Yale University Library
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39002003946218

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY Gift of
H.R. Wagner

ROLAND TREVOR:

OR,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

lufobiogrnp[jq of \\)i Stater.
SHOWING HOW TO MAKE AND LOSE A FORTUNE,
AND THEN TO MAKE ANOTHER.

PHILADELPHIA:
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO, AND CO.
1853.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO, AND CO.,
in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States
in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

PREFACE.

The following pages were written for the benefit of an
only son who is now no more. It has pleased the Almighty
Disposer of human events to take him from me, whereby this
work has lost its value unless given to the public.
As it relates incidents of a life as varied as it has been
eventful — and, if not thrillingly interesting, it is because the
story has been badly told — I have yielded to the suggestions
of some partial friends, who, having read, have advised its
publication. As it produced good fruit in him for whom it
was intended, they think it may not have a less beneficial
effect upon the sons of other men.
The reader may perhaps imagine that, as I had a moral
object in view, the story will partake of a dry lesson-like
character. Not so. It is the actual history of my own life
from the age of fifteen to over fifty, with all the struggles
and efforts in my progress : showing how I made and lost
a fortune, and how I made another, with the causes thereof;
and with a sufficient sprinkling of love adventures to reason
ably season the dish.
A portion of the narrative has been written since the death
of my son, which will be relished by the more mature and
ripened mind, and yet which, I think, will interest as well as
improve the young.
Having condensed, for the benefit of a young friend, rules
for self-government which I found of great advantage in my
own case, and they having produced a beneficial effect with

IV PREFACE.
him, I have ventured to give them for the benefit of the
reader in advance of the main work.
A mode by which one may become his own master, and
force himself to accomplish whatever he has the resolution
to attempt.
To make this matter the more plain, I will simply tran
scribe the instructions given in the case named.
1st day. Make a blank book out of a quire of paper, with
a view to record therein any resolution which you may form ;
and consider yourself sacredly bound to adhere to such reso
lution so recorded. Bather suffer a protest at bank, or dis
credit yourself in any other way, than, by violating such
pledge, destroy the value of what will serve as a friend and
guardian to you through life, so long as the charm of sanc
tity is preserved. In order the more certainly to run no
hazard of violating it, make no resolution to bind you beyond
one week. And if you have the least doubt about your being
able to hold out a week, try it but for a day. If then you
think you can hold out longer, try it for two, and then for a
week ; and renew from week to week. But never resolve
beyond a week, because, however irksome any resolution
might be, you would hold it, probably, for a week. Other
wise you might violate it, and lose the benefit of a guardian
over your actions, which, so long as it is preserved sacred, you
will find invaluable. Now commence your week's trial by
rising with the sun, or earlier. Then write an essay upon
the value to you of a manly self-control. This will teach
you to think, improve you in composition, and strengthen
your resolution. After breakfast, attend to your accustomed
avocations, walk at least a mile for recreation; but read not
less than thirty pages of solid matter before you go to bed.
Finally, before retiring, record herein how you have spent
the day, and what portion of it you consider time wasted.
2d. Write an essay on the value of time and method in
the use of it. Balance as above.

PREFACE. v
3d. On the value of the habit of executing immediately
whatever you determine on. The evil of pondering.
4th. On the importance of punctuality in time engage
ments, as well as moneyed.'
5th. On the evil of being in debt.
6th. Review the work of the past week, and estimate, if
you continue it, what it will amount to in one year. Con
trast it with the mode in which you have spent the previous
week, and note the difference. Then before you rise from
the table enter your pledge in this book for the next week.
Now you will find such gratification in this review that it
will be apt to determine you to hold out for another week;
but this determination will be strongest immediately after you
have finished the review, and then is the time to enter your
pledge. Each succeeding week you will be more and more
pleased with the plan, and gratified that you have gained so
much by being your own taskmaster, and you will become
more and more resolved not to fall back.
At the beginning of the second week, write an essay upon
any useful subject. Let it be, if possible, upon some habit
which you wish to correct. Do this every morning until the
sixth, then review as before, and note how far you have con
formed to your own admonitions.
If a young man be resolute in his determination to improve
himself, and will begin with those rules, he will find in two
weeks that, so far from considering them irksome, he will be
delighted with their operation; for he will see a weekly
measurement of his advance, and that his character is under
going a charming renovation.
Some young men there are of fine talents, but with a
natural want of energy. Of such I ask, would you put your
self under the constraint necessary to conform to those rules
one week for one thousand dollars ? If yes — then try it,
and I venture to Say that, at the end of the week, you will

VI PREFACE.
find out a secret which you would not take a thousand dol
lars for.
Annexed, I give a letter from one who is now progressing
with the experiment. His name is erased, but the letter is
left with the publisher.
BOLAND TBEVOR.
Philadelphia, January 1, 1853.
Mr. T  .
Dear Friend : As a New Year's gift, permit me to tender
you my thanks for the success of your mental system. Aa
you predicted, I acknowledge this is one of your most valuable
inventions. Having, been allowed by your kindness to read your me
moirs in manuscript, I was inspired with an anxiety to im
prove myself: but, being assured of my immethodical and
thriftless habits, I despaired of ever acquiring sufficient self-
control to accomplish any valuable reform. Your kindness
prompted you to a better hope of me. You told me you
thought that you could accomplish a total revolution in my
character. You offered to try. Pleased with your kindness
and good opinion of my capacity, though highly sceptical of
any permanent good accruing, I gave myself up to your dis
posal, with a promise to follow your directions implicitly for
a single week.
I followed your directions, as I promised to do. You immedi
ately laid open to me a practical philosophy in a new and beau
tiful aspect, and demonstrated to me that, as all great works
in physics are done little by little, as houses are built by lay
ing brick upon brick, so are all great moral undertakings
completed little by little. One week was all that you asked.
At the end of that week, I found I had profited so much that
I ventured to try a second, a third, and to the sixth, which was
Christmas week. I determined to enjoy life and leisure thrift
lessly and waywardly as fun or fancy might dictate. At the
end of the holidays, I was so chagrined at my waste of
time and opportunities, I made up my mind to commence the

PREFACE. Vll
New Year after your directions, and deem the whole tenor of
my life well and wisely changed.
Now let me assure you what your plan has enabled me to
accomplish: first, to stop chewing tobacco ; second, to stop
smoking ; third, to get up by six o'clock in the morning ; and
fourthly, to stop, in a considerable measure, idling away my
time. Had drunkenness or gambling been among my weak
nesses, I am fully persuaded I could easily have mastered
those propensities. The most singular feature in your plan is,
you make me teach myself, by making me note my experience
and learn from it. 'Tis a self-supporting, self-teaching ma
chine. So fully impressed am I with the value of your plan,
that I do believe any man, with a moderate degree of common
sense, fortitude, and ambition, could, by its directions, forco
himself from any bad habit which might obstruct his pros
perity. If so, would it not be* well to give it a place in your
memoirs ? It would be a good way of giving it to the world,
and there are many doubtless who would reform if they only
knew how to do so. I think your plan would teach them.
Appreciating the beautiful ingenuity and great wisdom of your
plan, and happily assured of the great profit derived to myself
from it —
"With high respect and pleasant remembrance, I am Your friend.

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
General views for the government of the young mind . . 13
CHAPTER II.
My outset in life  18
CHAPTER III.
My plan for improvement — My position in society — The mor
tifications I encountered  24
CHAPTER IV.
My first speculation  29
CHAPTER V.
March to meet the British  32
CHAPTER VI.
Voyage to the West Indies — Value of civility ... 36
CHAPTER VII.
I return to Richmond, and undertake the management of my
father's coal-mines  45
>.
CHAPTER VIII.
My success in .expelling foul air from the coal-mines — A dan
gerous adventure into one of them  46

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX. PAGE

My engagement to go to Kentucky to settle an estate

52

CHAPTER X.
My first horse-trade — Various other adventures ... 57
CHAPTER XI.
Curious adventures, and some reflections in regard to the
first settlement of Kentucky ...... 63
CHAPTER XII.
History of a suicide and other matters .... 70
CHAPTER XIII.
My arrival in Frankfort — Meeting with a namesake — Ad
vances to him and rebuff ....... 76
CHAPTER XIV.
My opinion of duels, and the mode of avoiding them — With
various other matters ....... 81
CHAPTER XV.
My mode of gaining the information I -wanted — A little dry
at first, but read on, and the object will be developed with
more interest ......... 86
CHAPTER XVI.
My forlorn feelings upon first being domiciliated among
strangers  90
CHAPTER XVII.
The society of Frankfort— The legislature— Association with
the members  94
CHAPTER XVIII.
Death of my sister Ann and of my father— My return to Vir-

CONTENTS. XI
PAGE
ginia — Settlement with Judge B. and agreement to return
to Kentucky  97
CHAPTER XIX.
Return to Kentucky — Pleasant adventure .... 102
CHAPTER XX.
Second return to Frankfort — Approach of a moneyed crisis
in Kentucky — Character of the Kentuckians — History of
the independent banks — Relief system and New Court . 104
CHAPTER XXI.
The perils and difficulties attending the investigation of land-
titles in Kentucky  122
CHAPTER XXII.
Account of two. robbers — First steam navigation on the
Ohio — Loss of one hundred and fifty dollars . . . 129
CHAPTER XXIII.
My first law argument — Arrival of Judge B. — Trip to the
Yellow Banks — Discussion about Jack Randolph . .133
CHAPTER XXIV.
Growth of Cincinnati, and its cause  136
CHAPTER XXV.
Visit to Washington, Richmond — Change of terms for doing
business — Return to Kentucky — Accidental meeting with
my brother — Auction sale of land at the Yellow Banks . 139
CHAPTER XXVI.
A gambling adventure — The philosophy of gaming . . 143
CHAPTER XXVII.
Anecdotes of Isham Talbot and Henry Clay . . . 146

Xll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

PAGE

Effects of an unconciliatory spirit, and the contrary . • 148
CHAPTER XXIX.
How to cure a scolding wife— The value of money . . 151
CHAPTER XXX.
Pretty girls — Resolute young law student — Young lawyers
of Frankfort  156
CHAPTER XXXI.
A speculation — Another — Trip to Richmond — Amusing scenes
there  159
CHAPTER XXXII.
Return to Kentucky— Story of B. T  . . . .169
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The impropriety of abusing witnesses — A bad policy in law
yers  177
CHAPTER XXXIV.
My appointment by the State of Virginia as military agent . 179
CHAPTER XXXV.
The Kentucky land-laws— Its difficulties— An adventure * . 181
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Mr. Clay becomes prominent— Mr. Monroe notifies the allied
powers not to touch American soil— Its good effect, and
the wisdom of his doing so jgg
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Trip to the Iron Banks  288

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXVIII. PAGE
A bear story — Meet a counterfeiter — Lodge at a convict's
house — History of the counterfeiters .... 194
. . CHAPTER XXXIX.
Plan for a new settlement; — Trip to the Yellow Banks . . 202
CHAPTER XL.
Story of Miss Rhody Shermahom  205
CHAPTER XLI.
The A  settlement  207
CHAPTER XLII.
Purchase of Mason — Second sale of land at the Yellow Banks
—Trip to Virginia ... . . 210
CHAPTER XLIII.
Meet with Miss P  . .... 212
CHAPTER XLIV.
Visit to Judge Brook — First interview with Mr. Clay — His
national policy — The error of Virginia in opposing it . 216
CHAPTER XLV.
Necessity for charitable feelings — Further remarks upon Mr.
Clay's character  224
CHAPTER XLVI.
My operations in Kentucky  226
CHAPTER XLVII.
Love-affairs  230
CHAPTER XLVIII.
T. G  's visit to Kentucky — Discovery of a coal-mine . 239
1

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XLIX.
PAGE
A speculation missed — Progress of our business — Love-story
continued — Marriage 
CHAPTER L.
Departure with my wife for Kentucky . • 257
CHAPTER LI.
Arrival at Kenawha— The salt business— Beautiful country
in Kentucky — Character of Kentuckians .... 260
CHAPTER LII.
Arrival at Frankfort — Removal to Haphazard — Coal business 272
CHAPTER I, III.
A duel  275
CHAPTER LIV.
Shipment of coal to New Orleans  283
CHAPTER LV.
Dine with Mr. Clay at Judge Porter's — A picture of real life 288
CHAPTER LVI.
Qualities necessary to make a great man . . 294
CHAPTER LVII.
Corruption in our government and the remedy . . . 295
CHAPTER LVIII.
" Climbing down"— Coal adventures continued . . .317
CHAPTER LIX.
Gloom hangs over us— Wreckers appear — Dissolution of part
nership . . . ... 320

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER LX.
An offer to engage in business in Washington City . . 325

PAGE

CHAPTER LXI.
Purchase of D. R  's estate  326
CHAPTER LXII.
Offer for Congross — Bargain with T. G  for a Texas ad
venture — A horrid bear story — Mexican records; best
mode extant; — Contrast with the English .... 330
CHAPTER LXIII.
Texan loan — Adventures in Texas  335
CHAPTER LXIV.
Appointed general agent for Texas — Empowered to procure a
war locomotive  344
CHAPTER LXV.
An awkward quandary— Battle of San Jacinto — Interview
with Santa Anna and Almonte — Meet two men who escaped
from Fanning's massacre ....... 348
CHAPTER LXVI.
I now undertake my duties as general agent for Texas . 355
CHAPTER LXVII.
The beginning of trouble again  358
CHAPTER LXVIII.
Death of my children — Effect upon my wife . . 361

XVI CONTENTS.

PAGE
REVIEW. ¦ 374

CHAPTER LXIX.
Change of subject— A respite recommended . . 380

OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD .

THE
PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE,

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL VIEWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE YOUNG
MIND.
The life of every man contains a lesson to his successor,
which may be of value, if properly written out. It is a
chart, showing where the shoals and breakers lie which pro
duce failures in his enterprises, as well as where the deep
and smooth waters are found in the sea of prosperity.
There are few who have arrived at the age of fifty, and
have been prosperous, who could not be more so if they had
their lives to pass over again ; and quite as few who, having
been unfortunate, cannot look back and see the causes to
which they owe their misfortunes.
A father, then, who has the time, should furnish his son
with this chart, while his mind is yet in that pliant con
dition which adapts it to receive the lessons of experience ;
before a dogmatic self-will has impressed him with an idea of
his own smartness, which makes him deaf to the instruction
of others.
The most important lesson which my experience has
taught me is the conviction that the human mind is pro
gressive in all its stages, and that upon no subject has it
2

14 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
ever filled the measure of knowledge to be obtained therein.
The conceited, therefore, who turn from instruction, under a
belief that they have nothing more to learn on any subject,
only show the shallowness of their understandings. The
mind very quickly determines from hearing a lecturer
whether there is a probability of adding anything to the
store of knowledge already possessed on any given sub
ject, and if not, it would be waste of time to listen to
Mm ; but one should not, therefore, cease to make inquiries
through more intelligent sources.
In politics, religion, medicine, and many other sciences,
certain sects have formed their opinions, and will hear
nothing to shake them. How is it possible that the mind
can learn, if the book of knowledge is closed ! When I
observe a man listen with respect to opinions not in accord
ance with his own, as if he gives due weight to them, and
wishes to ascertain what merit they are entitled to, and
what he can gather from them to improve his own stock of
knowledge, I consider that he has a well-balanced mind —
one possessed of natural strength, and capable of gathering
strength as it goes. There are, indeed, very few minds of
this character that are not of the first order. If, after
having heard all that is to be said, although dissenting in
opinion, a man gives full weight to all the arguments that
deserve it, setting them forth in their strongest light, and
even adding others in support of the views which have been
given, as suggested by those of the speaker, but still,
in a decorous and respectful manner, showing why they
fail to convince him, I naturally lean to that man. I am
satisfied there is no prejudice about him ; that he is in search
of light, of truth, of justice ; in a word, a well-bred gentle
man — for, whether he come from the cottage or the palace,
he is one of nature's noblemen. If schools and parental
teaching have not made him a gentleman, nature has. The

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 15
opinions of such a man are always listened to with respect,
they always have great weight, and the author will find
friends wherever he goes; such a man will make proselytes-
But, on the contrary, if a man listen with an apparent
anxiety to detect you in a false position, in a slip of language,
showing that his object is victory in argument, and not to
elicit truth, refusing to admit self-evident facts or reasonable
inferences — requiring proof of what a candid mind ought to
admit — indeed, leaving an impression on his adversary that
he is not inclined to deal fairly — that man may exhibit his
ingenuity, his tact, his skill in argument, but he leaves an
impression on his adversary of a very unenviable kind, that
he is lacking in candor, frankness, honesty, nobleness.
There are many grades of all these qualities; and if I had
to select a man to transact my business, on account of his
honesty, and one should be recommended as standing unex-
ceptionably with the world, who suited me as to all other
qualifications, if I were to hear him offer unfair arguments
I would not employ him ; because the honest heart can do
nothing which is unfair. He who will make up an unfair
account in argument will do it in dollars and cents when
ever a sufficient temptation offers.
Once in conversation with a distinguished politician, one
who aimed to be a leader, I admitted that on a certain point
a political opponent was right (he and I agreed in politics).
" Oh, no, no," said he, " you are wrong." Eventually, how
ever, I satisfied him that I thought I was right, if I failed
to convince him. Not being able to convince me, he took
me by the hand, and said, " You are a young politician, and
some hints may be of service to you. Allow me to suggest
that we ought never to concede that our opponents are right
where they differ from the received doctrines of our party."
" Why, sir," said I, " that would be a monstrous principle
to admit. Each party then would maintain its ground from
the mere love of opposition. Every member of each would

1 6 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
have his opinions moulded for him by his leaders ; he would
be a mere machine, and not an intelligent being. I shall
never subscribe to such opinions, sir, and hope our party
will not." From that moment I lost all respect for this
man, and finally he forfeited all the respect of his party.
There is a set of hardened political jockeys who laugh at
the idea of political honesty, and view as an evidence of
greenness and simplicity any man's pretensions to it. But,
for my part, I cannot conceive that a man can be morally
honest and politically dishonest. If a man is honest at all,
the principle prevails with him throughout. It will not
travel with him through morality, and then leave him in
politics or religion.
Honesty consists in never acting unfairly, whether in
trade, politics, or religion. Many an honest man has gone to
jail for debt fairly contracted, but which unexpected events
made it impossible to pay; many a politician has greatly
injured his country by misguided opinions fairly entertained;
and many an honest man has incurred public odium from
professing religious opinions in which he sincerely believed.
The mind of the young should be honest ; that is, open
to light, and willing to hear the truth and admit it. Every
truth stored in the mind is future mental capital ; and as it
is said money begets money, growing and compounding in
its growth in proportion to its aggregation, so do truths.
Every addition to the mass of correct thinking strengthens
the mind, and adds to its power of collecting new truths,
which finally constitute a mind so strong and clear that it
has no false view of anything.
On the contrary, the man who aims only at controversial
victory, and seeks only weapons fair or unfair to attain suc
cess, accepting the false and unfair arguments of others,
wherever they can be found to answer his purpose, ceases
from that time to strengthen his mind by accumulating truth ;
and such a man must always occupy a secondary stand. I

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 17
do not mean to say there are not smart and talented men
who are dishonest. But such men would have occupied
a much more exalted position as men of talent had they
been honest; for they lose the greatest aid to the attainment
of a high order of talent, in the lack of honesty — that aid
which the heart gives to the head — which makes eloquence
so powerful and irresistible when there is a consciousness of
right. The young mind should learn to be charitable, and slow
tocondemn an opponent for difference of opinion, or for crime
where there is lack of proof. This world is awfully unchari
table, and prone to condemn, on the first accusation, without
investigating the justice of the charges. Hence, mischief-
makers in society so often succeed in estranging friends from
each other, by starting reports in which there is no just
foundation whatever.
The young heart, while it should not be so credulous as to
be imposed upon, should be predisposed to a good opinion of
human nature ; otherwise, its own good feelings will be cor
roded and hardened. While we allow that there is enough
of baseness in the world to put us on our guard, and* give
us reasonable caution, we should also allow that there are
merit and virtue enough to open and warm our hearts. Hap
piness depends much on the sympathy of virtuous hearts.
To allow that there is but little virtue in the world would be
to leave the virtuous heart desolate indeed. Such is not the
fact; there is much to authorize us in giving our confidence
and affection, observing a reasonable prudence in doing so.
I do not mean, in carrying out this idea, to say that a man
must lend his money or his name foolishly to others. No
friend would ask it beyond your ability conveniently to spare
it. To that extent a man may be justifiable, but certainly
not further. An acquaintance will sometimes present him
self with a note or bond, and say, "I wish you to indorse this
for me; it is a mere nominal thing; you will never hear of it
2*

18 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
again." The nature of trade renders mutual aid sometimes
necessary, and all who need it should, if practicable, make
arrangements for reciprocal accommodations, securing each
other for doing so.
There are, however, friends who, under certain circum
stances, are entitled to our aid, when it would be ungenerous
to refuse it ; and where we can see that, without dishonesty,
we are not very likely to lose, we should give it. We are
all, sometimes, so circumstanced as to render such aid neces
sary, and even at the hazard of losing we ought to give it.
But never carry this friendship so far that, if you have to
pay all, it will injure you. Many men keep no account of
their indorsements, and are finally ruined when they were not
aware that they were liable as security but to a small amount.
Let me now impress on you to open a security account the
first time you put your name on paper for any man, and
make this entry : " Security Account to Bills Payable," for
this amount due on the day of , by A. B  ,
for whom I have indorsed $  .
I will here close this branch of my subject and proceed to
the <Aief object in view : the chart of my life, as a guide to
you, endeavoring to show, when I have been successful, why
— and why, when I have not.

CHAPTER II.
MY OUTSET IN LIFE.

My father was a man of great enterprise and indomitable
energy, a merchant who had been prosperous and otherwise,
having three times failed in. business, but never becoming
disheartened.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 19
Before the commencement of the last war with England,
he owned coal-mines in Virginia, and a valuable plantation
besides; all together ought to have made him independent;
but his zeal was always ahead of his means, and he generally
was in want of money. The coming on of the war and the
blockading of the Chesapeake finally made bankrupt every
coal-miner, and himself among the rest. But before this
event, for reasons I have named, though it was a part of his
nature to live well and handsomely — he could not do other
wise while he could possibly afford it — he was hard run for
money, and could not give me the education he wished, and
which was customary for the sons of Virginia gentlemen. I
was pretty well versed in aU the English branches, and knew
as much French as was common, so that I could write it with
tolerable ease, and with some difficulty speak it so as to be
understood; but my education was not what was, at that time,
considered thoroughly classical. My father preferred the
solid studies, and thought that where time was limited it
had better be devoted to mathematics, natural philosophy,
and the kindred sciences. I had much cause to deplore the
belief, on my part, that I was deficient in a collegiate educa
tion, because I was of the impression that a man could not
study law without it with any chance of success, and on that
account I was deterred from attempting it, though I have
always been satisfied, since I have been grown, that it would
have been the sphere peculiarly suited to my turn of mind.
Had I known as much as I now do as to its importance, I
should have prosecuted the study with zeal, as I discover the
ablest men our country has produced, Henry Clay among
the number, have risen under similar difficulties. Sub
sequently, however, having a vast amount of law business
to do> I had of necessity to make myself a pretty good
land lawyer, and have pleaded some of my own- most
important cases ; and by many, who have known me for

20 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
twenty years intimately, am considered a regular bred lawyer.
Any well-informed man, with a strong mind, having a strong
sense of justice, the principles of equity well established, is
already more than half a lawyer; and, with a single year's
study, would be an overmatch for half who practise. And if
our laws were divested of the rubbish which encumbers them,*
and which is perfectly needless but for the benefit of the school
ed, such men alone could be lawyers, for the easy admission
of strong intellects acting on the basis of reason, untram
melled by special pleading, would soon cause the lighter in
tellects to sink. The man of tolerable understanding, whose
fate it is to have much to do with law, will soon discover
that it is enveloped in a mass of nonsensical trash, growing
out of the circumstances under which the common law of Eng
land has been handed down to us, and which was the crea
tion of circumstances dissimilar entirely to our own ; making
it necessary to approach justice indirectly and by fiction,
for which now no solid reasons exist. Beason being, in our
country, untrammelled, there being no cause to do anything
but in a direct manner, all the fiction of the law, and all the
special pleading which, in half the suits that are brought,
defeat the ends of justice, ought to be abolished, and will be
whenever a master-spirit takes the subject in hand, who feels
himself competent to the task. It is wonderful that, in the
general march of improvement, this remnant of barbarism
still remains among us. That it can remain long is,
in the nature of things, impossible. I have, however, di
gressed more than I intended. — To return. My father's cir
cumstances making it necessary that I should leave school
before my education was complete, caused me great concern
and mortification. I was put to live with a merchant in
Richmond, who had but lately established himself, a whole-
* This was written in 1848. In 1851, Kentucky remodelled her
laws, and has very much simplified them.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 21
sale importer. He had two clerks, who were then sufficient
for his business; and I was admitted as a favor to my father,
without wages, but merely to learn business. My father in
formed me of the circumstances which made this necessary;
that he would dress me genteelly, but that I must be as eco
nomical as I could. Indeed, he seemed to foresee a gloomy
future, and deemed it necessary to impress me with it. He
told me that on my being able to make myself useful and
necessary to my employer depended my promotion ; and the
most important thing, next to doing well all that I had to
do, was to do it cheerfully, pleasantly, promptly ; never to
have a sulky look, even if overtasked, but to go at what I
had to do as if I considered it a favor to be allowed to do it.
And not only so as it regarded my employer, but to seek
every opportunity to oblige his friends; "for," said he, "a
man's friends always have great influence with him. If you
are unpopular with them, you will soon become so with him.
And, above all things, be not ashamed to do anything re
quired of you — to sweep out the store, dust the counter and
the goods ; be always busy at something. You are playing
for a high stake. Your future destiny depends, perhaps, on
the manner you deport yourself at the start, and how your
employer is pleased with you." With these lessons I set in,
and with a full sense of the responsibility resting on my
course. I thought I could give satisfaction, and determined
to do it. I was told I need not do anything the first day, but
look around and see what was done, and learn how. The
second clerk was vain, and a good deal of a dandy. Before
I came in, it was his duty to sweep out the store, and brush
down the counters, which duty he continued for a day after
I came in. It then became mine. I remarked, when he
swept the store out in the morning, before he pushed the dirt
into the street, he would look up and down to see who was
near, and delay his task while any one was in sight, and
then would sweep the dirt out to one side of the door.

22 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
When I assumed the office, I considered that, under the cir
cumstances I was admitted, it did not become me to seem
ashamed of my trade. I preferred to make an osten
tatious display of it, and when I swept out in the morning
I also swept the pavement the whole width of the house, and
would then knock my broom against the curbstone, attracting
notice all around; and generally obeyed the suggestions of
my father. This merchant had a very intimate friend, who
was in the habit of calling in to talk with him on his way to
bank, which was some distance off, and from slight evidences
of my obliging disposition, he asked me one day if I would
go to bank and transact his business for him. This was in
the city of Richmond, when the Bank of Virginia was in front
of the capitol, a long way from the seat of business; to
reach it was a tiresome walk. I took his book with pleasure,
left the store, and after getting out, ran at half speed to
the bank (I was only fifteen), transacted the business, and
returned as quickly. This friend could hardly realize that I
had been to the bank. This happened very often. He ex
pressed his thanks. I told him I was the obliged party, the
walk was agreeable, and it always gave me pleasure to serve
him. One day he remarked to my employer that he want
ed a young man, as his only clerk had left him; that if I could
be spared, and was willing, he would be glad if I would live
with him. My employer said he had little for me to do, and
offered no objection. I readily agreed, and saw that, in a
few weeks, I had mounted one step on the ladder. My new
employer was a Scotch importer of salt, china, crockery, and
queensware, wine, brandy, &c., all of which was sold by the
pipe or crate; and, consequently, there was little to do
in the store, but a great deal at the desk. He was one of
the best-informed men in the city, one of the best merchants,
and very fond of his ease. The great difficulty with me was
that I wrote a bad hand, altogether unfit for books, which
delayed my advancement as a bookkeeper, and I feared would

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 23
be a great barrier to my advancement. I exerted myself,
however, to improve it, and gradually succeeded, but never
attained to a clerical hand. By reading and copying all let
ters relating to the business (there were no copying-machines
then, and for rising young merchants it is a pity there are
any now), I soon learned the general run of the business; and
I made all purchases, and executed all orders; even ventur
ing often to do what was required before my employer came
down in the morning, the mail coming in at night, so that
the letters were delivered at sunrise. As I made good bar
gains, he was pleased, and encouraged me in taking such re
sponsibility. I thought, after a while, I understood the an
swers which would be given to letters, and, in antiSipation,
would write them, showing them to my employer. They
seemed to satisfy him, and, being willing to avoid trouble
himself, he adopted them. If, at any time, I misconceived
his wishes, he would correct me, and I would write the letter
over. But, most generally, my letters were satisfactory. In
this way, I had taken most of the business on my own
shoulders. We did a great deal of bank business ; notes
were becoming payable and receivable every day ; and often
he seemed caught unawares with a note due and no provi
sion made. I concluded I would keep an estimate of re
sources and payments, besides the usual bill-book ; and this,
so far as practicable, a month in advance. I would some
times inform him that, on a certain day, some time ahead,
heavy payments would be due, without adequate means.
This would stir him up to meet them. I prepared all his
promissory notes and checks, and presented them for his
signature. He scarcely ever looked into them, but signed
without inquiring. Even this finally became irksome, and
he lodged a power of attorney in the banks for me to do
everything ; and I now seldom troubled him about the busi
ness in any way.

21 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER III.
MY PLAN FOR IMPROVEMENT— MY POSITION IN SOCIETY—
THE MORTIFICATIONS I ENCOUNTERED.
To keep up this history in connection, I have omitted to
say that, the nature of the business being such as not to
occupy my whole time, I devoted most of my evenings to
reading; spending two out of three alone in the counting-
room. Impressed with an idea that, by leaving school
before my education was finished, I should always show it in
after life (by the by, the collegiate course was then so much
more thorough than now, that a man's education was not
considered complete who was not familiar with every histo
rical event, who could not tell exactly where any point of note
is on the globe, together with the boundary of every coun
try, its population, revenues, resources, manners, laws, and
customs, besides having a thorough knowledge of the sci
ences and languages), I felt a great anxiety to make up the
deficiency, and studied very hard to do it. I made it a rule
to read, at least, two hundred pages every week, and of solid
matter, keeping a journal in which I noted what I read, and
how much. I even wrote out an epitome of the histories of
Rome and Greece. The British classics were then coming
out in numbers; my employer was a subscriber. They were
a great treat. I read them as they came to the extent of
near one hundred volumes. He was, also, a very literary
man ; very fond of reading; had a good library, and no trash ;
and finding me fond of reading, he would suggest valuable
works, and talk with me about them. I was extremely fond
of mathematics in all its branches; and if I had any genius,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 25
it ran in that line. Questions often appeared in the papers,
which I never failed to solve without difficulty ; and my old
mathematical tutor, to whom I would submit them for revi
sion, took great pleasure and pride in my efforts, and en
couraged me.
But a great subject of mortification to me was that the
young men of fortune who had been my schoolmates and
near friends — who had spent their time with me at my fa
ther's when he lived in Richmond, and I in turn with them
at their fathers' — now that my father had removed to the
country, residing at his coal-mines, as they supposed from
necessity, and I was in a counting-house, became cold, and
not anxious for my acquaintance. Their invitations to see
them were fewer, and less cordial, until I declined most of
them. Some were still warm ; but few. This was the great
est trouble of my life. I was extremely sensitive, and felt
all slights most keenly. The young clerks were not gene
rally intelligent, and I had not much relish for their company;
yet there were some who were so, and when so at all, they
were so from natural strength of mind, cultivated by a taste
for reading, and consequently more interesting and strong
than those who were so simply from the force of education.
But I occupied a position of the most unpleasant kind. My
relatives, connections, and the associates of my family, were
of the best society, and the most fashionable in the State.
In Richmond, however, a counting-house clerk is very seldom
found in the best society ; I might say never, unless his father
is the merchant, and a man of wealth. With all the merit
of Virginia, she is the most aristocratic State in the Union,
and I seemed doomed either to have no society, or sink into
the second class.
Distinction, founded on merit, must and will always exist.
Men. will seek the company of those of congenial disposition ;
but distinctions founded merely on wealth I always have
abhorred, and always will abhor. Of those possessed of real
3

26 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
merit, and who did not bow to the tyrant fashion, there
were many who occupied the highest positions in society, and
who were warm friends of our family ; but the slights of a
few made me suspect all; and having a most unbending spirit
in matters of the kind, I finally almost quit society, for my
rule was never to descend. There was a proud conscious
ness within me that the day would come when these things
would change; and, though often mortified, I was never hum
bled. The greatest evil resulting from this state of things
to me was a doubting of friends who deserved my confidence;
who wanted to be as they ever had been; but I became so
punctilious that it was a labor to keep up my acquaintance ;
I required all to meet me more than half way. This there
was no sufficient inducement to do, and they would not do
it. My habits, however, soon won upon the respect of many,
who, despite the frigid atmosphere I threw around me, sought
to bring me out of it, and gradually succeeded, but not until
I had had ample time to taste fully the bitter cup of advers
ity, and to become imbued with a feeling of deep sympathy for
all who are similarly circumstanced ; so much so, that I now
never see a young man of merit in adversity but I feel
an inclination to elevate him. This feeling, however, does
not carry me so far as to allow every young man to be a judge
of his own merits, and to push himself upon me or my family
without being properly vouched for. The introduction by a
friend of any young man into my family is a passport which
entitles him to my respect, until I find cause to withdraw
it. But if I find him unworthy, not only is my respect with
drawn from him, but also from the man who introduced him.
Nothing is more unwarrantable than the introduction into
any gentleman's family of a man for whom the introducer
cannot stand bound, and vouch for; and of all the company
which I desire to avoid, the foremost is fashionable loafers
and idlers — men whose merit consists in their being of the
ton — without employment, business, aim or object in life;-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 27
mere men of fashion. I get into an ill-humor the moment
such men enter my house. In the deepest days of my ad
versity, I never did acknowledge fellowship with such, how
ever wealthy or respectable their families might be. I have
always had the instinctive aversion to them which a cat has
to water. But I am digressing from my narrative. For
the reason named, my habits became somewhat solitary ; but
I learned to play the game of chess ; there were a few of my
acquaintances who understood it, and I now found that all
the time which I was willing to spare could be very easily
consumed at that game, which is so captivating that the
great danger is in too great an indulgence in it. It was from
reading the life of Franklin that I was induced to learn it,
as he thought it expanded the mind, and greatly helped to
develop the thinking faculties.
Having, as I before said, left school before I had taken a
regular collegiate course, though the academy at which I
finished my education, Gerardin's, in Bichmond, was perhaps
equal to any in the State, not excepting William and Mary,
I always had a humble opinion of my abilities, notwithstand
ing, in my classes at school, I was generally foremost, or
among the foremost; but I had not taken a thorough course,
and that mortified me. I often debated the question with
myself as to what grade I did occupy; and generally ended
by concluding with a compromise, that, though my course
had not been thorough, there were some whose course
had been so who were as great fools as I was; and that,
so far as I could, I would make up my deficiencies. Never
did a lad struggle harder; and finally, seeing in the newspa
pers a criticism on Virginia manners and customs, which,
from its style, I knew came from a Northern man, I felt an
irresistible inclination to try my hand at an answer. I
showed it to my father's clerk, who kept his books at his
coal-yard. He was a very intelligent man, and a man of fine
taste. He approved it, and offered to have it published, say-

28 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
ing the editor would be glad to get it. I doubted it, but
agreed he might try. It came out with some high commen
dations by "the editor of the "Compiler," and I was gratified
to see it copied in other papers. This gave me a little better
opinion of myself. But the idea ran through my head that
the editor would not have published the piece if he had
known the author had never been to college.
During this time, I had no stipulated salary. The under
standing was that I was to have my board, and enough to
clothe myself. Besides my board, I credited myself with
$300 per annum, which would not then go so far towards
clothing me as $150 would now, for the war/with England
then existed, and the best cloth sold for $20 per yard, and one
piece of linen made up into shirts cost me $80. This war
had been now raging about a year and a half. I got my
elder brother John to write to Mr. Madison, who was an
old friend of our family, to see if I could get a commission,
intending to speak to my father if there was a chance, but
not otherwise, as I did not wish to give him useless uneasi
ness. My brother, however, thought it best to name it to
him first. He objected. He said I could not get one on
account of my age, and that I was too young to endure the
hardships of war. Besides, I was but little trained as an
accountant, and would come out of the war, if I survived it,
unfit for any other business, as idle habits were acquired in
the army which could never afterwards be thrown off; that, if
I had fitted myself for a merchant or for any other profession,
and were old enough, he would not oppose my wishes ; but
that after returning he might not be able to support me, and
I would certainly not be able to support myself. Strong
reasons, I thought; and so I abandoned the idea.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 29

CHAPTER IV.
MY FIRST SPECULATION.
At this time there was an immense body of coal piled at
nay father's yard, which he could do nothing with, as the
English fleet lay in the Chesapeake, and it could not be ex
ported. I observed, by the Baltimore prices current, that
coal was $1 per bushel there, and insurance was 25 per cent.
I asked my father if he would allow me to make an adven
ture in it. He said yes, and seemed pleased with the idea ;
said I might have as much as I wanted, as it was of no value
to him. I went to Rockets, the ship-landing for Richmond,
and engaged a schooner to take 3000 bushels at 50 cents per
bushel. The insurance deducted would leave me 25 cents,
if insured at full value; but, insured at 25 cents, not includ
ing freight, it would leave me 18J cents. I shipped and
insured at 25 cents. The British took it, and I got 18| cts.,
or about $550. This was a pretty good beginning. I went
again to Bockets to engage another vessel, and bought a
sloop which carried about 3000 bushels, for $500, payable in
coal, and as she was unseaworthy, I bargained for her repair,
in coal, for about $250, keeping my object a profound secret
from every one but my employer, who allowed me time to
attend to it.
While the repair was going on, a man applied to me to
know mj object. I told him I was not disposed to make it
known. He said the vessel was designed to run through
the fleet. I asked him how he could know it. He answered
it could be for no other purpose, for she could not get out of .
the river without being in danger, and it was his knowledge
3*

30 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
of that fact which induced him to apply to me, as he wished
to share in the adventure. His name was Baker. I asked
him on what terms he expected to share. He said he would
insure my safe passage through the fleet for half the profits.
I asked in what way he would insure it. He replied he must
be assured there would be no violation of confidence if he
told me. Certainly not, I said. If he named the matter
confidentially to me, and so desired, I would not name it;
for I had not thought of how it was to be done. And he
then showed me a license from the commander of the British
fleet to pass any vessel he pleased through unmolested.
Believing he had obtained this license because of some ser
vice he had done the enemies of his country, I told him I
would have nothing to do with him. He asked me, then,
not to name it. I told him I should not, as I had so pro
mised, but considered it a dirty business. In the course of
the day, a merchant of the city came to me, and wished to
know if I would sell the sloop I was having repaired, and
my price. I told him I would, and my price was cost, $750.
Well, he said he would take her. He loaded her with coal,
and sent her out, and she was lost in a storm in the Chesa
peake. I now had about $1300, more money than I ex
pected to have in ten years, and debated with myself what I
should do with it. Nothing gave me more pleasure than
the idea of pleasing my father; so I concluded, on his next
visit to Richmond, I would give it all to him, for I knew he
was hard pressed. And when he came in, I told him what
I had done, and handed him all the money. He said he
wished me to keep it. I answered, I had no better use
for it than to give it to him. He replied it would be a great
relief to him, and his eyes filled with tears. I saw he ad
mired the feeling, and this was a full reward for me. The
firm I lived with had a most beautiful topsail schooner of
about one hundred and eighty tons, called the "Richmond."
My success thus far, although both vessels were lost sug
gested the idea of an adventure in her myself, and I pro-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 3 1
posed to my employer, if he would load her with tobacco,
which could then be purchased for $10 to $20 per hhd.,
that I would run her through the fleet, and go to France
with it, where it was then quoted enormously high. She
would carry 250 hhds., worth about $4000. She was worth
about as much, in all $8000. If I got through, the cargo
would sell at least for $100,000. "And, in the name of
God," said he, "would you hazard getting through? and
how would you expect to do it?" I told him I would, and
I would expect to do it as follows : —
I would go down James River, as near as would be safe, to
the enemy, and lie in some cove, ready for the first hard
westerly blow, or any wind which would take us out of the
capes, upon a dark night. We could see the lights of the
enemy, when they could not see us, and I would dash by
them while at anchor, taking care to run so that a broadside
should not bear on us. But, after seeing us, we would pass
so rapidly that they could not probably do us any harm.
After getting to sea, I would not fear them much, as the
"Richmond" was a rapid sailer.
" But," said he, "the French ports are all blockaded;
how would you get in ?"
" I would trust to running the fleet in the same way."
" And what would your father say to such a scheme?"
I had not weighed that matter. He would probably ob
ject. But my greatest fear would be from my mother. I
should tell my father, however, that I had often heard him
say that a young man without enterprise was of no account ;
that the worst which could happen me would be to be taken
prisoner (the dangers of the sea are but the daily dangers of
life, not to be estimated) ; and, if taken prisoner, I would see
something of England, and after a while be exchanged. He
objected to the hazard. I told him then to value the "Rich
mond," and I thought I could make up a stock company for
the adventure. He said he would see about it on his return
from New York, where he had to go in a few days.

32 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER V.
MARCH TO MEET THE BRITISH.
Washington City had been taken by the enemy some
short time before, and my employer had not been gone many
days before their fleet began to descend the Potomac; and,
some short time afterwards, while standing in the store door, I
saw a dragoon dashing through the streets at half speed to
wards the governor's. Soon the fire-bells were ringing, as if
the whole city was on fire; then came the booming of can
non, as signals of the enemy's approach upon the city, and
a dozen drums and fifes went down the street, beating' the
long roll to arms. Every store door was immediately closed,
and every man who could bear a musket was soon on Capi
tol Square, and at his post in his company. Iliad not been
long mustering, and was in the militia. (My employer was
a Scotchman, as was his partner, who had a branch-house in
Petersburg, and I had been afraid to join a volunteer com
pany lest they might be displeased.) James Barbour, then
Governor of Virginia, though a talented and zealous man,
was rather remarkable for his pomp, and for making the
worst of everything. He made a speech to the troops, in
forming them that the enemy had yesterday landed in force
at Sandy Point on James River, within less than two days'
march of the city, and might be expected upon us in a short
time; that now we would have an opportunity of wiping out
the disgrace of Bladensburg, and showing the chivalry of the
Virginia character, &c. ; that he had appointed Colonel Tho
mas Man Randolph commander of the advanced guard, with
liberty to select fifteen hundred chosen men, to go forward

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 33
immediately and keep the enemy in check, while the forces
could be organized below the city to receive the enemy.
Colonel Randolph selected mountain riflemen and the city
volunteer companies. They were allowed time to provide
themselves with what provisions they could carry in their
knapsacks, and each man a shirt.
Catching the prevailing fever, and anxious to be of those
who were to go in advance, I applied for admission into the
" Blues," obtained a second-hand uniform, and was soon on
the march with them. It was only when I was passing our
store that I recollected having the key in my pocket. I
stepped out of the ranks, handed it to a neighbor, and re
quested him to write the partner in Petersburg ; and away
we went. We were cheered on by several fine bands of
music, and the huzzas of the citizens. But the alarm of the
ladies had a more powerful effect; they were seen at every
window, some crying, but others waving their handkerchiefs;
but, in all directions, drays, carts, wagons, and every vehicle
which could take off valuables, were packed with them ; and
carriages with families moving off as from a city that was
expected to be sacked by the enemy. If ever men had, on
earth, incentives to fight, we had. The sight around us was
enough to make a man march up to the mouth of a cannon,
or any other certain death ; and I think no force would have
been sufficient to cause a retreat without a fight by our little
band. We marched eleven miles that night, and encamped with
out tents, making the best shelter we could of pine-tops.
We had no camp equipage of any kind — no cooking
utensils. Every man ate all he took with him that night,
or it was eaten by his comrades.
No news of the enemy. In the morning an express came,
informing us that the enemy had gone on board again, hav
ing understood that the approach was easier from York River ;
or our commander so suspected; and our march was bent to

34 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
the confluence of the Mataponi and Pomunky Rivers, whose
junction forms the York. Five hundred horse went in ad
vance, and so swept the country of provisions, which is one of
the poorest regions in the United States, that a very scanty
breakfast was all we. got next morning, and not a mouthful
then until night, when the men were allowed to range every
where to get something to eat. I got a supper, but some
got none, and the next day not one got half enough to satisfy
the cravings of hunger. No commissary had gone ahead;
no provision had been made ; there had been no tijne for it;
we had taken no baggage-wagons with us, not even a pack-
horse ; all we had was in our knapsacks, for it was expected
we would be the second day in retreat upon the city, pur
sued by a large British army, which our force was too small
to make a permanent stand against. But we were expected
to make a stand at every stronghold, and fight as long as we
could; when whipped, to retreat to the next, and there fight
again as long as we could, checking the enemy as much as
possible, until the main army could be organized and come
to our help. But the enemy having changed his plans, and
we having to follow, we were not prepared to do it; but there
was no help, and we marched to Warronigh Church, at the
head of York River, almost starving on the way, and with
out shelter. When we reached this point, we found a church
over one hundred years old, disused because of its decayed
condition, built in the shape of a cross, the only part which
would turn water being under the centre of the ridge-poles,
and not room enough for one-fourth of our forces. The
second night after our arrival I was detailed on guard, and
stood out in the heaviest rain that I ever felt. I had a
watch-coat, but it availed nothing, for soon I was wet to the
skin. When relieved, I had no retreat but this church,
already doubly crammed. I walked in; there were lights
kept burning. Not a soul was awake, and not a spot was
there for me to lie on. I picked out the driest place, however,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 35
and laid myself down in my wet clothes, between two
volunteers, resting about equally on each. They were too
sound to awake by my weight, and I got as much down
towards their legs as I could. When I awoke in the morn
ing, I was so woven in among the legs of the soldiers that
it was hard to extricate myself. I determined, the next day,
to have a better place than that by the next night, and our
mess set to work and built a pen of pine logs, which we got
axes to cut, and roofed it with pine-tops, making a sort of
shelter, but not a tight one. We, however, thought we had
fine lodgings, and went soundly to sleep; but in the night
there came another heavy rain, and we found ourselves all
afloat. We had omitted to dig ditches around our tents, and
the water came in upon us so as thoroughly to wet us.
Such was my fatigue, and so eager was I for sleep, that I felt
the water running under me some time before I could summon
resolution to get up. The next day, however, we dug ditches,
and thatched our roofs so as to be pretty comfortable. We
were in this condition a month before we got any help, and
returned home in about two weeks after we got it, the enemy
not having landed, though they came into the river. I had
made a set of chessmen of wood and a board of plank, and
as we had several chess-players with us our time was spent
quite pleasantly. There were many interesting incidents
and characters which I would like to name; but to give a
very skeleton sketch is all I can hope for time to do. Should
it ever be in my power to enlarge, I will do it, and give mat
ters more in detail. My present object is simply an outline
sketch for my son, to show how all those events have borne
on my general destiny ; to furnish a skeleton-chart. Our re
turn was, of course, hailed with pleasure by our friends, and
the British fleet had left the Chesapeake, except a ship or
two, and gone to New Orleans, where the last battle was
fought on the 8 th of January, the result of which all know.
I now returned to my counting-house. The labors were

36 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
very flat and insipid. Had I continued much longer in
camp, I could not have borne them. This is the worst effect
of a military life. I had continued several months in my old
position, where I had been four years, and nothing was
said about raising my wages, or my future advancement.
Now, I could keep all the business straight which my
employer made, but I could not make it; and it was evi
dent, from circumstances needless to name, that the house
could not stand. I found the resources of the house dimi
nishing — no new ones creating. I attempted to draw my
employer's attention to this fact; but he heard me with im
patience and petulance. I had now an offer by a merchant
in Norfolk, who had married a relative, of $900 per annum,
to go and live with him. This was a great lift from $300.
I accepted, and left my old employer. This merchant took
in a partner that I did not like. I did not write a good
hand; I saw he was not satisfied, and I determined to
change my quarters as soon as I could find another place.

CHAPTER VI.
VOYAGE TO THE WEST INDIES — VALUE OF CIVILITY.
My employers fitted out a large topsail schooner for the
West Indies, and offered me the berth of supercargo,, whiqh I
accepted, as I had a fancy for adventure. I went to Santa
Cruz and a market loaded with flour, tobacco, rice, and kiln-
dried meal. Finding the market of Santa Cruz glutted, I had
reason to fear all the others were. I learnt, by conferring with
other supercargoes, that most of them designed going to lee
ward. I affected to agree to the correctness of their conclu
sions, but in my own mind was satisfied that the farther we

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 37
went to leeward the worse, and that on a falling market the
sooner a man sells the better. I had sailed in July, and taken
with me for sea-stores a good stock of new Irish potatoes
and bacon hams. On my arrival, as a rarity of the season,
I sent as a present to the custom-house officer a barrel of
the potatoes and one of bacon hams. He invited me to
dine with him. I did so, and made myself as agreeable as
I could, and found him very pleasant and friendly. I soon
found I had struck the right chord, one which none had who
had been there before me, and he seemed anxious for my
success. Whenever that is the case with a West India
custom-house officer, the way is made smooth. He intro
duced me to an American merchant as his friend, asking all
the aid he-feould give me. I proposed giving this merchant
a commission to sell my cargo. He tried, but found the
idea prevalent that there would be a glut, and a whole
cargo could not be sold at any price. But he offered me free
of charge a lumber-yard which he had, if I would land my
cargo and retail it, and also lumber to make- shelters of. He
invited me almost every day to dinner, and became very
fond of me. I was very young, and he seemed disposed to
exercise a guardian' care over me. The custom-house officer
sent to beg another barrel of potatoes. I had but two left.
It would not do to refuse him. I let him have it.
I now began to unload, and found the custom-house
officer's friendship very valuable, for he sent me all the
bakers and grocers, and in a week after landing I had sold
out at a handsome profit, instead of losing as I had, antici
pated. All the other vessels from the United States except
two had left port when I began to land cargo ; and all were
under the impression that I was landing my cargo to get at
the corn-meal which was at the bottom, which would do
better at Santa Cruz than elsewhere, and that I designed
running down with the balance. Of course, I did not unde
ceive them, and did not land in^a very great hurry, not
4

38 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
much faster than I sold. Their going off, and leaving so
few in port, caused rum and sugar to be very flat. I not
only sold at a good profit, but purchased my cargo as directed
—very low— at least fifteen per cent, under the general
average. Altogether, I made about twenty-five per cent.
on the adventure, while most others lost twenty-five per
cent. I have been particular in mentioning all the inci
dents of this adventure to show how far small civilities go ;
perhaps I sold my potatoes, and bacon, and politeness on this
occasion for at least $3000; for certain I am that, but for the
tide of good fortune which these threw me into, I should not
have done so well by $3000.
The other supercargoes were a cold set, who seemed too
stiff to make any advances or ask any favors. If ever the
old adage, "that manners make the man," held good in any
case, it did in this ; and so will it be throughout a man's life.
There is no outlay which will return one such heavy inte
rest as kindness and civility to his fellow-man. I care not
what a man's talents or business qualifications may be; kind
and pleasant manners are almost indispensable to success.
No rule is without its exception, nor is this. Men do some
times succeed with unpleasant manners; when they do, it is
an exception to a general rule. A man's skill or talents
might induce me to employ him, his bad manners or ill-
temper to the contrary notwithstanding; but never if I
could find a person of pleasant manners who would answer
the same purpose, even if inferior. I would rather have the
latter, because a man of disagreeable manners keeps us always
out of temper ourselves and unhappy, and his talent and skill
must be great indeed to balance such an objection. H one
has naturally good feelings, the cultivation of kindness to
wards mankind is much calculated to improve these feelings.
It continually brings its own reward. It makes friends;
we find ourselves beloved; and we are inclined to love all
human nature. Such feelings continually improve our man-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 39
ners, and our manners, in turn, give rise for a further in
crease of the feeling. Happy is the man who, in the outset
of life, has cause to love his fellow-man, for it is apt to give
a cast then to his manners which fix them for life. On the
contrary, if soured in the outset, he is apt to hate everybody,
and everybody hates him. He is apt to make ill-natured
remarks of those who wrong or slight him, and having done
so, he has fixed them in his own mind as his enemies. Believ
ing at first that he had cause for such feeling, he indulges
it, and, having done so, he feels conscious that the other has
cause to be his enemy. He so considers him, and his con
duct shows it, and makes the other his enemy ; whereas in
all probability at first there was no cause. for it. The sup
posed wrong or slight grew out of a misunderstanding or the
evil disposition of some mischief-maker, who, enjoying none
of the world's respect himself, cannot bear that others
should, and continually endeavors to poison the minds of
persons against each other to destroy that happiness which,
not being able to enjoy himself, he cannot bear to see en
joyed by others. There are some who do this with so much
art, giving such distant causes for the discontent, as hardly to
be seen as the instigators of it; and then, apparently anx
ious to allay it, pretend, Iago-like, to deprecate a misunder
standing between such friends, and evince an anxiety to
find reasons why there should be no offence felt, but find
such only as are calculated to widen the difference, gloating
all the time in the idea of their success. Oh ! how much
unhappiness have I seen thus caused ! producing alienations
between those who would otherwise have been the dearest
friends, and which alienations, though the cause may be after
wards ascertained, are never afterwards healed, because per
sons, believing they have cause to think hardly of each other,
are apt to say harsh things, and whatever reconciliation may
afterwards take place, those things are apt to be recollected,
and remain always as a canker in the heart. Between gen-

40 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
tlemen this is not so apt to be the case as where ladies are
concerned, because the former are apt to demand explana
tions, but these cannot be asked where ladies are parties,
In my outset in life, I fortunately had none of these demons
about me. I felt myself coldly treated and slighted by the
world because of my want of wealth ; but this I viewed as
an infirmity of human nature which all had to bear with
who were circumstanced like myself — an evil which would be
cured if fortune should ever smile upon me, and one which I
was determined should be cured if human efforts could do it.
I dwell upon this subject here, because I felt the influ
ence all my life afterwards of the feelings which caused me
to send this barrel of potatoes and bacon to the custom
house officer. An inclination to propitiate his good-will, a
matter of policy, you will say. So it was ; but it was an offer
ing of good-will justifiable in a country like the West Indies,
but which I would not have presumed on in our country,
lest it might be viewed as an overture for favors. That was
my object in Santa Cruz; not for any corrupt favors, but for
justifiable facilities such as I obtained. But there I had
learned that they were not so fastidious, and that much was
to be gained by any act of politeness or kindness. And I
had it clearly intimated to me that there was a mode to
avoid the duty on my cargo. I could have saved at least
half if I had chosen to do so; but I did not consider that my
office required me to save the duties at the expense of right,
and I would not do it.
Little presents are earnests of good feeling, and throughout
life they count largely, where judiciously made. There is
no greater luxury of feeling, I think, than in making pre
sents to those we esteem, where we can afford it. But it is
a very expensive habit, and counts largely where no account
is kept. Having been instructed to lay out the whole proceeds of
my cargo in rum and sugar, I had no discretion except as

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 41
to my own commissions. These were about $600 — half of
which I concluded I would invest safely, and the balance I
would lay out in oranges, as I got them for $1 per hundred,
and never knew them to sell in the United States for less
than $4.
On my return, I was the first supercargo that had got
back, though others had gone out about the same time.
My voyage had proved more profitable than my consignees
had been led to hope, as all accounts represented a glut
and gloomy prospects. Hope, however, was revived among
shippers generally; but I told my consignees that other
shippers would be disappointed — informing them how it
happened that I had done so well. Time verified my pre
diction ; when they returned, dreadful losses were found to
have been sustained. I gained great credit for sagacity and
good management, and was offered another cargo imme
diately to go back. But there was a splendid brig on the
stocks, about to be launched, called the " Catharine Shep
herd," to be laden for the Mediterranean, which, I was told,
I should have if I would wait for her, which I agreed to do.
I found oranges, on my arrival, worth $10 per hundred, and
was offered that for all I had, but heard that at Bichmond they
were worth more. On one plan I had concluded to act —
never to hazard over half for a larger price, where a reasonable
one could be obtaine'd. I sold one-half for $10 per hundred,
and sent the balance to Richmond : for which I finally
got almost nothing — a lesson to be satisfied, for the future,
with a good profit, where I could get it. Notwithstanding
this loss, however, I still had about $1500. I went to
Richmond to see my father, mother, and family, carrying
some presents. My younger brother, Philip, was at school
in Hanover ; but I had a sister, a lovely, beautiful, and
affectionate girl, who doted on me, and no lover ever took
more delight in pleasing his mistress than I did in pleasing
her. One of my greatest joys was the expectation of meeting
4*

42 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
her, though she was not grown, and carrying her a handsome
present. And then I had the most affectionate of mothers,
whose approving smiles were always the greatest reward for a
good action. The idea that I now had a sum which would
aid my father made me very happy; and, after arriving at
home, and telling of my adventures, I drew it all out, kept
about $150, and handed my father the balance— about $1200
—which I told him I had no use for. " Very well, Bob,"
said he ; " what I have received from you is to your credit.
This shall be added to it." " Just as you please," said I.
On my arrival in Richmond, the report of the success .of
my West India voyage had reached the ears of some of the
merchants who had known me, and who had taken up a
favorable opinion of me. Among the rest, was one rather
noted for his literary taste, classical acquirements, and good
sound sense, Mr. J. G. S., who was one of a select club that
had induced Mrs. Peyton Mead Randolph to establish a sort
of exclusive aristocratic boarding-house, at which the ton and
elite of the city were alone admitted, and where boarding
was very high. Mr. S., on meeting me, greeted me very
cordially, congratulated me, and said : " If you have no other
engagement, you must dine with me to-day." Whether I
had any or not, I would have made it yield to dine with
a man whose heart seemed so full of kindness for me, and
whose attentions were so creditable. So, at the appointed
hour, I attended. Most of those who were present knew
that, but a short time before, I had been a merchant's clerk
in Richmond, and it did not comport with their aristocratic
notions to have such a one an invited guest to such a com
pany. Mr. S. knew this; but he was a very independent
man, yet deemed it proper, in my absence, to explain how
it happened ; and in doing so, as I afterwards learned,
exalted my merits far beyond my deserts. Whenever a
young man rises to a condition which is above that which
the world seems to have assigned him, every hand is raised

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 43
to pull him down, as an intruder ; but, if they find that
a hopeless effort, and that he is likely to go up despite of
opposition, there is an ostentatious effort to be foremost in
patronizing him. No attentions are too great. That, how
ever, I can hardly say was the case with this club, for they
were all men of high breeding — Edward Roots, the Chester
field of his day, being chairman of the club ; and they were
all men of fine feelings. As I entered, Mr. S. met me very
cordially, and as he introduced me to the company severally,
I noted that I was received with an unexpected cordiality
and kindness; some pleasant words were addressed to me by
almost every one. At dinner, almost all asked to take wine
with me ; and as every one present was almost as old
again as I was, my situation would, to most young men,
have been embarrassing. But one fortunate quality of my
nature has, been, that I have never stood in awe of any
company, however distinguished it might be ; nor have I
sever lost my self-balance ; for I never felt anywhere that I
was among my superiors, except intellectually. I knew I
was often among those who thought themselves so ; but I
had always a great opinion of my own family and kindred,
and felt that temporary causes alone depressed me, which
causes I would in time overcome — when I would reach
the level to which I was entitled. Talent I always rever
enced and yielded to, and was always willing to bow in
deference to it. But to wealth, never. The rich fool I
have always despised as much as the poor fool, and I had too
much pride even to show any elation at any attentions paid
me from any quarter, or to boast of them, as I would thereby
have admitted they were more than I thought myself entitled
to. It was always my pride to be grateful for attentions and
kindnesses, come from what quarter they might ; and if ever,
in my walks through life, an occasion offered to make a
marked return, it was my greatest happiness to do it.
This company, henceforward, seemed to consider me a sort

44 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
of protigi, and were always ready to exchange a kind word
with me; and these attentions being noticed by inferior
men, whose wealth gave them consequence in their own eyes,
and in the eyes of a portion of the world, they, too, seemed
disposed to be very condescendingly patronizing, and prof
fered similar civilities. Yet, while I always expressed my
obligations for their kindness, I managed to avoid accepting
them. I was determined to maintain the position I had
reached, and not sully my standing by accepting attentions
from those who would not have proffered them but for the ex
ample of their superiors who had no merit but their wealth;
and while I would decline the dinner of the master, it gave me
great pleasure to go into his counting-room, and there greet,
with the warmest cordiality, his clerk, who was my old
acquaintance. The Well-educated merchant, of a high order,
is a man of the first order. The lawyer, from a habit of
speaking, is more showy, and, by the world, is considered
the more intellectual; but I have been upon the easiest and
most intimate terms with both classes, and while the mere
trader, sometimes called a merchant, is below the general
medium, the high order of merchant is among the best in
formed and the most intellectual men of our country.
I went around to visit my friends at Fredericksburg, and,
in a short time, was notified that the " Catharine Shepherd"
was ready for her cargo. I took leave of friends and family,
and went down to have her laden ; after which, we dropped
down to Hampton Roads, and there lay, waiting for a fair
wind. While detained, the owners were offered a good price
for vessel and cargo, and sold her, which knocked me out of
my voyage. To compensate me, they offered to load a ship,
which they were daily looking for, immediately on her ar
rival, and send me out in her. I returned home. But the
ship did not arrive for a long time.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 45

CHAPTER VII.
..I RETURN TO RICHMOND, AND UNDERTAKE THE MANAGE
MENT OF MY FATHER'S COAL-MINES.
My father now resided in Richmond, and I went frequently
to his coal-mines to attend to his .business. I found, as I
thought, very bad management by his superintendent; and
his removal, with his family, to them seemed absolutely neces
sary to save him from ruin. This seemed almost like death to
the family. In the dilemma, Iproposed to go up and take charge
myself. He said I was too young to command the necessary
authority (I was not yet twenty-one). I told him if that was
all the objection, I thought I could obviate it. He had great
confidence in my being able to do what I thought I could ;
so I went up. I very soon quarrelled with and discharged
the overseer, who did not seem inclined to be directed by a
boy. I procured another that I believed to be a good one,
and told him that great responsibility rested on us. He
engaged not to disappoint my confidence. Things took a
different turn, and wore a brighter aspect. We sunk a new
shaft, reached a fine body of coal, and sent it on rapidly to
Richmond. It was now finding a reasonably good market,
and I was in higlispirits. So it continued until the summer,
when foul air got into the pits, and drove us out. This was,
however, always the case at all the pits in the summer ;
and all owners submitted to the evil with resignation. I was
inexperienced, and not yet accustomed to submitting to diffi
culties without an effort to overcome them. I could not bear
to see fifty hands idle, and asked if there was no remedy.
" None," said the manager, " until the weather gets cooler,
and this may not be for two or three months."

