 
 usual careless husbandry. Let your voice as a convention, and your 
 experience as men, go forth to proclaim these truths. We are not pre¬ 
 mature, for already the New-York State Society desires to inttoduce 
 science into the common schools. Already are colleges for instruction 
 in agriculture sought, and this noble institution, which has called you 
 together to deliberate on the best means of improving our art, was 
 amongst the first in the field with this view. Other objects, equally 
 
 meritorious, have been presented to you. . . , , 
 
 Admitting the advantage of introducing accurate knowledge, and 
 ulacino- at the very foundation a perfect familiarity with the sciences of 
 chemistry, physiology, geology and machinery, you may however, 
 met by the opposition of many shrewd men, who ask, what is the neces- 
 
 81 Such ffiqffirers^seeing before them interminable acres of new land 
 the rich deposits of a thousand forests, knowing the profits of wasting 
 lands, and taking crops from virgin soils, are in amazement that anj, 
 can be so short sighted as to expend capital in improvements. If you 
 arcrue with them they invariably adduce instances of numerous fuends 
 who have entered upon improvements, whilst they adopted the co ™"j° n 
 sense method of rifling the riches of the soil; and now they are wealthy 
 and their neighbours poor. This argument has too much force. I hai e 
 reneatedlv seen its truth, but was never discouraged. 
 
 If the method of skinning be brought in competition with the common 
 ulan of improving, which is not regulated by any laws, nor subservient to 
 any principles, 1 have no hesitation in saying, that in three cases out o 
 four die skinner will make most money in a given time, but he is living 
 on his capital, whilst the improver is cautiously accumulating e pun- 
 ° ‘byenhancing .he price of hi. acre.. The improver u.e.lly com¬ 
 
 mits the b,under If holding too mach land , 
 
 unproductive, he is expending his interest on the land, but the skmner 
 
34 
 
 makes the forest productive, and invests no part of his gain in the soil. 
 There is no question that under these circumstances the latter makes' 
 more bank note dollars. There the improvement is made carelessly 
 Let no more land be held than it is within our power to cultivate; instead 
 of the English method of manuring by thirty tons, &c., which costs some 
 twenty dollars or more the acre, let us apply science to cultiva- 
 tion. For three dollars the acre better crops can be obtained than 
 by the application of twenty cart loads of stable manure, and that from 
 a sandy loam, which you all know does not hold manure well. What 
 is this secret? It is a demonstration of the application of science to 
 agriculture ; it is the result reached by Mr. Pell, from applying certain 
 principles in chemistry to the cultivation of land, to which I = had the 
 honour of calling his attention during my lectures on agricultural che¬ 
 mistry last winter. And the principle is no more than to apply to plants 
 the saline bodies which analysis shows in their composition, with a 
 suitable proportion of ammoniacal compounds. Not blindly manuring 
 with every article for each crop, but knowing the composition of any 
 plant, to add only such bodies as are found in its ashes ; discriminating 
 between the constitution of the cerealia, the clover family, buckwheat, 
 tobacco, and aJl other vegetables. 
 
 By the application of this rule, Mr. Pell has obtained crops, which in 
 the estimation of the editor of the Agriculturist, are in several instances 
 quadrupled. 
 
 We are, therefore, not theorists only, but have demonstrated in our 
 own soil, in our state, the correctness and advantage of applying true 
 science to agriculture. Let this system be brought in competition with 
 that of the skinner; can he clear and cultivate new land for three dol- 
 
 •i , t,e if* ? , Ca, ‘ l 1 .' 3 . cr0 P for lhe ,and > and reach a quadruple 
 yield . if not, the judicious improver, guided by correct principles, is 
 doing a better business, and is worthy of all imitation. 
 
 It is unnecessary to press on your attention the necessity of en¬ 
 couraging any advancement in agriculture within this state, as well as 
 on the seaboard ; the competition we are brought under with the west, 
 in bread stuffs, is a sufficient cause of stimulus with the lover of his 
 native soil, with the son of the empire state ; others, whose affections 
 are less powerful, will desert our fair lands for the plenty of the west 
 Before me are many experienced farmers, whose, minds and hearts 
 have been in the cause for many years ; the indifference of a past gene- 
 ration has left in their hands the noble task of opening the way to the 
 admission of science into their art. Let your sons derive the ad vantage 
 the present age gives, and if you have grown wise in the practice, let 
 them add to the value of your experience the modern knowledge infused 
 into agriculture. 6 
 
 onnnlir U , r '-' USt thir ' g cha [" e ‘J 16 Present generation of farmers with 
 opposition to science for they have already attained an age when 
 opinions are fixed, and the mind, matured by its own course of obser¬ 
 vations, is seated I in a rock of confidence. It is wrong to call this pre- 
 judice, which is the result of inductive reasoning 
 
 It is the next generation, the youth of our day, who will receive and 
 deserve the epithet of ignorant, and prejudiced, if they neglect their 
 
 praaS on !h e e —T of f k ”? wl ' d S° Whilst^hose who base their 
 practice on the principles of science, shall attain distinction as the bene- 
 
35 
 
 factors of their race, and ample wealth as the reward of their toil, when 
 they have grown grey in years, our exertions may be the theme of their 
 garrulity, and as the cherished reminiscences of early life steal over the 
 brain of age, this assemblage may find a place in the brightest vision of 
 all. Honour to the men who, in this early day, by their precept and 
 example, shall advance our noble profession. 
 
 The Convention met again on Saturday morning, October 12th, at 
 10 o’clock. 
 
 Further remarks were made on agricultural products. The Presi¬ 
 dent exhibited specimens of New-Zealand grass. It was adjudged to 
 be finer and stronger than hemp. Seeds were distributed among the 
 members ; arrangements, it appeared, had been made for obtaining a 
 quantity, with various other seeds, to be distributed among the mem¬ 
 bers of the next Convention. 
 
 On motion, it was resolved , that Dr. Gardner be requested to sup¬ 
 ply a copy of his address for publication. 
 
 T. B. VVakeman, Esq., Corresponding Secretary of the American 
 Institute, presented resolutions that passed unanimously, which he 
 prefaced by remarks substantially as follows: 
 
 He said his object was to call the attention of the farmers of the United 
 States to the vital importance of a sound protective policy to their prospe¬ 
 rity, and he hoped to be able to satisfy every intelligent farmer present. 
 
 What does the farmer desire? Will not the answer be, large crops and 
 good prices ? To increase the amount of crops great exertions are every 
 where making. The nature of soils is sought and analyzed. New manures 
 are procured and tried. New modes of culture introduced, with labour-saving 
 machines, &c. Science is at work investigating cause and effect. Clubs 
 societies, schools and associations of various names, have been formed and are 
 forming all over the country. Some of these means have been attended with 
 most signal success. Examine the enormous vegetables and fruit at our 
 Fair. Improvement in agriculture and horticulture has received a new spirit, 
 and no doubt is rapidly advancing ; and with the growing spirit, better crops 
 will be realized, and the surplus will be greater and greater. 
 
 Statistics calculate the staples of food and clothing about equal in their cost. 
 They are both required for the comfort, and in fact for the existence, of 
 every individual in the country. Subsistence and clothing, it will be ac¬ 
 knowledged, embrace the main cost of living. If this statement is true, the 
 farmer should put aside from his surplus, about as much of his crop com¬ 
 fortably to clothe as to feed his family. If, by any short-sighted policy, 
 the portion set aside to purchase family clothing will not bring but half price, 
 it is just as fatal to the farmer as if one half had rotted before it reached 
 the market. In either case it will purchase only one half the clothing he 
 needs. My object is to impress on the farmer the importance of the price 
 or value in market, as well as the quantity, his farm produces, and the po¬ 
 licy that will put two dollars instead of one into his pocket, which I think 
 by many has been overlooked. I rejoice to find him investigating the pro- 
 perties of manures, but I will assure him that Congress may pass an act 
 inflicting injuries on him that even the fertilizing virtues of the far-famed 
 guano, obtained for nothing, would not counterbalance. 
 
36 
 
 My wish is to bring before the farmers of this Convention the fact, that & 
 large majority of the southern states, and great numbers of others, especially 
 in our commercial cities, believe in free trade , and are in favour of reducing 
 the duties on imported articles to 20 per cent, on their value. Twenty per 
 cent., remember, is the mark. 
 
 Do our farmers know the amount of farming produce imported under the 
 existing tariff? and how much this would reduce the present duty, or rather 
 what per cent, advantage this proposed reduction will give the foreign im. 
 porter over the American farmer beyond what he now has ? 
 
 I will endeavour to illustrate it by a few of the great leading articles of 
 food. The whole amount of articles to which I shall refer, produced in the 
 country, will be found of vast magnitude. More than one hundred millions 
 of bushels of wheat will be grown in the United States this year. Wheat 
 imported from abroad is required to pay 25 cents duty per bushel. It Can 
 frequently be bought on the continent of Europe as low as 30 cents per 
 bushel, and in some parts of Europe no doubt will, until a war occurs, in 
 future years, be obtained for less than 40 cents. It can now be brought from 
 Bremen for less than 10 cents freight per bushel; will cost when brought here, 
 say 50 cents. The duty now required to be paid here, 25 cents per bushel, 
 is therefore equal to one half its foreign cost and freight added for 3000 miles. 
 This would be a reduction of 30 per cent, if the present duty was changed 
 to 20 per cent, on the value, instead of 25 cents per bushel. On this calcu¬ 
 lation, the proposed reduction of the tarifF would give the importer of foreign 
 wheat 30 per cent, advantage over what he now has ; and even adding the 
 duty as part of the cost, it still would give the importer a fair profit. 
 
 Is there no danger of foreign wheat coming in competition with ours ?_. 
 
 The wheat of Bremen is raised by labourers who will work for from six to 
 nine cents per day. Let it not be said wheat never will be imported. Jn 
 1836, in spite of a duty of 25 cents per bushel, nearly half a million of 
 bushels were imported and sold in this country; and from January to April, 
 in 1837, eight hundred and fifty-four thousand bushels. 
 
 There are other considerations which the farmer should look at before he 
 commits the tarifF into free trade hands. Forty-one million four hundred 
 and two thousand six hundred and twenty-seven gallons of distilled spirits 
 were made in the United States in one year, according to the last census, 
 chiefly from our own surplus grain, protected by a duty of from 60 to 90* 
 cents per gallon, equal to a duty of from 200 to 350 per cent. This duty, I 
 believe, is the highest in the tariff laws, and operates altogether to the bene¬ 
 fit of the farmer. The duty was so prohibitory, that all the foreign distilled 
 spirits imported the same year amounted to less than one hundred and forty- 
 two thousand dollars value. Give the foreign distiller what the reduction of 
 duty to 20 per cent., ad valorem, would confer over the present duty, viz., 
 ftom 40 to <0 cents on every gallon imported, and the whole country would 
 be flooded with the fine flavoured produce of foreign distilleries, and the 
 cheaper foreign whiskey adapted to all tastes. New recruits, by thousands, 
 would then be seen rallying around the standard of intoxication and sieging 
 hosannahs to free trade. Let the friends of temperance look well to this 
 threatened state of things. No one can imagine that our distilleries could 
 compete with foreign importers. A formidable amount of grain would 
 necessarily fall back on the farmer to waste and rot, or be fed to stock. 
 X.et the gram growers look to consequences. Vast quantities of wheat have 
 annually been called for to fill the void caused by the distilleries. Even 
 
37 
 
 the wheat grower would find his market lessened by the profusion of rye, 
 corn, &c., which, being excessively reduced in price, would be substituted 
 more or less for wheat, and thus contract the wheat market. 
 
 Potatoes are another article of very great consumption, next in value, and 
 almost equal to grain. There have been probably one hundred and fifty 
 million of bushels raised in the United States this year. Nowithstandingthey 
 are protected by a duty of ten cents per bushel, twenty-eight thousand one 
 hundred and ninety-two bushels of potatoes were imported in nine months, 
 in 1843. If the average value is 20 cents per bushel, the protection is 50 
 per cent., and a reduction to the free trade standard, viz : to 20 per cent, on 
 their value, would give the foreign importer of the article under the proposed 
 duty, an advantage of 30 per cent, on the value above the present law. Is 
 it not manifest, then, if potatoes can be cultivated by labour at from six to 
 nine cents per day, as stated before, that it would be perfectly easy for fo¬ 
 reigners effectually to beat down home competition the whole length of our 
 seaboard? 
 
 Beef and pork not varying much per lb. in value, are leading staples of food, 
 and in many families cost more than bread. The average prices at this 
 V timo#n our market do not equal four cents per pound ; the duty on both is 
 the same, viz : two cents per pound, which is fifty per cent, on their value. 
 The farmer would therefore be a sufferer in the struggle of foreign competi¬ 
 tion by the free trade, twenty per cent, ad valorem duty proposed as a substi¬ 
 tute for the present tariff, another thirty per cent. 
 
 The duty on cheese, another important article of food, is nine cents per 
 pound, nearly two hundred per cent, ad valorem on the present selling price 
 of fair cheese in our market. I leave the farmers to judge the value of 
 twenty per cent, protection. Many millions of dollars would not cover the 
 consumption. 
 
 I believe the foregoing will comprehend the principle staples of food, and 
 have been thus particular, that the farmer may see clearly what would be his 
 situation under a twenty per cent, duty.* The protection he receives seems 
 in a great measure to have been kept out of view, and the manufacturer 
 thrust forward, as the only one in interest. The issue has been almost exclu¬ 
 sively in relation to the manufacturer. Indeed, it has been triumphantly pub¬ 
 lished in free trade papers, “ the farmer makes no demand on Congress ; 
 he wants no protection ; it is these uneasy, troublesome, greedy manufactu¬ 
 rers that incessantly harass Congress to make laws to enrich and aggran¬ 
 dize themselves.” The truth can be best illustrated by a tabular view. 
 
 Duties on the staple articles of food grown 
 
 Present duties as above, on 
 Wheat,.. 
 
 50 per cent. 
 
 Proposed duty. 
 
 20 per cent. 
 
 Grain, viz: rye, corn, &c. 
 distilled, average duty,... 
 
 . 150 
 
 <( 
 
 20 “ 
 
 Potatoes,. 
 
 . 50 
 
 M 
 
 20 “ 
 
 Beef and pork,. 
 
 . 50 
 
 (< 
 
 20 
 
 Cheese,. 
 
 . 150 
 
 “ 
 
 20 “ 
 
 by the farmer. 
 
 Reduction from present 
 duties will then be 
 
 30 per cent. 
 . 130 “ 
 
 .; 30 “ 
 
 .. 30 “ 
 
 . 130 “ 
 
 The present duties, it will be seen by this table, under our present law, 
 average/ ninety per cent. Under the law proposed by the free traders to 
 defend the farmers against the greedy manufacturers, the protective duty 
 which operates in his favour, and against the foreigner, will be reduced on an 
 average, 70 per cent on all the considerable products of the farm ; and thus 
 the farmer will be left to the sweeping competition of the low labour of the 
 
38 
 
 paupers of all Europe. If they now import in greater or less quantities the 
 articles named above with what will amount to a premium of 70 per cent., will 
 they not, in unfavourable seasons, fill our market ? Farmers, reflect and judge 
 for yourselves. 
 
 I will now show by a table the protection under the present law afforded 
 the manufacturer who supplies the leading articles of clothing, and what the 
 reduction of duties on these productions will be under the proposed duties of 
 20 per cent. 
 
 The products of the manufacturers I shall embrace in this table, will 
 amount now to nearly two hundred millions of dollars value per annum, 
 about equal to those of food named above, and they are increasing in an in' 
 credible ratio. 
 
 Duties on the staple articles of clothing produced by the manufacturer under 
 
 the present law . 
 
 Woollen Goods,. 
 
 Cotton Goods.. 
 
 Present 
 
 duty. 
 
 Proposed 
 
 duty. 
 
 ..20 
 
 Hats,... 
 
 .30. 
 
 
 Leather Manufactures,.. , 
 
 
 
 Reduction. 
 
 ...20 
 
 ...30 
 
 ID 
 
 By making the calculation, the farmer will see that the present protecting 
 duty on the above articles produced by the manufacturer, embracing certainly 
 the main articles of clothing, compared with the five principal articles of food, 
 as named above, stand thus : 
 
 Average protection on articles of food under the present law, 90 per 
 cent/ 
 
 Average protection on articles of clothing, 38 per cent. 
 
 Bring down the duty to the free trade standard of 20 per cent, and the 
 reduction of duty on the above five articles of food will be 70 per cent. 
 
 On the four articles of clothing, 18 per cent. 
 
 On this calculation, agriculture will suffer in the proposed free trade reduc¬ 
 tion, directly, more than three times as much as manufactures. The farmer 
 will, therefore, on the free trade proposal, suffer directly three times as much 
 as the manufacturer in encountering the formidable foreign competition which 
 would be created against him. 
 
 Again ; just in proportion as the manufacturers are interfered with by foreign 
 competition, and the value of their production diminished, the home market 
 for the fanner will be diminished ; and as he has no reliable foreign market, 
 his indirect suffering for want of a market will be greater than his direct 
 suffering. 
 
 Ly improved culture, increasing supply, and with free trade diminishing 
 the power of the manufacturer to buy, the farmer will find his condiiion 
 comparatively below that of any other occupation, and approximating to the 
 degraded condition of European peasantry. 
 
 I have, with these considerations in view, prepared hastily the following 
 resolutions, which are respectfully submitted: 
 
 Resolved , That however desirable it may be to increase our crofts by im- 
 pio\e cuituie, t lere is still another important consideration that should not 
 be lost sight of, viz. remunerating prices for the surplus. In times of gene- 
 tK° U f Wl so re duced, and freights across the Atlantic so 
 , , wi tou a protecting duty, there is reason to believe many of our 
 
39 
 
 most important agricultural staples of enormous amount, will be so much re- 
 duced by foreign competition, as not to equal the cost of the labour of pro. 
 duction, unless the price of labour is brought so low as barely to support ex¬ 
 istence. 
 
 Resolved , That the proposed general reduction of duties to 20 per cent, ad 
 valorem, advocated by a very numerous portion of our fellow citizens, would 
 inevitably, in periods of general peace, fill our markets with the products of 
 foreign articles, while the surplus of our agriculturists must remain on hand, 
 unsold, or be sold at sacrifices to which they never ought to submit. 
 
 Many of the farming staples which foreigners now bring to this country in 
 small quantities, would at once have conferred on them an advantage in our 
 markets, and in favour of foreigners, and to the prejudice of our own producers 
 of similar productions, twenty, thirty, forty, and in some instances, over fifty 
 per cent.; and there is good reason to believe, that such foreign productions 
 would be forced on us in quantities ruinous to all that portion of our agricul¬ 
 turists who rely on grain and provisions. 
 
 Resolved , That the agriculturists of the United States are more interested in 
 this proposed reduction, than even the manufacturers ; because the duties on 
 the leading staples of food raised by them, such as grain, potatoes, cheese, 
 &c., have now higher protection than the leading staples of clothing, 
 such as woollen and cotton cloths, leather, &c., which constitute the bulk of 
 the necessaries, both of food and clothing. 
 
 Henry Meigs, Esq., and the Rev. Mr. Barlow, of Westchester Co., 
 N. Y., from the committee to prepare an address and resolutions, 
 reported resolutions; and Mr. A. J. Prime, from the same committee, 
 reported an address. 
 
 The committee to whom was referred the drafting of an address 
 and resolutions for the adoption of this Convention, reported the fol¬ 
 lowing : 
 
 Gentlemen, —This Convention, assembled in the city of New-York, at the 
 call of the American Institute, have taken into serious consideration the sub¬ 
 ject of agriculture and its claims. Viewed in itself alone, it is undoubtedly 
 the noblest of arts. But when it is remembered, that it is emphatically the 
 foundation of national prosperity—the corner stone of the existence of civil 
 society—that when agriculture ceases, manufactures, commerce, and all the 
 other arts and occupations of life cease with it, the encouragement and pro¬ 
 motion of it become of paramount importance. And of no nation is this more 
 true than of our own, possessing, as we do, a country of vast extent, em¬ 
 bracing every variety of climate and soil, and capable of producing the fruits 
 of every zone. 
 
 The time has been, when the oldest portions of our country required 
 but the soil to be broken, and the seed cast in, to produce an ample and 
 abundant crop. But we have evidence before us and around us, that this is 
 not now the case. A great deterioration has taken place in the soil, from 
 unskilful culture. Fields which once waved with rich harvests, are now 
 comparatively unproductive; the wheat crop from lands long cultivated, be¬ 
 ing reduced in a few years from 33 to 50 per cent. As proof of this, it may 
 be stated that in one of the western counties of the state of New-York, which 
 was a few years since the best wheat growing county in the state, the 
 
-- —rj -— 
 
 40 
 
 average crop of wheat in the year 1843 was but fifteen bushels to the acre. 
 In those parts of the state which have been longer under tillage, the average 
 is still less, and in Virginia, does not exceed five to eight bushels. And all 
 this in a country, four-fifths of whose population are engaged in tilling the 
 soil. 
 
 The question of a remedy is an important one. And where is it to be 
 found? We answer, “ in a more general diffusion of knowledge relating to 
 the various branches of agriculture. Whilst all other arts have resorted to 
 the aid offered by science, and thus have brought great gain to their follow¬ 
 ers, we have been contented to tread the same path trod by our fathers ever 
 since the primal curse,” and have grown poorer and poorer. It is now set¬ 
 tled beyond a doubt, that by the assistance of science our farms may be re¬ 
 stored not only to their primitive vigour and productiveness, but to even an in¬ 
 creased fertility. In England, where this kind of knowledge has been some¬ 
 what extensively diffused, the crops of wheat have already been doubled, and 
 instances may be found in our own country where they have been more than 
 doubled. 
 
 We must also look for the fostering hand of government. Who can 
 reasonably object to a Home Department for Agriculture, planned on a scale 
 commensurate with the millions it is intended to protect and foster? The 
 navy is provided with its department, another has been created for your 
 money, one for your diplomacy, another for your postage ; you have an im¬ 
 mense edifice, with commissioner, examiner, clerks, &c., to take care of your 
 patents ; but for the vast interest of agriculture you have not a place where 
 the farmer has a legitimate right to put his foot, to ask for information re¬ 
 lating to his pursuits, or to deposit, for the use of others, that information 
 which he may have acquired from experience. Your National Legislature 
 has provided no means for concentrating and widely diffusing the knowledge 
 which might serve to direct and facilitate the immeasurable labours of four 
 fifths of the population of a mighty empire, multiplying in a ratio that defies 
 all precedent in the history of the human race. 
 
 Agriculture, if it had met its deserts, would long since have shone con¬ 
 spicuous among the other departments of the government. Who is there 
 that will question the foresight, the wisdom, or patriotism of Washington ? 
 At the opening of the session of 1796, the last at which he presided, he spoke 
 to the nation’s representatives as follows : “ It will not be doubted, that, with 
 reference either to individual or national welfare, agriculture is of primary 
 importance. In proportion as nations advance in*population and other cir¬ 
 cumstances of maturity, this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the 
 cultivation of the soil more and more an object of public patronage. Insti¬ 
 tutions for promoting it grow up, supported by the public purse ; and to what 
 object can it be dedicated with greater propriety ? Among the means which 
 have been employed to this end, none have been attended with greater suc¬ 
 cess than the establishment of boards, composed of proper characters, 
 charged with collecting and diffusing information, and enabled, by premiums, 
 and small pecuniary aid, to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and im¬ 
 provement, by stimulating to enterprise and experiment, and by drawing to a 
 common centre the results everywhere of individual skill and observation, 
 and spreading them thence over the whole nation. Experience accordingly 
 has shown, that they are very cheap instruments of immense national bene¬ 
 fits. ” 
 
 That this opinion of that great and good man has never received the action 
 
41 
 
 It deserved, is not so much the fault of Congress, as of ourselves, who hava 
 been so backward to assert our own claims. It therefore becomes us to be 
 diligent in the use of every effort to secure those natural resources that are 
 in our power, and to claim that notice and action in our legislatures we so 
 preeminently deserve as a nation of farmers. 
 
 They therefore recommend the following resolutions i 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention regards AoRicbLTURE as the 
 most important secular pursuit of man. It was his primeval occu¬ 
 pation, and still retains something of the character it had when God 
 and man walked and conversed among the trees of their own garden. 
 To till the ground was the feudal service required in his first lease of 
 the soil. Nature coerces the duty. Her fields become rank with 
 spontaneous thistles ; but yield wheat only as it is enforced by ‘ the 
 sweat of the brow.” It is the permanent condition on which alone 
 he can reap abundance, health, and social well-being. Agriculture is 
 the creative work of man. It brings up wealth from the ground. It 
 makes the barren field sing with joy—binds up sheaves of substantial 
 riches where there was nothing before—and at the harvest-home 
 “ fills the heart with food and gladness.” The money-changer en¬ 
 riches himself by appropriation, while he produces nothing. But he 
 who grows a ball of cotton or an ear of corn increases the means of 
 human comfort. It may be but a small service, but it is something. 
 Agriculture, which produces corn, rears men :—gives a dower to early 
 marriage—feeds the increasing family of domestic love—makes a 
 wilderness bloom like Eden—and peoples waste places with the mil¬ 
 lions of hardy and virtuous yeomanry. It has its toils, but is rich in 
 salutary pleasures. Commerce has its vices and produces luxury. 
 Manufactures weary by sameness, and impair by restraint. The 
 professions reap their harvest from men’s sins and sufferings. Idle¬ 
 ness depraves the whole man; but the labour of the husbandman “hath, 
 a blessing in it a blessing for the body and mind, the private in¬ 
 terest, and the common weal. 
 
 Resolved, That the successful prosecution of agriculture depends 
 mainly upon the amount of science and skill which may be brought to 
 bear upon it.- Intuition teaches nothing—tradition little—experiment 
 advances slowly in its discoveries ; but aided by science, advances 
 surely. Art is scarcely more indebted to science than agriculture. 
 Within a few ages it has shed a flood of light upon the subject; and 
 the scholar in his laboratory, has done more for the crop in the he d,- 
 than the ploughman. Chemistry analyzes the soil, and the grain, and 
 the manures, and determines, by a scientific process, what composts 
 are suited to each. It can tell beforehand what manure will fill t le 
 berry of wheat, what will merely increase the straw, and what will 
 destroy the crop. Science traces effects up to their causes, detects 
 the operation of invariable laws where chance was supposed to pre¬ 
 side, and directs the economy of the farm by principles instead ol 
 traditionary usages. While science is shedding its light upon the oc- 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 cult operations of nature, genius and art are employed in multiplying 
 and perfecting the implements by which the onus is removed from 
 human sinews, to labour-saving machinery. But all these discoveries 
 and improvements avail nothing to him who declines the trouble of 
 informing himself. On the contrary, he falls behind his intelligent 
 competitors; and thus sustains loss by neglecting a talent, derives 
 ruin from inattention, and is punished for ignorance, as if it were a 
 crime. Money and labour to a vast amount are annually thrown 
 away for the want of a “ penny-worth” of information. Thousands 
 toil on in want, through life, whom an hour’s reading mmht set for 
 ward in a career of prosperity. Knowledge is power among farm- 
 eis as every where else. He that possesses it enjoys a monopoly 
 which ignorance may envy, but cannot share. It is vain to attempt 
 o secure to all the enjoyment of equal rights, where there is not equal 
 information. Knowledge and skill are the labourer’s capital, and to 
 promote these is to advance the true system of social equality. 
 
 Resolved .That the progress of agricultural science depends con¬ 
 jointly on the discoveries of the scholar, and the observation and ex- 
 
 SX5 and 1 ? P ?f C, ‘ C H T an ; —\ m bl . in S in g together into one focus all 
 the facts and truths which may be thus acquired, and digesting the 
 
 whole into a form accessible to the poor, intelligible to the ignorant 
 convenient for reference, and adapted to practical application • and 
 
 thPwh d i nS l thCS u ma . tL i rcd dl g ests of practical science abroad through 
 the whole length and breadth of the land. Science has her votaries 
 who rest not day nor night. Nature is daily interrogated, and her re- 
 sponses are bound up in gilt volumes for the gentleman’s unsoiled 
 library. It is the practical man who is in fault: he neglects to read 
 to experiment, and even to observe: Whereas it is the dutv of the’ 
 Amencan farmer to know all that is known of his noble calling to 
 veiily the principles of science in practice, to bring his intellect to 
 bear upon us pursuits, and if possible to add somewhat to the sum of 
 agricultural knowledge. It is his business to seek for all t uth and 
 impart all he can find Each particle of truth is of more value than 
 
 is given awav^ O C To?| d “ trCaSUre ,na >’ bc retained while it 
 is yven avvay. To the common stock of truth all should contribute 
 
 and each bear away the whole. The husbandry of the country can 
 
 never reach the higher degrees of perfection, until the farmers become 
 
 reading and practical philosophers. The chief benefit derived from 
 
 ™ U l l / alrS ’ Cat ! le and ,he likc > ^ in 'he knowledge communi- 
 ted by example—in the belief which results from seeing—in the 
 generous emulation inspired by successful enterprise. BuUiseful „ 
 these means of improvement are, infinitely more might be learned 
 
 tZLt‘;Z d bMlcr purpose ’ if 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention regard it ns »I,p „ „ 
 
 t'he n b t enefi?ofTe nateS ^’d ! he pe ° pfe ’ and professes iisEI'IS 
 
 of all Imowlcdge^whic^hln. 3 ^ ‘ h ° d,sc . over >’ and dissemination 
 
 G — & 
 
 
43 
 
 punish its subjects, but to guide, guard, instruct, and confer benefits 
 upon them—to do, by means of the common purse, for the common 
 good, all things which require to be done ; but which cannot, or would 
 not be done by individual effort, or voluntary associations. If there 
 be any good reasons why a light-house, a navy, a fortification, or a 
 national road should be an affair of the General Government, there 
 are the same reasons why it should charge itself to enlighten and fos¬ 
 ter that branch of industry which is more vital to the welfare of the 
 country, than all the interests confided to the Heads of Departments 
 put together. The State, Treasury, War and Post-Office Depart¬ 
 ments, reach the farmer in the way of extracting dollars from his 
 pocket. A department having for its object to put useful knowledge 
 into his head, and implements into his hand, would also put money 
 into his purse. A “ Home Department” would be the sole branch of 
 government which would visit the constituents in annual benefits of 
 millions, which the labourers would share, rather than the privileged 
 classes. £>uch an object is worthy of a patriotic government, and in 
 the hands of an honest one, would occasion no appreciable increase of 
 taxes ; but would, at no distant day, add a large per centage to the 
 wealth of the country. What price would have been exorbitant for 
 Whitney’s cotton gin? Yet the government paid nothing. South 
 Carolina defrauded the inventor, and gave him ten years of litiga¬ 
 tion, expense and abuse, for a boon worth countless millions ! This 
 is such fostering care as the wolf would give to the fold ! 
 
 Resolved , That this Convention deem it the duty of government 
 not only to foster the interests of agriculture, by rewarding discovery, 
 and diffusing knowledge, but to protect the industry which is direct¬ 
 ed this way. Agriculture needs protection. Who does not see that 
 southern sugar needs it? What northern man ever complained that 
 it was given ? Cotton requires it. Within thirty years the quantity 
 grown has been quadrupled, but the amount received in payment has 
 been little, if at all, increased. A vigorous competition of home manu¬ 
 facturers with foreign, would manifestly enhance the value of that 
 southern staple. Because local blindness may attribute to domestic 
 protection, that depreciation, which arises in fact more from foreign 
 monoply, does not make it incumbent on the General Government 
 also to stultify itself. Wheat might be brought from the Steppes of 
 Tartary. and sold in New-York for fifty cents per bushel. Numerous 
 articles" of domestic growth might be brought from foreign parts for 
 less money than they are worth at the American farm-house. If the 
 farmer were not protected against the competition of foreign boors 
 and serfs, he would lose the marketion his own soil. With all our 
 rich lands, canals, rail-roads, and agricultural improvements, he would 
 soon cease to supply the Atlantic cities. Adequate protection should 
 not merely shield him from a ruinous competition, but secure him a 
 market. If he cannot find one abroad, he should be allowed one at 
 home. Trade, it is said, would regulate itself, if left free, and like 
 water seek a common level. That is, the profits of the Ameiican 
 farmer would be levelled down to those of the Russian boor ! It there 
 
44 
 
 be any levelling, it must be downwards ! The ocean cannot be level¬ 
 led up to the Ontario! Free trade would drain our waters. The 
 only alternative is effectual protection ! 
 
 Resolved , therefore, That this Convention do earnestly recom¬ 
 mend their fellow citizens, who are engaged in the various branches 
 of agriculture, to adopt measures to help themselves , and to secure the 
 aid and protection of the General Government . In particular it is 
 advised— 
 
 I. That farmers and planters, in all sections of the country, should 
 organize themselves into primary associations, to meet at stated times 
 for conference and deliberation, with a view to the increase of know¬ 
 ledge, both in regard to their individual pursuits, and their rights and 
 interests as a body ; and with a view also to a more effectual co¬ 
 operation in protecting them. 
 
 II. They are recommended to read— to provide themselves with 
 books touching these matters, and to converse upon them at their 
 stated meetings. They have long enough walked blindly in the old 
 traditionary track. A vast amount of useful practical science is 
 abroad, which they are not yetin possession of; and much remains to 
 be discovered, in the pursuit of which the practical farmer mav 
 assist. 
 
 III. The agricultural associations are requested to send a delegate 
 from each to the Farmers’ Convention, to be held annually in the 
 City of New-York, at the time of the Annual Fair of the American 
 Institute ; and thus extend over the whole country the branches 
 of the central organization—the nerves of intelligence, and the life¬ 
 blood of a common interest. 
 
 IV. The associations are advised to avail themselves, as far as 
 possible, of the cooperation of the clergy. Their intelligence quali¬ 
 fies them to do valuable service to the cause ; and their devotion to 
 the good of mankind would dispose them to render it. To act as 
 politicians, would manifestly impair their professional usefulness ; but 
 here is a field in which they may labour without reproach, cultivate 
 the public interest, and serve their country without prejudice to their 
 higher functions as ministers of religion. Clergymen consenting to 
 serve in the manner here indicated, will be recorded as corresponding 
 members of the central organization. 
 
 Y. The associations, after fully informing themselves on the subject 
 of their interests and rights as a body, are advised to memorialize the 
 Congress of the United States, praying for the aid and protection of 
 the government; and especially for the organization of a“ Home De¬ 
 partment, in accordance with the enlightened suggestions of “the 
 Father of his Country !”—a department charged with the care 
 ot all the branches of domestic industry, and especially the interests 
 ot the agriculture of the country. 
 
 Resoloed, That it is the opinion of this Convention that there should 
 6e an appropriation of a small portion of the income of the Smith- 
 
 hf^nnKr f r u lhe P ur Pp se stereotyping a series of volumes, to 
 be published at the rate of two or more annually— to be devoted to 
 
45 
 
 agriculture and the arts—to be compiled under the direction of 
 the Secretary of the Home Department, or of some more permanent 
 officer, selected wholly with a view to his fitness for this especial 
 duty—and with all the learning and judgment which can be well 
 brought to bear upon it. The work should be illustrated with plates 
 where they are necessary, and executed in a style worthy of the ob¬ 
 ject. The use of the plates should then be granted for limited pe¬ 
 riods to such responsible publishing houses as will engage to furnish 
 all purchasers with the work, executed in the best manner, and on the 
 lowest terms . It is believed the object of the benevolent founder of 
 that fund, could in no other way be so effectually obtained, as in the 
 manner here suggested. A vast body of practical and useful science 
 would be thus placed within the reach of the humblest cottager and 
 mechanic. Millions of labourers would bv this means obtain know¬ 
 ledge which otherwise would be inaccessible. Benefits would thus 
 accrue to the industrial interests of the country, and to the domestic 
 comforts of the people, which could not be computed in dollars and 
 cents. Every volume would be a monument to the memory of the 
 generous foreigner. Every family in the country would possess a 
 tangible evidence of his far-reaching benevolence, and hold his name 
 in honour. The bequest was made to the National Family, and it 
 should be so appropriated, as, if possible, to diffuse its benefits alike 
 upon all. 
 