46 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER VIII.
MY SUCCESS IN EXPELLING FOUL AIR FROM THE COAL
MINES  A DANGEROUS ADVENTURE INTO ONE OF THEM.
My father had been anticipating the event, and was resigned
to it. While at sea, I had read an account of a ship's hold
being cleared of foul air, by extending a pipe from the ca
boose to the hold of the ship, and stopping off all other access
for air. I determined to try the principle here. I had a furnace
built, with a pretty high chimney, about ten feet from the
shaft, and with an arch running to the shaft, which I had
well covered with clay mortar to exclude the air. I then
had wooden pipes made six inches square, and the joints
pitched; the first with an elbow, to go under the arch, while
the main stem went down into the shaft, the lower end
pointed, so as to fit another on it below. The air was so
foul that a candle would go out if let down ten feet. After
making a fire in the furnace, closing the door, and daubing
it up with mud, so that no air could get in, except through
the pipe from the pit, I had a lamp let down, and, to
my joy, found it descended below the pipe before it went
out. I then had another joint added, and the connection
filled with pitch to make it air-tight; sod%the lamp went to
the bottom of this, without going out, and so on to the bot
tom over two hundred feet, and the hands all went in to work
again. In a few days, I recommenced the shipment of coal.
Writing my father what I had done, he came up, and, after
examining my plan, said it would save him a fortune. We
now pushed on rapidly, and I had great hopes of extricat
ing him from difficulty. But he was too far behind, and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 47
was paying shaving interest on too heavy a debt. I found
my efforts would be fruitless. I was wasting the dawn of
my life, the most valuable part, without hope, and advised
my father to give up, as he was evidently getting deeper and
deeper into debt every year. He concluded to do so ; and
made up a statement of his indebtedness to every one,
among whom I was a creditor for two thousand seven
hundred dollars. He requested me to present my account
with others, saying I was entitled to a proportionate divi
dend. I did so ; but gave it to him, and he gave it to his
creditors ; and here we were all flat. I had thrown myself
out of the line of business, and knew not how to get again
back into it. I had foreseen the evil of doing so, but the
great wish to extricate my father had caused me to do it.
I had not money enough to buy me a suit of clothes, but
obtained a suit for coal before all was too far gone. I thought
I had a right to this. My elder brother was succeeding
well in New York, and I knew he could save the family
from want, and would do it. My younger brother had just
quit school, and gone into a store a short time before, where
he was making nothing; he wanted to study law, but had
not the means to do it.
Judge Bouldin, executor of the estate of David Ross, now
applied to me to know if I would go to Kentucky to settle
up that estate. If I accepted, a new direction was to be
given to my destinies. I should leave the regular track of
mercantile promotion; but especially that of supercargo, of
which life I was much enamored, although the fate of the
" Catharine Shepherd" warned me that it was not entirely
without danger, for, after her departure for sea, she was never
again heard of. A ship, arriving some time after at Norfolk,
reported having seen part of a wreck (the stern) of a vessel
at sea, supposed to be hers. This was all that was ever known
of her or her crew. As this seemed a providential interpo
sition in my favor (I was disappointed in not going out in

48 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
her), I will relate another, which afterwards occurred at my
father's coal-mines. There was a pit about two hundred feet
deep from which an entry had been driven towards another
shaft for the purpose of getting air, and it only lacked one
or two days' work to effect the object; this was before the ex
periment with the furnace. If this communication could be
made, we might be able to continue at work, as the air cir
culating from one shaft to the other would probably keep
out foul air. The only way to do the work was by heat
ing heavy irons red-hot, and letting them down; before these
cooled, heating a new set; bringing the others back, reheating
them, and so on. The heat rarefied the air, and purified it
for a short time, but the breaths of very few men would
consume the pure air as fast as made, and, at best, it was
but a temporary expedient. Living fire would not burn, or
there would have been less difficulty. After using the hot
irons some time, I found the lamps would burn at the bot
tom of the shaft. If now we could work two days, night
and day, we could effect this communication. I called on
Willis, the overseer, to go down with a hand and begin the
work. He told me if he did he should not expect to return
alive. "Why," said I, "do you not see that the lamp burns?"
" Yes," he replied, " but as soon as two breaths get down
there, it will go out." Impatient at his opposition, I turned
to a very resolute negro digger, named Peter Moody. I
shall never forget his name, because of the event which oc
curred. " Peter," said I, "are you afraid to follow me, if I will
go down?" "Don't know, Mass Robert," said he; "long
way under ground to go in damp air; but if you can go, I
reckon I can." It was a deep hole — indeed, a depth of two
hundred feet conveys to the mind almost as great an idea of
distance as five hundred feet on a plane surface.
" Well, Peter," said I, " I will give you and Joshua (an
other digger) five dollars each if you can work that entry
through, and I will stay with you. Mr. Willis, keep us
well supplied with hot irons ; stand to your mules, boy, and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 49
I will go down." Willis, seeming a little ashamed of letting
me go, but not enough so to take my place, came up to the
shaft, and looked down. Said he, " Mr. T., that lamp burns
below with a very sickly light (a lamp had been let down
with a string). I tell you, sir, I am an old miner, and it is
not safe for you to go down." " Not entirely safe, Willis —
but so much depends on it; I think, by aid of the hot irons,
after we get down, tying bushes to each corve (the name
of the box hung to the ropes in which coal is brought
up), and moving them rapidly up and down, the air can be
kept free enough to work in." " I tell you, sir," said he,
" damp air is not to be trifled with." " I'll try the experi
ment," said I, in a resolute tone. " Well, as you please,
sir." Turning to the others who were around, said he, "Now
mind what I tell you; mischief is going to happen here
to-day." I went down ; the next rope was an old one, and con
sidered too weak to bear a man ; so on that the tools were
next sent down, which I took out. The rope was getting
old and crazy ; it was expensive, and I did not like to have
it renewed while it would last. The weight of two bushels
of coal was about one hundred and forty pounds, with which
it had once or twice broken ; but the hands always used the
other rope to ascend and descend. Moody came down, and
we proceeded to the end of the "communication-drift," where
he went to work. This was a little rising from the shaft,
say six feet. Carbonic acid gas, or choke-damp, as the miners
call it, is of much greater specific gravity than the atmo
sphere, and, of course, makes its appearance first in the low
places. We had left a lamp at the shaft to note its effects
on it, because it would show there before it would where
Moody was at work. Before he had been at work an hour,
I observed the lamp, which was about sixty yards off, assum
ing a pale blue appearance, and heard indistinct noises from
the top of the shaft. I knew if I moved towards it, Moody
5

50 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
would look round and see it, and rush for the rope, and,
being the stronger, would leave me behind, probably to
perish ; so I carelessly observed I thought a little whiskey
would help him. " What say you, Peter ?" " Why, Mass
Robert, I think it would." " Well, I will go and send for
some;" and moved as fast as I could towards the shaft.
Before I reached it the light was out, and I felt sensibly the
suffocating influence of the choke-damp. If Moody did not
come in a minute, he would be cut off. If he did come, and
reached the shaft before I got started, he would pull me
back and go up himself. But I called, with all my might,
" Oh, Peter, the lamp is out !" He darted for his life, and
I jumped into the cbrve, which was down, but to my con
sternation found I was on the rotten rope. If I got out and
waited for the other to come down, Moody would take it,
as he could overpower me. My only chance, then, was to
risk it; so I bawled out, "Drive for your life !" Away the
mules went, and I was- fearful every moment that the rope
would give way and precipitate me to the bottom. My great
fear was that, in the vibration of the rope, the corve would
strike under a piece of the curbing of the shaft, getting a
strain thereby, which would certainly have broken the rope. '
I knew, too, that if I pushed off from one side with any vio
lence, I would be apt to throw it to the other, and had to be
extremely guarded. The meeting of the descending corve,
coming with such rapidity, was another danger I feared.
At that time the shafts were not divided as now. But I
passed it, and reached the top in safety. Jumping out, I
called below, " Oh, Peter, are you there ?" No answer, but
a shaking of the rope. " Drive on," said I. " Do you feel
his weight?" — to the driver. "Oh, yes, sir; he's there."
" Very well ; drive gently. He's now above the choke-
damp." Up he came, with his arm around the rope at tbo
elbow ; his handkerchief tied around the rope and his body,
under his arms, and his head hanging down on one of his

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 51
shoulders. Two hands took hold of him and drew him out,
loosening his handkerchief; and he lay on the platform in
sensible for an hour. But for the handkerchief, he never
would have reached the top. I asked him how he came to
tie his handkerchief around him. He said he felt himself
choking, and knew he could not hold on; that, when I called
to know if he was on the rope, he could not answer, and
could only shake the rope, but was all the time perfectly in
his senses. " Well," said Willis, " young folks think old
ones are fools. I told you there would be mischief here
to-day ; you thought I was scared, but I knew where the
danger was." " Well, Mass Robert," said Peter, after he
began to revive a little, " where's dat whiskey you was talk
ing about?" " Oh, you shall have it," and accordingly I had
it brought. " Mass Robert see de light burn blue — made
him think 'bout whiskey — ha ! ha ! ha ! Oh, Mass Bob !"
This was enough of choke-damp for me ; I was satisfied to
try no more experiments. I ordered that no one should
name this affair unless I permitted, for I knew it would
make my father unhappy ; and I never told him of it until
after the experiment with the furnace cleared the pit. He
then shuddered, and said it was one of the most foolhardy
acts of my life, and gave me no credit for it ; said it evinced
less common sense than he thought I possessed, especially
as I pretended to some knowledge of natural philosophy ;
and, finally, I came to the conclusion that it was a very
silly act, just such as many young men are guilty of who
are anxious, in the eyes of the world, to seem bold at
the expense of discretion and good sense. I did, however,
think I could accomplish the work ; there was no vain show
in my object; but Willis was a man of experience, and my
not heeding his warning showed an over self-confidence and
temerity which bespoke a lack of good judgment. It was
a lesson, however, which was of value to me afterwards.
I have always viewed my escape here, as in the case of the

52 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
" Catharine Shepherd," as an interposition of Providence to
save me, as I hoped, for some future good purpose.

CHAPTER IX.
MY ENGAGEMENT TO GO TO KENTUCKY TO SETTLE AN
ESTATE.
Having visited my brother John, in New York, in com
pliance with his request before accepting Judge B.'s offer, I
found no opening there to justify my refusing it. My brother,
knowing my wants, had sent me a small sum on loan to bear
my expenses. It now behooved me to save every cent until
I got some in hand, and to that end, instead of .returning by
land, I took a packet and went by water. On reaching Bich-
mond, I went to Judge B., and told him I had concluded, if
he had not made other arrangements, to accept his offer
($1000 per annum, and expenses). He asked me my age.
I told him. " Why," said he, " is it possible ? I had thought
you older. I hardly know how to intrust such a weighty matter
to one of your age." He explained the nature of the business,
which was to settle up with several large estates in Ken
tucky, jointly connected with R.'s, in which accounts for
twenty years' standing were embraced of the most complicated
character ; to investigate the titles of several hundred tracts
of land entangled in almost interminable difficulties; ascertain
their value, &c. " Now, sir," said he, " do you think yourself
equal to the task ?" " I cannot tell," I replied, "until I try it.
The accounts, I think, I am equal to ; I cannot conceive of
any accounts so difficult that I cannot reduce them to or
der." " None," said he, " so difficult that you cannot reduce
to order ! That is speaking strongly. In my court, there are

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 53
some estates of immense amount, which have been hung up
for twenty years, owing to the complicacy of the accounts."
"Very probable," I replied; " but a good accountant would
put them all to rights in time. Great patience would be ne
cessary." " Suppose," said he, " I give you a hogshead full
of papers bundled up, containing the transactions of an ad
ministrator for twenty or thirty years, and no regular books
kept, but the condition of the estate to be found out from
those papers ; how would you do it ?" " Nothing plainer
than the course. I would open a day-book, and begin with
the first bundle in the hogshead, caring not which. I pre
sume these are all claims in favor of or against the estate,
vouchers, or bonds, contracts, &c. I would raise an account
in favor of the administrator, as — 'Estate of D. R. to A. B.,
administrator, Dr.' If the first bundle I took hold of was
not vouchers, I would lay it away in another hogshead.
Then I -would begin on the first which was, taking out the
top paper and numbering it 1, the second 2, and so on ; and
in each entry refer to the vouchers, entering the date of each
payment, and having an interest column to enter the interest
in up to any given date. When the numbers should reach
100, I would tie up that bundle and label it, 'Vouchers
1 to 100;' when 200, then '100 to 200;' and so on until
I had entered every voucher in the hogshead. Now I would
take hold of the accounts of the estate against others, the
bonds, contracts, &c, and make ' Sundries to the estate of
Dr. Bonds receivable as follows : (Here give a list of all
bonds by number.) Contracts same; Open accounts same.'
If an inventory of the estate had been taken, as of course
it had, I would charge the administrator with the whole of
it as valued, deducting such portions as were found on hand
not disposed of. Then, if he had kept a sales account, I
would charge him with the amount of all sales, and reverse
the inventory entry so far as such sales showed a variance ;
assuming the inventory to be correct only so long as sales
5*

54 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
were not made ; but then putting the real in place of the
assumed account, and striking a balance. If now anything
herein stated is objected to, it is easy to rectify it, because,
every voucher and claim being numbered and referred to in
the entry, the paper on which the entry is based can be
found in a moment. I suppose you understand, of course,
I mean all those entries to be regularly posted in a ledger?"
" Why, sir," said he, "you'd make a good master commis
sioner." "If that is all that is necessary to make one, I could."
" Well, sir, I will now ask you another question. Say
here are one hundred tracts of "land in different parts of the
State; which of them are sold we know not, nor which are
good in title, value, &c. All this we wish to learn ; how will
you go about it?"
" I would make a list of the several tracts, giving the best
description we have, and number them. I presume the
records in Kentucky will show the deeds made; these I will
have examined, and, where sold, cross the number to save
further trouble about it. I would attend the legislature, and
inquire of the members what they know of the lands in the
region they represent, and obtain from them references to
the best sources of information ; all of which I would enter
in a note-book, and number the notes. In the -face of every
note I would put, in red ink, the tract to which it referred.
I would have a land-book in which I would copy the survey
of every tract not sold, and leave several pages for all infor
mation in regard to each tract. And to each I would attach
the information from my note-book — this being a kind of
journal; the land-book a ledger."
" Well, I think that will do. Now, another question.
Do you think you could find a needle in a haystack?"
" I don't know, sir ; that might be a troublesome business ;
but still, if the needle is there, it can be found if there be
sufficient inducement to take the trouble."
" Suppose now, sir, I hide a needle in a large haystack,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 55
and let you pick a friend to see me do it; would you agree
to pay me $5000 if you should not find it, provided I would
pay you $10,000 if you should ?" " Yes, sir." " How would
you do it ?" " I would first dig a trench around the stack, say
two inches deep, throwing the dirt out. I would now begin
and pull out straws from the stack one by one, carefully dou
bling them up and putting them in a large tin pan, until I
should get, say an ounce, which I would burn there. I could
distinctly see in the ashes whether the needle was there. I
would then throw away those ashes and continue repeating the
process all around the circumference of the stack, gradually
drawing to the centre, until I had burnt every straw. If,
when this was all done, I had not found it, I would know it
was within the ring cut around the stack. I would now
commence and take two inches inside of that ring just as
deep as the earth was loose, and I would take but a thimble
ful at a time, laying it out in this tin pan, and examining it
carefully, so that there could be no possible mistake; and,
by the time I had finished the whole area of the circle, I
must find the needle."
" And, sir, do you think you could go through such a
process ?"
" Why not ? I could do it in a month, which would be
earning $10,000 very easily."
" Well, sir, I think you'll do. Any man who can carve
out a certain plan, as I think you have, to find a needle in
a haystack, can do this business; so we'll try, anyhow."
My arrangements were soon made. Then there were no
railroads, nor steamboats on the Ohio (September, 1817),
except perhaps one or two that had commenced below the
Falls; neither were there any stages; and horseback was the
universal mode of travelling to the West — or in carriages or
wagons. Having taken leave of my friends, I was soon on
my way to Frankfort, Kentucky, then a sixteen days' jour
ney from Richmond. It may be well here to note, in
explanation of its bearing on future matters, that I had

56 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
regained the ground which I seemed to have lost by first
going into a counting-house. Men of the highest standing
took me into favor, invited me to dine with the first men of
the State, and treated me with much respect. I found my
opinions respected and of weight; and in company with my
old schoolmates, who had rather been disposed to "part
cable" with me, I found we occupied very different ground.
They, to be sure, plumed themselves on their wealth, and
held a high standing on that account in the social circles —
higher than I held; but among men of business and intellect
it was a very different thing. I would not have changed
conditions with them.. The greatest struggle I had was leav
ing my mother and a lovely sister, to whom I was most
devotedly attached. The time of our separation was inde
finite, and might be very long. My father and younger
brother it cost me less of a struggle to part with, because men
can bear such things better than females, and our feelings
always respond to theirs for us, which made me feel the
more for my mother and sister.
There are a purity and devotion in the love of an affection
ate sister which are akin to divinity. One of the great com
forts I had in my undertaking was the hope that I would be
able to evince my affection for this dear and lovely sister
by supplying her wants. To be able to aid my younger
•brother, too, who wished to study law, but whose resources
were now cut off by the failure of my father, was also a
reflection that strengthened my fortitude in leaving the land
of my nativity and all I held dear on earth. But the means
to do this were yet to be earned, and I had to return $100
borrowed of my elder brother, and $120 of a friend in Rich
mond. This would take nearly my first quarter's salary,
leaving nothing for such expenses of my own as were not
chargeable to the estate. On the whole, the probability was
that, before the third quarter, I would have nothing which I
could spare. In the mean time, my brother would have to
get along the best way he could.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 57

CHAPTER X.
MY FIRST HORSE-TRADE — VARIOUS OTHER ADVENTURES.
I departed, and travelled almost entirely alone the whole
route. I had a very fine horse, a good and easy traveller;
but the weight of the papers I carried, together with my
clothes, had nearly broken _ him down before I reached
Bean's Station, near the point where Kentucky, Tennessee,
and Virginia come together. About two miles before I
reached that point, I saw, at the distance of two or three
hundred yards ahead of me, in the road, before a house
which seemed to be a tavern, a man beating a horse most
unmercifully; another caught hold of him to stop him, and
they continued scuffling in the road until I came up. One
said to the other, "Dave, let me go!" "I won't, unless
you quit beating that mare." "Let me go, I tell you;
the mare is my own, and I'll beat her d  d breath out of
her body." "Well, Jim, you're a fool; the mare is the
best animal you ever owned in your life; I doubt if she
ain't the best animal in the county; but because she has too,
much spirit for such a lubber as you, and won't move like a
cow, you want to kill her : it's all nonsense, and you sha'n't
do it." " What's the meaning of all this ?" said I. " Why,"
Baid the man holding the other, who was large enough to
manage him, "Mr. Thompson here put this mare in a
wagon ; she never was in harness before in her life, and
was rather too spirited for him to ride; so he thought he
would break her mettle by driving her in his wood wagon —
and he don't know nothing about driving, either — and she
made the other horses run away ; but they all ran right to

58 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
the stable, and there stopped, doing no harm ; and that's
what Jim Thompson's making all this fuss about." " Well,"
said Thompson, "let me go." "Why, my friend," said I,
"you won't help the matter by beating the animal; she
seems a very fine one, and you are in a passion for nothing.''
" Yes," said Dave, " to vent his spite he'd kill the best mare
in the county, worth at least $140." " Well, if you think
so," said Thompson, "just give it to me, and take her ; but
let me go, and I'll not hurt the mare." And Dave let him go.
" I'll not own her twenty-four hours," said Thompson ; " I'll
take her to Bean's Station, and sell her for whatever she'll
bring." " Well," said I, " my friend, how will you trade for
my horse ?" He gave a sort of careless glance at him.
"Rather low in flesh," said he. " Yes," I replied, "or I
would not trade ; in good order, he's equal to your mare."
He came up, looked at him all round, felt his" ankles, took
hold of his tail, raised it suddenly, let it go, and looked into
his mouth. " How old do you call him ?" said he. " I do
not know his age." "Past eight," he said. "May-be so;
I do not know a horse's age."
" Well," said he, " how'll you trade ?" " I'll give you $25
to boot." " Oh no ; that cock won't fight. Let me put your
saddle on my mare, stranger, and try her," which was soon
done, and she moved magnificently. " How do you like her 1"
"Very well." "Yes, you may say that; and as for riding,
she'll suit you as well as any. But I can't afford to keep
her to ride, or I wouldn't take $60 to boot; but say $50,
and you may have her." "No, I can't do it." "Well, what's
the most you will do ?" " I'll give you $40." " Well," said
he, " take her ;" and I was soon on my journey, upon the
finest animal I ever backed. On arriving at Bean's Station,
a man belonging to the hotel walked up to her, and threw his
hand up before her eyes. " Where did you get that mare 1"
said he. "About two miles back." " She's as blind as a

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 59
bat." "She is?" "Yes, sir; try her; ride her up against
the railing ;" and I did so. She thumped her head against
it. I then related what had occurred. " Exactly," said the
man. " She did not run away with any wagon. A blind
horse won't run away with anything. It was all a trick to
take you in." "Very well," said I; "I'll have my horse
and my money back." He laughed heartily. " That's not
the way they do things." " May-be not; but I'll have my
horse." " No, stranger. Take this as the cost of a lesson.
You can't get your horse nor money again. They are an
unprincipled set of scoundrels and bullies. If you had stayed
there last night, you would probably have been robbed ; and
if you go back and get into an altercation with them, they
may beat you unmercifully, and perhaps rob you." " I can
provide against the latter by leaving what I have, and that
is not much, here." It was a very respectable hotel. " But'
come what will, I'll get my horse again, or try.'' A vene
rable, gentlemanly-looking man said to me, " It is a hard
case, my young friend ; but you had better let it stand as
it is." "I shall not do it," I replied, firmly. "I will
leave my saddle-bags in your bar." I handed them to the bar
keeper, and started back. When about a hundred yards off,
one of the men called to me to come back, saying they would
go with me. A South Carolinian, who was travelling, heard
them say, as I rode off, that they feared some mischief would
happen, and he desired the man to stop me, saying that he
would go with me ; and then all the rest, about six or seven,
determined to go. On arriving at the house, my horse was
still -standing tied to the railing. I rode up to the man of
whom I got the mare, and told him his mare was blind, and I
must have my horse and money again. " Step here, Thomp
son," said the man of the Bean Station Hotel. He took him
out of hearing, and talked with him awhile. The man came
back, and said he had found, after I left him, he had made no
great bargain, and was now glad I had come back. He gave

60 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
me my money and my horse, and I went back in high spirits.
I asked the hotel-keeper what made the fellow give up
my horse so easily. "Why," he replied, "I was afraid of
some mischief, and so made up a chunk of a story for your
benefit. I told him, when you rode your mare against the
fence, and found she was blind, you swore you would have
your horse and money ; that I had told you it was useless,
and that you would get terribly drubbed if you went back to
attempt it; that you said very well, if that was the game
to be played you were ready to take a hand at it ; and that
you would have your horse and money or somebody's scalp;
that we all saw from your manner there would be miscbief,
and we asked you to stop until we could come along; that
the South Carolinian had said he would make one in the
scuffle ; that you were both well armed, and mischief would
come out of it if there was any difficulty about the horse,
and he had better give him up. As to your threats, he said
he didn't care a d — n ; but he got no great shakes of a bar
gain, and was willing to rue."
" Well," said I, " I am very much obliged to you. I had
no idea of taking any man's scalp, but I intended to have
my horse." "How would you have got him, if he had re-,
fused to give him up ?" "I don't know. I intended to let
events take their course, trusting to good luck, believing in
some way or other I would get him." I thanked my Caro
lina friend heartily for his aid, and we both concluded we
had escaped an adventure on very good terms.
Having, on a former occasion, seen the force of conscious
guilt in a boat's crew who had stolen a load of coal,- say
sixty bushels, from my father's landing, these two events
went far to convince me that it is hard for guilty men to
have courage; and that there is but little danger in encoun
tering them where they cannot overpower and make way
with you without being discovered. Having, one morning,
gone to my father's coal-landing, and missed a quantity of

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 61
coal — seeing the pile broken, since the day before, when
none of our boats had been up — I knew it was stolen by
some boat going up the river. I mounted my horse, and
went up to Columbia, thirty miles, where I stayed all night.
I knew the boat could not have passed. Here I got upon a
descending boat, and told them I was going down to catch a
thief. Just above Goochland Court-House, I descried, at a
distance, in a rapid part of the river, the coal on a boat as
cending. I desired the captain of the boat I was on to run
close along-side. He did so. They passed like arrows. I
jumped into the coal-boat, and, being armed, called to tho
man at the helm to put his boat down stream instantly. Con
scious of the cause, he obeyed. He was a white man — the
two bow hands, negroes. I carried them to Goochland Court-
House landing, close by ; but while I was preparing to have
them taken care of, the white man dodged round a house,
and made his escape into the woods. The negroes and boat I
secured, and had the former put in jail, who were dealt with
according to law. The coal, being proved, was sold for my
father's benefit. These two events gave me an idea that, by
acting boldly in opposition to guilt, a man would, nine times
out of ten, come out safely ; and, indeed, that, on the score
of safety alone, where a man is certainly in the right, a per
fect self-possession and determined firmness, without being
oppressive, will almost invariably save him from difficulties.
The great point is, to know where to stop. Few men have
self-control enough, when their rights are invaded, to stop
when they have repelled the aggression. They are almost
certain to " carry the war into Africa," and a fight or duel
ensues ; whereas, when the aggressor yields, if the offended
party would just say, "That's sufficient, sir; if you intended
no offence, no harm is done; I am satisfied," here the thin<»
would end, and the bystanders would all admire the coolness
and dignity of the offended. But he often, where his pas
sion gets up, returns an indignity for the supposed one re-
6

62 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
ceived, leaves no opening for reconciliation, and a conflict
is inevitable; often, too, by becoming the party in the wrong.
This a man ought never to do. Be sure you're right, al
ways, and let that be evident to every one. Public opinion
is then with you; and, if mischief becomes unavoidable, you
are doubly armed by your proud consciousness of right, and
are almost certain to be victorious in any encounter. Self-
possession is the great key to success in almost anything, hut
in nothing so much as where personal difficulties occur. It
paralyzes an adversary, fills him with dread, and always
leaves you in a position for amicable arrangements ; where
as, the man who is sensible of his own lack of courage has
to supply its place by lashing himself into a fury to hide his
agitation. In wandering from my narrative thus, occasionally, to in
dulge in such reflections, it is because, when they are sug
gested by any event, I like to bring them out, lest I might
forget them; for this narrative is designed as a lesson for
your guidance, and the moral at any time brought to mind
is the result of events which have happened to myself, as
you will see in my progress, and by which the said moral
has been brought to mind. It is a philosophy founded upon
experience. I will now proceed.
After getting my dinner, I ordered my horse, to proceed
on my journey. Said a gentleman at the table, " Have you
examined your pistols, to see what they are loaded with?"
" Why?" said I. " Because, about two weeks since, a tra
veller having spent the night here, being told he had a dreary
road to travel, where robberies were sometimes committed,
concluded to examine his pistols. The priming was all
right; but, as they had been loaded some time, he thought
it safest to draw the loads and put in fresh ones. In doing
so, he found, after taking out the balls, that in place of
powder his pistols were loaded with ashes. He recollected
that a man had slept in the same room with him who was

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 63
then absent, and he was convinced that man had, during the
night, made the substitution, and that he would be waylaid
by him on the road. He reloaded, picked his flints, and
made sure that he had everything right. He then pro
ceeded on his journey. About five miles beyond Clynch
Mountain, where the road turns suddenly around the square
edge of a rock, in a dark gorge overshadowed by foliage, his
horse's bridle was suddenly seized, and his purse demanded.
The traveller, being on the look-out, had his pistols cocked,
and loosely fixed in his belt. He suddenly drew one, and shot
the man dead on the spot. He proved to be the very fellow
who had slept in his room. The traveller came back, and
made the event known. The neighbors went and found him ;
he was killed so suddenly that he never spoke. He was a
traveller that no one knew, and there was no paper or name
about him by which it could be ascertained who he was."
Of course, I reloaded and primed my pistols, and saw that
they were in good shooting order, and took my departure
through the same route. Just before reaching Clynch Mount
ain, I came upon a very fine white sulphur spring, which
would be very valuable in any settled country.*

CHAPTER XI.

CURIOUS ADVENTURES, AND SOME REFLECTIONS IN REGARD
TO THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY.
The stand I aimed for was fifteen miles off. I supposed I
had plenty of time to reach it ; but Clynch Mountain is so steep
and so high that it was very tedious to get over, and the sun
had nearly set when I reached the bottom on the western side
* I note this in passing.

64 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
where I found myself in the most dreary-looking wilderness
I ever saw; the hills so steep on each side of the road that the
limbs of the trees on their sides, after I had travelled a few
miles, seemed to interlap and form a canopy, which shut out
the heavens from view; and upon such a road I found myself
overtaken by night, about five miles from the stand at which
I expected to spend the night, and with Clynch River to ford.
I could not help wondering if it was possible, as I was told,
that this pass over Clynch Mountain, and this general route,
was the best except that by Kenhawa, and the only other
practicable pass, at that time, between Virginia and Ken
tucky, with about three hundred miles of mountains between
the two points deemed inaccessible. Since that time, I
know other traces have been cut ; but it was said, then, that
there* were no others. If so, how Kentucky was ever settled,
seemed strange to me, for the principal emigration was by
this route.
It appeared to me that one hundred men could have kept
back any force from crossing Clynch Mountain, by merely
rolling rocks down upon them, or could have destroyed them
in the gorges after they had passed. What a disposition for
adventure must have possessed those who first penetrated this
wilderness, filled as it was with hostile savages, who would
sometimes surprise cavalcades of families on the route, and
murder nearly all of them; and still, in the face of those
facts, others would follow, with a strong probability of
sharing the same fate. And what for? Not to get cheap
land and good, for there were1 millions of acres on the
east of this wilderness yet unoccupied, to be had for almost
nothing. But to those first adventurers there seemed a
charm in the very dangers which attended their enter
prises. Surely no such people were to be found anywhere
else. When we see the Ohio River, affording so much
greater facilities for settling what is now the State of Ohio,
and that there was already a fort on its border (Fort Du-
quesne — now Pittsburg), to which emigrants might rendez-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 65
vous and take their departure, and yet that Kentucky was
first settled — indeed a long time first — it shows the difference
in the character of the early emigrants to each State. At first
those emigrants clustered together in stations, and forted
themselves in, working the land outside, with rifles by their
sides, and were often shot down by the Indians in the adjoin
ing forests; but still others would take their places; the
Indians would be pursued, sometimes overtaken, when a
desperate fight would ensue, and perhaps half of each party
would be killed. Sometimes the whites would be taken
prisoners, and slowly put to death by the most excruciating
tortures which could suggest themselves to the Indians; but
most commonly by being burnt at the stake. A constant
habit of facing danger causes people finally to disregard it,
and soon families would leave these stations, and make
stations of their own, often be attacked by numbers of Indi
ans, and succeed in driving them off, and often whole fami
lies would be butchered. A young man or boy, who would
show any symptoms of fear, would be almost turned out of
his father's house; the family would have considered them
selves disgraced. The very women were heroines ; the men
necessarily became as fearless as lions; and a hunt after
Indians was a matter of sport, although the Indians were as
brave as they were, and as skilful with the rifle, but had not
so much judgment. In no European battles have such losses
keen sustained in proportion to numbers, as in those Indian
fights. Sometimes half of each party would perish, for it
was understood on each side that no quarter was expected
or shown.
Such a life necessarily rendered every man a soldier of
Spartan character, capable of the most desperate undertak
ings, and knowing not what it was to be conquered. Such
traits of character, too, are contagious, and all the settlers in
the adjoining territories, by intercommunication with the
6*

C3 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
Kentuckians, if they had not originally the same valorous
spirit, finally imbibed it, until the whole western population
partook very much of the same qualities, which were con
spicuously shown at New Orleans and in Mexico. To be
sure, the volunteers from other States fought equally well in
Mexico; but the West first led the way, where a handful
of men maintained their position against armies, and where
" retreat" was a word they did not understand the meaning
of. When the true history of this war is written, it will be
more like fable than fact. General Taylor, in the heart of
Mexico, is ordered .to give up his regulars and fall back from
Saltillo to Monterey. He sees, if he does it, that it will re
quire a much greater force to hold his position there than
where he is, and lose- him all the country he has conquered,
and much of his credit. The day before the battle of Buena
Vista, he writes to a brother : " Tho administration, by taking
all my regulars, are determined to force me to retreat or
resign ; but I will do neither." The next day commenced the
battle of Buena Vista, with between four and five thousand
raw volunteers against twenty thousand regulars under Santa
Anna, in which Taylor was completely victorious. But equal
success attended our army afterwards under Scott, with many
volunteers from the Eastern States; yet they were inspired
by the example of those under Taylor. But, besides hard
fighting, there was a skill in planning by Scott which almost
insured victory with any troops.
But I- am rambling from my subject. After it became
dark, I knew I was in the road only because I could not get
out of it. Finally a path led off to the right; where an opening
occurred between two hills, and my horse took this instead of
the main road. He soon stopped, and snorted with fear. I
tried to urge him on. He would not go. I had often heard
it said that horses had a great instinct of danger, and the idea,
which struck me was, that he saw or smelt some animal that
he was afraid of. I tried to quiet him, that I might listen;

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 67
but he whirled, and evinced the most frantic apprehension.
I could hold him only with great difficulty. But, after riding
back a short distance, patting him en the neck, and talking
soothingly to him, I got him quiet, and sat five minutes per
fectly still, to ascertain whether there was any noise or evi
dence of danger. I could hear nothing. The country I
knew was the home of all the wild beasts of the forest —
panthers, bears, &c. He might have smelt or seen one.
What was I to do ? If I attempted to get back to Bean Sta
tion, there was doubt about finding my way, and a chance of
breaking my neck in passing Clynch Blountain. Not being
able to determine what to do, I sat still, listening and pon
dering, I suppose, fifteen minutes, but could hear nothing.
All was as still as death. "This will not do," thought I;
so Lurged my horse in a slow walk forward, until he reached
the point he had turned from; here he stopped and snorted
again ; I did not urge him on, but patted him on the neck,
and talked to him in a low tone. He became quiet. I
urged him on. He would not go. I sat on him quietly to
listen again — could hear nothing ; but presently imagined I
could smell blood. I reasoned with myself on the power of
imagination, and tried to satisfy myself that it was imaginary.
If so, however, the imagination was very strong, for it became
more and more evident every minute that I did smell blood.
What now was I to do? I could not get my horse forward.
If a murder had been committed, the murderer was probably
not then there; so I concluded to dismount, and lead my
horse, keeping one pistol in my hand cocked. My horse
followed me with great reluctance, snorting _ every minute.
Finally I found the object of his terror. It was a beef, so far
as I could judge, in the road, with the hide that evening
taken off. I got him by, and mounted him again. Soon a
similar occurrence took place, with the same result. After
getting on a mile or two, I saw a glimmering light at a dis
tance — a joyful sight, I can assure you. I pushed on to it,

68 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
and found it a miserable little log hut, with one room, a man,
his wife, two grown daughters and several smaller ones. It
was no place to stop, if it could be helped.
But stop I was determined I would, unless my station was
close by. But I found, on inquiry, I was off ray road, and
no chance for another house. I told the occupant I should
be under the necessity of asking shelter for the night. Well,
he said, such as he had he would share with me. They had
supped, but soon got me some bacon, eggs, and milk, with
a warm corn hoecake — the sweetest supper I ever ate in my
life. The natural good feeling shown soon put me at rest
as to my personal safety ; but I deemed it prudent to let it
be known in some way that I was not worth murdering for
my money or horse. I asked how far it was to the " Crab-
Orchard." He told me. I asked the price of travelling.
He told me. I remarked, my horse I had thought able to
take me the journey, and I had provided money enough to
carry me there, but he began to give out, and I had to travel
slow, and was afraid I might run short before I got to my
journey's end. " Ah ! well," said the old man, " if you do,
this is a plentiful country ; just tell the people where you
stop how it is, and you will find no difficulty." I was curious
to see how we would be stowed away when we went to bed.
Presently the old man said to me, "Well, stranger, let us
go and feed your horse." I went out with him — saw him
fed in a pen — no stable ; he had none. He kept me there
about half an hour, when we returned, and found the old
lady and all her daughters in bed ; the daughters and chil
dren all on one pallet, and the old lady on another, upon
which there was also room for the old man, and the bed- left
for me. I told them that would not do ; that I could not
think of depriving them of their bed — to take it, and give
me their pallet. No, nothing else would do ; I had to take
it. The old man and myself had to rise by light, and go
out, to let the mother and daughters get up. I concluded

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 69
to get my breakfast before I started.- I asked him about
the story I heard at Bean Station. He said it was true,
and told other stories. Said it was best for travellers not to
go alone — that several " bad jobs" had occurred about Bean
Station. It was where the roads from Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, and the Carolinas all came together, and was
known as a good stand for robbers, who were prowling about
to see whom they could have a chance at. I told him of my
horse swap, except giving boot, which I concealed, that he
might not know I had any money. " Yes, sir," said he;
" and they do tell hard tales about travellers who stop at
that house." I asked him what ; but he would say nothing
more — shook-his head ominously, but remarked, "No man's
stock, house, or life would be safe who was known to say
anything against them." I asked what meant those beef
carcasses that I had passed on the road ? He said a drove
of beeves had taken the distemper ; those had died the day
before, and had been skinned.- After breakfast, I asked him
my bill. He said nothing. I told him I must be allowed
to pay, for I- was aware he could not keep travellers for
nothing. Well, he said, he charged fifty cents when he did
charge, but "being as how my horse travelled slow, and I
might get out of money, he would not charge me anything."
I pulled out fifty cents, and forced him to take it, saying, if
all were as moderate as himself, I thought I could get on
before my money gave out. Two meals, a night's lodging,
and my horse for fifty cents !

70 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER XII.
HISTORY OF A SUICIDE AND OTHER MATTERS.
I have had occasion to remark that nature has a homoge
neous tendency, as well morally as physically. As all parti
cles of matter of the same kind tend to aggregate and form
one mass, so are similar feelings, propensities, qualities, and
acts apt to be generated about the same spot, or at the same
period or age ; one begets another. If a little village pro
duces one great man, it is apt to produce two ; the same of
a neighborhood ; witness about thirty miles square, below
the Blue Ridge in Virginia, has produced three Presidents
of the United States. The town of Russelville, in Kentucky,
has produced Bibb, Crittenden, and others; and wherever
blood has been once spilt, more is apt to be spilt. This idea
is suggested by the fact that an old acquaintance and friend
of mine, about twenty years after the time I am now writing
of, committed suicide at Bean Station. If asked for a reason,
I would say that familiarity with scenes of blood, by wit
nessing them, or hearing them related, deprives them of
their horror ; sets us to thinking of them ; and if a man
has any idea of committing suicide, he is more apt to do so
under such circumstances than at any other time. This
friend, whose name I will not mention, was one of the most
interesting men I ever knew. A man of fine education,
high-toned feelings, the most lofty sentiment of honor, and
the nicest sense of propriety conceivable, but sensitive, and
abhorring all obligations to his fellow-men, which grew out
of anything like dependence on them, to an equal degree.
Accustomed to the best society, and with expectations which

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 71
justified him in supposing he would be able to maintain him
self therein, but in which he was disappointed. He had
been raised a merchant, but had no taste for the profession ;
he had no business habits ; his mind seemed always restless
and without a particular aim. Indeed, although a man of
remarkable intelligence, the finest taste for literature and
the fine arts ; a fine singer, with a deep, manly, sonorous
voice, and feelings which gave interest to every tone, either
in song or conversation ; yet his qualities were all ornament
al. He had no one that was useful or available for making
a support. As an apology for him, his most intimate friends
said, that he had been long attached to a lady in Kentucky,
who was as much attached to him ; that he loved her to dis
traction, but was too honorable to doom her to poverty, as
he believed he would by marrying her. She saw this, and
remained single, still hoping for a change. But his im
patient feelings and his wild fancy could not brook the
drudgery of business ; in fact, his mind was incapable of it.
It was not disciplined — had no method in it ; he had no en
ergy for want of those qualities, and for want of confidence
in his business judgment, of which he had none. Like a
ship, under full sail at sea without a helmsman, he was
tossed on every billow, but seemed to have no object or aim
for which he was steering. I never saw him in any society
that he was not the most interesting man there. All his
views were correct, as were his moral reflections in an emt
nent degree. His conversation was rich in imagery ; his
metaphors and figures were beautiful, and there was a glow
of warm eloquent feeling imbuing all his conversation,
which was perfectly enchanting. But he was a gilded cloud ;
while throwing brightness, hilarity, joy all around him, with
a laugh which seemed to come from his whole system, and
spread its contagion through the company, there was, never
theless, perceptible upon his countenance a wild gloom,
which told that there was a worm beneath gnawing tipon his

72 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
happiness. One of the finest painters in Kentucky, Jewit,
considered his face one of so much character that he asked
liberty to take his portrait, which he did. Another painter,
Allen, of fine penetration into human character, said, upon
looking at it, " That face looks to me like that of one who
would some day commit suicide." What a compliment to
the painter's skill and the judgment of the critic !
He concluded he would turn author, and wrote a work on
moral philosophy. I never saw any one who had seen it;
but all who knew him were satisfied it must be good in every
thing but its practical application to the affairs of life. It
was supposed to be too sublimated; but, as he never submit
ted it to any one but the publishers, who did not feel disposed
to publish it at their own expense, and he was unable to do
it, he burnt it. I saw him in New Orleans afterwards, and
the girl of his affections, after waiting ten years upon him,
with hope lessening every day, finally married. I had met
with some heavy misfortunes, which made me then very
gloomy. He was one evening in my room, when I rather
gave way to my feelings, and it seemed to kindle a sympa
thetic fire in his bosom. I seemed drawn nearer to him;
and deep as were my feelings, so much deeper were his that
he reminded me of Milton's description of Satan, where he
says : — " Myself am hell —
And in the lowest depth, -a lower deep,
Still threatening to devour me, opens wide,
To which the hell I suffer seems a heaven."
He raised the very hair upon my head. " Yes, sir," said
he, " I will roam the woods, where I shall not encounter
again the power of man; where I will breathe the air which
the beasts of the forest breathe, and where, like them, I
shall be free. My dog and my gun shall be my companions."
I remarked to a friend next day that  talked rather
wild. "I hardly knew what to make of him. He went to

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 73
Texas — lived there until the war with Mexico broke out. I
then met him there, found him in high favor, and acting as
a confidential agent of the government. Some time after
this, he was sent on a mission to Washington. He had to
go into the lower part of Kentucky, and thence travelled on
by way of Bean Station. While there, he determined to
commit suicide; wrote to a friend in Kentucky to come and
take charge of his papers ; said he could endure existence no
longer; wrote a short note to the innkeeper, apologizing for
bloodying his house, and then blew out his brains with a pis
tol. In this tale there is not a word of fiction or exaggera
tion. His character, so far from being overwrought, is but
feebly depicted.
It may be wondered that I should stop in the course of
my narrative to give the history of another. It is in accord
ance with my purpose. The object in giving an account of
my own life is not because I conceive it to be one of suffi
cient interest to be read for itself, but to point out to my son
the lessons which it furnishes; and, as this character which I
have just drawn is a striking instance of the unhappiness
attendant upon tastes and habits of an expensive character,
unsustained by business qualifications to procure a revenue
to gratify them, I desire to hold it up for his contemplation.
He would have been among the most perfect of men if he
had not wanted discipline of mind, method, and business
habits. These are qualifications which no young man should
be without, let his fortune be what it may; for, wanting
them, his fortune will soon melt away, and from the time
he comes into possession of it, he may be compared to a man
on the top of a cone-shaped mountain. He can travel in no
direction, but he must go down hill. He, starting with his
fortune down hill, will probably meet the man of business
ascending, about half way. There they pass; the man of
business approximating daily nearer and nearer the pinnacle
of fortune, while the man who had a fortune is daily descend-
7

74 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
ing nearer and nearer to the vale of poverty. Soon the two
will have exactly changed positions. This is the history of
almost every young man of fortune. They are not pre
sumed to stand in need of business knowledge. Often,
their fathers will not teach it to them ; but more often the
belief that there is no necessity for it makes it so irksome
to the young man that he cannot apply himself, and will not
learn. In such a case, the best fortune which could befall
him would be for his father to fail before the son is yet too
old to learn ; for the experience of life in America shows
almost as regular an alternation from wealth in the sire to
poverty in the son, and from poverty in the sire to wealth in
the son, as if it were a legal regulation of the country.
The game of life is like many other games. There is a
boy who has very little to stake. He sees that, to avoid
losing this little, he must learn to play the game well, and
not to commence it until he is master of it. When fully
trained, he turns out with his very little stock. His wealthy
companion taps him patronizingly on the shoulder, and pro
poses a game. At it they go. The wealthy man, having
ample fortune, considers it beneath him to learn the game.
He can afford any losses he may sustain, and bears them
with a smile; the poor boy, with his knowledge of the game,
always wins, until finally the positions of the two are changed,
as I have stated above.
If I am asked, what I consider business qualifications, I
answer, a training of the mind to method and to application ;
the making of the mind, in its raw militia state, yield to dis
cipline, and become a regular. If specific instances be asked,
I reply, if he is to be a merchant, go into a merchant's
counting-house. If he is to be a lawyer, and can obtain a
good berth, with a knowledge that he is only serving for a
lesson, and soon to leave it, I say still, go into a merchant's
counting-house. If he is to be a farmer, or gentleman of
leisure, or anything else, I say, go into a merchant's count-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 75
ing-house, provided you can be admitted to the desk, or get
soon in the road, to reach it. I do not mean a retail mer
chant, but a large wholesale dealer, with foreign correspond
ence, etc.; a great many papers, bank transactions, corre
spondence, etc., requiring method and thought to comprehend
the business. No other profession that I know of embraces
so wide a field requiring method, unless it be an extensive
land-office. But I would prefer the merchant's counting-
house, because it brings you more into contact with mankind
— an important study. I have had occasion to note several
instances, where young men, originally intended for mer
chants, after going through their regular course, have de
termined on the study of law, and I never knew a case of
the kind where such did not come to be eminent in their
profession, and an overmatch for any member of not more
than naturally equal intellect. But their great advantage
was in the greater amount of business which they could do.
With a hundred suits, the clerical lawyer could refer to any
one, and tell you its whole condition in a moment, for he
has everything so methodically arranged that it takes him no
time to find any paper; besides which, he would have a book
in which every suit would be entered, with every step taken
noted, a docket of his own, with his own notes of all the steps
necessary to be taken, and of all that had been taken; then
the strong points in his case, with references to authorities.
Ordinarily methodical lawyers keep a sheet of paper as a
brief, on which such steps are noted; but a book is better.
But then the ordinary lawyer is always at a loss to find his
papers, and his accounts are kept clumsily, and neglected.
His bonds "and notes for fees, and his receipts, are all in con
fusion, and cannot be found when wanted. The clerical law
yer has each put up in bundles, numbered, and listed by
number, so that they can be found in a moment.
His chief advantage, however, is not in knowing what to
do, but in the habit of doing it. A lawyer might soon learn

76 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
what to do; but nine out of ten, when they open a bundle
of papers, would hurriedly put them up in confusion, in
tending to arrange them at another time; but that other
time never comes; and when he next has to hunt up a paper
it takes him four times as long as if he had put all back
again properly. 'Tis not the knowledge of what ought to
be done, which he wants, for in a week any man could learn
this; but it is a fixed habit of doing it — a habit made natural
by practice, and which is only acquired in some office. I
would proceed with my views on this head more at large;
but my wish is to intersperse lessons with my narrative, and
not make them too tiresome. Broken doses of medicine
sometimes act best; so of lectures.

CHAPTER XIII.
MY ARRIVAL IN FRANKFORT — MEETING WITH A NAME
SAKE — ADVANCES TO HIM AND REBUFF.
I RECEIVED my instructions how to get into the main road
again, and now took my departure. During this day, I was
overtaken by a gentleman from Scott County, Kentucky,
Major Flournoy, very intelligent and agreeable, travelling
my whole route. This was a great relief to me, and my after
journey was comparatively pleasant to Frankfort, the seat of
government, my destination.
While pulling off my leggins, I heard a gentleman in the
room called by my name. It was music to my ear. I
walked up to him with warm feelings, and remarked : " Sir,
I think I heard your name called." " That is my name,
sir," he replied. "It is also mine," said I; " and thinking
we might be related, I concluded to ascertain." I was dressed

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 77
in travelling garb, muddy and dusty, and had not changed
my shirt for several days, which was dirty. He looked at
me from head to foot, and observed, " Kentucky is full of
 ." "Ah!" said I, "it is an uncommon name in Vir
ginia," and turned from him instantly. It is difficult to con
ceive what a shock it is to the warm confiding heart to be so
received. My feelings, pent up by a long journey, wanted
vent: I wanted something for my affections to take hold of;
I could have loved any one of my name, who was worthy, and
who would have reciprocated the feeling. I was naturally
of an affectionate disposition always ; all my relatives were
affectionate; and it was a principle with them to nourish
this affection, as the greatest source of human happiness.
An aunt of mine, the most splendidly intellectual woman I
ever saw, considered it a part of her religious duty to visit
all her sisters once a year, unless they could visit her. Her
husband was a merchant; he could not always go with her,
and he could not bear her absence; but she would say to him,
if his business would not allow of his going, she must ; that,
next to his own, the love of her sisters was dear to her (she
had no brothers living at a distance) ; long absence would
estrange it; and while on this earth, if she could help it, that
should not happe^ Never were sisters, or their children so
attached to each other ; all the cousins were like brothers and
sisters, and loved each other most dearly. Nothing grows
so1 strongly by cultivation as affection. Nothing sooner wears
out by neglect; and there is a happiness resulting from warm
affection among relatives which cannot be bought by money,
and which money can furnish no substitute for. It refines
the feelings, makes the heart virtuous, sharpens our sense of
honor, and ennobles our whole nature. Oh, how little do
those reflect on the consequences of the smallest neglect of
a worthy relative, which is sometimes the result of fallen .
fortunes ! If the heart is sensitive, it is almost death to the
slighted; and the injury can never be repaired. Like the
7*

78 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
broken bowl, the parts may be cemented together, but the
crack will forever show. From the common world such
things are matters of course, and are little regarded; but from
relatives they sink deep into the heart. It must be a rare
family indeed, with as many branches as mine, if all were
blessed with such correct feelings, as to have treated me with
equal affection, under all circumstances. But few indeed
have not, fewer than in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
in the usual run of families. But still there are exceptions,
and with as much pain to me from the reflection that, by
such conduct the door is forever closed to a return of our
former feelings, as from the injury to my feelings at the mo
ment; for such an event never did occur without a, conviction,
on my part, that the time would come when conditions would
be changed, and the authors of the injury would regret their
conduct more than I did. He who, being prosperous for the
moment, is unfeeling enough to trample on a relative in mis
fortune, should bear in mind, as a mere matter of policy,
that this world is in a continual state of revolution — always
changing, and it may happen that positions will be reversed.
These reflections are suggested by the conduct of the man
before named, not that I had any claim on him, but it
brought to mind subsequent events, foj\ though an un
paralleled prosperity attended me for a period, so long as
I kept my affairs under my own control ; yet, in expanding,
I experienced a reverse which had well-nigh ruined me, and
fell with a weight, which it was supposed I could never rise
under, and from which time it might be desirable to get
clear of me. Time, however, has disappointed such expec
tations. The great evil growing out of such a state of things
is the necessity for some justification to the public for such
conduct. The party slighted must therefore be blamed for
something; but, being a relative, of course it cannot be told.
Nothing more than insinuations are indulged in, and it is a
rare accident if you ever hear of them; but you will see by

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 79
the conduct of the associates of your slanderer that some
thing is wrong; their minds are poisoned against you; they
give great credit to the high-toned feelings of your relative,
who has evidently cause for his demeanor towards you, but
would not for the world make it known — oh, no, not he ! Of
all the characters, abhorrent in the eyes of Heaven, I think
such superlatively so. So far, however, as such conduct
was calculated to injure me, I have deprived it of its sting,
as well as I have done the same to all imputations of in
justice from any quarter, by a general proclamation, that, in
any case of difficulty between myself and any one, I am will
ing to leave the matter to arbitration, by men mutually
chosen, or adopt any mode whatever that is calculated to de
termine what is right and just between us ; and this I will
always do with any man. With these reflections, I will now
return to my narrative.
I now shaved, washed, dressed myself in a handsome new
suit of the latest cut, which I had brought out with me, and
was transformed from a dirty traveller into a genteel man of
fashion. The hotel-keeper happened to have removed from
Richmond, and knew my father. He introduced me to some
gentlemen present, and while in conversation with them,
this character who had rebuffed me so unhandsomely came
up, and remarked : " I have been reflecting, sir, and have
come to the conclusion that we may perhaps be related.
What was your father's name ?" " And I have also been
reflecting, sir, and have come to the conclusion that we are
not related;" turning on my heel from him. I walked to
another part of the house, and, although this man and myself
were afterwards thrown together often for fifteen years, and
he made every effort to become intimate with me, I nevSr
would allow him to approach nearer than cold civilityde-
manded. After I was married, this man was so civil to your
mother that she often asked me why I was so cold to him.
"Because," said I, "I do not like him, and never can.

80 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
When I have once proffered a man my good feelings, and he
rejects them, he can never obtain them afterwards."
The only letter of introduction I had here was to a gentle
man of the most eccentric character — a hermit in the midst
of society ; one of the most intelligent of men ; indeed, con
sidered by Judge Bibb equal in intellect to Jno. J. Critten
den, both of whom studied with him. But he had no asso
ciates; he affiliated with nobody. My business was a great
deal with him. His father's estate, and the estate I had to
wind up, were so connected — R  having an interest of one-
third in Mays — that we were unavoidably thrown much to
gether. He was even a better informed man than the sui
cide I have named, and of finer literary taste. His conver
sation was as chaste and pure as the finest literary work, hut
he was the very antipode of the other. He was as cold as
the top of Mont Blanc. He seemed devoted to nobody;
and yet his enthusiasm could be aroused in speaking of the
merits of books, or even of ladies whom he admired; but it
seemed an enthusiasm without feeling — admiration, not love.
When he laughed, though he did so sometimes most heartily,
his laughter seemed all in his face ; it did not convulse his
body, and seemed not to go below his throat. He was timid,
shy, and altogether without the manly qualities which cha
racterize the West ; void of energy and industry, but more
thorough in whatever he did than any lawyer of his day.
I never saw such perfect instruments of writing as he drew,,
nor more strongly or beautifully expressed. He had a per- '
feet conception of natural justice, and seemed to defy any
law which was in violation of it. His notions of allodial
rights seemed to put him above all law in violation of them.
He could not conceive that any law could be valid which in
vaded them. He was a real old black letter chancellor,
and, with more fire, manliness, and energy, might have been
the first man in any country. But there was nothing about
him to attach his fellow-man to him. His thoughts were

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 81
brilliant, but never burning; they were like the radiations of
moonlight from an iceberg. As .an exemplification of the
notion, that men of very contrary characters sometimes fancy
each other, he imbibed quite an attachment for me, so far as
his nature would allow. I was off-hand in the expression of
my feelings and opinions — very mercurial in my nature; my
admiration or indignation came forth with equal facility, and
with equal energy ; but still my feelings were always within
my control. I always knew what I said, and I generally in
tended to say what I did say. Few men had better control
of their feelings, and fewer still ever gave an imprudent ex
pression to them.

CHAPTER XIV.

MY OPINION OF DUELS, AND THE MODE OF AVOIDING THEM
— WITH VARIOUS OTHER MATTERS.
Often on the point of difficulties, which might have led
to duels, I have managed so far to maintain my self-posses
sion as to avoid them, as in a case about six months after
the time I am now writing of. A gentleman, feeling him
self insulted by me, when I did not intend it, left me with
the intention of challenging me, and so told his friend, who
intimated it to»me. I replied, his friend had better consider
what he was about; there was no real cause for any such
step. At any rate, it was my request he should defer it
until the next day. If, after sleeping a night upon it, he
awoke' with the same feelings, I should be ready to hear
from him, but would not consider any communication before.
The effect was, by giving him time to cool, he changed his
mind, and the matter there ended. I was never afraid, on

82 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
account of public opinion, to make reparation where I had
offended a man's feelings unintentionally; I took a pride
in doing it. Nor could any man so far throw me off my
guard as to get me into a difficulty, and I in the wrong. If
so at first, I would repair any injury I had done, and then
tell him to bear witness that I had done my best to avoid
the result. If that would not do, my conscience would be
at rest, let what would happen, and these sentiments I very
freely expressed. Your codes of honor and duelling punc
tilios always appeared to me a pack of nonsense and bar
barism. No man should submit his case to the manage
ment of a friend, and the more especially if that friend is
what they call " au fait" in such matters. Having a taste
for them, instead of doing all he can to produce a recon
ciliation, he throws barriers in the way. His friend's honor
is too dear to him to make any advances, or open any door
for an arrangement. Oh, no — oh, no — that will never do;
honor requires a fight ! And often a fight takes place, when
both parties are perfectly willing to be reconciled, and where
very little common sense, mixed with ordinary good feeling,
would bring it about. What is this honor, which shuts the
door to negotiation and the obtainment of a fair understand
ing of the parties? It is the fear that one party may con
sider the other too anxious to avoid a fight, or that the pub-
lie may so consider it. Now, if a man was perfectly fearless,
would he have any such notions ? No ; he would then act
just as good sense would direct, regardless of what others
might think on the subject. And what wfiuld that be?
A challenges B, setting forth his grievances. If B intended
the injury, and will not repair it, of course he has to fight.
But if B did not intend it, he should say to A, " Take back
your challenge ; you are under a misapprehension ; before
going to extremities, let us perfectly understand each other.
I do not wish to fight you, while I believe there is no suffi
cient cause; if you cannot be otherwise satisfied, however,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 83'
I will do it. But before I do, I must know what we are
going to fight about, and that you are under no mistake."
No man is so savage, so lost to all feeling, and all regard for
public opinion, as to acknowledge that he wants to take a
fellow-being's life without a cause ; and if not, then, after
such a communication from his adversary, he would have no
cause, and the thing would be ended. Again : Suppose it
were established as a rule of duelling that, when on the field,
before exchanging shots, a party should be chosen by the
two seconds whose duty it should be to address them as fol
lows : " Gentlemen, as your mutual friend, it becomes my
duty, before you go to extremities, to understand the nature
of the difficulty between you, and to see that you do not
misunderstand each other ; and also to ascertain, if an insult
has been given, whether it was intentional or not, and what
impediment there is to a reconciliation. Neither of you, I
presume, is seeking the other's life, for the mere love of
blood; and if both be innocent of such a wish, a fight cannot
take place unless one of you be willing to acknowledge his
lack of justice. If such be the case with either, it is due to
public opinion and to the innocent party that the fault should
be fixed where it exists. Unless both be in the wrong, one
party is fighting in self-defence only, and is not blamable if
he kills his adversary. If killed by the other, the other is a
murderer, and will be so esteemed by the public. I now
proceed to propound my questions, in accordance with the
established rule, beginning with the challenger ; and permit
me to remark that, whatever feeling or indignation may have
been excited by the offence originally, usage, propriety, and
good taste require that all such should be suppressed here ;
and that there may be no cause for contradiction, or any
exciting matter between the parties, it is my province always
to presume that there has been a misunderstanding between
the parties. In asking my questions, therefore, I ask what
is your understanding of your cause of offence? If you

84 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
name what you understand it to be, and your adversary,
without the restraints which custom has allotted to this tribu
nal, would contradict you and deny the fact, adding to the
aggravation, he will consider that any such course will be
looked upon as a wish on his part to escape investigation,
and right will be presumed to lie on the other side. There
must be no passion evinced here. Mr. A. will say, in as
respectful and mild a manner as he can what he considers
cause of challenge in this case.
A. "In conversation with Mr. B., I justified nullification
of the laws of the United States by the States, when they
were considered tyrannical ; he replied — " Umpire. — " Or
der! you understood him to reply." A. — "Very well; I
understood him to reply that he considered the nullifiers a
pack of traitors. I answered none were greater traitors than
he was. To which I understood him to reply, ' You are a
d  dliar!'"
Umpire (to B.). — " Did Mr. A. understand you correctly ?"
B. — "He did." Umpire. — "Then you intended to insult
him ?" B. — " No, sir ; I only expressed my opinion of nulli
fication." Umpire. — " But you designated them traitors as a
class, knowing he was one." B. — " Well, sir, I have nothing
more to say." Umpire. — "Then you are content I should
note you as the insulting party, refusing to make repara
tion?" B. — "No, sir." Umpire. — " What other conclusion
can be drawn ?" B. — " Why, sir, when I made my remark I
was heated, and did not sufficiently reflect that my remark
included Mr. A. until he rejoined, when my reply was the
natural consequence, and his challenge placed things beyond
remedy." Umpire. — " But A.'s challenge was made inevi
table." B. — " Well, I admit it, and, so far as I can see, the
fight is inevitable." A. — " Mr. Umpire, I think we are wast
ing time to no purpose." Umpire. — "Perhaps, Mr. A., you
would do well to observe the regulations, and not speak out
of order." A. — " Very well, sir." Umpire. — "Mr. B., you

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 85
say the fight is inevitable ; I answer, it is not, unless you
are determined to have it so. You admit that you desig
nated nullifiers as traitors, without bearing in mind at the
time that Mr. A. was one. As a gentleman, had you been
aware of the offensiveness of the speech, your own good
breeding would have prevented your using it." A. — "Most
assuredly if I had reflected I would not." Umpire. — " Then
you are willing to allow that the expression was used without
intending to convey an insult ?" B. — " I allow I did not
design the first speech to insult Mr. A." Umpire. — " And
the second would not have been, but for Mr. A.'s reply ?"
B. — " Of course not ; his reply drew it forth." Umpire. —
" Very well. Now, Mr. A., I .presume it is hardly worth
while to ask you if your remark would have been made but
for what you supposed to be an intended insult ?" A. — " That
hardly needs an answer ; it was, of course, the result of Mr.
B.'s remark." Umpire. — " Mr. B., I am right, I presume, in
saying the explanations here given prove beyond doubt that
your remarks were inadvertent, and no insult was intended ?"
B-. — "Yes, sir." Umpire. — "And Mr. A. has said his were
caused by your remarks. It is evident, then, gentlemen,
that there is no cause of fight. I ask of you, as your mutual
friend, to spare your families and friends the pain which
may result from this encounter, having no cause but a mis
understanding, which has now been explained. Mr. A., will
you, upon the explanation, withdraw your challenge ?" A. —
" I will." Umpire. — " Then, gentlemen, the difficulty is
over ; and we will return and drink to more caution here
after." A. and B.—" Agreed."

86 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER XV.
MY MODE OF GAINING THE INFORMATION I WANTED— A
LITTLE DRY AT FIRST, BUT READ ON, AND THE OBJECT
WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH MORE INTEREST.
Having obtained a room in Frankfort for an office, I now
set to work vigorously in the prosecution of my labors.
I spent the day in examining the public offices for grants of
land to D. R., and deeds from and to him ; having prepared
a book, which I called my land-book, in which I digested all
the information I obtained. I took care to make friends of
the clerks in all the offices by giving them liberal fees to aid
me in the prosecution of my labors, and, by so doing, I ob
tained suggestions from them as to the best sources of in
formation. This was not necessary in their regular business,
but for extra services I deemed it advisable. The public
officers in the register's and auditor's offices knew all the
sheriffs in the State, and many surveyors, and a great many
of the old land-locaters, land-agents, land-dealers, &c., to
whom they referred me. I noted all their names. I was
advised to spend my time at first in obtaining all the inform
ation which the offices in Frankfort would afford ; get what
I could from attendants on the Federal Court and Court of
Appeals, and other visitors to Frankfort; and then attend upon
the legislature, where I could see members from every county,
who could either give me the information I wanted, as to
any lands in their county, or show me where I could get it.
There were several hundred tracts of land to be investigated,
and a great amount of information to be sought in regard to
the acts of former agents and the conditiou in which they

TnE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 87
had left the business; lands sold, bonds taken, bonds col
lected, uncollected, &c, and all kinds of contracts in regard
to land.
This was the most fruitful source of difficulty to me. But
by dint of perseverance I progressed rapidly. As before said,
I made an index to all the lands, referring to pages where
the information was condensed as to each tract. My. note
book was my journal, in which I put down everything I
learnt, numbering every note, and at night, in the face of each
note, 1 put in red ink the number of the tract to which it
referred, and once a week I would post up all the information
I obtained to the tracts to which they respectively belonged,
and as posted I would cross the note to show that I need pay
no more attention to it. I was astonished at the progress I
made ; but, in Kentucky, such general information prevails
in regard to land and land-titles that an industrious inquirer
would, in a short time, possess himself of information to al
most any extent. He could, probably, do more in Kentucky
in a week than he would anywhere else in a month. The
great difficulty in my business was avoiding confusion and
bewilderment in the immense mass. I ascertained this to
have been the stumbling-block with former agents. They
could compass a certain amount, confined to a few counties ;
that they would attend to, and leave the balance, with no
methodical digest or intelligible record of what they had done.
It was chiefly in their heads, or in bundles of papers, and
most of the information obtained during their lifetime died
with them. My plan did not confuse my mind, nor leave a
weight of oppression on it to comprehend what I learnt. I
had it so methodized that I could turn in a moment to all
the information I had obtained in regard to any tract of land,
the doings of any agent, or any transaction on any subject
connected with my business. And this is the chief art in
doing a large business of any kind, but more especially legal
business": to hav& it so methodized as not to render it neces-

88 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
sary to keep it in the mind ; for, while that is attempted, after
going to a certain extent, the mind has received its load, and
will bear no more ; any further addition produces confusion
and bewilderment, and the mind gives way under it, a strong
illustration of which I found in the gentleman I have been
describing, whose father's estate was connected with the one
I was investigating. It was of great extent, and, had it
been prosecuted with method and vigor, would have yielded
him an immense fortune ; but he became bewildered in its
mazes, overwhelmed with the weight, and discouraged in the
hope of being able to compass the business to such an extent
that he attempted nothing, but wasted away his time in
Frankfort in reading and fishing. As my task was to com
prehend all that he had to do, as my constituent's estate was
one-third interested with his, and also interested in several
other estates where a similar course was necessary, besides
an independent estate of greater magnitude than his, he
asked me if lever expected to be able to master the subject.
I told him I did.
r " Well," said he, " it will run you mad, and you will be
in the lunatic asylum before you get through with it."
" No," I replied; " there will be nothing to run me mad.
Whatever I can do will be done without oppression to the
mind. I can work hard all day, possess myself of a volume
of information, embracing the most intricate questions, all
of which I will solve, as far as may be within my capacity ;
record those solutions and all this information ; then throw
it off my mind, and sleep soundly at night."
" But how," said he, " can you throw it off? Such matters
pile upon and bewilder my mind so much that I have to quit
them. I cannot help thinking of them ; the constructions of
entries, and surveys, legal decisions on similar cases, &c, so
run in my mind that I cannot sleep, and if I were to push
the investigations continually as you do, I should go mad."
" Not so with me. It is my daily avocation. I have cer-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 89
tain information to obtain. When I have obtained all the
information to be had, in regard to a tract of land, learn all
the titles conflicting with it, compare dates, calls of entries,
&c, and see how the surveys conflict, I see at once the
points of law on which the strength of each hangs. (The
land-law of Kentucky is comprehensible at once by a mathe
matical mind. It is based on mathematical •principles. I
felt at home in regard to .it immediately ; and would have
wagered two to one, on first reading a land-entry, that I could
tell whether or not the title would stand, provided it was
surveyed according to entry.) I note all those facts, exam
ine the reports of decisions by the courts, observing all that
touch the case pro and cow, and then record my own opinion.
This being done, I discharge the subject from my mind, be
cause I have done all the thinking about it that I can, and
have packed it, and all that it is based on, in its proper
place, where I can, at any time, find it; and there is no need
to trouble my mind further about it. I do it," said I, " on
the principle of mercantile bookkeeping. A merchant has
several thousand accounts. He does not attempt to keep one
in his head, and only thinks of them when he has to collect
or pay. As I have neither to do with mine, they give me
no trouble."
To give each subject in connection, I continue it, when be
ginning it, often long beyond the period of which I am writ
ing, as in this case. This conversation was, in part, proba
bly twelve months after the time of which I write.

8*

90 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER XVI.
MY FORLORN *FEELINGS UPON FIRST BEING DOMICILIATED
AMONG STRANGERS.
During the day, I found my time to go off well enough ;
but my evenings hung most heavily. For the reasons before
named, having only a letter to this hermit, and he having
no intimates, I made no acquaintances. I had no associates.
I had not thought of letters of introduction, and if I had,
could not probably have found a man in Richmond who knew
any one in Frankfort; for then there was very little com
munication between these places. This hermit I only met
with in daytime, and not often then. Naturally of a very
sociable disposition, and having no one to interchange thoughts
or feelings with, I became very unhappy ; and but for the
pride I took in never looking back when I had engaged in
any undenaking until I had accomplished it, I should have
returned home, for never did a man feel so desolate and for
lorn ; and this feeling began to show itself in my counte
nance, which mortified me, because it seemed an acknowledg
ment that I felt myself slighted and neglected, a thing which
few young men are willing to admit, and none without morti
fication ; and it was the more galling to me, because many
young men from Virginia, coming out to hunt up their fa
thers' lands, and of the best families, with letters to the first
men in Kentucky, would, by the% imprudence, find them
selves short of money, borrow and not return it, and thus
throw a shade over the characters of the more worthy. —
They were looked upon with distrust, unless well vouched
for. I had no one to vouch for me, and was, in consequence,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 91
isolated from society in its midst. About a fortnight after
my arrival, there was a ball at Frankfort. I was always pas
sionately fond of dancing, and went to the ball ; but I knew
no one. Everybody seemed gay and happy, the girls seemed
beautiful and interesting, and I would have given the world
for some one to talk to; but, like the wandering Jew, I
moved among the crowd unknowing and unknown, and was
not at liberty to speak to anybody. The tavern-keeper of
fered to introduce me, but this I thought would never do ; I
politely declined. One of the managers offered to do the same ;
but, as I did not know him, nor he me, and he could not
vouch for me, and as, if I had known him, I might not have
been willing to be introduced by him, I declined his offer also ;
and the night passed off, and the ball broke up, without my
dancing, or speaking to any one at it, except in the two cases
stated. To those who have never been similarly circumstanced,
it is not easy to conceive my unhappy condition, and I began
to regret ever having undertaken the agency — was satisfied I
could not bear my position — determined to fix on a period
by which I could make a digest of the information necessary
to know the condition of the estate, and then go back. My
feelings were "becoming soured; my nature was changing;
I felt it, and was uneasy at the effect ; for, young as I was, I
was even then very sensible that a sense of injury towards
our fellow-man would sully the fine, fresh feelings of youth,
which give interest to character, which are the best evidences
of uncontaminated virtue, and a high-toned feeling of honor.
There is nothing which can compensate for the loss of such
feelings, and it is a misfortune for any young man to be so
circumstanced as to incur such an evil.
The mortifications I experienced in the outset of life were
of a different sort. My relatives were near. I could com
mune with them. I foresaw the day of change. But here
I had not one single human being to interchange feelings
with. I became daily more and more gloomy and unhappy.

02 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
Finally, my hermit companion informed me that he had
to go to the Yellow Banks, to have transfers made of town-
lots in Owensboro', the grantors having given half the town
to the county to fix the seat of justice there, his father own
ing one-third, and my constituent two-thirds. I went with
him, by way of Bardstown — a five days' journey. On arriving
within twenty-five miles of the town, "Here," said my com
panion, " begins the great survey of M. B. & Co., which ex
tends six miles below Owensboro' ; thirty-one miles in length,
and containing 160,000 acres; my father's estate owning
one-fourth, and your constituent the chief of the balance;
but interfered with by various other surveys, and occupied by
hundreds of settlers." About three miles above the town,
we came in sight of the Ohio River, which I now saw for the
first time. It was very full, nearly up to its banks on the
Indiana side ; and I thought it one of the most sublime wa
ter-sheets I had ever seen. We entered the town — the court
house had been built, and a number of cabins; but there were
not more than two or three brick chimneys in the town. I
thought it was the prettiest situation for a town that I had
ever seen — level, and high banks, on a great bend of the
river. Having accomplished our object, and having noted all
the information I could obtain relative to the property here,
we now returned to Frankfort.
The Federal Court was now in session, and Judge Todd
of the supreme bench was presiding. I attended the court
regularly to meet with men who could give me the in
formation I wanted. Seeing me a stranger, the judge was
induced to inquire who I was. He was told I was a young
Virginian from Richmond, by the name of  . After
the adjournment of court, he came to me, and said he was,
informed my name was T  , of Richmond. I told him
it was. " A son of Daniel T  ?" said he. " Yes, sir."
" Why, sir," he rejoined, " your mother and myself are

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 93
cousins. How happens it you did not come to see me ?" I
replied, "I did not know you lived here until I saw you on
the bench, and inquired who you were. When I heard your
name, I knew there was a relationship — what I did not know,
however — between our families." " Well," said he, " you
must come and dine with us to-morrow ;" which I told him I
would do with pleasure. I went at two o'clock, an hour ear
lier than the common dining-hour in Richmond, and two
hours earlier than party dining-hours. On entering the pas
sage, I perceived, in a hall in the rear of the house, the
dishes which had been removed from the table. I had not
rung, and supposed no one had seen me. The awkwardness
of coming in after the dinner was removed, and having it set
for me again, determined me to retreat and send an excuse.
But the judge had seen me through the window, and came
out to meet me. He rallied me on my fashionable hours;
said the clerks and all the officers of the court dined early ;
the court therefore had to adjourn at twelve, and, to get
through business, had to meet again at half-past two, and he
was compelled to make his hours conform to theirs; that he
had neglected to inform me of his dining-hour, supposing I
had been in Kentucky long enough to know that the fault was
his, &c. He made me acquainted with several members of
the bar and his family, and I made a short dinner, as you may
imagine. After a short time, he remarked he would consign
me over to his family, as he had to return to court, and that
I must amuse myself in the best way I could. Mrs. Todd
was a sister of Mrs. Madison, wife of the President, a very
intelligent and agreeable lady, with whom I spent an hour
or two very pleasantly. The judge had also two sons, both
married; one afterward minister to Russia; but neither was
then in Frankfort. The lawyers I was introduced to.were
married men, much older than myself, and, at that time, no
companions for me. Things were now a little changed, but
not much. The judge was so absorbed by his judicial duties

•94 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
that he had not much time to think of me, and I had not
acquired that easy footing which authorized me to call when
I pleased, and before I had time to do it he left to attend the
Supreme Court, with his family, at Washington.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE SOCIETY OF FRANKFORT — THE LEGISLATURE — ASSO
CIATION WITH THE MEMBERS.
The gentlemen with whom I had dined made me ac
quainted with some of the young lawyers and students, and
occasionally a party to which I was invited brought me in
acquaintance with the society of Frankfort ; my time passed
off more pleasantly, but still not entirely to my satisfac
tion. There was not, it appeared, the habit, prevalent in
Virginia and the Eastern States, of making a visit of cere
mony to you at your room, which then authorized you to
return it, and feel upon an easy footing. But being intro
duced to you in a court-room, you would be asked to call at
their offices, told they would be happy to see you at any time,
&c, and all in sincerity, but it was not deemed necessary
first to call and see you. The consequence was, I went
to none of their offices; always met the young men I was
introduced to politely in the streets, and at the tavern, but
never went to see them. When I would be in my room, a
whim would take some of them to come and see me, not as
a matter of polite duty, but merely because they wanted to
be better acquainted. Then I would get on an easy footing
with such, and gradually learnt that I was " standing on a
punctilio not usual in the place." Had my room been more
convenient than their offices, they would have been to see me ;

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 95
but as I would never call at their offices, they thought I was
unsociable, and did not care about their acquaintance. I en
deavored to conform to their habits, but was never satisfied
with them. The fact is, no man is ever satisfied with him
self, nor with those whose manners and customs induce him
to forfeit, in any degree, his own self-respect, as I always
thought I did by visiting a man, in a strange land, who had
not first visited me. And yet some deemed it a nonsensical
formality, as all ceremonies are deemed in the primitive con
dition of any society. They did not seem to consider that it
was necessary to have some means of knowing whether our
acquaintance was desirable or not, and that there was any bet
ter mode* than the one which society had adopted — of first
visiting strangers whose acquaintance they desired. If he
reciprocated the desire, he returned the visit, otherwise he
did not. But, strange as it may seem, it was only in the
capital where such notions prevailed. Soon afterwards, on
visiting Lexington and Louisville, the latter then a small
town, our Eastern customs prevailed. There was then no
fashion, or attempt at it, in Frankfort, but more substantial
intellect than anywhere else in the St;ate, among young and
old. Indeed, I thought I had never seen so many law
students, all of a high order of talents, anywhere ; and I had
never seen a more intelligent or agreeable female society,
without pomp or pretension. My footing with it was soon
as easy and agreeable as at ffrst it had been otherwise.
I took a turn or two to some adjacent counties, Owen,
Gallatin, and Grant, to examine into the title and value
of some lands there — some fifty or eighty tracts ; and ob
tained connected surveys, showing all the interfering titles;
and by means of my examinations at Frankfort, I was soon
able to fix, in my own mind, upon that portion which would
be saved, and that which would be lost. These upon the
maps I painted of different colors, so that the eye took it in

96 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
at a glance. In my land-book, I gave my reasons for the
conclusions I had come to.
Soon the session of the legislature commenced, and I pro
ceeded to become acquainted with the members, to learn from
each such information as he could give in regard to my busi
ness, which lay in almost every county in the State. This
was a fine school for me, because the extent to which I could
trespass on any member's patience would depend on the
extent to which I could conciliate his good-will. If I could
win his friendship and good feelings, there was no extent to
which he would not go. So I seldom broached my business
on my first visit, unless a very apt opening occurred ; but
gave parties at my room, to which I would invite twenty or
thirty at a time, as I became acquainted with them, making
myself as agreeable as I could until I got through with the
whole body. As it is very usual for such a course to be
adopted by those who are seeking office, the members would
in joke say, "Well, T, what office now can we give you? I
don'tthink you can be making yourself such a clever fellow for
nothing." " Oh !" I would reply, " it would be rather hasty to
seek office in the first three or four months after my arrival.
I think I must stand acquitted of that charge. But if you
will put it on the footing of electioneering for your good
will as citizens of Kentucky — not as members of the legisla
ture — as I expect to travel much over the State, and give
me some little credit, too, #br being sociable in my charac
ter, fond of company, and not unwilling to lay an anchor
ahead in case I should visit the regions in which any of
you live where I might need friends, then I plead guilty."
"Oh, ah — that's it, ay! Well, by hokey, if you will
come to my county, I will show you every pretty girl in it;
and I tell you there are some not to be sneezed at. Or
if you are fond of hunting, or anything of that sort, just
come mj way." And one and all would set forth the in
ducements to visit each of their counties, all declaring they

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 97
would do anything for me, or go with me anywhere. I was
soon on such a footing with them that I obtained all the
information they had, and references to those who could give
me more, all which I regularly noted, and when the legis
lature rose commenced a tour over the State.
From time to time I transmitted such information as I
obtained to Judge B. in a condensed form; giving him an
account of my mode of obtaining it. My father wrote me
that Judge B. informed him I had an extraordinary talent
for the business I was in ; that he could not have conceived
it possible for any man to accomplish so much in so short a
time. Of course this was very gratifying to me, and the
more especially as it was so much so to my father, whose
comfort and happiness I regarded much more than my own.

CHAPTER XVIII.
DEATH OF MY SISTER ANN AND OF MY FATHER — MY RETURN
TO VIRGINIA — SETTLEMENT WITH JUDGE B. AND AGREE
MENT TO RETURN TO KENTUCKY.
But, during the spring, an event occurred which dashed
half of my happiness on this earth. My sister Ann, in the
bloom of all her loveliness, died in New York on a .visit to
her elder brother. I loved her as seldom brother ever loved
a sister. It was a cruel stroke. I had planned much for
her enjoyment and happiness, but alitor naught. It was a
heavy blow to my father and mother. This event paralyzed
my efforts for some time.
My father had been appointed master commissioner in
chancery to the Richmond Chancery Court, which yielded a
comfortable support for his family, but not enough to enable
y

98 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
my younger brother to prosecute his studies. I agreed to
furnish him with one-third of my salary. I could still live on
half the balance by close economy, and, having now discharged
the one hundred dollars borrowed of my elder brother, and
one hundred and twenty dollars from a friend in Richmond,
I informed my father that he might draw on Judge B. for
another third of my wages as they then became due. But he
wrote me he did not need it, as his business gave him a
sufficient support. But, he said, he felt a glow of pride in
having a son so willing to spare his little means to aid him.
This feeling almost mortified me. To feel a pride in a son
who would spare what he had no use for, to aid a father, to
whom he owed his existence, and all that he was — I felt as
if he had not before known my feelings, and had considered
me lacking in proper affection. I could not imagine that
any son could be so unfeeling as not to part with his last
cent to aid his father. But my cup of sorrow was to be
filled yet more by the death of this excellent father, who
died during the succeeding summer — a man of the most un
conquerable fortitude and perseverance that I ever knew —
respected and beloved by all who knew him.
My brother, who resided in New York, was now doing a
large business, and thought he could branch out to advantage,
either to New Orleans or Petersburg, and wrote proposing
to connect himself with me. I concluded to accept his offer,
and go in, after I had made a pretty complete digest of.my
Kentucky business; and having mentioned my intention,
a gentleman of Frankfort, anxious to obtain my place, pro
posed to me to allow him to apply for it, to which I agreed,
giving him a letter to Judge B., informing him of my inten
tion, and that he was at liberty to employ him or any other
substitute. When ready, I started, the aforesaid gentle
man having gone ahead of me. On arriving at Lynchburg,
I heard of the failure of Brown & Finney, of Richmond, for
nine hundred thousand dollars. I knew my brother was

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 99
their chief correspondent in New York, and feared for the
effect on him ; and, on arriving at Richmond, found he was
under acceptances for them to the amount of sixty thousand
dollars. This he could not stand, and he fell with them.
Now I was again on the wide world, with not one hundred
dollars to go upon, and not knowing what I would do next.
I proceeded to see Judge B., to settle up accounts with him,
very much regretting that I had resigned my agency, and
now wishing I had it back again.
On entering his door, after welcoming me and receiving
me with great kindness, he observed: "Well, sir, you must
go back to Kentucky." " Have you employed no one else ?"
said I. "No, sir; I was satisfied I could find no one else
who could do the business. You take hold of things by the
right handle; and, believing I could satisfy you that you
were in the track which suited your genius, and which would
finally lead you to prosperity, I determined to employ no one
else until I saw you, and had a conversation with you. Rely
on it," said he, " there is a great field open before you. Your
industry, energy, and method will finally procure for you
as much business as you can do if you find it to your advan
tage to leave my employment. I am not only satisfied with
what you have done, but doubt whether I could have found
any one else who could have done it, and have so expressed
myself freely to your friends." Believing the judge was not
aware of the facilities I found in Kentucky to prosecute my
investigations, I felt as if he was giving me credit which I
was not entitled to, and so remarked to him, explaining how
I had accomplished what I had. He looked me steadily in
the face for a minute. "I act, perhaps, imprudently," said
he, " in talking to you as I shall, but I do not think I am
mistaken in believing that you are not to be spoiled by re
ceiving your due commendation; and it sometimes, if it does
not spoil, is of service as an incentive. I understand, sir,
perfectly, by your letters, what you have done, and how you

100 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
have done it. The facilities, you say, are great, and so yon
have made them, by the simplicity of the system you have
adopted. But you have made your own road smooth by your
own plan. It is very simple, to be sure, and in that consists
its beauty. Go on, sir, as you have commenced, and there
is no telling what you may accomplish." This was a course
so different from that which merchants usually adopt towards
those in their employment, fearing that any admission of the
value of their services might raise their demand for wages,
that it filled me with admiration for the man, and I would
have toiled night and day to fulfil his expectations. I now,
in turn, felt inclined to reply with the feelings of which
my heart was full, but, not being able to command words to
express them, I did not attempt it. But I saw at once the
difference between a great man and a little one. This man
was just, he was reasonable, and a judge of human nature.
He knew that his remarks would have a good effect — they
had a powerful one. But, when we came to settle accounts,
he seemed inclined to draw back some of his lavish praise.
He said my expenses were too great — almost unreasonable.
I heard him calmly, gave him full time to deliver himself of
all his economical lessons, and asked him in what they were
unreasonable. " Oh," he said, " the sum total, the aggre
gate of expenditure was too great — too great — too great;"
and I thought he would have recalled all the encomiums he
had bestowed on me. "Judge B.," said I, "there is no
one more open to reproof, when deserved, than I am — no one
more willing to be advised; but, at the same time, no one
whose feelings revolt so decidedly against anything bearing
the impress of injustice. If I have been unjustifiably ex
travagant, convince me of it, and I will stand reproved; but
do not attempt to sustain your charge by saying the aggre
gate has been too great — too great; that will not do. If the
aggregate has been great, but the aggregate good still greater,
there is no cause of complaint. Take the items, sir, and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 101
point out which of them has been needless. Now, sir, here
is the account; name tho objectionable items." In looking
over — "Well, sir, here are charges that I do not see belong
to the account; these were expenses of entertaining legis
lators, &c." "Very well, sir, if my explanation is not
satisfactory, then expunge them. I found, by making friends
of those men, I could obtain a vast amount of information
from them, and make correspondents all over the State, by
which I would be saved a great deal of riding, time, and
expense. And that is not all. I conciliated their good feel
ings, obtained their friendship, and, by means thereof, a zeal
and anxiety to serve me, which secured me information, and
put me on the track to get more — which in fact have, in a
great degree, enabled me to do what I have done, and for
which you seem willing to give me so much credit."
"Well," said he, softening down, "but could you not have
done this at less expense?" "Why," I replied, "I might
have saved your money, and been without the information I
have obtained. The expenditure equals about two weeks of
my wages and expenses, and, I venture to say, saved six
months of the same." He took hold of other items, all
resulting in the same way. Driven from his ground, he did
not still like to yield, but preached me a long lesson about
economy — said I lacked only that one quality to be the most
efficient man of business he ever saw. But, shaking his
head, he said : " You must try and correct that — economy is
at the bottom of success in everything. I care not what a
man's genius or talents may\*be — lacking economy, he will
never succeed." "In all which I agree with you, sir, most
decidedly. We only differ as to what economy is. I con
sider it is the use of a given sum of money to accomplish
the greatest amount of work. You would, perhaps, have
been better satisfied if I had presented you a very lean bill
of expenses, and half the information I have obtained. But
I would do myself injustice by such a course. No, sir, I

102 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
understand the drift of your remarks. The precedent is a
dangerous one, and you are unwilling to give in to it. I ad
mit it, and that wine, &c, in an agent's accounts, has a bad
look ; but I do not drink a pint of wine, or anything else,
myself, in a year; neither do I smoke cigars, nor chew tobacco,
nor take snuff. But it is sometimes necessary to use such
means to accomplish an object." He shook his head. He
could not be convinced, and, on the whole, perhaps he was
right; for if he had sanctioned it in my accounts, having con
fidence in my prudence, it would have been a plea for other
agents, and therefore he could not accept, as a justification,
the great amount of good coming out of an evil precedent.
He, however, sanctioned the account, but with a lecture on
the subject, which I had to put up with, because I saw he
was inclined to award me full as much credit as he thought I
deserved, and more than I thought I was entitled to in other
matters, and I was willing to submit to this drawback.

CHAPTER XIX.
RETURN TO KENTUCKY  PLEASANT ADVENTURE.
Having purchased a sulky to aid me in carrying out
papers, a great many of which I took this time, I now de
parted a second time for Kentucky ; my horse, which was a
very fine one, working finely, and I made good speed. At
Liberty, I overtook a gentleman with a young lady in a gig,
travelling to Tennessee, and felt quite gratified, though I
outtravelled them so much that it was rather a severe tax
on my time to wait for company. I concluded at least to
travel with them one day. The gentleman had been to
take his niece home from school, a Miss C  , of Nash-

J.I1J1 J.-JL1AM.- Ui! 11U;V1AJ\ JUIJS'JS. H)3
ville, a beautiful girl, full of romance and enthusiasm. As
my horse was much the larger and the more spirited, I pro
posed the next morning that he should put my horse to his
gig, and his to my sulky — the weight being better propor
tioned to their strength — to which he agreed, and seemed
very thankful for the favor. But I purposely reined up my
horse very tight, having seen that he was restless under a
tight rein, until driven off and held tight.
The servant held the horse until the young lady got in,
and then handed the reins to her uncle. As he mounted,
the horse backed and reared up, and the servant ran and
took hold of the bridle. He bounced out, and said he must
have in his own horse. " Oh no," said I, " let me try him."
The young lady was frightened, but I assured her I could ma
nage him, and asked just to let me try; she sat quivering. I
ordered the servant to let him go, and gave him the whip
heavily. He bounded off in a gallop ; but as soon as he be
gan to bear on the reins, and not on the bridle, he became
manageable, and went on very handsomely. We, of course,
as we were going to travel together, had introduced ourselves
to each other. I found Miss C  very intelligent and
agreeable, and very fond of a laugh. I remarked I had the
most intelligent horse in the State. He knew exactly when I
wanted him to cut a caper, and when to let it alone ; that I
had whispered in his ear not to let her uncle drive him, and
so he began to give himself airs to get her uncle out, but as
soon as he saw I was in he knew how to behave himself.
She laughed heartily, and asked why I had pretended to
offer him to her uncle if I did not wish him to drive him.
Because I wanted his seat. But, she said, he would claim it
when .1 got him tamed. "Well," said I, "let us try if he
will." So I reined him up, for the uncle to come on, keeping
the reins, however, fretfully tight, and sawing his mouth
imperceptibly to her or him. As he came up, "Well, Mr.
 ," said I, " you see there is no danger ; will you take

104 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
charge of him now ?" The horse was then moving on by
jumps, and almost sitting down on his hind legs as he sprang
forward. " No, indeed," said he; " if I did not see that you
can manage him so easily, I should insist on taking my niece
out and putting my horse in ; but he seems safe in your
hands." " Oh, perfectly; no danger in the world." I then
held him steady, and gave him a crack of the whip, and away
he went as steadily as I could desire. "Do you not see," I
remarked, " that he understands me ?" " Upon my word,"
she replied, " I believe he does !" " Yes ; and your uncle
will not get this seat again." " I am agreed," said she ; and
we had a merry and pleasant tour on to Bean Station. They
had an old family servant along on horseback, who was very
amusing, and who recounted to us one evening a courtship
he had heard the night before, while he was lying unseen
among the baggage, in the room where the lovers were. We
travelled four or five days together before we reached Bean
Station, and here we were equally loath to part. I felt tho
change the more, as I had now to encounter the lonely wilder
ness alone. Nothing of consequence occurred on my jour
ney to Frankfort.

CHAPTER XX.
SECOND RETURN TO FRANKFORT — APPROACH OF A MONEYED
CRISIS IN KENTUCKY — CHARACTER OF THE KENTUCKIANS
— HISTORY OF THE INDEPENDENT BANKS — RELIEF SYS
TEM AND NEW COURT.
I took up my former quarters, and proceeded to business
as usual ; visited the acquaintances I had made, who seemed
pleased to meet me again; became better acquainted with
the young ladies, and was soon domiciliated as one of their

THJB PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. I(JO
fraternity. Things were now upon a much more agreeable
footing than formerly. When the legislature sat again,
which was in a few months after my return, I found myself
greeted as an old acquaintance by most of those whom 1 had
seen the year before, and I pursued my old course towards
them, but now at my own expense, as I had had fair warn
ing that those expenses must not come into my account. I
found great benefit from it, however — great facilities in my
business. About this time, there was a moneyed crisis in
Kentucky, and the " Independent Bank System" was intro
duced. This was giving a bank to almost every county in
the State. I foresaw, as all reasonable men must have done,
a general bankruptcy of those institutions, and wrote several
essays, under fictitious signatures, in the papers, to endeavor
to stay the ruin. But the people of Kentucky are as deter
mined as they are impulsive. , When their minds are made
up to any measure, you might as well whistle against the wind
as to try to move them. Every man in the State thinks he is
capable of judging and comprehending any subject ; and being
a little touched with the " horse, the alligator, and the snap-
ping-turtle," when he takes his course ybu must get out of
the road, or be run over. What he wants he will have, and
" all creation" can't stop him, unless he is brought up by the
constitution ! This is his Bible; and he who will move like
an infuriated horse over everything in his path, trampling
down great and small before him, and even, in his mad career,
trampling down the constitution itself, will afterwards, when
cool, and satisfied that he is wrong, come back and rectify
all his errors, and submit his neck to the yoke of constitu
tional law. This was magnificently evinced in the case of
the " stay" laws of Kentucky, which succeeded the bank
ruptcy of the independent banks, and which produced the
bankruptcy of nearly the whole community. Never, perhaps,
was any country before in such a condition. The creation
of those independent banks had flooded the country with

106 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
money — begotten a wild taste for speculation; immense stocks
of goods from the East were brought in ; everybody purchased
liberally of the merchants, as did the home merchants of the
Eastern. As the day of reckoning came, the independent bank
notes would not suit the Eastern merchant. He must have
funds which he could use at home ; this brought in the notes
of the banks, which one after another failed. Then the
Eastern merchants sued the Kentucky merchants, and they
sued the citizens. A general tumult was caused throughout
the country. The property which would, a few years before,
have brought five dollars would not now bring one. All the
property of the country seemed doomed to be sold, and yet
not pay half the debts. The first plantations were going for
a mere song ; securities who, from a feeling of friendship, had
lent their names to neighbors, who seemed to have five times
as much property as would pay their debts, found that their
friends could not pay, and even their own handsome estate
would have to go too, and yet all would not suffice. To avert
this wide-spread ruin, there was a universal cry for legislative
relief, and everywhere members were elected under a pledge
to enact laws to stay the storm. Accordingly, a bank was
created called the " Commonwealth Bank," based on the reve
nues of the country, with a capital of three millions of dol
lars, with branches located in different parts of the State.
This bank was to loan to borrowers, upon a certain propor
tion of the appraised value of real estate, pledged as security
clear in title ; and, I believe, also requiring good indorse
ments. The money, so borrowed, was redeemable ten per
cent, every four months until paid. This gave time to con
vert property into money. It was also enacted that the
usual replevin of three months should be extended to two
years on all judgments, unless creditors would take the paper
of the "Commonwealth Bank" in payfnent of such judg
ments, in which case it was only to be three months. Credit
ors now became furious. The " Commonwealth's" paper sunk

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 107
twenty per cent, quickly ; creditors would not take it, and it
kept gradually sinking until it got down to fifty cents in the
dollar.' To a great extent, finally, it was received in prefer
ence to submitting to the delay ; and, so far as it went merely
to settle balances among citizens, it was no great hardship
where credits and indebtedness were nearly equal. But if a
man owed a debt to one who owed nobody, then this creditor,
not sharing in this " sliding scale," lost half his debt. Credit
ors out of the State lost half their debts, and without any cor
responding benefit. But the man in the State who wanted to
lay out his money for property within it could get more for
his " Commonwealth Bank" dollar than he could have obtained
for his silver dollar when the debt was contracted. Still,
however, he wanted all which he thought himself entitled to.
Money hscs been fixed upon as the universal measure of
value. It is only conventionally so, however. Labor is the
true value. And if there could be any mode of knowing, at
all times, what is the value of a day's labor in every coun
try, and anything could be found exactly to represent it (the
labor being a given amount of work), that would be the best
mode of evidencing debts by so many days' labor, in lieu of
so many dollars ; but as this would vary in all the countries
of the world, and in every ten miles square in every country,
universal confusion would result from attempting to fix on
any such basis. The value of gold and silver is fixed by the
amount of labor required to obtain them. They, therefore,
represent labor at its value where obtained (a certain toll or
rent being charged for the use of the mines), and they are
consequently the best universal representative of value.
To return to the operation of the Relief system. The effect
was to array the community into two parties most violently
opposed to each other. One representing the debtors, and
those whose milk of human kindness and general benevolence
of heart would make the laws and the constitution swerve
from their sphere to avoid a universal crush and ruin; the

108 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
other, the creditors, and those who believed the integrity of
the laws and constitution should be preserved at every hazard,
and, under them, that "justice should be done, though Hea
ven should totter." None of the first class, to be sure, did
argue that the laws and constitution should actually swerve
from their sphere. But they contended for principles amount
ing to the same thing. The " Anti-reliefs" contended that
the laws existing when the contract was made governed the
contract; and any laws afterwards made in violation of it
did violate the constitution. As, when a man agreed to
give his debtor one year's credit, the law, by extending that
credit to three, interfered between debtor and creditor, and
changed the contract ; that it had no more right to extend
one year to three than to reduce three years to one. The
constitution said " no law should be passed impairing the
obligation of contracts." The " Reliefs" contended that they
did not interfere with the obligation, but only with the re
medy. That, in the face of the said clause of the constitu
tion, the laws had enacted that, after judgment, the debtor
should have the right of three months' replevin, which was
as much an interference in principle as two years, as was the
delay of execution sixty days, for the constitution said, jus
tice should be administered without sale, denial, or delay ;
all delay, then, for delay's sake, was unconstitutional. The
extension of the replevin three months was matter of discre
tion, so was that of two years; and, in principle, one was as
constitutional as the other. And, though in ordinary times,
it was a harsh remedy to extend the replevin ; yet, in a great
emergency, it was justifiable when required to save a country
from ruin. The "Anti-reliefs" replied : That the three months'
replevin was at first submitted to, because it was not such a
violation of the rights of the creditor as to induce him to
test its constitutionality; and, when it became the standing
law of the land, it then formed part of every contract, because

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 109
every man entering into a contract knew that his remedy at
law was burthened with this delay.
There was at least plausible ground for each party to oc
cupy honestly, and doubtless, in most cases, the differences of
opinion were sincerely entertained. But when men's passions
are excited, on the one side, by a belief that they are robbed
of half their debts, they have no discretion, no sympathy,
and no respect for those who would rob them. While those,
on the other, who see an inexorable creditor determined to
ruin them, rather than wait two years, or take property at
three-fourths of its valuation or "Commonwealth Bank"
notes, think such creditors deserved no consideration, but are
tyrants and oppressors at heart, as are all their aiders and
abettors. With the malignity of feeling growing out of this state
of things, the most vindictive political war raged in
Kentucky that was ever known in any country; and it is
truly wonderful that civil commotions did not arise under
it. They were often expected. At one time I witnessed an
election in Frankfort, when it was thought to be unavoidable.
Both parties were roused to a perfect pitch of frenzy ; both
believed a collision absolutely certain; both prepared for
it, and both desperately determined to go all lengths. Never
did I have more awful feelings than on the day the polls
opened. Every man was armed to the teeth ; every man
determined, if his way to the polls was obstructed, to cut it
out with his arms; and now the struggle commenced. In
an ordinary election, the shouts, huzzas, and fights would
sometimes create a tumult to be heard a great way off. But
now there was no shouting, no noise, no tumult of any kind.
Every man voted, not without a general rush to the polls,
however, and much crowding. But no man's toes were even
trodden on, and it was the most quiet election I ever saw.
The " Reliefs" carried the day by a small majority. But there
was a general congratulation on all sides at the peaceful
10

110 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
result, only to be accounted for by the fixed and desperate
resolution, evident in every face, and the conviction of every
one, that the 'first blood shed would be a signal for a general
mtlie. Take the whole history of Kentucky during the
pendency of the "Relief" contest, and the Old and New Court
question, which followed, and which was equally as exciting,
the two continuing many years, and to learn that no civil
commotion was ever known to arise out of the whole, is a
sublime picture of man nowhere else to be seen on the face
of this earth, and evidences a fitness for the enjoyment of
rational liberty to be seen nowhere out of the United
States. I never saw a mob in Kentucky in my life, and do
not recollect that I ever heard of but that one which rose
and peaceably destroyed an abolition press, or, rather, sent
it off to Cincinnati from Lexington. There was no blood
shed or other violence.
It was a stern conviction by the "Anties" that if this Relief
system was not driven from the land, it would leave a moral
stain on the character of Kentucky, as well as inflict a vital
wound upon the integrity of her constitution, and the prin
ciples of our government, which caused tremendous efforts
to overthrow it, and finally the Court of Appeals determined
the law to be unconstitutional. This produced a great ex
plosion of public feeling. The indignation of the "Reliefs"
against the Court of Appeals reached a fearful height, and
having the majority in the legislature, they abolished the
Court of Appeals to get rid of the judges who had pro
nounced the decision, and then created a new court, and
appointed new judges, clerks, etc. The Old Court, however,
disregarded the act of the legislature, and proceeded in its
business, as if nothing had been done. The New Court sat
at the same period : and here were both courts trying cases at
the same time. If an appellant wanted the doctrines of the
" Reliefs" to prevail, he took his record to the New Court.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. Ill
Otherwise to the Old ; and here were conflicting decisions all
over the country.
The prudence and discretion of the Old Court, however,
caused it to abstain from action as much as possible to avoid
difficulties, until a change of public opinion should take place.
But here was as effectual a revolution in the government as
could have occurred. A forcible annihilation of one of its
departments by another; the judiciary by the legislative and
executive, and the substitution of a pliant judiciary, willing
to conform to the legislative will, or the will of the people,
if it be more proper so to speak. But the people did not
so speak. They became alarmed at this stretch of power,
and soon overthrew the new system. While the contest was
for a policy, they most decidedly leaned to the side of cha
rity and mercy. But when it came to a contest of the con
stitutional question, all the arguments of the New Court
now failed. They insisted that they had not violated the
constitution ; that the constitution said there should be a
Court of Appeals, and there was one. They had only newly
modified the court. But the "Anties" said they had turned
out the old judges, and put in new ones. The "Beliefs" re
joined, so they from time to time had newly modelled the
Circuit Courts ; discontinuing some, and creating others, etc.
The "Anties" said they could not displace the judges ofthe
Court of Appeals except by impeachment, or an address of
three-fourths of the legislature. They were entitled to their
seats during good behavior, by virtue of the constitution.
This question was canvassed upon the stump, at cross
roads, court-houses, and everywhere in Kentucky, until
almost every barefooted boy of fifteen was master of the
subject. But the "Anties" had moral right with them.
All was special pleading, and indirection on the other
side, to sustain their cause; it fell; the Old Court was re
instated, and the integrity of the constitution preserved;
and it may be universally remarked that, whenever the

112 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
mass of the people see right clearly on one side,, they
embrace it. There is a power in moral right which will
in time prevail. It may be for a long time obscured,
and the people may be bewildered, as they very often
are; for when an honest man, without information and
strength of mind sufficient to clear away the fog for him
self, happens, by the force of circumstances, to be thrown
with any political party, and reads all that is written in sup
port of it, and nothing against it, but all against the other
party, which he is induced to believe is not only in error, but
dishonest, his prejudices become so fixed that he is immovable,
and, though honest in everything else, is, in time, trained to
believe that it is necessary to adopt all means, fair or foul, to
overcome a party which is waging war against the best in
terests of the country. It is deemed a matter of self-preser
vation, and a party drill is submitted to on one side, which
seems to require it on the other. The members of the par
ties become mere sheep in a flock, to be driven by the leaders
as they think proper. This is very much the result of the
temper of the newspapers. They act not as expounders of
wisdom and advocates of justice, but as counsel for clients
opposed to each other, whose cause they respectively sustain
before a jury, deeming all advantages of law justifiable.
There are few papers so just that they will not throw any
weight they can upon an adversary, by permitting inferences
from facts partially given, or by concealing something to pal
liate the facts which are given, so that the whole truth does
not appear. Now, a partisan approaches one of his clan
with this paper in his hand. "Neighbor," says he, "you
know such and such facts, do you not? That is, matter of
history which no one can deny ?" " Yes, certainly I do."
" Well, you have seen great outcries in this paper, the
, about the injustice of our party, its
oppressions, corruptions, &c. ?" "Yes." " Now, then, I desire
to satisfy you that these papers are all alike ; that not one is

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 113
to be relied on. Not a word they say to be believed." He
then points out a paragraph, of little moment in the great
mass, but calculated to produce an impression that the party
assailed is what this old man knows it is not. This at once
discredits this paper, and has done it more injury than all
the assaults of its opponents for months. "Where one lie
springs up, another will grow." An editor, therefore, who
is, at any time, guilty of the slightest misrepresentation, in
tentionally, forfeits the moral force which ought to belong to
his paper, and without which it amounts to almost nothing.
He is a discredited witness on the stand. His only power is
with his partisans, where it is of no value, for he can gain no
converts from their ranks. And, as this fact must be evi
dent to all editors, as well as to all speakers, I have often
wondered at the want of tact in both in adopting a kind of
merciless warfare on their opponents, calculated to drive them
more firmly back into the ranks, instead of addressing their
good sense in a respectful manner, showing feelingly the evil
which the speaker deprecates, and imploring a correction of
it. If the leaders of the other party have acted corruptly
and dishonestly, and it is necessary to expose it, great care
should be taken to draw a distinction between the party and
its leaders ; for you want the party to leave their leaders.
While you castigate the one, therefore, you should soothe the
other. And to be effective, never make a charge which can
not be sustained by facts, and not then, if the charge is one
of little moment when proved. He who makes small charges,
in effect, admits that there are no great ones. I think, my
self, it is no difficult matter for any well-balanced mind to
take up a newspaper on each side of any question, and, after
reading both, to determine which side is in the right ; if the
editors are intelligent, and one is candid, he will be in search
of truth. The very spirit of his writings shows it. The
other pretends, also, to sustain it; but his writings are full of
special pleadings ; he does not meet the question fairly ; there
10*