 Resolved , That this Convention beg leave respectfully to commend 
 to the enlightened consideration of the National Government, the ex¬ 
 pediency of instituting, as a branch of the government, a “ Home 
 Department,” to be charged with the care of the industrial interests 
 of the country : and cherish the earnest hope that the Congress of the 
 United States, to whose wisdom and patriotism those interests have 
 been confided, will perceive that the rights of the producing classes, 
 and the obligations of government, demand the adoption of a more 
 liberal system of encouragement and protection to its agricultural 
 industry. 
 
 Resolved , That in the opinion of this Convention, it becomes this 
 great Republic to set examples of high attainment in agriculture first, 
 and then in all arts and sciences, to the other governments of the 
 earth, so that this noble frame of government may become a model 
 one for the nations. 
 
 Resolved , That these proceedings be transmitted to the Governors 
 of the several United States, requesting them to put the question of 
 Washington's Home Department to their several legislatures for their 
 consideration. 
 
 Resolved , That the American Institute be requested to call a Conven¬ 
 tion of Farmers and Gardeners, at the period of the next Annual Fair. 
 
 Resolved , That the foregoing proceedings be referred to the Agri¬ 
 cultural Board of the American Institute, requesting them to use all 
 proper measures to carry them into effect. 
 
 The address and resolutions were considered and passed without a 
 dissenting voice. 
 
J 
 
 46 
 
 Mr. Joseph Blunt, of the city of New-York, addressed the Con¬ 
 vention on the importance of keeping pace with the rapid march of 
 agricultural improvement. He expressed his attachment to the great 
 interest of agriculture, in warm terms, and zealously recommended 
 that the influence of all should be brought to bear on the establish¬ 
 ment of Gen. Washington’s “ Home Department.” 
 
 Mr. Van Epps, of Western New-York, made an address on the 
 establishment of a School of Agriculture, as follows : 
 
 Sir—I cannot allow this opportunity to pass, without expressing 
 the desire that the able and practical remarks made bv our 
 worthy President, at the opening of this Convention, be p'rinted 
 in a convenient form for universal circulation. So purely American, 
 may they be studied by every youth and voter in this nation. Thev 
 were listened to with profound gratitude. It was, indeed, a 
 feast of reason and a flow of soul.” We are represented as some- 
 thing more than a dollar and cent people. In this country edu¬ 
 cation must prepare our citizens to become municipal officers, intelli¬ 
 gent jurors, honest witnesses, legislators, or competent judges of 
 legislation, vve could but congratulate ourselves that men ripe in 
 political science and public economy, were willing to descend from 
 their lofty eminence, and give us the truth of the whole matter This 
 knowledge must be universal. It is not enough to have here and 
 there a fountain-playing in palace gardens ; but let it go, Croton-like 
 into every palace and hamlet in our Union. Let it come like the’ 
 abundant fatness of the clouds upon the thirsting earth. What a 
 duty, yea, what a privilege, for our educated men to accommodate 
 our institutions of learning to the fundamental principles and true 
 policy of our country. We, too, sir, believe the farmer has ri-ffits. 
 Long have we been thirsting for illumination upon our high duties 
 that we might maintain and manfully defend these rights Those 
 great truths received the readiest assent of our reason, and we trust 
 will produce that effect upon the feelings which gives birth to action. 
 
 I repeat it, such truths ought to be wrought into the minds of the 
 whole people, so that they will remain there, not dormant, as a mere 
 conclusion of the reason, but impulsive, as an instinct of self-preserva¬ 
 tion. To our own mind no defect in our education appears more 
 alarming than the one under consideration. Of the vast population 
 ot this country, 49 out of every 50 receive their education in the 
 common school. It has been my pleasure, during the last 4 vears 
 to visit about 800 of these little colleges. Much care has been taken 
 to collect facts, and learn the extent of this defect in our system of 
 American education. In this large number of schools, with a few 
 exceptions, I have not received an answer to the most simple ques- 
 orwE.p 6 P nnc, P ,esand Provisions of our National Constitution, 
 
 leafs 1 piahL Ec0 2T : r T r he same ] g noranc e prevails upon the privi- 
 
 fe S rf " t Ut u f ° ltIZenS in ° ur own s,ale - The address 
 of the Piesident should be put into the hands of every student of 
 
 K 
 
47 
 
 our common schools. We maintain, sir, that this knowledge 
 is indispensible as a part of practical education in this country. 
 The elective franchise presupposes an acquaintance with the 
 duties to be performed. Give us this knowledge, together with 
 a loftier than Roman virtue, and the ballot box is an arm 
 of power—our nation’s pride. It is not enough to put a ballot in the 
 box, but to put it in inscribed with a worthy name. It is not the 
 paper, but the man , who is to come out an officer. How much 
 liberty , in its influence at the polls, sometimes detracts from patriot¬ 
 ism, we will not decide, nor how far pro parte encroaches on the 
 domains of “ pro patria” A knowledge of our constitutional juris¬ 
 prudence, laws, and physical and artificial resources of the country, 
 is necessary to a perfect citizen. Our school houses, academies and 
 colleges are the fortifications of the country, and are none the less so 
 because their enginery is intellectual. The ten thousand families and 
 schools in our country may be rendered the best nurseries of pa¬ 
 triotism, and furnish the finest field for its legitimate operation. Here 
 the statesman beholds a magnificent depository of power. Here are 
 the kings and the queens, through whose veins course the royal blood 
 of America. The buzz and roar of a manufacturing establishment, 
 convey to my mind as high an idea of regard for the country’s weal, 
 as does the roar of cannon, or the noise of camps. A company of 
 boys and girls going to school, presents to my fancy as strong a fu¬ 
 ture bulwark to our country’s freedom, as a company of lads with 
 wooden guns. The young lady who sheds around her, as all young 
 ladies might, the hallowed influence of her own purity and intelligence, 
 deserves as well of her country, as did the maid of Sarragossa, who 
 mounted the gun of a defending battery, and rallied the veterans 
 whom the terrific fire of the French had compelled to abandon it. 
 And the young man, of sober habits and well stored mind, who fol¬ 
 lows a useful profession or trade, evinces as great and as real a pa¬ 
 triotism, as the epauletted youth who marches at the head of a com¬ 
 pany, or paces the quarter-deck of a man-of-war. Give us practical 
 education and general industry ; and we have a powerful barrier 
 against national ilis. This the true patriot does not fail to perceive. 
 Hence the pains which a wise and worthy legislature will always 
 take to encourage and secure it. Cato told the Roman Senate that 
 it was much more by the industry than by the arms of their ances¬ 
 tors, that Rome had risen to such a pitch of greatness. This is emi- 
 4 nently so of our country. The most that arms have done for our 
 country has been to make room for industry to operate in, and to 
 protect it and its products , while it enriches and beautifies the land. 
 It is industry, not predatory war, that supplies the revenue; and the 
 conquest of new territory is never thought of amidst the enterprise of 
 improving the territory we have. 
 
 In our deliberations at this time, we have shown to each other and 
 to the nation, that we would look with melancholy forebodings on the 
 decline of popular industry ; and we are pledged to exert our influ¬ 
 ence, and throw in our example, to prevent the prevalence of that 
 enervating and contemptible notion, as yet restricted to an unenviable 
 
48 
 
 few, that attaches disgrace to labour, and esteems it honourable to be 
 good for nothing but to consume the products. We have been told 
 in this Convention, that our interests as farmers have not been pro¬ 
 perly fostered, and that the fault is our own, and not the fault of Con¬ 
 gress. Let men be raised up from among us, who earn their bread 
 by the sweat of their brow—men who know how to appreciate the 
 value of money. They will be more likely to economise in the pub¬ 
 lic expenditures ; and having feelings in common with the great ma¬ 
 jority of the people, legislate for the greatest number. Less time 
 would be consumed in needless debate, and the public business would 
 be done with greater despatch and benefit to the country. Jefferson 
 said that he never knew Gen. Washington or Dr. Franklin speak 
 more than ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point, which 
 was to decide the question. How different were these plain, simple 
 and efficient legislators, from the political gladiators who are now 
 honoured with seats in Congress. 
 
 How is it possible for us to be taken care of in our interests, when 
 out of about 300 members composing that national body, 245 are 
 lawyers ! At periodical seasons, these gentlemen mingle among us? 
 every artifice is resorted to—vast assemblies are convened—our pas¬ 
 sions are appealed to, and oftentimes our worst passions, too. The 
 mind is wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement, and these 
 lions of the day, many of them gifted by heaven with the power of 
 moving mind, stand over us, as master spirits of the storm, profess¬ 
 ing ability to mould the common mind into any form. Sure I am 
 that I express the sentiment of this meeting in saying, that the la¬ 
 bouring classes need a more efficient representation in the public 
 councils; constituting, as they do, nine tenths of our population, they 
 may give to the government such character as they choose. Let us 
 then go to the fountain head— the Common School . There political 
 science should be studied, and its benefits brought within the reach 
 of all—the poor as well as the rich—the farmer and mechanic as well 
 as the professional man. Those distinctions of rank, and that ine¬ 
 quality of political influence, so incompatible with the principle and 
 spirit of democracy, would be in a great measure removed. Our 
 sons and daughters would stand forth as pillars to sustain the proud 
 fabric of our nation’s glory. No longer would we have it to sav, that 
 thousands took the oath required by the Constitution of the United 
 States, who have never even read that instrument. 
 
 For, fellow citizens, I appeal to every thoughtful man in this as¬ 
 sembly, native citizen or foreigner, to say, whether, next to the Chris¬ 
 tian religion, under which our government originated, there is any 
 single interest under the sun so hopeful and important to the great 
 mass of the human family, as the Constitution of the United States. 
 Could I collect in one vast assembly the parents and teachers of youth 
 in this nation, and could 1 reach them with my voice, I would say, 
 forget not your high duties and responsibilities in fitting the rising 
 generation to take charge of America, with all her mighty interests. 
 The pulsations of this great nation’s heart are to be counted, not by 
 seconds, but by years. It has been well said, that it took Home 300 
 
 S^\ 
 
49 
 
 years to die. Her giant heart still beat, although corruption fes¬ 
 tered through all her members. Fiercer will be the throes, and deeper 
 the shame of this young Republic, if, in the bright morning of its days, 
 and enriched with all the beneficence of heaven, it grows wanton in 
 its strength, and maddening itself with the cup of vice, it perishes 
 basely in sight of its high destiny. Perish, did I say ! This shall 
 never be. We, as members of this great 'politicalfirm, in which the 
 onlv legalized modes of dissolving are death, or sell banishment, are 
 determined to spend a portion both of time and revenue, to qualify all 
 of those future members whose admission we cannot prevent. This 
 done, our Union is glorious in perfection. Our star-spangled banner 
 will for ever wave in triumph over us, unstained with the heart’s blood 
 of our drooping eagle. Allow me here to suggest, also, the circula¬ 
 tion of the “ Journal of the American Institute,” as a powerful auxi¬ 
 liary to this noble design. 
 
 On motion, Resolved, To open a subscription to defray the ex¬ 
 penses of publishing the proceedings of this Convention. Most of 
 the members subscribed. 
 
 On motion, Resolved, That it be referred to the Board of Agri¬ 
 culture of the American Institute, with powers to prepare and pub¬ 
 lish a summary of the proceedings of this Convention. 
 
 The Convention then adjourned until the next year, to meet again 
 in the city of New-York, during the 18th Annual Fair of the Ameri¬ 
 can Institute, at such time and place as shall be designated in the cir¬ 
 cular or address of the Fair of said Institute. 
 
 Jeremiah Johnson; President of the Board of Agriculture 
 
 of the American Institute, 
 
 Henry Meigs, Secretary. 
 
 New-York, November , 1844. 
 
 The committee, in reflecting on this Convention, regard it as the 
 auspicious commencement of a series of conventions that are destined 
 to exert a powerful influence on the productions and prosperity of 
 agricultural industry. The organization is complete, and provision 
 is°made for a continued association, composed of delegates from all 
 the various sections of our mighty republic. 
 
 Early preparation is essential. The scattered and interior locali¬ 
 ties of our farmers are not easily reached, and the confining nature 
 of their occupation fastens them at home much of the time. Meet¬ 
 ings are got up with difficulty, and much time is required, and at last . 
 they are often failures. The collection and arrangements of facts, 
 experiments, and other data, suitable to be laid before such a conven¬ 
 tion, requires labour, study ar.d reflection ; yet without such informa¬ 
 tion, agriculture will never attain its highest perfection. Those 
 whose knowledge enables them to judge of the importance of the union 
 of scientific with practical knowledge, and whose zeal is thereby 
 
50 
 
 awakened,^should use their influence to induce early preparations for 
 the next Convention, so that every part of the country may be repre¬ 
 sented; that the wants of different sections, which are continually va¬ 
 rying, may be provided for, and their capabilities rendered as useful 
 as possible. It is desirable that answers should be obtained, so as to 
 cover a larger extent of country than the present returns to this first 
 Convention embrace. No time should be lost. Arrangements have 
 been made for submitting the returns to the New-York Farmers’ 
 Club of the American Institute. After which they will be placed 
 among the papers of the Convention, to be handed over when they 
 meet. 
 
 This course has been pursued with the communications that did not 
 arrive till after the adjournment of the late Convention. Among 
 them is an excellent letter from Mr. John B. Wakeman, a practical 
 farmer of Herkimer County, N. Y., which was read before the Club, 
 and all the answers published in the New-York Farmer andMechanic, 
 with extracts of other portions of the letter. 
 
 The committee have annexed the Questions below. Please direct 
 the answers to T. B. Wakeman, Secretary of the American Institute. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. Where the system of improvement has not been adopted, what 
 diminution of crops per acre has taken place in your district, or within 
 your knowledge ? 
 
 2. What is the average size of farms in your county ? What pro¬ 
 portion is in wood, what arable, what meadow, what exhausted, what 
 at present incapable of tillage, from want of drainage, &c. ? 
 
 3. What crops are raised by you, and in your neighbourhood ? 
 What average yield i3 obtained ? 
 
 4. What is your method of cultivation ? 
 
 5. What is the average quantity of manure obtained from vour 
 stock ? What quantities, and to what crops do you apply it ? 
 
 6- Do you use peat, muck, lime, plaster of Paris, marl, refuse fish, 
 or any other manures ? To what extent, with what success ? Please 
 inform the Convention how far the system adopted by yourself is 
 carried out by your neighbours, and their success. 
 
 7. Do you or your neighbours purchase manures ? 
 
 8. Are any of the new farming implements used in your district ? 
 With what success ? 
 
 9. Is drainage resorted to ? 
 
 10. What is the nature of your soil, and the best crops that grow 
 upon it naturally? 
 
 11. Have you or your neighbours perceived any very great advan¬ 
 tage always to follow the use of any particular manure ? 
 
 12. Is fallowing green crops common ? What crops? What is 
 the improvement? 
 
 In '.h, It» wC Tyf™’ ° r reaP ° a,! ' rje ' "' heat ' «*"• &C - » 
 
51 
 
 14. Have you or your neighbours seen any great diffefence in the 
 weight, quality, and sweetness of grain or fodder collected at these 
 different times ? 
 
 15. Does grain cut in the milk yield whiter and sweeter flour? 
 Has it as much substance as other wheat ? 
 
 16. What new crops are raised in your district ? Is madder, hemp, 
 garden vegetables for the market, corn for sugar, or- any other pecu¬ 
 liar crop, cultivated by you or within your observation? By what 
 means ? What are the profits and prospects ? 
 
 17. Have experiments been made on the introduction of any new 
 substances ? 
 
 18. What orchards have you, or are there any in your district ?, 
 How are they cultivated? With what profits ? • 
 
 19. Are any of the new and improved fruits raised with you ? 
 What means do you adopt to destroy insects and caterpillars ? 
 
 20. What natural manures ^are to be found near you ? Is peat, 
 swamp muck, green sand or shell marl, limestone, plaster of Paris, 
 salt, &c. ? At what cost are they to be obtained? What is the 
 supply ? 
 
 21. Are improved cattle, sheep jnd swine, found in your neighbour¬ 
 hood ? 
 
 22. Is soiling practised ? With what advantage and comparative 
 cost? 
 
 23. What supply of milk do your cows, or those of improved 
 breeds in your district, yield ? How much butter? What fodder 
 is used ? 
 
 24. Is cheese made in your county ? What food is found best for 
 such produce ? What is the net profit on a given stock ? 
 
 25. Have you read the recent books on farming ? 
 
 26. How far, in your opinion, may accurate scientific knowledge 
 form a basis for farming ? 
 
 27. As far as your experience reaches, is there not some change 
 for the better wanted ? 
 
 28. Do not those among you who read books and adopt the new 
 plans, improve in their crops and farm management ? 
 
 ' 29. Are your neighbours and yourself disposed to teach your sons 
 the new facts of farming ? 
 
 30. Are you willing to sustain Agricultural Schools ? 
 
 P. S. Please turn your attention especially to Questions 5,10, 11, 
 12, 13, 20. We are particulary anxious to learn how far your neigh¬ 
 bours are alive to improvements, and ready to countenance them. 
 
 The Farmers’ Club meet at the American Institute, in the Park, 
 the 1st and 3d Tuesday of every month, at 12 o’clock, A* M. 
 Farmers, gardeners, and friends ol agriculture are invited to attend 
 and participate when they come to the city. Admission free. 
 
- 
 
 V/Ci.'l V 
 
 , 
 
 ■ 
 
 . Jtul .7 k ! t • 
 
 ovi-'-us q :0'J 0£Uw;3fj>* * w .' .'.7 V.k> ‘to.. ■; ;»<j , 
 
 ' « 
 
ESSAYS 
 
 DOMESTIC INDUSTRY: 
 
 OR, 
 
 AN ENQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE EXPEDIENCY OF ESTABLISHING 
 
 COTTON MANUFACTURES 
 
 IN 
 
 SOUTH-CAROLINA. 
 
 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THU CHARLESTON OOURIER, AND NOW 
 RE-PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF SEVERAL 
 GENTLEMEN OF CHARLESTON. 
 
 BY WILLIAM GREGG. 
 
 CHARLESTON: 
 
 BURGES & JAMES, PUBLISHERS 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TO THE READER, 
 
 At the request of a number of gentlemen who desire to publish, in 
 pamphlet form, the Essays which recently appeared in the “ Charleston Con - 
 rier” under the head of “ Domestic Industry” and signed “ South-Carolina,” 
 they are now revised with a few additions. 
 
 The Manufacturing of Cotton in the Southern States, is a subject that 
 has engaged my attention for many years, and elicited much interesting en¬ 
 quiry and laborious investigation. About eight years ago, I purchased a 
 considerable interest in the Vancluse Manufacturing Establishment , near 
 Aiken, and my practical experience in it, (it being under my charge for eight 
 months, during the summer and fall of 1837,) has produced a settled convic¬ 
 tion in my mind, that Manufacturing is a business that ought to engage the 
 attention of the two Carolinas and Georgia. I had then but recently retired 
 from a very lucrative business in Columbia, on account of ill health, which 
 forbade my becoming the purchaser of the above-named establishment, which 
 was sold by the company in 1837. It, however, came into my possession, in 
 connection with Gen. James Jones, in March, 1843. The investigation 
 prompted by this ownership, and the experience of twenty months active op¬ 
 eration of this establishment, have confirmed my previous impressions, and I 
 am now prepared to stake my reputation as to the issue. I firmly believe, 
 that our advantages are such as to enable us to compete successfully with 
 any country, now engaged in the manufacture of Coarse Cotton Fabrics . We 
 have the materials among us, which, set in motion by this branch of industry, 
 would create an energy that would revolutionize our State, morally and phys¬ 
 ically,—uproot the immense forests that now cover the fairest portion of our 
 soil,—disembow r el the hidden treasures contained in our immense beds of 
 iron ore ,—revive the drooping spirits of our enterprising Iron Masters,— 
 shake the very foundation of the beds of granite that abound in all parts of 
 our State,—resuscitate our worn out. soil,—construct for us good roads and 
 bridges,—erect houses of such durable materials as should make them mon¬ 
 uments of our enterprise, and dwellings for the offspring of our children’s 
 children,—and which would place us in a condition to meet any emergency 
 that might arise. 
 
 A tour of inspection through the Manufacturing*districts of the Northern 
 States, during the past summer, has not only confirmed all my previous im¬ 
 pressions, but has probably excited in me too much enthusiasm on this sub¬ 
 ject, which I regard as so vastly important to South-Carolina. A portion of 
 the matter contained in these essays, was written during my sojourn among 
 the New-England Cotton Spinners, without any expectation that the author 
 
IV 
 
 would be known to the public, and with no desire beyond that of advancing 
 the prosperity of our State. To what extent this object may be promoted by 
 these efforts, time only will reveal; I trust, however, that if the facts here 
 stated, are not the means of producing a single establishment—to test the 
 matter, and prove to our people what may be done in South-Carolina—they 
 will, at least, awaken a spirit of enquiry, and elicit the efforts of those who 
 are better qualified to investigate the subject than myself. 
 
 If the language employed in any portion of these essays, seems indicative 
 of unfriendly feelings towards South-Carolina, or if the essays themselves, 
 abound in roproachful epithets and unpalatable truths, I beg that it may not 
 be so construed as to imply a want of attachment to the State. The fact of 
 my having gone to considerable trouble and expense, to procure the data in 
 them, with no other object in view than that of creating a spirit of enterprise 
 among my fellow-citizens, which I trust will eventuate in her good, must re¬ 
 lease me from any imputation of a want of attachment to South-Carolina, or 
 of detracting from her merits. To be in the midst of the scene, which sur¬ 
 rounded me, when I commenced writing these essays, and to compare them 
 with the existing condition of things in our State, would indeed require some 
 philosophy to write or speak on the subject^ without using reproachful epi¬ 
 thets. 
 
 We all know what the Manufacturing of Cotton has done for Great Bri¬ 
 tain. It has given her an influence which makes all other States tributary to 
 her. We also know, that this branch of manufactures, was the foundation on 
 which, that vast and continually increasing structure has been reared in New 
 England, which has given an impetus to all other species of manufactures, in¬ 
 fusing a spirit of enterprise, health, and vigor into every department of indus¬ 
 trial pursuits. I have always been a close observer of things, but when I 
 visited the mountainous districts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and 
 New-IIampshire, (for it is pushing itself to the very summits of the mountains,) 
 I could not but notice, with surprise, the effect which this branch of manufac¬ 
 tures had produced. Wherever it finds its way, all other branches of industry 
 follow. It brings into requisition every element around it, gives value to 
 every species of property, and causes each and every individual to cling to his 
 little domain, as the future home of his children, and resting place for his 
 bones ; and though it be but a barren rock, he places a value on it scarcely 
 to be estimated. Every waterfall is brought into use; every forest tree is 
 measured, even to its topmost branches, (for nothing is lost in that country,) 
 after the trunk has been worked into boards and shingles, the tops are cut 
 into laths. Compare this state of things with that of our State, in which a 
 man hesitates about building a comfortable dwelling-house, lest the spirit of 
 emigration deprive him of its use—in which the cream of a virgin soil is 
 hardly exhausted, before the owner is ready to abandon it, in search of a 
 country affording new and better lands,—in which our forest lumber-cutters 
 fell, with ruthless hand, the finest timber trees on the face of the globe, se¬ 
 lecting those portions which are the most easily turned into merchantable 
 lumber, and leaving the balance to rot on the ground, where it was cut,—in 
 which, so soon as the best timber is exhausted, a water-fall, which would be 
 worth thousands of dollars, in any other country, is abandoned as wholly 
 w orthless,—and in which men possessing the capital of the country, complain 
 that it will not yield them 3 per cent 
 
 /■N 
 
V 
 
 When I saw bags of our cotton arrive in those mountainous districts, which 
 had been packed in the interior of South-Carolina and wagoned over misera¬ 
 ble bad roads, (in some instances, one hundred miles,) to Hamburg or Co¬ 
 lumbia,—thence transported, one hundred and thirty-six miles, by Rail-Road, 
 to Charleston, where it is sold, after being submitted to the charges of drayage, 
 wharfage, commissions, and perhaps storage;—thence re-shipped to New- 
 York, to undergo similar charges, where it is purchased by one of these man- 
 ufactrers and again re-shipped to Hartford ; and from the last named place, 
 making a dangerous and difficult passage up the Connecticut river, is landed 
 and again hauled, in wagons, some thirty or forty miles, over mountainous 
 roads; and having now reached its final destination, (at double its original 
 cost,) is manufactured into coarse cloth ; going over the same ground again, 
 it reaches New-York, where it is re-shipped to Charleston, and finds its way 
 back again, into the interior of our State. I repeat, when I saw these 
 things,—knowing, as I do, the rich resources of South-Carolina, and the 
 facility with which this Cotton could be turned into cloth by the labour around 
 us, which might be applied to it without detriment to other pursuits,—could 
 it be expected, that I would write, without using strong terms. 
 
 With these explanatory remarks, I now commit the whole subject of Cot¬ 
 ton Manufactures, to the people of the Southern States, especially of South- 
 Carolina, hoping, that whatever fault may be found with the manner in which 
 I have executed my task, my motives will not be impugned; but that my at¬ 
 tachment to the State will be best shown, by my efforts to promote her wel¬ 
 fare, even at the risk of offending, by too much plainness of speech. 
 
 WILLIAM GREGG, 
 
 Charleston , S. C., January , 1845. 
 

ESSAYS ON DOMESTIC INDUSTRY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 It must, be apparent to all men of discernment that whether a 
 tariff for protection is continued or not, our only safety, in this 
 State, lies in a change of our industrial pursuits. The United 
 States is destined to be a great manufacturing country, and a few 
 years, even without a protective Tariff, will place heron a footing 
 with, if not ahead of the most skilful nations, and all who have 
 any knowledge of the subject admit that South-Carolina and 
 Georgia possess advantages, which only need to be fostered to lead 
 to success in Cotton Manufacturing. We already see North-Car- 
 olina on the one side, and Georgia on the other, making rapid 
 strides in these pursuits, and shall we stand with our arms fold¬ 
 ed, crying save us from our oppressors, until we are awakened to 
 compete with those neighboring States, skilled in the arts ! It is 
 only necessary for us to turn our faces to the South-West to behold 
 the people who are to take the very bread from our mouths, if we 
 continue to place our reliance on the culture of Cotton, and the 
 time is at hand when we shall set about, in good earnest, chang¬ 
 ing our pursuits. It would indeed be well for us, if we were not 
 so refined in politics—if the talent, which has been, for years past, 
 and is now engaged in embittering our indolent people against 
 their industrious neighbors of the North, had been with the same 
 zeal engaged in promoting domestic industry and the encourage¬ 
 ment ot the mechanical arts. If so, we should now see a far differ¬ 
 ent state of things in South-Carolina. It is only necessary to travel 
 over the sterile mountains of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, 
 and New-Hampshire, to learn the true secret of our difficulties, 
 (Mr. McDuffie to the contrary notwithstanding) to learn the dif¬ 
 ference between indolence and industry, extravagance and econ¬ 
 omy. We there see the scenery which would take the place of 
 our unpainted mansions,—dilapidated cabins with mud chim¬ 
 neys and no windows,—broken down rail fences,—fields over¬ 
 grown with weeds, and thrown away, half exhausted, to be taken 
 up by pine thickets,—beef cattle unprotected from the inclemency 
 
-. - 
 
 8 
 
 of winter, and so poor as barely to preserve life. In fact, every 
 evidence that can possibly be exhibited to satisfy a stranger, that 
 we are, to say the least, destitute of every feature which charac- 
 terises an industrious people, may be seen among us. Laying 
 aside the vexed question of a Tariff for Protection, which I don’t 
 pretend to advocate, I cannot see how we are to look with a rea¬ 
 sonable hope for relief, even from its abandonment, without a total 
 change of our habits. My recent visit to the Northern States has 
 fully satisfied me that the true secret of our difficulties, lies in the 
 want of energy on the part of our capitalists, and ignorance and 
 laziness on the part of those who ought to labour. We need never 
 look for thrift while we permit our’immense timber forests, gran¬ 
 ite quaries and mines, to lie idle, and supply ourselves with hewn 
 granite, pine boards, laths and shingles, &c., furnished by the 
 lazy dogs at the North—ah, worse than this, we see our back 
 country farmers, many of whom are too lazy to mend a broken 
 gate, or repair the fences, to protect their crops from the neigh¬ 
 bouring stock, actually supplied with their axe, hoe and broom 
 handles, pitch forks, rakes, &c., by the indolent mountaineers of 
 Nevv-Hatnpshire and Massachusetts. The time was, when every 
 old woman in the country had her gourd, from which, the coun¬ 
 try gardens were supplied with seeds. We now find it more con¬ 
 venient to permit this duty to devolve on our careful friends, the 
 Yankees. Even our boat-oars, and hand-spikes for rolling logs, 
 are furnished, ready made, to our hand, and what jim-crack can 
 possibly be invented of which we are not the purchasers ? These 
 are the drains which are impoverishing the South—these are the 
 true sources of all our difficulties. Need I add, to further exem¬ 
 plify our excessive indolence, that the Charleston market is sup¬ 
 plied with fish and wild game by Northern men, who come out 
 here, as regularly as the winter comes, for this purpose, and from 
 our own waters and forests often realize, in the course of one 
 winter, a sufficiency to purchase a small farm in New England. 
 
 Oh ! fie, Gen. McDuffie, why are you not engaged in the great 
 cause of reforming the habits of your countrymen ? You once 
 counted the profit of Cotton-Spinning, and, to use the language of 
 one of your copartners, came to the conclusion, that the establish¬ 
 ment you were erecting, would be a perfect mint. You engaged 
 in this business with great zeal. Why did you permit the estab¬ 
 lishment to dwindle, sicken and die, purely for the want of that 
 attention, which you well know is essential to the success of your 
 cotton plantation? Why did you not follow the patriotic exam¬ 
 ple of the Lowells, Bootts, Jacksons, Appletons, and Lawrences, 
 of Boston ? who, after fighting for years with their native State 
 against the protective system, and finding it fastened upon her, 
 did not stop to preach the doctrine of State resistance, but at 
 once withdrew their capital from the channels of commerce^ 
 
 
9 
 
 which had hitherto yielded them princely fortunes, and com¬ 
 menced culling their way into the forests of Massachusetts, dam¬ 
 ming up rivers, digging canals, and erecting manufacturing es¬ 
 tablishments, which have yielded to their country tenfold the 
 capital invested in them, and they that are now living, are enjoy¬ 
 ing well-earned fortunes, and have the satisfaction of knowing 
 that they gave the impulse to a system which has elicited every 
 energy that the State is capable of exerting. 
 
 Had you, in your new-born zeal for manufacturing, mixed a 
 little more patriotism with your efforts, you would have taken 
 the pains to ascertain why your Vaucluse establishment did not 
 realize the sanguine expectations of its proprietors. You would 
 have put your own shoulders to the wheel, and by investing a 
 portion of your large planting capital in the concern, with your 
 known industry, you could not have failed to build up an estab 
 lishment, far more lucrative than your planting interest. This 
 itself would have given an impetus to manufacturing, worth mil¬ 
 lions to our State. Had our respected Gen. Hamilton, in his 
 zeal to build up Charleston, engaged in manufacturing instead of 
 commerce, with his known talents, business tact and persever¬ 
 ance, success would have been inevitable. This would have 
 placed him beyond the reach of that withering storm, which ship 
 wrecked the fortunes and blighted the prospects of the wisest 
 merchants in the world. With his large capital and due atten¬ 
 tion, there can be no doubt as to what would have been the result 
 of his engaging in Cotton Manufacturing in 1833.* Had these 
 two gentlemen, Gen. McDuffie and Gen. Hamilton, put their 
 capital into manufacturing in 1833, there is no telling to what 
 extent it would have changed the investments of the State. It 
 would, in all probability, have saved the greater portion of the 
 large sum lost to our citizens by the failure of the United States 
 Bank, and it would certainly have made valuable producers of 
 many individuals who are now worthless consumers. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A change in our habits and industrial pursuits is afar greater 
 ► desideratum than any change in the laws of our Government, 
 which the most clamarous opponents of the Tariff could devise. 
 He who has possessed himself of the notion that we have the in¬ 
 dustry, and are wronged out of our hard earnings by a lazy set 
 
 ♦He would now be to Charleston, what the Appletons and Laurences are to 
 Boston—the benefactor of his country—enjoying the fruits of au increased for¬ 
 tune. 
 
-; — 
 
 10 
 
 of scheming Yankees, to get rid of this delusion, needs only 
 seat himself oil the Charleston wharves for a few days, and be¬ 
 hold ship after ship arrive, laden down with the various articles 
 produced by Yankee industry. Let him behold these vessels dis¬ 
 charging their cargoes and counj; the cost to South-Carolina, 
 From the month of September till May, our wharves are crowd¬ 
 ed, not only with the articles manufactured by the handicraftsmen 
 of the North, but with vast quantities of dairy articles, and all 
 kinds of culinary vegetables, which are far better adapted to the 
 soil of South-Carolina, than to those places where they are grown. 
 Here may be seen a picture that ought to bring a blush on the 
 face of the statesman who would advocate legislative resistance 
 as the remedy for our State. It ought to make every citizen who 
 feels an interest in his country, ashamed to visit the clothing stores 
 of Charleston, and see the vast exhibition of ready made cloth¬ 
 ing, manufactured mostly by the women of Philadelphia, New 
 York, Boston and other Northern cities, to the detriment and 
 starvation of our own countrywomen, hundreds of whom may 
 be found in our own good city in wretched poverty, unable to 
 procure work by which they would be glad to earn a decent liv¬ 
 ing. 
 
 One would not suppose that the South was labouring under 
 embarrassment, if he were to see the crowds that are continually 
 thronging the Northern cities and places of amusement. I have 
 heard the number variously estimated at from 40 to 60 thousands 
 in one summer. Taking the lower estimate of the two, and al¬ 
 lowing for the expenses of each individual $300, (and this is 
 certainly below the mark,) we shall have $12,000,000 transferr¬ 
 ed yearly from the South to the North, by absenteeism. As bad 
 off as we know South-Carolina to be, yet we are certain she fur¬ 
 nishes her full quota , of this immense sum. Go where you may, 
 in the city or out of it—in what direction you please, and you 
 can scarcely set your foot into a rail-road car, in which you will 
 not find some half dozen persons from this State. The register 
 book of every fashionable hotel that I visited, exhibited a large 
 share of names, with South-Carolina attached to them. Nor are 
 our people remarkable for their economical habits, as the bar-keep¬ 
 ers will inform you, that their wine bills exhibit liberality even to 
 wastefulness. You may see them too, flying around cities, in the 
 finest and most costly equipages that money can procure, and 
 while a millionaire of New-York is content to ride in an omnibus f 
 from Wall-street to the upper part of the city, many of these 
 persons, not worth ten thousand dollars, would be ashamed to 
 be seen in such vehicles. With tailors, milliners, mantua-mak- 
 ers, &c., these persons are considered to have gold without mea¬ 
 sure, and it is a perfect roindfall for them to meet occasionally 
 with one. You cannot step into a furniture store, carpet ware- 
 
11 
 
 (house, or dry goods establishment, where fine silks and laces are 
 sold, without meeting persons from our State, making lavish ex¬ 
 penditures and purchasing thousands of articles of wearing 
 apparel, which are not worn until they return home, where the 
 same articles can be obtained in the stores of our own tradesmen, 
 at cheaper rates than those at which they were purchased at the 
 North. 
 