114 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
is a lack of plain, palpable candor about him. One shows
the arrogance of power; the other, the convictions of justice.
The partisans of the first may hold the reins for a series of
years, by force of party discipline, patronage, and alluring
hopes. But time will inevitably correct it, in a reading com
munity like ours. The moral sense of no intelligent people
can be so permanently corrupted that they will be willing to
sustain corruption. No; there is an innate power in the
virtuous heart which will ultimately disenthrall itself, and
the sooner, if the opponents of corruption were to despair and
abandon the struggle; for then, having no outward enemy,
the members of the party would begin to look at home,
quarrel with each other, and, finally, right themselves.
I am not one of those who believe that our government
will easily fall from its corruption. Like a cask of beer, it
will go through its fermentations, and every now and then
throw off its filth. But we have a corroding poison within
us which, of late years, has shown dangerous symptoms, and
may, in time, upset all our political philosophy on this sub
ject ; to wit, presidential patronage. I am satisfied that the
assumed basis of a permanent republic, "the virtue and
intelligence of the people," is erroneous. The true basis is
a constitution so framed as to offer no temptation to corrup
tion. If the frame of government invites corruption, then
corruption will come, and the government fall. But I
do not consider it impracticable to so frame a government
as to exclude this temptation. But our great safety is
in educating the young mind. Give us Normal schools all
over our country, to produce teachers for us. Every State
in the Union should have one at public expense. At another
time, I will dwell more on this subject. I have indulged in
these reflections so far to impress on you the history of this
noted epoch in Kentucky, and the moral appertaining to it.
When I reach an event like this, in my own history, it would
lose its interest to be kept back, and only give its progress

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 110
with my own. To impress it on your mind, I prefer giving
it all in connection ; and for the further reason, that then
such subjects can be read detached by those who might feel
no interest in the balance of the narrative.
It will be instructive to the future politician to have a
history of the downfall of the New Court. The condition of
things now existing it was evident could not last — two ap
pellate courts giving conflicting decisions, and with a double
set of officers. As before said, a stronger evidence could not
be given, of the love of the people of Kentucky for order,
than the history of this period. When the New Court was
constituted, the Old was in possession of all the records, and
the New could not proceed without them. Hence, it was
thought there was ground for violence which could not well
be avoided. One court, it was supposed, would order a*
posse to take the records, and the other to prevent it, when,
of course, a conflict must ensue. But the Old Court, now ap
parently under the ban of the State, and feeling that the cur
rent of public opinion was against them, acted with great
wisdom and prudence, and were content to let the records
go, and also, although they regularly met, as required by
law, yet they gave no decision which could create a tumult.
The coming elections must finally decide the question
whether the constitution was capable of being sustained or
not, and if not, into what kind of an abyss we must fall.
Writers in the newspapers, from every quarter, called upon
them to maintain their posts, and to stand manfully by their
cguntry. I wrote a piece in which this sentence occurred :
" Stand by your post, maintain it at every hazard ; a react
ing and redeeming spirit exists among the people, which, at
no distant day, will show itself; and then enviable indeed
will be the reward of persecuted patriotism ; the highest
offices in the gift of the people will be deemed a poor reward
for such inflexible integrity."
I cannot give a better idea of the feelings and views of

116 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
parties then prevailing than by the relation of an event
which occurred on board of a boat on the New York Canal
about, I think, 1827. I will premise that great toleration
prevails in Kentucky on the subject of politics. Two of
the most intimate friends will sometimes differ in politics.
They will bitterly oppose each other at the forum, and then
retire and spend the evening together. The contest, how
ever, at this time, had gone near interrupting private friend
ships ; yet there were many cases where it did not, and the
case I am going to relate is one of those.
Walking backwards and forwards on the canal-boat, I ob
served a foreigner, a young man who seemed to evince a
wish to speak to me, and to make an opening for it; I made
some commonplace remark about the weather. I found that
he was just from college in France, though apparently older
and more mature than fresh graduates in our own country.
He said he came to our country to study our institutions,
that he was a dear lover of liberty, and wished to be where
it existed. He wished to see its practical workings. Now,
said he : " Your constitution. I do not exactly comprehend it.
The people made it. And the people also make the laws.
Now I understand the laws, which are against this constitu
tion, are void. But if the people make both, how are you
to determine when one of your laws is in violation of your
constitution? Suppose your judges so decide, your constitu
tion is but parchment, and your people are the head of all
authority. This, in the law, is as omnipotent as in the con
stitution, and your judges will not dare to oppose the ex
pressed will of the people."
I had noted two young men on board from Kentucky,
who were in conversation on this subject — one Old Court, the
other New; though dressed in jeans, they were evidently
very intelligent. But, as I have before observed, this ques
tion had so long occupied the public mind in Kentucky, that
every man, of every grade, could discuss it with the apparent

iiii^ riuui uj: xiuiu^lls juajm^.

ability of the ablest politician. I observed to the French
man that I could give him an illustration on this head by a
discussion now going forward yonder — pointing to those
young men. "Let us go near and hear what they say."
He looked surprised at me, and said, "Why they seem to be
of the canaille.'' "Yes," I remarked, "in France they
would probably be so considered; but not here." They were
probably farmers. (I learnt afterwards that they were
drovers, who had been in with beeves.) " Come up." He
came on sluggishly and reluctantly, as if he had nothing to
learn from such men. As he neared, one of these young
men observed to the other, "What do you call a constitu
tion?" and was answered, "A rule of government laid down
by the people in convention for the government of their
legislatures." ("Good," said the Frenchman, "very good.")
"And what is the use of that rule unless it is observed?"
" It has been," replied the New Court man. " Does not that
rule say that justice shall be administered without sale, de
nial, or delay ? and is not a two years' replevin delay ?"
New Court. — "Yes, rather more than three months. YourOld
Court admit that the three months' replevin law is constitu
tional; and if it is, then it is preposterous to deny the con
stitutionality of the other." Old Court. — "The three
months' replevin law was not at first tested. The time was
so short that it was submitted to; and being for a long time
submitted to, the acquiescence in it caused every man to
have it in view when he made his contract, and it became a
part of his contract. It was not enacted to obstruct justice,
but to give a reasonable time to the defeated party to provide
the means of paying his debt — not to be surprised. Yet
had this been at first contested, it must have been decided
unconstitutional. But your law, made expressly to delay
justice, there can be no question about. It violates the ob
ligation of contracts." New Court. — " The people say other
wise, and they are the sovereign judges." Old Court. — " Yes,

118 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
that is an argument that your party are driven to when rea
sons fail them. The people in convention framed a consti
tution — in other words, a power of attorney to their future
legislators, saying what they might do and what they might
not do. And they decreed a court of appeals to judge on
the subject. This court have judged, and have determined
that the legislature has done what the constitution said they
should not do; and for so deciding, the legislature have
passed a law displacing them and creating a new court : an
nihilating the tribunal created by the constitution, to be re
placed by one created by the legislature, to decide in its own
case. If they can do this, then the constitution is a mere
mockery, and we are governed by the will of the majority
for the time being — mere mob law. A government under
which there is no security for person or property ; and a go
vernment under which I would not live." New Court. — "I
am afraid you will have to bear it." Old Court. — "The next
elections will tell. However, let's quit the subject and take
a drink, for we shall not agree." They moved off to the
bar, took a drink, and commenced talking about their trades
in New York.
a Ma foil" said the Frenchman, "I would give one hun
dred francs if my father could have witnessed this scene.
Oh ! I have learnt more from it than I thought I should in
one year. Oh! it was beautiful. Who are those men?"
I replied, "I heard one of them speaking just now of the
price he sold his cattle at. I presume they are cattle-
drivers." "Cattle-drivers ! They are statesmen, sir, states
men." "Yes," I replied, "such statesmen as you will find
anywhere in Kentucky." " Anywhere in Kentucky ? So
much intelligence ? so much self-command? so much philo
sophy ? Why, sir, in France, if two men, so opposed, had
got into such a conversation, differing as those did, it would
probably have ended by their drawing swords. But here
you say, 'Let's quit and take a drink;' and off you go and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 119
drink together, and talk of something else — and these your
canaille ! Oh ! mon Dieu I Oh ! I see, I see ; France is
not ripe for liberty : she has no such population as this.
No, no; you in America can maintain your government, but
we in France could not."
The canvass went on warmly — the Old Court men con
tending that the question was not which party was right;
but who had a right to judge. That the legislature had an
nulled the tribunal which the constitution designed should
judge; and that we were now at sea without rudder or com
pass. The result, to the astonishment of all, was the utter
defeat and total annihilation of the New Court party; and to
show how literally my prediction came true, copy of which I
.now have, Judge Clark, who pronounced the decision which
was taken up on appeal, was elected Governor of Kentucky.
Judge Mills and Judge Boyle soon died, but not before
Judge Boyle had been appointed to the Supreme Court of
the United States ; and Judge Owsly, the most unpopular of
all, was ultimately elected Governor of Kentucky. Never
was there such a triumph of principle ; because the feelings
of the people, and their interest for the time, were in favor
of the law; but they were not willing to have the constitu
tion violated to sustain it. The New Court party, being en
tirely overthrown in Kentucky, now looked elsewhere for
relief. General Jackson had been nominated for the presi
dency in 1824, and supposing it was intended as a burlesque
got violently angry. But the hatred of the New Court party
for Mr. Clay, who sided with the Old Court, caused them to
go over in a body to General Jackson, and to throw all their
influence in his scale. The leaders of the New Court party
might be considered Judge Bibb, Judge Barry, Preston
Blair, and Amos Kendall. Judge Bibb was a man who was
beloved even by his political enemies, and it was believed
was originally thrown on that side by accident. He natu
rally leaned to the side of benevolence and mercy, and he

120 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
believed the rigid construction of the Old Court would ruin
the country. He sided against them, and his example was
all-powerful. It was followed by Barry, who, between mercy
and the law, always leaned to the former. He was an elo
quent man, and very much beloved by his partisans. Blair
was a shrewd, jovial, laughing, sociable fellow — full of wit
and fun — so interesting that his violent political enemies
sought his company at the highest period of excitement to
which this political struggle reached. He was withal,
though a nominal follower, the actual schemer and leader of
the party. Amos Kendall, editor of the " Argus," the mouth
piece of the party, was a shrewd deep-calculating Yankee —
a fine writer, and by some thought to be the planner of the
party. But that was not so. Blair was the man. Among
those four, the most perfect harmony and concert existed;
and in their fall, they were bound the faster together. It
has been my fortune to be so placed as to be able to estimate
the power of men combined to accomplish a common object,
before parties became disciplined as they now are. To the
close of Mr. Monroe's administration, and to the period of
which I now write, the election of president, after the coming
in of Jefferson, had caused no excitement. A junto, at
Richmond, relieved the community of all trouble on the sub
ject, by making a nomination which was generally acquiesced
in, and the election went almost by default. This junto con
sisted of Judge Roan, Judge Brook, John Brockenbrough,
and Thomas Ritchie. They having decreed who was to be
president, he was nominated and elected. But now Virginia
had no prominent man to offer, and this junto ceased their
office. There were no conventions then — no compact disci
pline of parties on the national theatre. It was a matter
not generally understood. But the struggles in Kentucky
had made aspirants there familiar with it. This discipline
was carried by the four New Court men aforesaid into national
politics. It was faintly begun during General Jackson's

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 121
first campaign, before the New Court party were overthrown.
The unlooked-for strength of General Jackson, which came
very near electing him, and the ultimate prostration of the
New Court party, gave additional energy to their leaders in
the next presidential struggle; and General Jackson was
elected by an overwhelming majority. Judge Bibb was
made Secretary of the Treasury, Judge Barry Postmaster-
General, Amos Kendall third auditor, and Preston Blair
editor of the " Globe," the organ of the government. Thus the
New Court party were transferred from Kentucky to Wash
ington City. A new set of tactics was created — rewards and
punishments introduced-;* and henceforward the spoils were
considered as belonging to the victors. Now the presidential
elections assumed a violence never before known, and it re
mains to be seen whether an alteration will not be required
in our constitution to correct the evil. The temptation had
never before existed to disturb the quiet and probity of our
smoothly moving government. But now corruption is abroad,
and will go on increasing to a point of culmination, unless
some means can be devised to put an end to it. This it
will be hard to do, as those who could apply the remedy are
interested in perpetuating it. Our government is presumed
to be based upon the virtue and intelligence of the people,
and to be preserved only at the cost of eternal vigilance.
If so, it must fall, because this canker-worm of corruption
cannot be always eating and produce no impression — like
the worm in the bud, it will in time produce a sickly hue in
the political visage of our country, and ultimately drive it
into decay. There will never be a monarchy in America.
I have no fear of that. But when our government becomes
* This is not thought to have been the work of- Bibb and Barry.
Bibb, though a warm politician, was ever a kind and charitable
man. 11

122 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
corrupt, its citizens will gradually lose all respect for it —
with the loss of respect will follow the loss of amor Patria, and
we shall gradually sink to the condition of Mexico or of the
South American states.
To base a government upon the existence of virtue and
intelligence, and the necessity for eternal vigilance to pre
serve it, is requiring for its continuance a perfection in hu
man nature which is not to be found, and ought not to be
looked for. The basis should rather be in absence of all
temptation to do wrong.
A president should not have it in his power to reward
those who aid in electing him.
On this head, I will refer to a treatise on this subject,
which I had prepared for separate publication; but being
disheartened by the doubt whether I could draw public atten
tion to it with any good effect, I abandoned the idea. How
ever, on a future page, where the subject is again incidentally
referred to, the plan is laid down.

CHAPTER XXI.
THE PERILS AND DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE INVESTI
GATION OF LAND-TITLES IN KENTUCKY.
After the rising of the legislature, I started for the Yellow
Banks, to look into the land there, to see about getting pos
session of it, and selling it. My first object was to survey
out all the interfering claims, and ascertain how much of the
land was clear in title, and what occupants were on it; then
to have all that which was clear in title sectionized into tracts
of from two hundred to four hundred acres, with an accurate
description attached to each section, of the land contained
in it, with the probable value thereof; springs, improve-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 123
ments, &c, with the settlers thereon. Having obtained a
very intelligent and very honest surveyor for the purpose, I
started him on the work. But now difficulties presented
themselves which were likely to give me much trouble. Like
the anti-renters in New York, the occupants refused to sur
render the land, and with better ground here, for I had no
leases from them, and they acknowledged no tenancy, but
denied my right. The number of parties concerned would
render a . suit very troublesome, and it was very important
for me to avoid it if possible.
Always believing in the policy of taking things by the
smooth handle, here I saw a great deal of address was neces
sary. If delayed to put off every man by suit, I might be
delayed many years in my progress. I believed a great deal
of determination of purpose was required, tempered with a
great deal of evident justice and kindness. Most of the
occupants were reasonable, if left to themselves, but an effort
was being made to create resistance, and word was brought
me from one man, considered a very desperate fellow, that if
I came on his land he would shoot me. My resolution was
immediately taken to go there at once and alone. Danger,
like a dog, will often bite you if you fly from it, but will flee
at your approach. I knew, if I suffered myself to be scared
off, I had as well abandon the business, for of this kind was
the chief which I had to do. I must, therefore, make it
evident that that could not be done, and the sooner the bet
ter; for, if one man drove me, all would do it. I knew, too,
that the messenger would report my answer, my manner,
everything about me. All these considerations passed in my
mind in a twinkling. So I observed, looking steadily at him :
"He says he will kill me, does he?" "Yes, sir, if you go
on his land; and, sir, let me advise you not to go there."
"Very well," said I, "I will see;" giving him a meaning
nod. It was about twelve miles off. I started the next
morning for his house. I never yet saw a man who, if you

124 TnE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
could get into his house, and had not before had a difficulty
with him, would not treat you civilly while you were there.
I determined, if I could, to get into his house before speak
ing to him. On arriving there, and inquiring if that was Mr.
M.'s residence, and being informed by his wife it was, I
alighted and went in. He immediately came in from the
back yard. I arose, and, with a firm but civil air, remarked :
"Mr. M., I suppose." "Yes, sir," he said, rather gruffly.
"My name is T." "Take a seat, sir," said he. His wife
was a healthy, fine-looking woman, and they had a house full
of children. I talked with her of the country, her children,
their ages, dispositions, &c. I determined not to leave the
house until a certain ferocity on M.'s face left it — in a
word, to conquer his good feelings, but, at the same time, to
preserve on my own countenance a sort of inward determina
tion of purpose under a complaisant air; such, indeed, as was
more than half natural. After sitting and talking, until I
thought he was in the "right tune," I rose to depart, and
asked him if he would walk with me. He did so to the
gate. I asked him to walk farther, as if I wanted to be out
of hearing of the house. He moved on hesitatingly, as I
led my horse. Finally he stopped, saying he reckoned that
was far enough. "Well, Mr. M." said I, "I was told
yesterday that you had said if ever I came on your land you
would shoot me. I did not believe the statement, but it is
my rule never to be under a threat, so I thought I would
come and see whether there was any truth in it." " Shoot
you?" " Yes ; so I heard." "No, sir," said he, "I never
had any such notion." " Such, sir, was my opinion. There
are men who will try to make mischief between others, with
out any ground for it, and my rule is always to go to bead-
quarters for facts. I am satisfied you never said so ; but you
must not think hard of my coming to inquire." "Not at
all," said he; "I like you the better for it." We parted,
the best friends, and he was of great service to me afterwards.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 125
We had some conversation after making friends. I re
marked to him that my business necessarily brought me in
contact with men of all kinds, and I could not expect all
to be reasonable. There would be some who would expect
to drive me from my duty, and to bully me; I knew he was
not of the number, was the reason why I had pursued the
course I did with him ; " for, Mr. M., you know every man
has a right to preserve his own life at any cost, and I
am not one of those who would- rather be killed than save
my life at any forfeit. If any man in this region has such
an idea, he had better not let me hear of his threats. I am
determined not to be driven from my duty. I will always
do what is reasonable and just, where the man I deal with
is so ; but I am firmly resolved to take the very first occasion
which may present itself to convince those who think other
wise of me of their mistake. I want no difficulties with any
one, if I can help it ; but I have made up my mind that I
have to do this business under all its difficulties, and I intend
to do it." "You are right, sir," he said. "If the land is
yours, you ought to have it, and I do not blame you." For
a long time a'fter this I met with no difficulty. It was known
through the country that I had gone to this man's house, who
had threatened me ; that he was now my friend, and others
had been warned by him to take care of me. I never named
anything of our interview, only that I had been to see bim,
•and found him very friendly, instead of being shot by him..
I had, however, a more obstinate fellow, by the name of
O, to encounter, one who was afterwards killed in a street-
fight in Owensboro'. I was warned to beware of him — was
told he was a desperate devil. I felt assured I would have
to take the chances of an encounter with some of those fel
lows, and must trust to luck to bring me out safely. If I
escaped well, it might be of future service, provided I could
leave a good impression. This I was determined to do, but
felt some uneasiness as to the cost. I determined on my
11*

126 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
course, however, and trusted to Providence for the end. An
application was finally made to me to buy C.'s place, and
I sold it. I had agreed to pay all for their improvements
who acted reasonably, but C. would not. I knew now
I had to prepare for an attack, and would have met him at
his own house, in conformity to my rule laid down, if I had
had ground to go upon ; but I had none. I knew that the
attacking party was, nine times out of ten, the successful
one, but I had to await him, and he was not long coming.
He presented himself one morning at my office, stood in the
door before me, as I wrote at my table, with my back to the
fire. I had used an axe-handle as a poker. It was pretty
heavy, and stood against the fireplace, convenient for me to
reach it. I also kept a dirk by me, which was on the chim
ney-piece. I will premise that this was not kept with any
expectation of using it, but, by having it, it answered as a
protector; and while, if I had known I would use it, I would
rather have taken a moderate beating than to have done it,
yet, without arms, and a general belief that I would use them
if provoked, I could not have maintained my position at all.
Nine brave men out of ten have no taste for danger, and will
avoid it, if certain that by any particular course they will
encounter it; and nine out of ten have a comparative courage,
that is, they are braver towards some men than others. Take
a man who would sit upon a keg of gunpowder with you, and
deliberately apply a match if challenged to it; let him have
cause of offence of equal magnitude against two others, one
as determined as himself and the other timid, the chances
are ten to one that he will act very differently towards the
two. And if a man can get out the impression that all
attempt to bully him is fruitless, he is very apt afterwards not
to be bullied.
From my youthful days, I had the greatest abhorrence of
quarrelling and fighting; so much so, that I have sometimes
feared I went too far to avoid it. That same feeling still

THE TILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 127
followed me ; and, in the ordinary pursuits of life, I think it
probable I should have been remarked for my extreme peace-
fulness of character. But I had engaged in a business, the
difficulties of which I did not know until I engaged in it ; and
it promised to be very lucrative. I saw, if I pursued it, that
I must probably encounter many hard jolts; and the ques
tion was, should I meet them, or retreat ? My pride and
my interest opposed my retreating ; so I made up my mind
to take the hazards. In doing this, I was aware that there
was a charm in a reputation for fearlessness, which, if I could
maintain, might go far towards carrying me through safely.
So I, upon philosophically weighing the matter, determined
to take the hazards. I had always great confidence in rea
son and justice, and believed that it seldom happened that
any man, who would have them always on his side, would
get into any difficulty that he could not get out of with
credit. I determined never to be at fault there ; to be
always courteous, polite, and friendly ; and so being, I be
lieved I would get through safely. One fortunate quality
appertains to me. I always have my presence of mind, and
know exactly what I am doing. Full of ardor, and impetu
ous in my purposes; nevertheless, under the strongest pas
sion, I know what I am doing.. Anger never deprives me
of my reason, although I can be as angry as any man. I
do not mean to say that in anger I would never do what I
would be sorry for in my cool moments — though not often ;
yet I intend to say that anger never entirely dethrones my
judgment. These remarks are preliminary to the relation of the affair
with C  . As he entered the door, his visage looked as
red as an old turkey-gobbler's, and there was desperation in it.
I never saw a man who seemed so bent on mischief. I saw
that there was death in the pot, and that if he got bold of
me he would probably kill me. My determination was not

128 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
to be killed, if I could help it, even if I had to go to any
extremity to avoid it.
I had used, as aforesaid, an axe-handle as a fire-poker, which
was about the right length to be wielded with the best effect.
As I saw him enter, I reached back and got hold of it. If now
I could by a sudden motion spring at him, and knock him
down, before he could get hold of me, I might master him;
but I had a dirk with which I was determined to protect
myself, but not to use, except in the last extremity. This
lay on the chimney-piece behind me.
"What do you want, sir?" said I. " I want to know if
you have sold my place, sir." " I have, sir." " Then, sir,
do you intend to pay me for my improvements?" "I do not,
sir." "Before, then, sir, you shall get possession of it,
you shall walk over my dead body." " Ah, indeed !" said
I, suddenly rising, grasping my dirk in my left hand, hav
ing the axe-handle in my right, and springing at him with a
stroke of the latter, which he dodged by jumping back out
of the door, when he turned and ran. The end was, I got
him to sign a writing giving me up his land'.
As a number saw the whole transaction, it was useless for
me to speak of it, and so I did not ; but as others jeered
him about running, he had to make the best excuse he could,
by saying he believed I would as soon kill a man as eat, in
the which he was never more mistaken in his life. But the
impression answered me a good purpose, for I was never
afterwards threatened or had any difficulty with these men ;
and moved eighty families off of the land in one year, and
had not a single dispute or lawsuit with any man.
Whether I act prudently or not in relating this incident
to you, is questionable, for it would seem to approve a course
of violence, which I by no means do, unless in a case of very
rare occurrence, and of very extreme necessity. Mine was a
very peculiar case. I had been employed to recover the lands
of this company; I must go forward, or acknowledge I was

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 129
afraid to do so; and I then, of course, must resign, and let
some more resolute agent take my place. This was too mor
tifying to think of. I therefore weighed all the chances,
and believed I could go through safely; and that the best
plan to do so was to create an impression that the surest way
to get into a difficulty with me was to threaten me, and for
me to ride ten miles at any time to meet a threat. There
is no adage more true, than that " the surest way to get
clear of danger is to meet it boldly ;" and although I have
an aversion to "scenes," affrays, and quarrels, beyond per
haps what any other man has — for to me men who are en
gaged in them are always prima facie blackguards, rowdies,
and bullies, characters to me more hateful almost than any
other which could be named — yet, where the extremity of
the case made it necessary, I deemed it justifiable to run
the hazard, being sure never to be in the wrong, but so
clearly in the right, that public opinion should sustain me,
let the consequences be what they might. Thus, while I
have determined to meet assaults always more than half
way, if I could foresee them, I have also felt so natural an
inclination to conciliate, as to feel confident that no man
who knew me would doubt for one moment, if he heard of
my having an affray, that I was in the right — for I would
not have one, and be in the wrong.

CHAPTER XXII.
ACCOUNT OF TWO ROBBERS — FIRST STEAM NAVIGATION ON
THE OHIO — LOSS OF ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS.
I NOW returned to Frankfort, and at Hardinsburg, on my
waysup, witnessed the trial of two men for highway robbery.
It seems a Mr. Jones, a preacher, had been stopped by them

130 THE PILOT OF nUMAN LIFE.
some two or three miles below Hardinsburg, taken into the
woods at a distance from the road, where they proposed
killing him. But he protested he was a poor preacher, not
worth robbing, and if killed they would hazard the penalties
of the law without any benefit. They emptied his saddle
bags, in which, with a few clothes, they found a Bible bound
in red morocco, and about his person a few dollars. These
they took, but concluded he was not worth murdering, if they
knew how to escape detection without it. One was for kill
ing him; but the other, named Thornton, proposed to swear
him on his own Bible not to inform upon them. This done,
they let him go. It was growing dark. He proceeded on
to Hardinsburg, and they towards the Yellow Banks. On
Jones's arrival at Hardinsburg, he went to a friend to consult
what to do. He stated a case hypothetieally similar to his
own, and asked what the robbed man ought to do. He was
answered that, acting under duress, the .oath ought not to
be considered binding, and to save the community from the
depredations of such a band, it was the duty of the robbed
man to disregard his oath, and lodge information. " Then,"
said he, " I am the man who has been robbed, a few miles
below this place, not one hour ago." A company was im
mediately mustered, and proceeded in search of the robbers,
taking Jones with them to identify them.
At Crawford's, six miles below Hardinsburg, the robbers
had put up, got their supper, and gone to bed, when the
armed party arrived and took them. Seeing Jones among
them, the elder of the robbers, whose name I have forgotten,
said to him, " Ah, Jones," for Jones had told them his
name, " that little red Bible has saved your life for once ;
beware next time." They were taken and lodged in jail
that night, and were on trial next day before magistrates as
I went through, were committed, and ultimately sent to
the penitentiary for five years. They were both young —
Thornton about twenty, the other about twenty-five, and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 131
the most determined, desperate-looking wretch I ever saw.
Had Jones not told on them, these men would have met me
about Blackford's Creek, some twenty miles on their next
day's travel ; but anywhere on the road would have answered
as well, for there was not a more dreary wilderness in all the
West than this road was, and in all probability I should have
been murdered by them. Here was another providential in
terposition, as I considered it. These same men served out
their time, were liberated, and soon detected in another rob
bery, for which they were sentenced for ten years. The
elder made an attempt to escape, and was shot on the roof of
the penitentiary by young Scott, son of the keeper.
I had not before carried arms, but did after this, and
generally gave a wide berth to anyone that I met on the road.
Passing through Louisville, I put up at Gwathmey's old
stand, where the "Northern Bank" now stands. Here I heard
at dinner a conversation in regard to the first trip made by a
steamboat, from New Orleans to Louisville, a few years be
fore. She was called the " Buffalo." Capt. Shreve commanded
her. She made the trip, I think, in thirty days. The usual
time by keels and barges had been ninety.* The citizens, in
compliment, gave him a dinner for the wonderful achieve
ment, and, in a speech which he made on the occasion, he
predicted that the day was not far distant when the trip
would be made in sixteen days. This was considered an ex
tremely sanguine estimate.
"But," said one of the parties, " this prophecy has been
already more than realized ;" and some boat was named which
had made it in twelve, or possibly ten days. This was in
1819, when Louisville contained about four or five thousand
• * Barges were then moved by "cordelling" — i. K., some of the
hands would take out a line some hundred yards ahead, tie it to a
tree, and the balance would pull the boat up. Or, they would draw
it up by taking hold of bushes where admissible-p-by which means
they could only make about fifteen miles per day, against a current
of three or four miles an hour.

132 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
inhabitants. Capt. Shreve had to buy fence-rails at $5 per
hundred, for fuel ; and when they were not to be had, which
was half the time, he had to lay by until his hands could cut
wood. At this time, a stage ran twice a week between Louisville
and Frankfort, and was not more than half filled with pas
sengers. There was no turnpike, and so deep were the roads
in winter that I recollect, on one occasion, making a very
hard day's ride, and getting only ten miles.
Arrived in Frankfort, I went at my usual avocations, in
the usual way, and soon again went to Gallatin. In return
ing, I lost, at a house where I had stopped for dinner, $150,
which I did not discover until several miles on my journey;
then I turned back to endeavor to find it, being satisfied I had
dropped it when I took out my pocketbook to pay my bill.
But no one knew anything of it. There are times when
money is worth much more to us than at others. My ar
rangements left me none to spare, and I could not afford this
loss. I was unwilling to confess it to Judge B., who had
so high an opinion of my business qualifications, lest it might
lower me in his opinion ; for I ought not to have carried so
much money where I was liable to lose it. I ought to have
put it into a belt or handkerchief, and tied it around my body
under my shirt, all but what was necessary to pay travelling
expenses. However, the mischief was done, and could not
now be helped. I had to devise means to get along without
it until my next quarter's salary was due. I concluded to
get on as long as I could, and then explain to my tavern-
keeper, and get him to lend me a little. It happened, how
ever, that I was not under the necessity of borrowing, and I
was very glad of it, because it has a bad effect when a man is
reduced to borrowing. It makes those to whom he would be
likely to apply, shy of him. A young man should avoid it
if possible. I consider that, in the end, this was no loss to
me. The lesson it taught me was worth its cost.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 133

CHAPTER XXIII.
MY FIRST LAW ARGUMENT — ARRIVAL OF JUDGE B. — TRIP
TO THE YELLOW BANKS — DISCUSSION ABOUT JACK RAN
DOLPH. I now proceeded to put in form the materials I had col
lected at the Yellow Banks, in regard to the entries of Ross
and May, which I had had surveyed. They called to begin
at the upper end of the Yellow Banks, about forty miles
above Green River, and run to- the lower end thereof, and
back for quantity. I had had a front profile of the bank
taken at the upper and lower end, and at various intermediate
points ; had all neatly painted, and an argument framed to
sustain the entry, which was in litigation.
The large entry of May, Banister, & Co. was also in litiga
tion, but with a decision against us. On looking over the
record, and applying the facts which I knew of, I saw there
was a fatal defect which had escaped notice. I noted it.
The argument about the Yellow Banks entries was very long
and complex. What made it so would be uninteresting to
you. I only deem it necessary to state the fact for the con
nection of the tale, and what is to follow. In my book of
briefs, I noted every case, so far as investigated, in the same
way. During this fall, Judge B. came out on horseback, as all
had to do, for there was no other way. I was delighted to
see him, and conscious that I had a good show to make for
him. He was a remarkable man. The most thorough man-
of business I ever saw, when on business; but a boy in his
12

134 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
fondness for enjoyment, when he had an opportunity to in
dulge it.
After he had been with me a day or two, I began to feel
anxious to exhibit to him my work, of which I was some
what vain, and I presumed he would be anxious to see it. But
it seemed irksome to him, and he avoided it: I got one sit
ting with him, however, and, on examining my Yellow Banks
argument, he said : " Whenever that suit comes on, you must
put that argument into the hands of your lawyer ; that it was
a very strong view of the case." I felt flattered that he should
think so: I directed, then, his attention to the other of May,
Banister, & Co:, and what I thought a fatal defect. He said
I was right; the view was correct; and instructed me to
abandon the entry, and rely on the patent only: In conver
sation with one of my friends, he was pleased to speak in
very complimentary terms of the correctness of my views.
Soon we proceeded to the Yellow Banks, engaging in general
conversation about everything; He was remarkably affable,
had a very quaint way of talking, and a laugh the most per
plexing to the listener. He would begin to laugh, and hold
on beyond a reasonable time, and you felt yourself in the un
pleasant dilemma of letting him laugh alone, or force your
self to laugh when the provocation had ceased: He was a
great admirer of Jack Randolph, and wished all others to be
so: I was just the reverse; He said in Randolph there was
a high-toned chivalry which all must admire, and that his
very isolation, his being without a national party, was to
him a feather in his cap: He was too high-toned to belong
to any party; "and, in fact," he observed, "there has al
ways been in my eye a moral beauty, a moral purity attached
to politicians of that school, which I could see in no other."
"You think others are not as honest, then, judge ?" I re
joined. "I believe most in those," said he.
" Well, sir," I observed, " I am sorry to differ with you.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 135
Randolph seems to me against everybody but those who are
willing to follow him blindly: I do not recollect of one single
measure of our national policy of which he is the author, and,
if he has advocated any, they are few: He is a man of cour
age, of transcendent abilities; to a favored few kind, but
to the world in general, otherwise: An autocrat among his
partisans, he will tolerate no difference of opinion; Ran
dolph seems to me to be a man who, having been disap
pointed in his youth, has become petulant, disagreeable, and
impracticable in all things since. He is a man of unbounded
satire, of universal reading, and such minute acquaintance
with every recorded event, that he is able to detect any er
ror, and to correct any man who blunders. As a critic, he is
feared by all, and he has little charity for the weak. He
has good feeliDg for but few, and little of a social kind. He
cannot laugh ; I doubt whether he ever laughed in his life.
No man can tell me what policy Mr. Randolph advocates — .
except that he is for Virginia against the world ; they can
tell me what he is opposed to, and that is everything except
Virginia; but not what he is for." With a smile of compas
sion, the judge remarked that " the Kentuckian was growing
on me very fast." "How so, judge?" said I. "Why," said
he, hesitating, and smiling good humoredly, "in a very
confident expression of opinion for so young a man." " Well,
judge, you must recollect you provoked me to it, by an in
timation, not very equivocal, that the man who did not agree
with you about Mr. Randolph was wanting in moral purity.
Feeling myself honest in my views, however erroneous they
might be, if I was excited to an immodest expression of my
opinions, it is not to be wondered at." — We jogged on to
the Yellow Banks, where I showed him the condition of
everything, and what I had done, with which he seemed
well pleased; and in consequence of there being a large sur
plus in the entries of Ross & May, which could not be held
against an elder patent, he advised me to go to Washington

136 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
City, see the Masons, and endeavor to compromise with them,
giving one-half for the other. These things being settled,
we returned to Frankfort, and the judge to Virginia. The
papers, including many relating to titles of land, which
had been in the hands of T. O, former agent, were in
the hands of his son T. D. C. of Cincinnati, and there it
was necessary for me to go to get them.

CHAPTER XXIV.
GROWTH OF CINCINNATI AND ITS CAUSE.
At this time Cincinnati contained about six thousand in
habitants, and seemed to me overgrown for an inland town —
so prone are we to fix our estimates by things which we have
been accustomed to. Having been raised in Richmond, at
the head of tide-water and at the falls which broke the
navigation, I concluded that no town could grow very large,
without similar causes. I thought Louisville would become
a very large town on account of the falls. I did not reflect
that towns were agents for the country, and that they would
grow in proportion to the country tributary to them. Thus,
if you place one leg of a pair of dividers on Cincinnati, and
open them to any given extent, and sweep a circle, then
sweep that same circle from any other point on the Ohio,
no other will contain so large an -area of country within it.
But Cincinnati now projected, and soon completed the Day
ton Canal, some sixty miles long, which not only added this
sixty miles to the outer circumference of the aforesaid circle,
but brought the whole trade of the great Miami to Cincin
nati. John Jacob Astor is reported to have said that it
cost him more labor to make the first thousand dollars than

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 137
it did to make one hundred thousand afterwards. The phi
losophy of this is that, without some capital to work with,
intellect is put upon a level with brute force ; a man is with
out tools, and can only gain by manual labor; but with some
capital, he can expand his intellect, provide the means to exe
cute what the mind will cut out, and so go forward, gaining
every day, and making all the gains instruments to acquire
more; accumulating, to use a sailor's phrase, " hand over hand."
This process was now illustrated with Cincinnati; she had
been a long time reaching six thousand inhabitants, and it
cost her a great struggle to make this canal, but it being
finished, she found advantages greatly overbalancing its cost.
The income yielded a revenue more than equal to the inte
rest on the cost of the canal. Of course, then, this income
would borrow as much money forever as the canal cost, and
consequently the canal may be said to have cost nothing.
Yet Cincinnati reaped all the benefits which she would
had the cost been a dead weight. She now projected, and
executed the White Water Canal. She could do this with
the money which the income from the Dayton Canal would
pay the interest on, and not feel its cost. This done, she
had now its revenue to borrow more money with, to make
other improvements; and other projected improvements now
promised so good a return, that individuals were willing to
embark their capital, and they went forward with great
spirit. Such has been the effect, that Cincinnati is now
approximating towards two hundred thousand inhabitants.
What a wonderfully rapid increase ! The advantage of such
improvements is that, besides the increase of its commerce,
it causes manufactories to flourish, and few who have not
taken the pains to examine the subject are aware of the
effect which capital invested in manufacturing has to in
crease population. For instance, a merchant with a capital
of two hundred thousand dollars will manage it with some
three or four clerks, arid give employment to some six or
12*

138 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
eight drays ; whereas the same sum employed in cotton or
woollen manufacturing will employ directly in the factory
some four hundred hands, and in various ways indirectly
as many more.
Cincinnati now engaged in such, but had long previously
engaged in every branch of iron manufacture, especially
steamboat engines, railroad cars, etc., to a greater extent
than any town in the West; also in every kind of wood
work, doing that by machinery which was done elsewhere
by hand, so that, if a man wished to build a house in
Memphis, he could obtain the flooring ready dressed, the
door-frames, doors, window-frames, sashes, lights, and all
painted, and then his bedsteads and other furniture, cheaper
here, than they could be made at home. Hence Cincin
nati was rapidly becoming the great workshop of the Mis
sissippi Valley. . But lately, Louisville has been making
a great struggle, and is succeeding in dividing this business
with Cincinnati.
The concentration of railroads to Cincinnati from Balti
more, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, naturally brings
most of the emigrants first there, whence such as cannot find
employment go elsewhere. But as Cincinnati has such a
resource to draw labor from, it will be seen that there is no
estimating any limit to her growth.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 139

CHAPTER XXV.
VISIT TO WASHINGTON, RICHMOND— CHANGE OF TERMS
FOR DOING BUSINESS — RETURN TO KENTUCKY — ACCI
DENTAL MEETING WITH MY BROTHER — AUCTION SALE
OF LAND AT THE YELLOW BANKS.
Having accomplished the object of my visit, I now re
turned to Frankfort, and, having obtained from J. L. M. the
necessary powers, proceeded to Washington, where I met the
Masons; but none was authorized to act, so I failed in mak
ing the desired arrangement, and went on to Richmond, and
now proposed a new arrangement with Judge Bouldin, that
he should give me five hundred dollars per annum, pay my
expenses, and give me ten per centage commission on sales,
in which the other members of the firm of May, Banister, &
Co., in Virginia, might join him, and divide the expense
with him. To this he agreed; and accordingly the papers
were prepared.
Here were about one dozen parties interested, and not one
feme covert or infant among them; such another instance
would not occur again in an age. The titles were all vested
in three trustees, the survivors and survivor. They wished
to make me one of the trustees, but I would not agree to it.
I wished to occupy a position which would enable me to
settle up at any time, pay off, and be done with the business.
So I was appointed attorney, in fact, for the trustees, with
plenary powers to sell, sue, arbitrate, or compromise all
difficulties; and I had liberty to take any other business
which might offer. I now went to Norfolk to see my mother,
who was yet alive, though very old and feeble; but with her

140 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
full strength of mind. She was much pleased to see me,
and much gratified to hear I was doing well. I spent some
time in Norfolk and Richmond before my return. I found
my reputed success had given a wonderful interest to my
society. Finally I returned, and was warmly received by
all my friends in Frankfort.
I went soon to the Yellow Banks, to prepare for a great
sale of land at auction, and made the necessary preparations,
advertisements, &c, to sell in the fall. I had forgotten to
mention, in its proper place, the arrival in Kentucky last
year of my brother Philip, who came out in compliance with
my request. He had just obtained his license. In my
travels, I stopped at Elizabethtown, a neat small village in
Kentucky, walked into the tavern, there saw a young man
reading a newspaper which concealed his face, and he did
not at first look up. But presently we caught each other's
eyes, and so joyful a meeting seldom occurs as ours was.
He was bound for the Yellow Banks, and, though myself
bound elsewhere, I returned there with him. When our
horses were ordered, out came his, a little black Mexican
mustang, which he had bought for twenty-five dollars, with
a saddle and bridle which he had got for ten. We had a
hearty laugh over his horse, and in after life often recurred
to the event with amusing recollections. There is much
gratification in looking back to such events in our past his
tory, where we have no aristocratic pride to make us ashamed
of it. Neither of us had any. We were proud of having been
the architects of our own fortunes; often traced the career
of our rich schoolmates as far as we had heard of them —
nine out of ten of whom were now poor. But we were both
now happy, and I told him he would soon be making money.
This, however, is not so easy for a young lawyer in a new
country, and it was yet two or three years before he was able
to do much. Having stayed with him about a week, I re
turned to Frankfort.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 141
In Frankfort (returning to my narrative), I remained,
proceeding as usual with my investigations, until the time
for the sale at the Yellow Banks, when I went down. I had
had a large number of maps prepared of the sectionized lands
to be sold, with books of surveys, the lots numbered and de
scribed, so that with a map any one could find any lot and
examine it ; and the sale and transfer by number were very
simple and easy.
I will here note the difference between doing a thing with
system and method, and the reverse. By the steps I took,
I had the business under my eye in my office, and could there,
with all the information I needed, make contracts and sales
with little trouble. Whereas, others who subsequently be
came owners of large bodies of land, adjoining those I sold,
were accustomed to go out with every man who wanted to
buy, whether he bought or not, to view the land, often time
thrown away ; but if they sold, then to attend with a sur
veyor, run it off, make contracts and conveyances.
Now such land as I did not sell at auction I was ready
afterwards to sell in my office. A reference to my book of
surveys gave me quantity, quality, and value. I had con
tracts all printed, as also deeds, bonds, and every necessary
paper, with the prices on the face of each tract. And
often I would sell a tract of land, and have all the papers
signed and the whole transaction closed in thirty minutes ;
whereas, in the other case, a week would probably be con
sumed. One of the company for which I acted proffered to act as
auctioneer, and was a fellow of infinite humor. He kept
the company in a continual roar of laughter. Among the
evidences of his humor, I recollected the following : —
"Here, gentlemen," said he, " is a first-rate tract of land,
rich, lies well, and is well watered." "Stop, Mr. Miller,"
I remarked ; "that is a mistake; there is no water on the
tract." " How do the people live, then ?" he asked ; " have

142 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
they learned to live without drinking ?" " No," said I, "but
they use a well." " Very good," he replied ; " did I not say
it was well watered ?" Again he said : " Now, gentlemen, I
will offer you a tract with a fine mill-seat on it." " No, Mr.
Miller," I replied, " you are mistaken ; there is no water-
power on it." " But," said he, " there is a first-rate place
for a horse-mill." " Well, gentlemen," I remarked, "you
understand Mr. Miller's humor ; recollect I vouch for the
correctness of the description given in the book of surveys
(which description was always read before offering the land),
and nothing more." " Humph !" said he, " I understand
from this the gentleman doubts my credibility. Now there
is not a more truthful man living, as you will all find out
when you come to know me. So let's begin again.
" 'Some things are lies frae end to end,
And some great lies were never penned ;
But that which I am going to tell
Is just as true as the devil's in hell,
Or Dublin city.' "
" Arrah ! may it plaise your honor," said an Irishman in
the crowd, " it's meself that's been there." " Then you've
seen his Majesty," said Miller. " No," said the Irishman,
" but O'Lary did when he went to the birthday at London."
The humor of Miller aided very much the sale of the land,
which, however, went very low, but better than was expected.
After the first day I stopped the sale, my commissions
amounting to about two thousand dollars. This was a pretty
lift, and I now felt in high spirits.
I had proclaimed to all the squatters that, according to the
ground they had cleared, I would pay them per acre one-
fourth of what the land brought per acre ; and this so far
satisfied them that I got clear of over eighty settlers without
any difficulty.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 143

CHAPTER XXVI.
A GAMBLING ADVENTURE — THE PHILOSOPHY OF GAMING.
I will now name an event necessary to a candid detail of
my history, though one of which I should be ashamed. It
is necessary, however, to guard you against falling into a
similar difficulty.
After the sale had been over two Or three days, and I had
given contracts to the purchasers and closed up, there came
one evening into my room four young men ; they sat talk
ing, and apparently enjoying themselves very much, when
presently one of them proposed a game of cards. I replied
I was a very poor hand, but would look on and see them
play. One went out and got a pack of cards. They com
menced lue, and went on for an hour with little advantage
any way, when one remarked, " Well, boys, this is poor fun
for T— — , who does not play, so let's quit." " Oh no," I
replied; "go on; lam entertained in seeing you play."
"Let us," said another, "change the game to Vingt-et-une ;
any one can play that, and bet as high or as low as he pleases.
This was a game which I thought I could join in without
hazarding more than a few dollars, so I joined them and
played on for an hour, when the deal fell to me. The dealer
had generally been winner ; but the bets were so low that it
did not amount to much. Now, however, I remarked they
began to run higher, and the good fortune -which usually at
tended the dealer had deserted me. I was soon loser some
forty or fifty dollars, and had a strong inclination to quit, but
I thought it would look rather cowardly, and I hoped luck
would soon change. But it did not, and went on until I

144 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
had lost $100 ; when I proposed giving up the deal, which
had remained with me an unusual time. But one of the
company said : " Oh, no ! your only chance to get out is to
keep the deal. Luck cannot run the same way always ; it
must turn after a while ;" and so I thought until one of them
made a pretty heavy bet, and lost it. I had accidentally
dropped a card before dealing ; but, in picking it up, put it
on the under side of the pack. When this man lost, he
snapped his fingers in great disappointment, and said " if
that card had not been dropped, he would have won."
I asked him how he knew. He looked confused. I then
recollected that he had always cut and shuffled the cards. I
threw down the pack on the table and rose, saying, I be
lieved I had enough of the game. I was urged to hold on.
" No," said I; "I find a man should never engage in a business
which he does not understand; this gentleman here under
stands the run of the cards so perfectly that he knows what
card is going to turn up. This is beyond my skill, and, as
I cannot hope to win with my ignorance opposed to so much
knowledge, I must quit." I was asked if I meant to charge
foul play. I answered that I meant to say that, ignorant
as I was of the game, I had no business playing with those
who were so skilful ; and with some other words we broke
up. I now examined into my losses, and found I was minus
about $150.
" Well," said I, "this maybe worth its cost. I deserve it
for playing with men that I did not know to be gentlemen. I
will never do it again." Some three or four years after this,
in playing with a gentleman, I had become winner, at this
same game, some sixty dollars, too large a sum to take, so I
endeavored to let him win it back, and bet him $20. He
drew two aces, branched, and drew a ten to each : thus win
ning from me $80. I now quit, and concluded I was not cut
out for card-playing, and so abandoned it. The losses were
perhaps lessons cheaply purchased, for I have naturally a

THE PILOJT OF HUMAN LIFE. 145
strong inclination for hazard, and might have lost a great
deal but for a conviction that a man who plays cards and
means always to be fair cannot win. An advantage which
I had of most young men was, that when I saw that any
habit was injurious I could abandon it. This cannot always
be done, and especially at card-playing ; the inclination for
which grows as it is indulged in, and many a fine young man
is ruined for want of sufficient self-command to avoid it.
I know one whose father left him about $25,000. He
plays cards with men that he would not be seen in public
association with. This is unerringly a bad sign. Any young
man who will do it may be considered as lost. It is not all
who are considered by the fashionable world as gentlemen
who are fair at cards ; and, consequently, a man who means to
be fair should play with none. But to play with men with
whom he would not publicly associate is to seal his doom.
Let any man, who is given to this habit, look back twelve
months, and see the difference in his circumstances. Is he
not worse off? Has there, at any period, been a time when
he could look back and see that for any one month he was
gainer ? Go back beyond a year, if his purse has been long
enough to hold out beyond one year, and extend the same
inquiry to the commencement of his playing, and see if any
other answer can be given ; and yet the infatuated man plays
on, hoping for a change of fortune. His gambling associates
will tell him of men who " had luck against them for a long
time, but it finally turned, and they won back all they had
lost and a great deal more." This is to keep him on to his
habits, in the hope of this change of fortune. But it never
comes, and never will come, unless he will adopt the habits
of his associates, cheat, and forfeit his position in society as
a gentleman. It seems really a loss of reason, a monomania,'
for a man who will look back and see, whatever his compan
ions may allow him to win temporarily, in order to prevent
his quitting in disgust — yet for no one month could he
13

146 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
say he was winner— to continue playing. What is his object ?
It is surely the hope of winning, and yet if he is not as blind
as a bat, he must see there is no such hope.

CHAPTER XXVII.
ANECDOTES OF ISHAM TALBOT AND HENRY CLAY.
I now returned to Frankfort, to which place I was be
coming much attached, finding the society intelligent and
agreeable. On alighting at my hotel, I heard Isham Talbot say to an
old gentleman, called by courtesy Commodore (his name
was Briant. He seemed to have some business with the
courts, but otherwise a plentiful stock of leisure on his
hands, and an inveterate reader of the newspapers, so much
so that he was posted up on every point, had a remarkable
memory, and was never found behind the news of the day,
or wrong in anything) : " Well, Commodore," said Mr.
Talbot, "what's the news?" "Why, Mr. Talbot," replied
the Commodore, "I do not hear of any." "Be gud — be
gud, then," said Talbot, " there is none."
Talbot was a member of the Senate of the United States
from Kentucky, and voted for the "Compensation Law,"
giving to members fifteen hundred dollars per annum, in
lieu of their per diem allowance. This caused almost every
man who voted for it to be turned out of office. A member
of the legislature, a friend of Talbot, who wanted to vote
for him, the election being now at hand, asked him how he
came to vote for that law. " For a very good reason," re
plied Talbot, with a careless air, leaning back in his chair,
and puffing away at his cigar. "I am very glad to hear it,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 147
Mr. Talbot," said the member, "for, really, I have been
anxious you should be able to give a satisfactory explanation ;
I wish to vote for you again." Puff, puff, puff, went Talbot's
cigar, with the smoke curling up in clouds, while he sat
with, the most stoical indifference and silence. The member
waited, but no reply, "There are many others in my condi
tion," continued the member, a little nettled at the indiffer
ence with which Talbot treated him, " who would be glad to
hear what explanation you have to give." "I wanted the
money, be gud," said Talbot, still puffing away. The mem
ber, hardly knowing what to reply, rose, and went to the room
of some companions, where he related what had occurred.
They all burst out into a laugh, and said it was true.
He was the only man who had told the truth about it,
and they would vote for him again; and he was among the
very few who were again elected. Mr. Clay was another.
An old friend, a huntsman, who had always supported
him, said to him, " Well, Mr. Clay, I have always, until this
election, supported you; but now I'm going to vote for Mr.
Pope." "Why so, friend?" said Mr. Clay. "Because,"
replied the huntsman, "I can't stand this 'Compensation
Law' business , nohow." "Very well," replied Mr. Clay,
" we will not fall out about it. Let me see that rifle of
yours;" taking it in his hand, and examining it. " How long
have you owned it?" Huntsman. — "0, I hardly know, it
has been so long — I reckon, twenty years." Mr. Clay. —
" That is about as long as you and I have known each other."
'-'Yes," said the huntsman, "I have now voted for you twenty
years, and but for this ' Compensation Law' should vote for you
again. But I can't stand that, nohow ! Nohow you can fix
it." Mr. Clay.—" This rifle you've had twenty years ? She's a
good gun, I reckon?" seeming to examine it very closely.
"Yes," said the huntsman, "old Kate can't be beat; she's
the best piece of iron on this side of Clynch River." Mr.
Clay, pulling back the cock, and examining the lock — "Does

148 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
she not miss fire sometimes ?" Huntsman. — " Not once a
year." Mr. Clog. — "And what do you do when she misses
fire?" Huntsman.- — "Oh! pick the flint, and try her again."
Mr. Clay. — "Well, here your rifle misses fire once a
year, and you pick the flint and try her again. Now I have
missed fire but once in twenty years, and you would throw
me away. I think, friend, you will have to pick my flint,
and try me again." The old hunter, with tears in his eyes,
pulled off his hat, threw it forcibly on the ground, and said
— "Dang me if I don't ! Pick your flint, Harry, and we'll
try you again."

CHAPTER XXVIII.
EFFECTS OF AN UNCONCILIATORY SPIRIT, AND THE
CONTRARY.
On going to the Post-office, I now found a number of let
ters giving me new and profitable business, calculated to add
much to my income. I seemed to be now on a new theatre,
and was in high spirits. Two agents from Virginia, for a
part of one of the companies for whom I was acting, now
came out to wind up one branch of that business, relating to
an interest in ten thousand acres of land back of Port Wil
liam, now Carrolton, at the mouth of Kentucky River. Some
six original partners had been concerned in it, of whom
David Ross was one, and had bought out most of the rest;
but for the interests of two, comprising one-third, he had
failed to pay. It was accordingly sold, and purchased in by
the company, represented by these two agents; they being
two of the purchasers.
One was a very pleasant, smooth, estimable man, of the

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 149
old Virginia school, but not much a man of business. The
other, who was considered the business man, was rigid, fret
ful, and unyielding. Taking up an idea that he had the better
right to the land, he would listen to no claims opposed to
his, and had no charity for the claimants, who were innocent
purchasers, and entitled, to consideration. I went with them,
and soon found they would accomplish nothing amicably,
and told them so. The fretting one, whom I will call No.
2, fumed and fretted terribly. He wanted a few lessons in the
Kentucky school, where kindness, evident justice, and endur
ing patience may make men do almost anything, but where
scolding and a driving policy will accomplish nothing. I soon
left them; they spent several months in attempting an adjust
ment, but were further off in the end than they were in the
beginning. Finally they came to me, and told me they were
going home in disgust, and wished me to take the. manage
ment of the business. I replied, I would gladly have done
it at first; but such hostility to their claim had been now
aroused that I had not much hope ; I would, however, try.
So I went down, while they returned to Virginia, The
settlers were Dutch generally, who are averse to law. A Mr.
Porter then kept one of the hotels in Port William, and I.
E., since chief owner, and keeper of the Gait House, kept bar
for Porter. I went to some of the most intelligent settlers
on the land, and told them I was empowered to settle the
difficulty, and wished to do it on reasonable terms, which I
would explain at a public meeting, that I desired they would
procure to take place at Porter's; there were about fifty
settlers who met. I told them my object, explained their
situation in writing, stated my terms, and desired them to
employ a lawyer and submit my written proposition to him.
Out of fifty, as might be imagined, there were a great many
very unreasonable men, and my patience was put to the test
every day for a week; but my mottoes were, "Blessed is he
who holds out to the end;" "Never give up the ship;" and
13*

150 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
"One drop of honey will catch more flies than a pint of
vinegar," and in one week settled the great preliminaries for
an adjustment ; the settlers refusing to employ a lawyer, but
relying on my statements to them, and on those preliminaries
the matter was finally wound up, being within the limits
which the agents said would be satisfactory. I made a
very handsome commission, and, of course, my business
reputation was not injured with my Virginia employers by
doing in so short a time what two other agents had fruit
lessly attempted for several months.
Here resides General Butler, and two of his brothers with
their families ; with whom I spent many pleasant evenings.
The remarkable circumstance was exhibited at the battle of
New Orleans, of two brothers, William and Thomas, being
both aids to General Jackson. Thomas, though but little
known to fame, is a man of great decision of character, and
only wanted an occasion to distinguish himself. They are
all natural men, true and sincere friends. Notwithstanding
we differ in politics, it has never in the slightest degree inter
fered with our private friendship.
I mentioned I. E., as being a barkeeper at this time at
Porter's, to show what close business habits andan obliging
disposition will do to advance a man. I heard«an anecdote
related of him in his presence, which he acknowledged to be
true ; that a Southern planter at the Gait House called for a
bottle of wine, and had a bottle which had been half used
sent to him. Indignant at such treatment, he sent for E. to
know the meaning of it. " Why," said E., " when you were
here some two or three years ago, you called for a bottle of
wine, and this is what you left of it, which was labelled and
put away to be handed to you if ever you should come again."
How could such a man fail to succeed ? E. reminded me
at the Gait House of my adventures with the Dutch, and said
he thought I had an unbounded stock of patience. But
patience was necessary to success, and I was determined to
succeed.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

151

CHAPTER XXIX.
HOW TO CURE A SCOLDING WIFE — THE VALUE OF MONEY.
Returning from Port William through the town of New
Liberty, I was sitting in the tavern dining-room, when a
carryall drove up to the door, and in it I saw, through the
window, a beautiful woman, an acquaintance of mine from
Fredericksburg, in Virginia. There were reasons (no love
matter) why I knew it would be painful to her to see me; so
I did not go out to speak to her. She had run away with
her husband, jumping out of her chamber window in the
snow to meet him ; and here they were travelling in this
humble way to seek their fortunes they hardly knew where.
Hers was a very eccentric family. Her father was a physi
cian of some fame in Fredericksburg. A man of quiet
temperament, but very firm and determined in his purposes.
Her mother was said, at one time, to be a great seold ; the
father had Indured it for a long time without murmuring,
until the habit became chronic with his wife; and he saw,
unless he could find some mode of stopping it, he was doomed
to unhappiness for life. Lectures and expostulations were
found only to aggravate the evil. So he determined to try
a different experiment. When she would begin to scold, he,
if reading or doing anything else, would stop and look at
her with apparently the most affectionate concern and com
passion, and remain silent; but would presently take her
hand affectionately and feel her pulse, and shake his head in
sorrow. "What do you mean, doctor?" she would say.
" Nothing, my dear, nothing," he would reply ; " let me see
your tongue." She would Bhow it. He would turn away

152 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
in sorrow. " Why, what does the man mean ?" she would
ask. To which he would make no reply, but go to his room
and commence reading. In time, he would leave the library
with his book turned down; the wife would enter and see
what subject he was reading of, and find it : "The signs of
approaching mental derangement, for which bloodletting was
advised." In time another scolding fit would come on her,
when she could not get him to utter a word in reply ; hut
he would feel her pulse with the same ominous shake of the
head, and privately gave orders to the servants in the house
to watch her and see that she did not hurt herself; but not
to name the subject to her, saying she was in danger of going
deranged. She observed a mysterious air about the servants,
and asked what it meant ; they answered nothing, but with
a compassionate and mysterious kindness, still more puzzling
and provoking to her, causing her to fume with rage that
they would dare to treat her so. When the doctor came in,
he had a strait-jacket put on, and bled her; kindness,
compassion, and affection marking all his conduct. The
servants really believed she was deranged. In this strait-
jacket she would be kept until her rage would subside, and
she would become quiet; then it would be taken off. When
she would commence a course of abuse again £gr such treat
ment, then the jacket would be returned, and she be kept
in it twenty-four hours longer. When next taken off, she
would be more quiet but very sullen, and would, finally, in
dulge her natural propensity again. Then he would pursue
the same course and bleed her in the other arm, despite of all
her resistance and convulsive struggles to avoid it. Now a
longer sullen fit would follow, but confinement in the strait-
jacket was a great tamer ; and finding that, as long as she
continued sullen, the jacket would be continued, she found
it best to assume a cheerful air, when it was taken off.
Now when she felt the scolding humor coming on, and saw
the concerned look of her husband, the figure of the lancet

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 153
presented itself, and, having a natural aversion to bloodlet
ting, the scolding fever would subside, and she would get
into a good humor. This course of self-constraint continued
until by its habitual exercise it became natural ; she became
cheerful, pleasant, and affectionate, and he as much so.
One day, when in a very good humor, and feeling mag
nanimously inclined, she turned to him and said : " Doctor,
I have^ been a very bad wife." The doctor replied, "he
thought she was a very good one." " Do you love me ?"
said she. " Do you doubt it ?" he replied. " No," she
said, kissing him ; " but, doctor, it has taken a good deal to
make me a good wife. I was hard to tame. I was very
bad, but you have done it. I at one time thought I never
could forgive you, and determined in my own mind that I
never would. But I see now my error, and the propriety of
your course. You have saved me from being a miserable
wife, and making you a miserable husband. You have taught
me to think, and to control my passions." " Ah !" said the
doctor, "now you are my own dear wife," kissing her, " and
we will differ no more." It is said that one evening, to a
company of her friends, she told this story on herself.
A gentleman travelling to Frankfort now came on, and I
had my hor^g saddled to have his company. He was what
is called a drummer from Cincinnati — a man who travels to
procure business for his employers. I did not learn his name,
but recollect the following remarkable conversation : —
I mentioned to him that down about the mouth of Cedar
Creek (we were crossing about the head of it), a year or two
ago, I had lost one hundred and fifty dollars. " Ah," said he,
"and all the interest on it forever?" "Of course," I replied,
"the money and everything appertaining to it." "I never
care much," said he, " about the loss of the principal, if the
interest did not go with it; but I do hate the idea of losing
the interest forever. Now these one hundred and fifty dollars
— lent out at ten per cent., as can be always safely done —

154 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
would probably to your grandchildren be worth one hundred
thousand dollars; the principal being always reinvested an
nually." "Oh," I remarked, "you are mistaken; it will
double every ten years, and some less, allowing for interest
on interest — say seven times multiplied would be from eleven
hundred to twelve hundred dollars." " Not at all !" he re
joined. "Try it when you go home, and you will find that
in sixty-eight years it will go to one hundred thousand dol
lars, and in one hundred years it will go to over two millions.''
On getting home I made the estimate, and found, he was
correct. This led to his mentioning to me that he was in
terested in a banking-house in Cincinnati, into'which he had
put five thousand dollars, which had yielded about twenty per
cent, per annum. "How could that be?" I asked. "Why,"
he replied, " we deal altogether in exchanges. We buy the
notes of banks in other States, at various discounts from one
to five per cent. These we remit and get the specie for, or
bills; we also discount bills of exchange on short time —
never over sixty days, and, no matter which way they go, we
charge some premium, never less than one per cent. ; if on
New Orleans, two per cent., and here most of our business is
done. Now the English cotton and tobacco buyers send
most of their funds to New York, or sell their bills in New
York, because they always bear a better price there than
they do in New Orleans ; and, hence, they want to sell ex
change on New York, and will, generally, discount from half
to one per cent, for it, by which means, by the time we get
our funds to New York, we have made about three per cent.
on them, and then we draw on New York from Cincinnati
at two per cent., which makes five. Now, when the credit of
a house is so well established that the public will deal freely
with it, it can do a very large business on a very small capi
tal. Thus : A wishes to sell exchange on New York for one
thousand dollars, at sixty days; we buy; B wishes to buy; we
sell at four months, gaining sixty days. Now it matters not

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 155
whether we have funds in New York or not, we have estab
lished a credit there ; in fact, have a branch of our house
as well as a branch in New Orleans. We sell bills to all ap
plicants, no matter to what amounts, who will take them at
four months, and we buy all we can get at two months. In case,
when the time comes round for the payment of what we have
sold, there is not found enough purchased to pay for them,
the house in New York meets the difference by drawing on
New Orleans, where we can always place a plentiful stock ;
all the capital we need is to cover balances; as, for instance —
if we do business to the amount of five hundred thousand
dollars — the difference between the purchased and sold bills
will not probably exceed fifty thousand dollars. If, then, we
have fifty thousand dollars, we can do business and get the
exchange on five hundred thousand dollars." "But," said
I, " you would not sell a bill at four months and buy at two
on the same terms, without regard to interest?" "Ex
change," said he, "does not include interest. Interest is
according to time, besides — but our profit is in the difference
between the price we pay and the price we get."
At that time exchanges were not so nicely regulated as
now ; the profits were greater.
This conversation made a deep impression on me, and I
considered that I had learnt a good lesson from this traveller.

156 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER XXX.
PRETTY GIRLS — RESOLUTE YOUNG LAW STUDENT — YOUNQ
LAWYERS OF FRANKFORT.
After dressing, I went around to see my acquaintances,
and with one of them to see the girls. It is wonderful how
pretty the girls, who dress with taste and fashion, look to a
man who has been a long time in the woods. I recollect, on
my first arrival from Virginia, the girls in Lexington, where
I first saw any fashionable ladies, looked much prettier than
the girls in Richmond; but, on returning, the case was
changed, the Richmond girls looked the prettier; so I con
cluded it was a long absence from them that gave the
charm. Next day I took a ramble to the outskirts of the town,
and, at the foot of the hill back of the State-House, saw a
little rough hovel, about eight by twelve feet, and just high
enough for a man to stand upright in, built of the scat
tered rocks lying around, and in an unfinished state. It
was covered with boards laid with one end on a ridge-pole,
the other projecting over the eaves, and held down by a
weight-pole. A bedstead made by four forks in the ground,
and poles in them, with boards laid lengthwise for the bot
tom, but no bed or mattress as yet on it. There was a shelf
made by working boards into the chimney and side of the
house ; and a stool with three legs. The floor was about
half laid on loose sleepers, with boards of various thicknesses;
the whole seemed as if made up of such materials as the
builder could pick up here and there. My companion told
me that this was the work of a young man from some of the

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 1 57
back counties, who had been engaged upon it for about a
week; that he had come to Frankfort to study law, but had
not the means of paying his board, and was building this
house to live in, and intended to buy bread and cheese to
live upon while he pursued his studies; that he had ob
tained the use of Judge Bibbs's library, etc. I do not know
when I was so interested for any one. This was G. M  .
Before he had quite finished his house, John Logan, a lawyer
and representative from Shelby in the legislature, passing
one day by his cottage, while he was at work upon it, got
into conversation with him, and proposed to him to go and
live with him, saying he needed a young man in his office,
and would give him his board for such services in writing
as he could render, to which M  agreed. When I heard
the tale, I was sorry he had accepted. It had destroyed the
romance of the story.
"Well," said I to my companion, "that young man will
distinguish himself, and you will see it. No man can be so
resolutely determined on studying law, as to encounter it
under such difficulties, unless he feels conscious he has the
materials within him for success."
The result justified the prediction. After qualifying him
self for the practice, he moved to Henderson, and ultimately
to Hopkinsville, where he became very conspicuous at the
bar; and, finally, married the daughter of the presiding judge
and, had he not died, would, before now, have represented
that district in Congress.
There were at this time in Frankfort a remarkably talented
set of young law students ; now, and a few years afterwards,
the following, Harry J. Thornton, now Judge of the U. S.
District Gourt, Mobile; Isaac Caldwell, now dead, but former
ly State Judge in Mississippi ; S. S. N  , since Judge
of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, and afterwards Chan
cellor in Louisville, and author of the "Criminal Code;"
Preston Loughboro, author ef the "Code of Practice;" Jo-
14

158 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
seph L. White, subsequently representative in Congress from
Florida; Charles S. Bibb, Judge of the Circuit Court; Ma
son Brown, Judge of the Circuit Court; Edward Bibb,
Allison Bibb, Orlando Brown, James Forbes, Harry I.
Hunter, Lucas Broadhead, Richard H. Lee, Christopher
Greenup, Clayton Slaughter, and others, all of whom were
above the ordinary standard of intelligence, and most of
them men of fine talents. No other town of its size in
America could compare with it, and few of any size. Among
such, of course, my time never hung heavily. All were stu
dious, and gave the mornings and a portion of the evenings
to reading; but, generally, towards sunset they would as
semble, those who were sociably inclined, at the office of
some one, and there chat over the news of the day. Several
played chess; one of the girls, H. N  , played an excellent
game, and she and myself often spent the evening in that
way. I was passionately fond of the game.
I had occasion to note in the progress of time the truth
of a position hereinbefore assumed, that the effect which a
mercantile education has in disciplining and methodizing the
mind tends much to its efficiency and power. Of all the
young men, aforenamed, only one had been raised in a count
ing-house, and he was considered decidedly the most talented
of the whole group.
Judge Bouldin owed his reputation to the same cause; and
Henry Clay was raised in the Chancery Court Office in
Richmond, where a similar discipline was obtained, and to
this clerical training is due a great portion of the efficiency
of his mind. The strength was there to make him a distin
guished man, let him have been raised as he might; but to
that power of throwing his arguments like a rifle-shot, which
is the result of clerical training, in contradistinction to the
seatter-gun mode of other plans, I venture to say is due that
vast pre-eminence which Mr. Clay attained. It is not that
this clerical education naturally expands the mind. If the

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 159
clerk remains a clerk, it may injure it by confining it to one
subject; but, when he goes to other pursuits, he carries the
clerical method with him, and thus it not only pervades his
whole business, but his logic also.

CHAPTER XXXI.
A SPECULATION — ANOTHER — TRIP TO RICHMOND —
AMUSING SCENES THERE.
I NOW prepared to go into Virginia to have my annual
settlement, previous to which I had to make another trip to
the Yellow Banks. Before starting, a young Virginian
came to me and proposed selling me twelve thousand acres
of land in Boone County for fifteen hundred dollars. I
asked to look at his grant. I found from its age that it
ought to hold a good deal of land, even if covered by other
claims; and, if it held three hundred acres, it would pay what
he asked for it. It may be well to state that the land-claims
in Kentucky so conflicted with each other that a man was
never sure that he was safe, and this young man, after going
on his land, had determined to give it up in disgust and go
home. I answered him that I was then bound on a trip
below, should be gone two weeks, that I had not time then
to consider the matter, but that I was well satisfied he
offered it for much less than it was worth, and advised him
to go upon the land and satisfy himself, and when I re
turned I thought, if he had not previously sold, I would buy
of him. On my return, I found him in Frankfort, where he
had been since my departure, having concluded he could not
do better than to sell to me. I had not fifteen hundred dol
lars to spare, but went to Achilles Snead, Clerk of the

160 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
Court of Appeals, and proposed to him to take half. He
did so, and we took a conveyance. Some time afterwards
General Gaines, who lived in the neighborhood of this land,
gave us three thousand dollars for our purchase. Here was
a handsome sum made with very little trouble, although, if
we had held on to it a few years longer, we should have
made ten times as much.
I now proceeded to Virginia through Chillicothe, where I
stayed all night. Here I saw a lawyer whose acquaintance I
had some time previously made in Frankfort. He told me,
as I was going to Richmond, he would be glad if I would
examine a military claim which he had, and the adjudica-
tion.of which belonged to the Virginia Council ; the claim
being for land within the Virginia Military District in Ohio.
He brought me the papers, very voluminous, and that night
I examined them. Next morning he called, and asked what
I thought of them. I answered, I thought the claim was
good. " Well," he said, " if you can obtain warrants under
it, I will allow you five hundred acres. But I must tell you
it has been already twice presented and rejected." " Oh !"
I remarked, " that alters the case. I will try, however,
what I can do."
On arriving at Richmond, I wrote out a history of the
case in the plainest and simplest form, referring by number
to vouchers to sustain all the evidence I adduced in its
favor, fatiguing the mind as little as possible to comprehend
the subject, and wound up by saying, the evidence to my
mind in favor of the claim was conclusive, and I could not
see where it was deficient. But, if defective, I would be
glad to know where. This letter, with the accompanying
documents, I left with T. G  , attorney-at-law, and
requested him to present them while I went to Norfolk to
see my mother. In about a week, he wrote me the claim
was allowed, and the warrants would be ready for me on my
return. After I had seen my relatives in Norfolk, and en-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 161
joyed myself very much among the girls, I now proceeded
in search of Judge B  ¦, to settle up with him, which
cost me a vast deal of trouble, having to follow him from
court to court; but finally concluded it, and gave him a
check for the balance. He asked me how I was getting on.
I gave him some detailed account. He seemed as much
gratified as if he had been my father, and said, " Was that
not better than remaining here like some of my former com
panions, getting on in a slow, jog-trot way?" I now re
turned to Richmond, and obtained my military land-war
rants. Here I remained some time awaiting business, and
enjoying myself among the girls, having always a great
relish for their society. T  and myself were pretty
constant companions, and had pretty much the range of
the city. Among other acquaintances, I made one who be
came my favorite, a beautiful girl of about sixteen, tall, some
what embonpoint, though magnificently shaped, a laughing,
joyous creature, with a heart full of love; and I had pro
bably been her lover, had I supposed she would go to Ken
tucky with me ; but at that time I would as soon have thought
of asking a girl to go with me to Kamtschatka as to Ken
tucky, so wild was it considered. Besides which, I had just
begun to make money, and my continuing to do so depended
on my remaining without the trammels of a family. So my
prudential philosophy was an overmatch for Cupid. But
the partialities formed in this way were a source of great
pleasure in my subsequent correspondence, interchanges of
messages, &c. This, was Miss F. L  .
But the most amusing, as well as provoking associate I
had was an old maiden aunt of two beautiful girls, whom
G  and myself visited very often. When we would call
for the young ladies, she would uniformly present herself;
and when they would be very joyful and chatty, she would
turn to them and say, " Young folks should be seen, and
not heard." It would somehow generally happen that she
14*

162 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
would get a seat next to me, and destroy all my enjoyment
for the evening. One evening, in order to get rid of her,
I proposed to the young ladies a walk. The old aunt was
the first to assent to it, and soon locked arms with me. I
could see that G  and the girls were tickled to bursting.
I was so mad that I could hardly be polite. She observed:
" 0, Mr. T., why are you so gloomy on this beautiful night,
when it is so charming to look at the bright moon and talk
of love?" It cost me all my self-command to avoid roaring
out into a rude laugh., I had in my bosom a moss rose, the
first of the season, which Miss L  had given me, saying
she had been permitted, as a special favor by Miss Gibbon,
to pluck it from her father's hothouse, "and," said she,
" you must prize it accordingly." I replied, I should do so,
most undoubtedly, but more on account of the giver than
the circumstances. Seeing this, this old lady asked me for
it; but I rather unceremoniously refused it. On returning
home with them, when about to take leave at the door, she
plucked it from my bosom, and ran into the house. I had
no alternative but to retire without it. On our way home,
G  congratulated me on the delightful time I had had
with the old aunt, laughing immoderately at the manner in
which I had been taken in. " Yes," said I, " but the cream
of the joke you have not yet got;" and related to him the
remarks of the old lady about love and the moon. He was
diverted almost into convulsions. " But," said he, " what are
you going to do about the moss rose?" "I don't know," I
replied. " I think I will go to-morrow, and get one of the
young ladies to steal it for me." Accordingly, I went round
early, rang, and when the servant came, sent for one of the
young ladies to come to the door; told her the story of the
rose without mentioning names, and asked her to go up
quietly to her aunt's room and steal it for me. "Oh," said
she, "aunt would never forgive me. She prizes it very
highly as coming from you; and let me tell you, you are a

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 163
great favorite with her; she says there is not such another
young man in Richmond; that you are of the old school
stock; you appreciate good sense and dignity, instead of the
nonsensical frivolity of the day. There, said she, is Mr.
G  , with his taste for frivolous girls, like sister and my
self, while your mind is of a higher caste, and you prefer her
society. Oh, I tell you," said the niece, " I know how you
value her good opinion. I know it is as dear almost to you
as your life; and let me tell you, too, that I think that
things may work to your wishes in time. You have evi
dently brought her mind into a state of perplexity, and by
proper assiduity you have every chance for success." " Look
here, you little vixen," said I, " will you get me the rose ?"
"What! and spoil all your prospects? Oh, never!" and
she enjoyed my vexation exceedingly. All my efforts were
fruitless. I had to return without it; but on my return I
found G  absent. He had been to see Miss L  , and
told her the whole story, and the great perplexity I was in,
and that he would bring me round in the evening, and she
must ask me for the rose, and pretend that she had seen it
in Miss  's bosom. When he entered, he remarked he
had been down to the coffee-house, but there was no news.
I related to him my fruitless effort to recover the moss rose,
and the ironical compliments I had received from Miss 
at his expense, which seemed to tickle him very much. In
the evening, he proposed we should walk round to Mr. P.'s
to see Miss L  ¦, and we went. She was alone, and wel
comed us courteously. I took my seat beside her. G 
walked up to the centre-table, looked over the books, and
then joined us. "Well, Mr. G  ," said Miss L  , "I
hear that Mr. T  has been caught' at last." "By whom ?"
said I. " Ah, you pretend ignorance, do you ?" " Why,
my rule is always to. put my accuser to the proof." She,
turning to G  ,.said, " Tell me, Mr. G  , is it not so ?"

164 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
while he had a certain lady under his arm last evening, and
heard a good deal about love and the moon." I could not
help laughing at the fitness of the reply, and to see how well
all the circumstances conspired to put the joke upon me.
" Besides," said G  , " I understand the lady said there
was no comparison between T  and myself; that he is a
man of infinitely the finest taste, etc. ; and that the lady's
niece is of opinion that T  stands a fair chance of suc
cess." "I congratulate you, Mr. T  ," said Miss L  .
"Thank you, madam; your congratulations are always ap
preciated; but I hope you will not soon have occasion to
congratulate me on such an event." "Apropos," rather
softly, she said, but loud enough for G  to hear, "I
presume you have no further value for the rose I gave you
yesterday. Will you permit me to ask its return ?" " Do
you regret having given it?" I asked. " No," she replied;
" but as it is not appreciated, I would rather have it back."
"Very well," I rejoined, "you shall have it to-morrow."
" Then you have it not now? No; I see you have it not.
Now this begins to make the evidence thicken. Tell me,
Mr. G  , have they a hothouse at Mr.  's?" "I do
not know," said G  . " Well," said Miss L  , "I was
walking on the Capitol Square this morning, and there I met
Miss  the elder, with a moss rose in her bosom. I re
marked to a lady with me, there is the second moss rose
which I have seen this season. But since the reports which
I have heard about Mr. T. and Miss  , I am inclined to
believe that this is the identical rose which I gave to Mr.
T — — , which he has very kindly transferred." G— — was
convulsed, and I extremely perplexed. " Now, honor bright,
Mr. T  ; tell me, was this not the rose I gave you?"
" Honor bright, T  ¦," said G  , " honor bright."
" Honor shall be bright," I answered. " It would be use
less, if I were inclined to deny it, with such a witness against
me as G  ; but I appeal to him to say if he did not hear

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 165
the lady ask me for the rose, which I refused, and she
snatched it from my bosom, and ran off with it." " Why,
T  ," said G  , " in ordinary cases you might call on
me, especially in love-matters, and I would put conscience
aside, and be a witness for you ; but, were I to accommodate
you in this case, the circumstances go so strongly against
you that my testimony not only would be of no use, but
would discredit me if you wished to use me in any other
case. I think, therefore, you must excuse me this time, and
I will serve you on some occasion where, if I should deviate
a little to serve a friend, the circumstances would not so
clearly convict me as in this case." " Well," I replied, " I
see how it is; G  is determined to have me convicted,
and so is my fair judge. I can only say that the case is as
I stated it ; but if you will have it otherwise, be it so." Af
ter a good deal of badinage and playfulness, we started to
depart, when Miss L  told me, as she was satisfied with
the enjoyment she had ha,d at my expense, she would relieve
me by telling me that Mr. G  had been round in the
morning and acquainted her with all the circumstances, and
prepared her for the interview.
Some time after this, G  and myself were one eve
ning on a visit at  , one of the most magnificent
residences about Richmond. Miss  was a beautiful
and bewitching girl, but rather fond of flirtation. G 
had a special fancy for such, for he preferred buzzing round,
to lighting, and giving the, girls a fair chance at him. This
Miss  was engaged to be married, but was anxious to have
an opportunity to enlist G  as one of her beaux, and tried
to entrap him ; but he was too old a stager for that. As we
retired, she came to the door with us; we took leave of her,
and were retiring, when G  pretended to recollect some
thing, for which he returned, while I walked on. On getting
to the outer gate, I turned to see what had become of him ;
and there he was upon the steps, havipsr both of Miss  's

166 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
hands in his, making some earnest speech, and all of a
sudden dropped them, seemed to have changed his tone for
some cause, and after a while bid her adieu and came on.
"Well," said I, "Tom, you are the rarest fellow to hold
on, and keep talking 'after you've done,' like some politi
cians in making a speech, that I ever saw." He laughed,
and continued at intervals to laugh, as we went home, for
some cause not connected with our conversation, until I in
sisted on knowing the cause. " Ah ! my good fellow,"
said ho, " if you knew, you would be amply revenged on
me for the moss rose affair." I insisted on knowing, until he
agreed he would tell me, if I would not name it to any one (the
limitations have run against the injunction now). "Agreed !"
said I. "Well," he remarked, "you know I have been
always very fond of Miss  , and as I knew she was en
gaged to be married, I concluded I could venture, without
danger, to indulge in some gallant remarks, which might
have entangled me under other circumstances. But I said
nothing to justify a response as to a lover. She tried hard
to get me to do it, but all in vain. Finding I was a hope
less case, and that, perhaps, she would never have a better
opportunity, she took both my hands, and, looking me ear
nestly in the face, with great compassion, said, ' Mr. Q  ,
I love you as a brother, but you must expect nothing more.'
'Why, Miss  ,' I replied, 'even this is more than I had
hoped for !' " And here, while telling me, he seemed di
verted beyond measure. "Ah," said I, "that is your come-
off, is it ! Fairly kicked, and this is your way to get out of
the scrape ? Ah, Tom ! it won't do. Fairly hit, my good
fellow; acknowledge the corn."
I spent several weeks very happily; walking occasionally
of an evening on the Capitol Square, and up the James
River Canal with our favorites. Two more beautiful walks
are not to be found in any town in America. And with the
falls of James River in full view from each— rolling, foam-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 167
ing, and dashing among the rocks. The only drawback to
the delight of the scene was that so much fine water-power
was wasted. Here seemed ample water-power for five hun
dred mills — a very small portion of which was consumed.
And here, coming down the canal, is the coal and pig iron
in any quantities. There are said to be seventy-two feet
fall from the basin to the river. This is the height from
where the water comes into the canal to where it goes out.
Allowing eighteen feet fall to a mile, this would allow of
using the water four times over, and here it is just where it
is wanted. The James River Canal is eighty-five feet wide,
and might be made a source of great profit, merely to furnish
water-power; and the power, if properly used, ought to
make Richmond one of the largest manufacturing towns in
America. I now began to prepare for my departure to Kentucky,
leaving with no little regret my acquaintances ; but none
with more than the lovely F. L  . Meeting with one of
the councilmen, with whom I was intimately acquainted, I
asked him how it happened that such a claim as the one I
had presented to the council could have been rejected twice.
He answered that many attempts had been made to obtain
warrants fraudulently, and their suspicions were always
awake when a very large bundle of evidence was produced,
and, unless we know the applicant, we always lean against
him. The evidence furnished, strictly considered, was not
authenticated in due form, and, having some doubts in re
gard to the claim anyhow, thought it safest to reject it;
"especially," said he, "as it was a very troublesome task to
wade through all the testimony. But when we received your
letter, we saw that you had done this for us, and condensed
all the proof into a very small compass, referring to the ex
hibits on which you relied by number. Your exposition
seemed fair and candid; we all knew you, and were satisfied

168 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
you would have nothing to do with a fraudulent claim ; so
we passed it."
Before leaving Richmond, I made an arrangement with T.
G  to present such similar claims as I should send him ;
and, also, in regard to obtaining other land business for
me, and departed. On arriving at Chillicotho, and presenting
the warrants to L. S  , he expressed a good deal of agree
able surprise, gave me a receipt for my five hundred acre-
warrant to be located for me; " and now," said he, "I have
twenty thousand acres of similar claims, of which I am to get
one-half for obtaining the warrants. If you will return, I
will divide my commission equally with you upon all that
you can have allowed." I told him I could not return, but
would make the arrangement with a friend, who would do
the business as well as I could, and gave him a letter to T.
G  . Out of this arrangement we ultimately made eight
thousand acres of military land.
I now proceeded on to Frankfort, where my acquaintances
seemed glad to see me. Here I found numerous letters on
business, so increasing my stock, that I saw I could not give
it the necessary attention, and wrote to A. T. B — , at Frede
ricksburg, to come out, he having expressed such a wish
while I was with him. I now proceeded to advertise an
other large land sale at the Yellow Banks. On looking over
my year's work, I found that, of collected and uncollected
commissions, fees, and salaries, I had during the year booked
between five and six thousand dollars. , This was a consider
able upward movement, and the next year promised to be
still better.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 169

CHAPTER XXXII.
RETURN TO KENTUCKY — STORY OF B. T-

I went to the Yellow Banks to take some testimony in
the suits against Mason ; the witnesses had been there in
1780, and related many curious events. One, Jacob Vana-
der, was captured by the Indians, and taken a long way back
into Indiana, where he finally made his escape and returned
home. B. T  , another, mentioned a singular event: In one
of the adjoining counties, I now forget which, there was a
suit between the occupant of a tract of land, and a non
resident claimant. The occupant had cleared a large field,
and built him a pretty good house; all were living in
comfortand presumed safety, when this non-resident claim
was set up, which was a large one, and covered this occupant,
whose grant, however, was the oldest, but he could not esta
blish his survey. T  , being one of the original chain-
carriers, was summoned as a witness, and came only on the
day that the cage was on trial ; the tract of land lay about a
mile from the court-house. The land around was settled,
and to all appearance all the corner trees were cut down. It
was an isolated survey, calling for no other, and no other
calling for it. No corner trees being found, and nothing
else to fix the position of the claim, the jury must give the
land to the non-resident claimant according to all expecta
tion. T  was asked what he could say on the subject.
He replied that the country was so changed that he hardly
recognized it, but that he recollected the beginning corner
was made in the forks of a little creek. There was such a
15

170 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
creek adjoining the occupant's farm, and some timber in the
forks which had not been cut down, owing to its out-of-the-
way position. But these trees had been minutely examined,
and no marks found. He was asked if he recollected any
circumstance in connection with making the corner; he
answered, " that while the surveyor was preparing his note
book, he sat at the root of the corner tree, and with his
knife amused himself in cutting-notches into the root : that
before they had started, after marking the tree, the surveyor
having taken his object to a hill at some distance — a dead
tree — they heard the crack of a rifle some distance off in an
opposite direction. They knew the rifle was shot by Indians,
and the surveyor said, ' Come, boys, we must get out of this.'
Every man picked up what he had, to run ; and one of the
chain-men corked a bottle of whiskey which he had, and
threw it into a small hollow about as high as he could reach
in the tree, and they moved off pretty rapidly, and found
themselves presently under the object tree, when the sur
veyor said : ' Come, boys, I- don't think the red-skins will
follow us — let us go on with the survey. I will allow,' said
he, ' one hundred poles for the distance from here to the
corner — mark light, stick your sticks without speaking, and
keep a sharp look-out.' So on they went around to the
fourth corner, where they stopped, leaving the fourth an
open line, which was filled up by protraction ; and that is
the reason no marked trees can be found." Counsel for
Plaintiff- — "But you say the corner tree was marked?"
"Yes, sir," T  replied. Counsel. — "I understand that
the trees claimed are not marked." The court adjourned for
dinner, a two hours' recess, and defendants with their coun
sel, T  and others, went to the place to examine it.
T  said " it seemed to him that was the place." But
on examining the trees they found no marks. Looking up,
however, he discovered in one of them a hollow, about the
height of the one into which the bottle had been thrown.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 171
T  immediately sprung up to it, looked in, and there
saw the bottle. A noose was fixed to a stick, and the bottle
drawn out, having all the appearance of having been there
a long time, but the whiskey had leaked out. All present
were satisfied with the proof. They returned to the court
house, and when the court sat, named the facts. The ad
verse counsel asked if they had any corroborating circum
stances ? Was the tree marked for a corner tree ? " No."
" Very well," said the counsel, " witness said the corner tree
was marked; this, therefore, cannot be the corner." And
continuing, said he, " I have practised law a long time — I
have seen many tricks played where the object at stake was
a large one ; but, in all my practice, I have never seen so
shallow a trick attempted as this. No corner trees — because
there were none ; and a poor devil of a witness is brought
here to manufacture testimony, who has not tact enough to
preserve his consistency, but goes and puts a bottle in a hol
low,., says such a bottle was there filled with whiskey, but he
had not even sense enough to fill the bottle with whiskey ;
or, probably after being filled by his employers, could not
forego the temptation to drink it ; carries a number to see him
find it, climbs up, and says here it is ; ha ! ha ! ha ! Well,
sir, if our land-titles are to be held by such a frail tenure as
this, he who can, with the least scruple, suborn a witness,
will be the most successful. It is utterly ridiculous, and an
insult to the understandings of the jury. They all know
that there is no more faithful record of a corner mark than
the tree itself; it not only preserves the mark, but nature
keeps a record of its age by the annulations in rings which
have grown over it since it was made, leaving the scar out
side. This the witness well knows ; this his employers well
know ; and T consider this a clear case of fraud, and subor
nation of perjury." The case was clearly against T  ;
those who had previously sympathized with defendants now
viewed them with suspicion, and all avoided T  as they

172 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
would contamination. He says, although he knew he was
innocent, the circumstances seemed so strong against him,
that he almost felt guilty ; said he, " I believe I would have
confessed my guilt, if I had thought by so doing I could have
obtained forgiveness, all my friends seemed to leave me."
Presently an old hunter came up to me, and asked T 
" what kind of a tree was that corner tree 1" Answtr. — " A
beech." " Well," said he, " do you not know that the bark
of a beech will sometimes overgrow the marks on it?"
" No," said T  ¦, " I have never remarked it." " Well,"
said the huntsman, " I have known it to do so. Now tell
me in truth, and no quibbling, are you sure you did not put
that bottle in there ?" " So help me God I did not !" said
T  . " Do you believe that bottle was put there- forty
years ago, and has been there untouched ever since ?" " I
believe," said T— — , " it is the same which was put there
forty years ago. As to its being untouched, I cannot say;
it was then full of whiskey — now it is empty ; I do not know
how to account for this, I acknowledge, if it has been un
touched." " Well," said the hunter, " you are in a narrow
place, and circumstances seem against you ; still, I feel as if
you were innocent." " As Jesus is my Saviour," replied
T  , " I am ]" " And if you are," replied the hunter,
"this lawyer has committed a great outrage on you by ac
cusing you of perjury. If you knew you were innocent,
why did you not knock him down ?" "Oh !" said T  ,
" I felt so bad, I did not know what to do." " Ah, bad,"
replied the hunter; "this looks bad; and yet," as if solilo
quizing with himself, said the hunter, "it seems to me that
this man is innocent." " 0 !" said T  , " do believe me,
I am innocent; as God is judge, I am innocent." All this
time plaintiff's lawyer was going on in the most rampant
style against the conspiracy which had been so evidently de
veloped, and hoping when he was done with the case that

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 173
the prosecuting attorney would feel it his duty to take hold
of the conspirators.
" My old friend," said the hunter to T  , " I am an
old surveyor ; I. hate to hear you abused so, and these old
people on the land who are reputed to be honest. It is
monstrous, if there has been no foul play. Call your friends'
lawyer here !" T  touched him on the elbow, and he
came outside of the bar. Said the hunter to him, "I have
been talking to your witness, and I believe he is inuocent,
and, I think, there may be a way to prove it." " How ?"
asked the lawyer, with eagerness. "Why," replied the
hunter, "I have been a surveyor, and if what he says is
true, and I can find any old survey in the neighborhood of
about the same age, so that I can set my compass on the
line, and get the variation, I can, then, set it from this cor
ner claimed as the beginning, and run the course to where
T  said the line commences, and being on that I can find
the other corners." Lawyer. — "There is not time for that
now.' However, I will try the court." Stepping into the
bar, he asked the opposite counsel to allow hinj to make a
suggestion. Here was a grave charge of perjury; if well
founded, the guilty man could not be too severely punished ;
if innocent, even his opponent could not wish him to lie un
der the imputation of guilt. A plan had been suggested for
determining this question, and he wished to ask an adjourn
ment of this case, until the day after to-morrow, to give time
to determine it, and stated what the hunter had said.
The court remarked that it was the misfortune of the
lawyer's client if he had gone into the case unprepared; but
that the testimony had been closed, and that the admission
of any more now was not allowable.
" I knew this," said the lawyer to the hunter ; " but the
suggestion will have a good effect with the jury. Now, go
as quick as you can; take out the county surveyor; he can
find you such a survey as you want ; try your compass for
15*

174 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
the variation ; then run your line, and, if you find any marks,
have them reported to me, while you continue the survey.
I will not begin my speech this evening, but will ask indulg
ence until to-morrow ; in the mean time, you be wide awake
and move ahead." " And," said T — , " so we did. We found
such a survey, got the variation that night, and next morning
at daylight started from my corner on the course of my line,
and at one hundred and .eighteen poles fell upon marked
trees. We never stopped for breakfast, but sent in for some
bread and meat. The marks continued, until we reached the
corner of a field, which had been cleared where the corner
was, and it had been destroyed ; but we got the next line,
and went on to where the next should have been, and there
it was the same case, and so with the fourth; but, from the
fourth there was no line to the beginning. Squatters had
evidently destroyed those corners intentionally." But the
facts, as shown, proved that T  ¦ was innocent. This
had been all accomplished before court went into session.
" Now," said the old hunter, " bring me an axe, and I will try
another experiment, which I was afraid to propose at first,
lest your hatchet, in making the mark, had not gone through
the bark of the tree, and, if not, we should find no marks
inside; and, then, the absence of them, and all the other
circumstances against you, would have been very strong.
But now, if we do not find them, I think you stand cleared,"
"Stop," said T  , "let us try the root, for I perfectly well
recollect cutting into the wood there ! So the axe was ap
plied to one root, which was cut up and split open ; but no
marks; another — here the marks appeared in the shape of a
scar, but not very distinctly. In cutting the notches, I had
taken out the wood, and the growth over it left so little
mark that, had we not been hunting for it, we should not
have noticed it. But it was evident that the annulatious of
the wood were here interrupted, and the company gave it as
their opinion that it was the mark of a cut." " Well, my

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 175
old boy," said the hunter, "we will now find something
which will tell, and no mistake, if it is here at all." So he
proceeded to block out a part of the tree about three feet
long, and eight inches deep. This he split open, but as yet
no scar; another split, none; a third, here half-a-dozen
voices cried, "There it is!" and there it was; three chops
as distinct as if made yesterday; and, on counting the an
nulatious, which had grown over and covered them, they
placed back the date of the chops, to correspond exactly with
T — —'s testimony." "Now," said the old hunter, "we have
that dog of a lawyer; let us hasten to the court-house." They
did so, carrying the block with the notches in it. As they
entered, the old hunter held up the block with the notches
towards the court. They were so distinct that they could
be seen across the house. The jury saw them. Defendant's
lawyer was speaking; complainant's lawyer rose, when he
heard the hubbub, and, looking round, saw the block, re
marked to the court that the testimony having been closed,
he moved the court that it order away all extraneous matter,
and order that the argument of his opponent be confined to
the testimony as given on the trial, The court accordingly
so ordered.
"Well," said defendant's counsel, "I am ordered, gen
tlemen of the jury, to confine my argument to the testimony
given on the trial. That testimony was by one of the chain-
men, who made the survey, that, at the corner, a bottle was
put into a hollow of the corner tree; this tree was found
corresponding to the position which the chain-man said it oc
cupied, and, on being examined, the bottle was found in the
tree. The testimony was as clear and conclusive as it was
possible to be, and if you believed our witness, you could
not hesitate as to your verdict. And who is this witness ?
A venerable old man, gray with age, and who, probably,
never had his word disputed or his feelings hurt before, nor
until it became necessary to fix the charge of perjury upon

176 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
him by my opponent, in order to enable his non-resident
client to put my client and his worthy family out of doors.
And upon what grounds is this charge of perjury brought?
Upon the ground that there were no marks upon the tree.
I am credibly informed, gentlemen, that it does sometimes
happen that beech outgrows its marks, though generally it
is otherwise. Now, my client has prepared his case badly,
I admit; for, although no lines or corners could be found,
he ought to have gotten a surveyor to ascertain the variation
of the compass, and have started from his claim's begin
ning, and run the courses called for in his deed; he might
have run some distance, without finding a marked tree, but
he might have found it at the distance of the first object
tree, as stated by our witness; or even a little further, say
118 poles by way of being liberal. He might then have
gone on from corner to corner, finding the corners all gone,
but the lines distinctly marked between them; and had he
done so, and those lines been found, it would have been the
strongest circumstantial evidence in corroboration of our
witness's testimony. But if this had not sufficed, he might
have taken witnesses to the corner tree, have taken out a
block, and there he doubtless would have found the old
marks, as plainly showing as you saw them on that block
just now. But he did not, and although our witness, in his
distress of mind at being accused of perjury, might proceed
to have it done, to vindicate his own character, yet the rigid
rules of the law are resorted to exclude his evidence so pro
duced. But, thank God, his testimony is clear as to the
corner, and you must give your verdict in our favor, unless
you disbelieve him. Now, look at him, gentlemen; see his
gray hairs, and that benevolent countenance; do you see
anything there of the perjured villain, which my opponent
would make you believe he is? He is, to be sure, poor,
and, perhaps, on that account, has no right to complain of
being abused. It seems that some lawyers consider this is

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 177
the poor man's lot, when brought to the witness-stand. If
you dare to give such evidence as is in your possession, and
as is due to save your neighbor's property, whatever may be
your honest reputation at home, however you may be beloved
by those who know you, you are liable to be branded with
perjury, and charged with all sorts of crime. I have, gen
tlemen, never deemed it necessary to ruin an innocent
man's reputation in order to gain a cause for my client, and,
I trust, I never shall. My client's witness is as credible a
witness as any in this house ; the court has excluded the legal
evidence of it, but every one in this house knows it to be
so. If you believe him, you are bound to^nd for us."
And he sat down. His opponent had the closing of tho
argument, but said he had no reply to make, and the jury
gave a verdict for defendant, without leaving the jury-box.

CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE IMPROPRIETY OF ABUSING WITNESSES — A BAD POLICY
IN LAWYERS.
I HAVE always viewed the liberties taken by lawyers with
witnesses, abusing them without grounds, as an outrage,
and have wished the witnesses, out of court, would give
them a sound thrashing for it. It is extremely injudicious
in the lawyer. It generally excites the compassion of the
jury, and in a majority of cases results to the injury of the
lawyer who is guilty of it. I knew a case which occurred
at Brandenburgh, where a Mr. T  , a lawyer, lost his life
by needless abuse of his opponents. They took him from
the court-house, immediately on the adjournment of the
court, and so beat him that he died. I am surprised that
lawyers look for anything else, and that they escape so often

178 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
is wonderful. In Kentucky, a jury could hardly be found
who would punish a man for vindicating himself when so
outraged, and the courts are very culpable for allowing it.
I would advise all young lawyers to avoid it. It not only
excites the prejudices of the jury, but of the public against
them, and does their cause infinite injury; for, when a jury
man's prejudices are excited, argument is needless. A law
yer should endeavor to win the good feelings of the jury and
of the public, on all occasions. Kindness is a shrub which
sprouts and propagates itself very rapidly wherever sown;
or, like bread cast upon the waters, it returns after many
days; and hatred is not less fruitful, nor less certain to be
returned with compound interest. A man who is habitually
unkind can succeed well at nothing. As a lawyer, he may
succeed if his talents are pre-eminent; but I venture to say,
where he makes one dollar he would make-two if he were ha
bitually kind and benevolent. Everybody wants to help those
who are kind and pleasant in their manners. They will be re
commended for business, while the man of unsocial habits and
unkind feelings will have no friends, and will only obtain such
business as is commanded by his pre-eminent talents. He is a
very unwise man who puts the world at defiance. There are
few of us who are not dependent on the good opinion of the
world for success, and policy would dictate a kind course, if our
natural inclinations did not. But he must have savage feel
ings, indeed, who can be unaffected by the evidence of being
beloved by the community in which he lives, or of being
shunned and hated by them. There is to the benevolent mind
a happiness in doing a favor to another which an unfeeling
man knows nothing of. It is a luxury which he cannot
comprehend. We hear much of the unfeelingness of the
world, and that money is a man's only friend. It would be
useless to deny tne power of money. It will cover up many
faults; but not all. I know a very rich man who is the
abomination of all who know him, except his immediate de-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 179
•
pendents. They sustain him from the employment he gives
them, or from the obligations they are under to him. He is
an intelligent and well-informed man ; but arrogant, and dis
courteous to such an extent that all well-bred gentlemen
shun his society. If any do not, it is either from an ex
treme charity and benevolence of disposition, which induces
them to put up with any conduct sooner than differ with a
neighbor, or else they are willing to keep the door open for any
pecuniary favor which they may have occasion to ask of him.
If he differs with you in conversation, he cannot politely
state his difference, and in so doing retain your friendship;
but replies to you like a blackguard : " Not a bit of it ; not
a bit of it." Any one can see by his language that he asso
ciates with such as will bear any language from him, and he
knows none better. So envious is he that he can hear with
no patience any one spoken of with credit/ His general an
swer is, when he hears any one so spoken of, " pshaw —
aw — aw !" To his agents he is harsh and unkind, seldom
speaking to them except in a very rude manner, such as no
well-bred gentleman can hear without pain. He is a bully
in his general-manners, but a very great coward at heart, as
such men generally are.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
MY APPOINTMENT BY THE STATE OF VIRGINIA AS MILITARY
AGENT.
About this time, I heard of the death of John Herring,
military agent for the State of Virginia, and wrote in to
have my name presented as a candidate. Virginia originally
had, while Kentucky was yet a part of her domain, appro-

180 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
•
priated all the country west of the Tennessee River to pay
her officers and soldiers for services during the revolutionary
war, and pledged that country to them for that purpose. A
great many entries had been made here of those military
claims, but a great many of the warrants were unlocated,
when, by a treaty with the Choctaw and Cherokee Indians,
Virginia guaranteed them the peaceable possession of this
country, which prevented the location and survey of military
warrants within the said boundary. But, in 1818, by an
other treaty with those Indians, made by General Jackson
and Governor Shelby, they surrendered the country to the
United States, and it now fell to Kentucky. Virginia sent out
Watkins Leigh to claim the land for the officers and soldiers
aforenamed, and he addressed the legislature of Kentucky on
the subject, but without success. Herring was then a member
of the Virginia legislature, and was appointed resident agent
in Kentucky to attend to the business. At his death the
office became vacant, and there were a number of applicants
for it, as it was worth $2300 per annum, including $700
outfit. I was the successful applicant, however, and received the
commission. As I was not required to relinquish my other
business, this was a great addition to my income ; and, be
sides, during this year I received another salary of $400, and
another of $50. From May, Barrister, & Co., $500, and
about $600 for expenses, including those of my horse, office,
&c, which made a total of $3850 of salaries. Besides this,
out of auction sales of lands, I made about $2000 of commis
sions, and perquisites for miscellaneous business to nearly
an equal amount, making a total of $7000 or $8000. This,
I thought, was getting along pretty well.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 181

CHAPTER XXXV.
THE KENTUCKY LAND-LAWS — ITS DIFFICULTIES — AN
ADVENTURE.
Now T. G. sent me an agency from P.'s estate of 32,400
acres of land in Breckenridge and Mead counties, with a
commission of twenty-five per cent. The amount of commis
sion was in consideration of the claims being considered
hopeless. I went upon the ground to examine into it, and
found it settled by a desperate set of adverse claimants. As
before remarked, the plan adopted by Virginia for selling
those lands caused them to be shingled over with entries con
flicting with each other. The Indians were in possession of the
country, and it was necessary to make surveys at the hazard
of life, so that purchasers of treasury-warrants were allowed
to enter, in a book, the land which they intended to survey ;
and, provided it was so distinctly described that " a subse
quent locater could take up the adjacent residuum," this
entry would hold the land until it could be surveyed and
patented, otherwise the entry was of no avail ; and, to deter
mine this question, caused the establishment of principles
which made the Kentucky land-law the most complicated
conceivable.- The United States land-system could not be
adopted, owing to the danger of the Indians ; and the Legisla
ture of Kentucky, at various times, endeavored to remedy
the difficulty, but found themselves entangled by the compact
entered into with Virginia, by which it was provided that
the land-titles should be adjudicated by the laws then (at
the time of making the compact) existing in Virginia. In
order to get clear of this difficulty, Henry Clay and George
16

182 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
M. Bibb were appointed commissioners from Kentucky to
apply to the Legislature of Virginia to relinquish this stipu
lation ; but they were unsuccessful. It always appeared to
me that, where sales and transfers of land had been based
upon this stipulation, it became a vested right in the claimant
under the Virginia grant, and that Virginia had no right to
relinquish it. But here would arise a curious question for
legal philosophers. Can two States make such stipulations
that by joint consent they cannot annul, however willing
they may be to do so, and however injurious the same may
be to the country at large ? Suppose, for instance, that, by
a law of Virginia, previous to the separation, it had been
provided that limitations should never run in regard to land-
titles. Kentucky provides that an undisturbed possession
of seven years should bar all claims. A and B have two
lawsuits, one by A, the Virginia claimant, against B, claim
ant under Kentucky, who has been in undisputed posses
sion for thirty years. But he cannot plead the limitations,
and loses his land. Another by B against A, who has been
in possession eight years only under a Kentucky patent; but
he holds by the seven years' limitations. Could this state of
things last ?
I took a wandering trip all through this survey of 32,400
acres, which was ten miles long and five broad, and the most
of it settled upon ; some very extensive plantations. Here
was a harvest of difficulty, " and no mistake." But I was
prepared to brave it. I stopped on the road just outside of
the survey, at a Mr. S.'s, to get my dinner, and remarked
that they seemed to have a good country about there.
" Yes," said he, " if these non-residents would let us alone ;
but we are annoyed to death with foreign claims. Here now
is a whole neighborhood who have purchased under Dr. B.,
and who have thought themselves secure, and here comes a
man by the name of T., claiming the land for P.'s heirs, and
I suppose the whole neighborhood is to be broken up." I

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 183
confess I felt like giving up the business. It did seem too
bad. I did not then let him know I was the man. I
remarked it was an unfortunate state of things, but that, if
they lost their land, they would have their recourse on B.
" Ah !" said he, " that is but little satisfaction after a man
has fixed his .home in a way that he expects to live at for
life." " Well," said I, " suppose you were in P.'s place,
what would you do ? give up the land to which you thought
you had the best title ?" " I do not know," he replied; "I
suppose I would try and get it, but it is a hard case." " So
it is," I rejoined, " and both parties ought so to view it, and
endeavor to make an equitable arrangement to lighten the
difficulty as much as possible. T. ought to take a moderate
price for the land, and give good time to pay it in, and the
settler ought to view his condition as he would, if, by acci
dent, he had put on another man's coat which he had to take
off and give up." " Well," said S., putting a chew of tobacco
into his mouth, and chunking the fire, " I would take a dif
ferent plan ; these foreigners should not come among us
claiming our- lands." "But," said I, "if they believe the
land to be theirs, they would come." " Very well," he re
plied; " I reckon they would not come but once." " What,
would you kill them ?" " Not exactly ; but I have ventured
to advise some of my neighbors on the subject; and, when
this T. comes here, he will be apt to find a rough time of
it." There was no one in the house but us two, and, being well
armed, I felt in no danger when put on my guard as I now
was ; and, acting on the idea that danger is greatest when
most feared, I concluded my safest plan was to leave an im
pression that I could not be seared.
" My friend," I remarked, " that is a bad plan. It is in
violation of the laws of your country." ." May-be so," he
replied; "I am not for that; but I would not lose my home,
law or no law." " What would you do, then 1" " Why, by

184 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
way of a taste, I would first take him up here to the Bear
Springs and give him a sound ducking, and try how that
would set on his stomach ; and, if that did not satisfy him,
when he came again we would try other physic." "You
would never have to try a second dose." " You think that
would answer for him, do you ?" " Or for those who tried
it." " How so '!" " Why, I know the man, and if you
design anything of this sort you had better make but one job
of it." " You know the man, do you ? well, what sort of a
fellow is he ?" " As civil a man as you ever saw ; but, if
he were to hear of your making any threats against him, he
would give you an opportunity of executing them as soon as
his horse could bring him to your house." "That's my
darling ; now, if you are a friend of his and see him, just tell
him what I have said." " Very well, I am a friend of his,
and you will not be long without a chance to execute your
threat. He says he had rather, at any time, be shot than
live in danger of it." " Stranger," said he, " pray what is
your name ?" Assuming a composure, and putting on a
smile very little in accordance with the apprehensions I felt,
I answered, " R. T. at your service."
The fellow looked puzzled and bewildered for a moment,
and then said again : " And that is your name ?" " Yes,
sir," I replied, still smiling. " Well, stranger," said he, "I
don't know how it is. I am not afraid of you; and by G — d
I am ready to do all that I said I would; but dam'me if I
know how to begin a fuss with as good-humored a fellow as
you seem to be; just give me the lead now, and I'll start
the ball." I had kept my distance, and could lay my hand
on my pistols in a second. " Oh no," I replied ; " I am not
so anxious for the dance as that, and hope, when you
take a little time to think, you will find we ¦ can both do
as well without it." " Well, dang my buttons," said he,
" come up here and take a drink." " I thank you," I
replied; "I never drink." "Well, now, by Jove, you must

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 185
drink or fight." " Very well," I replied; "I had rather
drink than fight, at any time." So we took a drink together.
" Well, stranger, you don't consider there is any back-out
in me, do you?" " Not a bit," I replied; " on the contrary,
I see you are perplexed because I won't get mad." " And
why the h — 11 don't you get mad?" "Because I see that
your feelings are natural and reasonable, and I in your place
would probably feel as you do. It would therefore be un
reasonable for me to get mad. But at the same time that I
intend to give you no provocation, I intend to do my duty
as an agent, and never, while I have breath left in my body,
to be scared from it." " Well, dang me, old fellow, if I
didn't think I would do what I said, and I ain't afraid
neither; but somehow I can't come it." " You can't
come it now, of course, for I have drank with you in your
own house." " Well, well, we'll be friends. I b'lieve I like
you anyhow; but you run a mighty risk, I tell you you did."
" Not so much as you think." "How so?" "What was the
risk from?" "Why, I am a stronger man than you, and
could easily overpower you." " K you could have gotten
hold of me." " And why not?" " Well," I remarked, "I
may, I presume, consider that we are now friends, and that
all I say will be taken in friendship." " 0 yes; the toma
hawk was buried when we drank together." " Well, you may
have remarked that, until we drank together, I never let you
get near enough to me to get hold of me, and I never intend
you should." "How would you have prevented it?" Hav
ing my hand on my pistol, in my belt under my coat, I sud
denly drew it out, then the other, and showed that when I
pulled the guard the point of a dirk on each was loosened,
which sprung up and formed a bayonet to the pistol.
" That's the how, is it? and a. pretty 'cute contrivance, too.
Well, dam'me, I thought you looked mighty safe, somehow,
and did not know how to understand it; but now I see."
This man was always afterwards one of my best friends
16*

186 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
aided me very much in quieting opposition, and but for my
self-possession and keeping my temper, he would have cared
nothing for pistols. He was disarmed by my apparent non-
resistance, for he had the courage of a tiger, and belonged to
a family who were all of the same sort, and noted for it, and
every man of them was my friend.
I merely name this incident as carrying out the idea sug-
gested in regard to the commencement of my difficulties in
May, Banister, & Go's. case. Before I got through with
this case, I had numerous adventures, but will not relate
them, as they would probably be uninteresting to the reader,
and have an appearance which I wish to avoid. Suffice it
to say, I gained the land.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
MR. CLAY BECOMES PROMINENT — MR. MONROE NOTIFIES
THE ALLIED POWERS NOT TO TOUCH AMERICAN SOIL-
ITS GOOD EFFECT, AND THE WISDOM OF HIS DOING SO.
About this time, 1822, a move was made among the Old
Court men in Kentucky to bring Mr. Clay home from Con
gress and run him for governor. I published a piece signed
" Fabius," protesting against it, as Mr. Clay's services were
important to the nation, and Kentucky had a plenty of citi-,
zens who would make good governors — moreover, suggesting
that the nation might call him to a higher office.
Mr. Monroe's administration was now coming to a close,
and no prominent man presented himself. The nation had
been heretofore content to let Virginia furnish the President,
and a junto at Richmond nominate him, as stated herein
before in my account of the Old and New Court parties, and
the transfer of Kentucky politics to Washington.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 187
An incident, not a little remarkable, occurred towards the
close of Mr. Blonroe's administration.
The allied powers had indicated a disposition to interfere
in behalf of Spain, to enable her to subjugate her South
American colonies. The subject came up in conversation
one day in Frankfort, and in the presence of a number of
friends I remarked I wished that Monroe in his message
would say to the allies that they must not intermeddle with
affairs on this side of the water. When his message came
out, it did contain this notification. " Well, B  ," I re
marked, " you see Monroe has acted according to my sug
gestion." " Yes," said he, laughing; "great men will think
alike" (ironically). Mr. Monroe was an evidence that you
can never predict from what a boy is at school what he is to
become afterwards. He was an old acquaintance of my
father's, who said he was considered by no means a promis
ing young man. I have heard his contemporaries at the bar
say he was by no means strong. But that was because it
was not his forte. I question whether Mr. Jefferson or Mr.
Madison would have been strong there. Their minds were
of a more philosophic cast. Monroe, if a dull man in the
ordinary acceptation of the word, was one of the best Presi
dents we have ever had.
A good deal of speculation was now going on as to who
would be our next President, and as Richmond was con
sidered the fountain-head of news on that head, the letters
which I received from G  , which gave public opinion
there, and the views of the junto, were sought with interest
by all the politicians of Frankfort, so that, of an evening
after the arrival of the m'ail, they generally came round
to see what news I had. But from the start, Virginia was
opposed to Mr. Clay's protective policy, and consequently
to him for President, so that I never had any good news to
give. Returning to Mr. Monroe, I think justice has hardly

188 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
been done to the importance of his warning to the allied
powers. I may be told that he hazarded embroiling us in a
general war with all Europe. If he did, he only hazarded
what would have resulted to a certainty had those powers
sent their armies and navies to conquer the Spanish colonies, .
because, when they came to Mexico, Texas would have been
debatable ground, and a collision there would have been in
evitable. But even without that, the fleets and armies of
the allies, on this side of the water, could not have operated
without some collision with us. So that Mr. Monroe only
hazarded what would have been certain without his warning;
and then those allies must be indemnified by Spain for their
aid. This would probably have given Cuba to England,
and other provinces to the balance; and we should have had
always dangerous and troublesome neighbors along-side of
us, which it would have been a good bargain to have gotten
clear of, even at the cost of a general war ; but Mr. Monroe
got clear of them by a few strokes of the pen.
To resume my narrative.