 At one Tailor’s establishment in Boston, I was informed by the 
 proprietor, that his sales for the last year, to Charleston, alone, 
 amounted to upwards of $50,000, and this year he expected they 
 would reach $80,000. How much trade others in Boston in the 
 same business receive from Charleston, and what amount falls to 
 the lot of the fashionable clothiers of New-York and Philadel¬ 
 phia, cannot be estimated, but there is little doubt, that the amount 
 would be found quite sufficient to support three or four fashiona¬ 
 ble establishments in our own city. 
 
 Let South-Carolina be true to herself, let her go to work with 
 a determination to resist the Northern tariffites, by resolving not 
 to purchase or use their articles of manufacture. This will cure 
 the evil, and bring us to the point we desire to arrive at, by an 
 easier and much shorter road than legislative action. Limited as 
 our manufactures are in South-Carolina, we can now, more 
 than supply the State with Coarse Cotton Fabrics. Many of 
 the fabrics notv manufactured here are exported to New-York, 
 and, for aught I know, find their way to the East-Indies. 
 
 We can most assuredly make our own axe handles, raise our 
 own cabbages, beets, potatoes, and onions ; our boys, as in olden 
 times, may be taught to make their own toy-wagons and wheel¬ 
 barrows, our wives and sisters can hem our handkerchiefs and 
 bake our bread. If we continue in our present habits, it would ♦ 
 not be unreasonable to predict, that when the Raleigh Rail-Road 
 is extended to Columbia, our members of the Legislature will be 
 fed on Yankee baker’s bread. Pardon me for repeating the call 
 on South-Carolina to go to work. <*od speed the day when her 
 politicians will be exhorting the people to domestic industry, in¬ 
 stead of State resistance; when our Clay Clubs and Democratic 
 Associations will be turned into societies for the advancement of 
 scientific agriculture and the promotion of mechanic art ; when 
 our capitalists will be found following the example of Boston and 
 other Northern cities, in making such investments of their capital 
 as will give employment to the poor, and make them producers, 
 instead of burthensome consumers; when our City Council may 
 become so enlightened as to see the propriety of-following the 
 example of every other city in the civilized world, in removing 
 the restrictions on the use of the Steam Engine, now indispen¬ 
 sable in every department of Manufacturing, and to be found by 
 hundreds, from the cellars to the garrets of houses, in the most 
 

 
 12 
 
 densely peopled parts of Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and 
 other cities. God speed the day when our State may contain 
 hundreds of such men as Mr. Simmons, of Rhode Island. Gen. 
 McDuffie, in his Richmond Speech, speaks of a person supposed 
 to be Mr. Simmons, of Rhode Island, who manufactures as large 
 a quantity of Cotton, as is produced on Gen. McDuffie’s plantation, 
 in South-Carolina, on which Mr. S. realises a larger profit than 
 falls to the lot of Gen. McD. This, he seems to think, is not just as 
 it ought to be, and complains bitterly of the Government for pas¬ 
 sing such laws as he, Gen. McDuffie, supposes to be instrumental 
 in producing this result. This I apprehend, however, to be alto¬ 
 gether supposition and not founded in fact. However oppressive 
 the Tariff may be to South-Carolina, I cannot see its bearing on 
 this case, for 1 will venture to assert that Mr. Simmons is far 
 more heavily taxed by the General Government than Mr. Mc¬ 
 Duffie, and receives no greater bounty in return. A large por¬ 
 tion of Mr. Simmons’ investment is in machinery, and probably 
 of English manufacture—for there are large quantities of Euro¬ 
 pean machinery used in Rhode Island. On this outlay, he pays 
 to the Government, a duty of 40 per cent. Personally, he cer¬ 
 tainly consumes as many taxable articles ; and his fine dressed 
 factory girls must pay four times the tax to the Government, that 
 is paid for the clothing of Gen. McDuffie’s negroes,—leaving out 
 of the case the fact that he (Gen. McD.) raises his own wool, and 
 spins and weaves it, on his own place, being only at the expense 
 of cotton warp thread, to make the Linsey, which constitutes the 
 winter clothing of his negroes. He purchases blankets for the 
 use of his slaves. Mr. S., in the rigorous climate of Rhode Is¬ 
 land, is not without the same necessity, for the use of his opera¬ 
 tives. 
 
 I will now proceed to investigate which man should be con¬ 
 sidered the most useful to his country, he who manufactures 600 
 bales of cotton into cloth, or he who produces the same from the 
 soil? It will be borne in mind that, at this time, there are vastly 
 more cotton goods made in the United States than is sufficient to 
 supply home consumption ; consequently a large portion of them 
 are exported to foreign nations. There are now about two hun¬ 
 dred and fifty thousand new spindles being made and imported, 
 to be putin operation in this country, in the course of the coming 
 twelve months. These will be competent to consume one hun¬ 
 dred thousand additional bales of Cotton, of three hundred and 
 forty-five pounds each. As the home market is already over-sup- 
 plied, the capitalists now embarking in the business, cannot look 
 to anything but foreign trade, for the consumption of their fabrics. 
 This hundred thousand bales of Cotton, when worked up, will 
 have to be exported, and for each hundred bales of domestics so 
 shipped away, the manufacturer, according to our modeofcalcu- 
 
13 
 
 lation, will have to pay to the Government forty bales, for return¬ 
 ing the same to this country in merchandise. 
 
 It is not at all improbable that Mr. feunmons exports all his 
 fabrics ; for the markets to which we export, are notoriously better 
 than we can find at home. These goods will find English com¬ 
 petitors iirany country to which they may be taken, and the lac 
 that the cotton manufacturers of this country can effect sales 
 abroad at remunerating prices, is conclusive evidence that such 
 goods are sold in this country as cheap, or cheaper, than they can 
 be brought from any other country, free of duty—and that those 
 en-m^and engaging in this branch of business, are not looking 
 to Government for laws to enhance the price of their goods. 
 
 To proceed, I will now suppose that Mr. Simmons, of R. 1., 
 manufactures the same quantity of cotton that Gen. McDuffie 
 raises One acquainted with both branches of the business, would 
 then come to the conclusion, that the former employs about halt 
 the number of hands that are engaged with the latter ; and, to 
 make a clear case of it, I will suppose Mr. Simmons to be located 
 in South-Carolina, on the Savannah river, by the side of Gen. 
 McDuffie, and that the latter raises 600 bales of cotton, while the 
 former converts it into cloth, and ships it to a foreign country, 
 bringing back for the same, 25 or 30 cents per lb. instead of 6 or 7 
 cents, as the raw material would, if sent away. Which of these 
 two individuals, then, should be considered the more useful to 
 his country? It would not take a school boy long to decide the 
 question. It cannot be denied that, whether in Rhode Island, 
 Maine, or South-Carolina, he who takes a raw material and con¬ 
 verts it into a fabric, increasing its value fourfold, and sends the 
 same to a foreign country, to be returned in merchandise, or mo¬ 
 ney is a more useful citizen to the country than he who, having 
 a laro-e number of laborers at command, continues to produce an 
 article which the world is already overstocked with, thus adding 
 to a cause which may carry prices to a point, far below what has 
 ever yet been known, and which may prove ruinous to our whole 
 country. No man can doubt the fact, that any large cotton plan ¬ 
 ter would be a far more useful citizen, were his plantation convert¬ 
 ed into a provision farm, and he engaged, as Mr. Simmons is 
 with half his force, in cotton spinning,—consuming 600 bales of 
 cotton, instead of producing the same,—thus lightening instea 
 increasing the burthen of the country. 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 However unpopular the doctrine of encouraging domestic in¬ 
 dustry, in South-Carolina, may be, I feel satisfied that there are few 
 individuals so ultra in their notions, with regard to out*being ex 
 clusively agricultural, that will not feel charmed with the idea of 
 domestic industry; it carries with it the idea of an improved 
 condition of our country—of compensated industry, and comforts 
 around us. It is to be lamented, that our great men are not to be 
 found in the ranks of those, who are willing to lend their aid, in 
 promoting this good cause. Are we to commence another ten 
 years’ crusade, to prepare the minds of the people of this State 
 for revolution ;* thus unhinging every department of industry 
 and paralyzing the best efforts to promote the welfare of our coun¬ 
 try. Already do we hear of persons, high in the estimation of 
 our State, largely engaged in cotton planting, and on the side of 
 State resistance, expressing doubts as to the permanency and 
 safety, of any investments, that can be made in South-Carolina. 
 Lamentable, indeed, is it to see so wise and so pure a man as 
 Langdon Cheves, putting forth the doctrine, to South-Carolina 
 that manufactures should be the last resort of a country. With 
 the greatest possible respect for the opinions of this truly «reat 
 man, and the humblest pretensions on my part, I will venture the 
 assertion, that a greater error was never committed by a statesman 
 No good is without its evil, and I am free to confess, that when a 
 people become so infatuated with the spirit of manufactures, as to 
 undertake to force large establishments into unnatural existence 
 at the expense of other pursuits, they are committing an error by 
 making an evil of that, which would otherwise be a great bless¬ 
 ing. 1 admit, also, that agriculture is the natural and “blessed 
 employment of man; blit, that a country should become eminent- 
 ly prosperous in agriculture, without a high state of perfection in 
 the mechanic arts, is a thing next to impossible—to be dreamed 
 of, not realized—a picture of the imagination, not to be found in 
 reality on the face of the globe. 
 
 What does this gentleman mean by agriculture ? Does he in¬ 
 tend that we shall follow the footsteps of our forefathers, and still 
 further exhaust our soil by the exclusive culture of cotton? 
 Does he not know that this system has already literally destroyed 
 our State, and driven from it wealth and population—that many 
 
 ‘Those who are disposed to agitate the State and prepare the minds of the peo¬ 
 ple for resisting the laws of Congress, and particularly those who look for so 
 direful a calamity as the dissolution of our Union, should, above all others be 
 most anxious so tci di versify the industrial pursuits of South-Carolina, as to render 
 her independent of all other countries; for as sure as this greatest of calamities 
 io! al nc U ,wi, W< i, S la ? D< * the sa r causes that produced it, making enemies of the 
 nations which are at present, the best customers for our agricultural productions. 
 
of its wealthiest and most enterprising citizens have left it, in 
 search of new and more productive lands ? Does he not know 
 that money is not wealth to a nation, unless it is spent within its 
 borders, in the improvement, mental and physical, of the condi¬ 
 tion of its inhabitants,—in the renovation of its soil,—in the con¬ 
 struction of roads and bridges,—in the erection of fine houses, 
 and in planting orchards, and making barns for the protection ot 
 produce and live stock. This is indeed a kind of wealth that 
 will never be realized in South-Carolina, without domestic manu¬ 
 factures. And, lest I be misunderstood as to what I mean by 
 domestic manufactures, I will here state, that I mean the erection 
 of steam mills in Charleston, for every purpose that our mechanics 
 may desire, to enable them to compete with foreigners in the 
 manufacture of thousands of articles, now imported into the 
 State—the erection of Steam Cotton manufactories to employ the 
 poor and needy of this city, and the hundreds who seem to have 
 little else to do, than follow our military parades through the 
 streets,—the erection of Cotton manufactories throughout the 
 State, to employ our poor and half starved population, whose 
 condition could not but be improved, in working up a part of our 
 cotton into cloth, to cover their nakedness, and to clothe our ne- 
 oToes and ourselves, at a cost, for the manufacture of the coarse 
 fabrics (osnaburgs) of 2\ cents per lb. and for the finer, such as 
 brown and bleached shirtings, drillings, and cotton flannels, ot 
 from 3 to 8 cents per pound, instead of sending the same abroad 
 to be returned to us, charged with 12 cts. per pound for osnaburgs, 
 and from 20 to 65 cents, for the other articles named. I mean 
 that at every village and cross road in the State, we should nave 
 a tannery, a shoe-maker, a clothier, a hatter, a blacksmith, (that 
 can make and mend our ploughshares and trace chains,) a wagon 
 maker, and a carriage maker, with their shops stored with seasoned 
 lumber the best of which may be obtained in our forests. 1 ins 
 is the kind of manufactures I speak of, as being necessary to 
 brino' forth the energies of a country, and give healthful and vig¬ 
 orous action to agriculture, commerce and every department ot 
 industry, and, without which, I ventured the assertion that this 
 State can never prosper. This is the state of things that every 
 true friend of South-Carolina ought to endeavor to bring about. 
 If he wishes to see her worn out and desolate old fields turne 
 into green pastures, her villages brightened up with the hand o 
 induftry, her dilapidated farm houses taken down, to be replaced 
 bv opulent mansions, her muddy and almost impassable roads 
 traded and M’Adamized, let him use his endeavors to make the 
 people of South-Carolina think less of their grievances and more 
 of the peaceable means of redress—let our politicians, instead ot 
 teaching us to hate our Northern brethren, endeavor to ge up h 
 good feeling for domestic industry—let them teach our people that 
 
n 
 
 ■ 
 
 16 
 
 the true mode of resistance will be found in making more and 
 purchasing less ;—let them endeavor to satisfy our capitalists that 
 we are not on the verge of revolution, but that there is safety in in¬ 
 vestments in South-Carolina, and no necessity of seeking, for such 
 purposes, the stocks of others, or readily convertible ones of our 
 own. There is no lack of capital in South-Carolina ; Charles- 
 on, herself, possesses all the requisites, and it is only necessary 
 that public attention should be properly directed to this vast field, 
 for profitable investments, in this State, and to give assurances of 
 political stability and safety, to bring it out. and to stop the millions 
 which are being all the time transferred from the South to the 
 North, and with it would be retained amongst us, the enterprising 
 merchant, who, on his retirement from the toils of business, 
 would forget the green fields and pleasant ways of his native land, 
 to mingle with us in domestic industry. 
 
 Let the manufacture of cotton be commenced among us, and 
 we shall soon see the capital that has been sent out of our State, 
 to be invested in Georgia State, and other foreign stocks, returned 
 to us. We shall see the hidden treasures that have been locked 
 up, unproductive and rusting, coming forth to put machinery in 
 motion, and to give profitable employment to the present unpro¬ 
 ductive labor of our country. To give an idea of the various 
 sources from which capital is drawn, for such purposes, I will 
 state how the Merrimack Company, at Lowell, is made up. It is 
 composed of 390 Stock-holders, of whom there are, 46 merchants 
 and traders ; 68 females ; 52 individuals retired from business; 80 
 administrators, executors, guardians and trustees; 23 lawyers; 
 18 physiciaus; 3 literary institutions; 15 farmers; 40 secreta¬ 
 ries, clerks and students ; 45 mechanics, and persons employed 
 ed in the service of the company, who hold stock to the amount 
 of $60,000. 
 
 Cotton manufactures have been the pioneers which have in¬ 
 troduced and given an impetus to all other branches of me¬ 
 chanism in Great Britain, the continent of Europe, and this 
 country. Taking this for granted, one would suppose, that the 
 persons who established the extensive Iron Establishment, now 
 in operation in the mountainous parts of our State, although, 
 actuated by an enterprising spirit, counted without their host—it 
 was really putting the cart before the horse. I trust, however, 
 that, a change in our industrial pursuits is soon to take place, 
 which will give a new aspect to things in that quarter, that those 
 establishments are yet to thrive, proving to be inexhaustible sour¬ 
 ces of wealth to our State, and monuments to the enterprise of 
 their projectors. If South-Carolina commence the manufacture 
 of cotton in earnest, these works will be brought into requisition, 
 and the iron produced by them, will no longer be sent to the 
 Eastern States, to be turned into plough-shares for us. The 
 
17 
 
 endless sources of demand which will spring up for it, will cause 
 a home consumption for it all. 
 
 The cheapness of water power, if not the chief, will at least 
 constitute one important element of success with us. There is, 
 probably, no State in the Union, in which water power is more 
 abundant. Leaving out of the question, as being too tedious to 
 enumerate, the great number of water falls on the tributary 
 streams of the Peedee, Wateree, Broad and Saluda rivers, we 
 will notice those only, in the immediate vicinity of our two lines 
 of rail-road to Columbia and Hamburg, that is, within five miles 
 of them. In the most healthy regions of the State, abounding 
 with granite and buildmg timber, water power may be found, 
 sufficient to work up half the crop of South-Carolina, all of which 
 is nearly valueless at the present time. For the information of 
 such as are not acquainted with the manner of computing the 
 force of falling water, I will state, that the quantity of water 
 used by the generality of saw mills, running but one saw, with 
 a head of 10 feet, will be sufficient to produce, if raised to a head 
 of 15 feet, 50 horse power. From this statement, persons may 
 easily calculate what such water-falls would be worth, if located 
 at Lowell, or near Philadelphia. In Lowell water power is sold 
 at $4 per spindle, which is equal to $262 for each horse power. 
 At Manyunk, 5 miles from Philadelphia, it is sold for $100 for 
 every square inch of under a 3 feet head, and over a 20 feet fall; 
 this is equal to $1,016 for each horse power. It is not so valua¬ 
 ble at places unfavorably located ; but the price at which it sells 
 in those above mentioned, accounts at once for the eagerness, 
 with which such property is sought after, in situations remote 
 from navigation, and even in mountainous countries. 
 
 God speed on the glorious result, that may be anticipated 
 from so great a change, in our industrial pursuits. Were all our 
 hopes, in this particular, consummated, South Carolina would pre¬ 
 sent a delightful picture. Every^son and daughter would find 
 healthful and lucrative enployment; our roads, which are now a 
 disgrace to us, would be improved ; we would no longer be un¬ 
 der” the necessity of sending to the North for half made wagons 
 and carriages, to break our necks ; we would have, if not as 
 handsome, at least as honestly and faithfully made ones, and me¬ 
 chanics always at hand to repair them. Workshops would take 
 the place of the throngs of clothing, hat, and shoe stores, and the 
 watch-word would be, from the seaboard to the mountains, success 
 to domestic industry. 
 

 * 
 
 is. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 We want no laws for the protection of those that embark in 
 the manufacture* of such cotton fabrics, as we propose to make 
 in South-Carolina; nor does it follow, as a matter of course, 
 that because we advocate a system which will diversify the pur¬ 
 suits of our people, and enable them to export a portion of one 
 of our valuable staples, in a manufactured state, that we wish 
 manufactures to predominate over other employments. All 
 must admit that, to a certain extent, the system we advocate 
 could not operate otherwise than to produce beneficial results* 
 by regulating prices—by insuring a certain reward to labor—a 
 profitable income to capital, and by infusing health, vigor and 
 durability into every department of industry. It is a well 
 established fact, that capital employed in this State, in the cul¬ 
 ture of cotton, does not, with ordinary management, yield more 
 than 3 or 4, and in some instances, 2 per cent.; this being the 
 only mode of employing our capital, except in the culture of 
 rice, how can we expect to retain men of capital and enterprise 
 among us? Those having the first, must be wholly wanting in 
 the last—or they must possess an extraordinary attachment to 
 the land of their nativity, to remain with us under such a state 
 of affairs. 
 
 With this fact before us, is it surprising that South-Carolina 
 should remain stationary in population ? And let it be remem¬ 
 bered that the same cause which has produced this result, will 
 continue to operate hurtfully, in the same ratio, as the price of 
 our great staple declines. In all probability, an additional outlet 
 will soon be opened to drain us of our people and our capital* 
 How 7 much this is to take from us, remains to be seen. Unless 
 we betake ourselves to some more profitable employment than 
 the planting of cotton, what i*to prevent our most enterprising 
 planters from moving, with their negro capital, to the South-* 
 \Yest? What is to keep our business men and moneyed capital 
 in South-Carolina? Capital will find its way to places that 
 afford the greatest remuneration, and in leaving our State, it will 
 carry with it, its enterprising owner* These are truly unpleasant 
 reflections, but they force themselves upon us. Who can look 
 forward to the future destiny of our State, persisting, as she 
 does, with such pertinacity, in the exclusive and exhausting sys^ 
 tern of agriculture, without dark forebodings. If we listen much 
 longer to the ultras in agriculture and croakers against mechanin 
 cal enterprise, it is feared that they will be the only class left, to 
 stir up the indolent sleepers that are indisposed to action, and 
 that are willing to let each day provide for itself. 
 
 Since the discovery that cotton would mature in South-Caro.-* 
 
u 
 
 lina, she has reaped a golden harvest; but it is feared it has 
 proved a curse rather than a blessing, and I believe that she 
 would at this day be in a far better condition, had the discovery 
 never been made. Cotton has been to South-Carolina what the 
 Mines of Mexico were to Spain, it has produced us such an 
 abundant supply of all the luxuries and elegancies of life, with 
 so little exertion on our part, that we have become enervated, 
 unfitted for other and more laborious pursuits, and unprepared to 
 meet the state of things, which sooner or later must come about. 
 Is it out of place here to predict, that the day is not far distant, 
 yea, is close at hand, when we shall find that we can no longer 
 live by that, which has heretofore yielded us, not only a bountiful 
 and sumptuous living, at home, but has furnished the means for 
 carrying thousands and tens of thousands of our citizens abroad, 
 to squander their gold in other countries—that we have wasted 
 the fruits of a rich, virgin soil, in ease and luxury—that those 
 who have practised sufficient industry and economy to accumu¬ 
 late capital, have left, or are leaving us, to populate other States. 
 
 We shall indeed soon be awakened to look about us for other 
 pursuits, and we shall find that our soil has to be renovated—our 
 houses and workshops have to be built—-our roads and bridges 
 have to be made, all of which ought to have been done with the 
 rich treasures, that have been transferred to other States. Let 
 us begin at once, before it is too late, to bring about a change 
 in our industrial pursuits—let us set about it before the capita! 
 and enterprise of our State has entirely left us—let croakers 
 against enterprise be silenced—let the working men of our State 
 who have, by their industry, accumulated capital, turn out and 
 give a practical lesson to our political leaders, that are opposed 
 to this scheme. Even Mr. Calhoun, our great oracle—a states¬ 
 man whose purity of character we all revere—whose elevation 
 to the highest office in the gift of the people of the United 
 States, would enlist the undivided vote of South-Carolina—even 
 he is against us in this matter ; he will tell you, that no mechani¬ 
 cal enterprise will succeed in South-Carolina—that good me¬ 
 chanics will go where their talents are better rewarded—that to 
 thrive in cotton spinning, one should go to Rhode Island—*that 
 to undertake it here, will not only lead to loss of capital, but dis¬ 
 appointment and ruin to those who engage in it. 
 
 If we look at this subject in the abstract only, we shall very 
 naturally come to the above conclusions; it is, however, often 
 the case, that practical results contradict the plainest abstract 
 propositions, and it is hoped, that in the course of these remarks, 
 it will be proved to the satisfaction of at least, some of our men 
 of capital and enterprise, that the spinning of cotton may be 
 undertaken with a certainty of success, in the two Carolinas and 
 Georgia, and that the failures which have taken place, ought not 
 
* 
 
 20 
 
 to deter others from embarking in the business, they being the re¬ 
 sult of unpardonable ignorance, and just such management on 
 the part of those interested, as would prove ruinous in any other 
 undertaking. 
 
 There are those who understand some things, as well as, if not 
 better, than other people, who have taken the pains to give this 
 subject a thorough investigation, and who could probably give, 
 even Mr. Calhoun, a practical lesson concerning it. The known 
 zeal with which this distinguished gentleman has always engaged 
 in every thing relating to the interest of South-Carolina, forbids 
 the idea that he is not a friend to domestic manufactures, fairly 
 brought about; and, knowing, as he must know, the influence 
 which he exerts, he should be more guarded in expressing opin¬ 
 ions adverse to so good a cause. 
 
 Those who project new enterprises, have in all ages and coun¬ 
 tries had much to contend with, and if it were not that we have 
 such immense advantages, in the cheapness of labor and of the 
 raw material, we might despair of success in the manufacture of 
 cotton in South-Carolina. But we must recollect that those who 
 first embarked in this business in Rhode Island, had the prejudice, 
 of the whole country against them. There were croakers then 
 as well as now, and in addition to all the disadvantages we have 
 to contend with, the wide ocean lay between them and the na¬ 
 tions skilled in mechanic arts—the laws of England forbade the 
 export of machinery, and affixed heavy penalties to prevent the 
 emigration of artisans, and it was next to impossible to gain 
 access to her manufacturing establishments; so that these men 
 were completely shut out from knowledge. How is with us? 
 We find no difficulty in obtaining the information, which money 
 could not purchase for them, and which cost them years of toil. 
 The New England people are anxious for us to go to spinning 
 cotton, and they are ready and willing to give us all the requisite 
 information. The workshops of England and America are 
 thrown open to us, and he who has the capital at command may, 
 by a visit to England, or to our Northern machine shops, supply 
 himself with the best machinery that the world affords, and also 
 the best machinists, and most skilful manufacturers to work and 
 keep it in order. With all these advantages, what is to prevent 
 the success of a cotton factory in South-Carolina? It may 
 safely be asserted, that failure will be the result of nothing but 
 the grossest mismanagement. 
 
 It will be remembered, that the wise men of the day predicted 
 the failure of steam navigation . and also of our own rail road ; 
 it was said we were deficient in mechanical skill, and that we 
 could not manage the complicated machinery of a steam engine, 
 yet these works have succeeded—we have found men competent 
 to manage them—they grow up amongst us, and we are not only 
 
21 
 
 able to keep such machines in order, but to build and fit them to 
 steamboats* mills, locomotive carriages, &c. and the shops en¬ 
 gaged in this sort of manufactures, do away with much of the 
 reproach that attaches to our city—they remove many of the 
 obstacles in erecting cotton factories, for they can furnish steam 
 engines, water wheels, shafting, and all the running gear to put 
 machinery in operation. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Surely there is nothing in cotton spinning that can poison the 
 atmosphere of South-Carolina. Why not spin as well as plant 
 cotton ? The same hand that attends the gin may work a card¬ 
 ing machine. The girl who is capable of making thread, on a 
 country spinning wheel, may do the same with equal facility, on 
 the throstle frame. The woman who can warp the thread and 
 weave it, on a common loom, may soon be taught to do the same, 
 on th e power loom ; and so with all the departments, from the 
 raw cotton to the cloth, experience has proved that any child, 
 white, or black, of ordinary capacity, may be taught, in a few 
 weeks, to be expert in any part of a cotton factory ; moreover, 
 all overseers who have experience in the matter, give a decided 
 preference to blacks as operatives.* 
 
 There are many reasons why blacks should be preferred : two 
 of which may be adduced. First—You are not under the ne¬ 
 cessity of educating them, and have, therefore, their uninterrup¬ 
 ted services from the age of eight years. The second is, that 
 when you have your mill filled with expert hands, you are not sub¬ 
 jected to the change which is constantly taking place with whites. 
 In the Northern States, these are inconveniences of no small 
 moment. In Massachusetts, the laws forbid the employment of 
 persons under fourteen years of age, unless the employer can 
 show a certificate from a schoolmaster, stating that the individual 
 
 ♦Montgomery, an English manufacturer, after a residence of eight years in this 
 country (in his Treatise on the Cotton Manufactures of the U. States compared 
 with Great Britian), says: “If the experiment of slave labor succeed in factories 
 as is confidently expected, the cost of manufacturing the cotton into cloth will be 
 much less there [U. S.] thau any where else, so that it will not be surprising if 
 in the course of a tew years, those Southern factories should manufacture coarse 
 cotton goods, and sell them in the public markets, at one-half the price, at which 
 they are manufactured in England. There are several cotton factories in Ten¬ 
 nessee operated entirely by slave labor, there not being a white man in the mill 
 but the superintendent, and according to a letter lately received from the superin¬ 
 tendent of one of these factories, it appears that the blacks do their work in every 
 respect as well as could be expected from whites.” 
 
22 
 
 has been at school three months in the year. The teaching of 
 new hands and the constant change of operatives, are evils seri¬ 
 ously felt; and in the summer season, when it is desirable to 
 ramble in the country, many eastern factories have one-third of 
 their machinery standing idle for the want of hands. While on 
 this part of my subject, I wouM ask, shall we stop at the effort 
 to prove the capacity of blacks for manufacturing ? Shall we 
 pass unnoticed the thousands of poor, ignorant, degraded white 
 people among us, who, in this land of plenty, live in comparative 
 nakedness and starvation ? Many a one is reared in proud South- 
 Carolina, from birth to manhood, who has never passed a month, 
 in which he has not some part of the time, been stinted for meat. 
 Many a mother is there, who will tell you that her children are 
 but scantily supplied with bread, and much more scantily with 
 meat, and if they be clad with comfortable raiment, it is at the 
 expense of their scanty allowance of food. These may be start¬ 
 ling statements, but they are nevertheless true, and if not believed 
 in Charleston, the members of our Legislature, who have tra¬ 
 versed the State, in electioneering campaigns, can attest their 
 truth. 
 
 It is only necessary to build a manufacturing village of shan¬ 
 ties, in a healthy location in any part of the State, to have 
 crowds of these poor people around you, seeking employment 
 at half the compensation given to operatives at the North. It is 
 indeed painful to be brought in contact with such ignorance and 
 degradation ; but on the other hand, it is pleasant to witness the 
 change, which soon takes place in the condition of those, who 
 obtain employment. The emaciated, pale-faced children, soon 
 assume the appearance of robust health, and their tattered gar¬ 
 ments are exchanged for those suited to a better condition; if 
 you visit their dwellings, you will find their tables supplied with 
 wholesome food; and on the Sabbath, when the females turn 
 out in their gay colored gowns, you will imagine yourself sur¬ 
 rounded by groups of city belles. How easy would it be for 
 the proprietors of such establishments, with only a small share 
 of philanthropy, to make good use of the school fund in amelio¬ 
 rating the condition of this class of our population, now but 
 little elevated above the Indian of the forest. The cause of this 
 degradation and poverty will hereafter be noticed; it is an inter¬ 
 esting subject, and one that ought to engage the attention of 
 every philanthropist and Christian. It is, perhaps, not generally 
 known, that there are twenty-nine thousand white persons in this 
 State, above the age of twelve years, who can neither read nor 
 write—this is about one in every five of the white population. 
 
 That we are behind the age in agriculture, the mechanic arts, 
 industry and enterprise, is apparent to all who pass through our 
 State ; our good city of Charleston speaks a language on this 
 
Subject not to be mistaken; she has lost 1000 of her population, 
 according to the census of 1840, while her sister cities have 
 doubled and quadrupled theirs ; she has had, for thirteen years, 
 the advantage of the South-Carolina Rail Road, which "under 
 ordinary circumstances should hajc doubled the number of her 
 population. How does she now stand ? Precisely where she 
 stood twenty years ago, and, but for the two conflagrations 
 which swept off many of her old houses, she would present at 
 this moment, the same appearance that she did in 1824. Where 
 is the city in this age of improvement, except Charleston, that a 
 book-binder, or job-printer is prohibited the use of a small steam 
 engine, to enable him to carry on his business with more facility, 
 and to cheapen the price of those articles that we are purchasing 
 from other cities, more liberal to their artisans? and where a 
 carpenter is not allowed the use of the same, to turn a circular 
 saw or drive a mortising chisel, to enable him to compete with 
 others in supplying us with ready made doors, blinds, sashes, 
 shutters, &c ? Even the boxes in which our merchandize is 
 packed, are made in the city of New-York by steam power, and 
 brought to our very doors. The book-binder, tanner, currier, 
 hatter, wagon maker, carriage maker, carpenter, turner, tinner, 
 and in fact, persons engaged in every branch of mechanism, find 
 steam power indispensable; and knowing, as we do, that they 
 are unrestricted in its use, in other cities, why are our mechanics 
 forbid to use it in this city ? There is a strong disposition mani¬ 
 fested by this class of our citizens to elevate and improve their 
 several trades, and if they are properly encouraged, there is no 
 doubt that a great change would soon be brought about; but the 
 labor of negroes and blind horses can never supply the place of 
 steam, and this power is withheld lest the smoke of an engir e 
 should disturb the delicate nerves of an agriculturist; or the noise 
 of the mechanic’s hammer should break in upon the slumber of 
 areal estate holder, or importing merchant, while he is indulging 
 in fanciful dreams, or building on paper, the Queen City of the 
 South— the paragon of the age. No reflections on the members 
 of the City Council, are here intended, they are no doubt fairly 
 representing public opinion on this subject ; some of that body 
 are known to be in favor of a modification of these restrictions, 
 which certainly are behind the age, and a reproach to our city. 
 Our mechanics ought to rise in their strength, and procure the 
 signature of every liberal minded man, to a petition to the city 
 authorities, asking that they may be placed on the same footing, 
 in this respect, as the tradesmen of other cities. 
 