CHAPTER XXXVII.
TRIP TO THE LRON BANKS.
Col. Richard Taylor, then military surveyor, notified
me that he should commence surveying the military entries
on the 20th of May, when it became my duty to be present.
I designed going down about the 1st of the month, but it
commenced raining, and continued incessantly until I hat}
scarcely time to get down, the distance being over two
hundred and fifty miles, and it still continued. But I
was bound to be present at the surveying, having given

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

189

bonds with security to the amount of twenty thousand dol
lars to do so. So I had to start in the rain, and with the
country all thoroughly flooded I had such a ride as few
could conceive of. My brother Philip was attending court
at Henderson, which, however, had just closed on my arrival,
and he accompanied me to Highland Creek, the rain haying
ceased. Here the creek had overflowed its banks until it
was apparently near a mile wide, the bridge appearing a
quarter of a mile from the shore where I approached it.
" What's to be done here ?" said I. " But the case admits of no
debate. I must go on." So here I stripped off, and put my
clothes in a bundle, tying them above my head, and my
saddle-bags on one shoulder. In I plunged, and reached
the bridge without swimming, but with the water half way
up my saddle-skirts. Here I waved a farewell to my brother,
and proceeded on. The water beyond the bridge was shal
low. On arriving within four miles of Cypress Creek, I
stopped at a cabin to inquire my road. "Why," said the
man of whom I inquired, "the country is all overflowed, and
the ferry-men are all away from the ferries — you cannot get
on." "But my friend," said I, "I am so circumstanced
that I am obliged to go on. I am obliged to be with the
military surveyor before he gets into the woods, or I will
never find him, and I have no time to lose." " Well,"
said he, " when we have dry ground it is a hard road to find,
and if you get lost now, there is no telling what will become
of you." But, as I insisted that I had no alternative, he
commenced giving me directions, and presently called to his
son to saddle " Kate" for him, saying he must go and show
me, for I would certainly get lost under any directions he
could give me. He accompanied me to within a mile of
the creek, where the overflow stopped him; but it did not
continue far; and he informed me that just on the other
side I would come to another cabin, where I could get fur
ther directions. Here the occupant toldtme it was impos-

190 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
sible I could get over; that none but a man intimately
acquainted with the ground could keep from swimming.
" Do you think you could ?" said I. " Yes," he replied,
"I think T could." "Very well, then ; pilot me over, and
I will give you a dollar." To which he agreed. On reach
ing the creek, the waters seemed rushing through the woods
with maddening velocity, and the settler seemed inclined to
withdraw from his engagement. ' The bridge was a long
way off — water intervening, and through the timber flowed
a sea of waters, the extent of which could not be told. He
wanted to beg off, but I pleaded with him to go on, or I must
do it alone at all hazards. He assented, but said I would
get well ducked. This I could not avoid ; and now concluded
not to undress myself or to loose my saddle-bags from their
fastenings, for should I get unhorsed I might lose them
and my clothes, which would leave me in an awkward pre
dicament. My guide went first, and I followed. In getting
to the bridge I got thoroughly wet, and my saddle-bags also.
But the worst was to come; we had to travel at least a mile
up the creek in water, the depth of which could not be known,
but my guide went foremost. Sometimes he would get over
his depth, and have to swim a few yards as if crossing a
drain, and, of course, I had to do the same. At last we
arrived at dry land. But he said, as it was not far to the
mouth of the creek, he would go with me. Here there was
a ferry-boat, but no ferry-man. He put me over the creek
again, and then over Tradewater River. I went on until
near night (not very long), when I came to a cabin with
but one room, but from what I could learn, there was no
other that I could reach before night. Asking if I could
stay, and being told I could, I alighted, and stripped my
horse, for every man had to be his own hostler in those
days. I would have been thankful for a chance to put on
some dry clothes, but I had none, and, therefore, was com
pelled to dry those that were on me by sitting close to the

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 191
fire. My saddle-bags I emptied, and dried everything in
them ; among the rest, a good many papers which I feared
were injured, but they were not.
Having recounted to mine host my day's adventures,
"Ah!" said he, "you have seen nothing yet. Wait till
you pass the Tennessee, and get upon thes. flats of Clark's
River; there I guess you will see trouble.*' The family was
large, several grown daughters, and we had all to sleep in
the same room. It may be wondered how we managed this.
When the family were ready to retire, the master of the
house asked me to go and see my horse fedt as in a former
case, and as is customary. On my return all were in bed,
and I pulled off all to my drawers, and was *soon ditto.
I could have crossed the Cumberland and Tennessee next
day, but, according to the advice of the landlord, I stopped
on this side of the Tennessee that I might have the more
daylight next day for the flats of Clark. I will here ven
ture to pause a while to pay a passing tribute to the kind
ness of these farmers. My business has thrown me a great
deal among them, and I have had occasion to note their-
kindness of heart and benevolence of disposition. They
seem to be a different species from those raised in cities.
Had I asked a man in a large city to direct me anywhere,
he would probably do it with some impatience. But here a
farmer, from real goodness of heart, stops in his busiest farm
ing season to ride three miles to show me the road for fear
I might get lost. And this is not an isolated case. They
were of daily occurrence with me in some form. If any
people on this earth are the chosen of God, they are our
rural peasantry. I never did treat one of them unkindly,
and never will.
The next day I took the flats of Clark, with instructions
to steer due south, for there was no following any path. I
did so; and travelled, it seemed to me, four or five miles
without seeing- one foot of dry land; but so very level is the

192 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
country that I did not go beyond my saddle-skirts in water
'at any time, and got through without getting wet.
The next day brought me to Mayfield's Creek, which had
overflowed its banks on the opposite side, and the ferry
boat was tied there almost out of sight. I hallooed a long
time in vain ; and finally concluded my only chance was
either to swim my horse, or leave him and swim myself to
get the boat, bring that over, and take my horse. The lat
ter I determined on. The creek was like a river at this
time, and I was not a very expert swimmer, but thought I
could accomplish the job. The mosquitoes being very bad,
I kept on my shirt, as I should not have done, but for hav
ing to row the boat back. The sleeves filled with water as
I jumped in, and caused me fatigue in swimming. I reached
the limbs of the trees on the opposite bank with great diffi
culty, and almost exhausted. Here I held on to get rested,
the boat being yet a long way off; presently I started again,
however; but after going a little distance found I could
touch bottom, and then waded on to the boat, which I got
into, rowed some distance up stream in the dead water,
and then out and over, landing near my horse, who nick
ered me a welcome. I now changed my shirt, put on my
clothes, and got my horse into the boat. I was at some
loss about fastening him to avoid the danger of his getting
overboard, but got a heavy chunk which lay on the shore
with a bit of a limb, placed it in the middle of the boat,
and tied him to it. Now I commenced rowing up stream to
get, as the sailors term it, an offing, but found it a most
fatiguing job, my utmost efforts being scarcely equal to the
current of the stream. Tired at last, I turned across, and
found myself drifting down much faster than I expected,
and my strength failing me. Looking ahead, I saw a ham
per or collection of drift below, which I could not avoid. I
laid down my oars, took a look, and saw a channel or clear
passage through it, apparently of about twice the width of

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 193
my boat. I had, as I thought, yet time to make it; so
I lay to, and pulled like a clever fellow until opposite
to it, then turned the boat's head down, and she went
through almost like a locomotive. I now turned, and
reached the opposite shore about half a mile below where I
found the boat. But after passing the bank, the water
being dead, I managed by a fatiguing effort to get up td my
first starting-point, and beyond it I found a road leading to
the Iron Banks. This I took, and by inquiry arrived at
Col. Taylor's about sunset of the 19 th, the next being the <
one on which he had advertised to commenceshis survey.
Never did Columbus feel more joy at the sight of land
when in search of America than I did on getting to the end
of my journey; and never did I travel miles which seemed
so long as those from Mayfield's Creek to the colonel's.
The house was a large, double log-cabin, with a separate
room in the yard for visitors, and everything as comfortable
as the newness of the country would allow of. The fried-
chicken, with bacon and, eggs for supper, with a cup of hot,
rich coffee, seemed a meal for a prince. Oh ! what a sauce
for a supper is a keen appetite, and how the laboring man
after a day's toil enjoys it.
The colonel was a hospitable, sensible man; full of kind
feelings, and with an interesting family, but buried here in
the wildest forest I ever saw. I wondered that he should
ever be willing to leave them alone. He had two sons, how
ever, very able to take care of them. Loneliness was never
so thoroughly realized to me as in this situation. It seemed
to me ten miles " from anywhere." Upon relating to the
colonel the incidents of my travel, he remarked, he believed
he would have hazarded the consequences, and waited until
the waters fell.

17

194 THE PILOT OF nUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
A BEAR STORY — MEET A COUNTERFEITER — LODOE AT A
CONVICT'S HOUSE — HISTORY OF THE COUNTERFEITERS.
About nine o'clock I retired to bed — the only good
comfortable bed which I had had since I left Henderson.
Before I got to sleep I heard, a sudden squeel from a hog,
which continued most frightfully, gradually lessening as, if
the hog was being carried away. Curious to know the
meaning of it, I bounced out of bed, put. on my clothes,
and went out. There the colonel and his servants were
whistling for the dogs, and the sons having got their rifles
ready, we went in pursuit or a very large bear, which had
come over the fence into the yard, and taken off a half-grown
hog. The dogs got after him, and kept so about him that,
in the dark, the young men were afraid to shoot for fear of
killing them, and the bear finally got away unhurt, leav
ing the poor hog with some two or three mouthfuls taken
out of his rump, but he yet alive. The bear does not stop
to kill its prey, but commences eating it while yet alive.
This was the most daring thing I ever saw. -Why, he might
as likely have gotten hold of some member of the family!
The next day, on examining his tracks, they said he was one
of the largest bears they ever saw, and that he would have
weighed 500 pounds. This was a sort of liberty by the
gentleman of the forest which I considered decidedly too
familiar. The next day, all things being arranged, the colonel and
myself proceeded on our surveying expedition; the chain-men
and marker having been engaged to meet us near where we
were to begin. On our road we met a man, who spoke

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 195
kindly to the colonel; but' the colonel, considering his uni
form kindness of nlanner, I thought was not as cordial to
wards him as I should have expected, and I asked who he
was. " That," said the colonel, "is one among the chiefs of
the counterfeiters." "Chiefs of the counterfeiters?" Ire-
joined. "Yes," said he; "all the counterfeiters of the west
nearly are congregated in this district. We have not yet
population sufficient to take them, and they roam at large,
perfectly secure and fearless.-" " I remarked," said I, "that
you were rather cold in returning his- salutation." " Was
I?" he rejoined; "well I did not intend to be so; I
cannot yet afford to excite the enmity of those fellows,
for there is no telling what they would do, if you once
arouse their malice. They will be less disposed to harm me,
as they think, being a government officer, if they were to do
so, it would arouse the State to send a force sufficient to over
power them. While I am civil to them, I think I am safe;
but I have no wish to excite their enmity." "And do
you know," I asked, "who they are?" "We have a
pretty good idea," he replied; "but there is no telling
how far their ramifications go; there are men who are not
engaged in actually counterfeiting, who nevertheless deal
with them, buy their money, and pass it off, and they' are
interested in befriending theto. It would be dangerous to
speak against them to any but such persons as you know.
You might, ignorantly, speak to a man concerned with them,
and then the eyes of all would be upon you — you would be
safe nowhere."
We, after a while, arrived at our point of beginning, and
having agreed upon the mode of surveying the entries, com
menced them. We stopped about an hour before night to
have time to hunt lodgings, the chain-men and marker, with
instructions to meet about an hour by sun next day, going
one way, and we another. We had eaten no dinner, and
were very keenly set. We called at a cabin, the most

196 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
miserable hovel I could conceive of, and the colonel asked
for lodgings. No one was at home but a boy about ten
years old. He said they were out of meal, and could give
us none to eat. Wo had then to go a mile further to where
the colonel said there was another cabin. When we had
left this, he remarked he had no very great relish for that
place anyhow. "No," I replied, "it is the least attractive
dwelling for a human being to live in that, I think, I have
seen." "As to that," said the colonel, "we will not meet
with much better; but the fellow who lives there is a con
vict just out of the penitentiary." "My God," said I, ''and
would you have lodged in such a fellow's cabin?" "Why,"
he answered, "it is a tolerably tough case; but sooner than
starve, and lie out in the woods, subject to be eaten by
the bears and wolves, I would."
Having arrived at the next cabin, pretty much fatigued,
and very hungry, although it was not much better look
ing, yet, getting used to a thing goes a great way, I felt
much relieved. But on the colonel's asking if they could
give us lodgings, he was answered that the house was
full; and, besides, they had no corn for our horses. Here
was a dilemma again. "Well," said he, "can we get a lit
tle meal from you?" They answered we could. "Mr.
T.," said the colonel, "if you have a clean handkerchief,,
will you hand it out ? — mine is not clean." I got one out
of my saddle-bags, and handed it over to be filled with meal,
enough for our supper and breakfast, and, having received
it, said, "Well, colonel! which way now?" Turning his
horse, and I with him, he answered, "Those are the only two
cabins within our reach. We have no alternative but to go
to the one we have just left, and it is now some time in the
night." My horror was extreme at such an idea. I asked if
there was no help for it. "None," replied he, "but to sleep
in the woods; and then we have nothing for our horses to
eat." "But," I rejoined, "they have probably nothing

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 197
where we are going." "Yes," remarked the colonel; "I
saw some corn in a crib." After a while we arrived, and
told the boy we had come back to stay with him, to which
he agreed. I did not learn whether he was the convict's
son or not; I rather think not, however. He could not tell
whether tho man of the house would be at home or not that
night. " God grant he may not !" said I to the colonel, as
the boy went out to get some wood to kindle a fire. " I don't
know," said the colonel ; " as to being harmed by him, we
would be safer' if he were here. The fellow would never
think of injuring us in his own house, when it was known
he was at home; but he might return at night, and, seeing
our horses in the pen, steal them, and expect to lay the theft
on some one else."
On my expressing a fear that he would do this, the colo
nel remarked he should take occasion to tell the boy who
he was; the convict would he sure to inquire of the boy, and
" they all believe it is best to let me and mine alone. While
we are together, therefore, I do not think there is anything
to apprehend ; but I would not advise you to lodge in this
region when alone." The fire having been made, the boy
undertook to bake our bread for us in a little oven, which he
produced, and then, looking up the chimney, which was his
meat-house, he took down a venison ham placed there to
smoke. Though a dry meal, being very hungry, we made a
pretty hearty supper. And now we were for bed. There
was no sign of a bed in the house, but a pile of bear-skins
and deer-skins in one corner of the room. The boy pulled
out, and spread on the floor, hair up, a couple of bear-skins,
and laid a deer-skin on top of each ; and on these we lay
down to sleep, with our saddle-bags for pillows. The colonel
was in five minutes dead to all outward cares — not so with
me; I could not sleep so soundly under circumstances so
novel. The colonel lay between me and the fire, and pre
sently I heard him snuffling and blowing at the nose. I
17*

198 TnE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
concluded he was dreaming ; but he continued it with
increasing energy, until I rose up and looked over to
see what was the matter, for he lay with his face to the
fire; and there I saw a little pig rooting at the colonel's
nose. The sight caused me to burst into a fit of laughter;
and I was for driving off the pig, yet concluded I would
wait and see how long the colonel would bear it. But he
was dead asleep ; it seemed nothing would wake him, and,
for fear the pig might take hold of his nose with his teeth,
I drove him off, when he went out at a hole which had been
burnt in the corner of the chimney, which was built of logs.
I got up and moved the unburnt chunks up against this hole,
to keep him from returning. I could not go to sleep, weary
and tired as I was, for the boy did not come into the cabin
to go to bed, and I could not conceive the reason, not having
noticed that there was any other room. But in the morning
I found there was a little house, about ten feet square, back
of the one we slept in, in which the boy had slept. As I
lay reflecting on things around me, I could not help exclaim
ing to myself, " My conscience, what a country is this for a
decent man to live in !" In time exhausted nature gave way,
I fell asleep, and so continued until awaked in the morning
by the colonel. When I told him of the pig adventure, he
seemed much amused, and said when he was tired and lay down
to sleep, it took a good deal to awake him. I asked him how
he could live in such a country. He remarked he had a large
family, and wanted to have plenty of land for them. "Be
sides," said he, "it is not in the nature of things for this
condition to continue long; soon good settlers will come in
and drive those fellows off — like the bears and the wolves,
they clear out as civilization approaches." The event proves
that he was right; for, now, the population is very good,
the inhabitants kind and hospitable. But it was a long time
before those counterfeiters vanished ; and they did incalcu
lable mischief while they remained. Many a boat-load of

THE PILOT OF, HUMAN LIFE. 199
produce was purchased by them with their spurious mo
ney, and the vendors would only know their loss when
afterwards they would attempt to pass their money. There
was no use in trying to get redress; a majority of the
population were their friends. They were finally, however,
compelled to retire as an honest population came in, and
they went to Wolfe Island. At last they were driven from
there, and went to some island several hundred miles lower
down the Mississippi, where they became more daring and
desperate — often enticing in boats to trade, murdering the
crews, and taking possession of the cargoes. There was
some difficulty, too, in detecting them, for, in the first place,
it is ten to one, if the boat were seen there, whether any one
would suspect anything wrong; and if they did, and went
with a force sufficient to overcome them, they would see
the boat, perhaps a part of the cargo; the claimants
would say they had purchased it of men who had taken their
pay, and gone down or up the river. If the men were mur
dered, their bodies would be thrown at night into the river,
to float a hundred miles or so, before they would be dis
covered — if discovered at all. But there is an old saying, on
the Mississippi, that " that river never gives up its dead.
They sink, never to rise again." The cause of this is said to
be the quantity of sediment in the water, which settles
upon the clothes, or in the dead man, and keeps him down.
Many an anxious father, or mother, or wife, has looked for
the return of the son or husband, who has gone down with
a cargo made up by all of his earnings, perhaps for years,
who has never returned, and whose death has been charged
to cholera or yellow fever among strangers, but who was
robbed and murdered by this gang.
Their outrages, however, became finally so evident that
a company was made up at some town on the Mississippi,
which went to the island, surrounded it, and executed every
man upon it. This seems to have closed their career. I have

200 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
heard nothing of any such since. This summary justice may
seem harsh to some ; but in a country where the laws can
not be made to reach the evil, there seems no alternative.
These fellows never could be punished by law, proof to con
vict them never could be obtained, and if an outraged publid,
under such circumstances, sooner than submit to having their
• fellow-citizens thus murdered with impunity, should take
justice into their own hands, the necessity for ¦ the act is
rather to be regretted than the act itself. It may seem
strange that any law-abiding man should be willing to tole
rate violence unsanctioned by the law. But what is to be
done ? Self-preservation demands their extirpation, and the
law will not, or cannot do it. Are these fellows to be allowed
to continue their murders because they manage to evade the
law ? There were the Harps and Masons in Union County,
Kentucky, who forted themselves in on the Ohio River, be
fore steam-boats commenced running, and had a company so
Strong that no force, which could be raised in the county,
could take them. They began by levying tribute upon every
boat which passed down the Ohio, for they even had can
non. The tribute which they levied was small, and evinced
at first an uncommon moderation for freebooters, and no step
was taken to conquer them ; but, finally, they became more
daring, and murdered some of the citizens of the county —
among the rest a young girl. Her father now determined
never to rest until he had his revenge. Those fellows had
the country under such fear of them that they would go out
trading, and transacting business, notwithstanding their out
lawed conduct. They believed the settlers would not at
tempt to arrest them for fear of the consequences. This
man, whose daughter was murdered, watched continually to
catch some of them out of their fort, and, at last, caught the
Big Harp (there were two, called Big and Little), meeting
him in the road, being between Harp and his fort. Harp
saw him at some distance, and knew his danger. He turned

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 201
and put spurs to his horse, which was a very fleet one; the
father had also provided himself with a fleet horse, and
Harp did not gain much upon him ; but the father could not
shoot with any assurance of killing him, unless very close,
and, if he missed, he was then in Harp's power. So he con
tinued to pursue him, and they run in this way a great dis
tance, but the father's horse was rather the best bottom, and
he finally overtook Harp, and shot him. But he did not fall,
yet it was evident he was hit, though he stuck to his horse,
still being pursued relentlessly, until finally he fell. The
father now dismounted to dispatch him; Harp told him
he should not resist him; but, if he would bring him a little
water, he might kill him. He lay near a tree. The father
lifted him to, and set him up against it; and then went a
little way to a branch, from which, in the brim of his hat, he
carried Harp some water, and, while he was drinking, re
loaded his rifle, and shot him. Then, with his knife, such
as all hunters carried, cut off his head, and stuck it on a
pole at a fork of the road between Henderson and Madison-
ville, which place, from that circumstance, was called, and is
to this day, "Harp's Head." A novel has been written on
this event, called " Harp's Head." These men now found
they would have to quit the country, and did so, scattering
their forces ; some went down about the Iron Banks, where
they were hunted and killed, and the rest, it is believed,
shared pretty much the same fate. Since then no such
piracies have been known on the Ohio. But it was only
last year that a finish of them was made on the Mississippi.
To return to my narrative : After making the best break
fast our means would allow of, we paid the boy and prepared
to resume our surveying, our convict host not having made
his appearance.
The details of our progress would be needless ; suffice it to
say, it was soon found, as we agreed on the mode in which
the surveys ought to be made, to conform to the entries, my

202 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
further presence was deemed needless, and I took my de
parture. The way in which the things of this world go by accident
or fashion is illustrated by the settlement of this country.
Here are to be found some lands as rich as any in the world,
below obstruction by low water or ice, and from which the
produce can be got to market when it cannot be from the
Ohio, and the land here can even at this day be purchased
at from $3 to $5 per acre, which would cost on the Ohio
River from $20 to $50. This is, in a measure,- owing to
the fact that the stream of emigration has never yet been
directed to this point, because of the original character of
the population. That population is all gone, but the recollec
tion of it has a deadening effect.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
PLAN FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT: — TRIP TO THE YELLOW
BANKS.
If some dozen families would contribute $1000 each, and
employ an agent to lay it out judiciously in this section, all
in one body, divide the same into as many parts as there
were contributors, and sell the same at auction among them
selves for common benefit, reserving, however, a school tract
in a central position, say of 200 acres, they would overcome
the existing obstacle to the lands rising in value, to wit: the
presumed want of society. The first choice could be offered
at auction to the highest bidder, then the second, and so on.
All the fund raised in this way over and above cost might
be laid out in adjoining lands for the benefit of the society;

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 203
and I venture to say that the lands so settled would soon
rise in value from 500 to 1000 per cent.
As it is society, mainly, which gives value to lands in the
west, I wonder that there are not more combinations of this
kind. Suppose a family designs moving to Iowa, Minnesota,
Illinois, or any western State; such is the general emigration
west, that, by a little pains, such a club could be formed,
and derive great mutual benefit from the combination. It is
the only kind of socialism where every man will be left free
to enjoy the benefit, of his own capital, his own industry,
and his own good management and intelligence, and conse
quently the only kind which is feasible and practicable. But
those who own slaves could not find a better region than this
for such a settlement, the lands are owned by individuals,
and if credit was desirable it could generally be obtained,
thereby enabling the purchaser to provide much more land
than he otherwise could. The passage of the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad through this country is also to add greatly to
its value.
While, in taking leave of Col. Taylor, I left with regret a
man whose short acquaintance had won much on my esteem,
I confess I felt gratified at the idea of getting into, a region
where more personal comfort was to be found.
About ten miles on my road, I came to where there seemed
to have been a small Indian settlement — no house or inclosr
ure, but a small opening in a dense forest; Here I stopped
for a moment to contemplate the change. Nature all around
never had a wilder aspect to me, rendered the more palpable
by the presence of this little opening, or prairie. There was
not a bird, nor a squirrel, nor a living thing to disturb the
awful silence which prevailed among the huge forest trees.
I threw my right leg over the ponimel of the saddle, and so
sat, enjoying the lonely solitude, when the sudden cracking
of the sticks upon the ground caught my ear, and the next
moment I found myself flat upon tho earth. The bounding of

204 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
,a deer past had scared my horse, caused him to jump from
under me, and leave me prostrate. Away he went, wildly
through the woods, I knew not where. Rising up and look
ing around, I now felt my loneliness in reality — not even
my horse to keep me company, and in a region infested by
bears and wolves in abundance ; very probably this deer
might be fleeing from their pursuit. Upon the possibility of
such an event, I sought a small tree to climb — too small for
the grasp of a bear, by the side of which I stood, ready to
mount if occasion should require. Here I felt inclined to
adopt the exclamation of the fellow who, being shipwrecked
at sea, saved himself in an open boat ; but this being upset,
he got upon her bottom, and was likely to be washed off by
every wave that came, when he exclaimed —
" Hail Columbia, happy land !
If I ain't ruined, I'll be banged."
Pursuit was needless; I could not tell which way he would
go; so here I stood, not knowing what to do, when I heard
a galloping in a different direction, and presently my
horse came dashing back to the spot which he had left me
at, but not finding me, he gave a violent snort, when I
walked towards him, and he came to me, so that I got
hold of his bridle. The wildness of the country doubt
less frightened him, and he came back for protection. I
now mounted him and pursued my journey. The waters
being down, I reached the Yellow Banks without any diffi
culty, and put up at Mrs. Adams's tavern — my old stopping-
place ; and although she had not a brick chimney to her
house, she had everything very neat and tidy, and her meals
well cooked ; indeed, everything as good and comfortable as
her means would admit of, and three pretty daughters to set
' off the whole to advantage.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 205

CHAPTER XL.
STORY OF MISS RHODY SHERMAHORN.
Here I met with Col. Lowry, from Virginia, who had
been down on the Cumberland River to hunt up some lands
of his. "Well, sir," said I, "you found an awfully rough
country?" " Oh, not at all," said he ; "you found the Iron
Banks country rough, I suppose; but I was in the centre of
fashion and gayety." " Ah !" I remarked, " I was not
aware there were any such settlements in that region."
"Oh, bless your heart," he rejoined; "why, sir, I found
myself behind the times ! — ' late,' as the negroes say in my
country. I. found I ' didn't know nothing, and always did,'
when I got -there. I was at a ball, where all the intelligence
and fashion of the country were assembled — a brilliant affair
it was, too." " Indeed !" I continued. " Oh, yes, sir, and
the belle of the evening was a dashing girl, I tell you."
"You have reached the condition of brick chimneys, then ?"
said I. "Why, not quite," he remarked; "but we had the
floor very well rammed, until it was as hard and smooth as
a treading-floor." "Ah !" I remarked, now comprehending
his waggery. " Yes," he continued, " and I had a friend
there who was very much disposed to make a lion of me, and
so took me up to introduce me to the belle. She was, as I
said, a famous girl. Oh, she was dressed to kill ; she had
on both shoes and stockings; and indeed most of them woro
shoes, and were the kindest-hearted creatures in the world.
If one was asked to dance who had no shoes, one who had.
would take them off and lend them to her. I saw my
friend looked very self-complacent, and proud, of every-
18

206 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
thing around him — indeed, his looks very plainly told me
that he supposed we had nothing like that in old Virginia;
and mine as plainly answered nothing, for I thought they
took the shine off the ginger-cake. Feeling anxious to take
a hand in the next break-down, I asked this friend of mine
to introduce me to the belle. I felt smitten by her at first
sight. She was a splendid girl, I tell you ; she wore a
splendid calico dress, full of peacocks and game-fowls on it,
and all other things to correspond. Oh, she was dressed to
kill, and her eyes were so bright that it made a fellow
almost sneeze to look her in the face. We approached her
sitting on a bench, in all the conscious pride of undivided
power. 'Bliss Shimmyhorn,' said he (Miss Rhody Sherma-
horn was her name, pronounced there Shimmyhorn), 'let
me introduce you to my friend Colonel Lowry, of Virginia.'
She looked perplexed, and made no answer. Supposing she
did not understand, he repeated the request, when she uttered
a very emphatic ' No, sir !' I, being very much embarrassed,
retired, and my friend with me. 'What does this mean?'
said I. 'I can't understand it,' he replied; ' there's some
thing wrong — a screw loose somewhere ; I will endeavor to
find out,' said he to me before going; ' she is somewhat
spoiled here ; she is the great toast among us, and is very
punctilious, and I apprehend she imagines we have violated
some rule of etiquette : however, I will soon find out.' So he
went up to her, and said : ' Miss Rhody, will you do me the
favor to inform me why you refused to be introduced to my
friend Col. Lowry ?' She looked at him with a manifesta
tion of scorn, and said : ' John Shanks, you ain't got no
manners, and never did have any !' ' Why, Miss Rhody !'
said he; ' I assure you I am unconscious of having offended
you; please inform me in what I have done it.' 'Why/
said she, ' you fool ! do you think I have become so brazen
faced as to let him kiss me here before all the company f
No, he sha'n't do that, if he is Col. Lowry of Virginia .'' and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 207
here being asked to dance, she bounced up, and my friend
came to report the result to me. Well, thinks I, so much
for not understanding the etiquette of society here. I said
to my friend : ' What shall I do ? I wish to dance with some
of those girls.' ' Very well,' he replied, ' lay aside your city
fashions, and go and ask 'em.' So I laid aside my city
fashions, and enjoyed myself very much, and even danced
with Miss Rhody, whom I found very affable, and I apolo
gized for asking the introduction when I did, saying I would
take it after the ball was over. ' Very well,' she replied,
with an arch smile ; ' there is a season for all things.' "
We all laughed heartily at this relation of his ball adven
tures, and I found him a man of infinite humor and fun,
with whose society I was much entertained while we were
together.

CHAPTER XLI.
THE A  SETTLEMENT.
Setting out for Frankfort, I had to call on my way at
P  's .32,400 acre survey to do some business there.
Along-side of this survey was a settlement of five or six Vir
ginia families, made as I have advised at the Iron Banks,
chiefly of the A  s, an intelligent, refined, and hos
pitable people. Here I found it very convenient to stop a
day or two, in my passages to and fro ; the only objection
was the difficulty in getting away. There is a heartfelt,
genuine sincerity in the character of these old Virginians
which is truly delightful. They are generally improvident
and uncalculating, and will have good dinners, fox-hunts,
and races at any cost, and regardless of consequences. Such

208 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
was the case here to some extent, but not with all. There
was one who, with all his fine Virginia feelings, had a keen
eye for the future, and took especial care not to let the end
of any one year find him worse off than he was at the be
ginning. He had two beautiful daughters, neither grown,
the eldest probably fourteen. They had seen but little of
society, and yet how charmingly refined their manners were !
Their very mode of dressing, of tucking up their hair, of
handling the ivory netting-needle, of sewing, every movement
about them showed, in racer's phrase, the "Diomede blood."
Neither the log-cabin nor rags could have obscured their
gentle raising. It was ingrained in their nature. An evi
dence of this I had many years after the time I am now
writing of, for this delightful settlement in time became
scattered. The gentleman I have just been speaking of
died. His daughters married, and sons went into business.
Another also died ; and a third, whose wife died, afterwards
married again. He was what in the West is termed a whole-
souled fellow ; that is, a man who will lend his name without
sufficiently calculating the consequences; the effect of which
was that he had finally to sell out. But he too had a family
of beautiful daughters, one of whom only it became my for
tune to know. She was probably not in existence at the
time I have been writing of, but was the daughter of his first
wife; and finding, when she came to years of discretion, that
her father could not support her, she determined to take a
school and support herself. I was driving one morning into
the town of New Haven, in the county of Nelson, a very
small village, with an honest, industrious population, but no
sign of fashion about it. On the opposite side of the street
from the hotel at which I stopped, I saw a young lady enter
a store. Her air, grace, and the lout ensemble about her sa
tisfied me she did not belong there. There was something
remarkable about her, and I asked the hotel-keeper who she
was. He answered she was a young lady who was keeping

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 209
school a few miles in the country. I remarked she was a
lady; I could see it in her every movement. " Yes," said
the keeper, " she is a Miss A  , from Breckenridge
County." " What !" said I. He repeated the answer, and
mentioned whose daughter she was. " Why, I knew her
father well; have been a hundred times at his house. How
came she here ?" He then gave me her history, and said,
" poor though she was, she had been courted by one of their
wealthiest farmers, and had refused him; that he was not a
man of education, but very well to do in the world. "
" Humph !" said I. *' Well, sir, you must introduce me to
her." He said she would call at his house presently, which
she did, going into the private part of the house, and we
went in. On being introduced, I told her I was an old ac
quaintance of her father's. She said she had often heard
him speak of me. I found her very' intelligent, interesting,
and beautiful, and withal cheerful, and resigned to her lot.
Upon inquiring of her how she spent her leisure hours, she
replied she had not many of them; but with a sweet laugh,
as if the. thing were ridiculous, she answered, among other
things she was trying her hand as an authoress. What a
pity, thought I, that some clever fellow, all things suiting,
could not have you for a wife. I left her with a feeling of
regret.

18*

210 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER XLII.
PURCHASE OF MASON — SECOND SALE OF LAND AT THE
YELLOW BANKS — TRIP TO VIRGINIA.
But how I am wandering ! Yet ever so from childhood's
hour a pretty girl could always attract me. But to return.
In the neighborhood I have been speaking of, I met with
Major Richard B. Mason, of the United States Army, who
was related to the A  s, and was staying with them.
He held the legal title to the claims at the Yellow Banks,
which interfered with Ross and Mays. He proposed to
exchange his claim there for 1200 acres of the P. survey, and
though I was not authorized to exchange lands, I concluded
to do it, and charge myself with the land exchanged at valu
ation, and take the claim myself, which I had been sent to
Washington to compromise, and to complete that arrange
ment. But finally, finding what I got was a great bargain for
what I gave, I concluded, in order to avoid all ground of cen
sure, I would turn it over to the P  s. I was now ready for
a third land-sale, and so advertised on my arrival in Frankfort.
In due time this took place with a very large company, and
although the lands, compared with present prices, sold very
low, yet with prices as then ranging, they sold uncommonly
well. J. L. M  , one of the chief owners, who was present,
said they went far beyond his expectations.
This was in consequence of the low price at which the
lands had gone at the previous sales. Persons expected to
be supplied at similar rates, but, more attending than could
be supplied, it was evident some must return landless, and
so the bidding was very spirited. I purchased more than

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 211
twenty years afterwards some of the property sold at that
sale for less than it cost; and sold twenty years after, for
less than cost and interest, some which I bought at that
sale. My commissions amounted, I think, as well as I can
recollect, to over six thousand dollars, though now B 
came in for one-fourth. After he had lived with me one
year without any agreement about salary, I directed him to
credit himself with one thousand dollars, and then told him
I would give him one-fourth of the future profits of the busi
ness in lieu of salary; this was before the sale.
I now prepared to go to Virginia for another general set
tling up. I never liked more than two years to pass with
out clearing the decks, paying up, and getting clear receipts.
This had a good effect. It kept me familiar with those for
whom I was doing business, inspired them with confidence,
and enabled me to make acquaintances from whom I got
fresh business; although I now had as much as I could
do, and my income for the last year had been much greater
than any previous year.
On starting in, I took letters of introduction from J. J.
Crittenden to Henry Clay, which I did not deliver, however,
until passing through Washington on my return trip. My
first step on reaching Virginia was to go to Norfolk to see
my mother, who seemed to think me on the high-road to
fortune. She was an excellent mother, and told -me many
things of value. While in Norfolk, I met with Miss P  ,
a beautiful and fascinating girl, a great belle, and very rich.
Her sister, Mrs. T  , was an old acquaintance of mine.
I spent much time with Miss P  , but I had in my own
mind a destiny to fulfil, and I would not allow myself to fall
in love. Returning to Richmond, I settled up with all
claimants there, and then went to Amelia, where Judge
Bouldin was holding court, and closed with him, thence to
Petersburg, and closed with every one there. Now being
free to enjoy myself, I again returned to Richmond, there

212 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
had an interview with Governor Tyler in regard to the mili-
tary surveys, and my action on them. I had addressed the
Legislature of Kentucky, with a view to obtain permission
to lay the unlocated warrants, but unsuccessfully. The,
governor was satisfied with my course. But there was now
a blank in my enjoyments — the lovely F. L  was out of
town.

CHAPTER XLIII.
MEET WITH MISS P  .
After a little while, I concluded to go to Norfolk again,
and started down on the steam-boat " Petersburg," in com
pany with two acquaintances, Lieutenants Kennon and Mc-
Grudor, of the United States Navy, two noble fellows, as all
our naval officers are. The day was beautiful, and we en
joyed it much. On arriving at City Point, I heard the cap
tain tell one of the stewards to " heave ahead" and bring in
General P  's baggage. I was acquainted with the gene
ral, and was glad to find he was coming on board, for he had
always a smile of welcome to his friends, with a sunshine of
benevolence on his countenance, which told that he was in
peace with all human nature, and yet with a firmness and
resolution as determined as Andrew Jackson's. The reso
lutions of censure against General Jackson for hanging Ar-
buthnot and Ambrister came up while General P  was
in Congress, and he was one out of only fifteen who voted
for them. Afterwards, when General Jackson was elected
President, General P  , being then Marshal of Virginia,
under an appointment from Mr. Monroe, presuming, of
course, as all the opponents of General Jackson were to be
removed, as was understood, he would be among the fore-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 213
most, sent in his commission; but it was returned to him
with a complimentary letter from General Jackson, hoping
he would continue to serve.
Now came the general on board with a young lady under
his arm. It was his daughter V  , to whom he intro
duced us all three. She was fourteen years of age, spare
made, but very symmetrical, in a travelling-dress, with the
fairest skin I almost ever saw, the rose and lily beautifully
mingling; with bright hazel eyes, a nose a very little arched,
or Roman ; a mouth exquisitely sweet and beautiful, of such
a classic chiselling that the most fastidious painter or sculptor
would be satisfied with it as a model; the chin in corre
spondence, and the forehead fair and capacious. Her hair
was of a rich auburn, and beautifully glossy. I thought I
had never seen so pretty a thing in human shape, and had no
idea that a mere child could have made such an impression
on me. Her manners were easy and self-possessed. There
was nothing childish about her but her age. She had the
refinement of a Virginia country lady accustomed to city so
ciety. There was no mannerism, no pretence, nothing but
the natural well-bred lady about her. If I were to search
the world for a lovely woman, the loveliest of her sex, I
would seek her from a refined country family in Virginia or
Kentucky. It is there, in the country, that you will find re
finement and good sense, which sees everything through a
natural medium, and is superior to the affectations of the
conventional fashions of the day. Oh, there is something of
lovely originality, freshness, and purity in such a character,
which charms on first sight. Her mind was, -if possible, more
lovely than her person. She had evidently read a great deal
for a girl of fourteen, and of substantial reading, had well
digested it, and made it a part of her own mind. Without
the least pedantry or vanity, she had a distinct opinion upon
any named subject, and expressed herself with ease, in chaste,
beautiful, and appropriate language. I was attracted by her

214 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
on her first entering upon the boat, and continued in con
versation with her until we landed in Norfolk, where I saw
her to her boarding-house, and promised to call next day.
On going to my brother's and Major S  's (they married
sisters, and the gentlemen and their wives were all so at
tached to each other that they lived in the. same house as
one family, until the size of their families made it necessary
to separate. I doubt whether another instance of such har
mony and affection could be anywhere found), I related my
adventures on the way down, and described Miss P  .
My sister-in-law and Mrs. S  both laughed heartily.
" Well, R.," said they, " you surely are in love at last.
None but a lover could dress up poor human nature as your
fancy has sketched Miss P  ." "When you see her,"
said I, " you will not call it a fancy sketch." The next day
they visited her with me.
On returning, Mrs. S. said, "R., I am as much in love
with her as you are ; I do not think you have exaggerated at
all." My sister-in-law rejoined, " Not a bit, not a particle.
She is the loveliest little thing I ever saw. And, oh ! so re
fined and intelligent. Oh! you have my consent, boy; I'm
clear for it. But, I tell you, she's not going to Kentucky. .
You must come to Virginia if you get her." I replied, " It
would be time enough to settle that question three or four
years hence, when she was grown." While we were visiting
Miss P  , Bliss P  r came in to' see her, and spent
about an hour. In the course of the day afterwards, I called
on Miss P  r, and, during our conversation, made some
remark, a little touched with gallantry. " Oh, look here,"
said she ; " none of that now, if you please. I have seen
enough this morning to satisfy me ; if I ever had any hopes
of you, they are now at an end ; Miss P  has you secure
in her net. I never saw a poor fellow so far gone in so short
a time." " Why," I replied, " she is a mere child ;" to
which she answered, " Child, or no child, she has you fast."

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 215
General P  was now invited on board some of our
ships-of-war, to Old Point Comfort, and I with them ; and
we spent several days delightfully, I believing that my atten
tions were by no means unacceptable. After about a week,
General P  returned to Petersburg, and I should have gone
with them but for my unwillingness to acknowledge that I
was captivated by such a mere child. Nevertheless, she was
not such a mere child but that she could see the fact, and I
could see that she was disappointed when she found I was
not going. Having a niece, however, living in Petersburg,
Blrs. Wm. H. McF  , I had a good excuse to go there,
followed in a few days, and, on my arrival, found Miss P 
at Mr. M  's. She seemed evidently gratified to see me,
and said she was afraid she had seen me for the last time. I
replied she would forfeit one of thehigh attributes I had allotted
her, sincerity, if I thought she expected me to believe her ;
that she, unfortunately for me probably, saw deeper into my
feelings than it was prudent for me she should.
The next day Miss R  , a beautiful girl, and herself, pro
posed a ramble to the Appomattox. I alone went with them.
We went out into the river upon the rocks, jumping over
the gushing waters from rock to rock, where I would often
have to jump down to a lower rock to receive them, and was
not such a pilot as to select the smoothest passages, but those
where most help would be needed, and a delightful ramble it
was. The moss-covered rocks, and roaring waters in among
them, foaming, dashing, and plunging, with those two young
innocents, like fawns skipping over them^it was a scene for
a painter. Several days I spent in Petersburg, and my niece
discovered my partiality; like my friends in Norfolk, guarded
me against committing myself, saying : " She would never go
to Kentucky, and, if she would, that I should have the oppo
sition of all her friends to encounter." I replied, " She was
too young for me to think of courting her ; that was out of

216 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
the question now. What a few years might bring around I
did not know."
On the day of my departure, I went to take leave of her,
at Battersea, Judge 31  's residence, where she made her
home while in Petersburg, her father living about sixteen miles
in the country. She asked me how long it would be before
I would return to Virginia. I replied, about two years.
" By which time," she continued, " you will have forgotten
us all." "You hardly think so, I imagine?" I replied.
" Well," said she, "we shall often think of you, and you
must not forget us." "Never," I replied; "I, can never
forget you." On taking leave, my vanity induced me to think
she looked sorrowful. On arriving in Richmond, I related
all my adventures to G  . I now prepared to take my final
departure, going around among my relatives and friends. Mrs.
P  , a cousin, charging me to take care of that bewitch
ing Miss Shermahorn ; having, on my first arrival, related
Colonel Lowry's adventures, but pretending that I was my
self the hero, and to her infinite amusement.

CHAPTER XLIV.
VISIT TO JUDGE BROOK — FIRST INTERVIEW WITH ME.
CLAY — HIS NATIONAL POLICY — THE ERROR OF VIRGINIA
IN OPPOSING IT.
On my way out, I passed through Fredericksburg, and, a
few miles on the south side, called on Judge B  , the
especial friend of Mr. Clay, who was then in nomination
for the Presidency. Judge B — ¦ — was very warm in his
admiration, and sanguine in his hopes ; too much so, I
thought. BIy association in Richmond had brought mo to
a different conclusion. Judge B  gave me letters to

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 217
Mr. Clay, and such as were calculated to give me his con
fidence. With my relatives in Fredericksburg, I spent a day
or two. My aunt, Mrs. S  , was a magnificent woman.
I, was always delighted in her company. Mr. Bladison,
while President, in passing from Washington to his resi
dence, in Orange County, always made Mr. S  's his
stopping-place in Fredericksburg. I doubt not the society of
Mrs. S  had a great attraction for him. And she had a
daughter, not less attractive to me ; but now my fancy was
otherwise filled. There was an affection and good feeling
prevailing among all the branches of this family, the result
of the wise teaching of their mother, which made them all
happy, and kept most of them in Frederieksburg, that they
might be always together ; while most of* their friends have
scattered everywhere, sometimes rich, oftener poor, but en
countering all the vicissitudes of fortune, with the anxieties
and uneasinesses necessarily consequent thereon; while those
of Fredericksburg, occupying a medium ground, never hoping
nor caring to be rich, lived always handsomelyand plentifully,
being contenf with the affection and society of each other,
and the friends around them, discarding ambition and the
vain aspirations of the common world ; they showed a good
sense, self-control, and correct philosophy, which are not com
mon, and are only to be appreciated when we compare their
happy, quiet, contented condition, with the restless enter
prise and constantly changing fortunes of their more ambi
tious relatives.
I now proceeded on to Washington, and delivered my let
ters of introduction to Blr. Clay. He received me cordially ;
but somehow, not as I expected ; there was a loftiness about
him despite of his courtesy which was, I presume, the natural
result of a constant association in Washington with men who
were always paying court to him and cringing before him,
but which was repulsive to me, and I was for a little while
disappointed. There was a decided elegance and courtliness
19

218 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
of manner, but such a loftiness that I felt as if I could not
get within ten feet of him. I was hurt, not at any disre
spect, but I had such an admiration of the man's character
that I wanted to love him, but I felt as if I could not do it,
and left him after the first interview with a feeling of melan
choly. He told me I must call often to see him, while I was
in Washington : " Call up at any time, and take my coffee,"
which I construed to mean, " I have no time for ceremony
with one of your years." I was so puzzled and put out by
his manner that I made no reply.
In my own mind I determined not to go to see him any more.
And with this feeling left him, a good deal lowered in my
own self-esteem. However, I consoled myself with the con
clusion that I was ignorant of Washington manners, and had
only to regret that they were such as would preclude my
mixing with its great men. It would be difficult to convey
a true idea of my feelings. I admired Mr. Clay. I believed
him to be the greatest man in our country. I was anxious
to have cause to continue to admire him. He could not
intend any disrespect ; there was no motive for it. On the
contrary, every inducement to the reverse. It was, then, that
I was too young to be considered entitled to any such respect
as a visit from him. Perhaps so — perhaps I was, and I began
to compromise the matter that I would still be his friend, but
would not repeat my visit.
In the evening of the same day, however, while in my
room, the servant brought me Mr. Clay's card, saying he
was below, wishing to see me. I went down and invited
him to my room. He remained about an hour, making in
quiries in regard to Judge Brook, Mr. Crittenden, and his
other Kentucky friends, and was altogether a different man
from what he was in the morning. His friendships, sympa
thies, and good feelings for his acquaintances, seemed all to
come out. How was this ? thought I. The answer suggested
itself, that, when I called in the morning, I probably found

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 219
him engaged upon some important State matter, and his
mind could not be released from it while I was with him;
and while talking to me, he was thinking of other things.
Now he had thrown off those State matters, and was in his
sociable and agreeable humor. He was then Secretary of
State, and I will here take occasion to correct an error which
I have seen going the rounds of the papers, that Mrs. Clay
was never in Washington. To my own knowledge she was,
for I saw her there. The conversation turning upon Judge
Brook's letter, I remarked, "I feared the judge was over-
sanguine." He asked my reasons. I answered : " My as
sociations had probably been more promiscuous than the
judge's. I had mixed a good deal with both parties, and I
apprehend that Virginia was afraid of his American system.
She was odd in her notions, and sometimes took up very un
reasonable ones ; but having taken them up, there was great
pride of consistency, and she would adhere to them with
great pertinacity. There were men in Virginia who had
been in the habit of controlling public opinion, and who
were not willing to be led by others. If they themselves
could have originated his system, they would probably have
adopted it; being, however, originated by another, if they
gave in to it, they must play a secondary part, and they
would prefer being first in opposition." He seemed a good
deal affected at my opinion, and I regretted having so freely
given it, and remarked, " that, however, I might be mistaken,
and probably was, for I had not been long in the State, and
my opinions were formed from a short association." "No,
sir," said he, "your opinions are correct, and your advantages
for learning public opinion better than those of older men.
Old politicians would speak freely before you, but would be
cautious before older men ; and as you are not yet old enough
to have become hackneyed in the ways of politicians, you
speak the true impressions made upon your mind. Your in
terest and your wishes do not bias your judgment. I would

220 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
rather," said he, " rely on your opinion now, than probably
ten years hence." (I presume he went upon the maxim that
" Fools and children speak the truth.") Blr. Clay seemed
always especially anxious for the good opinion of his native
State, and hurt that she always opposed him. And this is
singular, for all his measures were especially, as I conceive,
calculated to advance the interest of Virginia. No State in
the Union has more latent wealth in the shape of water-
power, coal, and iron (Pennsylvania perhaps excepted), only
needing the fostering care of the general government to bring
them into life, but for want of which, the water-power is
wasted, and her minerals lie buried in the earth valueless.
His proposition, too, for distributing the proceeds of the
sales of the public lands, was, as I conceive, the wisest mea
sure which he ever originated, although it is least noticed,
and, as far as I have seen, entirely omitted in the eulogiums
upon his life and public services by those who have under
taken to deliver them. Had that law been permitted to con
tinue, that fruitful source of demagogueism, the public lands,
would have been withdrawn, and with it one of the greatest
causes for corrupting the political integrity of the country.
Now it is a fund to offer for presidential votes, and is squan
dered in a most licentious manner, and most partially and
unjustly. Virginia, who originally ceded the greater por
tion of it to the general government, sees millions upon mil
lions of acres ceded to the new States, to make railways and
other public improvements, but no part of it comes to her,
By Mr. Clay's bill, she would have received about two hun
dred thousand dollars per annum to expend in railways and
education, for the condition of the payment was that it should
be so expended. This, at the present rate, would have paid
interest, probably, on four millions of dollars, which, under
a well-managed system, would have distributed railroads
throughout the State; for I would never have railroads to
cost over $4,000,000 progressing at any one time. Let them

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 221
be finished, or a portion of them, before commencing any
more, and go on as fast as the revenues arising from the
finished portions would pay interest on further sums to be
raised. Thus, when works to the extent .of one million were
completed, they would probably yield five per cent., which
would borrow one million more. Now, again, start works to
that amount, and so on continually extending as the revenue
increased. It is easy to see, if the works were judiciously
planned, how, in time, railroads might, by means of this fund,
have been made to penetrate every part, and without any ex
pense to the State ; developing immeasurable wealth, which
must otherwise be buried in the bowels of the earth until
the cheap transportation, which railroads would furnish, shall
cause a demand for them. The plaster of Paris, in the neigh
borhood of Abingdon, would be a source of great wealth, if
it had vent. The southern trade, which would come by way
of the Nashville and Richmond Railroad, if completed, would
make Richmond a great manufacturing town. All of those
benefits would have resulted from continuing in force the
Distribution law. The Old States — the Old Thirteen — which
originally ceded the greater part of the public lands, would
have obtained their full share of the proceeds of their sales.
But no, it must be repealed, and this rich fund squandered
in political corruptions. Some argue that the law was un
constitutional ! Was it unconstitutional to let all the States
share the benefit, but constitutional to confine those benefits
to a few ? The truth is, it was Mr. Clay's law, and such was
the feeling of jealousy prevailing against him, that, sooner
than let the country thrive under his direction, his opponents
preferred to let her suffer; hence, they repealed one of the
very best laws upon the national statute-hook. This feeling
was never more clearly evidenced than in the Compromise
Laws. Mr. Clay offered one bill embracing them all. This
Congress rejected, because the credit of its passage would
inure to Mr. Clay. But afterwards they took up the several
19*

222 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
branches of his bill, and, one after another, passed them all,
vainly supposing thereby that they would deprive him of the
credit of the authorship. But vain was the hope — the object
was too shallow. He has the credit of it, and will forever
have it. To the same feeling may be traced the general
policy of our country. It has been not what Blr. Clay's
political opponents thought was for its advantage, but what
was in opposition to the measures which he advocated.
Among the rest, the improvement of our rivers and harbors
by the general government. For the want of this, thousands*
of lives and millions of property have been annually lost.
Why was this ? Not because the nation willed it, but be
cause politicians were unwilling to add to the brilliancy of a
luminary whose light already too effectually obscured the
lesser stars. No earthly ground could be found for opposing
such appropriations but its pretended unconstitutionality.
Then the rivers must fill up with snags, navigation cease be
cause of the sublimated scruples of those fastidious politicians
who would ruin their country to avoid the danger of doing
what they pretended to consider an unconstitutional act.
Why, what sort of bumpkins do they suppose our forefathers
were, to make a constitution which should prohibit the pas
sage of laws indispensable to the security of our lives and
property ? Or what was the meaning of that clause which
authorized laws necessary "for the public good and general
welfare?" But, say they, take this clause literally, and it
abrogates the whole of the restrictions of the constitution.
Was it then meaningless? Why was it put in? For the
very reason that there might be cases, beyond the ken of the
members of the convention, where it would be indispensable
for Congress to have power to act, and this clause was de
signed to give that power in such extreme cases, while the
general tenor of the constitution was to be taken as an ex
pression of the meaning and intention of the convention. I
am far from advocating a licentious construction of the con-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 223
stitution. On the contrary, I am for construing it strictly,
with due respect for good sense. But, according to my view,
the convention never intended to deprive Congress of the right
to do an act which the States could not do, and which the
public good required. Thus, if Congress could not remove
the snags from the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, what power
can? These rivers divide States throughout their whole
course until they come to Louisiana, and for the States to act,
the two opposite States, all along the boundary, must form a
league, the river belonging to them equally; but this league
is prohibited by the constitution, except with the consent of
Congress. And neither would those States have a right with
out the consent of the others, because the navigation of the
river is the common property of all. As I conceive, the
constitution cannot be so construed as to annihilate a right
of sovereignty. It must exist with the States or the general
government. This does not exist with the States, because,
as aforesaid, the constitution prohibits a league among them;
therefore, it does exist with the general government.
The protective system is another of Mr. Clay's measures,
the wisdom of which is shown by its effects on our prosperity,
on which it acts as heat on mercury in a thermometer, or as
manure upon a meadow; its presence is seen whenever it
exists, and as it is withdrawn, so go its fertilizing effects.
Take one year, at any time after an increase of the tariff, and
you will discover an unusual prosperity prevailing ; take a
year after its decrease, and you will see the evident signs of
approaching ruin.
Look to the years '29 and '30, and then the gradual fall
ing off to '42 — the grand crisis having arrived in '39. Then
look to the prosperity succeeding '42, until a reduction of
the tariff in '46, and the general prostration which im
mediately followed, and which would have resulted in
national bankruptcy but for the discovery of gold in Cali
fornia, which has served to pay up the thirty or forty millions

224 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
of deficit, which would otherwise exist between our imp
and exports. With a command of prosperity unexampled,
we have blindly surrendered it all to England. We com
mand the cotton supply of the world — that of the East
Indies, Egypt, and South America being of comparatively
little consequence.
Our exports of cotton ought to be a clear gain to us, and
our imports ought to be paid for by our other exports. But
so far from that being the case, it takes all our cotton, and
from thirty to forty millions of our California gold to bal
ance our imports. Such would not have been the case, had
the policy of Henry Clay prevailed ; and it would have pre
vailed, had he not been the author of it. It is said there is
no evil without an accompanying good. While Mr. Clay's
death has caused, a mourning through the nation among his
friends, it is to be hoped that it will now quiet hostility to
his measures among his opponents, and that they will set
themselves to work for their country's good.
Time will unfold his value, and show to his country how
ungratefully she has treated him. But alas ! while this may
be a consolation to his posterity, it is of no avail now to him.

CHAPTER XLV.
NECESSITY FOR CHARITABLE FEELINGS — FURTHER
REMARKS UPON MR. CLAY'S CHARACTER.
Events in my after life showed how uselessly sensitive 1
had been at our first meeting, for my own business threw
me into positions where I needed more the charity of others
than he did of mine. On one occasion, going into a store
in Owensboro', I met an old gentleman named Mosely, to

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 225
whom I spoke familiarly, who did not answer me, but turned
off to the young man behind the counter, and commenced
buying some goods. Thinking this singular, I renewed my
efforts to draw him into conversation, when he turned to me
and remarked : " Blr. T  , I like my acquaintances to be
the same to me always ; I do not like a man to speak to me
when it suits his convenience, and when it does not, to refuse
to do so." " Do these remarks apply to me ?" said I. " Yes,"
he answered; "not an hour ago I spoke to you as you came
from Bristow's Corner, and you would not condescend to no
tice me." "I do not recollect it," I replied. "Yes, sir," he
continued ; " you looked me full in the face." " Now I do
remember!" I observed, "as in a dream. I remember it,
Mr. M  , and must ask credit from you for sincerity, when
I tell you that still I was not conscious of seeing you ; my
mind was deeply absorbed at the time, and I saw you as a
somnambulist would. If I had designed refusing to return
your salutation then, I should not seek it now." Some friends
who were by remarked that it had been noticed by several
of my friends that I would sometimes pass them in the
streets and not notice them, and soon after meet them with
the utmost familiarity, which they had attributed to absence
of mind. " Or rather," said I, "to the mind being turned
inward, and was for a time insensible to outward objects; I
am glad, however," I remarked, " that you have acquainted
me with this foible ; it is a serious one, which I shall endea
vor to correct." And I did so to a great extent, even carry
ing the thing to an opposite extreme.
To return, Mr. Clay finally took leave of me, after having
endeared me to him as much as he could have desired ; and
this attachment on my part was always on the increase until
his death. There was this in Blr. Clay, where he differed
from most politicians — the object he had in view was always
honest. Blost politicians are subject to be approached by
men having some private measure to advance, often in oppo-

226 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
sition to the public good. From popularity-seeking motives
they listen with patience and politeness, never giving an un
civil rejection. Mr. Clay, on the contrary, heard all such
measures with reserve, taking especial pride in never pro
moting any of them, when in his opinion opposed to the
public good. This gave a certain semblance of austerity to
his manners — something forbidding on first acquaintance;
and the want of that indiscriminate cordiality which marks
the manners of the ordinary politician caused him by many
to be thought cold. But such was far from being the fact;
he was warm and cordial in his friendships, but would not
sacrifice his public duty to serve any living man. The remark
he made, that he "had rather be right than be President,"
is a true type of the man. He was too upright and unyield
ing, and too pre-eminently distinguished to reach the Presi
dency. But would it have added to his credit to have been
President? Not one pennyweight.

CHAPTER XLVI.
MY OPERATIONS IN KENTUCKY.
Having finished my mission to Washington, I departed
for Kentucky. An act of the past legislature, forfeiting all
lands which should not be taken possession of and tenanted
by a certain time, now opened a rich harvest for me, or
rather us, B  being now a partner with one-fourth inte
rest. We were almost the only agents now for non-residents.
I presume our business exceeded that of all other agents in
the State. We had a book prepared for every county in
the State, and all the business belonging to the several
counties regularly entered in those several books, with in
structions as to what was to be done.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 227
We employed several sub-agents, and kept them always
riding; charging ten cents per mile to and from Frankfort,
and $3 33 for each lease taken. The income was very con
siderable. At the last land sales I had purchased in some of the
choice lands of May's estate at the upper end of the Yellow
Banks. This was done in trying to make them bring a
higher price, but J. L. M  insisted on my keeping them ;
and I agreed to do so, on condition that he would insert in
the deeds all the circumstances ; which he did. At the same
sale, he had been induced to buy some lands below Owens
boro, now known as Bonharbor, These he regretted having
bought, and urged me to take. I did so on the same condi
tions. These purchases absorbed nearly all my commissions
which were due, and I feared might leave me in debt. This
was a condition which I had promised myself I never would
come to after seeing the unhappy results from it to my
father. But we were making money very fast, and the pros
pect was, we would soon pay up. Upon this land above
town was a very large pond, of three hundred acres, laid
down on the original map of Kentucky as Davis's Pond,
which had to be drained to make the land of any value.
This would cost a good deal of money.
But it would not now do to look back. So at it we went,
cutting a ditch around the pond on the outside, throwing
the dirt inside, our object being to prevent the water of the
hills from running in, believing that no more water fell upon
any land than it would absorb, or than it would evaporate ;
and as there were no springs in the pond, we had only to
get clear of the water which flowed in from the surrounding
country. This we would do by turning it off. Besides
which, however, we had interior ditches. This was a very
expensive job, some of the cutting being ten feet deep, and
necessarily twenty feet wide at top and over. It was many

228 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
years before this was permanently successful, but it was
finally so, and reclaimed a large body of the finest land I
ever saw, made by a deposit for ages of the rich washings of
the adjacent grounds. A tenant to whom we rented part of
the ground admitted that he obtained ninety bushels of corn
to the acre. But what were we to do with the corn when
made ? there was no market for it. By distilling it, we
could make a market; then in public estimation there
seemed no impropriety in doing so; and although now no
thing eould induce me to engage in such a business, yet then
we had no temperance societies or lectures to set forth the
evil arising from the business. The idea of annihilating the
manufacture seemed absurd; and if it must be made, it
seemed of little consequence who made it.- The impro
priety in the abstract was little thought of; especially while
corn sold at sixteen cents per bushel, and whiskey at thirty
cents per gallon; and one bushel of corn would make three
gallons of whiskey. Since then four are obtained. But at
three the value was increased over fivefold, and the slop fed
to hogs would pay the expense of manufacturing. So at it
we must go, was the conclusion. There were, however, no
mills in the country to furnish lumber to build the dis
tilleries or to grind the corn. Well, we must build one;
the country needed one, and it would be profitable, without
regard to our own demand for it. Now B  thought, in this
matter, one-fourth was too little for him; so it was agreed
that I should be paid a thousand dollars per annum, and the
improvements made be charged at valuation on one-half the
land, the other half to be my private property, and we would
share profits equally. So we commenced vigorously to build
the steam-mill. At first scared at the idea that all my
commissions and profits were to be absorbed by the purchase
of the land, we had step by step gone on, sanguine that it
would pay well to build a steam-mill and two very large dis
tilleries, also a large dwelling-house, with various other

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 229
buildings. Our income and all my means were found insuf
ficient to meet the cost, and we were getting hard run for
money. But the pond being put in meadow promised a
great result ; the saw-mill seemed to be doing a good busi
ness, and the prospect was that the distilleries would do
finely; so that, although "in the narrows" temporarily, the
chance was we would soon be out, and with a brilliant pros
pect before us. So our spirits never flagged. But we had
to carry on all this business by agents and overseers, while
we remained in Frankfort. To leave this matter now a while,
and return to Frankfort ; there our business flourished as
well as we could have hoped for. But the military surveys
being now complete, and. the State of Kentucky refusing to
allow any more warrants to be laid west of the Tennessee
River, it became my duty to suggest to the Governor of
Virginia the abolition of the office of military agent. Dur
ing the same year, I made a report, which will be found in
the Journal of the House of Delegates for 1824-5, in which
I set forth the condition of those whose warrants were un
provided for, and the very great injustice which would be
suffered by them unless some provision was made for their
benefit. As their services were rendered during the revo
lutionary war, not to Virginia or Kentucky, but to the
United States, it was just that the United States should pay
them. In conformity to this suggestion, Blr. Gilmore was
sent on to Washington to make application to Congress, which,
deeming the demand a just one, granted it; and thus ended
the necessity for continuing my office, which was accordingly
abolished; but, in the usual spirit of Virginia generosity, she
extended the time for its discontinuance six months forward,
although there was nothing to do. I took this as a compli
ment to my suggesting the abolition of the office, and point
ing to another mode of accomplishing the object for which
it was created; and have the satisfaction of knowing that
the records of the Virginia Legislature will bear testimony
20

230^ THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
that I suggested the step which has procured the reward due
to many a patriot for his revolutionary services.
At this time we occupied a house for our office with four
rooms on a floor, one of which was a lodging-room for
friends. About 1825 or 1826, General Scott, being stationed
in the West, made his head-quarters in Frankfort, and ac
cepted our invitation to occupy our spare room. He spent
some time with us, during which period we went together to
the Harrodsburg Springs, taking a large company along,
And we there had Blr. Crittenden, Judge Porter,* of New
Orleans, General Samuel Houston, and a delightful company
of young men and young ladies. But I am leaving a part of
my story behind.

CHAPTER XLVII.
LOVE AFFAIRS.
Two years had now nearly elapsed since I had left Virgi
nia, during which time I was in constant correspondence
with my friend G  , who seemed fearful that my young
affections would receive a shock which he was anxious to
guard me against, and so informed me that Miss P 
was becoming a great toast, had a Mr. S  as a suitor,
who was considered one of the most promising young men
in the State, and whose attentions seemed likely to be suc
cessful. The condition of our business rendered it impos
sible for me then to leave Kentucky, and the accounts I
* Of all the men I ever met with, I considered Judge Porter one
of the most finished gentlemen. Erudite, classical, chaste, witty,
and elegantly humorous, there seemed nothing wanting to complete
the polished and elegant gentleman.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 231
received seemed to make it useless as far as Miss P 
was concerned. The warnings of my relatives and friends
all recurred to me, and the more I thought of it, the more
hopeless seemed to me the prospect of inducing her to leave
all her friends, and come to a country which in Virginia
was then considered so wild. I looked back with fond re
gret upon the past as a delightful dream, the recollectios of
which had filled me with happiness which made the contrast
with my present condition the more gloomy. It was a wild
idea for me to have entertained that she would leave all else
she held dear on earth to come with me to Kentucky. But
I had not entertained it. I had fixed no definite end to my
hopes. I had seen, and been charmed by a beautiful child.
To say I was in love with her would perhaps be putting the
fruit in place of the seed. But I felt as if she filled the
beau idiot of my fancy. Yet it was necessary to wean my
thoughts as soon as I could; so I commenced looking
round as a matter of business for a wife; and found one
whose position in society, whose manners, intelligence, and
beauty I thought would do, and settled it in, my own mind
that I would take her; and courted her — but now, to my
astonishment, I found that something more than my will
was necessary; that it took two to make a bargain, and that
two fancies had to be pleased, for she rejected me. I
viewed this as a mere means of clinching the nail tighter,
not thinking she could mean it in earnest, and it gave me
but little concern; the effect upon me realized Byron's idea
of woman's love : — r
" In her first love a woman loves her lover,
Ever after all she loves is love ;
Which grows a passion, she can ne'er get over,
And fits her loosely like an easy glove."
Such was my case, and I concluded now to set to work in
good earnest, for the first was a sort of trial-shot. There was,

232 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
however, a secret in the case which I was not then aware of.
Her affections were already engaged. About this time, a
Mr. Bl  arrived in Frankfort from Petersburg, who
told me that Blr. S  and Bliss P  were engaged to
be married. I know not why it was, I had anticipated this,
and believed it was almost certain to occur ; and yet it went
like, cold steel to my heart to know it. Something in M  'a
manner induced me to believe he thought I felt an interest
in the result, and would report the effect upon me. My
pride was excited, not in any resentment at Miss P  , for
the time I had fixed for my return had passed, and she had
reason to suppose that I had forgotten her. But I was un
willing it should be thought I had been supplanted by S  ;
so I assumed an air of carelessness, and remarked he would
get a lovely girl, and took occasion to tell M  , before we
parted, that I was courting a lady in an adjoining county.
This I knew he would report back, and " this would make
us even." Such was my foolish pride — foolish, foolish, fool
ish. But, although this story of her engagement continued
afloat for six months longer, they still were not married.
Something whispered me that there was a mystery about it,
and although, if I had previously had a right to hope, I had
cut myself off by courting Miss  , still I could not help
thinking why it was that they were not married. My interest
about Bliss  began to fail, and a letter I received from
Virginia determined me to go in at once. I accordingly did
so, and on arriving in Richmond was informed by my friend
G  that all I had heard was true, and that Miss P 
and Mr. S  were certainly engaged. I determined, how
ever, that I would go and see her, and went to Petersburg,
arriving there about supper-time.
My niece, Mrs. Bl  , at whose house I stayed, informed
me that all which I had heard was true, and that she and
her suitor would be that evening at a ball. I determined
to go to it. On entering the room, I observed Miss P  ¦

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 233
and Mr. S  standing together in a cotillon. She had
no idea that I was in Virginia; but, on perceiving me, quit
her place and ran to greet me. There was something so
artless, natural, and affectionate in her manner that it brought
our former days freshly back to memory. She was now a
woman, fully developed, and the most lovely human being
my eyes ever rested on.
Oh what a pity ! — what a pity, thought I, that I had not
kept command of all my means, so as to go where I pleased.
I would come to Virginia — I would go anywhere on earth —
I would begin life without a dollar, if I could have her to
share it with me. O what a fool — what a fool I had been !
She was now beyond my reach, and I believed I had myself
only to thank for it. There was something in her sweet,
affectionate smile which I thought I could not mistake.
Nature was there unmistakably. My lovely little V  ,
with whom I had skipped over the rocks in the Appomattox,
was there in all her matured loveliness, and with that evi
dence of affectionate interest in me which there is no coun
terfeiting — but gone from me ! — gone forever ! — gone !
gone ! gone ! Such were the thoughts which flashed through
my mind in an instant. The cotillon was just closing, and
I asked her to dance the next, to which she assented. But
we took our seats, there to rest until several had been danced.
Delighted as I was to be with her, and to see her so much
like her original self, yet the idea of her being beyond my
reach filled me with a melancholy which I could not throw
off. She rallied me about not returning as soon as I had
promised. I named the unavoidable obstacles, until I heard
that she was engaged to be married, and then I had no fur
ther inducement to come. " But," said she, " you see I am
still single, notwithstanding all reports to the contrary."
" As yet" I replied. " But," said she, " suppose it had
been otherwise, you would have no right to complain, for
I understand you have been addressing a Bliss  -, in Ken-
20*

234 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
tucky." This was a poser, and a death-stroke. I determined
not to deny one word of what had happened. I answered,
" Yes, she had heard aright, but never until I had heard
that she was beyond my reach." At this reply, she seemed
surprised, and looked a little thoughtful; but resuming, said,
" You were very easily consoled, however." I answered, I
was determined to be consoled, and to seek a remedy where
I could find it. " And," she rejoined, " succeeded?" "No,"
I replied. " There is a tale connected with this matter only
to be explained to one who will give me credit for sincerity,
I am incapable o£ anything else, and if you feel inclined to
hear me on those conditions, I will unbosom myself to you.''
To which she nodded assent. I then proceeded, as to a Ca
tholic priest, and unburdened my whole heart, and related,
in all their nakedness, the inducements to my every action,
and all that I had done. She seemed a good deal affected;
but finally remarked, that " one who was so much of a phi
losopher could not be much hurt by any event." I replied
she had perhaps forgotten that, when we had met before,
she was a mere child, not old enough to have made the im
pression which she would make now ; but, nevertheless,
the impression then made would have sufficed to prevent any
other, had I believed that, under the circumstances, it was
not my duty to endeavor to efface it; that I had come now,
very imprudently, to add new links to an attachment which
must needs be hopeless, and I already felt a regret that I
had been so thoughtless. Said she, " When we wish to find
cause to forgive an offender, it is not a difficult task. I was
sorry," she continued, " at what I had heard, and am quite
willing to believe you sincere." " You do believe me, then ?"
I asked eagerly. " As God is my witness, I am." " Yes,"
she replied, " I believe you." Oh how I wished we had
been in private, that I might have sealed my gratitude as
my heart prompted me. " Then tell me," I said, " is it
true, as is generally reported, that you are to marry Blr.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 235
S  ?" " It is not," she answered. " It is very generally
believed," I remarked. "But," she continued, "when I
tell you it is not so, I expect you to believe me." " I will,"
was my reply, emphatically. We had now sat so long in
earnest conversation that, to avoid remark, we had to join the
dance. S  , too, seemed very uneasy. Bliss P  told
me she should return home next day, S  in company. I
told her I had to go to Norfolk, but in a week would see her
at her father's. At Norfolk, I received a letter from G  ,
telling me he had heard of my adventures at the ball, and
warning me ; that I was only laying up trouble for myself;
that Miss P  was certainly engaged to S  , and was
leading me a dance which would assuredly result in my
mortification if I persisted in it; that he had it from S  's
own mouth, and could not be mistaken. This was a most
mysterious thing to me. She, who seemed so sincere, so
natural, so innocent ! Was it possible she could be playing
false with me ? It was evident she was playing false with
one of us, and why might it not be me as well as S  ?
Oh ! the thought was horrible, take it either way. If not to
me, there was an evident insincerity which took from her
character half its loveliness. But I would know all about it
before I went any further. I would first see S  , and for
this purpose went to Richmond, where I desired him to walk
with me, We strolled up the canal. I remarked to him
that I understood our interests came in conflict in a love
affair, and I felt anxious to know the ground I stood upon;
to ascertain which, I must know whether or not he was en
gaged to Miss P  . He answered that he was. I then
told him that she had my affections, but that, if he was en
gaged to her, I should abandon the field to him; that, never
theless, I should first have an interview with her; that I
would give him three days to see her, and then I should ex
pect him to be absent when I should arrive. Accordingly, I
went at the appointed time, and found S  still there. I

236 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
reminded him of our understanding. He said he would leave
next morning, and did so. Miss P  's reception of me
had been very cordial, but she looked sad.
She had evidently to me carried the joke too far, and was
relenting. Soon after S  's departure, I proposed a walk.
Hernsister Bl  and Bliss C  accompanied her, but kept
at a distance. I told her I supposed she had been pre
pared by Blr. S  for my visit. She remained silent. I
remarked that the opinion I had always entertained of her
had left me no room to apprehend that she would wantonly
trifle with my feelings. It was cruel, very cruel in her to
do so, knowing as she did how sincerely I had loved her.
The tears rolled down her cheeks, which she wiped away,
but remained silent. Seeing her so much affected, I guessed
that, although she was engaged, she was sorry for it. So I
remarked to her that possibly she might regret having en
gaged herself. If so, to tell me candidly.
She said " she was engaged to Mr. S  , but — " and here
she again fell into tears. " But," said I, " you are sorry
for it?" Still she made no answer. We walked along
silently for a while, when I resumed : " Bliss V  , I stand
in a position which I cannot longer occupy. If you are en
gaged, but regret it, and will say so, my life is at your
service. But unless you let me know that fact before we
reach your house, I shall again depart for Kentucky."
She made an effort again to speak, and said, "It was true,
she was engaged to Mr. S  ; but — " and here she fell into
tears again. We now approached the house. "Will you
tell me or not ?" said I, with emphasis. She had wiped her
eyes, made no reply, and we entered the porch. Her father
and mother were present. No more conversation on that
head was admissible, and I felt no inclination for any upon
any other. I was very much perplexed to know what to do,
but concluded that she knew the conditions on which she
could retain me ; and, if she did not choose to do it, I would

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 237
be trifled with no longer. So I ordered my sulky. The old
folks very politely asked me to stay, but I declined. While
my sulky was being got, I took a letter from my pocket, tore -
off a blank leaf, the envelop, and wrote upon it
"A VISION."
Methought, midst other flowers, I had seen
Upon a stem yet delicate and tender,
A rose-bud, coated o'er with mossy green,
About unfolding all its wonted splendor.
I would have pulled this rose-bud, and had laid
My hand upon its stem, when in a tone
Of deprecation, methought some voice said :
Oh ! leave that rose until it shall have blown.
Hearkening to the prayer, I left the flower,
Hoping to pluck it when mature in blossom ;
But ah ! it happened that in evil hour
'Twas plucked and planted in another's bosom.
BIy horse being now at the door, I rose to take leave of
the family, and, as I shook hands, left this effusion with her.
I now drove to Petersburg full of gloom. Were my hopes
at an end ? Could I push this thing any further with credit?
My pride told me I could not. And yet, when I thought of
giving her up and seeing her the wife of another, the future
had no interest for me. It was dreary and desolate, and still
I was possessed of the idea that she loved me. In a letter
which I wrote to G  from Petersburg, and which I re
claimed many years after, occurs this passage : " S  will
marry her, I suppose; the fates seem to favor it; but I believe
she loves me, though fate is against me."
On my arrival in Petersburg, I related my adventures to
Mr. M  and his wife. He thought my conjecture was
correct, and advised me not to give up the case as a lost one.
I remained several days in Petersburg. During the time,
an old lady from General P  's jjeighborhood came to

238 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
Petersburg, said she spent a good deal of time in General
P  's family, and, if she was not more mistaken than
she ever was in her life, Bliss P  was in love with Mr.
T  . Blr. M  heard of it, and advised me not to
give up the ship. But his wife said to me, " Oh ! Uncle
R  , let me beg of you do not be misled by any such
notions. Bliss P  is, probably, sorry for having gone
so far with you, and that was, probably, the cause of the
feeling she showed ; but I think you cannot, with any
regard to your own self-respect, carry this thing any
further." Such was my own feeling, though at war with
my inclinations. But I made a manly effort to command
myself; went to Norfolk, where my friends agreed with
my niece, and determined me to abandon the matter. The
fact is, ladies have a great deal of pride about such matters.
My relatives could not bear the mortification of seeing me
rejected, and were, therefore, opposed to any further action
on my part, and excited my pride against it. I returned to
Richmond, determined to go back to Kentucky, and to com
mand myself as well as I could. But to gain time to recover
from the shock, I circled round, by way of New York and
New England, mixing as much as my spirits would allow
of, with gay company.
Returned to Kentucky, I kept my disappointment as much
to myself as I could, and a mass of business awaiting my
attention, aided very much in withdrawing my thoughts from
the subject; although the very frock which she wore, and
every article of dress were vividly fixed upon my memory,
together with all which had passed between us. At night,
when I would retire to bed, I could not avoid going over the
scenes again. But press of business kept me, generally, up
until twelve or one o'clock, and I was apt to be too sleepy
when I retired to keep long awake. Gradually I became,
in a measure, reconciled to what seemed the inexorable de
cree of fate. «

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. ^89

CHAPTER XLVIII.
T. G  'S VISIT TO KENTUCKY — DISCOVERY OF A
COAL-MINE.
During this year, G  came out and went with me to
the Yellow Banks, where, witnessing all our arrangements,
he seemed delighted, and thought they must result as we
expected. Indeed, there seemed no reason to doubt it, as far as human
calculation could go. We had, after several ineffectual efforts,
finally succeeded in getting much of our drained pond set in
grass, and it yielded a tremendous crop of hay — three tons
to the acre.
We had discovered coal in our Bonharbor hills, too ; the
coal for which I purchased the property was only a thin vein
at the river. But a hunter, seeing us working this, said he
could show us a better vein in the hills, which he did, to the
depth of four and a half feet. And from this to the Ohio,
three-quarters of a mile, we made the first railway in 1826
which was made in Kentucky, or, I believe, in the West;
and the next year (the present) commenced delivering coal
to steam-boats ; being the first attempt below the falls, if not
the first attempt in the West, to use coal as steam-boat fuel.
The field seemed widening all around us, and the-"beckoning
of fortune strong.
There seemed every reason to believe we were stepping
right into wealth at once. But we began to have too many
irons in the fire. Our business at the Yellow Banks dis
tracted our attention from our land business; and while it as
yet yielded no revenue, it was a constant drain upon us for

240 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
money, and kept us hard pushed ; a condition inimical to
success under any circumstances.
I proposed to G  to come out and join us in our
farming, milling, and distilling business. He thought well
of it, and took it into consideration.

CHAPTER XLIX.
A SPECULATION MISSED — PROGRESS OF OUR BUSINESS-
LOVE STORY CONTINUED — MARRIAGE.
During this year, I met with  , of Woodford County,
representative of the family owning the Raleigh coal-mines
in Chesterfield County, Virginia, which he wished to sell,
and offered for $20,000. I knew the mines, and considered
this a very small price for them. I proposed trading him
land at valuation out of P  's survey for them, provided
P  was willing, to which he seemed inclined ; but I had
first to obtain instructions, so I wrote to G  , in Kich-
mond, he having returned. His reply was that P  said
the mines were filled with water, and could not be drained
for less than a cost of $10,000. I still urged it, however.
But, while we delayed, Mr. Mills, of Richmond, purchased
them ; and, after draining them at probably half the esti
mated cost, obtained a revenue of fifty thousand dollars per
annum from them until he made money enough to retire,
and then rented them for thirty thousand dollars.
During this year, B  married a daughter of Judge
B  , and moved down to our establishment, which was
still in progress, absorbing all our means and getting us in
debt, and the demand was still upon me for money — money
— money — always money. But there was a consolation in
the idea that the day for a change in the tide could not be

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 241
far off; yet, like the horizon, it seemed to recede as we
advanced. All my private means were- absorbed, besides
the means of the firm, and we were a good deal in debt.
We had raised almost a town. Our coal-works too had cost
a great deal of money. But we were in negotiation with
G — — and my brother J  , to sell to them one-third of
Haphazard for $13,333, at the rate of $40,000 for the whole;
this being our farming, milling, and distilling establishment.
And this arrangement would, if made, relieve us.
About this time, G  wrote me that Bliss P  had
discarded Mr. S  . The idea struck me that she had
found some one that she liked better, and so had dropped
him. A month or two after this, a lady in Frankfort, who
had some relatives in Petersburg with whom she corre
sponded, told me one day she had a message for me from an
old friend in Petersburg, and that if I would call upon her
she would deliver it to me. I called accordingly, and a
Doctor M  , an old friend of mine, desired her to say to
me that S  was discarded, and the coast was clear.
"Now," said she, "you know that I know how deeply you
are interested in this matter." I replied that I did not
deny it, but that this argued nothing in my favor, but to the
reverse. It only showed how hard Miss P  was to please,
or possibly how fickle. We had a good deal of conversation,
which ended by my stating that my feelings had been already
lacerated sufficiently in that quarter, and that I should not
return. Occasional letters from G  mentioned that, since
S  's rejection, she seemed to shun company, and to have
measurably retired from society.
This lady and I often talked of Miss P  , and she seemed
to feel deeply for me; but I was of the opinion that it was
Miss P  's fickleness, and I was not disposed to hazard a
rebuff. Should I do so, it would seem that I could be kicked
off, and whistled on again at pleasure, to be again probably
kicked off, and I would run no such hazard. Thus matters
21

242 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
continued for some time, until finally I received a letter from
G  , mentioning that he had spent the previous evening
in company with a Miss R  , who asked him if he knew
me, to which he replied in the affirmative. She said she felt
some curiosity to see me from a romantio story which was
in circulation, concerning me and Miss P  ; that it was
said Mr. S  's rejection was owing to a previous attach
ment existing between Miss P  and myself.
"Now," said G  , "this may be so; you know I was very
much averse to your subjecting yourself to what I considered
certain defeat, and may have been instrumental in prevent
ing your taking the right course when last here. I submit,"
said he, " the matter for your reflection."
I shut my door, stirred the fire, and lay down on my bed
to reflect upon the subject; and after due deliberation rose
and wrote toir  as follows, as nearly as I can recollect: —
"I have read your letter with deep anxiety, as you may
imagine, with deep concern considered its contents, and have
come to the following conclusion : My opinion is that there
has been a chapter of blunders on my part in this business
from beginning to end. I have carefully considered all the
circumstances, upon the supposition that Bliss P  has
been sincere with me in all our intercourse, and that my own
doubts and suspicions have produced the results that have
happened ; and, taking this view, there is an explanation for
everything which has occurred. I have supposed, on the
other hand, that she was merely fickle and changeable, and
there is a want of explanation for a part of her conduct, and
I will now give you my reasons: When informed that I
was addressing another lady in Kentucky, and when the
time had elapsed for my return to Virginia, she had good
reason to presume that I had given up all idea of her. As
I ascertained when I went in, the engagement which I had
supposed had taken place a long while before, had not
occurred as I supposed, and my courting the lady in Ken-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 243
tucky, under the impression that Bliss P  was engaged to
another, was upon erroneous grounds, and it was after this
that she became engaged. Now, suppose all to have been
as I wished it, as to her feelings for me, would not her pride
have come to her aid, and when addressed by a gentleman
of the first standing, and considered of great public promise,
aided by the influence of friends who wished to settle her
near them, have probably induced her to engage herself?
Nothing would be more natural, and I would certainly have
no cause to complain. But when I went in, and an explana
tion took place as to the circumstances under which I had
seemed to have played truant, her feelings relented, her
former affection returned, and she determined to break off
the engagement with S  and marry me. But in the
belief that she was engaged to another, that I was preparing
a mortification for myself by pursuing my addresses, the let
ters and opinions of my friends, earnestly expressed, so ex
cited my resentment and suspicions that I was played falsely
with, in a moment of folly, I determined to see S  , and
know the truth of the whole matter. He confirmed the sus
picions of my friends, and I, instead of going to see Bliss
P  at once, gave S  three days' notice to prepare her
for my interview, and to operate upon her feelings. Then I
went under great excitement at the idea of having been trifled
with, and with my feelings predisposed for a rupture. Now,
doubtless, S— — - had made the best use of his time, aided by
the influence of those who preferred having her settled among
them in Virginia, to marrying me and coming to Kentucky.
She was alone, to withstand the operations of many upon
her; and young and timid as she was, she could hardly have
been expected to withstand them. But when charged with
being engaged, and wantonly trifling with my feelings, she
had twice attempted to explain, but been overpowered by her
tears; and under these circumstances I left her. When I
now review my conduct, it seems to me that my stupidity

244 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
was unaccountable. Again, the old lady who said she be
lieved I had her affections, although 8  might marry her—
how came she by this opinion ? There must have been some
thing to found it on. That I should have, under all the
circumstances, abandoned the ground, is only to be accounted
for by the doubts which my friends had started, causing me
to apprehend that I was probably deceived. A man may
be embarrassed by accumulated difficulties, until, like a horse
beaten over the head, he loses all the sense he ever had, and
such I believe was my case. I gave evidencein my letter no
the occasion to you, that I believed I possessed her affections.
" But now, after my departure, what excuse can be offered
for her continuing her engagement with S  ? Because
my conduct had been harsh and imperious, and she was deter
mined to love S  if she could; but was ultimately satis
fied she could not, and had discarded him. Now, if she had
been a mere coquette, what would have been her conduct?
Would she not have triumphed in her conquest, and have
mixed with the gay world as ever ? Did she do so ? No,
she retired from society; and then a report becomes general
that a long previous attachment between her and myself was
the cause of S  's rejection. If this was false, it was easy
for her to put it down. One word of positive denial from
her would do it. Can it be that she would be willing to
inflict still a deeper wound upon me by luring me on again,
under the influence of this report, only to be rejected? No;
her gentle nature would scorn it.
" Those may be the views suggested by my hopes, rather
than the reality. I may be giving vent to an evidence of
my vanity, and preparing for myself a woful disappoint
ment. But if it comes, let it come. Bly happiness has
been already much shattered by over-doubting, as I conceive,
and I will err on that ground no more. I love Miss P 
devotedly, and should it ever be the decree of fate to unite us,
I shall consider myself the happiest of men. For a long

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 245
time I considered her as dead to me; my heart mourned
her loss. To have her now restored will be like bringing
the dead to life. To you who know my every feeling, it
were useless to say how your letter has affected me, and I
have determined to commission you to see her, and hand her
the inclosed ring, as a pledge of my affection. If she re
tains it, I shall immediately come in. If she returns it, I
shall view it as a warning to me not to do so, and I shall
endeavor to bear my sorrows as best I can. With what
anxiety I shall look for an answer, you may well imagine.
"Your friend, &c."
Having dispatched this letter, I awaited an answer with
great impatience, which at last came, and informed me that
G  had been to" Petersburg; had seen Miss P  ; men
tioned that he had lately received a letter from me; and was
inclined to -believe that I had not yet forgotten all my Virginia
friends. Her manner, he said, satisfied him that I had taken
the correct view of the case, and he finally told her that he had
a letter from me, which he was charged to deliver to her, and
requested her to retire to her room and read it, and then
return. She took it, retired, and in about fifteen minutes a
female servant came in, hoped Blr. G  would excuse Bliss
P  , as she did not feel well; and he retired, came over to
Richmond, and sat down to write me that letter. "Now,
sir," said he, " as she has kept both the letter and the ring,
I think you may venture to indulge the hope that your sug
gestions are correct."
I now prepared to go in, and wrote B  accordingly. In
the mean time, our negotiation for a sale of one-third of Hap
hazard had been progressing, and was likely to be consum
mated, which was very important to the end then in view.
On seeing G  , he congratulated me heartily; thought I was
not mistaken; and I was soon in Petersburg with my niece,
who had become satisfied that she had been wrong. I flew
21*

246 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
to Gen. P  's as fast as a horse and sulky could carry me,
arriving there just at night. She was at home in tho midst
of the family, and from the manner in which she and all
the family received me, I was satisfied all was right. There
was a smile which I can never forget. It was the smile of
true love; there was no mistaking it. It seemed to me that
she had determined to disguise nothing.
When supper was over, we were left alone in the par
lor; where, seating myself beside her on the sofa and taking
her hand in mine, I remarked, squeezing her hand, that I
hoped we were through with our chapter of accidents and
blunders. She answered me by a gentle squeeze of the
hand. I asked her, if I had not divined aright in my let
ter ? "Not quite," she replied. " Wherein was I wrong?"
"In regard to my engagement." "Were you not engaged?"
said I. " Yes," she replied ; " but my motives for continu
ing it you have not rightly divined." " Where did I err ?"
"Ah, we will at a future day explain this; let us leave that
subject now."
I was now one of the happiest of living men, and asked
her how it happened that we had so much misunderstood
each other. She said I had divined the truth, with great
correctness in the first part of my letter, up to our meeting
at the ball. "As you said, our former feelings had taken then
no definite shape ; 1 had reason to believe you were partial to
me, but you had never told me so — it was my conjecture
only, and yet, in my simplicity of heart, I did not conceal
my partiality for you from my family, who laughed at me
for it, and said they doubted if you ever thought of me.
This mortified me exceedingly, and when the time passed for
your return, and you did not come back, I saw, as I thought,
that my family were right; but when Blr. M  returned
from Kentucky, and brought the news that you were court
ing another lady, then my hopes vanished. I had planted a
little geranium in a pot, and named it after you. I had

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 247
watered and nourished it, despite the jeers of my family ;
and now I felt no longer any interest in it ; and it soon died
— an emblem of your affections" — looking me a little re
proachfully in the face. " It was well that our acquaintance
had been so short. Mr. S  now making his addresses,
he had been a long time attentive to me, I did not dis
courage them, and finally engaged myself. When you un
expectedly appeared at the ball in Petersburg, and gave the
explanation which you did, there was something in your
manner which told me you were sincere. I believed you,
and was willing to forgive you all your sins. Bly vanity, too,
told me that you still loved me. I thought it was evident
from your countenance and manner, and all my old feelings
came back. You told me you had heard I was going to
marry S  , and asked me if it was so ; I told you it was
not true, and yet I was at that time engaged to him. But
my heart told me I would not marry him. I was not in
sincere in engaging myself to him. I then intended to
marry him ; but this night my mind had changed, and had
you come calmly, and seen me, and we had had a deliberate
talk on this'subject, things would have been then all explained.
But you sent Blr. S  to notify me that you were off, and
would come on such a day to take leave of me forever, in
a manner such as I thought one could not do who truly
loved ; and, having a pretty good stock of pride, and some
spirit, I determined you might have your own way. But
when you came, although it was clear you were greatly excited,
yet you were respectful, and evidently felt so deeply that
you excited my feelings, and I twice attempted an explana
tion, but could not go through. On nearing the porch, you
demanded an answer rather imperiously ; if I could have
given it, I would not; and you departed. My pride sus
tained me for a time, but not so well that suspicions did
not get afloat that I was attached to you. I now know not
what to do. I did not do- right, I know. But let us drop

248 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
the veil here. I became in time satisfied that, if I married
Mr. S  , I should give him my hand without my heart;
we should be both miserable, and with great reluctance I
had to discard him.
"I knew how I now stood in public opinion; they
could not know everything; explanations were inadmissible,
and I had to bear the odium of being an unfeeling coquette
— a character which I do abhor — and, to clear myself from
it, I had to confess to some of my nearest friends the real
state of the case, with an injunction to defend me, but not to
give the explanation. But such things cannot be concealed,
and soon a report of the real truth was in general circulation.
I cared but little about it, for I had determined never to
marry. A friend told me, one day, that he had a letter from
a friend of his in Kentucky. I immediately thought it was
you, and, although I was dying to know, I feigned a perfect
indifference, and asked 'who from?' He said, 'a lady,'
and handed it to me. The lady said she had seen you, and
informed you that S  was discarded; that you looked
sad, and said, ' What a pity that one so young and lovely
otherwise, should have that unfortunate trait !' The lady
said she asked you what trait. You answered, coquetry;
she suggested may-be not; and advised you to come in,
and see. You answered, she said, with great determination,
No ! your feelings had been already lacerated enough ; you
should not expose them to any further trial ; and she wound
up by saying, you were a man of fixed purpose, resolute
in your conclusions, and she rather feared you would not be
driven from them. Although I did not know that this letter
had been written to Kentucky, I felt mortified, for fear you
might think I did, and expressed my very great disapprobation
at it. He assured me, however, that there was nothing in his
from which you could suppose any such thing, and he was
only induced to show me the answer, that I might see the
state of your feelings. Then, thought I, he deems it even

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 249
needless to conceal from me that he knows mine. When
he had retired, I went to my room, and took a hearty cry.
' Oh, how little does he know my real feelings ; how far
my heart is from being' the callous one which he suspects;
and how little of coquetry there is in my character !' But,"
she continued, " I could see you as plainly as if I had been
present. I saw that high metal of your nature ; your pride,
summoned to bear you out; and my own heart said to me,
'No, he will never comeback; I know him too well; he
thinks he has been trifled with, and will never return. Be
it so,' said I ; ' but the day may probably come when he will
find out better;'' and I resigned myself to the necessities of
the case. Some months after this, Mr. G  came with your
letter to him, which you desired him to show me. In that,
you came so near the whole truth of the case that I won
dered you could have ever doubted. After reading it, I was
so overpowered that I asked to be excused from going down
again, but kept the letter and the ring. I now saw your
whole heart — that it was mine, and determined that I would
let no foolish punctilio cause me to hazard the loss of it
again ; but that the first opportunity which occurred after
you came in, I would confess to you the whole truth. This
I have now done !"
Lost in admiration at her confiding candor, I could for a
moment make no reply. "Then (stealing a kiss), my own
dear V  ," said I, "how much injustice have I done you!
Oh, how could you love one so unworthy of you ? I am not
worthy of such pure feelings as yours ; I do not deserve
them. You have erred in nothing, in the whole history of
our troubles, but in loving one who now sees how unworthy
he has been of you." "Let us," said she, "forget the past,
and try to do better in future, though, I confess, I think I
have some cause to fear your impetuosity of disposition."
" Were I as ferocious as a lion," I replied, " I would be
a lamb in your hands. You can lead me, and mould me

250 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
as you please. To love you, and minister to your comfort,
will be the greatest happiness of my life." " And you will
doubt no more ?" she said. " Never !" I replied. The very
word was hateful to me. Thus we talked until midnight,
and I grudged the hours which we had to be parted for
sleep. If ever man overflowed with happiness, I now did,
I went to bed, but I could not sleep. Oh, I was too happy !
Was it a vision, or a reality ? It seemed to concentrate too
much of felicity to be real. With but little sleep I passed
the night, and rose late next morning. The old folks jeered
us about keeping late hours.
After breakfast, the general invited me to accompany him
in his usual ride over his farm, and, while sitting close to
gether, viewing some of his cattle, I thought it a fit occasion
to open the subject of my attachment for his daughter, and
began, in a very stammering way, to tell him I had for a
long time been attached to her. " Bly dear fellow," said
he, laying his hand on my knee, "I am not ignorant of it,
and have for some time anticipated this result. It is my
rule to let my children choose for themselves ; I would have
been better satisfied had you lived in Virginia; but since
my daughter is satisfied, her will be done."
On returning to the house, I told V  that I had spoken
to her father, and that he had said, " Her will be done,"
"Why," said she, with affected surprise, "who authorized
you?" " Like the Yankee," I replied, " I am good at guessing."
" Well," she remarked, "I told mamma this morning of our
last evening's conversation, and of my confessions to you,
and she said I had acted very imprudently." " V  ," I
observed, taking her hand, "you never appeared so lovely to
me as while making that confession. It showed to me the
entire sincerity of your character; and, if I had ever sus
pected anything like coquetry, it dispelled the fear forever.
Could I have loved you more than I did, that confession
would have caused me to do so!" "I think," said she,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 251
" the time for concealment between you and me is passed. I
acted upon the presumption that we now" thoroughly under
stood each other, for the want of which I had nearly been
another's, and you also ; when, if we had really known each
other's feelings, this would not have been. I therefore con
cluded, as I felt certain of*your affections now, that you were
entitled to a confession of mine, in frankness and candor, and
that I hazarded nothing in making the confession. This I told
mamma, and she said she admitted I hazarded nothing; but
that you gentlemen were such queer animals, that it was neces
sary to keep you a little uneasy to make you love the harder
(smiling as she said so) ; that hope gratified, was apt to lose
its interest, and that it wa,s impolitic ever to let you feel too
secure." " Ah ! V  ," said I, squeezing her hand, and looking her
in the face, with all the affection with which my heart over
flowed, " I must beg leave to differ with your mother on this
subject; there is too much diplomacy in her philosophy for
the love of two confiding hearts. There is a time during
which her philosophy would be admissible, that is, so long
as any doubt exists; or, when no doubt exists, provided there
is less intensity in the gentleman's love than the lady thinks
she has a right to expect. But do you think so of mine ?"
She answered, with a sweet smile, "No;" but she con
tinued, "You have a remarkable self-command for a gentle
man very deeply in love. Do you think, had you loved as
hard as you ought (smiling), that you would have allowed
any business to detain you beyond the two years from our
first acquaintance, when you promised to be back ? I waive
what followed after, as the consequence of unfounded reports
which had reached your ears concerning me ; but I confess
for the first sin, I have had my doubts whether your expla
nations should have been considered satisfactory to one whose
judgment was less partial to you than mine."
I answered, " I am glad of an opportunity to recur 'again

252 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
to this circumstance. The truth is my own diffidence was
at the bottom of it, aided by the doubts which my friends
had started in regard to the willingness of your parents to
let you go to Kentucky. My nearest friends charged me
not to let my feelings get the better of me, or they would
receive an awful mortification. I started doubting, and con
tinued doubting, until the two years ran out, when my busi
ness was in such a condition that it would have been almost
ruin to have abandoned it, and when there had been no in
terchange of sentiments between us, on which I could rely,
for evidence that the feelings I had imbibed were reciprocated."
"And you dou-bted their existence," said she, with an in
credulous smile. " I had hoped, when we parted, that you
felt some interest for me," I continued. "I believe you did;
but you were then a mere child. What assurance could I
have that it would continue until you were grown ? But,
if it did, my discretion told me that your friends would not
let you go to Kentucky with me, considering it, as they, did,
a wild country." " And so," she remarked, " when your pru
dence takes the seat of judgment to sit in council over your
love affairs, it is capable of weighing matters very delibe
rately, and of directing your conduct very wisely ?" " While
I have yet my self-possession," I replied, "yes. There is a
time, in every man's love affairs, before he has gone too far,
when he can restrain himself, if he has fortitude enough.
Some there are who are all passion and impulse, and know
no restraint to their inclinations. The impetuosity of such
men is like the fire from a tar barrel — furious at first, but
soon over. I claim to have as much feeling as they have;
but I also claim the power, in some degree, to control it,
when common sense told me it would be folly to indulge it.
This folly, I was led to believe, I would show by hoping,
after our first interview, that you would leave all your friends
to go with me to Kentucky, and, under that impression, I
could control my feelings. But now, when I believe that

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 253
that consideration imposes no bar, and I have yielded all
constraint, my affections have so thoroughly gone over to you,
that you have become the light and life of my existence.
Were anything now to occur to break off our union, I believe
I should go deranged." "Poor fellow!" said she, with a
sort of mock compassion. "Well, you sha'n't go deranged.
I will now go further in my confessions than I have done,
It is some time since my parents have believed that we would
some day be united, and they wished me to exact of you, as
a condition, that you should come to Virginia to live, saying,'
if you loved me as you ought, you would do so. But I re
plied ' No. He relies, doubtless, on his business in Kentucky
for a living, and must leave it if he comes to Virginia. I
will not make any such condition.' " My heart was so full
that I could only look at her without speaking. " And,"
she continued, "there never was a time, from our first sepa
ration, when, if you had approached me respectfully, con
fidingly, and affectionately, I would not have agreed to go to
Kentucky with you." Filled to overflowing before, the tears
now ran down my cheeks, I clasped her in my arms, and
could only say, " God bless you, V  ." Neither of us spoke
for some time. Finally, I remarked, it was true that I had
to rely upon my business in Kentucky for a support; but I
would make this promise: If she would be content, for five
years, to live in Kentucky, I would then lay the whole state
of my affairs before her, and if she was of opinion that we
ought to leave Kentucky and come to Virginia, I would do
so. "Well," she replied, "if you can, I shall be happy;
if not, I will endeavor to be contented."
We now retired to bed, I grudging the hours that we
should be separated.
When we met next day, and were alone (the old folks
were very considerate, seldom interrupting us), I said to her,
" Well, V  , did you receive another lecture on caution ?"
" Oh no," she replied; "I told mamma of your able defence,
22

254 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
and she said she believed you were a very sincere, clever
fellow." During the day, Blrs. P  was much with me. She sat
and chatted with great interest for hours, and I confess with
so much interest to me that I did not regret the loss of her
daughter's society.
After she left me, V  came, a space of some fifteen
minutes intervening. " You and ma," said she, " have had
a long talk." "Yes," I replied; "and with so much in
terest to me that I did not regret the time which she kept
me from your society." " Then you were equally pleased,
for she is quite in raptures with you." An idea came across
my mind which made me smile, which remarking, she asked
me what amused me. I answered, " I was about to reply
to your remark by repeating a Western maxim, but thought
it rather coarse for the occasion." " Oh, well," she ob
served, " let me have it." " It is, ' If you wish to catch the
calf, you must give the cow a nubbin.' " She seemed ex
ceedingly diverted, and said, " Then you have been feeding
ma on nubbins, have you?"
My business required my presence in Richmond; but be
fore going I was anxious to have the day for our wedding
fixed, and urged that it might not be needlessly delayed, as
my business was suffering during my absence in Kentucky.
V  said she would consult her mamma, and let me know
on my return. I went to Richmond, and was now anxious
to bring to a close the negotiation for the sale of one-third
of Haphazard. But this could not then be done. My bro
ther J  said, however, that he would advance me two
thousand dollars upon it; which he did, and this answered
my present necessities. I went to Tichenor, the carriage-
maker, and ordered him to build me a very handsome car
riage. I set about hunting up a pair of horses, and acci
dentally found such exactly to suit my taste. They were of
deep orange color, with flaxen manes and tails, sixteen hands

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 255
high, beautifully formed, and though remarkably well broken
were very spirited. I could not have been better suited. In
all these arrangements I was aided by my friend G  ,
whose talent seemed peculiar for administering to his friends'
comforts. He was himself very much in love with a young
lady in Richmond, and had been so for several years; but
some difficulties had occurred between him and his Dulcinea,
which, as usual, had produced misunderstandings, and pre
vented their marriage. I determined to set to work to make
things smooth, and finally succeeded.
I now went to Norfolk to see my friends there. But one
was wanting, whose smile had always given a burnish to all
my enjoyments. My aged mother had died about a year
before. Not being satisfied away from my beloved V  , I soon
returned to her, and was informed that she had fixed on a
day unreasonably distant for our marriage. I protested
against it, and by urgent entreaty got her to shorten it. I
did not nanie having ordered a carriage and purchased the
horses. , I designed these as a surprise. V  told me
she had seen my friend Judge B  since my departure,
who had joked her about our engagement. " And you ad
mitted it?" said I. "No," she replied. "I asked him if
he thought I was wild enough to leave all my friends in Vir
ginia to go to Kentucky." " And what did he say ?" " Oh,"
she replied, " I am afraid I should make you very vain if I
were to tell you. The judge seems as much in love with
you as" — here, stopping and smiling, I ended the sentence
for her — "as I wish you to be." "Yes," she replied; "he
said I might well afford to go to Kentuck, or two tucks
beyond Kentuck, with so clever a fellow." " Well done for
the judge; I must thank him for that; his good opinion is
worth having." (It may be thought rather immodest in me
to insert such a remark here; but my object is to state facts
as nearly as they occurred, as I can recollect them. Were

256 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
I to omit all remarks complimentary to myself, it would evi
dence a fastidiousness uncalled for, besides taking from the
story much of its interest; and for one to be vain of remarks
which are the ordinary parlance of society, would show that
he did not know how to value language at its current rate in
the market.) It would be needless to detail the incidents
which occurred between now and the time of our marriage.
I was as happy as I could be with the conviction that I was
beloved by a girl of exquisite beauty, as refined in her
tastes as she was beautiful, whose reading seemed to have
been as general as her years would admit of, and who seemed
to have digested well all that she read. Her soft, confiding,
affectionate disposition was the jewel of her character. It
was such as I have never seen surpassed in any human being
—the whole surmounted by a stock of good, strong common
sense, which pointed out to her the course of propriety, under
all circumstances, and fitted her equally well for the palace
or the cottage. During her life, I never saw her in any so
ciety where her soft, winning, and elegant manners would
not have distinguished her. I never saw her overshadowed
by a superior, and withal she was without one particle of os
tentation. So winning were her manners, that even those
who would have shone but for her presence, but whose lights
were thereby darkened, loved her.
I had to provide six bridesmen to match her six brides
maids. I wanted a private wedding; but the old folks would
not hear of it; and on the wedding-day some twenty car
riages drove into the yard ; among the rest mine with my
brother's family, with the following motto on it : " Doubt,
and fail." V  was now dressed for the wedding, and
we sat together some time before it took place. There was
a happy sadness upon her countenance which was averse to
conversation. I did not attempt to break in upon it, and we
were required finally to go below and meet the parson. She

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 257
trembled like a little bird; but soon we were down, and soon
the happy knot was tied. Now my bliss was complete.
How extraordinary is the capacity of a country-house for
accommodation ! That night seventy persons slept in the
house, all in comfort; whereas in a city, it would have been
thought difficult to accommodate twenty in it.

CHAPTER L.
DEPARTURE WITH MY WIFE FOR KENTUCKY.
After remaining about a week, we took our departure for
Petersburg and Richmond, partaking of the good dinners
and general hospitality of our friends in each. An event now
occurred which cast a gloom over my otherwise unalloyed
happiness. Miss L  , to whom G  was engaged, had
persuaded him not to go to Kentucky, and consequently the
sale of one-third of Haphazard, which I had considered cer
tain, now failed. This was truly unfortunate, for it was less
the help which the money would bring us, upon which I relied
for success, than G  's untiring energy and perseverance.
He took hold of things with a determination to make them
succeed, and this trait commanded success. Enthusiasm
may overleap the mark, but no great enterprise was ever
carried without it; and the phlegmatic man who has none,
however capable he may be, is entirely unfit to stand at the
helm of such an enterprise. I felt a fear that we now
wanted a hand who could not be obtained, and that for
want of the vigorous undying energy necessary to drive our
Haphazard business forward as it required, some "screws
would get loose." It will be generally found, I might say
universally, that that business succeeds best where there is a
22*

258 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
driving of the business by the conductors, and not a driving
of the conductors by the business. The carriage should
never run upon the horses' heels, but the horses be kept at
such a gait as to secure a tight trace; only then can the
driver guide them with safety. Unfortunate as the event was,
it could not be helped, and I had to yield to the unavoidable
necessity of the case. But besides the loss of Q  's
aid, the loss of the purchase-money was a serious one;
$13,333 would have made us easy, have given means to
complete our works, and have driven them on to good effect,
but now I foresaw we were to be sorely cramped. Bly bro
ther had the, offer of a loan of $5,000 for many years until
certain heirs came of age. This he borrowed and loaned to
us, as some compensation for the disappointment; but it was
not enough to suffice for our wants. The prospect now made
me gloomy, and the leaving of her friends made V  so,
when all my cheerfulness was needed to keep up her spirits.
I rallied as best I could, however, and we finally took our
departure for Kentucky, by way of Charlottesville, Staunton,
the White Sulphur Springs, Kenawha and Maysville. Our
first day's journey was in silence and gloom ; V  resting her
head upon my shoulder, while I supported her with my arm.
I had been compelled to purchase a capacious, strong buggy,
to aid in taking our baggage. In this buggy we occasion
ally took shelter from the confinement of the carriage, and
the change was very agreeable. After leaving the White
Sulphur Springs, the country became daily wilder, and gave
a promise of meeting the full idea of the general under
standing in Virginia of what Kentucky then was, when we
reached the Hawk's Nest, on New River, a point at which
I had before tarried for hours to enjoy its romantically wild
scenery; and the view from which is sublime to one in a con
dition to enjoy it. Now, while I was afraid of everything
which would tend to increase the apprehensions of V  ,it
had lost all its charms for me. The rocky banks, or rather solid

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 259
perpendicular rocks from one to two thousand feet high —
the foaming, bounding waters below — the otherwise wild and
awful stillness which prevailed around — the dark channel of
the departing waters, going off in the direction that we were
travelling, looked to me frightful. As we descended the mount
ain, into the deep gloomy abyss below, the trees and vines
overhanging the road, and closing overhead, so as almost to
exclude daylight, made it seem as if we were descending
from the surface of the earth into Syms's Hole. Dear V  ,
she seemed to nestle closer and closer to me as our road
became darker, like a frightened partridge. I could not
help wondering, if she could have foreseen this frightful wild
ness, would it not have staggered her resolution in regard to
marrying me. But no, I am sure it would not; for, while
she seemed awfully impressed with it, yet she seemed happy
in having me as her protector, believing that no harm could
befall her while I was near. Yet when we reached the
mouth of Gauly, where it empties into the Kenawha, and
had to stay all night in a miserable hovel there, my own
heart sunk within me. We could go no further. It was
dark, and we had to put up at the most uncomfortable house
that ever decent people entered. We' were put to sleep in
a loft, the roof covered with clapboards, coming down within
a few feet of our heads, the bed, as we evidently felt, filled
with vermin, and we had no chance to escape. V  asked
me what she sfcould do, saying she could not sleep, and I saw
she could not help weeping. I told her it was a most unfor
tunate thing we had been compelled to stop here, but I could
see no help for it. The proprietors seemed very rough, and
I did not like to offend them, for they would as soon turn
us out of doors as not. We had to endure it until morning;
there was no avoiding it, but we were off as soon as we could
see to drive. " Well, Mr. T  ," said V  , " surely things
are now at their worst ; there can be no stage of society below
this?" I told her she had seen the worst; I would guaran-

26jO THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
tee she should never, during her life, sleep in such a hovel
again, although there were some awfully rough and wild
places all along the road to Maysville.