 These restrictions are but in character with many other things; 
 and while we are on this subject, permit me to ask, whether any 
 other town of the same size, would have allowed the greatest 
 work of the age—the Hamburg rail road—to come into the city 
 
24 
 
 and find its terminus in a mud hole, scarcely passable in the 
 the winter season for a family carriage, much less for a loaded 
 wason It cannot be denied that it is a disgrace to the City and 
 Neck that this great work, which will immortalize its projectors, 
 should not have been met by a stone road leading from it to our 
 wharves. That the hundreds'of thousands of bales of produce 
 and merchandise that have entered into, and departed from out 
 city during the last thirteen years, should have been dragged 
 through thl sand and mud of King and Meeting-streets, demon¬ 
 strates a fact, about which there can be no mistake—the hand of 
 enterprise is not among us. And shall we continue m our down- 
 ward course ? Is it not time that a warning voice weie i a.sed, 
 ^proclaim to the good people of Charleston, that in these times 
 of emprise, no ctty mVxpect to thrive that does not encour¬ 
 age and foster the mechanic arts and artisans ? It is this class 
 of men that gives life, strength and vigor to all branches oftiade, 
 and every department of life, and if they were properly encour¬ 
 aged, our city authorities would no longer have to resort to dra 
 shop licenses for revenue; money would soon be found to pay 
 her debts and pave her streets. Let our City Council begin, by 
 removing the restrictions on the use of the steam engine. Who 
 would not rather have an occasional whiff of smoke horn a 
 steam engine, than the scent of an odious grog shop? The 
 former a benefit, the latter a curse to the community. So far as 
 fire risks are concerned, it would be safer to have three engines 
 than one such magazine of mischief and corruption, licensed 
 by our City Council, under the title of “ retailers of ardent 
 
 SP Need any thing be said about the amount of capital required 
 fo. embark.ng in these pursuits ? It is only necessary to revert 
 to the fact, that lands and negroes pay but three per cent, when 
 engaged in the culture of cotton, and to name the puce jf 5 
 and 0 per cent. State stocks. Need a word be said as to the 
 men who are to carry on these enterprises ? It is only necessai y 
 to point you to the bone and sinew that are leaving our city and 
 State, to ^enrich and populate others. Any one that has visited 
 Mississippi and Alabama, can soon point out the maelstrom, that 
 has swallowed up so much of the capital and enterprise of South- 
 
 ^Theperiod is fast approaching in South-Carolina, which shall 
 produce' a great change in these matters. Many persons are 
 Sow looking to the subject of manufactures with intense interest, 
 and it is beheved that many men of capital would at once embark 
 in this business, could this field for P r °fitaWe enterprise be laid 
 open before our wealthy business men of Chai eston, a host ot 
 whom can be found, with nerves that never tire, and with as 
 much forecaste and shrewdness as the merchant manufactureis 
 
25 
 
 of Boston, and these latter gentlemen see that it is only necessary 
 that Georgia and the two Carolinas shall engage in the manufac¬ 
 tory of coarse cotton fabrics, in order to monopolize the trade in 
 these articles. What is to prevent such a result ? Have we not 
 the raw material on the spot, thus saving the freight of a double 
 transportation? Is not labor cheaper with us than with our 
 Northern brethren ? and if we believe that they are reaping 
 such golden harvests, what shall prevent our participation in the 
 spoils ? Let the ball be set in motion, then will our miserably 
 poor white population at once rise from their ignorance and 
 degradation, and we shall no longer hear the complaint, that 
 planting capital will pay no more than 3 per cent. The com¬ 
 merce and trade of our State would at once receive a fresh im¬ 
 pulse —our city would become a mart for domestic goods—rail 
 road stocks would increase in value—our city would disrobe 
 herself of her old fashioned, rusty, tattered and torn garments, 
 to be clad in the fashionable clothing of the day—her whitened 
 walls and improved suburbs would remind the stranger as he 
 passed through, that the hand of industry and enterprise was at 
 work among us. Our retired merchants would find it no longer 
 necessary or desirable to invest their capital, or look for rural 
 retirement in other States. They would find that we have in 
 our up-country, within a few hours ride of Charleston, all the 
 advantages that we can desire for such purposes; and besides 
 spending our money among ourselves, they would also find that 
 there is no better country for the profitable employment of cap¬ 
 ital, or rural retirement, than in our own State. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 In New-England there are two distinct systems of manufactur¬ 
 ing pursued. °The Massachusetts and New-Hampshire estab¬ 
 lishments are on an extensive scale and are almost universally own¬ 
 ed by joint stock companies, composed principally of the mer¬ 
 chants of Boston. They are careful to employ the best talents the 
 country affords, and have matters so systematically arranged 
 that (as will be hereafter shown) there is no possibility of failure, 
 even to a joint-stock company, unless the business becomes so 
 profitless as to ruin the whole country. Mills owned, or under 
 the influence of Boston capitalists—such as those in Cabotville, 
 Chickopee, Waltham, Lowell, Nashua, Jackson, Manchester, and 
 other places—generally contain about G,000 spindles each, some 
 10,000, and recently, others are being erected, to contain 20 and 
 3 
 
26 
 
 25,000. Each company has an agent, whose office is in Boston, 
 and another at the factory ; the latter has direct charge of the 
 mill, or mills, as the case may be—for there are frequently two, 
 three, and even four factories owned by the same company and 
 in the same enclosure. Each factory has an overseer for the 
 carding department, who, generally speaking, is skilled in this 
 department only; also a spinner, a dresser, a weaver and a 
 machinist. These men have no charge except their particular 
 departments; they hire their own hands, (being under certain 
 restrictions), make certain repairs, and direct others to be made 
 by the machinist, and are responsible to the agent for the manu¬ 
 facture of a given number of pounds of cotton per day, at a cost 
 of a given number of mills per pound. For instance, every 
 Saturday night the agent receives a report showing the number of 
 lbs. raw cotton passed into the carding room, and the number of 
 lbs. of cloth taken from the weaving room—the enrder shows 
 by his pay list that he has carded the same for G mills per lb — 
 the spinner that he has spun it for 5 mills per lb.—the dresser that 
 he has warped, beamed and dressed it for 3 mills—and the 
 weaver that it has been woven for 8 mills, and baled for 1 mill 
 per lb. At the end of the month the agent at the factory makes 
 out a statement for the agent in Boston, showing the number of 
 hands employed at the mill, male and female—the average wages 
 paid—the number of lbs. of raw cotton used—the number°of 
 yards and pounds of cloth produced and forwarded to their 
 commission merchant—and the entire cost of manufacturing and 
 delivering the cloth at Boston, giving the items as above stated. 
 These statements from the various establishments are compared 
 in Boston; in fact, the proprietors club together, compile them, 
 and place a book in the hands of each agent for reference, so 
 that they are constantly apprised of what others are doing ; and 
 each carder, spinner or weaver knows the minimum cost at 
 which his particular department has been accomplished. The 
 general result proves to the company the fitness of their agent. 
 The cheapness with which any particular department is perform¬ 
 ed is a test of the skill and industry of the subaltern in charge 
 of the same. Knowing the cost of the raw material—the quan¬ 
 tity of waste—the precise cost of producing cloth—and its 
 worth in the market—the manufacturers are at once placed in a 
 position not to sink money, unless they chose to do so, in times of 
 great embarrassment, as a matter of charity to their hands. 
 These Boston establishments (for so I may call them) are all 
 very similar. The dead spindle for warp, as well as for filling, is 
 universal; and each factory is erected for a particular purpose, 
 and confined exclusively to it. For instance,—some mills have 
 their machinery adapted to the manufacture of osnabvrgs, and 
 can make nothing else,—some are adapted to, and are run exclu- 
 
27 
 
 sively on brown sheetings 37 inches wide—some on 3-4 sheetings 
 —some on drillings , and others on print cloths. They are i un 
 for years on the same thing, and as the proprietors never think of 
 changing, the consequence is, that their hands having but one 
 operation to perform, become so completely drilled in it, that 
 they are run at a speed incredible to one who has never witness- 
 
 ed it. . , 
 
 In Rhode Island things are very different. Providence is the 
 centre of radiation for manufacturing knowledge. In cotton 
 manufacturing, all look to her as the mother of manufactures, as 
 the seat of knowledge in this art. In this State, although there 
 are many joint-stock companies, yet individual establishments 
 predominate. There are many large establishments owned by 
 persons reared behind the spinning-jenney—others owned by 
 capitalists and rented to practical manufacturers. Many mills 
 fitted with water wheels, are built by persons owning water 
 power, and rented to others owning machinery. Every pound 
 of water power is already employed, steam power is getting into 
 use, and manufacturing may be said to be the business of Rhode 
 Island. Wages are lower here than in Massachusetts, and econ¬ 
 omy is more generally practised. They make fine goods and 
 add a far greater value to each lb. of cotton, realizing in quality , 
 by skill and close application, what the Massachusetts people do 
 in quantity , by their coarse fabrics. In Rhode Island, English 
 machinery is often used, the live spindle for warp and the mule 
 for filling, this being, doubtless, the best kind of machinery for 
 fine goods and skillful operatives ; but it is evident that the 
 Massachusetts machinery is the sort that should be introduced 
 among us, and that the system pursued in that State is the one 
 best adapted to our habits and institutions. Cotton manufactur¬ 
 ing will not, probably, be speedily introduced into this State, 
 unless our business men of capital tan.e hold of it. Mei chants 
 and retired men of capital may erect factories, and work them 
 with white hands, or purchase blacks for the purpose our 
 wealthy planters may engage in this business and turn their 
 young negroes in for workers, but it will be long befoie the 
 Southern States shall have a set of manufacturers similar to those 
 in Rhode Island; they must grow up among us, as engine makers 
 and rail road engineers have done. 
 
 I will now give a statement of the cost of manufacturing in 
 Massachusetts; which being so nearly the same throughout the 
 whole country, it will be necessary only to name one or two 
 establishments, to form a correct estimate of the whole ; and it 
 is proper to select such as are making the kind of goods that it 
 is desirable to introduce into this State. I will therefore, notice 
 four mills in Lowell, belonging to one company, and in the same 
 enclosure, under one agent. They contain, each 7168 spindles 
 
m —^ 
 
 28 
 
 # 
 
 and 216 looms; they are constructed to spin Nos. 12 and 14 
 yarn, and to weave 37 inch sheetings, 3 20-100 yards to the lb. 
 —3-4 sheetings, 4 55-100 yards to the lb.—and drillings, 2 85-100 
 to the lb. The two mills engaged in making 37 inch sheetings, 
 turned out, for the six months ending 30th June last, say mill No. 
 1, 561,544 lbs of cloth, being 1,820,495 yds. Mill No. 2, pro¬ 
 duced in the same time, 571,869 lbs., being 1,842,776 yds. The 
 other two mills produced similar results. The cost per lb. for the 
 labor of manufacturing in the two mills, was as follows: 
 
 For Carding, 
 
 Mill No. 
 
 1. 
 
 Mill No. 2. 
 
 6 75-100 mills 
 
 G 18-100 mills 
 
 “ Spinning, 
 
 - 7 46-100 
 
 U 
 
 7 51-100 “ 
 
 “ Dressing, 
 
 4 65-100 
 
 a 
 
 4 71-100 “ 
 
 il Weaving and baling, 
 
 1,3 05-100 
 
 «( 
 
 1,2 73-100 “ 
 
 Total cost, 
 
 3,1 19-100 
 
 a 
 
 3,1 13-100 “ 
 
 It will, by this statement, be perceived that the cost for the 
 manufacture of this article, (the wholesale price of which, at the 
 present time, in this market, is 7 cents per yard) is but 3 cents 1 
 mill and a fraction per lb. 
 
 Let us now suppose the operation to be performed in this 
 State. The raw material would cost 5 cents, allow 10 per cent, 
 for the waste, and we have for the cost of the raw material, 5 
 cents 5 mills; add to this 3 cents 1 mill, and we have 8 cents 
 6 mills as the entire cost of one lb. of cloth, 3 20-100 yards to 
 the lb., which at 7 cents per yard, gives 22 cents 4 mills, as the 
 value per lb. of the cloth manufactured. The quantity of cloth 
 turned out by the two mills, in six months, was as follows : 
 
 1,133,413 lbs. at 22 cents 4 mills, gives $253,884 50 
 
 Cost of raw material, $61,837 71 
 
 Cost of labor in the mill, 35,205 81 
 
 - 97,843 52 
 
 Gross profit, $156,840 98 
 
 From the above result it appears that the enormous sum of 
 $156,840 98 would be left to pay the out door expenses of two 
 mills, for six months, the balance being nett profit to the owners.* 
 
 * In my calculations showing the large gross profits accruing to the Lowell 
 companies, it must not be supposed, that these companies are dividing such large 
 amounts as 7?^ gains to their stockholders. It is a fact clear enough to any one, 
 that the difference between the cost of the raw material and the price of goods 
 manufactured, is made to the community in which the operation is performed: yet, 
 lest those disposed to embark their capital in such pursuits, should be deceived 
 
 r\ 
 
29 
 
 I will now exhibit a statement of another mill in Lowell 
 engaged in making osnaburgs , the machinery being adapted to 
 this particular article, and making nothing else. This mill con¬ 
 tains 64 carding machines, 4864 spindles, and 152 looms. It is 
 worked by 174 hands, and spins No. 4^yarn. It turned out in 
 the six months, ending 30th June last, 796,900 lbs. of cloth, two 
 yards per lb., making 1,598,800 yards of osnaburgs. The cost 
 for manufacturing which, in the mill, was as follows: 
 
 For Carding, 
 
 “ Spinning, 
 a Dressing, 
 
 “ Weaving, 
 
 “ Baling, &c., 
 
 5 94-100 mills 
 
 - 4 48-100 “ 
 
 3 22-100 “ 
 
 - 8 15-100 “ 
 
 0 88-100 “ 
 
 2,2 67-100 “ 
 
 It will thus be perceived that the entire cost, for the labor em¬ 
 ployed in making this article, is 2 cents 2 67-100 mills per lb. 
 The cotton that is worked into these goods being very inferior, 
 is worth in this market not over 4 cents per lb., therefore the 
 value of the raw material forthisestablishment,adding 12£ per cent, 
 for waste, say 896,512 lbs. of raw cotton at 4 cents being $35,860 
 48.100—and the cost for manufacturing the same, at 2 cents, 2 
 67-100 mills per lb. of cloth—is $17,933 75-100 ; while the mar¬ 
 ket value of the same, say 1,593,800 yards at 9 cents per yard, 
 is $143,842—leaving a balance of $90,047 77-100 to pay out¬ 
 door expenses, such as commissions, freight, oil, starch, insurance, 
 interest on capital, &c. Generally speaking, all expenses, after 
 paying operatives, (interest on capital included) are covered by \ 
 to 1 cent per yard, according to the quantity of the cloth turned 
 out. These are not mere speculations, but actual results that can 
 be vouched for; they present a fact that cannot but strike a 
 cotton planter with great force, viz: that 174 hands in 12 months , 
 
 by the statement, I will state the average profits* of the Lowell companies, from 
 the beginning of their existence to the present time, with this remark, that the 
 Massachusetts company, from some cause or other, (probably the embarrassed 
 state of trade from the year 1840 to the latter part of 1843), were not in haste to 
 put their machinery in operation, a portion of which was not worked until May, 
 June, and July last, and some portion, even as late as the middle of July had 
 not yet been started, . . , 
 
 While speaking of the nett gains of the Lowell manufacturers, we must not he 
 unmindful that the town of Lowell manufactures about 66,313 bales of cotton, 
 345 lbs. to the bale, and adds (by simply spinning and weaving) about 20 cents to 
 the value of each lb., making a gain to that place and its vicinity of upwards ol 
 four millions of dollars ; a sum equal to one-third of the capital invested m this 
 branch of cotton manufacturing in that place, and equal in value, to the entire 
 crop of this State. 
 
 •See Table A. in the Appendix. 
 
30 
 
 convert 4,329 bales of cotton, 345 lbs. to the bale, into cloth— 
 about 242 bales to the hand ; thus adding over $40 to the value of 
 each hale . J 
 
 Statements of other establisments in Cabotville, Fall River, 
 IVashua, and Manchester are at hand, but it is not necessary to 
 add them, as the results are similar. The last mentioned place, 
 Manchester, in New-Hampshire, is located on the Merrimack 
 river , at Amoskeag falls. The first manufacturing establish¬ 
 ment was built at this place, in the year 1838, in the woods; it 
 now has five—the three Stark mills, and two belonging to the 
 Amoskeag Company. These five mills contain 37,720 spindles 
 and 1,106 looms. Two new mills are being erected—one to 
 comain 20,000 spindles and 600 looms—the other, 25,000 spin- 
 ales. 1 he result of establishing these factories is, that a flourish¬ 
 ing town, which now contains 7000 inhabitants, has grown up 
 in the woods. It is supposed that the two mills now erecting, 
 together with those already in operation, will have the effect of 
 doubling the population in two years, and, in all probability, this 
 town, in ten years, will exceed that of Lowell both in wealth and 
 population. 
 
 I might mention many other places that have risen rapidily 
 from the manufacture of coarse cotton fabrics, a business that 
 belongs legitimately to us, at the South. At the risk of being 
 considered tiresome, I will name one more. The town of 
 Newburyport, Mass., was a thriving place and one of considera- 
 ble trade, but from various causes it declined. Its trade had 
 been absorbed by Boston and other places, so that its shipping 
 interest had deserted it, and its wharves were desolate and value¬ 
 less-town property had become worthless, and everv thing about 
 it seemed going to ruin. A few of its most enterprising property 
 holders determined to make an effort to resuscitate it, by estab¬ 
 lishing manufactures, and having no water power they resorted 
 to steam. It acted like a charm. The three or four establish¬ 
 ments put in operation, have all done well and produced a new 
 
 state of things. The wharves are now crowded with shipping_ 
 
 the sound of the hammer is heard in every direction—new' houses 
 are being erected and old ones have been remodelled—real estate 
 has not only advanced toils original value, but doubled and quad¬ 
 rupled it ; and so it would be with Charleston, Augusta, Columbia 
 and other places at the South. 
 
31 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I will now undertake to show the cause of failure in cotton 
 spinning , in this State, and the measures that must be adopted, 
 to prevent similar results hereafter. In these efforts, I trust it 
 will be proved that no fair experiment, or even an approach to it, 
 has yet been made. The Saluda and Vaucluse Manufacturing 
 Companies standing foremost, shall be first noticed. 
 
 These companies were formed in the year 1833, and there can 
 be no doubt that they were stimulated to action by the best and 
 most patriotic motives ; but, however praiseworthy the motives, 
 the result has been the cause of more harm to South-Carolina 
 than can be repaired for many years to come. The failure of 
 these Companies, is brought to the view of every one who turns 
 his attention to the subject, and the effect is, to dampen ardor, 
 and wither all such enterprises in the bud. These two establish¬ 
 ments stand like rocks in the ocean, to warn the mariner of the 
 approach of danger ; but it is hoped, that on nearing the objects, 
 they will be found to be mere delusions. 
 
 The original proprietors of the Saluda mill were a company 
 formed, with the expectation of running 10,000 spindles, to make 
 osnaburgs, shirtings, drills, muslins, fine yarn, coarse yarn, in fact 
 every thing that might be desirable, to fill the shelves of a Colum¬ 
 bia merchant. They seemed not to anticipate the necessity of 
 looking to any other market for the sale of their goods. They 
 employed a man wholly ignorant of such matters, (one who did 
 not even know the difference between a throstle and mule spin¬ 
 dle,) to lay out the establishment and get up the machinery, 
 which was made by Mr. Alfred Jinks, of Bridesburg, near Phil¬ 
 adelphia. It is fine machinery, but better adapted for making 
 muslins than osnaburgs. This machinery is so arranged as to 
 render it impracticable to adapt it to the Massachusetts system, 
 and cannot, without many alterations and additions, be made to 
 turn off, with a given number of hands, more than one-third 
 the quantity stated as the product of the Lowell mills,—certainly 
 not more than one-half, with the very best management. The 
 different gentlemen, who have been interested in this establish¬ 
 ment, have attributed its want of success to the bad management 
 of agents ; but the secret lies beyond the reach of overseers, and 
 until many dollars are expended in new, or in altering the present 
 machinery—and a new system, both as to the production and sale 
 of their goods, is adopted—they may not expect to realize 
 profit. 
 
 Now, in the outset, if this company, (composed of gentlemen 
 of sufficient intelligence to carry on any enterprise), had gone to 
 Boston for advice, they would have been warned against the 
 
32 
 
 course they pursued, as being one that must inevitably lead to 
 failure. They would have been advised to undertake the making 
 of but one article, either osnaburgs or coarse sheeting ; to get 
 all their machinery of the same description, adapted to the par¬ 
 ticular article they proposed making; to nail their colors to the 
 mast, taking it for better or for worse ; to hire a carder, spinner, 
 dresser, weaver, and an active and skillful young man as an 
 overseer—taking the best talents that Massachusetts could afford. 
 These men get from 81 50 to $2 per day, and, by adding 25 or 
 50 cents more, they would have offered inducements that would 
 have commanded the very best. They should have employed a 
 merchant in Columbia to purchase their cotton and receive their 
 goods, who, after supplying the Columbia market, should have 
 shipped the balance to Charleston, where there should have been 
 but one agent. The merchant at Columbia should have been 
 made to clear his shelves of all similar goods, and not to offer 
 them for sale in broken packages—to sell, in Columbia, quanti¬ 
 ties not less than five bales, at the Charleston prices—to keep a 
 set of books, and make monthly exhibits to the stockholders, 
 showing the number of pounds of cotton sent to the mill, and 
 and the number of yards and pounds of cloth returned. Had 
 this system been pursued, it would have been only necessary to 
 keep up a correspondence with the Lowell and other companies, 
 receiving monthly statements to be compared with their own, in 
 order to know, at all times, whether the mill was turning out its 
 proper quantity. Every member of the company would soon 
 have become so well acquainted with factory details, as to enable 
 him to judge what quantity of cloth a given number of spindles 
 ought to turn out, and the proof would, at all times, be at hand, 
 whether the agent was doing his duty or not. There would then 
 have been no chance for leaks —the books of the Columbia agent 
 would have shown whether a sufficient number of pounds of 
 cloth had been returned for a given quantity of cotton, after 
 making a reasonable allowance for waste. The Charleston 
 agent should have had entire control of prices. If a discreet 
 merchant, he would not have allowed the goods to accumulate, 
 nor would he. by forced sales, have brought an undue pressure 
 on this market; the prices in which, do not now, but should 
 always range up to the New-York market. It should have been 
 this merchant’s province to find markets for the goods in New- 
 York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New-Orleans, Mobile, and other 
 places. 
 
 Now, had all this been done, there can be no doubt as to the 
 result. This company, instead of wasting its capital, would have 
 made immense sums of money, and, in all human probability, 
 their success would have brought into existence, by this time, in 
 the immediate vicinity of Columbia, ten such establishments as 
 
33 
 
 those described in Lowell, and leaving out of view the profits 
 which would have accrued to the owners, (for it matters not 
 whether they be gainers or not), the difference between the 
 cost of the raw material and the sum received for the sale of the 
 manufactured article, would have been a clear gain to the people 
 of Columbia and its neighborhood. The difference between the 
 value of the raw material here and of the goods produced by the 
 three mills, spoken of in Lowell, for the six months, ending 30th 
 June last, would be $294,064, or $596,128 per annum. Ten such 
 mills producing similar results, would yield to the community in 
 which they were located, the sum of $1,897,093. This would have 
 doubled the population of Columbia. Many an enterprise, never 
 dreamed of before, would have had its birth and been natured 
 by this time within her limits. Artisans from all parts of the 
 world would have found their way to this delightful spot, and 
 her suburbs would now be ringing with the busy hum of work¬ 
 shops, while her streets would show the marks of an increased 
 trade, and she would not only be the capital, but the pride of our 
 State. 
 
 I will now proceed to give a history of the Yaucluse Manu¬ 
 facturing Company, and of its manufacturing establishment, 
 erected in the year 1833. This company was no doubt stimula¬ 
 ted to action by the disposition that pervaded this State about 
 that time, for manufacturing, bringing into existence the Marlboro, 
 De Kalb, Saluda, and two or three smaller mills, and it is truly 
 unfortunate for this State, that such mistakes should have been 
 made. 
 
 Gen. McDuffie, and our worthy fellow citizen, the Hon. Mitch¬ 
 ell King, were two of the principal stockholders in the Yaucluse 
 Company. One would suppose that such men, engaging in a 
 new enterprise, would have given the subject some sort of inves¬ 
 tigation. The position that these gentlemen occupy in the State, 
 as to fortune and other things, is a proof of their ability and 
 eminent success in such enterprises as have engaged their atten¬ 
 tion; but unfortunately for them, in this instance, they only 
 looked across the waters, at the promised land—they fitted out 
 their bark for the voyage, but went to sleep at the helm. 
 
 This company obtained a charter from the Legislature, and 
 organized themselves by electing a President and five Directors. 
 They wrote to Patterson, N. J., for machinery, suited to the 
 manufacture of cotton and wool—fine and coarse cloth—assort¬ 
 ed yarns, &c., thus, as will be perceived, splitting on the same 
 rock which wrecked the Saluda Company. They committed the 
 same error, of not looking beyond the supply of the immediate 
 neighborhood, and so complicated their machinery as to render 
 it impossible for it to produce profit, except by the nicest and 
 most skillful management. The present proprietors of this 
 

 34 
 
 establishment have sold the woollen machinery and are remod- 
 dling the balance, but it will have to receive many additions in 
 new machinery before it will be capable, with the best manage¬ 
 ment, of turning out the quantity, per hand, that the Massachu¬ 
 setts mills do. 
 
 The strangest part of the story remains yet to be told. As 
 above stated, this Company elected a President and five Direc¬ 
 tors to manage their affairs. This Board ordered the machinery 
 to be made and sent out—appointed an agent to superintend the 
 erection of a suitable building, for it, and houses for the opera¬ 
 tives. Will the fact be credited, that this Board of Directors 
 never had a meeting after its first organization, not even to re¬ 
 ceive the building from the contractor’s hands ? The factory 
 ran, thus neglected by those appointed to look after its affairs, 
 for two years and six months, and is it surprising that, instead of 
 making money, they should have incurred a debt of $6000? 
 Fortunately for the company, an individual undertook to pur¬ 
 chase some of the shares, and after possessing himself of a 
 number sufficient to excite some interest, he looked into matters 
 and found the mill in charge of an ignorant Englishman, who re¬ 
 ceived $5 per day. lie knew nothing of the business, and as was 
 afterwards proved, had never before had charge, even of a single 
 department in a mill. He was, in fact, only a common operative, 
 with neither truth nor honesty in him. This gentleman immedi¬ 
 ately determined to apprize the company of their real condition. It 
 was with the greatest difficulty that a sufficient number of the 
 stockholders could be brought together, to form a quorum, in order 
 that measures of relief might be taken ; and but for the debt of 
 86000, which was about to go into judgment, it is very question¬ 
 able whether a meeting could have been obtained. The result 
 of this meeting was, that the property was offered for sale. The 
 gentleman alluded to above, who had purchased into the com¬ 
 pany, took up his abode at the Factory, as a summer residence— 
 discharged the English overseer and took charge of the estab¬ 
 lishment in person—made the Factory turn out double its former 
 product—purchased the cotton and other supplies—sold the 
 goods, &c., and in eight months previous to the sale made a nett 
 sum for the owners of about 811,000. This paid the debt and left 
 a surplus of 85000, and but for this circumstance, the establish¬ 
 ment would have sold for a mere song. The shares, fifty-four 
 and a half in number, cost originally 81000 each. The sale pro¬ 
 duced about 8750 per share. So ended the Vaucluse Manufac¬ 
 turing Company, and it is a matter of surprise that the stock¬ 
 holders did not sink their entire capital. 
 
 This company was followed by an individual owner, who it is 
 said, realized profit; but his affairs were so complicated and em¬ 
 barrassed, that the mill received but little of his attention, and 
 
35 
 
 being one of the kind, as before stated, which requires the strict¬ 
 est attention, it could not be expected to flourish. Its size forbids 
 its being brought under the same system, and producing similar 
 results, as the Massachusetts mills, and however profitable it may 
 be to its present owners, it can never be considered a fair test of 
 what cotton manufacturing will be, when properly introduced in 
 this State. 
 
 Now, when we take all things into consideration, it is re¬ 
 ally a matter of surprise, that we have not long since made cotton 
 manufacturing one of our leading occupations. When the Bos¬ 
 ton merchants embarked in it, they were as ignorant of it as we 
 now are, while the Rhode Island people were eminently skilled 
 in it; but this did not deter the former, when driven from their 
 favorite occupation, from engaging in it. These gentlemen, not 
 unlike our merchants and capitalists, and very similar to our in¬ 
 telligent cotton planters, embarked immediately in manufactures, 
 which have indeed yielded them golden harvests. They are not 
 the men to take off their gloves and perform manual manipula¬ 
 tions, but they look on with their hands in their pockets, precise¬ 
 ly as a cotton planter would do, and depend on the skill of an in¬ 
 telligent overseer, to produce good, practical results. It certainly 
 has not been their economy that has caused them to amass great 
 wealth. Their agents at the mills, or overseers, as we would call 
 them, reside in fine houses and wear silk gloves. Their situations 
 are similar to those of our Bank Presidents in Charleston; they 
 have fine offices, and clerks to attend to their book-keeping; and 
 let me here inform you, that in the ten corporations in Lowell, 
 not one of the agents is a practical manufacturer, that is, a man 
 brought up behind the spinning machine. Six out of the ten, are 
 lawyers; they are, however, shrewd, business men, who look 
 well to hiring good subalterns, and see that the results of the fac¬ 
 tory show, that they not only understand, but perform their busi¬ 
 ness. They pay immense sums for water power. It would seem 
 that economy was no part of the system of Boston manufactu¬ 
 rers, for go where you may, you will find that they have indulged 
 their fancy, by laying out immense sums of money in the erection 
 of elegant and ornamental edifices for their machinery, and in 
 arranging their grounds. They have actually built palaces for 
 their overseers ; and the boarding houses for the accommodation 
 of their operatives, are what we in Charleston, would call fine 
 houses, not inferior in quality and appearance to the best build¬ 
 ings, in the newly built portions of our city. I do not certainly 
 exaggerate, when I say, that the most indifferent overseer’s house 
 in Lowell, at least such as I saw, cost more than the whole village 
 of Vaucluse, containing upwards of 200 inhabitants, including a 
 comfortable dwelling recently built as a residence for one of its 
 
' * * V 
 
 36 
 
 owners ; and more money than all the houses which serve to ac¬ 
 commodate the operatives of the Saluda Factory.* 
 
 When we view all these facts, and recollect that we have water 
 power in any quantity, in healthy portions of our State, which 
 can be purchased for a trifle—that we have the cheapest country 
 on the face of the globe to live in, (for provisions are as cheap in 
 South-Carolina as in Prussia, the cheapest portion of Europe,) 
 adding to this our mild climate, making it even cheaper to live 
 here than in Prussia—that the raw material can be had from 1 to 
 1^ cents cheaper in the interior of this State than in the manu¬ 
 facturing towns of the North—and that we possess the cheapest, 
 steadiest and most easily controlled labor to be found in the Uni¬ 
 ted States— what, let me ask, is to prevent our success ? In addi¬ 
 tion to all these facts, when it is borne in mind that the Boston 
 manufacturers pay their operatives $3 75 per week, (this is the 
 average wages paid in Lowell, which governs all the other pla¬ 
 ces in Massachusetts) and that while paying these high wages, 
 they convert cotton into cloth at a cost of from 2\ to 3 cents per 
 pound, turning out in coarse fabrics 245 bales to the hand (there 
 is no fiction about this,) and it would seem that our conclusions 
 must be irresistible. In my next chapter I shall consider the sub¬ 
 ject, of the manufacturing of Cotton Bagging, as a part of the 
 system of Domestic Industry in South-Carolina. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1 will now make a few remarks on the manufacture of bag¬ 
 ging, which seems to be the first article that strikes the mind of 
 a Southern man, when he turns his attention to the subject of 
 manufacturing. All seem to think that it would be a very lucra¬ 
 tive business, and one that should engage the attention of 
 Southern men. The question is every day asked, why are not 
 our Southern factories making this article? In it there can be 
 no mistake. The cheapness of the raw material is a complete 
 
 ♦Not one-fourth of the large capital represented in the table,* is invested in ma¬ 
 chine ry. A large portion has been expended in the purchase of water power, and 
 in erecting expensive edifices for their machinery, and houses for their overseers 
 and operatives. I am certainly not much wide of the mark, in stating that the 
 houses belonging to one of these companies, and used by their agents and oper¬ 
 atives, are quite as elegant—fully as costly, and afford as much room as all the 
 buildings on both sides of King-street, between Market and Hasel-streets; and it 
 must be remarked that, much to their credit, they have made large contributions 
 to the building of churches and the endowment of other public institutions. 
 
 * See Table A in the Appendix. 
 
37 
 
 protection against foreign competition, and this, together with our 
 cheap labor, will be a fortress of defence to us, while we con¬ 
 tinue to make the coarse fabrics that require no finish, and but 
 little skill in their manufacture; especially, if we follow the rule 
 already laid down, of sticking to one thing at a time. He who 
 manufactures an axe handle, even if he employ fifty men in the 
 operation, (should the world afford him a market large enough,) 
 will, by sticking to this one thing, attain such perfection in the 
 shape, and speed in the manufacture, as to obtain a remunerating 
 price in every country where the commodity is used. We must 
 manufacture such articles as require a large quantity of good, 
 sound, raw material, about which there can be no deception prac¬ 
 tised. 
 
 We need not expect, in the outset of Manufacturing, to compete 
 with the Northern people in shapes and colors. We frequently 
 hear complaints from Southern manufacturers engaged in mak¬ 
 ing woollens, that they cannot sell their honestly made Linseys 
 in competition with the trash that is brought out here and sold 
 under the name of Kerseys and Linseys; the warp of which is 
 composed of the most inferior cotton thread, and the filling of 
 greasy cotton waste, being from its short staple and dirt, wholly 
 unfit for any thing else. This is dyed and mixed with refuse 
 wool, such as cloth shearings, &c., and there is but little doubt, 
 that in many instances, the wool does not constitute 1-20 of the 
 fabric. As an evidence of our gullibility, many persons among 
 us are simple enough to do their negroes the injustice of clothing 
 them in this trash, while it would be far cheaper for the owner 
 and better for the slave, to have a good, sound article, made en¬ 
 tirely of cotton. The frauds which are continually practised up¬ 
 on us, should teach us a lesson, warning us to encourage a sys¬ 
 tem, which shall render us independent of foreigners, for such 
 articles. If we have not the men now among us, who can work 
 mixtures, shapes and colors, they will soon make their appearance 
 when we shall have got fairly started in the Manufacture of Cot¬ 
 ton ; and when manufacturing capital becomes popular for in¬ 
 vestments in South-Carolina, this class of men will be found em¬ 
 igrating to our State. 
 
 Heretofore, Cotton has been so costly a stap'e, that its price for¬ 
 bade the idea of its taking the place of Hemp, in the manufacture 
 of Bagging; consequently, there never yet has been any ma¬ 
 chinery made, with the express intention of manufacturing it; 
 recently, however, it has become a subject of great interest, and 
 has elicited much attention in Lowell and the other manufactur¬ 
 ing towns at the North. Our Northern friends would, probably, 
 engage in the manufacture ot this article, but for the fact that the 
 Southern States have turned their attention to the making of 
 coarse cotton fabrics, and they, being fully aware of our advan- 
 4 
 
38 
 
 tages, well know that the first attempt oil our part would supplant 
 them in this article, as we have done in that of Osnaburgs. For, 
 be it remembered, that deficient as our Southern factories are, in 
 the essentials for successful competition, they have notwithstand¬ 
 ing, long since driven out of this market the article of Northern 
 Osnaburgs. I think I may venture the assertion, that there has 
 not been a bale of such goods imported into Charleston, from the 
 North, for the last two years; and were it not that we are so de¬ 
 ficient in enterprise, it would be just as absurd for the people of 
 the North to undertake this species of manufacture, as it would 
 be to import Hemp, to compete with Kentucky and other places 
 in the manufacture of Bagging.* 
 
 The facility with which Cotton can be worked by machinery, 
 makes it much easier to handle than Hemp, and it will certainly 
 cost much less to manufacture it. It has already been shown 
 that cotton cloth, weighing half a pound to the yard, is manufac¬ 
 tured for 2\ cts. per lb., and there is no doubt in the mind of the 
 writer, that Bagging weighing from 1^ to 2 lbs. per yard, could 
 be made with half the labor and expense, that is, for 1 cent per 
 lb.; and that upwards of 44 bales to the hand, might be converted 
 into Bagging, per annum. The machinery requisite for this spe¬ 
 cies of manufacture is of the simplest kind, and certainly suscepti¬ 
 ble of being worked by negroes. The manufacture of Kentucky 
 Bagging is performed by negro hand labor, no machinery having 
 ever been successfully applied to it. The carding machine now 
 in use in Cotton Factories, would answer for the first part of the 
 process of making Cotton Bagging. The looms, which should 
 be wider, would not differ much, in other respects, from the or- 
 
 * Since the above was written, a gentleman informed me that I had committed 
 an error in stating that “ not a bale of Northern Osnaburgs had been imported 
 into this market for the past two years,” as he had purchased, only the day be¬ 
 fore, a bale of yard wide, from one of the largest and most respectable commis¬ 
 sion houses in this city, engaged in the sale of Domestic goods. I made imme¬ 
 diate application to this house for inlormation, in order that the error, if one had 
 been committed, might be corrected. It seems that the last shipment, (till re¬ 
 cently,) made to them, was received about the 1st January, 1843. These goods 
 dragged very heavily until December of the same year, when it was deemed ex¬ 
 pedient to clear them out; this was accordingly done, by a sale to a New-Or- 
 leans house. For several months afterwards they received no additional con¬ 
 signments, and gave it as their opinion, that no more of this kind of goods would 
 be sent to this market from the North. Early last summer, these gentlemen, 
 (contrary to expectation,) received a consignment of 5 bales of yard-wide, and 
 10 bales of seven-eighths Northern Osnaburgs, and recently 20 bales more. They 
 have not sold a yard of the seven-eighths , and only a portion of the first five bales 
 of yard-wide, the last consignment being all on hand. Yard-wide osnaburgs are 
 very scarce here, being seldom made by the Southern Factories. I was not aware 
 of the fact, that these goods were in the market; it does not, however, in the 
 slightest degree disprove what I wished to establish, but on the contrary strength¬ 
 ens my assertion, “ that the Southern Factories have driven the Northern article 
 from this market.” Within the past year, some hundreds of bales of Southern 
 Osnaburgs have been shipped from Charleston to New-York and there sold. 
 
39 
 
 dinary osnaburgs looms, and should turn out, if well managed, 
 from 100 to 125 yards each, per day. 
 
 Having no knowledge of the cost of producing Hemp Bagging 
 in other countries, I shall confine my remarks to our immediate 
 competitor, Kentucky. Hemp is an article that has fluctuated in 
 price almost as much as Cotton—the range being from $3 to $ 11 
 per cwt. It kept pretty steadily, however, for many years previ¬ 
 ous to 1S40, at an average of $5, since then at $4. The manu¬ 
 facture of it into Bagging is, as before stated, performed by hand, 
 and although great improvements have been made in the mode of 
 handling it, yet it is still a tedious operation, requiring on an av¬ 
 erage, 5 hands to each loom—three men and two boys. The 
 hackling, &c., being heavy work, requires able-bodied, active 
 men. In well managed factories the hands are so tasked as to 
 produce, in the summer season 400 yards per week to the loom, 
 and in the winter season 300 yards. I am now speaking of the 
 best managed establishments at this time. It is not long since, 
 when 12}j cents was considered the worth of manufacturing a 
 yard of Hemp Bagging, it is now reduced to 5 cents. 
 
 I will now proceed to compare the cost of Cotton with Hemp, 
 and give the arguments for and against the manufacture of Cot¬ 
 ton Bagging. It is believed that it will be necessary to make the 
 Cotton article weigh 2 lbs. to the yard ; but to make the compar¬ 
 ison more easily understood, we will suppose them both to weigh 
 If lbs. to the yard. It must be remembered that Cotton is pur¬ 
 chased by the nett 100 lbs., while Hemp is bought by the gross 
 112 lbs., the 12 lbs. being sufficient to cover the waste in manu¬ 
 facturing ; so that for each pound and three quarters of raw Hemp 
 we have one yard of Bagging, which, after adding 5 cts. for the 
 labor of manufacture, costs 12 cts. Now for the Cotton article; 
 and bear in mind, that the cheaper the raw material the more 
 waste there is, and that coarse goods cause more waste than fine 
 ones. Let us suppose the cotton to cost 4f cts., to which add the 
 loss in manufacture, (say 15 per cent.) and we shall have for the 
 cost of the raw material, in a yard of Bagging, weighing If lbs., 
 8 cents 5 50—100 mills, or $8 55 for each hundred yards; add 
 to this, 2 cents—the cost of manufacturing, and we have a yard of 
 Bagging, costing 10 cents 5, 5 0 ° 0 mills to the manufacturer. Ad¬ 
 mitting Hemp and Cotton to be of equal value, and allowing the 
 Kentucky manufacturer to realize 2 cents per yard as his profit, it 
 will be perceived that the Hemp article comes into the hands of 
 the wholesale merchant at 14 cents ; thus givingto the manufac¬ 
 turer of the Cotton article a profit of 3 45-100 cents per yard. 
 This would answer very well if things remained just as they 
 now are, but we must take into consideration the adverse changes 
 that may take place. We must also bear in mind that the Cot¬ 
 ton worked into Bagging, must undergo the same preparation that 
 
40 
 
 it does for other kinds of cloth, and that only one step beyond 
 spinning it into Bagging Yarn, we have it into thread—a mer¬ 
 chantable article in all parts of the world—fit for making any 
 kind of cloth—and which has never sold in this country for less 
 than 13£ cents per lb., then considerably below the prices quoted 
 in Manchester. If we double the amount and cost of labor, we 
 put the raw material into a fabric that is consumed by the whole 
 human family, the demand being of such extent as to have no 
 limit. While we feel perfectly secure from competition, in the 
 cheapness of the raw material, in manufacturing Cotton Bao-o-ino- 
 let us not be unmindful of other circumstances, which, although 
 they cannot be brought to bear against other branches of Cotton 
 Manufacturing, may prove ruinous in this. 
 
 The first is, that an advance of 2 cents per lb. in Cotton with¬ 
 out a proportionate rise in Bagging, would take from the ’manu¬ 
 facturer his whole profit. The second is quite as formidable. I 
 mean the competition of Kentucky, where the improvements in 
 cultivation would enable them to raise Hemp at 3 cents per lb * 
 which would pay as well as Cotton itt 6 cents. Moreover, it is 
 the opinion of those engaged in the manufacture of Hemp 
 Ba gg ,n gi that before they would give up the business, the cost 
 of manufacture would be reduced to 3 cents per yard, so that 
 the Bagging may be furnished to the manufacturer at 84- cents 
 per yard. Nor is this all. When we consider the limited 
 quantity of Bagging required for the supply of the United States 
 we may justly have apprehensions of danger from competition 
 among ourselves. Taking the crop of this country at 2,500000 
 bales, and allowing 5 yards of cloth for each bale, it would re¬ 
 quire but 12,500,000 yards per annum, to supply the whole Uni¬ 
 ted States, and this number of yards does not equal the produc¬ 
 tion of several of the manufacturing companies in Massachu¬ 
 setts. There are two establishments in Lowell that turn out 
 each, upwards of 13,000,000 yards of cloth per annum. The 
 establishment alluded to in a former chapter, having four mills 
 in one enclosure, judging from the product from January to July 
 and taking Cotton at its value here, would yield a gross profit of 
 $624,184, on an expenditure for raw material and labor of 
 $391,374, while the gross profit on all the Bagging used in the 
 United States, at 3 45-100 cents per vard, is only $431,250 in¬ 
 volving an expenditure of #887,500 id labor and the purchase of 
 raw material. 
 
 * Since the above was published, it has been 
 is now the ruling price for Hemp in Kentucky. 
 
 ascertained that S3 per hundred 
 
41 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 I will now undertake to discuss the merits, of another branch 
 of Cotton Manufacturing, that of spinning Yarn for exportation. 
 But before entering on this subject, I will notice too very com¬ 
 mon errors entertained among us, which will prove fatal if not 
 removed. The first is, that Cotton Manufacturing is so compli¬ 
 cated in its details and requires such nice management to keep it 
 in order, the delicate and complicated machinery, that none need 
 expect to succeed in it, who have not served a regular appren¬ 
 ticeship at the business. The other is, that the improvements 
 constantly making in machinery, render it necessary to lay aside 
 old, and purchase new, in order to keep up with the age. 
 
 With regard to the first, (the idea of there being great difficulty 
 in the management of a Manufacturing Establishment,) I will 
 merely say, that it arises, from drawing a comparison between it, 
 and the mechanical trades, all of which require skilful workmen 
 to manage them, with advantage; but the operations of a Cotton 
 Factory, differ almost as widely from those of a carpenter’s shop, 
 or any other mechanical trade, as from a cotton plantation. We 
 might, with the same propriety, distrust our capacity to operate 
 Steam Engines ; they are very complicated machines, yet when 
 fed with fuel and water, we find them doing their duty, and with¬ 
 out much mechanical labor. So with the Power Printing Press 
 and a thousand other machines that might be named. The 
 Printing Press is also a complicated machine, yet, we find it 
 operating well, without the aid of the machinist who made it. 
 The same remarks apply equally to a Cotton Factory. The 
 overseer of the Carding department , should be skilled in his 
 branch of the business, and understand thoroughly how to keep 
 the machinery of a carding room in order. So with the over¬ 
 seers of the Spinning and Weaving departments . Each, if 
 he understand his business, will be able to keep the machinery of 
 his department in working order, it being necessary to have a 
 regular machinist, only to do large repairs, such as would cause 
 the overseer to absent himself from the immediate supervision of 
 his department. The common operatives have nothing to do 
 with the keeping of the machinery in order, but simply with the 
 handling of the Cotton, as it passes through the mill; and the 
 secret of suceess in a Cotton Factory, is just that which is neces¬ 
 sary, for the success of any other enterprise. If Planting re¬ 
 quire the skilful direction of labor, so is it with a Cotton Factory. 
 If in Mechandizing , economy in all departments of the busi¬ 
 ness. and an observant eye as to the results, be requisite to success, 
 so will it be with the Manufacturer. He who engages in Manu¬ 
 facturing, must not expect to lead a life of idleness, it is not 
 
42 
 
 without its cares, and is subjected to the mishaps, and ups and 
 downs, that attend any other department of business, in life. The 
 labors are, however, entirely mental, and just such, as are required 
 to give healthful and pleasant employment, to a retired Merchant. 
 The man who has devoted the greater part of his life to mercan¬ 
 tile pursuits, is generally, from his habits, unfitted for literary 
 pleasures; still his habits are so active, as to forbid his living in 
 idleness. The supervision of a well regulated manufacturing 
 establishment, is above all other employments, the best adapted 
 to such a man. While it serves to keep him from rusting, and 
 from dying with ennui , it prevents his capital from being locked 
 up in stocks. He continues the manager of the fortune he has 
 accumulated by his industry and good management, and be¬ 
 comes a valuable producer to his country ; when he would other¬ 
 wise be induced to follow the popular error, of placing his money 
 uucier the control of corporate institutions, managed by men, who 
 frequently have no pecuniary interest in them, and who being, 
 often, bad managers of their own affairs, volunteer in the service 
 of lending other people’s money. 
 
 We will now proceed to notice the second error alluded to 
 above, viz : that the improvements in machinery are so frequent, 
 as to require old, to be constantly replaced with new machinery. 
 There never was a greater mistake than this, and in proof of it, 
 I will only refer you to the Boston Manufactories. The same 
 machinery that was put in operation from 1822 to 1828, is still at 
 work, and competing successfully with that made recently. 
 Nearly all the useful improvements have been such, as could be 
 applied to the old machinery, and the application is usually made 
 by the regular machinist employed about the establishment. The 
 parts which wear rapidly are not material, and are easily replaced; 
 such as Card Clothing, and a few of the Journals having a very 
 rapid motion. The Live Spindle wears out in from ten to 
 twenty years. A machine with 130 spindles, which cost $700, 
 may be repaired, and refitted with new spindles for about $125, 
 when it will be about as good as a new one. 
 
 We will now take up the subject announced at the opening of 
 the chapter. The Spinning of Cotton Yarn is, beyond doubt, 
 a business that might be undertaken by ns, with a prospect of 
 eminent success. All the complication in Manufacturing takes 
 place after the yarn is spun. The preparation for, and weaving 
 into merchantable cloth, involves more than half of the labor 
 and expense of Manufacturing, and by far the most skill and 
 attention. A given number of hands will turn off double the 
 quantity of yarn that could be turned into cloth by the same. 
 But two overseers are required, a Carder and a Spinner. And 
 there is no good reason, why the name of some of our large 
 Planters should not be seen on bales of yarn, making their way 
 
43 
 
 to Europe, to supply the markets that are now monopolized by 
 the English spinners. England has for many years, been send¬ 
 ing millions of dollars worth of this article, to the Continent. 
 Since 1832 she has exported to that part of the world, trom 
 sixteen to twenty-five millions of dollars worth, per annum. And 
 what is to prevent us, in Carolina, from setting up a claim to a 
 portion of this trade ? Are we afraid of Northern competition in 
 this, the simplest of all kinds of Manufacture? The South has 
 never failed to supplant the North in this branch of Manufac¬ 
 tures, whenever the attempt has been made. Previous to 1833, 
 there were many Cotton Factories about Philadelphia and 
 throughout the North, engaged in making Cotton Yarn, to sup¬ 
 ply the hand and power-loom weavers; but since the erection of 
 Mills at Petersburg, Va., Fayetville, N. C.. and in South-Carolina 
 and Georgia, the result has been, to drive most of these Northern 
 spinners to weaving. The Commission Merchants of Philadel¬ 
 phia and New-York, engaged in the Yarn trade, will tell you, 
 that the South has taken complete possession of the market. 
 The home trade in this article, may now be said to be ours. Are 
 we afraid of coming in competition with English labor? Not¬ 
 withstanding what has been said about direct trade , and getting 
 goods cheaper from England.it is the dearest labor in the world. 
 The Continental powers of Europe have learned this fact, and 
 are making every possible effort to perform the operation of 
 Cotton Spinning for themselves, which they would not think of 
 doing, if they could be supplied from a country, that could afford 
 it as cheaply as ours. 
 
 The average pay of Factory operatives in England is, accord¬ 
 ing to Dr. Ure’s Statistics of Cottton Manufactures in Great 
 Britain. $2 50 per week. McCulloch puts it at £22 10s. per 
 annum. It cannot be reduced below this sum, as this is barely 
 sufficient, with the great majority of them, to maintain existence. 
 Manufacturing establishments are taxed so highly by the British 
 government, that it amounts to upwards of fifty per cent, on the 
 price of the manufacturing labor, of the Northern States, and 
 more than one hundred per cent ., on the value of labor in our 
 own State. Many establishments pay directly and indirectly, to 
 the British government, 20, 40, 60 and even $S0,000 per annum, 
 in the shape of taxes. Let us not deceive ourselves with the idea 
 that goods must be cheap, because they are made in a country, in 
 which labor is so cheap, as barely to sustain life; but let us 
 bear in mind, that every thing which enters into the support of 
 an English operative, is so highly taxed, that the sum which is 
 required, to afford him a scanty subsistence, is double that which 
 would make him comfortable in Carolina. Let us remember, 
 that the article which is produced by the English six penny 
 labor is taxed a shilling , for the support of an extravagant gov- 
 
44 
 
 ernment. To illustrate this point, I will quote the language of 
 Mr. Kirkham Finlay, an English gentleman, of great authority, 
 in these matters, who, in his Report on Commerce, Manufactures, 
 &c., says:—“I think the difference would be this, that, if the 
 amount of wages paid in Great Britain, was absolutely necessary 
 for the comfortable subsistence of the workmen, it would be quite 
 clear that, whatever pressure there might be, those wages could 
 be permanently reduced ; but, if the money wages paid in Amer¬ 
 ica, are sufficient to get a great deal more than the absolute 
 ?iecessaries and comforts of life, then, if there is a pressure 
 upon its manufacturers, they can so reduce the wages as to 
 meet that difficulty, and by that means undersell the manufac¬ 
 turers here? The enormous taxes levied on all branches of 
 business, but more particularly on cotton spinning, are, the duty 
 on the raw material—on flour for sizing—on oil—on the glass 
 which admits the light—on postage, checks, receipts, promissory 
 notes and advertisements—on the money which is borrowed, or 
 paid—on the transfer of any property purchased, or sold—and on 
 the policies of insurance. This last item of tax, on the Cotton 
 Manufactures of England, amounts alone, to about $360,000 per 
 annum/ 
 
 As we begin to have some practical experience in Manufac¬ 
 turing at the South, we can now see what an absurdity it would 
 be for us to pack up our cotton and send it to England, to be re¬ 
 turned as osnaburgs, taxed from 60 to $80 per bale, as was the 
 case formerly; when the same can be converted into cloth, in 
 the immediate neighborhood of the place, in which it grew, for 
 one fourth of the sum. It is equally as absurd in us, to send our 
 Raw Cotton to Europe, to be spun into Yarn—adding $40 to 
 $50 to the value of a bale, which yields the planter of the interior, 
 after pay ing the expense of transportation, from $12 to $15 only; 
 thus paying in a double transportation, government taxes and 
 foreign labor, four times the amount that it would cost to do the 
 
 * “The heavy cloths, in which the competition of America has been principal¬ 
 ly felt, are woven with coarse yarns from Nos. 10 to 20. It appears from the 
 schedule of the prices of spinning in the factories of the United States, compared 
 with the prices paid for the same work in Glasgow, annexed to Mr. Kirkham 
 Finlay’s letter, to Lord Ashley, in 1833, that the prices of spinning these numbers 
 of yarn were, for a given quantity 4s. in the United States, and 4s. lid. in Glas¬ 
 gow, being 22 per eent. in favor of America. The prices of carding the same 
 numbers were, in the United States, 6s 7jd. per week, and in Glasgow, 7s. J*d, 
 per week, being 7 per cent, in favor of America. 
 
 “In the operation of dressing the warp of heavy goods, the American has an 
 advantage of 50 per cent, in price, and in weaving, of 25 per cent, being upon 
 the two taken together, an advantage of 36 per cent. The total charges of dress¬ 
 ing and weaving, are: 
 
 or 36 per ct. of the charges per piece in favor of the United States. ,J ~-/»\ Ures' 
 l rcQli$e the Cotton Manufactures of Qreat Britain , 
 
 In England, per piece, 
 In America, *« “ 
 
 Is. 2*d. 
 
45 
 
 same thing, by the labor of our own negroes. When these facts 
 are presented to our view, can we have the face to complain, that 
 capital employed in directing the labor of our State, will not pay 
 more than 3 per cent. Where shall we find as cheap labor as 
 that which we have at our command ? I may safely assert, it is 
 the cheapest in the world. Which of the two is the cheaper, 
 free or slave labor, is a question not yet decided by manufactur¬ 
 ers at the South. All concur that there is no difference as to 
 capability; the only qestion is, whether hired white labor is not 
 cheaper than slave labor? There is no difficulty with a Caro¬ 
 linian, in deciding what slave labor is worth; and as a proof of 
 the difference between white labor here and at the North, we 
 refer you to the pay list of a Factory in Lowell, and one in 
 South-Carolina, with this explanation—that the hands in the 
 Lowell mill are more efficient than those in the South-Carolina 
 Factory, no operatives being employed in the former under 15 
 years of age.* The weavers and overseers are omitted in both 
 lists. The former being paid by the job, earn about as much 
 here, as in Lowell ; and each family have one, or tw r o, of this 
 class, who earn from $3, to $3£, per week, making together a 
 sum, that affords them such living, as they have not previously 
 been accustomed to. The overseers in both Factories receive 
 similar wages. All the hands in ihe Carolina Factory, receiving 
 16 cents and upwards per day, are efficient ones ; and the girls 
 receiving 20 and 26 cents per day, would do themselves credit, 
 alongside of the Lowell spinners. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 There is no difficulty in obtaining labor at the prices set forth 
 in the pay list referred to in the Appendix, but it is not desirable 
 that such a state of things should continue. Let manufactures 
 be once introduced among us, and the condition of this class of 
 persons, will soon become more elevated, when they will require 
 higher wages. The cheapness of living, mildness of climate, and 
 other circumstances so much in our favor, render 75 cents here, 
 more than equal to $1 in New-England. In the interior of this 
 State, we can put up a comfortable frame and weather-boarded 
 house, spacious enough to accommodate a large family, for $140. 
 Fire wood is furnished at $1 per cord, and other necessaries may 
 be had at proportionate rates. Compare this state of things with 
 
 See Table E. in the Appendix. 
 
that of any other country. Look at the wages of England, and 
 consider that her operatives are but scantily fed, and are without 
 fuel sufficient to keep them comfortable in cold weather; while 
 ours, with their low wages, have all the actual necessaries that 
 render a human being comfortable. Consider the fact, that in 
 addition to the innumerable and oppressive taxes levied on the 
 English spinner, he is subjected to a tax on the raw material of 
 5-16 of a penny, half the amount required here, to convert it into 
 Yarn. In connexion with these facts is it necessary to remind 
 you that we have a large class of miserable poor white people 
 among us, without any employment to render them producers to 
 the State ; who, if too lazy to work themselves, might be induced 
 to place their children in a situation, in which they would be ed¬ 
 ucated and reared in industrious habits. When we consider the 
 deplorable fact, that there are 20,600 white people in this State, 
 over the age of 20 years, who can neither read nor write, and 
 that no measures are taken by us to elevate their condition, we 
 must come to the conclusion, that there is something radically 
 wrong in South-Carolina. If we have proved that there is a field 
 for the profitable investment of capital, in the employment of 
 these people, then it cannot be denied that there is a vast opening 
 for philanthropic operations, on the part of those who possess the 
 wealth of our State ; indeed, this is a field for the exercise of the 
 labors of every Christian in the land. Let us see that we u re¬ 
 move the beam from our own eye” before we attempt to extract 
 the mote from our neighbor’s. Let those that are commendably 
 and zealously engaged in the Missionary cause look to it, that 
 they are not sending aid to countries, in a much better condition, 
 in this respect, than our own. If we have 20,600 over the age 
 °f 20 years, out of 112,000, we of course may add 8,800 out of 
 the 47,855 between the ages of 12 and 20, making in all, 29,400 
 persons in South-Carolina, over the age of 12 years, who cannot 
 read the Bible ,—a number equal to the entire population of 
 Charleston. These are facts that ought to awaken the sympa¬ 
 thies of every educated son and daughter of our State. They 
 are worthy the serious consideration of our politicians, who flat¬ 
 ter themselves that our State is the paragon of perfection—a bright 
 star, shedding light on the whole Union—whose politicians are 
 capable of giving lessons in Political Economy, to the whole 
 world. It would be well for this distinguished class of persons, 
 to give this subject a thorough investigation, and see whether so 
 large a portion of our people, could not be so employed, as to 
 alleviate some of the burthens complained of, in South-Carolina. 
 
 Nearly the whole of this class of persons, and, we may safely 
 add, as many more, as will make the number, fifty thousand, over 
 the age of 12 years, are non-producers to our State, purely be¬ 
 cause they are neglected by those, possessing the capital of our 
 
47 
 
 country. Labor is capital, and, when directed witli energy and 
 judiciously diversified, it fixes population and creates a kind of 
 wealtli which the spirit of emigration cannot remove—which is 
 not transferable—and which leaves an indelible impress that time 
 alone can efface. Allow that two-thirds of this fifty thousand, 
 among which we include the aged and decrepit, be required to 
 raise provisions, make clothing, cook, wash, &c., for the balance, 
 and we shall have left, 16,666 persons, whose labor, if as well di¬ 
 rected as that in the Massachusetts Mills, at Lowell, would turn 
 into cloth a quantity of raw material equal to 5152 lbs. to the 
 hand, per annum, and a gross amount of 218,878 bales of 345 
 lbs. each, fully as much as is supposed to constitute the entire 
 crop of South-Carolina; and if we content ourselves with mak¬ 
 ing no finer cloths than are woven from No. 14 yarn, we will add 
 an average value to our staple, of at least 15 cents per lb., or 
 $12,879,485 80. But we will be satisfied to estimate the capa¬ 
 city of our operatives, as being only half that of the Lowell op¬ 
 eratives ; and in that case, ours would only be able to spin this 
 quantity of Cotton into Yarn, thus adding to the value of each 
 pound of Cotton, according to the present rates of prices in this 
 State, Philadelphia: and New-York, 10 cents, or $8,586 323 20.* 
 If the poor white people of our State, are not enough of them¬ 
 selves to make up a sufficient number, to turn our Cotton crop 
 into cloth, it certainly would not make such draughts upon the 
 agricultural population as to be felt, especially as women and 
 children, principally, would be required. 
 
 Although we may not expect so great a change in our indus¬ 
 trial pursuits for many years, yet, it cannot be denied, that every 
 step towards its consummation, will improve our condition. In¬ 
 dependent of the fact that we should be supplying ourselves with 
 all the coarser cotton fabrics, we should be enhancing the value 
 of our Cotton crop, three and four-fold ; and this is not the most 
 important aspect of the subject; this change could not operate 
 
 * In the town of Lowell, there are about 6,500 persons employed in spinning 
 and weaving Cotton cloth, one factory making Osnaburgs of 4* Yarn, the bal¬ 
 ance running on Drillings, Sheetings, Shirtings, and Printing cloths, from Yam 
 of M to 40. _ They consumed in the year 1843, 2*2,880,000 lbs. of Cotton, or 66,316 
 bales of 345 lbs. each. The Massachusetts Mills, four in number, employed 
 885 hands, and turned out 13,520,000 yards, or 4,560,000 lbs. of cloth, about 15 
 bales to the hand ;* these Mills contain 27,008 spindles. At the same ratio of 
 production, it would require 508,554 spindles, to turn the crop of South-Carolina 
 into Yarn ; this machinery, for spinning only, would cost about $7* per spindle, 
 or $3,814,155 The looms and apparatus for weaving the same, would cost about 
 S3 50 per spindle, or SI,779,939; making the entire cost of machinery necessary 
 to spin and weave 248,878 bales of Cotton, $5,594,084. All other expenses, such 
 as buildings, &c. would be the product of our domestic materials and labor; in¬ 
 deed much of the former, would also be the product of our labor. Each mill of 
 5000 spindles, would require about 80,000 lbs. of castings, shafting, &c., all of 
 which, might be made in our own Stale, and of our own materials. 
 
 • See J.owell Statistics in the Appendix. 
 
4S 
 
 ^7 
 
 otherwise than to produce a highly improved state of agriculture; 
 to bring around us all other branches of mechanism—to devel- 
 ope among us, numberless sources of wealth—and to cut off the 
 immense drains that are now impoverishing us. An advance in 
 the price of our great staple, situated as we are, only serves to 
 widen the avenues, through which our wealth leaves us; indeed, 
 it may truly be said, that the richer we grow, the poorer we are; 
 as an increase of income, only begets a correspondent extrava¬ 
 gance in expenditure. 
 
 What would be the result of Cotton’s rising to, and remaining 
 for five years, at 15 cents per lb., and then returning to present 
 prices? Any one, at all conversant with our past history, would 
 say that we should find ourselves in a far worse condition than 
 at present, with our soil still further exhausted, with no permanent 
 improvements, and all involved in debt. Indeed, such a period 
 of prosperity would only be brought to mind, by the remem¬ 
 brance of the follies we had indulged in, and the debts we had 
 contracted, in anticipation of a continuance of high prices. 
 
 The idea of our traversing the world, to employ the steam- 
 power and poor people of other countries, to do that which could 
 be so easily effected by our abundant, and now worthless water¬ 
 power, and poor people, is superlatively ridiculous, and if fol¬ 
 lowed out, cannot end in any thing, but poverty and dependance. 
 
 u Agriculture, to flourish, must have a market for its surplus productions. 
 And what is a market ? Does that magic word reside in any place ? Most 
 people seem to think so. A market is everywhere. It is people, not a 
 place—people not engaged in agriculture, but employed in the production 
 of something which supplies a human want. And the nearer it is found 
 to the farmer’s door the better, the less of his productions are spent in get¬ 
 ting them to market. Agriculture can flourish then, only where there is a 
 large population engaged in manufactures and commerce. 
 
 u Hencethe second source of national wealth is manufacturing industry. 
 No nation ever became wealthy by raising the raw material, and then ex¬ 
 changing it for the manufactured article. The manufacturing people al¬ 
 ways have the advantage. They may work day and night, summer and 
 winter, in fair and stormy weather. An agricultural population work only 
 in the day-time, when the earth is free from frosts, and when the clouds are 
 not disburdening themselves upon the earth. A manufacturing population 
 can avail themselves to any extent, of the aid of machinery. The fall of 
 water in the town of Lowell, is made to do the work of a million of human 
 beings. Everything the farmer raises must be brought out of ihe earth by 
 main force, by hand work. The farmer’s productions are bulky, and are 
 often almost consumed in getting them to market. The manufactured ar¬ 
 ticle is usually comparatively light in proportion to its value. The farmer, 
 moreover, is obliged to take the chances of unpropitious seasons, and oc-' 
 casionally a short crop. But no variation of the seasons has ever been 
 known to produce a short crop of boots and shoes, and no drought has ever 
 been so great as to blight the labors of the loom. With these advantages, 
 a manufacturing people will always contrive to keep an agricultural people 
 in debt. Towns and cities will spring up among them, and the very fact of 
 a condensed population gives them great advantages. An exclusively ag- 
 
49 
 
 riculturai people, in the present age of the world, will always be poor* 
 They want a home market. They want cities and towns, they want di¬ 
 versity of employment. They want that enterprise and activity, which is 
 engendered merely by bringing masses of people to act upon each other 
 by°mutual stimulation and excitement. Why is the balance of trade con¬ 
 tinually in favor of the North ? Because our labor is not sufficiently diver¬ 
 sified, because the raw material goes from this very city to the North to be 
 manufactured, and then comes back to be worn by our own citizens, while 
 we have among us thousands and thousands who might work it up, but who 
 are lying here idle, and many of them supported by public charity!— South¬ 
 ern Quarterly Review. Yol. III. p.362. 
 
 Suppose the Protective System to be wholly abandoned by the 
 country, how will the change affect our condition as a State ? 
 Will it bring back the rich treasures that have left us ? Will it 
 bring back the enterprising citizens that have removed from our 
 State to settle in others ? " Will it be the means of resuscitating 
 our worn-out soil ? Shall not the sound still continue to be rung 
 in our ears, of ten bales to the hand in Mississippi, and three in 
 Carolina? So long as we make the culture of cotton our chief 
 employment, will not the same causes continue to exist, that are 
 now depopulating our State ? Yes, they will, and until we make 
 a radical change in our pursuits, our wealthy and enterprising 
 citizens will continue to leave us. Let us then set about produ¬ 
 cing this change. Let us endeavor to bring about such a state of 
 things as shall invite the industry, if not capital, of other coun¬ 
 tries, to our State. Let us try to cultivate a good feeling among 
 our people, for our Northern brethren. We have no lack of tra¬ 
 ding men from among this class of persons. Let us offer induce¬ 
 ments that shall bring their working-men to our delightful cli¬ 
 mate ; they will soon replace the capital that has left our State. 
 They will teach our children lessons of industry and economy. 
 They will furnish materials for the academic schools, recommen¬ 
 ded by our Governor. They will teach us the value of thousands 
 of acres of swamp land, in South-Carolina, yet covered with their 
 primeval forest trees. They will teach us lessons in agriculture 
 that shall prove to us, that the money expended for an agricultural 
 survey, has not been spent in vain; and above all , they will give 
 some of our wise men , practical lessons in Political Economy . 
 tSuch a change would revive the trade of our city and bring about 
 anew and flourishing state of things in South-Carolina. 
 
 5 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 I trust that enough has been said on the subject of Cotton Man * 
 ufactures to prove the practicability of engaging in them in 
 South-Cardina, in competition with any other country. To the 
 thinking part of the community, it is hoped, arguments are not 
 now necessary, to show the necessity of changing our industrial 
 pursuits , in order to close up the flood gates—that are draining 
 our State, of its enterprising planters and negro population, to 
 people the West—and sweeping oft' millions of mercantile capi¬ 
 tal, to build manufacturing towns at the North. Yes, to build 
 up towns; for Charleston has done her part in this work. It is 
 said, and we believe with truth, that the town of Bridgeport, in 
 Connecticut, one of the most thriving manufacturing towns in 
 that State, has been built by the capital of Charleston. The 
 majority of its largest Manufacturing Establishments, have been 
 Put in operation by capital accumulated in this city, and we are 
 daily adding to its wealth and population, by the purchase of 
 thousands of dollars worth of Carriages, Harness, Saddlery, and 
 other articles. Indeed we may truly say, that the Manufacturers 
 of Charleston, have their work-shops in Bridgeport, whose streets 
 are paved with the money that should be spent in this city, and 
 in which, the palace of the manufacturer will be erected, when 
 he retires from business. 
 
 Before bringing my subject to a close, I will make a few re¬ 
 marks on the policy to be pursued, by those who may engage in 
 Manufactures—on the use of Steam Power—and on the°cost of 
 the machinery necessary for manufacturing cotton. To such as 
 are disposed to engage in this branch of business, the caution 
 cannot be too often repeated, to guard against two errors, which, 
 so far as I am informed, have been the only obstacle to a realiza¬ 
 tion of profit, from such investments, at the South. So well con¬ 
 vinced am I of this fact, that whenever I hear of a failure to pro¬ 
 duce profit, in any enterprise of this sort, I can, without enquiry, 
 safely predict, that it has resulted from one of these causes. 
 
 The first is complication —undertaking to do too much. Per¬ 
 sons commencing this business at the South, either forget are not 
 aware of the fact, that Manufacturers are essentially wholesale 
 dealers. They generally set out with the notion, that to run a 
 mill of 2000 spindles, on one thing, would soon over-stock the 
 maiket; and by undertaking to fit out Factories in such a manner 
 as to avoid this, they commit a fatal error. I often bring to mind 
 a conversation which I once had with a very intelligent old gen¬ 
 tleman, who owned an interest in a small Factory of 1200 
 spindles. I will relate a part of it, in order to exemplify the 
 notions, that prevail among us on this subject. In speaking of 
 
51 
 
 the advantage which South-Carolina possessed, in water power , 
 he remarked, “that near his Factory there was one of the finest 
 mill seats in the State, but if a Cotton Mill should be erected on 
 it, it would ruin the one in which he had an interest.” This gen¬ 
 tleman did not seem to be aware, of the fact, that a mill erected 
 in Massachusetts, was as much a competitor with his, as if it were 
 alongside of it, and that any disadvantage from competition, was 
 more than counterbalanced by the advantage gained from com¬ 
 munion. The owners of this little mill, at the time spoken of, 
 were endeavoring to force their goods off in the village, in which 
 it was located ; this market was of course over-stocked, to the 
 great embarrassment of this Manufacturing Company . After 
 many hard struggles to avoid such an alternative, they were at 
 length induced to send a few bales of their goods to the Charles¬ 
 ton market, and are now regularly shipping them to New-York— 
 a market not likely to be depressed by all the cloth, that South- 
 Carolina may send to it, for many years to come. 
 
 Those who embark in this business should look entirely to a 
 wholesale market. The idea of having an agent in every country 
 village is ridiculous. Aside from the embarrassment and per¬ 
 plexity, of having their goods scattered over the whole country, 
 the changes necessary for making different kinds of goods, are 
 wholly at war with any system which may be adopted, with re¬ 
 gard to quantity. The stoppages necessary for changing machine¬ 
 ry, will destroy all system among the operatives, and render it 
 impossible, with the very best management, to turn off any thing 
 like the quantity which might be produced, by working at one 
 thing only; and the loss in such cases would not be compensated 
 by the difference, between wholesale and retail prices. ^The sale 
 of the Manufacturer’s goods, belongs rightfully to the Commis¬ 
 sion Merchant. He has no business peddling off his yarn and 
 cloth at retail—let him leave that to small manufacturers, or 
 any person who desires to engage in such petty business. His 
 goods should be forwarded, precisely as a planter’s cotton is, to a 
 mercantile agent, to make the best disposition of them that a 
 shipping market will afford,—they should be sold as they are 
 made. 
 
 In making a selection, of the kind of goods, to be manufac¬ 
 tured, care should be taken not to fix on an article, with which 
 the market is easily over-stocked. The article, osnaburgs, is one 
 of limited demand. South-Carolina and Georgia are now over¬ 
 supplied from our Factories, which send a large surplus to New- 
 York and New-Orleans. Two large establishments added to 
 those which we now possess, would monopolize the trade—make 
 a supply sufficient for the whole country—and force the Northern 
 manufacturer to abandon the article. There are other articles 
 equally as profitable, which we can make as well—such as Cloths , 
 
52 
 
 made from No. 12 to 16 yarn— Drills and Muslins , weighing 
 from 3 to 5 yards to the lb.— Sheeting , from 36 inches to ll 
 yards wide— Shirtings, from 26 to 36 inches wide. These 
 articles consume a large portion of all the Cotton, produced by 
 the world; and if the little Factory alluded to above, as well as all 
 the Factories in South-Carolina, (whose machinery is well adap¬ 
 ted to such goods and not to osnaburgs), were running on 
 Shiitings, Sheetings, or Drills, and had this village, or any other 
 town, even the city of Charleston, machinery enough to turn out 
 100,000 yards per day, it would scarcely befell in the market of 
 the world. 
 
 When South-Carolina once sets about Manufacturing, the 
 wholesale Merchants of Charleston will soon learn the way of 
 doing business, after the manner of those in Baltimore, Philadel¬ 
 phia and New-York, in purchasing large quantities of these 
 Brown Goods , to be converted into Colored Muslins , Bleached 
 Cloths , or Calico Prints— this branch of business being now 
 carried on very extensively, and as a distinct one from the other 
 branches of Manufacturing. For instance, a merchant of New- 
 \ork will purchase 100 bales of the sleaziest goods in the mar¬ 
 ket, and send them to Providence, where they are dyed of vari¬ 
 ous colors, assorted as to finish, and stamped with any particular 
 mark, he may chose to designate. Cambrics f wide, are colored 
 and finished for lj cents per yard— 4-4 wide for 2 cents, and * 
 Silesias for about the same price. The same merchant sends a 
 quantity of Brown Shirtings, or Sheetings, and has ihem bleach¬ 
 ed and finished in various styles, making from the same bale of 
 cloth, three or four kinds of goods. Bleaching long cloth, calen¬ 
 der finish, costs 2^ cents per lb.—beetle finish, 4 cents per lb.— 
 gold bands 4 \ cents each—cambric finish, 4 mills per yard, extra. 
 
 He may send another lot of either, or both of these kinds of 
 goods, to be printed (designating the patterns,) when they are 
 put into colors and shapes, stamped to suit him, boxed up, and 
 sent back. We mention these facts to show the endless variety 
 of uses, to which these goods are put, with which the original 
 maker has nothing to do ; and to show the demand, we may ex¬ 
 pect for them, when Charleston becomes a market for such goods. 
 
 The second error alluded to, is that of making the establish¬ 
 ments too small. No one, in South-Carolina, should think of put¬ 
 ting up a Factory for making Cloth , to contain less than 5,000 
 spindles, unless he is willing to apprentice himself to the busi¬ 
 ness, and go into the Mill himself to oversee and manage it. 
 
 Such a class of men, will not easily be found in our State, at the 
 present time. Planters must not think of erecting small Mills to 
 spin their own Cotton ; even in Kentucky, where Manufactur¬ 
 ing is performed by hand labor, there are few instances, of its 
 being undertaken, by those who raise the hemp. This may, 
 
53 
 
 however, be done with great propriety, by many planters in this 
 State that I could name, who possess the requisite capital for 
 erecting Mills, and negroes for working them; but such ought 
 to confine their operations to Yarn for shipment. It must be 
 remembered, that they who have talent enough to rise to the sit¬ 
 uation of overseers, in Manufacturing establishments, have, in 
 common with all mankind, pride of character. A young man, 
 reared in one of these fine Massachusetts establishments, would 
 consider it almost an insult, to be offered a situation in a 1200, or 
 2000-spindle factory, in South-Carolina. Such men could not 
 be induced, for ordinary wages, to take charge of any thing short 
 of a first rate establishment; and if employed to take charge of 
 such an one, they would come out, expecting to make it pro¬ 
 duce the same quantity, that the Mills of New-England do. Any 
 gentleman who attempts Manufacturing on a small scale, in this 
 State, will find that he has invested his capital in that, which is 
 not easily disposed of, and that profitable results can only be ob¬ 
 tained by the utmost vigilance, should he undertake to conduct 
 his Mill, in person. If he employ overseers, he will find it diffi¬ 
 cult to obtain such, as are skilful at their business; and if he even 
 get skilful ones, they cannot be relied on. Taking it altogether, 
 it will be found to be a business suited to few persons. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Steam power being now in general use, information with re¬ 
 gard to its economy, in driving machinery, is at the command of 
 most persons, particularly in towns, in which it is most likely to 
 be used. It will, therefore, not be necessary, to say much on 
 this subject. In the city of Charleston, we have an inexhausti¬ 
 ble supply of wood for such purposes, and our location is more 
 favorable, as regards the use of Pennsylvania coal, than any of 
 the Eastern cities. In England, it is estimated, that each pound 
 of Cotton consumes half a pound of coal in its manufacture. In 
 a lecture on the comparative cost of water and steam power, de¬ 
 livered before the citizens of Hartford, Conn., by Mr. Charles 
 T. James, of Newburyport, and which was recently re-published 
 in the Charleston Courier , he states, that to run two mills, in the 
 latter place, one of 6,336, and the other 11,000 spindles, with all 
 the apparatus for weaving, consumes 3j tons of anthracite coal 
 per day ; for which is paid, delivered at the Factory, $4 42-100 
 per ton. These are, however, mule spindles , which require 20 
 per cent, less power than such, as we would use. Montgomery 
 
54 
 
 in his “Treatise on Cotton Manufacturing,” gives 65 horse power, 
 as the size of an engine, competent to drive 5000 heavy spindles, 
 and all the other machinery to make cloth. There are various 
 ways of calculating horse power, he speaks of the English mode, 
 that is, a power that will raise 33,000 pounds, one foot, in a 
 minute. 
 
 It is a difficult matter to give the cost of machinery, as there is 
 such a variety of kinds used, with so many different grades of 
 finish, 1 here is an estimate before me, made for another per¬ 
 son, of the cost of machinery, including gearing, shafting and 
 
 pulleys, complete, for a Factory containing 2 Lap-machines_ 27 
 
 thirty-inch cards—2,268 Spindles, and 24 Osnaburg Looms, for 
 $24,000 ; and a high pressure engine of 30 horse power, to drive 
 it, for $5000. I will now give a second estimate, furnished from 
 a different establishment, which is as follows : (not including the 
 running gear,) for 20 cards, 4032 Spindles and 130 Looms, with 
 all the apparatus, requisite for running it, boxed up and delivered 
 on ship board, $36,356. The machinery, such as we should re- 
 quire, may be had from $10 to $12 per spindle. The shafting 
 and gearing for a Mill of 5000 spindles, could certainly be put 
 up for $2500 or $3000. It would not be safe, however, to esti- 
 
 n he , 0St ° f al1 the maclliner y» such as is used in Lowell, for 
 a Mill of 5000 spindles, delivered in Charleston, at less than 
 $60,000.* 
 
 I am almost ashamed to say any thing more on the subject of 
 pteam I ower in Charleston. Indeed, the restrictions on its use, 
 in this city, are not in keeping with the age in which we live; 
 when the 1 ress, which prints this article, a^beautiful andcompli- 
 cated machine, which with the aid of steam-power, would per¬ 
 form its work of itself, is driven by the labor of negroes, two of 
 whom may be seen, whenever it is in operation, with coats, jack¬ 
 ets and shirts off, sweating and tugging like horses; and all this 
 labor might be performed with very little more fire, than is used 
 in a common parlor grate, and not much more risk. Steam Power 
 is so universally used in all the Northern cities, that you can 
 scarcely find a grindstone that is not turned by it. I had occa¬ 
 sion, while in Philadelphia, to look for a child’s Velosipede, and 
 was directed to a man who made them, in Dock-street. I found 
 him busily engaged, turning out quantities of them, for our South¬ 
 ern market; his lathes and circular saw were driven by a small 
 engine, which, together with its furnace, did not occupy the 
 space, necessary for a smith’s forge, and if certainly did not pro¬ 
 duce half the smoke. On another occasion, I visited a Last ma- 
 
 * For the information of such as feel an interest in this subject, and who have 
 
 A°pS'X? i sK‘i.rs , iir u rer " ■ t '“»*«> »£ 
 
 
55 
 
 ker; his shop was in the fourth story of a house near Market, 
 between Fourth and Fifth streets; his lathes were also driven by 
 a steam engine, the furnace for which was an iron stove, with 
 the boiler on the top of it, the smoke pipe entering the chimney. 
 He had more power than he needed, and rented the surplus to a 
 carpenter, in the fourth story of a house, on the opposite side of 
 a narrow street, the power being communicated by a belt. At 
 another time, I paid a visit to a Pencil-maker; his lathes were like¬ 
 wise turned by steam power, and certainly I do not exaggerate, 
 when I assert that the furnace of his engine could not contain 
 half a bushel of coal. I could go on naming numberless similar 
 instances, for I had the curiosity to notice these things, having 
 long regarded our restrictions, as impolitic and illiberal, and cal¬ 
 culated to do our city much harm. It may be said, that by a 
 proper application to our city authorities, the right to use steam- 
 power could be obtained; but this course will not answer. We 
 ought to be as liberal as other cities, in this respect. Slight im¬ 
 pediments often turn the course of large streams, and so it may 
 be in this matter. Our City Council ought to adopt the course 
 pursued bv Philadelphia and New-York, in relation to steam- 
 power. The latter city has no legislation on the subject, nor 
 ought Charleston to have any. Every man has his redress, in the 
 common law, for actual nuisances. 
 
 It cannot be disputed that the Southern States have been un¬ 
 justly taxed for the support of Manufactures in this country, for 
 it has been against their will. They have refused to embark in 
 this business, while the Northern people have done so, and built 
 up their section of country by the operation ; but we must re¬ 
 member that the day of retribution must come, nay, is close at 
 hand, when the South shall be amply compensated, for the many 
 burthens, imposed heretofore, by the protective system. The 
 laws of trade are regulated by supply and demand, and will act 
 in spite of human legislation. All the powers on earth cannot 
 change these laws, and an effort to subvert them, would be as fu¬ 
 tile, as an attempt to still the ocean. Any one that has travelled 
 through the Northern States, with a view of gaining information 
 on this subject, cannot have come to any other conclusion, than 
 that the United States is soon to stand first, among Manufactur¬ 
 ing nations. He who confines his walks to the fine streets of 
 New-York, Philadelphia and Boston, can have but a faint idea of 
 what is going on, in these worlds of trade. To get a knowledge 
 of these things, one must go into the garrets and cellars—into 
 the by-ways and alleys, where he will find thousands of native- 
 born Americans, as well as foreigners, from all parts of the globe, 
 engaged in the various branches of the mechanic arts. In arti¬ 
 cles composed of steel and iron, there is nothing which the world 
 produces, that is not now being made in this country ; from the 
 
56 
 
 needle to the 1000-horse-power engine and ship of war. In brass* 
 copper and lead, every thing that enters into the consumption of 
 man—in silk, wool and cotton, every thing necessary for comfort 
 or elegance—in books, gold, silver, shells, diamonds, pearls and 
 all kinds of precious stones, every thing that can administer to 
 the refinement, luxury, or taste of man, or serve for the decora¬ 
 tion and ornament of the fair sex—every article to equip the 
 soldier, or decorate, in gorgeous array, the plumed officer—all 
 articles of furniture and plate required to fit out, in the most ele¬ 
 gant style, the table, or drawing-room, or any other part, of the 
 most costly mansion, may now be procured in the work-shops of 
 this country. There is not an article imported, from any part of 
 the world, however delicate in texture, or curious in form and 
 color, that is not immediately imitated ; and before it is fairly on 
 the shelves of the importer, it is offered for sale by our own Man¬ 
 ufacturers. Such is the state of tilings, in this country, that 
 scarcely a ship arrives at any of our northern ports, but brings 
 among its emigrants, artisans from Rome, Paris, London and oth¬ 
 er European cities. These men do not come alone ; they bring 
 with them work-shops, tools, apprentices and journeymen ; and 
 in every hole and corner of our large Northern cities, they may 
 be seen at work. 
 
 Well may the New-York merchants be opposed to a system of 
 Domestic Industry , which transfers the work-shops of Europe to 
 our own country, thus depriving them of the profit, derived from 
 the importation of the articles, which this class of men manu¬ 
 facture. Go where you may, in the city, or out of it, and you 
 are seldom, or never, out of the sound of the Steam Engine— 
 travel the country over, where you may, and you will not find a 
 water-fall that is not occupied, or that preparations are not being 
 made, to bring it into use. The arts are no longer confined to 
 any particular spot on the globe. Artisans of all nations, are 
 now at liberty to roam where they please ; and just as certain as 
 water will find its level, will they congregate in those countries, 
 that offer the greatest inducements to settle. We have no nobil¬ 
 ity to support in extravagance, in this country, and it is becom< 
 ing known, even among the poverty-stricken operatives of Man¬ 
 chester, that there is a land where industry finds its reward, at 
 least in all the comforts of life. Our free institutions, healthful 
 climate, cheap living, absence from taxation, &c., cannot but of¬ 
 fer strong inducements, to the European manufacturer, to emi¬ 
 grate to our happy land. The time is not far distant, when these 
 United States shall manufacture greatly more than they can con¬ 
 sume, and compete with the whole world, for other markets. 
 Then will the tables be turned, and the day of retribution come ; 
 when the Manufacturers of this country, shall be competing with 
 each other, for the home market, and we shall be supplied at pri- 
 
. .. — 
 
 57 
 
 ces, far below what we should have been, without the American 
 Manufacturer. The Southern States could not take a more ef¬ 
 fectual step, to bring about this state of things, than by commen¬ 
 cing the Manufacture of Coarse Cotton Fabrics , which, by right, 
 belongs to them, and which they will get, with the first effort 
 made to obtain it. They would, at once, drive the Eastern mills, 
 now engaged in this business, to the manufacture of fine goods. 
 I he immense works already in operation, and the millions of 
 capital engaged in manufactures, would still continue to be en¬ 
 gaged in them. For a trifling expense, any of those Massachu¬ 
 setts mills may be so altered, as to run on the finest Cotton Fab¬ 
 rics ; and the disposition to change, from coarse to fine goods, 
 exists with all manufacturers, so that it will require no great ef¬ 
 fort to drive the coarse spinners, from their present occupation, 
 to compete with their neighbors, in the making of Fine Fabrics, 
 finally, when we shall have put a stop to the draughts, which the 
 South-Western States are continually making upon us, and shall 
 have invested our capital, in the business of Manufacturing our 
 raw material into Yarn and Coarse Fabrics, making a mutual ex¬ 
 change, with our Northern brethren, of the coarser for the finer 
 goods, then shall we find the Tariff no longer a subject to quarrel 
 about; but we shall dwell in peace and harmony, and all shall re¬ 
 joice in the blessings, which this system of Domestic Industry 
 will confer on South-Carolina. 
 
 6 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 The person alluded to in page eleven, is believed to have 
 exaggerated in giving the amount of patronage received from 
 Charleston, in the clothing line. A glance at his order book, 
 (which contained pages of names from this city and its vicinity,) 
 satisfied me that the first named amount, $50,000, could not be 
 far short of the mark ; and to say the least of it, the house alluded 
 to receives a large amount of patronage, which might be be¬ 
 stowed on our own tradesmen, without detriment to the interest 
 of the purchaser. It cannot be doubted that the orders sent 
 abroad, together with the foreign-made clothing sold in Charles¬ 
 ton, amounts to double the quantity disposed of by those who 
 manufacture here. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 TABLE A. 
 
 Name of the Company. 
 
 Time 
 
 of commen¬ 
 
 cing. 
 
 Term of 
 Years. 
 
 Capital. 
 
 ’4 
 
 r! 
 
 Allowance for loss in 
 
 outfit, and for fire 
 insurance , they be¬ 
 ing their own in¬ 
 surers. 
 
 Merrimack, 
 
 Hamilton, 
 
 Appleton, 
 
 Lowell, 
 
 Suffolk, 
 
 Tremont, 
 
 Lawrence, 
 
 Boott, 
 
 Massachusetts, 
 
 1825 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1831 
 
 1833 
 
 1833 
 
 1834 
 1838 
 1841 
 
 20 
 
 17 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 11* 
 
 Hi 
 
 11 
 
 6* 
 
 4 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 12| 
 
 10* 
 
 9* 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 10* 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 5i 
 
 Less 1 per cent. 
 
 “ 1 1-10 “ 
 
 “ 1 1-8 “ 
 
 “ 1 1-5 “ 
 
 “ 1 2-5 “ 
 
 “ 1 2-5 “ 
 
 “ 12-5 “ 
 
 “ 2 “ 
 
 “ 3 “ 
 
 TABLE B. 
 
 ESTIMATE made out far myself by Messrs. Rogers , Ketchum & Grosvenor , of Pa¬ 
 terson, N. J. 5000 Spindles for making Yarn. This is 20 per cent, higher than 
 usual , on account of the great demand. 
 
 One Willow, - $ 75 
 
 “ 30-in. picker, - 320 
 
 “ Lap-machine, - - 320 
 
 35 30-in. carding machines, - 7,525 
 
 1 grinding frame, - 90 
 
 6 3-strand drawing frames, at 
 
 $70 per head, - - 1,260 
 
 6 16-strand speeders, at $330 1,980 
 
 5000 improved live throstle spin¬ 
 dles, at $5 each, - - 25,000 
 
 12 double reels, at $60, - 720 
 
 1 yarn press, - 40 
 
 1 slide rest, for turning card 
 cylinders, - *20 
 
 Emery rollers for card grinding, lo 
 1 banding machine, - 4 25 
 
 10,000 speeder bobbins, at 3* c. 350 
 
 15,000 throstle “ at 3* c. 525 
 
 Turning Lathe, - - * 100 
 
 Drilling machine and other tools 350 
 
 Amount carried forward, $38,715 
 
 Amount brought forward, $38,715 
 
 Miscellaneous articles which 
 will be necessary to complete 
 the above, such as belt leath¬ 
 er, cloth and leather for cov¬ 
 ering rollers, card cans, etc. 800 
 
 $39,515 
 
 Boxing furnished at cost. All 
 the machinery warranted to 
 be built of the best materials, 
 embracing the most modern 
 improvements, and fitted up 
 in superior style, the work¬ 
 manship not to be surpassed 
 by any other establishment in 
 the country. 
 
 The machinery necessary to 
 prepare the yarn and weave 
 it into eloth, in connexion 
 with the above, would cost 
 about $15,000 
 
 Total cost, - $54,515 
 

 60 
 
 TABLE C. 
 
 ESTIMATE of the cost of Buildings, Machinery , fyc., for a Cotton Factory extract¬ 
 ed from James Montgomery's Work on Cotton Manufacturing. 
 
 Brick, or stone-house, four stories and attic, 142 by 42 feet 
 Water wheel, gearing and belting, 
 
 Furniture, gas and steam pipes, lathes, tools, &c., 
 
 1 willow, - 
 
 1 scutching machine, - 
 40 carding engines, at $*210, - 
 
 6 drawing heads, 3 heads each, at $200, - 
 
 6 double speeders, 18 spindles each, at $660, 
 
 7 extensers, 36 spindles each, at $900, 
 
 Roving and card cans, - 
 
 Top and cylinder grinders, brushes, &c., 
 
 4992 throstle spindles, at $4 50, 
 
 10,000 rove bobbins, at 6 cts., - _ _ 
 
 12,000 spinning frame bobbins, at 1 cent, 
 
 6,000 skewers, at 1£ cents, 
 
 6,000 spools for warper, at 3 cts., 
 
 6 spooling machines, at $70, 
 
 6 warping do. at $150, 
 
 9 dressing do. at $400. 
 
 128 looms, at $75, 
 
 Miscellaneous articles, . 
 
 $25,000 
 
 17,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 100 
 
 600 
 
 8,400 
 
 1,200 
 
 3,960 
 
 6,300 
 
 542 
 
 210 
 
 22,464 
 
 600 
 
 120 
 
 90 
 
 180 
 
 420 
 
 900 
 
 3.600 
 
 9.600 
 300 
 
 rp,, . , $103,836 
 
 ns is evidently Massachusetts, or Rhode-Island machinerv where thev use 
 the geared speeckr. This is a high estimate for the building mdZlev-Jhell for 
 our back country. The Saluda Factory’s building, of granite 4 stories and* in 
 
 anTanattie 80 hv 40f * J 5 " 1 ^ 20 ’, 000 ,' The Vaucluse, of hewn granite, 4 stories 
 and an attic, 80 b} 40 feet, with wheel-pit and water-wheel, cost only $17,500. 
 
 TABLE D. 
 
 A LIST OF PRICES in Alfred Jinks' Machine Manufactory , Bridesburg near 
 
 Philadelphia . 
 
 Small whipper, or willow, $00 75 
 
 Spreader, or lap-machine, 250 
 
 30-inch cotton cards, firon dof- 
 fers) 230 
 
 30-ineh cotton cards, (wooden 
 doffers*,) 220 
 
 Drawing frame, 4 heads, 240 
 
 “ 3 “ 200 - 
 
 Railway drawing, 125 
 
 Iron railway for 8 cards, 75 
 
 Improved eclipse, 10 spools,dou¬ 
 ble rollers, 250 
 
 Improved eclipse, 10 spools, sin¬ 
 gle rollers, 200 
 
 Throstle spindle, 2J bobbin, 4 50 
 
 “ “ 2 “ 4 
 
 Mule “ 2 25 
 
 Single reel, r 25 
 
 Double “ 40 
 
 Spooling machine. 24 blocks, 
 
 48 spools, 100 
 
 Spooling machine, 12 blocks, 
 
 24 spools, $70 
 
 Warping mill and hack, 50 
 
 Sizing machine, 60 
 
 Beaming “ 70 
 
 Light 35 or 40-inch plain loom, 50 
 Heavy 40-inch, for heavy goods, 55 
 “ “ in twilled looms, 
 
 with 2, 3,4 and 6 treadles, 65 
 Light do. 35-inch, 60 
 
 Check looms, 90 
 
 Throstle spindle and flyer, l 
 
 Castings lor water-wheels, and 
 heavy gearings, furnished, 
 
 ^ per pound, at ofl 
 
 Shafts and couplings, pulleys, 
 hangers, with composition 
 boxes, per pound, at 10 
 
 Iron and brass castings, of all 
 kinds, per lb., at 05 
 
 „3, B - All the castings both of iron and brass,-the shafting pullevs &c — 
 
61 
 
 TABLE E. 
 
 WAGES paid at Factories in Lowell and South-Carolina, boarding not included. 
 
 
 
 Lowell Mill. 
 
 
 South-Carolina Mill. 
 
 
 3 hands 
 
 at 
 
 $1 25 per 
 
 day. 
 
 1 mule spinner, at 
 
 $1 50 per 
 
 day. 
 
 5 “ 
 
 
 1 04 
 
 (< 
 
 1 man, at 
 
 75 
 
 it 
 
 4 “ 
 
 c< 
 
 84 
 
 cc 
 
 2 men, at 
 
 50 
 
 ii 
 
 2 “ 
 
 cc 
 
 85 
 
 Cl 
 
 2 “ “ 
 
 43 
 
 ic 
 
 2 “ 
 
 CC 
 
 75 
 
 ll 
 
 2 “ “ 
 
 39 
 
 1C 
 
 17 “ 
 
 cc 
 
 72 
 
 a 
 
 12 girls at 
 
 26 
 
 ll 
 
 17 “ 
 
 cc 
 
 61 
 
 cc 
 
 4 « « 
 
 25 
 
 a 
 
 22 “ 
 
 cc 
 
 57 
 
 .1 
 
 6 girls and boys at 
 
 20 
 
 ic 
 
 15 ** 
 
 
 51 
 
 cc 
 
 cc u ii 
 
 16 
 
 ic 
 
 7 “ 
 
 cc 
 
 47 
 
 ll 
 
 g cc ic cc 
 
 12 
 
 n 
 
 1 “ 
 
 ll 
 
 39 
 
 cc 
 
 7 {< a 
 
 10 
 
 a 
 
 1 “ 
 
 Cl 
 
 35 
 
 ll 
 
 
 
 
 TABLE F. 
 
 Carding machines are now generally made from 30 to 36 inches wide, and are 
 capable of carding from 2 to 2* lbs. to the inch. Spindles adapted to coarse yarn 
 such as is woven into osnaburgs, will turn out 1 lb. to the spindle ; so that it will 
 be necessary to have 60 spindles. In making assorted yarn, from Nos. 8 to 20, 
 smaller spindles are used, and a half-pound to the spindle is as much as can be 
 taken from them; so that 120 spindles will be required for each carding-engine. 
 In putting up small Factories, a picker and lap-machine will be indispensable ; 
 and the following is as small a quantity of machinery as can be run to advantage; 
 
 For a picker and lapper, each $200,.$400 
 
 “ 4 carding engines, “ $220,. 880 
 
 “ 1 three-head drawing frame, .210 
 
 “ 1 twelve-strand speeder,.- 290 
 
 “ 620 throstle spindles, each $5,.3,100 
 
 $4,880 
 
 Add to this the proportion of bobbins, tools, and other miscellaneous articles, 
 (which see, Tables B. C. and D.) and you have about the cost of the machinery 
 necessary in a Factory containing 620 spindles. 
 
 For a larger number of spindles, the cost will be increased in about the same 
 ratio, except that, the picker and lap-machine would answer for 2000 spindles. 
 
 A loom running on osnaburgs, ought to turn out 28 lbs, or 56 yards of cloth per 
 day; and those running on shirtings and sheetings, of Nos. 12 to 14 yarn, will 
 make 15 lbs., or 45 yards of cloth. By these data, persons will be able to ascer¬ 
 tain the number of looms requisite for a given number of spindles. 
 
TABLE G. 
 
 STATISTICS OF LOWELL COTTON MANUFACTURES, JANUARY 1, 1844. 
 
 COMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES. 
 
 Corporations. 
 
 Merrimack. 
 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Appleton. 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 Suffolk. 
 
 'Fremont. 
 
 Lawrence. 
 
 Boott. 
 
 Mass. 
 
 Incorporated, 
 
 1822 
 
 1825 
 
 1828 
 
 1828 
 
 1830 
 
 1830 
 
 1830 
 
 1835 
 
 1839 
 
 Commenced Operations, 
 
 1823 
 
 1825 
 
 1828 
 
 1828 
 
 1832 
 
 1832 
 
 1833-4 
 
 1836 
 
 1840 
 
 Capital Stock, 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 Number of Mills, 
 
 5&PrintWks 
 
 3&PrintWks 
 
 2 
 
 2, 1 cotton, 1 
 carpet. 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Spindles, 
 
 40,384 
 
 21,248 
 
 11,776 
 
 6,000 Cotton, 
 beside Wool. 
 
 11,776 
 
 11,520 
 
 32,640 
 
 31,524 
 
 27,008 
 
 
 
 
 
 152 Cotton,50 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Looms, 
 
 1,300 
 
 590 
 
 400 
 
 power carpet, 
 40 hand do. 
 
 352 
 
 409 
 
 950 
 
 910 
 
 882 
 
 Females employed, 
 
 1,250 
 
 650 
 
 340 
 
 400 
 
 340 
 
 360 
 
 900 
 
 780 
 
 725 
 
 [Males employed, 
 
 550 
 
 250 
 
 65 
 
 200 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 170 
 
 130 
 
 160 
 
 Yards made per week. 
 
 250,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 2,500 Car.,150 
 Rugs, 85,000. 
 
 90,000 
 
 115,000 
 
 210,000 
 
 180,000 
 
 260,000 
 
 Bales of cotton used in do. 
 
 130 
 
 100 
 
 90 
 
 110 
 
 90 
 
 75 
 
 180 
 
 145 
 
 200 
 
 Pounds of Cotton wro’t in do., 
 
 56,000 
 
 42,000 
 
 36,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 32,000 
 
 30,000 
 
 65,000 
 
 59,000 
 
 80,000 
 
 Yards dyed and printed do., 
 
 210,000 
 
 63,000 
 
 Kind of Goods made, 
 
 Pr’ts &Sheet- 
 ings, No. 22 
 to 40. 
 
 Prts Flannels 
 Sheetings, &c 
 No. 14 to 40. 
 
 Sheet’gs & 
 Shirt’gs,14. 
 
 Carpets,Rugs 
 &Negro Cl’th 
 
 DriH’gs. 14 
 
 Sheet’gs & 
 Shirt’gs,14. 
 
 Print’g Cl’ths 
 Sheet& Shirt. 
 No. 14 to 30. 
 
 Drillings, 14. 
 Shirtings, 40. 
 Pr’gCloth,40. 
 
 Sheet’gs. 13 
 Shirt’gs. 14 
 Drilling, 14 
 
 Tons Anthracite Coal per ann. 
 
 5,000 
 
 3,000 
 
 300 
 
 500 
 
 300 
 
 250 
 
 650 
 
 750 
 
 750 
 
 Cords of Wood per. ann., 
 
 200 
 
 500 
 
 
 500 
 
 70 
 
 60 
 
 120 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 Gallons of Oil per ann., 
 
 13,000 
 
 6,500 
 
 3,440 
 
 Olive, 4,000. 
 Sperm, 4,000. 
 
 3,500 
 
 3,692 
 
 8,217 
 
 7,100 
 
 7,100 
 
 Diameter of water-wheels, 
 
 30 ft. 
 
 13 ft. 
 
 13 ft. 
 
 13 ft. 
 
 13 ft. 
 
 13 ft. 
 
 17 ft. 
 
 17 ft. 
 
 17 ft. 
 
 Length of do. for each mill, 
 
 24 ft. 
 
 42 ft. 
 
 42 ft. 
 
 60 ft. 
 
 42 ft. 
 
 42 ft. 
 
 60 ft. 
 
 60 ft. 
 
 60 ft. 
 
 How warmed, 
 
 Steam. 
 
 Steam&H.A. 
 
 Steam. 
 
 Hot AirFurn. 
 
 Steam. 
 
 Steam. 
 
 Steam. 
 
 Steam&H.A. 
 
 Steam. 
 
63 
 
 Yards of Cloth per annum, - 
 Pounds of Cotton consumed, - 
 
 Assuming half to be Upland, and half New-Orleans and Ala., the con¬ 
 sumption in bales, 361 lbs. each, is 
 A pound of Cotton averages 3 1-5 yards. 
 
 100 lbs. Cotton will produce 89 lbs. Cloth. 
 
 Average wages of Females, clear of board, per week, 
 
 Average wages of Males, clear of board, per day, 
 
 Medium produce of a Loom, No. 14 yam, yards per day, - 
 « r ic « No. 30 “ “ “ “ 
 
 Average per Spindle, yards per day, • 
 
 Average amount of wages paid per month, * 
 
 Consumption of Starch per annum, (lbs.) - - " 
 
 Consumption of Flour for Starch in Mills, Print Works, and Bleach- 
 
 74,141,600 
 
 22,880,000 
 
 58,240 
 
 SI 75 
 70 
 
 44 to 45 
 30 
 
 1 1-10 
 SI 50,000 
 800,000 
 
 4,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 ery, bbls. per annum, 
 
 Consumption of Charcoal, bushels per annum, - - —— 
 
 The Locks and Canals Machine Shop, included among the 33 Mills, can fur¬ 
 nish Machinery complete for a Mill of 5000 Spindles in four months; and lum¬ 
 ber and materials are always at command, with which to build or rebuild a Mill 
 in that time, if required. When building Mills, the Locks and Canals Company 
 employ directly and indirectly from 1000 to 1200 hands. _ r 
 
 To the above-named principal establishments may be added, the Lowell W a- 
 ter-Proofing, connected with the Middlesex Manufacturing Company; the ex¬ 
 tensive Powder Mills of O.M. Whipple, Esq.; the Lowell Bleachery, with a 
 capital of S50,000; Flannel Mill; Blanket Mill; Batting Mil^ Paper Mill; 
 Card and Whip Factor} ; Planing Machine; Reed Machine; Foundryj* 
 and Saw Mills;—together employing about 500 hands, and a capital ot ^500,UUO. 
 
 With regard to the health of persons employed in the mills, six of the females 
 out of ten enjoy better health than before entering the mills; and of the males, 
 one-half derive the same advantage. In their moral condition and character, 
 they are not inferior to any portion of the community. . _ . . 
 
 A very considerable portion of the wages of the operatives are deposited in the 
 Lowell Institution for Savings. 
 

\ ^ 
 
 address 
 
 f 
 
 ON THE 
 
 BIRTH DAY OF GEN, FASHINGTON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST OF THE 
 
 WASHINGTON LIGHT INFANTRY, 
 
 ON THE 22d OF FEBRUARY, 1845; 
 
 BEING THE 38tii ANNIVERSARY OF THAT CORPS. 
 
 By CHARLES FRASER. 
 
 CHARLESTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY WALKER &, BURKE, 
 NO. 3 BROAD-STREET. 
 
 1845. 
 
 

 Resolution adopted by the Washington Light Infantry 
 on the 22d February , 1845. 
 
 “Resolved, That the thanks of the Washington Light 
 Infantry be returned to Charles Fraser, Esq., for the 
 able and eloquent Oration pronounced by him this day 
 before the Corps, and that he be requested to favor them 
 with a copy for publication.” 
 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 The speaker who addresses an American audience on 
 this day’s commemoration, is sure of a subject whose 
 interest time cannot impair, or familiarity exhaust. But 
 when he beholds in that audience a corps, whose peculiar 
 pride it is to cherish its animating associations, and at 
 whose instance the grateful duty lias been undertaken, 
 he finds the flame already kindled upon the altar to which 
 he brings his offering. And how much is the interest 
 of the scene enhanced by the welcome presence of their 
 military guests who have come, with patriotic zeal, from 
 a sister city, to honor us with a visit, and to unite with 
 kindred sentiment in this oblation of public respect. 
 
 It is not uncommon on this occasion to advert to the 
 time honored custom of annually celebrating memorable 
 events, as though a sanction were wanting for it- solem¬ 
 nities. But what if history were silent and furnished no 
 such example, would there not be a sufficient sanction in 
 the dictates of your owm bosoms, and in the animating 
 symp thies of all who surround you? Is it not rather 
 your privilege to assemble thus, as a band of brothers, 
 associated in the name of Washington, to honor his 
 memory with filial respect—to contemplate the exalted 
 virtues and eminent services which have attached to that 
 name such imperishable interest, and to improve and 
 elevate your minds, by contemplating his transcendant 
 example. On this occasion, we invoke neither the his¬ 
 torian nor the biographer, preferring rather to repose 
 amidst the pleasant walks which their labors have already 
 
 
4 
 
 opened to us. And who of you, my friends, amidst the 
 celebrations in which this anniversary has so often united 
 you, can say that time has made its recurrence less grate¬ 
 ful to his heart, or obliterated a single one of its earliest 
 impressions? Who, that has not already anticipated 
 every thought and sentiment appropriate to the occasion? 
 To be the organ even of their imperfect expression, is, 
 then, the ambition of him who has the honor of address¬ 
 ing you. And how can the subject be better approached, 
 than by a tender of congratulation to all who have met 
 here to honor the memory of the father of our common 
 country, by participating in a tribute, suitable, because it 
 is rational; praiseworthy, because it is disinterested; and 
 gratifying, because so nobly merited. 
 
 Yes, we welcome the birth-day of Washington—and 
 indulging in a brief suspension of all ordinary cares, unite 
 in surrendering our feelings to the impulses and reflec¬ 
 tions it always excites. In these, there is a renewed and 
 renovating influence, which like “the sweet coming of 
 Spring,” makes them rather the companions of time, than 
 the victims of its power. They prepare us for our theme, 
 and better enable us to dwell on the elements of a char¬ 
 acter, which, combining every quality that could distin¬ 
 guish the soldier, the statesman and the citizen, made 
 him, as he was indeed so justly pronounced, first in war, 
 first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. 
 In that character we behold a great moral pyramid, rest¬ 
 ing on the immutable basis of truth and wisdom, and in 
 the adjustment of whose proportions, every ennobling 
 excellence had a part. If its prototypes of human struc¬ 
 ture have resisted the encroachments of untold years, 
 and still left their venerable forms to attract the wonder 
 and admiration of the world; that character, embalmed 
 
5 
 
 in verse and history, will enjoy an indestructible exist¬ 
 ence in the respect and admiration of future ages. 
 
 Time, as it rolls on, leaves upon the lists of fame, as 
 though in grateful acknowledgment, the names of those 
 whose deeds have marked its progress; making one period 
 the debtor of its antecedent, for the development of prin¬ 
 ciples and the accumulation of light. Hence, there is not 
 a civilized nation whose annals do not record the servi¬ 
 ces of one or more distinguished individuals, whose mem¬ 
 ory they delight to honor, and who are ranked by them 
 amongst the great of the earth. Heroes and virtuous 
 legislators were deified by the ancients, whilst in mo¬ 
 dern times, they have been canonized and venerated as 
 saints. And yet it has been said that greatness has no 
 reality—that it is an idol of the fancy, a notion that con¬ 
 sists in relation and comparison. This remark, however 
 just as applied to corporeal objects, can have but little 
 reference to the moral and intellectual world: and al¬ 
 though even there, the terms great and greater are often 
 used to distinguish the comparative attainments of men 
 in honorable pursuits, yet there is an elevation of char¬ 
 acter, a high order of excellence, which, whether it be 
 the result of discipline or endowment, places its possessor 
 beyond the reach of comparison, and truly and solely 
 entitles him to the distinction. 
 
 Why do we dwell on the precious models of virtue 
 bequeathed to us by Greece, when she was “living 
 Greece no more”—models, which after f -ruling, elevating 
 and purifying the character of her sons, come to us through 
 a long course of ages, fresh and unmutilated, and as wor¬ 
 thy as ever of study and imitation? Why do we invite 
 the student of art to contemplate the productions of an¬ 
 cient genius, or lead the young pilgrim to warm his heart 
 on the battle field of Thermopylae or Bannockburn, if 
 
-- 
 
 
 6 
 
 there were not standards of excellence, short of whose 
 attainment, every exertion, however strenuous or suc¬ 
 cessful, fails to identify the aspirer with his object? 
 
 Industry and well regulated ambition, are always re¬ 
 warded by a success proportioned to their exertion. But 
 after all it is the success of cultivation, and must vary 
 with the capacities of the mind, and the magnitude of the 
 object to which they are directed. The title “great,” 
 has never been deemed a meed unworthy of those who 
 are prominent in laudable efforts, nor would we withhold 
 this glorious agnomen from any, on whom their cotem¬ 
 poraries have bestowed it as the rewards of preeminence. 
 With the names of Bacon and Newton and Locke, it has 
 been so joined, that it is not in the power of man to put 
 them asunder. The philosopher, the jurist, the states¬ 
 man, the divine, the philanthropist, may each aspire to 
 it as a conventional distinction, by which society grate¬ 
 fully recognizes and honors the exertions he has made 
 for their advancement. The title, thus awarded, is an 
 honorary badge, implying the acknowledgment of the 
 peculiar merits that have earned it. Yet after all, epithets 
 are but external trappings. 
 
 “Titles of honor add not to his worth, 
 
 Who is an honor to his title. ,, 
 
 And how often have they been applied to those whose 
 laurels have been steeped in the blood of their fellow 
 men; whose restless ambition has made them the scourge 
 of nations, or the disturbers of their country’s peace; and 
 who, if they were a mark of true glory, have sought 
 them by doing all that is unworthy of them This, at 
 least, makes their value questionable. Could we there¬ 
 fore regret, when we read of Antiochus the Great, Alex¬ 
 ander the Great, Pompey the Great, and even of Herod 
 the Great, that we have never yet heard of Washington 
 
7 
 
 the Great. Any why] because there is a halo around 
 that name, in the brightness of which every title and 
 epithet would be lost. Because, with all its proud asso¬ 
 ciations, it is never less alone than when alone. 
 
 True moral greatness, then, stands like the sun in the 
 firmament, wrapt in its own splendor, and subject to no 
 diminution by comparison. It is an emanation of the 
 Divine source of all excellence—an inherent quality—a 
 focus converging all that we can conceive of perfection 
 in mere uninspired man. Thus exhibiting, in harmoni¬ 
 ous adjustment and cooperation, the purest and loftiest 
 impulses of his nature : energy of character , equal to the 
 most trying emergencies; firmness , neither yielding to the 
 assaults of danger, nor allured bv the temptations of 
 power: justice, unswayed by menace or favor; truth, 
 seeking no other sanction than the approving smiles of 
 heaven; honor, “linked unto life,” and measuring every 
 thought and action by the standard of self respect; ecjua- 
 nimity, alike undisturbed by the favors or the frowns of 
 fortune; prudence, yielding the dazzling temptations of 
 action and enterprize, to the sober dictates of reason and 
 reflection, but with a courage corresponding to any exi¬ 
 gence ; humility, based upon that beautiful scriptural 
 maxim, “in honor preferring one another;” icisdom, tri¬ 
 umphing over the suggestions of passion and prejudice, 
 and not only applying to the present the experience of 
 the past, but surveying it through the medium of the fu¬ 
 ture—and yet a higher influence, borrowed from the great 
 archetype of all human excellence, infusing its spirit into 
 each of these attributes, and elevating their possessor to 
 a height 
 
 “Above all Greek, above all Roman fame.” 
 
 Then behold this beautiful combination, harmonized and 
 
 I 
 
8 
 
 regulated by a willing and devout submission to an ever 
 present and overruling Providence. 
 
 The man whose character unites these qualities, and 
 who brings them into active exercise, by devoting them 
 to the service of his country in her darkest hour of .need 
 and peril—who leads her armies, and presides over her 
 councils in complicated trials and perplexities—and after 
 all, acquiring glory by not coveting it, seeks no other 
 reward that she can bestow, than that of sharing with her 
 in the blessings and privileges which he has earned for 
 her. Such a man, and he only, is truly great. And such 
 a one was George Washington; of whom it has been 
 recently said by a distinguished foreign statesman and 
 jurist, “ 1 hat he was the greatest man of our own, or of 
 any age, the only one unon whom the epithet could be 
 innocently and justly bestowed.” 
 
 It is a common remark, that eventful times are prolific 
 of talent, and that they call into life energies anti resources, 
 which might otherwise have been inactive and unknown. 
 The history of all revolutions shows this. Nor was our 
 own wanting in examples of ardent patriotism and exalted 
 abilities, e.icite^l equally by the magnitude of their object, 
 and the sacrifices it involved. But in admitting the gen¬ 
 eral truth of this remark, we may safely assume the 
 reverse of it in regard to him who is the subject of our 
 reflections. No augury had shadowed forth the future 
 greatness of the infant of Westmoreland. No oracle had 
 declared that he was to be the deliverer of his country. 
 But that Power which shapes the destinies of men and 
 nations, smiled propitious on his birth, and penetrating 
 with a glance the vista of futurity, pronounced the happy 
 auspices of that hour—that it should be the herald and 
 precursor of a nation's birth. It was then ordained that 
 that babe should become “a vessel unto honor,” and that 
 
9 
 
 the event should be a glorious epoch in the history of a 
 nation. Yet no one dreamed of the mighty causes in 
 quiet but active operation, whose issues were to attract 
 to it so lasting an interest. But those causes were direct¬ 
 ed and controlled by a moral government, whose laws 
 are invariable and unyielding; otherwise the 22d Febru¬ 
 ary, 1732, would have been undistinguished in the annals 
 of time. Neither the voice nor the heart of gladness and 
 gratitude would have hailed its return, and far other des¬ 
 tinies might have awaited us. But this was the day 
 spring that reflected the light of heaven upon our land. 
 
 Connecting the event (though then unperceived) with 
 the train of great results which it involved, could we fail to 
 discern in it the same protective power that had watched 
 over the infancy and youth of the leader and lawgiver of 
 Israel. Can we believe that a mind endowed as Wash¬ 
 ington’s was, with qualities so far transcending the ordi¬ 
 nary level of human capacity, could depend upon any 
 but an extraordinary juncture for their development, or 
 be circumscribed by any common sphere of action? That 
 energies and resources commensurate with the most 
 unexampled claims of duty and devotion, could have been 
 destined for inaction—or even that they were bestowed, 
 except for the accomplishment of some great end? Can 
 we believe otherwise than that he was born to wield a 
 mighty power over the events of his day—born to be the 
 founder of the American Republic? In adopting this 
 opinion, we not only manifest a just sense of so signal an 
 interposition of Divine Providence in our behalf, but we 
 render due honor to the memory of one, who uniformly, 
 in every variety of situation—whether glorying in his 
 country’s prosperity, or depressed by her misfortunes; 
 whether in public or in private; the citizen or the sol¬ 
 dier; the commander or the counsellor; not only expressed 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 a devout and religious dependance on the will of Provi¬ 
 dence, and a grateful sense of its favors, but on all proper 
 occasions, inculcated it on others as incumbent and par¬ 
 amount obligations. 
 
 The allusion we have made to the causes which should 
 connect future events with the birth of Washington, is 
 not intended to call in question his liberty as a rational 
 and moral agent. Enough for us is it to believe, that it 
 advanced one of the great designs of Him “in whom are 
 hid all the treasures of wisdom,” and who could alone 
 have a knowledge of future and even of contingent events. 
 A great design —for who but God himself could deter¬ 
 mine the great question, in the words of Isaiah, “Shall a 
 nation be born at once?” The allusion also forces upon 
 us an inquiry into the origin and nature of those causes; 
 an inquiry too brief to be satisfactory, unless aided and 
 even responded to in anticipation, by an enlightened 
 auditory. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence was nothing more 
 than the announcement and promulgation of what had 
 been virtually and substantially asserted, when the foot¬ 
 step of the earliest colonist was imprinted on the shores 
 of this continent. There was the seal that fixed forever 
 a sacred compact between freedom and the oppressed of 
 all nations, and secured to them the two great principles 
 of public welfare—liberty of conscience, and the right of 
 self government. Whilst the origin of other people is 
 veiled by the mists of antiquity, and their utmost civiliza¬ 
 tion deduced by a gradual progress from early ignorance 
 and barbarism, ours, so far from being uncertain and ob¬ 
 scure, was itself an era of civil, political and religious 
 light. The colonial settlement of this country cannot be 
 overrated for its influence on social advancement, and for 
 the boldness it imparted to inquiry and opinion. What- 
 
11 
 
 ever agency the hope of gain may have had, in tempting 
 adventurers to her shores, the most prominent and res¬ 
 pectable colonists were those who sought a refu r e from 
 religious, intolerance and persecution, and who brought 
 with them an ardent love of liberty, an indomitable spirit 
 ol enterprise, an unalterable determination to worship 
 their Maker in the full light of his revelation, and in the 
 devout hope that whersoever planted, “the tabernacle of 
 the righteous should flourish.” And what a field was 
 opened to them in a hemisphere, whose only government 
 was that of nature; which the corrupt maxims of society 
 had never polluted, and in which bigotry and tyranny 
 had no foothold. Little thought they that this field 
 was to be the scene of events that would exemplify some 
 of the noblest teachings of philosophy. Time prospered 
 their hopes. The self-denying Puritan—the peaceful fol¬ 
 lower of Penn—the oppressed but unsubdued Hugonot— 
 the restive and intrepid Anglo-American of the South— 
 were all impelled by the same feelings, and contending 
 for the same principles. And what were they, but the 
 external agents of a spirit of regeneration, far in advance 
 of the age; employed in the solution of the great problem, 
 whether government could rest on any other basis than 
 the self constituted claims of power. 
 
 Although many of the Colonies were remote from each 
 other, and independent in their relations, there was an 
 unperceived aflinity, a cognate interest, in their fortunes, 
 which could only have reference to the future. The 
 trials and hardships which they had separately encoun¬ 
 tered and subdued, were common to all. It was not the 
 frontiers of one, but of every one, that had been drenched 
 with blood. Their assertions of right against arbitrary 
 encroachments, were mutually re-echoed. The profits of 
 their industry were monopolized by an exclusive com- 
 
12 
 
 merce, whilst inter-colonial restrictions embarrassed them. 
 These, and many other hardships, absorbed at the time 
 in their loyalty, had also reference to the future; and 
 although not so regarded then, were the presages of in¬ 
 dependence. The success that had rewarded their 
 industry, whilst it bound them to the soil, taught them 
 practically where the ultimate source of political power 
 resides; not in hereditary dignity, nor in the trappings 
 and prerogatives of royalty, but in the sinews and the 
 hearts of an enterprising and frugal people, and in their 
 home-felt attachments. 
 
 Upwards of a century and a half elapsed, finding the 
 colonists still ardently cherishing that love of liberty, 
 which was the patrimony of their hardy sires, but under 
 circumstances widely different No longer the pioneers 
 of civilization, they were in possession of its richest bless¬ 
 ings. The resources of the country were rapidly devel¬ 
 oping themselves. Commerce had enriched them; 
 education had enlightened them; enterprise had inspired 
 confidence; neglect had taught them to depend on them¬ 
 selves, and if they wanted power, its resources were at 
 hand. Geographical position had made them neighbors, 
 and a common parentage, brethren; and strange to say, 
 the only avowed sentiment that bound them together, 
 was that of allegiance to the crown—but it was the alle¬ 
 giance of a high minded people, sensitive alike to benefits 
 and indignities. Here then were ample materials for in¬ 
 dependence ; and vain indeed was that philosophy which 
 could calculate upon the submission of the colonies, to a 
 tyranny that assailed their most cherished privileges. 
 But the counsels that would have exposed its errors, 
 were unheeded. 
 
 We pass over the proximate causes of the revolution. 
 A crisis had arrived—hostilities were commenced, and 
 
13 
 
 blood had been spilt. It was then that union and inde¬ 
 pendence sprang from their elements into form and life, 
 and gave a new nation to the world. This was decidedly 
 the most important event of modern times. Could its 
 results have been foreseen—could the bright career that 
 awaited her have been anticipated by the other nations 
 of the earth—they would have “rejoiced to see that day,” 
 and have hailed it as a great era in the history of human 
 advancement. 
 
 Upon the issue of the contest which the Declaration 
 of Independence found the American people engaged, 
 were staked all the great principles we have just review¬ 
 ed. It was to decide whether their fathers had been 
 impelled by a misguided enthusiasm, or had built their 
 hopes of freedom upon a rational foundation: whether 
 thirteen commonwealths, identified in interest and united 
 in sentiment, should enjoy that right to political exist¬ 
 ence, which their strength, their relative position, their 
 common origin and language, their hopes and destinies 
 so justly entitled them to: whether indeed, they should 
 be recognized as a member of the great family of the 
 earth. It was substantially a struggle between right and 
 power, defence and aggression; not only involving these 
 vital considerations, but embracing remote consequences, 
 and deciding the fate of unborn millions. 
 
 If there could be one situation more honorable than 
 another—one involving higher responsibilities, and re¬ 
 quiring greater energy and capacity—one demanding 
 more unwavering and devoted patriotism—it was that of 
 the leader of those who were to do battle in so glorious 
 a cause. And of whom but of George Washington could 
 it be said, that whilst his countrymen looked to him as 
 the only person worthy of so exalted a proof of their 
 confidence, he was the only one that was unconscious of 
 
14 
 
 his claims to it. And he who, but a short time before, 
 had consented to take command of a volunteer company 
 in defence of his country’s liberties, was, by the unani¬ 
 mous voice of Congress, appointed commander in-chief 
 of her armies. Such humility was the surest earnest of 
 the high qualities that fitted him for that station. Let 
 his address upon receiving, and that upon his resignation 
 of this appointment, be viewed together, and they fully 
 sustain the assertion. And how happily do they illus¬ 
 trate those lines of the poet, 
 
 “In a just cause, to fight for our country’s glory, 
 
 Is the best office of the best of men.” 
 
 With all the respect that this appointment manifested 
 for him who was the object of it, it is certain that they 
 who conferred it, were little aware that in distinguishing 
 one so unambitious of preferment, they were giving to 
 history a higher standard of human excellence than had 
 ever before enriched its pages. It is true that his char¬ 
 acter had not then fully developed itself. The strength 
 of the oak can only be proved by the tempest. Yet as a 
 proof of the fallacy of every test drawn from a knowledge 
 of the past, by which Washington could be estimated, it 
 is recorded that, at this period, a wish was personally 
 expressed to him from high authority, “that when the 
 contest should be decided, he would resign the important 
 deposit committeed to his hands.” 
 
 We who had then no interest in the concerns of time, 
 for our names were not yet enrolled upon its motley lists, 
 have abundant reason to rejoice in the heaven-directed 
 judgment that selected him for so important a purpose. 
 Had it fallen on any other person than George Washington, 
 it is awful to think of the lot that might now have awaited 
 us. If every quality had been combined in such other 
 person, would he have devoted them to principle? If 
 
15 
 
 he had been a just man, would lie have been supported 
 by resolution 1 if zealous, would he have been wise ? and 
 if successful, might he not have been dazzled by the 
 temptations of power, and we, who are now living in 
 the sunshine of national prosperity, under a free and happy 
 government, have exhibited the melancholy spectacle of 
 petty despotisms, or of national servitude and degrada¬ 
 tion ? 
 
 Thus having briefly considered the progressive causes 
 in connection with which, he was to exercise so powerful 
 a control over the events of his day, it becomes important 
 to enquire whence was derived that confidence in his 
 abilities, which induced a preference of him as a military 
 commander to those who had more enlarged experience, 
 and might therefore be justly believed to be more compe¬ 
 tent for the station. To this it may be replied, that his 
 public services even when a youth, had entitled him to 
 a distinguished place in our colonial history. He had 
 received the highest honors which his native province 
 could bestow ; and the country had rewarded him with 
 the title of “the soldier of America.” Besides, there is an 
 irresistible impulse which always lifts the gifted mind 
 to its proper sphere, a native energy in tire highest order 
 of talent that triumphs over every obstacle, and draws to 
 itself the homage of every heart. It may be truly said 
 of him, that on no occasion had he ever been employed 
 in any public office without proving that he was capable of 
 still higher trusts. And so decided was the ascendancy 
 of his character, that without one instance of exception, 
 he never received an appointment, however important, 
 that was not unanimously conferred. And it was said 
 that his election on this occasion, “ was accompanied 
 with no competition and followed by no envy.” And 
 may there not be another way of accounting for it? Was 
 
 n _ 
 

 16 
 
 not Moses taken from the flocks of Midian, and David 
 from the sheepfold of his father? 
 
 But the great link that associated these two events, and 
 held them in mysterious relation, was his marvellous pre¬ 
 servation amidst the carnage of Monongahela. For what 
 but the hand of Providence could have held over him the 
 invisible shield, which saved him on that occasion for his 
 country. His education also seems to have had more than 
 ordinary reference to his future career, which was rather 
 that of usefulness than display. However plain or limi¬ 
 ted, it seems to have been peculiarly adapted to the 
 bent of his mind, which in its earliest developments, 
 was said to be practical and judicious. It was a soil for 
 good seed producing a hundred fold. But it is evident 
 that the most valuable portion of his education, was that 
 of the nursery, where he was disciplined in the precepts 
 of virtue and conscience and duty. It was there that 
 those principles received their first impulse, which were 
 afterwards distinguishable in every act of his life, and in 
 every act of his life proved the necessary and inseparable 
 connection between public and private virtue. 
 
 Daughters of Columbia, be it your pride to reflect 
 that the early lessons which moulded the character of 
 Washington, were mingled with a mother’s caresses. 
 
 It was the beautiful equilibrium of the qualities that 
 distinguished his mind, that gave to each its proper ac¬ 
 tion. If ambition, which in him w r as virtue, had once 
 transcended its limits, it would have destroyed the har¬ 
 mony of the whole system. Enterprise might have 
 become rashness, and even honor have been deluded by 
 some fancied vision. It was this that made the limited 
 experience he had acquired as a provincial officer, avail¬ 
 able for the more important duties he had now assumed. 
 For instead of protecting the frontier of a colony against 
 
17 
 
 a savage foe, he had to defend the outworks of a nation’s 
 liberties against disciplined armies and veteran leaders. 
 His wisdom was too comprehensive not to discover 
 piomptly that it must be a warfare, on his part, of moral 
 rather than of physical force; a warfare sternly requiring 
 endurance, self-denial, and indeed every privation and 
 sacrifice that could prove his country worthy of what she 
 was contending for. He set out with a proposition which 
 was always kept in view, and which, though entangled 
 with inconceivable difficulties, he at length triumphantly 
 demonstrated, that that country was not to be conquered. 
 And so entire was his devotion to that object, that his 
 reputation was even hazarded for its attainment. What 
 but this could have induced him to adopt a system so 
 repugnant to his character and feelings, and so incom¬ 
 patible with the duties of a General. But his practical 
 sagacity foresaw the dangers of committing the fortunes 
 of his cause to the uncertain issue of a general action. He 
 preferred therefore to retreat before his enemies, and to 
 turn upon them like the Parthian in his flight, impeding 
 and liarrassing them at every step of their advance. 
 With this hope, he consoled himself upon the unfortunate 
 close of the campaign of ’75. 
 
 History informs us of the very feeble and inadequate 
 condition of his army at that period. It was without 
 equipment or discipline; but these deficiencies were sup¬ 
 plied by the ardor of his patriot soldiers. How striking 
 is the contrast in this respect, between them and their 
 adversary. On the one side, were men taken from the 
 peaceful employments of agriculture, and other avocations 
 of civil life; on the other, soldiers practised in wars of 
 ambition and conquest; on the one side, men fighting for 
 their homes and their liberties; on the other, foreign 
 hirelings employed as instruments of revenge, and bent on 
 
 3 
 
—n - 
 
 18 
 
 every excess. On the one side, leaders throwing all 
 responsibility on their rulers; on the other, officers iden¬ 
 tified in honor and duty, with their own republican insti¬ 
 tutions ; many of whom were destined atterwards to fill 
 high places in the confidence of their fellow-citizens,— 
 for in the memorable retreat through Jersey, there w r ere 
 two individuals, who, like their honored commander, 
 became afterwards chief magistrates of the union. 
 
 From the pen of one of them is the following graphic 
 description:— 
 
 “ I saw him in my earliest youth in the retreat through 
 Jersey, at the head of a small band, or rather in its rear, 
 for he was always next the enemy, and his countenance 
 and manner made an impression on me, which time can 
 never efface. I happened to be in the rear guard at 
 Newark, and I counted the force under his immediate 
 command by platoons as it passed before me, which 
 amounted to less than three thousand men. A deport¬ 
 ment so firm, so exalted, but yet so modest and com¬ 
 posed, I have never seen.”* 
 
 Yes—his policy w r as retreat; but could he be censured 
 for adopting it, when even that Congress “ which had 
 pledged themselves to maintain him, and adhere to him 
 with their lives and their fortunes, were compelled to 
 quit their own consecrated hall, and seek safety in 
 removal V Yet how nobly did he realize the hope he 
 had expressed, by the brilliant actions of Trenton and 
 Princeton, wnich gave unquestionable earnest of what 
 he could have achieved under any circumstances of pa¬ 
 rity with his enemy. 
 
 The public joy produced by these events, and the 
 animation they diffused, were strongly contrasted with 
 
 * Mr. Madison. 
 
19 
 
 the anxieties of Washington’s mind. He had roused an 
 enemy of more than twice his numbers, whilst he found 
 his own army daily melting away, and at length so 
 reduced, as to compel him to say to Congress, that he 
 expected soon to have no army at all. Although a sea¬ 
 son of great despondency was at hand, it was only to 
 make his firmness more conspicuous. Besides, there 
 was a source of consolatory hope which never failed. 
 It was then that he thus expressed himself to a friend, 
 “ our cause is just , and Providence will protect it .” 
 
 Ilis subsequent misfortunes at Brandywine and Ger¬ 
 mantown, whilst they in no manner impaired his military 
 reputation, or lessened his own confidence in the cause, 
 proved, however, the soundness of that judgment, which 
 w T ould have checked any untimely feeling of exultation 
 or triumph, although himself had been the occasion of 
 it. He deprecated any influence that might relax the 
 exertions of the Government, or produce a premature 
 confidence in the public mind. 
 
 If we trespass on the province of history, by following 
 him too closely in his chequered career of hardship and 
 honor, let it be remembered that in forming a due esti. 
 mate of character, it is difficult to proceed without 
 frequent reference to the circumstances by which it has 
 been elicited, and with which it is in fact identified. In 
 relation to it, they are as the soil from which the tree 
 springs up in all its strength and beauty; and what inci¬ 
 dent is there recorded of Washington, that is not fertile 
 in illustration ? 
 
 If you would behold a picture of deep and touching 
 interest, enter in imagination into the midnight solitude 
 of his tent at Valley Forge, whither amidst the rigours of 
 a Northern winter, and in the very depth of it, he had 
 been forced into quarters, with crowded hospitals, and 
 
- □ — 
 
 20 
 
 an army which had shared with him in the toils and 
 dangers of the field—starving and naked, and destitute 
 of the smallest portion even of the small comfort of a 
 soldier’s life —himself the subject of distrust and dissat¬ 
 isfaction, which had not only vented themselves in 
 ungenerous and degrading comparisons, but even in 
 remonstrances to Congress —himself the object of a base 
 intrigue that was treacherously seeking to undermine his 
 reputation, and supplant him in his command. Yet, be¬ 
 hold him undisturbed—his brow unruffled by any feeling 
 of resentment, and directing all his care and concern to 
 the alleviation of those sufferings over which his heart 
 was bleeding. He takes up his pen, and indites that 
 memorable letter to the President of Congress, under an 
 excitement which distinguishes its style from that of any 
 previous communication. He complains and remon¬ 
 strates, tells them in bold language how his measures 
 had been impeded—and that without their speedy action, 
 the only alternative before him, was that of absolute 
 starvation, or a dissolution of the army; and thus con¬ 
 cludes—“ I feel superabundantly for the naked and dis¬ 
 tressed soldiers, and from my soul pity those miseries 
 which it is not in my power either to relieve or pre¬ 
 vent.”* His task is finished—the duties of the coming 
 day admonish him—but before he retires to rest, behold 
 Washington on his knees, with eyes and heart directed 
 to heaven, imploring a blessing on his country, and asking 
 its forgiveness of those who would have injured her by 
 calumniating him, upon whom she had cast her hopes, 
 her cares and her fortunes. Had his pillow been of rock, 
 
 * The passage here quoted, was read from the original letter, which is preserved 
 amongst the papers of the Hon. Henry Laurens, then President of Congress. It 
 is in the possession of one of his descendants, who kindly permitted the use of it 
 
 on this occasion. 
 
21 
 
 his slumbers might have been envied. But how different 
 from this was that night, when we see him wrapt in his 
 cloak, and resting with those very soldiers upon the field 
 of Monmouth, waiting for the dawn of another day of 
 toil and glory. 
 
 It was this republican sympathy (and was it less 
 natural for being republican,) for those soldiers, over 
 whom, with whom, and for whom, he had so long hon¬ 
 orably served, that made him the very idol of their affec¬ 
 tion. There was an influence in his character which assi¬ 
 milated to himself all who were connected with him in 
 duty, and even imparted to them a portion of his own 
 mental elevation. It was this that surrounded him with 
 a body of able coadjutors, who felt it an honor to share 
 his dangers and responsibilities, and to devote their highest 
 energies to the advancement and execution of his designs. 
 Even treachery shrank from it, and was glad to expiate 
 every feeling of rancour by a willing homage to its power. 
 This influence it was that at more than one period of 
 the revolution, sustained the fortunes of the country. 
 Great as were his services in the camp, and in the field, 
 they could scarcely be measured with the ceaseless ef¬ 
 forts of his mind, to rally the flagging hopes and exer¬ 
 tions of the States, and to awaken even Congress to a 
 sense of the magnitude of what it had pledged. Of 
 these efforts more is revealed to us than could possibly 
 have been known to his cotemporaries. Ilis published 
 correspondence is itself a monument of gigantic labor 
 and unsleeping solicitude. 
 
 Personal influence seldom extends from the presence 
 of him from whom it proceeds. Not so with Washing¬ 
 ton, for his was felt and acknowledged in the remotest 
 corners of the country. It silenced the language of 
 despondency. It gave a tone to public sentiment, and a 
 
 
—n- 
 
 22 
 
 i 
 
 tendency to public exertion. It animated the soldier and 
 infused spirit into the statesman :—in fact it saved the 
 country. 
 
 History might be challenged to furnish an instance of 
 so great an ascendancy as he had over his army, so hon¬ 
 orably wielded. At the close of the revolution, the liberties 
 of the country were within his grasp. He might have 
 employed that army, with entire success, for the purposes 
 of an ignoble ambition; but military glory, which is the 
 end and aim of less virtuous minds, was considered by 
 him only the means of accomplishing higher and greater 
 objects. A far nobler triumph than that of arms awaited 
 him—a triumph over the seductions of power—a title 
 higher than empire could bestow, that of the friend and 
 deliverer of his country. 
 
 Simple and unimposing as it was, could there be con¬ 
 ceived a scene of greater moral sublimity, than that of 
 Washington surrendering to the government the Com¬ 
 mission which had pledged its confidence in his ability to 
 sustain it, through a struggle which involved its very ex¬ 
 istence. That Commission had accompanied him for 
 eight years through every vicissitude of a relentless war, 
 through anxious days and watchful nights—in defeat and 
 victory—in toil and suffering—in hope, but never in des¬ 
 pondency. The obloquy that would have assailed it, 
 found an aegis in his character that preserved it pure and 
 unsullied. The honor that had kept it, sanctified it. It 
 was a warrant of unlimited power, but yet in its exer¬ 
 cise had known no other restriction, nor had been used 
 for any other object, than the welfare of that country to 
 which it was then restored. 
 
 He had now in part accomplished the great purpose 
 for which he had been so providentially rescued in the 
 wilderness; whilst upon every principle of hope, there 
 
23 
 
 M as a presage of its entire accomplishment, in his no 
 less fortunate escape from the recent perils to which his 
 ardor in battle had exposed him. A voice almost audible 
 to us seems thus to have addressed him —“ T have been 
 •with thee wheresoever thou hast walked, / have cut off 
 all thine enemies from before thee, and I have made thee 
 a name like the name of the great men that are in the 
 earth .” 
 
 W ith what delight did he look forward to the near 
 approach of that domestic retirement so congenial to his 
 feelings, and which he had left with such reluctance. He 
 returned to it with assurances solemnly and openly re¬ 
 peated, “ that he had bid adieu to all public employ¬ 
 ments ; and, in an address which he intended for the 
 widest circulation, he emphatically declared “the deter¬ 
 mination he had formed of not taking any share in public 
 business thereafter.” 
 
 Admirable man! such was the decision of a judgment, 
 which, when once formed, was always the inflexible 
 rule of his conduct. But even Washington forgot that 
 “ ^ is the heart of man that deviseth his way,” and his 
 heart w as with his country. He forgot that war was 
 not the only calamity that might call to her support all 
 the energies of the patriot. The return of peace found 
 the States with scarcely more than the shadow of a 
 government. The national sentiment which had given 
 such vital impulse to their coalition during the war, was 
 fast expiring, and national interests becoming absorbed in 
 local and separate pursuits. Their most solemn obligations 
 to the government, and to each other, were disregarded, 
 and the power of Congress to enforce them feeble and 
 nugatory. 
 
 This alarming condition of the country disturbed the 
 repose of Mount Vernon, and produced the deepest solid- 
 
24 
 
 tude in the bosom of its venerable recluse. He had 
 sought its shades with claims which the congenial tran¬ 
 quility of virtue could only bestow, and never was re¬ 
 tirement more dignified. To him, above all men, it might 
 truly be said to have been a “ feast of nectar'd sweets.” But 
 into what sanctuary will not care intrude; and could Wash¬ 
 ington be otherwise than deeply grieved, when anarchy 
 and confusion threatened to blast the fairest hopes of his 
 country ? No longer in her service, his character and in¬ 
 fluence yet made him “ a tower of strength.” Through the 
 darkness that impended, he saw a ray of hope in what he 
 called “ the discerning and reflecting part of the commu¬ 
 nity.” To them his judgment dictated the most salutary 
 counsels, and his widely extended correspondence with 
 them, bear honorable testimony not only to his zeal, but 
 to his profound and statesmanlike views. Behold him 
 again coming forth to her rescue, not armed as before 
 with the sword, but with what was more powerful to 
 save or defend—with wisdom , “whose strength is in 
 
 itself.” 
 
 Words could add nothing to the tribute paid by 
 the illustrious Chatham to the Congress of 1775. But 
 if they could so enlarge it as to convey even higher 
 praise, that praise would not be beyond the merits of the 
 Convention which framed our admirable Constitution. 
 Washington presided over its deliberations. Franklin, 
 Jay, Hamilton, Madison and Sherman, were there. Pu¬ 
 rer motives, more enlightened understandings, and greater 
 practical sagacity, were never brought to the councils of 
 any one body of men. 
 
 To form into one general government, with legislative, 
 judicial and executive powers for all national purposes, 
 thirteen States, independent of each other, and claiming 
 and exercising internal sovereignty within their respec- 
 
25 
 
 tive limits, was the great object of their labors, and well 
 might the friends of rational liberty have trembled for 
 the result. But it was successful, and the great charter 
 of republican liberty came forth with the stamp of 
 M ashington s approbation—the most eloquent appeal 
 that could be made in its favor—an appeal which bore 
 it triumphantly through a formidable opposition of tal- 
 ents, learning, interest and jealousy. 
 
 If Americans, regardless of the obligations it imposes, 
 should ever approach it with unhallowed design, let 
 them remember that Washington’s fame is inseparable 
 from its purity and preservation; and that it embodies 
 the great principles to which his life was devoted, the 
 union of the States, the rights of the people , and the regu¬ 
 lation of their liberties. It will be remembered, that 
 deeply impressed with the importance of union, and the 
 impossibility of perpetuating it without mutual conces¬ 
 sion, and a compromise of conflicting interests, he had 
 availed himself of the first moments of peace, whilst 
 but one feeling pervaded the nation, to urge it upon the 
 States as the only means of realizing the blessings of 
 independence. The canker that was in the germ, could 
 not have escaped his perspicacity; he, therefore, endea¬ 
 vored to crush it by all the weight of his character and 
 influence; and, if in the expansion of that germ, its cor¬ 
 rosions have been developed, it is only in proportion as 
 his counsels have been unheeded. He considered the 
 union of the States as the principal of independence, 
 and the failure of the one as necessarily involving the 
 ruin of the other. 
 
 In his letter to Congress, as President of the Con¬ 
 vention, submitting to their consideration the newly 
 framed Constitution, after adverting to the difficulties of 
 conciliating opposite interests, and harmonizing local 
 
n 
 
 26 
 
 prejudices for the general welfare, he thus proceeds, and 
 the sentiment is worthy of the instrument to which it is 
 appended. 
 
 “ In all our deliberations on this subject, we kept stea¬ 
 dily in our view that which appears to us the greatest 
 interest of every true American, the consolidation of our 
 union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, 
 perhaps our national existence.” How humiliating to the 
 pride of opinion, how subversive of the boldest calcula¬ 
 tions of reason, is the contrast between the practical 
 tendencies of that instrument, and the dark forebodings 
 of its early opponents. How strikingly does it shew that 
 judgment may sometimes be led to the most fallacious 
 conclusions, by influences of which it is unconscious. 
 We know that popular eloquence was arrayed against 
 it, that ancient and modern history were searched for 
 examples to distort its provisions, and to alarm the ima¬ 
 ginations of the people. The opposition it met both in 
 and out of the Convention, was nearly fatal to it; and 
 that too from a morbid and over anxious zeal for the 
 sanctity of freedom. And, although the embers of that 
 opposition are scarcely yet smothered, where, amidst the 
 records of time, do we find an instance of such rapid and 
 diffusive prosperity, as lias characterized the growth of 
 this country under the auspices of that Constitution. 
 Behold her, in scarcely more than half a century, with 
 twice the number of States, with a five-fold increased 
 population, with an almost unlimited extension of terri¬ 
 tory, and with a condition of society, advanced beyond 
 all calculation by the improvements of the age. 
 
 On assuming the chief magistracy of the United 
 States, his sway over the hearts of the people was un¬ 
 limited, and nothing could have been more propitious 
 to the success of the great national experiment. Such 
 
 ~* •*'**■** *■ - 
 
27 
 
 popularity as he enjoyed, is the tribute with which so¬ 
 ciety distinguishes the claim of real greatness. King¬ 
 doms could not purchase it. It might be woed, but never 
 can be won. As well might we expect a i’ay without 
 its centre of light, as that such popularity could rest 
 upon any other base, than the .admiration and gratitude 
 of men. The applause that springs from any other 
 source, is a fragile idol that crumbles in the embrace of 
 its votary. It was more than a monarch’s power, but 
 without his sceptre or his throne. A dominion more 
 positive than that of royalty, but without pomp or pre¬ 
 rogative. For, after all, what is a State, the mere domain 
 comprehended by tangible boundaries ? Is it not rather 
 in high minded men, who 
 
 t( Who know that freedom is bliss, and that honor is strength.” 
 
 The popularity of General Washington imparted the 
 very breath of life to the new system. Its irresistible 
 attraction drew to him all the wisdom and virtue of the 
 country. No one felt at liberty to withhold his services 
 in any office to which he was appointed— 
 
 i 
 
 “For on his choice depended 
 
 The safety and the health of the whole State.” 
 
 The impulse which this gave to the government, concil¬ 
 iated the disaffected, and rivetted the confidence of its 
 friends. The dangers with which the jealousies of lib¬ 
 erty had invested it, gradually disappeared, and, in 
 doing so, disclosed its beautiful symmetry, and the har¬ 
 mony of its movements. 
 
 Although Gen. Washington had accomplished enough 
 to stamp his character upon the age, it was a happy cir¬ 
 cumstance in the order of Providence, that that character 
 was yet to be tried in a furnace, which would detect the 
 smallest imperfection. For it was now to be seen, 
 
- n —^ 
 
 28 
 
 whether his popularity, identified as it was with con¬ 
 scious rectitude, would enable him successfully to im¬ 
 pose those salutary, but unwelcome restraints upon the 
 temporary will of the people, which their own calm 
 and deliberate judgment would afterwards approve, and 
 whether the clamor of demagogues, and the passions and 
 discontents of a party, would drive him from the support 
 of his principles, or induce him to take one step, that 
 could in the slightest degree countenance what he be¬ 
 lieved to be wrong. Knowing that they must be en¬ 
 countered, he was prepared for party clamor, personal 
 enmity, and unmerited reproach, and repelled them, even 
 in anticipation, wtth this noble sentiment—“ I fear alone 
 to give real occasion for obloquy, and whensoever my 
 country requires my reputation to be put in risk, regard 
 for my own fame will not come in competition with an 
 object of so much magnitude.” 
 
 He was not insensible to the calumnies which assailed 
 him, and which now survive only to blacken the page 
 of history; yet virtue must have lost every attribute, if 
 Washington could not have fearlessly appealed to his 
 own heart, and the judgment of posterity for his vindi¬ 
 cation. Behold him standing upon his memorable pro¬ 
 clamation of neutrality, like a rock in a tempestuous 
 ocean; opposed, if not deserted, by friends and admirers, 
 yet firm and unmoveable j and now the rock remains, 
 but where are the waves that beat so violently against 
 its base ? Subsided into the calm of oblivion—lost 
 amidst other memorials of national delusion. In truth, 
 he feared the decision of no earthly tribunal on his ac¬ 
 tions, or their motives, and his last words—“ I am not 
 afraid of death” proves that he was ready to submit his 
 great account to the judgment of heaven. 
 
29 
 
 We have thus endeavored to shew the wonderful co¬ 
 incidence in time, between the maturity of those ele¬ 
 ments which prepared the way for independence, and 
 the maturity of that mind whose agency and control 
 were to bring them to so happy an issue. We have 
 briefly traced the progress of events leading to it, and 
 have seen in that issue the consummation and reality of 
 the loftiest hopes of men, and can we fail to exclaim 
 with the poet— 
 
 u This was thy work Almighty Providence, 
 
 Whose power, beyond the reach of thought, 
 
 Revolves the orbs of empire ; bids them sink 
 Deep in dead’ning night of thy displeasure, 
 
 Or rise majestic o’er a wondering world.” 
 
 To you, gentlemen of the Washington Light Infantry , 
 is justly due the credit of celebrating this day, with ap¬ 
 propriate observances, and well may you be proud of 
 the custom. In adopting it as your anniversary, you 
 have pledged your reverence for the doctrines ancl prin¬ 
 ciples of Washington. Speakers selected from your own 
 ranks, have often hitherto recited his deeds, and pour- 
 trayed his virtues in such glowing and eloquent language, 
 as to prove that the lamp in your keeping is always 
 trimmed, and to ensure the continued purity of its 
 flame. 
 
 You are now, perhaps, for the first time, on such an 
 occasion, addressed by one on whose mind the unfading 
 recollection of his person is impressed—who remembers 
 the tumultuous outbreak of popular excitement and dis¬ 
 satisfaction, at one of the most prominent measures of 
 his administration, and who also afterwards witnessed 
 the atonement made by a mourning nation, when he was 
 no longer the living object of their gratitude and respect. 
 Some of the ablest delineations of the character of Wash¬ 
 ington, have been traced by the pens of foreign writers; 
 
— 
 
 30 
 
 but where is the American, that would not prefer the 
 practical exhibition of it, in the improvement of his own 
 character, derived from the study of so perfect a model. 
 Hence, the benefit resulting from your manner of honor¬ 
 ing the day. We behold him here, not as an actor in 
 the great drama of history, but apart from its scenes, 
 standing in bold relief before us, and wrapt in the 
 mantle of his own greatness. But, if incentives were 
 wanting, need you look beyond that pure patriot and 
 distinguished statesman, William Lowndes, who was the 
 founder, and first commander of your corps, and who, 
 had his public services been cotemporaneous with those 
 of Washington, would doubtless, have enjoyed his high¬ 
 est confidence, for they were kindred in the principles of 
 honor, integrity and truth; and shall a tribute be wanting 
 here, to his associates in command, Cross and Crafts; 
 honored in life, and honored in their memory. 
 
 Far distant be the day, gentlemen, when your country 
 shall require more from you than your readiness to obey 
 her call. But if she should, there, in that relic of the 
 “ times that tried men's souls,” is the pledge of your de¬ 
 votion.* All that we know of that standard is identified 
 w r ith honor. Twice did it emerge from the cloud of bat¬ 
 tle as the herald of victory, and twice was he, under 
 whose auspices it waved, wounded in the service of his 
 country. And when afterwards it might have blazoned 
 many a deed of daring, the modesty of its valiant defen¬ 
 der, kept it withdrawn from every eye; nor was its sacred 
 concealment known but to his honored relict, from whose 
 hands the Washington Light Infantry received it, ac¬ 
 companied with a charge, worthy of the daughter of a 
 patriot, and of the widow of a distinguished officer of the 
 
 * The revolutionary standard of Colonel William Washington’s Regiment. 
 
American Revolution“ That as it had never known 
 dishonor, it should never be tarnished in their hands.” 
 The response is written in your hearts, and attested by 
 the most sacred pledges. Long may this anniversary 
 continue to find you gathered around so pure a fountain, 
 as the character of Washington, to imbibe its refreshing 
 and salutary emanations. Healthful and buoyant be the 
 spirits that accompany your march through life, and when 
 you shall have pitched your tents, may the bugle-call that 
 breaks upon your slumbers, be the summons to an im¬ 
 mortal triumph. 
 
 n< 
 
 cven- 
 
 <>urhood, 
 
 ..•o, and the vote of 
 ^ ^ f . ,«».. , —. — g—-,~utly much affected, ex- 
 ..•rcttoKSfe „ was quite unprepared to hear the subject of his losses in India 
 
 wu u> Dy the Rev. Gentleman, but as the question had been mooted, he thought it right 
 to give a short account of his claims to compensation. The Hon. Member then, in brief out' 
 line, but with irresistible force, gave a lucid summary of the hardships of his case, and the 
 long continued plaudits with which his sentiments were echoed, induce us to the belief that 
 the people of Ipswich will afford him substantial proofs of their genuine sympathy. The next 
 morning Mr. Buckingham, accompanied by Mrs. Buckingham and his son, took their de¬ 
 parture for Birmingham, where he had engaged to deliver a similar course of lectures, and 
 where we trust he will meet with kindred success—honourable and creditable alike to his au¬ 
 ditors and himself. 
 
companied with a charge, worthy of the daughter of a 
 patriot, and of the widow of a distinguished officer of the 
 
 * The revolutionary standard of Colonel William Washington’s Regiment. 
 
 i 
 
* 2.0 
 
 PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS AT IPSWICH, 
 
 ON 
 
 MR. BUCKINGHAM’S CLAIMS. 
 
 {From the Suffolk Chronicle of October 1, 1836.) 
 
 Tiie interest which has been excited in this town by the delivery of a course of lectures by 
 iVIi. Buckingham, on his travels in the East, as noticed in our last, is entirely unprecedented 
 by any similar event within our recollection. On Monday evening, the room, capable of 
 holding nearly five hundred individuals, was filled to overflowing, and many who had not 
 attended the previous lectures, arrived in time to experience the intellectual loss they had 
 sustained—the lecture of that evening being the last of the series. It is a source of gratifi¬ 
 cation, however, to find there is a fair probability that, on some future occasion, Mr.°Buck- 
 ingham will return to Ipswich, and make us familiar with the cities of Arabia and Persia, as 
 he has done with those of Egypt, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. At the conclusion of the 
 lecture, loud and continuous applause testified the satisfaction of the audience. It had hardly 
 subsided, when the Rev. P. E. Butler, curate of St. Margaret’s, rose, and addressed them in 
 the following words : — 
 
 “ Ladies and Gentlemen—My rising to address you, after what we have just heard, may 
 seem to require an apology. When, however, I tell you that it is for the purpose of ex¬ 
 pressing the feelings with which I have listened to the Hon. Lecturer that I rise, you will 
 doubtless agree with me that no apology is required. (Applause.) Did not his presence 
 place me under some restraint, I should express them more freely ; but this I will say, and 
 with deep sincerity, that, in my humble opinion, the philosopher might have attended these 
 lectures to enlarge his knowledge, the poet to enrich his imagination, and the divine to aug¬ 
 ment his store of theological literature. It at first appeared to me that, among other points 
 of superiority over us whom he has condescended to instruct, our Lecturer possessed one par¬ 
 ticularly enviable. I mean the advantage of having personally explored the scenes which he 
 has described. But he has himself, in a great measure, destroyed his superiority in this 
 instance, having, as it were, conducted us through those scenes by the vividness of his des¬ 
 criptions. IV e have now trodden the distant shores, where his footsteps were, and our eyes 
 have beheld the wonders which his have contemplated. I understand that our lion. Friend 
 (as he will permit me to call him) appears amongst us under peculiar circumstances. For 
 publicly advocating in India the freedom of trade, and of the Press, he has been a sufferer to 
 the extent of banishment and loss of property. (Hear, hear.) Dear friends, I am no poli¬ 
 tician—I have never enrolled my name amongst those of any political clubs—I have never 
 even voted at an election—I have never associated myself with any political party. I am well 
 convinced that the welfare of the community, and the will of God, alike demand that Govern¬ 
 ment should be upheld and law enforced. Yet this I will say—and as a clergyman I say it— 
 that while opinions are not embodied in actions detrimental to any portion of the community, 
 the persecution of opinion, whether religious or political, whether right or wrong, is an action 
 unchristian, immoral, and diabolical. But Mr. Buckingham has the peculiar misfortune of 
 still suffering for his advocacy of a cause that has since completely triumphed. The changes 
 for which he pleaded have won the public approbation in India and in England, and have been 
 accomplished by the Legislature of the empire. It is as if the Government that first conducted 
 Protestantism to its political triumph in this country, possessed the power of resuscitating its 
 martyrs and recompensing their endurances, but left one solitary sufferer still weltering in his 
 wounds, or mouldering in his ashes, while his more favoured companions all basked in the 
 prosperity of their cause. I have now the honour to move that our hearty thanks be given 
 to J. S. Buckingham, Esq., M.P. for the valuable course of lectures which he has this even¬ 
 ing completed; and, also, that a Subscription be opened in Ipswich and its neighbourhood, 
 in aid of the fund now being collected for indemnifying him under his losses.” 
 
 The Rev. Gentleman was loudly cheered at the conclusion of his address, and the vote of 
 thanks was given by general acclamation. Mr. Buckingham, evidently much affected, ex¬ 
 plained to the meeting that he was quite unprepared to hear the subject of his losses in India 
 alluded to by the Rev. Gentleman, but as the question had been mooted, he thought it right 
 to give a short account of his claims to compensation. The Hon. Member then, in brief out¬ 
 line, but with irresistible force, gave a lucid summary of the hardships of his case, ’and the 
 long continued plaudits with which his sentiments were echoed, induce us to the belief that 
 the people of Ipswich will afford him substantial proofs of their genuine sympathy. The next 
 morning Mr. Buckingham, accompanied by Mrs. Buckingham and his son, took their de¬ 
 parture for Birmingham, where he had engaged to deliver a similar course of lectures, and 
 where we trust he will meet with kindred success—honourable and creditable alike to his au¬ 
 ditors and himself. 
 
 
PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS AT BIRMINGHAM, 
 
 ON 
 
 MR, BUCKINGHAMS CLAIMS. 
 
 (From the Birmingham Philanthropist of October 20, 1836.) 
 
 After delivering a'course of Social Lectures “ On the Institutions of Society, and their 
 Influence on Human Happiness,” in the Philosophical Hall of Birmingham—of which we have 
 spoken in a former number of our Paper with the commendation which we thought they de¬ 
 served—Mr. Buckingham announced his intention to deliver a Farewell Lecture to the inha¬ 
 bitants of the town, “ On the Cities and Monuments of Palestine, or the Holy Land.” 
 The use of the Independent Chapel in Livery-street being readily granted by its respected 
 minister for that purpose ; and the Lecture having been announced from the pulpits of all the 
 Wesleyan and Dissenting places of worship in Birmingham, on the preceding Sunday, the 
 Chapel was crowded to excess in every part. 
 
 The peculiar facility which Mr. Buckingham possesses of depicting scenery, and describing 
 localities, was very happily exercised during the evening; and the exactness and circumstan¬ 
 tiality with which the places he described were brought before us, rendered them quite familiar 
 to us before the evening was over. 
 
 The proceedings which took place after, were as interesting to us as the lecture, if not more 
 so; and we think none who heard the simple and artless recital which Mr. Buckingham 
 gave of his wrongs and sufferings, could be unmoved at the tale, or unwilling to contribute, ac¬ 
 cording to his ability, to assist a man who has been so deeply injured by those in authority. 
 
 The refusal of the Whig Ministers to recognise his claim, now they are in power, after having 
 done so when out, is one of those things which makes us unwilling to have a man whom we 
 respect ever to take office ; as it seems to produce some unhappy perversion of judgment and 
 strangeness of opinion, in almost every one who drops into the Ministerial arm-chair. Some 
 sinister influence, some local bias, some new perception, or some loss of memory, seems im¬ 
 mediately to happen to almost every one who exchanges power for place. 
 
 Mr. Buckingham is proved to have been deeply injured, and not a charge is made against 
 him to palliate the outrages which have been inflicted upon him; and yet he is refused com¬ 
 pensation, for no other reason that we can ascertain, than that he is poor and without o-reat 
 connections. Any person who had powerful friends would have been helped out of the °mire 
 long ago, and Lord John Russell and Co. are losing many of their friends by this servile imi¬ 
 tation of official men, who are so apt to lose their sense of justice in their feeling of authority. 
 
 We are sorry to add, that England is not the best place to get justice in the world either 
 m or out of Parliament. The merchants of Birmingham alone, have reaped sufficient ad¬ 
 vantages from Mr. Buckingham’s advocacy of free trade to the East, to enable them to repay 
 him with that liberality which would stimulate him to increased effort, and be creditable to 
 the place for gratitude and generosity. Alas ! how little has Birmingham done ! Then Man¬ 
 chester, which at one time thought of purchasing a seat in Parliament for him, in order to 
 advocate the opening of the India trade—now that the trade is opened, ,£200. is the sum they 
 have hitherto collected, and the thing seems to flag. We hope our Birmingham friends will 
 exert themselves ; and sincerely do we wish that Mr. Buckingham may succeed in obtaining 
 at least some testimonial of gratitude, if he do not attain to that which is the desire of our 
 hearts—ample compensation. 
 
 On the conclusion of the lecture, W. Wills, Esq. came forward and addressed the meeting. 
 He said if their feelings corresponded with those which actuated himself, they would not be 
 satisfied, he thought, with taking a silent leave of the gentleman who had addressed them that 
 evening. He would, therefore, beg leave to move that their public-spirited and respected 
 friend, Captain Moorsom, should take the chair. (Cheers.) 
 
 Captain Moorsom, on taking the chair, said that he had great pleasure in obeying their 
 call upon that occasion. He should feel much gratification in presiding, for however short a 
 time, over the proceedings of so very numerous and highly respectable an assemblage as that 
 before him ; but he also felt something more was due to Mr. Buckingham than those fleeting 
 plaudits which had accompanied his address to them. He trusted, therefore, that they would 
 put on record such a testimony of their sense of his talents and public services as should be 
 followed throughout the empire. (Cheers.) Were they aware that he to whom they had 
 listened that evening, with emotions of delight, and who had contributed to their amusement, 
 was ft man who, from his advocacy of the cause of liberty in another part of the British Em- 
 
PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS AT BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 had ever dbgrlced kr”sp™le poteT^lar’ hear^'As'" rDi " ed by the darkest acts that 
 wrongs inflicted upon him, or the suffering hf’i.o!, "^..^, no could depict so well the 
 
 wrongs inflicted upon him, or the sufferings j As , no man could depict’so well the'' 
 he trusted that he would narrate them to th at meeltl”^’ f the , Hon ’ Gentleman hhnself, 
 
 mittedt 611 ^ m helping t0 redress them ; and lie trusted that rt P * ^“i* tbeir recilal would be 
 milled to them would be followed by another which ive.Vi a h ® ^solution al| out to be sub- 
 
 tliat of the town of Birmingham—the cradle of civi and reliriousH to . thelr ° wn h °nour, and 
 Mr. Wills again rose for the ™™.. „c ‘ hhMy ' ( Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Wills again rose for the mirnnse 7 u S '°" S hbert y- ( Loud cheers.) 
 
 to the Hon. Gentleman, who had gratified the^thTfev/ • he ‘i' ad ? pt! ? n a resolution of thanks 
 
 thpf r Gy la ~ d ^j USt -* ieard * knew not any language taw*) i V G r * C *? inteIiectual treat 
 the feelings of admiration with which he had hstened to 16 C ° U r ade( l nateI y describe 
 
 to it h matter or its manner, he hesitated not to sav tw dls< l our ? e > for whether he looked 
 
 the richest treats that one intellectual man coiddeJne^t V™ ^ en }°y ed that evening one of 
 He would not dwell on the stores of informal i P - u \ receive fro , m another. (Cheers 'l 
 or the rich and nervous language in which it was dother! lad been P<>i#ed out amongst them, 
 jorrect principles of political economy bv whTeWl ? reca11 to minds the 
 
 s 7 «*iii 
 
 part of that discourse. ‘(Applause V Hp wnuM 771 .«*»wu g ui»uea anci pervaded every 
 
 vations of his, than by asking them to concur * lon f er . detain the meeting hy any obser- 
 Mr. Wills concluded by propel ZZ°Z,1. which be would read to them. 
 
 M, Wills concluded 
 
 delivered by Jai^s!rii3ud!llfghtm7EM U M P'Mnnot"^ f 16111 fr ° m t,,e addre sses 
 
 slave trade. (Cheers.) There waT no nart of M,»i tl0n ° f tbat bIot on ‘be>r country, the 
 and most strenuous support. He had ilso by the intmd? t he did not f? ive llis fullest 
 
 measure, endeavoured to remove another blot „ n nn r ° d ctl °. n °f a m °st humane and just 
 pressment of seamen. He had endeavoured to d” ? a annaIs ’ he meant the im ~ 
 
 whicli still existed, which bore upon the poor andSielnW^i"* systea ? introduced for that 
 their ships on their return from a lon- and rian^..of' P S ' Wh ° were often forc ed, on leaving 
 of their country, and were thus made the victims rf S ' °- I ^ e ’ J° embark again in the service 
 Instead of this, he proposed aplanwhich ^ and une( l ual ia 'v. (Hear, hear.) 
 friendless liable to be called on when such 116 rlch man as wel1 as the poor and 
 
 the dishonour of Parliameutthey di“ not tceele to ShfST t* T?"™ 6 t0 ’ but ’ lo 
 
 when the government got into better hands—flnnH A P 9 \‘ , He ' Mr , 4 Sc bolefield) hoped, 
 only have to be proposed in order to be acted upon d W^~ tbat such an et l ual ]aw would 
 Lament which did not succeed and of ud.JMi •« n# • ny measures were proposed in Par- 
 yet every measure having for its obi °ct tiie lib’ertvan?) lnst ? nces ' J lie . public knew nothing— 
 Buckingham’s ablest support. (Applause b fl/hI? !‘ appmess of tbe P eo ple, received Mr. 
 treated,°his property had been destroved^h'is , ,7"? most cniell y **"<1 wantonly ill- 
 
 iSHS 
 
 expressiortoha^been^dontof 16 ) 111 ;? aaotber ’ he be f?S ed they would consider that form of 
 “kid bv tl^r worthv?^f ?P d ’ , Whe - her he made use 01 il or not. (Cheers.) He had heed 
 Ms wrongs whkh hi Sn lT^.i ^ Iveaome aecount of the circumstances connected with 
 BckLZwpL endeavour to compress into as short a space as possible. [Mr. 
 Buckingham here entered into an interesting narrative of his wrongs which nrodneed a verv 
 strong sensation on the meeting; and, at it."close, sat down am,r^reM applause'] * 
 
 PT^irld^ S n^ T TT^ )0D, EsqM in movin 8' the next resolution, said he had no doubt it 
 one Tthfm,elv« n °k Sm Ml degree of w° nder tbat Mr Buckingham, an humble individual 
 vast !l ! r f ! be so much persecuted by no less than twenty-four kings of the 
 
 dred miflirfn , f ° r ‘M rU /, beSe ‘wenty-four Directors were virtually kings of a hun- 
 nOt .wL 1 P people, yet they felt towards him a mortal anger and hatred. (Hear, hear.) 
 But their surprize would cease when they recollected that he had been the enemy of the East 
 - n . m onopo y_ for tyrants never forgave the friends of liberty when they succeeded in over- 
 .. n » leir nnjnst dominion; and Mr. Buckingham had been instrumental in overturning 
 i„ k!a mm , e r ia ! yr ™ ny of } b , e Com P an >- both in India and China. (Loud applause.) But 
 r® b ?,, no * be f. n forgiven, and he never would he, by the tyrants whom he had assisted to 
 e > or trade was made free, their right arm had been broken as commercial mono- 
 
4 ' 
 
 PUBLIC PROCEKlJralfs AT BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 polists, and they were no longer allowed to trade at all. (Cheers.) He (Mr. 
 bear testimony to the integrity and humanity which had always distinguished r. g- 
 
 ham’s conduct in Parliament. Having no wealth to depend upon, he was one of those men 
 who, if he were not armed by virtue and integrity, would have been seduced by scenes of men 
 whom he (Mr. A.) knew would be ready to corrupt him, and who would take especial care to 
 do him ample justice, or make a remuneration which would be more than equivalent to 11 s 
 demands on the East India Company. (Hear, hear.). He had frequently said to himself, 
 while contemplating the conduct and principles by which Mr. Buckingham was actuated m 
 Parliament—-this is a mark of virtue which demands our sincere respect and esteem. (Cheers.; 
 It might perhaps be said by some, what has Mr. Buckingham done ? But those who would 
 put this question little know the difficulties thrown in the way of measures of public utility in 
 Parliament—indeed the impossibility almost of doing anything. True they had had great 
 chancres, but in his mind they should have greater changes before that House would really 
 become a House of Commons. (Cheers.) He (Mr. AUwood) would mention one instance as a 
 proof of this fact. Mr. Buckingham had had before Parliament, during the last two bessions, 
 two good bills, both dictated by a humanity of the very highest order—the object of one 
 being to establish public walks and places of amusement which would be conducive to the 
 health and recreation of all, but more especially to the working classes—the other, for the 
 establishment of public institutions, and the advancement of knowledge. These were to be 
 practicable only by the general consent of the rate-payers of the different towns, and although 
 thus guarded against abuse, and although calculated to afford gratification and health, and 
 instruction to millions of human beings, yet with all these important objects in view, 
 and with a reformed House of Commons, there were so many characteristics of the old 
 boroughmongering system clinging around it, that it was impossible to get them tinough. 
 (Loud cheers.) They allowed you to bring in a good bill, but there they buried it they did 
 not even acknowledge it, but put it amongst what are called the orders of the day (laughter) ; 
 and day after day, week after week, month after month, and session after session were those 
 orders brought forward, only to go through the farce of postponing them again. The Minis¬ 
 ters had the nomination of the orders which should take precedence, and they might depend 
 upon it Mr. Buckingham’s would never come on the first. (Cheers and laughter.) These 
 orders were all numbered ; and although Mr. Buckingham’s might be first on the list, yet it 
 would be thrown aside to give place to some Ministerial measure, perhaps No. 30, and thus it 
 was in the Reformed House of Commons that the rights and interests of the people of England 
 
 were trampled under foot. (Loud applause.) He (Mr. Attwood) would say no more; lie cordially 
 agreed in every expression contained in the resolution which he was about to submit to the meet- 
 in"-. The Hon. Gentleman concluded, amidst general cheers, by moving the second resolution. 
 
 “ II. That this Meeting desire thus publicly to offer to Mr. Buckingham their testimony 
 against the cruel wrongs he has suffered by the arbitrary and irresponsible acts of the local 
 government of British India, and by the unjust conduct of the directors of the East India 
 Company ; and they trust that the laudable example which the people of Sheffield have set, in 
 opening a Public Subscription to purchase him an Annuity, will be so followed up throughout 
 the Empire, that Mr. Buckingham may receive, at the hands of the British Public, that repa¬ 
 ration of his injuries to which he is entitled, no less by the justice of his case than by his 
 labours in the cause of public morality and social happiness.” 
 
 Mr. Lucas Chance felt great pleasure in seconding the resolution. He would at that late hour 
 only trouble the meeting by touching upon one point, and that was the main point. (Cheers.) 
 Mr. Buckingham had made out a case against the East India Company, which was admitted 
 on all hands to be true; and he conceived that Birmingham, in common with every other 
 commercial place, was deeply indebted to him for the advantages which they at present enjoyed. 
 He it was who originally called the attention of this country to the immense continent of Hin- 
 doostan, and to the Charter of the East India Company. Every one knows how little attention, 
 previous to this, the Continent of India received from the community at large—indeed it was 
 remarkable that up to the present day this country was giving to the twenty-four kings spoken 
 of by Mr. Attwood, a revenue of nearly twenty-five millions annually wrung from the labour 
 of a hundred and forty millions of human beings. (Hear.). For these important services he 
 thought they were bound to show their gratitude to Mr. Buckingham in as substantial a form as 
 the inhabitants of Sheffield had evinced theirs. It was proposed by them to raise a subscription 
 of of’SOOO, in order to secure to Mr. and Mrs. Buckingham an annuity during their lives. Half 
 this sum had been already collected (cheers), and he considered that it would be a disgrace to 
 Englishmen if for want of funds they allowed it to fail—it should not be considered in the 
 light of a favour conferred on Mr. Buckingham, but as a moderate recompense for work and 
 labour done. (Loud cheers.) He trusted what had been said on that subject would induce 
 liis fellow-townsmen to lend their assistance in promoting this object, and whilst they accused 
 the East India Company of doing injustice, that by apathy or indifference they might not sub¬ 
 ject themselves to a similar charge. (Cheers.) 
 
 Joshua Scholefield, Esq. having been requested to take the chair, a vote of thanks was 
 unanimously passed to Captain Moorsom, and the meeting separated at about half-past ten 
 o’clock. 
 
description 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TEETH OF A NEW FOSSIL ANIMAL 
 
 FOUND IN THE 
 
 GREEN SAND OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 B Y 
 
 ROBERT W. GIBBES.M.D., 
 
 Of Columbia, South Carolina, 
 
 Corresponding Member of the National Institute, Washington; Fellow of the 
 Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen, &c. 
 
 (From the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, read June 3,1845.) 
 
 DORUDON SERRATUS. 
 
 Teeth spear-shaped, serrated, in distinct deep sockets with double fangs, the' 
 bifurcation commencing a half inch below the enamel, which extends from the 
 point of the tooth one inch; enamel striated ; the serroe longitudinal, diminish¬ 
 ing in size from the apex of the tooth, which is | of an inch from the first la¬ 
 teral point; length of the tooth 3^ inches ; breadth 2f inches; thickness of the 
 body below the enamel a half inch; the anterior root a cone compressed 
 laterally, the other prismatic, thicker on the posterior side, which is fluted 
 so as to present the appearance of being partially divided into two fangs* 
 Where the fangs are united the neck is contracted, so that a horizontal section 
 presents the yoke shape of the tooth of the Zeuglodon of Owen ; in one of the 
 teeth the distance from the extremities of the fangs across is 2J inches. 
 
 The teeth and fragments of a maxillary bone here described, were found in 
 March last, in a bed of Green sand near the Santee Canal, in South Carolina. 
 The locality is on the plantation of R, W. Mazyck, Esq., about three miles 
 from the entrance of the canal from the head waters of Cooper river. The de- 
 posite of Green sand is from four to eight feet thick near the surface, lying on a 
 
I 
 
 2 
 
 solid yellowish limestone containing casts of Cardita Planicosta, (Sow.,) and 
 Pecten Mortoni , (Ravenel,) which, according to the opinions of Lyell and 
 Conrad, would refer it to the Eocene period. Casts of C. planicosta are found 
 in the Green sand, which seems, therefore, to belong to theTertiary formation. 
 Conrad makes the following remarks,in his communication on “the Tertiary ,” 
 addressed to the National Institution. 
 
 “In many localities of the former period (tertiary,) the green sand is quite 
 as abundant as in the fossiliferous « marls* of New Jersey.” In this deposite is 
 found, in great abundance, Gryphcea mutabilis y also Pecten membranosus, 
 P. calvatus, Scutella crustuloides, S. Rogersii, Solarium ? Plagiostoma gi'c- 
 gale, Anomia jugosa, Teredo tibialis , Scalaria Sillimani ? Casts of a large 
 Nautilus , probably Alabamiensis , (Morton,) vertebrae of Cetacea , Teeth of 
 Crocodiles, and of several species of Squalus ; casts of C. planicosta, and of a 
 Terebratula. Mr. Tuomey, the Geological Surveyor of South Carolina, found 
 also, at this locality, a new Ostrea and a large Lima. Here also was found a 
 singular fossil, of a conical shape, 15 inches long, fluted externally, somewhat 
 resembling a Belemnite, of which a drawing and description have been for¬ 
 warded to the Academy of Natural Sciences by Dr. E. Ravenel, of Charleston, 
 South Carolina. 
 
 About two miles from this locality a very compact white limestone is found, 
 with grains of silicate of iron intermingled with portions of it, containing 
 Ostrea sellaeformis , 0. panda, Terebratula lacryma, Scutella crustuloides, 
 casts of Turritella Mortoni , Conus gyraius, Anthophyllum atlanticum, Plus - 
 tra? casts of the Chambers of a Nautilus , Crustacea , a Spatangus, Cidaris? 
 &c. &c. Here also Mr. Tuomey has discovered another new Ostrea. This 
 list of fossils is made out frggk recollection, and without the specimens before 
 me. 
 
 With these teeth I have a part of a lower maxilla, containing portions of 
 teeth, 20 inc hes i n length, hollow, filled with the green sand. It re- 
 s£mble^ much the elongated beak of the Gavial, but is too imperfect to describe 
 more accurately. 
 
 A portion of the anterior part of this jaw contains a cuspidatus, resembling 
 that of the Megalosaurus, a single fang, with the protruding crown and point 
 curved but not serrated ; it is compressed laterally, and placed obliquely in a 
 socket. 
 
 \ 
 
 These teeth are all hollow t filled with the gr^m sand which surrounds them. 
 They differ materially from any genus or species described by Cuvier, Owen, 
 Mantell, Buckland, Harlan, Morton, or Hays. A strong resemblance 
 exists, in the form of the elongated snout, to the Gavials , while the hollow 
 teeth, characteristic of Saurians , differ from them in being seated in sockets, 
 and having two roots. 
 
 Mantell, treating of the teeth of Reptiles, says : 
 
 “ The characteristic type is that of a conical pointed tooth with a simple root 
 or fang; for in no reptile does the base of the tooth terminate in more than one 
 fang, and this is never branched.” 
 
 Owen, in his Odontography , (p. 25.) observes: 
 
 “ A «y fossil which exhibits a tooth implanted by two fangs in a double 
 socket must be mammiferous, since the socketed teeth of reptiles have but a 
 
3 
 
 wufa f Mfurca"ebi e e r! y fi ! hes ’ teeth which approach such a tooth are those 
 “ ll blturcate base belonging to certain sharks.” 
 
 Harl^nTwith tL P r f / SS ° r °T EN h3S cIassed the Zeuglodon (Basilosaurus of 
 
 name iomV ^ think the Dorudon > which 1 tore 
 
 to the’ same cfr “ SPear,) ““ far ‘ her lnvesti S ation > be f°o»d belong 
 
 Dlanters h d " her<> U WaS foond > but the marli ng operations of the 
 
 madl r d ° eaSed r t le SeaSOn ’ and the pits Were filled with water. 1 have 
 bone f r ^ gCmen , ?, excavati0ns in the ft«, when I hope to procure other 
 authnrir , rema f ° SSil - 11 ma y then b « possible to decide with more 
 (j- ' 0 lts portion in the great scale of extinct gigantic carnivora. 
 
 thr ,! a r° Ve communication was written, I have visited Albany, and 
 
 the lT?T n r. °! , ]>rofcssor E ' IM0N9 > had an opportunity of examining 
 ^ e teeth of the Zeug/odon cetoides, (Owen,) I was much struck with the 
 ilanty in their general characters with those of the Dorudon. They are 
 very muc o the same form, but the crown rounded instead of hastate—the 
 serratures are similar, though more crenate. The fangs of some are inserted 
 a mos perpen lcularly, while in others they are divergent, and fixed in the 
 sockets as in the Dorudon. The teeth of the Zeuglodon are solid, of dense 
 structure, a nd very strong, resembling those of Cetacea, while the hollowness of 
 those of the Dorudon approximate it to the Saurians. The jaw of the Zeuglo- 
 V s T ch shorter > and proportionally thicker. The conformation being 
 W . hlle the s P ecific characters of these teetl^ separate them, I am disposed 
 to think that the Dorudon is an intermediate connecting link between these 
 two great classes. 
 
 Professor Emmons is about to publish correct drawings of the teeth of the 
 
 Zeuglodon, which Professor Owen has not given from having imperfect speci- 
 mens. r r 
 
 June 20 th, 1845. 
 
 References to PI. I., Vol. 2. 
 
 1. Tusk of Lower Jaw of Dorudon. 
 
 2. Edge View of No. 1. 
 
 3. Edge View of No. 5. 
 
 4. Portion of Upper Maxilla, with Teeth. 
 
 5. Inner View, showing the Insertion of the Fangs. 
 
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