CHAPTER LI-
ARRIVAL AT KENAWHA — THE SALT BUSINESS — BEAUTIFUL
COUNTRY IN KENTUCKY — CHARACTER OF KENTUCKIANS.
We soon came in sight of the smoke of the Kenawha
furnaces, which was very cheering. Here nature, in one of
her most benevolent freaks, has seemed to try how far she
could favor the salt-makers. Here is salt water so strong
that it will hardly dissolve any more salt; and coal right on
the spot to manufacture it, with navigation at their doors.
This would seem to be all that nature could have done; but,
in boring to a very great depth, some of the wells penetrated
a vein of hydrogen gas, which poured up in such a stream
as to furnish sufficient fuel to manufacture the salt; so that,
in fact, the maker has only to clear the kettles, and barrel
it. It was a few years before the time I am now Writing of,
that I travelled from Maysville to Kenawha, in company
with a Mr. Grant, a man of fine, natural ga»d sense, with
a very clear perception of the best adaptation of means to
ends. He was a salt manufacturer, and the salt business
was in a state of great depression, from the very excess of
the advantages which they possessed. They made an over
stock for the supply of the country— the salt became a drug,
and all the manufacturers were embarrassed. Grant conceived
the idea of forming a company to monopolize the business.
Being joined by a Mr. Ruffner, and others, he agreed with
all the salt-makers that, for a certain number of years, pro-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 261
vided they would each agree to diminish their products a cer
tain percentage, allowing a given amount to be made in pro
portion to the capacity of the works, this company would buy
it all at a given price per bushel. He also had arrangements
for securing the purity of the salt, which had, until then,
been very impure; he being considered the best salt-boiler
who could boil up the greatest amount of " bitter water" in
the salt, thereby making it weigh the heavier. This purify
ing process was much for the advantage of the public, and
very necessary to the sale of the Kenawha salt, as the Zanes-
ville was considered much purer, and would, on that account,
be preferred to the extent that it could be had. Grant &
Co. now appointed agents in all the western towns, and sent
on supplies of salt, limiting the price to fifty cents per bushel,
being about double what they gave. The sales were enor
mous, and the profits in proportion. When this lease ran
out, the lessees had made a very large fortune; the manufac
turers, jealous of their success, would not renew it, and again
fell back into their old condition. Being again tired of this,
after a while they rented to Hewit, Ruffner, & Co., with a re
sult of equal good fortune to them.
Mr. Hewit had married Mr. Grant's daughter, was a man
of fine judgment, great enterprise, takes pride in recurring
to his early days, -and showing how he has regularly ad
vanced. With this view he has hung up in his parlor, a
few miles above Louisville, the painting of a raft just in the
act of landing at Louisville, upon which a friend of his and
himself are seen in their shirt-sleeves, busily engaged in
securing the raft which belongs to them. He points to this
as his beginning in life. But his friend, whose likeness is
very striking, being rather more aristocratic in his notions,
I understand, does not feel complimented by being so exhi
bited. Now I confess I am of Hewit's school, and prefer to
have been the maker of my own fortune to having inherited
it. Any simpleton may inherit a fortune; but it is an evi-

262 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
dence of some mind in a man who makes one. A man, to
be sure, may make a fortune without much sense if he has
capital to start on. He may sit down in a corner, and act
the usurer. Or he may confine himself industriously to any
one pursuit in which he may have been raised, the details
of which he understands ; and if he will deal altogether for
cash, running no risks, provided he sells for more than he
gives — sells enough to let the difference, after payment of all
expenses, leave a surplus, and will continue to extend his
business as this surplus will enable him to do it — it is
very evident that such a man must make money, and that
it would not require much mind to do it. . But at the end
of a long life only could such a man hope that his accumu
lations would amount to what might be termed a fortune.
Yet those gentlemen may be said by the force of intellect to
have caught fortune as a Mexican would a mustang, har
nessed her, and driven her onward; Hewit especially, who
is considered one of the most thriving and wealthy mer
chants of the West.
We proceeded on our way to Blaysville, stopping at some
very rough houses, but nowhere at another Gauly. At
Blaysville we found a pretty good hotel, and the town had
somewhat the appearance of civilization. Now V  's spirits
seemed to revive. Here we rested half a day. The next
morning started for Lexington. On rising the hill back of
Maysville, all nature seemed to have changed. There was
nothing which could be called wilderness. An air of ele
gant civilization and improvement seemed to pervade the
whole country, compared with which, we seemed from the
Hawk's Nest to have been travelling under ground, with
here and there an exception, however, in the shape of a
pleasant little town, and the country continued to improve
in beauty as we progressed. The growth of timber in this
portion of Kentucky being chiefly the sugar-maple, buck
eye, hackberry, &c, trees of not large growth, and not very

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 263
thick upon the ground, the blue grass (greensward of Vir
ginia) springs up spontaneously, so that very little trouble
is required to form the richest pastures, which are so profit
able in grazing cattle that every man has his land fenced in,
and the undergrowth cut out. This gives the semblance of
immense and beautiful parks all along the road. And then
the beautiful brick residences seen through the trees in the
distance, built in cottage form, generally with a basement-
story, the entrance by a flight of steps some eight or ten feet
into a beautiful portico, and from thence into a hall or pas
sage some twelve feet wide, with a high, airy pitch, and
rooms on each side of it. The deep cornices of these cottage
like buildings evidence a good architectural taste ; they are
to a building what a handsome neck-dress is to a lady ; they
set her off to advantage, and are indispensable to a hand
some finish. Considering how important it is to the finish
ing of a building with taste that a knowledge of architectu
ral proportions should exist, I wonder the science is not
more generally cultivated. I think it ought to be a branch
of study in all our schools; at least, so far as outward pro
portions go. As, for instance, the height which a one-story
building should be above the basement; a two-story build
ing; what proportions these two should bear to each other
and to the basement, and what ought to be the height of
the basement the size of the house considered. Then the
columns, their size in proportion to height, and the taper
from base to capital ; character of base and of capital. Size1
and shape of windows and doors; character of balusters; out
side and inside steps; character of cornice and depth. Best
kind of roof and style of finish, all to make the most impos
ing display according to cost. This whole subject, as far as
nee jssary to enable a gentleman of taste to plan his own
buildings, could be mastered in a time which would be
hardly worth naming ; and the possession of the knowledge
would stamp itself upon the improvements of any country

264 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
where it existed. The style of a building typifies the cha
racter of the owner, in the absence of other evidence. Sup
pose we pass two farms, one with a building beautifully pro
portioned, the yard with handsomely gravelled walks, green,
extensive grass-plots, neat iron railings upon a cut stone or
brick basement, with large, handsome iron gates. The
other equally as costly, perhaps a larger house, the eves
close down upon the top of the upper windows; the windows
low; panes of glass small; stories low; three of them, the
first but one step from the ground; yard small, without
trees, no gravel, and inclosed with a board fence. Let any
man view those two tenements, and he will estimate the
taste and mental capacity of the owners about as he would
the two residences. A very singular illustration of this
idea occurred in Louisville some years ago. I was riding
through the streets in company with Blrs. B  and another
lady in a carriage ; we spoke of the tendency of a building
to exhibit the traits of character of the owner, when, to ex
emplify it, several buildings were pointed out, and I was
asked the character of the owners. One was a fine, finikin,
gingerbread structure, extremely fantastic. I was asked
who owned that. I answered, no man but one who kept a
toy-shop could build such a house as that. Blrs. B 
burst into a fit of laughter, and declared that the man who
built it did keep a toy-shop.
But to return to my narrative. So unexpected was the
appearance of the country now to V  (for I had hardly
yet learned to call her my wife), that she was in perfect rap
tures. " Oh, how beautiful!" said she, "how beautiful!
Why, Mr. T  , do they sweep the woods here?" This,
to some persons, may seem a traveller's tale; but it is lite
rally true, and I often afterwards reminded my wife of her
having asked me if they swept the woods in Kentucky.
The soil is a deep chocolate loam, based on limestone, and
grass is its most profitable appropriation. The fine, fat,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 261
sleek cattle ranging. through the woods seem in their heavei
on earth. I learn that the Kentucky cattle are more prizei
in New York and Philadelphia than those of Ohio. Thi
must be on account of their being less fed on corn. Grass
fed beef is esteemed the sweetest. The habit among thi
graziers is to cut their corn a little, before it is ripe, so tha
it will yet ripen on the stalk when put into stacks. Thi
they haul out into their woodland pastures, scatter over thi
ground, and the cattle feed upon it, thus scattering manur
over the land.
While in London, in 1849, I was walking with an En
glishman over Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Hyd
Park, I think, would be the better of more trees; but stil
it would be difficult to imagine a more beautiful place thai
they both are, to the extent of several hundred acres. Thi
gentleman seemed very proud of these grounds, and askei
me if we had anything like them in America. I .answere*
" yes," somewhat to his surprise. " As large ?" said hi
" Yes," I remarked; " for one hundred miles square, or te
thousand times as large as his parks." " Oh, you American
deal on such a tremendous scale in everything that we hardl
know whether you are in earnest, or quizzing us." I assure
him that in Kentucky I could find a body of land equal t
one hundred miles square, chiefly in grass, as beautiful e
those parks, and interspersed with trees still more rich an
beautiful than his elms. " Why," said he, " my idea ha
always been that Kentucky was a wilderness." " In th:
idea," I replied, "you are not singular. She has, until
few years past, been so considered even by her parent Stat
Virginia. But it is a very erroneous idea. True, a goc
deal of the State is yet in a wilderness condition, as is
good portion of Virginia — more of Virginia than of Kei
tucky. But one hundred miles square in Kentucky can I
found, superior to. the same extent anywhere in Englan<
with the exception that we have no such expensive castles i
23

266 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
you have. But our country residences in that region gene
rally are not inferior to yours in comfort, and I think are
built in better taste;" at "the which" he seemed surprised;
The dead fences are a drawback to this beautiful portion
of Kentucky. In time they will disappear, and I hope be
replaced by the Osage orange hedge, which by experiment is
found to answer well in our country. It can be obtained in
four years from the seed, or in three from the slip, and
flowers magnificently. I cannot imagine a more enchanting
region than this would be with Bois d'arc, otherwise called
the Osage orange hedge. The frost of our region, it is said,
does not injure it, although it is a native of a southern clime.
Beauty and virtue are nearly allied in my mind. If I pass
a country dwelling, tastefully arranged and improved, I ne
cessarily picture to myself its inmates as neat, tasty, refined,
and virtuous; and if so in one dwelling, the more so where
this characteristic pervades a whole country. This region of
Kentucky is now probably as populous as it will be for a long
time. The buildings erected upon it are too expensive to be
sustained by smaller farms than it is divided into. When a
father dies, he generally could not divide his estate among
his children. The mansion-house without any farm would
be more than the share of any one, and it would be of little
value without the farm. The consequence is that the whole
is generally sold. Some one of the family buys it, generally
the most enterprising member, he giving his bonds on some
credit for the shares of the rest, and they seek a home else
where. The members of most character will remain behind;
the effect of which will be to cause the population of this
region to be continually increasing in intelligence. Wealth
necessarily, in time, procures refinement. The sons of cattle-
raisers, who are measurably uneducated themselves, will be
sent to college. These sons, in their young days, have been
accustomed to industry. Before going to school in the
morning, and afterwards in the evening, they help their

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 26
fathers to feed the cattle, and after supper retire to get thei
school-tasks. They are learning and practising the game c
human life as they grow up. The fine points of a horse,
mule, a beef, of sheep ; the best crops to yield the greates
amount of food; best modes of cultivation ; best implements
best means of preserving the fertility of the land — all thes
they hear constantly discussed, and withal a plentiful croj
of polities, for Kentucky is emphatically the land of politica
excitement. With these notions they go to college. The;
are more thoughtful than other boys ; have less taste fo
frivolous amusements. Naturally courageous, they are no
aware that there is any merit in being so; are not ostenta
tious of if; not quarrelsome, but ever ready to vindicat
their rights. They see the efforts of other boys to make ;
display; they see such is not the case with boys from thei
own State. They admire their own countrymen, and believ
that whatever is Kentuckian is right, and whatever differ
from it is wrong in manners and everything else. The;
acquire a manly, frank independence of character, whicl
sometimes, by being carried too far, is called a Kentuckyism
but it is a vice which leans to virtue's side. A gentlemai
from New York related to me an anecdote which strong!;
illustrated the Kentucky character.
At a dinner-party, a Kentuckian was asked to drink wine
The wine to be drank, according to the usage of the day
required that a colored glass should be used. But he too]
a clear glass ; an acquaintance at his elbow pointed to thi
colored glass which ought to be used, and so intimated ti
him ; but he seemed not to heed him. This gentlemai
seemed dreadfully shocked at his friend's apparent want of i
knowledge of the usages of polite society ; and, after he ha(
drank, said to him that the etiquette of New York requiret
that he should have used the other glass. The Kentuckian
smiling, but with perfect self-possession, rejoined, " But ]
have not been raised in New York." New Yorker. — "Bui

268 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
still, do you not think it right to conform to our rules?"
Kentuckian. — "Where I am acquainted with them, and
they are sensible and reasonable, I do; but where I think
there is good reason to violate them, and I have not to act
offensively by doing so, I prefer to violate them. The clear
glass shows the natural color of the wine. My taste is in
accordance with my imagination. Your colored glasses make
the wine seem to me as if it had been taken from a copper
kettle, or some metallic vessel, from which it had imbibed
an impurity. To all your sensible fashions, sir, I will yield
with pleasure — but not to this." This brought on a discus
sion upon etiquette. New Yorker. — "Do you not think
every country has a right to establish its own laws of po
liteness?" Kentuckian. — " Oh, certainly." New Yorker. —
"And that a disregard of them is disrespectful ?" Kentuck
ian. — " If the disregard be wanton and without reason."
New Yorker. — " But where a gentleman does not conform,
he runs the hazard of being thought ignorant of the laws of
etiquette. Kentuckian (laughing out). — " Which is just
the fact with me." New Yorker (rather in an undertone).
— " But you are not willing any one should know that?"
Here Colonel S  called from the - other end of the
table (one or two seats being vacated near him) to the
Kentuckian and his friend to come up and take them, which
they did. "Come," said Colonel S  to the Kentuckian,
" we have no idea of Blr. N  's monopolizing your com
pany;" who replied, "I do not know whether I have been
more diverted, or Blr. N  more alarmed at our conversa
tion. He is dreadfully afraid that it will be found out that
I am not au fait in regard to the etiquette of your society."
"Ah!" said ColonelS  , "how could he entertain such
a fear?" "Simply," replied the Kentuckian, "because I
confessed my ignorance." "Ah, ah, well," said Colonel
S  , " that is a difficulty soon remedied ;" and commenced
a lecture in which he was not interrupted. " But," said my

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 26
informant, when he had finished, " the Kentuckian took u
the question, and spoke so appropriately, so sensibly, s
beautifully, that I began to think the man who was brigh
in matters of etiquette was apt to be proportionally dull i;
everything else. He evidenced a perfect familiarity with th
general conventional laws of elegant society, and would hav
shone at the court of St. James. But he had the most pei
feet contempt for the frivolous and unmeaning portion o
those rules. He was a man, a solid man," said my inform
ant, "before whom the dandies of fashion seemed the meres
chaff conceivable." "Ah!" said I, "Old Kentuck to th
bone. That is the man to govern men. He is worth
wagon-load of your bandbox fellows."
I recollect an occurrence on board of a steam-boat betweei
Richmond and Norfolk on a former trip to Virginia. I
Kentuckian was on board not very fashionably dressed
As politics were running very high, I felt anxious to knov
how they were going. He and I agreed. I had previous!
learned from him that he had brought in a drove of hogs fo
sale. Major Smith, of Norfolk, paymaster in the army, ai
elegant and accomplished gentleman, sat nearly opposite t
us, and became interested in our conversation, so much s
that he presently came round and asked me to introduc
him. Not knowing the Kentuckian's name, I said, withou
calling it, " Permit me, sir, to introduce you to Majo
Smith." Rising and taking the major's hand, " Hamilton
sir, is my name," said he; "I am happy to know you, sir.'
I left them now, and went on deck. In about an hou
Major Smith joined me, and said, "R  " — being ac
quainted with me from my boyhood, he always so callei
me — "that Kentuckian is one of the most intelligent am
sensible fellows that I have seen for a long time. Who i
he?" "I do not know," I replied, "except that he is i
hog-drover. He told me at table that he was going to Nor
folk to learn the price of hogs preparatory to taking down i
23*

270 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
drove." "A hog-drover?" said Major Smith, with surprise.
"Yes, a hog-drover," I replied. "Why," rejoined the ma
jor, "he has the manners, the intelligence, and the deport
ment of a gentleman." "And," said I, "doubtless, is one,
his driving hogs to the contrary notwithstanding."
These Western men are curious fellows. They care
nothing about appearances. This man is probably the owner
of an extensive farm, beautifully improved, and, if you were
to visit him in Kentucky, would, perhaps, furnish you with
the finest wines to be had in the New Orleans market. Those
are hogs which he has probably fattened upon his own farm.
It is customary there, when fattening beeves, to let two hogs
follow a beef. He has possibly fattened two hundred and
fifty beeves. These go into one field on one day, where
they are fed; the next day they are driven to another, five
hundred hogs being let into the field which they have left;
and so on. These cattle go from day to day into a new
field; the hogs following the next. All the feeding which
these hogs get is what the beeves leave behind, and both
become very fat. The probability is that this man's son, or
some confidential agent, has taken his beeves to Philadelphia
or New York, and that, when they get home, tbey will have
an aggregate of fifteen or sixteen thousand dollars. Take
out about five thousand paid for stock-hogs and stock-cattle
(for none of those graziers raise the cattle which they fatten,
but buy them of small farmers, living where the range is
freer and larger), and he will have about ten thousand dol
lars; the proceeds for the year of a farm of perhaps one
thousand acres of grazing land.
James Clay, a son of the Hon. Henry Clay, a man of fine
mind, very much after the order of his father's, and who, if
he had any political ambition, could acquire a position of the
highest grade among our statesmen — who, however, has none,
but a perfect contempt for popularity — told me that he once
went to North Carolina with a drove of mules, raised, I pre-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 2T.
sume, on his own farm, and his name being Clay, he wa
asked if he was related to Henry Clay. He replied that hi
was Henry Clay's son ; and it was with difficulty that h
could obtain credence.
, Again I have wandered from my narrative ; to return :—
We proceeded on to Lexington, and, as we passed througl
the city, a very large green yard appeared on our left, am
a large airy mansion in the centre ; a young lady standinj
in the door, not near enough to distinguish her features, bu
I was pretty certain it was Miss  .
"There, V  ," said I, "is Miss  , with whom
about two years ago, I first visited Ashland, Mr. Clay's resi
dence. She is a beautiful, sweet girl; she took me out ii
her father's own carriage." Said V  , "I wonder you di
not fall in love with her." " Oh," I replied, " she was cog
nizant of that sad affair of mine, which did so much mis
chief between you and me, or probably she would not have s
favored me. She felt perfectly secure from being courted.'
" Oh, do not mention that to me any more," said V 
"I do not like to hear of it."
We proceeded on to Frankfort, and, when on the top c
the hill, just above, we felt the carriage careening to the right
I called suddenly to the driver to know what was the maftei
He had fallen asleep, and was roused up just in time to sav
us from being precipitated over a steep of perhaps one hur
dred feet in height. Frankfort now appeared all before u
in a hollow surrounded by hills. Such is its appearanc
that the idea strikes one that, with rafters long enough t
meet from the adjacent hills to the centre, you might cove
it all under one roof.

272 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER LII.
ARRIVAL AT FRANKFORT — REMOVAL TO HAPHAZARD—
COAL BUSINESS.
Judge Bibb, Mr. Crittenden, and my acquaintances gene
rally, calling to see V  , and welcoming her, cheered her
spirits very much, although nothing could compensate for
the absence of her own near relatives. It is a dreary time
with a young wife, when she goes into a far-off strange land,
among those whom she never saw before, however kind they
may be to her. She had been the pet of her family, and
no one could fill the blank which their absence made. We
put up temporarily at Weisiger's Hotel, until I could make
the necessary arrangements for housekeeping. Bly long
absence had interrupted my business a good deal; but still
I found a vast amount to bring up, which occupied me not
only during the day, but much of the night. I took my let
ters home from our office to answer at night, that I might be
with V  , and she would copy as I would write. I found
the Haphazard Branch had not yet commenced making
money, but on my return the calls were heavy on me for
further advances. The little supply which I had obtained
in Virginia I had hoped would go to lessening accumulated
arrearages, but it all seemed required for progressing im
provements. Hardly a week passed that I was not called
upon for a further advance. I confess I began to feel ex
ceedingly uneasy. My income from my land business had
been much lessened while I was absent, and my little stook
on hand was fast wasting away. I formed a determination
on my first marriage to conceal nothing from my wife, and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 273
conferred freely with her about my business. She finally
suggested that we had better go to Haphazard; she thought
my presence there must be necessary. I was convinced she
was right — diroke up our office in Frankfort, and moved
down. The house we had built was a very large one, with
plenty of room for both of our families, and as B  's wife
was a sweet, well-bred, amiable woman, I had no apprehen
sions about any disagreement, and there was none. But still
I would say to others, never attempt to live with two families
in common in one house. Each family may be so well raised,
and so amiable, that they could not disagree, or would not ;
but still, they would love each other better, if they had sepa
rate establishments. Necessity, however, left us no choice.
I now saw that we were evidently#losing money by our
distilleries. God seemed to have put his reprobation upon
the business. Nothing went well with them, and we stopped
the largest, still continuing one and the steam-mill; but
steam is a; thing which should never be touched except by
those having a perfect acquaintance with it, and who are
willing to devote themselves entirely to it; for, if it does not
make money, it will lose it very fast; there is no middle
ground ; and when it does lose, the amount is frightful. A
deep gloom came over me ; I feared that I saw " the shadows
of coming events cast before." There was, however, a ray
of hope let in from the coal-mines ; our first experiments had
been profitable ; and it was determined that B — — should go
to New Orleans to make arrangements to try and get it into
use among the planters, or sugar-makers. On his way down
he met with a Mr. B  , a commission-merchant, who fur
nished many planters with their supplies. On opening our
plans to Mr. B  , he told B  he thought they would
do, and undertook to act as our agent in the business. This
matter being arranged, B  returned, and we proceeded to
send down coal, offering it at fifty cents per barrel. As four
barrels were equal to a cord of wood which was worth $3,

274

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

there was an evident saving of fifty per cent., besides a great
saving in the handling. The experiment was eminently suc
cessful. Mr. B  sold every load we sent, before it arrived,
and wrote to us that, if we could afford to send it for fifty cents
per bushel, he could sell all that we could send him. We
Were now the only shippers, except Judge McLean, who had
opened a small vein opposite to Hawesville, at what is now
Cannelton. This was not over half the thickness of ours,
and we did not much fear the competition.
If Mr. B— — was not mistaken in supposing he could
sell all that we could send down at fifty cents per barrel, our
fortunes were made, for we could furnish any quantity which
we could get boats to carry, and make from fifteen to twenty
cents per barrel. I could see no reason why we could not
send down two hundred* thousand barrels, making thereby
thirty or forty thousand dollars.
Dame Fortune seemed at last not only to smile, but dis
posed to shower her favors upon us. So we proceeded to
make our arrangements for the next year's work upon a very
large scale.
About the beginning of 1829, my wife blessed me with
a daughter — a beautiful child, which was an additional link
to that affection, before already as strong as it well could be.
And now afterwards, some time in February, occurred a
difficulty with our distiller. The vile business seemed doomed
to go wrong in every way. I found our distiller had been
cheating us, and charged him with it. This brought on a fist-
fight, the only one I ever had been engaged in since I left
school. He was a powerful man, over six feet high, and
would have gotten the better of me, had we not been parted,
My brother-in-law, Dr. P  , being present, interposed, and
I left the distillery with him, and went down to our office, pre
tending to be entirely pacified, and laughing heartily at the
occurrence as a good joke. But as soon as I had thrown the
Doctor off his guard, and got him to leave me, I returned to

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 275
the distillery with a tomahawk, determined to drive the dis
tiller out. - But fortunately for me, he had gone, for he was
a desperate devil, and with his mash-stick would have been
an overmatch for me with my tomahawk. I now had the
distillery closed, and the business stopped. The distiller
threatened to sue me for violation of contract; but we com
promised by agreeing to leave it to arbitration.

CHAPTER LIII.
A DUEL.
In this arbitration, occurred a difficulty which caused me
so circumstantially to relate the above affair with the distil
ler, which otherwise would not have been worth naming.
Mr. P. T  , the most prominent lawyer in our district, a
man of naturally good heart, but of most ungovernable passion,
was my adversary's lawyer ; and in the course of his speech,
spoke of the stratagem of Mr. T  . When the argument
was over, I remarked to him that he had used an expression
which he must withdraw. " What expression ?" said he.
I replied he had accused me of stratagem in my dealings
wifh the distiller. "I did not allude to you," he replied;
"I meant your brother's stratagem of argument." My
brother was my lawyer in the case. " Ah ! well," I replied,
"I am glad to hear it." "But," he rejoined, " I am always
responsible for what I say."
About six months before this, when T  and myself
were taking some depositions, he had been needlessly harsh,
as I thought, on my witness. I took him out to give him
a friendly talk about it. His usual mode of proceeding in
such cases was harsher than I was disposed to bear with;

276 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
but he was so accustomed to it that he did not think
there was any harm in it. We were neighbors, and I was
anxious to keep on friendly terms with him. So I told him,
and that to this end more courtesy would be necessary on
his part. He took this as a threat, and said he would not
be threatened by any man. I told him, so far from its
being designed as a threat, I designed by it to avoid wy
cause of quarrel if possible. But, as I had missed my ob
ject, and to the public, if we did quarrel, there might be a
semblance of my being in the wrong, I did not intend then
to let him draw me into a quarrel; but at any other time,
when he felt inclined to seek a quarrel with me, he should
be gratified. Thus we parted; and we both now were on
the look-out for the slightest provocation. Under other cir
cumstances, I should not have deemed his remark sufficiently
offensive to require me to call him to account for it, nor
would he have refused to let his explanation stand.
Seeing now that I had mistaken him, and although deter
mined not to take the shadow of an insult from him (espe
cially as he held the whole country in dread, for when in a
passion" he lost all control of himself), I was still anxious to
avoid a quarrel if I could do so with credit. When he said,
" I am always responsible for what I say," I looked him
earnestly in the face, and replied, " Mr. T  , while I be
lieved you intended to insult me, I intended to call you to
account for it. When I perceived my error, I was anxious
that the. difficulty should go no further. Your explanation
was satisfactory, and under that explanation there is no need
for you to hold yourself accountable; there is nothing to be
accounted for. Let me beg of you now to let this matter
stop where it is." He replied, he withdrew his explanation.
I walked up to him with a view to make a personal attack
upon him, when my brother cried out, " Good God, E,  1
you are not going to strike a lame man." I halted, and looked
at him, and said, "I will not strike you, sir; nor will I chal-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 277
lenge you, abhorring duelling as I do, but nevertheless I
will accept a challenge from you, and that you may not be
without provocation for one, I tell you that I only now spare
you in consideration of your lameness. Now challenge me
if you dare." Our friends jumped in between us; several
taking hold of him, and several hold of me. To those who
attempted to hold me, I remarked in the language of a man
of whom I had read, who was in a similar predicament,
" One man can hold me ; the balance of you go and hold
Blr. T  ."
In due time the challenge came, and was accepted to fight
as soon as I could provide myself with arms. I sent to
Hardinsburg for a pair of pistols, said to be the best known
jff. ButT  had been before me. One friend then
jumped on a steamboat, and went to Louisville, where he
obtained a fine pair belonging to Blr. J. D. B  . An
other went to New Madrid, where he knew there was a pair
which Burr had had on the field with Hamilton. Both
pairs were obtained, and so good were they that I did not
regret failing to obtain those in Hardinsburg. I now fixed
the day for the fight, accepting at ten paces back to back,
whirl and fire between- the words fire and three, the seconds
to count deliberately one, two, three. T  objected to
standing back to back, as he was lame, and could not turn
as quick as I could. I then waived that condition, and
agreed to stand face to face. He having the advantage of
me in practice, I took time to make myself even with him,
and soon found I was a first-rate marksman, and heard that
he was the same. The victory, then, would fall to hini who •
could shoot quickest ; therefore, my efforts were to learn to
shoot quick. During the interim before fighting, I was
daily engaged with B  in settling up our business ; and
the evening before in making the final arrangements; B  ,
remarked, it was strange to see a man writing his will, and.
making such arrangements while yet in good health. A
24

278 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
singular occurrence had happened a few nights before; my
wife in the middle of the night seemed terribly disturbed in
her sleep, and groaned so much that I waked her. "Oh!"
said she, as she roused up, "I have had such a frightful,
terrible dream. I dreamed I was in a room full of black
coffins." "Why did you dream so?" I asked. "Oh! I
do not know," she replied; "but it makes me feel very
unhappy." I remarked, " Dreams, you know, are always to
be construed backwards." This incident, I confess, weighed
heavily on my spirits; not that I was at all superstitious;
but it brought vividly to my view what would be the conse
quence if I should be shot, and not much better if I should
shoot my adversary. A young wife, not yet a year married,
and an infant daughter. Oh ! if she only knew what was
impending, what a premonition there would seem to be in
that dream. Ofi the night before our fight, our little daugh
ter was particularly cross, so much so that I said to V 
I felt so much in want of sleep that I must go up stairs and
take another bed. This, said V  afterwards, was the
first unkind act she had seen on my part, and it cut her to
the heart. She had no idea how important sleep was to me
at that time. The next day we were to meet at a designated
point on the Indiana shore at eleven o'clock. When about
to embark to cross over, Judge H  , one of my seconds
(each had two, J. B. A  my other), asked me how I
felt. I replied, " Strangely indifferent ; I Can hardly real
ize that I am going to fight a duel." " But," said he, "you
must realize it, for there is but little time left now."
I then.reniarked, " Before we go over, hang up a tape against
that tree, and let me try my band." He objected, saying,
" If you make a bad shot, it will affect your spirits." " No,"
I replied, "it will not; bang it up." It was done; at ten
steps I took a shot, and cut the tape about half an inch be
low the black spot. " That will do," said he.
Considering the probable dreadful result, to kill or be

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 279
killed, many would say it argued great want of feeling to go
about such a business so calmly. But if the reader has ever
been engaged in a duel, has had time for reflection before it
occurred, and his conscience is at rest as to having used
every effort to avoid it, he will then see that the thing, being
inevitable, and his own safety depending on his shooting his
adversary, no question arises in his mind which of the two
to choose. Persons may say, they would as soon be shot
as to shoot an adversary. That was not my case ; I very
much preferred to shoot my adversary. And it was important
to my success in doing so that the awful responsibility of the
act should be shut out from my mind as much as possible.
I would not think of it but in one way, that it was neces
sary to my own safety. I had no feeling of revenge to gra
tify, and when I went upon the ground I had no more
animosity against T  than against any other man on the
ground.. When we took our positions, and were asked if we
•were ready, I answered, " No." I wished to see if my
nerves were steady, and took aim at a lump of snow on a
wood-pile. Although there was snow uppn the ground, and
it was dead of winter — February — yet I felt a warm glow
and a suppleness of nerve which were extraordinary. If Pro
vidence would take part with either party in a matter like
this, I should think I- had his support, for never was my
touch so sensitive, my flesh so pliant, nor my aim so quick
and accurate as at this lump of snow. I felt as if I could
put my ball just where I pleased; and unfortunately for
T  there was a grease spot very visible just where I
wished to aim.
Being satisfied with my aim, I turned to the second who
had asked if we were ready, and said, " Now I am ready."
T  was asked if he was ready, and, answering yes, the
word fire was given. Our fires were almost simultaneous,
mine a little first. For a moment T  stood erect, and,
although my aim was good, I began to think I must have

280 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
missed him. But presently a black scowl came over his coun
tenance, he threw his pistol on the ground before him, and
said : " I am a dead man !" Now, all the feelings which had
been strained up were relaxed, and my first impulse was to
go to his aid. But, as I advanced, his second, Blr. G  ,
called to me to keep my post ; that Blr. T  might wish
another fire. I returned ; but in a few moments his other
second, Judge C  , called out that Mr. T  was satisfied.
He would be unable to take another fire. My ball had en
tered just under his right nipple, passed through his body,
and lodged in his left arm, without breaking the skin except
where it entered. It was not supposed he could live twenty-
four hours. But he did, and finally recovered ; and although
at first, for some time, we were not friendly, yet ultimately
we made- up and were good friends. And, what was singular,
this shot' cured him of a chronic rheumatism of ten years'
standing, and of his lameness. He said I was a first-rate
surgeon, though rather a rough operator. T  was a sin
gular man, one of violent passions ; sorry for it when the
passion was over ; and used to tell his friends that he could
not control himself, and that he was certain he would some
day be killed ; a correct prediction, for he was afterwards
killed in the streets of Owensboro' by a man whom he had
attacked. He was a man of fine talents and fine qualities,
away from his ungovernable passions.
To return, now I had to go home and break the matter to
my wife. The idea of my having killed a man I knew would
almost break her sensitive heart. So I concluded, until he
died, I would pass it off for a slight wound. I asked her, on
arriving at home, to go with me to her chamber. She looked
in my face and said : " Why, Mr. T  , you look dread
ful ; what is the matter ?" " Nothing," I replied, "as things
have turned out, but it might have been dreadful. I have
just fought a duel." "Oh," said she, "are you hurt?"
"Not touched," I replied; "but my adversary is slightly

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 281
wounded." She fell upon my neck and sobbed, as though I
had been shot. After a while, rising, she asked where he
was shot, and who my adversary was. I replied, Blr. T  ,
who had received a flesh wound in the side. "Oh, heavens,
Mr. T  , suppose he should die ?" I believed he would,
but still did not wish her to think so then, yet thought it
necessary to prepare her for the possibility. So I replied :
"Of that there is no danger. But if he should, he has
brought the event upon his own head. I did my best to
avoid it. He forced me into it ;" and I related to her the
quarrel as it had occurred, and how I had struggled to avoid
the result. She seemed satisfied, and said she hoped T 
would get well. The wound was such an one as I suppose
would have killed ninety-nine men out of one hundred, for I
am told by physicians that the space for an ounce ball cannot
be found between the point of entrance and of rest of this
ball without cutting the lungs and causing death, except by
supposing that the hall ranged around under the breast bone,
pressing it out so as to leave room between it and the lungs
for the ball to pass. This the physicians had no idea of,
of course concluded he must die, and so informed mo. I
entertained no hope, and, of course, was seeking for con
solation in the unavoidable circumstances of the case. But
he did not die so soon as was expected, and this gave me
some hope. Each day added to this hope, until he was pro
nounced out of danger. Now I breathed freely, and a load
of anxiety was taken from my mind.
But what was my astonishment to learn now that he had
sent for his seconds to challenge me again. I had been
thanking my God for his recovery, and saving me the respon
sibility of his death. Now it was all to go over again. I
was rendered perfectly desperate ; wrote for my seconds,
and named the mode in which I would fight if challenged
again, rendering the escape of either a very doubtful matter.
But my seconds and his both thought another fight " con-
24*

282 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
trary to all precedent," and he was dissuaded from sending
the challenge.
The man who finally killed him was a workman, a car
penter, not particularly sensitive ; but the event so preyed
upon his conscience that he gradually pined away and died
in about a year after, of no complaint but remorse. Would
my case have been any better had it been my fate to kill
him ? Very doubtful. My brother's remark, though designed
to prevent a fight, was a most unfortunate one ; for, although
T  was a little lame, it did not impair his strength,
and he was a full match for me. But for my brother's re
mark we would have had a fist fight, the company would pro
bably have parted us, and there it would have ended. What
he meant for good, therefore, turned out for evil.
Now had such a board of arbitrators existed here as I have
designated heretofore in these memoirs, and the steps there
suggested been taken, this duel might have been prevented.
¦ So much for that matter.
This put a final close to the distilling business. The curse
of God seemed to be upon it, and both distilleries now soon
went to wreck. Here was a large sum of money entirely
sunk. I felt some consolation in the reflection that, if we
had been engaged in the abominable business, we had lost
enough to punish us for the sin, and that our account with
Heaven was nearly balanced. But, as I before said, at that
time it was not considered a discreditable business.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 283

CHAPTER LIV.
SHIPMENT OF COAL TO NEW ORLEANS.
We now made all arrangements for a tremendous business
in coal, and so brilliant seemed the prospect there that the
loss by the distilleries was thought but a trifle.
We1 turned in to building boats ' at our steam-mill,
turning out one a week; contracted with Judge Huston for
all that he could build at his mill on Sinking Creek;
engaged other mills on Salt River, and, indeed, various
points were all alive building boats for us. All things
moved on swimmingly, so that, as soon as the water rose in
the fall, our boats were loaded and dispatched with great
energy. We were in the highest conceivable spirits, imagin
ing we were making from one hundred and fifty to two hun
dred dollars per day.
But in the midst of our glee we received a letter from
Mr. B  , saying that an unprecedented frost had occurred,
which had killed the sugar-cane, and there would not be half
a crop to grind. The planters, therefore, would not want the
coal, and if they wanted it, they could not pay for it. That
we must stop shipments, and draw no more drafts on him.
This was a state of things beyond our calculation ; entirely
unforeseen. Never did fortune so suddenly change. There
seemed no ground of fear; no such frost had occurred for
twenty years. The planters were anxious to get our coal at
fifty cents per barrel, and at this price we could make a for
tune. We had now some twenty or thirty boat-loads on the
way, and contracts for at least one hundred boats to be built,
a great number of coal-diggers and boatmen engaged. What

284 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
were we to do ? Ruin stared us in the face. We sent mes
sengers immediately around to all the owners of saw-mills
with whom we had contracted, informing them of the disas
ter, which would make it impossible for us to pay for their
boats, and asking them to cease building. We arranged
with our coal-diggers to dig as little as possible, only to load
such boats as we had on hand, and I jumped upon a steam
boat, and went immediately to New Orleans.
On my arrival there, I found some twenty boats in port,
and no demand for the coal, which some of the boatmen
would have had sacrificed to pay their wages, but no one
wanted it, and they could not sell it.
My great fear now was that the boatmen, in order to enforce
the payment of their wages, might put me in the calaboose,
as they could have done. I went around among them, and
told them not to be alarmed; that, in a few days, I would put
all things to rights. Their expenses, however, were about
forty dollars per day for hire, and eight dollars wharfage for
each boat. Mr. B  was frightened, would make no ad
vances, and I had scarcely money enough in my pocket to
pay my tavern expenses one week, with no knowledge
where I could sell one bushel' of coal, or raise a dollar. It
ever a man had cause to despond, and give up, I think I
had at this time. But my determination was to fall with
my colors flying, and never to despond until all was lost.
When I retired to my room at night, I took a calm review of
all the difficulties which surrounded me, and the best means
of overcoming them. There was then no coal burnt in New
Orleans in grates, except a little Cannel coal by a few Eng
lish houses. I determined to try to bring it into use; a
hopeless chance this, to make a market for coal already in
port ; but there seemed no resource left. It was winter.
Early in the morning I went down to Richardson's hotel,
first, however, ordering a load of coal to be sent there imme
diately. It was very cold and chilly, and not half those who

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 285
crowded in to the hotel could get to the wood-fire. The
cart appearing at the door, I asked permission of Mr. Rich
ardson to let me put a few lumps of coal upon his fire,
saying it should cost him nothing. With some reluctance
he consented. Soon the coal was in a blaze, and soon the
heat began to expand the crowd, until there was plenty of
room for all. All were delighted, and Richardson, smiling,
said, " Well, I believe you may put me out that load of
coal. What is the price?" I answered four dollars. Turn
ing to his barkeeper, he said, " Pay this gentleman four dol
lars." Madame Sontag, Jenny Lind, and all the exquisite singers
that ever visited our land never furnished such sweet music
as was to my ear, " Pay this gentleman four dollars."
I now determined to go to one of the cotton-presses, and
try there ; so I ordered a load of coal to follow me. After
some time taken up in arguing with the owner of the press,
in favor of the coal, and an offer to give him the first load
for nothing, provided he did not like it well enough to order
a second, he agreed I might try it. It had now arrived,
and I directed the fireman to throw a few shovels full in
among the wood, and only a few, until they became ignited,
being fearful of choking and dampening the fire. Soon
its effects were seen by the blowing off of the steam. Now
the quantity was increased, and the wood and coal put in
alternately. Presently the steam whistled from the safety-
valve as it had never done before. I asked the owner what
he thought of it ; he replied he thought it would do, paid
me for the load, and ordered several more.
I now began to feel confident that I could make a market
for all our coal, and started up -to see the boatmen; but on
my way saw the tow-boat "Livingston" taking in wood. I
went on board, and proposed to her captain (Morrison) to
try coal. He did not know how it would answer. I agreed
he might take on one hundred barrels, and if he did not use

286 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
it, he should not pay for it. He replied he had to take in
some ballast, and would give me the same price for four
hundred barrels of coal that he would have to pay for so
much ballast. "Agreed," said I; "but if you burn the coal,
you shall pay me fifty cents per barrel for it ;'' and he ac
ceded to my proposition. The tow-boat accordingly went
up to one of the coal boats, took on four hundred barrels;
and to see the trial properly made, I got on board of her to
go to the Balize. I directed the firemen how to use it, and
with the same result as at the cotton-press. Captain Mor
rison was perfectly astonished at the effect, and after running
down several miles, "put about," and returned to New Or
leans to let the agent and owners know how finely the coal
answered, to get them to make a contract. They came on
board, and we went down some miles, when all seemed
highly gratified with the experiment ; but made no contract
for the present. They paid me, however, for the coal.
I now had over two hundred dollars, and on returning to the
boat from which I was delivering, found carts there loading
for the cotton-press. I went among the boatmen, related
my success, distributed two hundred dollars of the money I
had received among them", and cheered them up as well as I
could. I went to our commission-merchant B  , ex
plained .what I had done, depicted the brilliant prospects
which, I thought, were dawning, and which would be re
alized, as soon as the value of coal could be made known,
and inspired him with such confidence as to procure an
advance sufficient to pay off all the boatmen. Now my fears
of the calaboose were allayed, and my confidence of ultimate
success greatly strengthened. I went about the city to the
cotton-presses, saw-mills, foundries, smith-shops, etc., en
deavoring to induce them to use the coal, and succeeded to
a great extent, except with the smiths and foundries, who
said it had too much sulphur in it. But it now began to
come into use very rapidly as ordinary fuel, and the tow-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 287
boat "Livingston" was a regular customer, taking several
hundred barrels every trip. All the other tow-boats, eight
in number, had contracts for wood, and therefore could not
burn coal; but a new one, called the "Shark," expected
down from Cincinnati daily, had no such contract, and I was
promised her custom. But in the mean time the shrimps
were eating the calking out of the bottoms of the coal-
boats; they were beginning to leak, and it was necessary to
provide a place of deposit for the coal. This was also neces
sary in order to supply the .tow-boats quickly, time being
very important to them. The process of taking the coal
from the flat-boats was very slow ; besides causing danger to
the boats.
So I rented a river lot from a Mr. Banks, and erected a
wharf upon it out of old boats, upon which I deposited the
coal, and along-side of which the tow-boats could come for it.
The delivery now, by means of wheelbarrows, was very
easy and rapid. The " Shark" at length arrived, and made
trial of it. Capt. Wood, her commander, was much pleased,
and changed his furnaces to use it exclusively. He came
along-side of the wharf, and took in eleven hundred barrels
at one time. Now I felt that I had recovered from the loss
of the sugar-planting interest, and was upon my legs again;
and with the prospects before me, I could safely order a re
sumption of shipments from our coal-mines, which I did ac
cordingly, informing B  of what I had done, and urging
him to forward me coal as fast as he could. The boatmen
who returned to Kentucky, and who, on their arrival in New
Orleans, said there was no chance for selling, had a great
opinion of my fertility of resource, and said I had accomplish
ed wonders; that they did not believe any other living man
could have done as much. A letter from B-  at this time
said that my efforts had inspired the boatmen with such
confidence that he must inform me of it,, and proceeded to
relate the accounts which they brought. I now had great

288 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
cause of congratulation. Had I, on my arrival, been broken
down in spirits by the gloomy aspect of things, and sold out
the coal for what it would have brought, it would not have
paid the hire of the hands ; indeed, it would have brought
almost nothing. But my maxim, "that it costs no more to
die fighting, than to be conquered unresistingly," determined
me to struggle to the last; and that struggle had brought us
out. B  's confidence was restored; he agreed to resume
his acceptance of our bills, and away we went ahead again.

CHAPTER LV.
DINE WITH MR. CLAY AT JUDGE PORTER'S— A PICTURE 0!
REAL LIFE.
On going, one day, to B  's office, I found there a note
from Judge Porter, inviting me to dine with Blr. Clay, and
a few friends at his house the next day. I had not 6een
the judge, and was not aware that he knew I was in town;
indeed, I had not wished to see him, or any other acquaint
ance, for my concern was so great for our situation, and my
exertions such among coal men, as to soil my clothes, give
me a careworn look, and unfit me for company. Now, how
ever, it was different; my careworn appearance was all gone.
I had a triumphant buoyancy of spirit, which made me feel
ready to enjoy any company. How few men there are who
have realized the difference between their feelings in pros
perity and adversity ! One is not the same man at all in the
two cases. I had occasion to note it during this short period
of my adversity. I had a few acquaintances in New Orleans,
who, being aware of my embarrassed condition, and afraid, I
suppose, that I might ask favors of them, became so reserved

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 289
that I dropped their acquaintance. Adversity is a school
where man learns human nature. Blany a man is a good
friend while he can live upon you; who, the moment you are
overtaken by misfortune, will desert you, and be the first
to grind you with the heel of oppression. You may have
done him a hundred favors, your friendship and confidence
may have gone so far as to create a doubt whether you were
not lacking in good sense to trust any man so far; but the
day comes when misfortune overtakes you ; he now sees that
he can make no further use of you ; according to all human
calculation, you must sink ; your acquaintance is no longer of
any value to him, and he must get clear of you. At first
you observe only a lack of cordiality, you are hurt at it, but
do not notice it. , This disappoints him, for he expected you
to be offended, and to give him cause for an open breach ;
but being aware of it, you determine to leave to his own
conscience his punishment. You still preserve the even
tenor of your course, taking no notice of his treatment.
Still believing you cannot stand under the weight upon you,
he becomes colder and colder, and ceases to invite you to his
house. You still do not note it. Some friend sitting with
him, drinking a social glass of wine, and smoking a cigar,
says, "I observe Y and yourself are not as sociable as for
merly ; have you had any difference ?" X (puff, puff, puff
with his cigar) makes no reply. Z I will call the ques
tioner. Z. — " Ah, perhaps some matter which it will not do
to name." X. — Puff, puff, puff— no reply. This passes off.
Next day says Z to A, " What is the cause of difference be
tween X and Y ?" observing, " I never see Y at X's house ;
I asked X yesterday what was the cause, but he gave me no
answer." A.- — "X would endure a good deal before he would
say anything to injure any one with whom he had been on
such intimate terms for so great a length of time as with Y."
Z. — " Yes, he is a prudent man-, and would rather suffer an
injury in silence than tell on an old friend." A. — " I ima-
25

290

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

gine, then, you have some idea of what it is?" Z.—'<No-
have you?" A. — "No, not exactly; hut inadvertently X
dropped an expression by which I judge that Y is in his
debt." Z. — " Ah, yes, yes, that must be it." And so it
goes from one to another, secretly injuring Y, who is not
aware of it — who has been the benefactor of X, and to whom
X is in fact indebted — and who has loved him as a brother,
conferring every favor upon him which partiality or affection
could suggest, but who is now sorely suffering from the effects
of X's conduct. X, aware that some explanation would be
expected by the public, puts on the magnanimous man! No!
he will not tell ! he will bear his injuries in silence sooner
than make known his cause of offence against one who had
once been a friend ! Having nothing which he could com
plain of, he is willing others should believe that he refrains
from complaining from motives of magnanimity ! But he
gradually becomes cooler and cooler towards Y, who, now
borne down by misfortune, is careworn, almost heart
broken, at the clouds which hang over his wife and daugh
ters, for whom his heart bleeds, and makes him feel every
slight most keenly, while he cares nothing for himself. X
sees all this — never invites them to his house. His friends,
with whom he is in daily association, catching, as by con
tagion, his example ; Y, living in another town, is not in
vited by them when he visits X's town; X, so far from show
ing any feeling, is rather gratified that Y is thus kept out of
the society where he would likely meet him, and hopes to sec
him sink deeper and deeper, until he will be overwhelmed
by an obscurity from which he can never escape. Then X
will feel safe. There is a cold, phlegmatic disregard of the
feelings and happiness of others, which would enable him
to see the best friend he had on earth ruined withput a pang,
provided that friend might be troublesome if he were sus
tained; the recollection of former favors is all forgotten; all
amount to nothing; and now that he has started to put down

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 291
Y, he must do it. Y is not aware of the injury he is suffer
ing. No one tells him; but the poison of X is secretly
spreading; while X himself pretends to a regard in fact for
Y, he lets his poison work ; and at last, when it has got well
going, then he pretends he is sorry for it, and to the mutual
friends of the two would be considered a slandered man if
accused of acting unfairly, or even ungenerously. Oh ! if
Heaven takes cognizance of such matters, surely there can
be no deeper crime than X has committed !
Ingratitude is not only a great sin, but a mean sin — the
meanest of all sins. But Y unexpectedly begins to recover.
His indefatigable energy has enabled him to escape from the
ruins of the fabric which X has been instrumental in bring
ing down upon him. Eventually, he comes out most pros
perously, becomes independent and rich. Now, X's position
becomes embarrassing. Y has steadily avoided any resent
ment of his conduct. X is aware he has no cause to com
plain of Y, and having so long slighted and neglected him,
and still being unable to provoke Y to any act of defence
which would justify him in an open breach, Y observing his
uniform self-possession and civil course, the position of X
is anything but enviable.
Circumstances were brought to my mind, by events which
I was relating, which caused me. to tarry by the way to give
this picture — a very faint, moonlight sketch of an actual
reality which I have seen in my passage through life. The
object of this memoir is to picture life as it is, and to show
it in all its phases; hence, this being one of them, it was
proper to show it up as I have done.
To continue my narrative. I went the next day to a
livery-stable to hire a hack to take me down to Judge
Porter's. There I found a Mr. Henderson, a rich sugar-
planter, who had come for the same purpose, and although
we were unacquainted, we joined in hiring a hack. I found
this gentleman afterwards a valuable friend. I ascertained

292 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
that he was an intimate friend of Mr. Clay's. On our way
down we had a good deal of conversation. Our views on po
litical and all other subjects seeming to agree, we formed as
close a friendship as so short a ride would admit of, and one
who had seen us at Judge Porter's would have imagined we
had been many years acquainted. Of course, we had intro
duced ourselves to each other. We were among the latest
arrivals. We found Mr. Clay and some half dozen others
before us. He (Mr. Clay) seemed glad to see me, and
treated me with marked attention. We had met often since
our first interview, but nothing material having occurred I
have not noticed it.
To return to the dinner. There were several gentlemen
of distinguished wit from New Orleans, and I have seldom
seen, if ever, a more brilliant display of it. But conspicu
ously above all others shone Judge Porter. He was par
excellence the master-spirit of the company, in a miscella
neous running fire, and I think the most elegant, accom
plished, and intellectual gentleman that I ever met with.
There was no reaching after or-going out of his way for
smart things; they were the spontaneous growth of the soil.
He never said a bitter thing. He never wounded any man's
feelings. But there was a beauty, brilliancy, ripeness, and
mellowness in all his wit and conversation which was truly
delightful. Mr. Clay's artillery was rather too heavy to be
used in a little warfare like this. Occasionally he would
give a shot which would tell like a flash of lightning. But
Judge Porter seemed to have the beauty of the rainbow
always about him.
On our return home, my companion asked me what I
thought of the comparative merits of Mr. Clay and Judge
Porter. I answered, as a politician and statesman, I thought
Mr. Clay had no equal ; and I had never seen the equal of
Judge Porter as an elegant gentleman of general informa
tion, classic literature, and beautiful wit. A rare expres-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 293
sion, beautiful, for wit; and his was almost the only wit
which might be emphatically termed beautiful. Bly com
panion agreed with me as to the characteristics I had
named. It will be found that one great man generally fills the
public eye at a time. There is always one who is pre
eminent, and the leading trait in that one is firmness; a
firmness based upon the conviction that he is right. Such
a man, when inferior in intellect, will overtop others. Hence
the extraordinary popularity of General Jackson. Mr. Clay
had much of this same characteristic, but General Jackson
always thought his friends were right, and sided with them
against the world; and, hence, they sided with him against
the world. Mr. Clay made the interest of his country his
polar star, and where the interest of his friends came in
conflict with it, the balance in favor of his country always
preponderated. In consequence, that portion of the voters
who had office in view, and who could not hope to obtain it
but from pure merit if Mr. Clay was elected, generally sided
against him. These may be said to comprise about ten for
every office, or an aggregate of at least half a million, and
no man can be elected without them. As nine-tenths, how
ever, must be disappointed, and cannot hope that the offices
will be vacated while the same party remains in power, they
become malecon tents, and many of them join the opposite
party. But their influence and the influence of other office-
seekers were always opposed to Mr. Clay ; hence, although
universally acknowledged by his party to be entitled to it,
he never reached the Presidency.
Mr. Webster, as a profound constitutional lawyer, was
certainly Blr. Clay's superior. He was much the more
learned man of the two. His mind was richly stored with
.the lore of other men. He knew better what the law was
than Mr. Clay did; but Blr. Clay knew better what- it ought
to be than Mr. Webster. 25*

294 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
Examine the journals of our national legislation, and Mr.
Clay will be found the author of most of our great leading
measures; Mr. Webster of very few. Mr. Clay had the
genius to originate; Blr. Webster the power to judge.

CHAPTER LVI.
QUALITIES NECESSARY TO MAKE A GREAT MAN.
While the public mind is filled by one or two great men,
there may be others of equal talent who cannot show them
selves; they grow up under the shade of those who have pre
ceded them, and never reach the sunshine of public favor
until those who have it are off the stage. This thing of
becoming great requires, first, talents; secondly, good and
popular manners; thirdly, firmness and consistency; fourthly,
prestige. The latter sometimes carries a man up who would
otherwise have remained in obscurity. Louis Napoleon I
consider an example of this kind ; and I could, I think, name
another across the channel ; but as there has not been quite
time enough to determine, I will refrain for the present.
In 1849, I thought, while in London, that I saw indica
tions that the Times newspaper had determined to advance
the fortunes of this gentleman. It asked what were his opin
ions on certain measures, said the public had a right to
know the policy which he intended to sustain, ka.} going on
as rather forcing him to show his hand. At this time, it
seemed a matter of very little consequence to the public
what his opinions were. Indeed, I believe the public never
thought about him. But fhe Times kept up its fire, rather
seeming occasionally to take part against him, but in such a
manner as to enhance his consequence ; by this means drew

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 295
the public eye to him, and has finally succeeded in manufac
turing him into a great man. How far he will sustain him
self time will show. I venture to predict, not very long.*
In our country, party sometimes undertakes to make a
great man, and an awful botch they do make of it. Men of
true dignity and worth shrink back. They will not touch,
taste, or handle the unclean thing. They see that, to reach
the Presidency, they must consent to a course which their
judgment condemns, and therefore they prefer a private sta
tion. True greatness is based on conscious rectitude and
virtue. Those qualities are at the bottom of all true elo
quence. They give a power, an energy, and sweeping mas
tery to their language, which those who are less conscious of
being right cannot stand up against. But for reasons
named, such men now have no inducement to come upon
the public stage, and therefore  . I leave the
reader to fill the blank.

CHAPTER-LVII.
CORRUPTION IN OUR GOVERNMENT AND THE REMEDY.
A question now presents itself to the mind. With the
door closed to the advancement of virtue — with the tendency
* This was written about the 1st December, and read by a friend
on the 4th December, 1852. On the 6th, a steamer from England
arrived, bringing intelligence of D'lsraeli's having been detected in
a Bhameful plagiarism in his oration upon the character of the Duke
of Wellington. I had named to this friend that D'Israeli was the man
I alluded to. When D'lsraeli's budget came up, it was found want
ing in support, and the ministry to which he was attached fell.
This note was shown to this friend, who added, in the MS., "this
is true" — signing his name ; which is, however, here erased.

296 THE PILOT of human life.
to corruption becoming daily s.tronger — with an admission
that the maxims of our forefathers are correct — that our
" government is founded upon the virtue and intelligence of
the people, and is only to be preserved at the price of eternal
vigilance" — when we see the whole nation governed by a
party-drill, looking only to the success of party, and to the
spoils of office as the reward of victory, what are we to ex
pect? If our forefathers were not wrong in regard to its
foundation, our government cannot last under such a condi
tion of things. This is truly matter of deep concern for the
reflecting patriot. While we are yet safe, or do not feel the
evil upon us, the alarm will be given in vain. That danger
which is but in the distance will not be realized by the
people. It is hard to tell what we lose by bad legislation.
Our country is so full of resources that it will flourish under
the worst possible management, and if we could keep clear of
the dry-rot of corruption, all we lose by bad management,
however great, would be comparatively as nothing; but when
the public functionaries become corrupt, then there is no
hope for us. We have an example in the government of
Spain of the helpless condition to which a country may be
reduced by the want of honesty in its public officers. But
a short time back, Spain was the most powerful nation in
Europe. Now she may be considered the weakest.
This is attributable to the corruption of the morals of her
public men, the effect of which disseminated itself gradu
ally among her population, until at last the whole became so
impregnated with the poison that none could be relied on to
collect the revenue of the country; not one-half of which,
I presume, now reaches the public treasury; and of ten
millions of dollars estimated to be collected in Cuba an
nually, hardly two millions are paid over to the government.
And there is no remedy for this. If honest men exist, they
cannot make themselves known; and if they could, their
honesty would be an obstacle to their promotion.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 297
Look to Mexico, and the South American States gene
rally. They present a picture of the condition into which
we must probably fall, unless this evil can be stayed. I am
aware that, while everything is so prosperous as it now seems
to be with us (I write in 1852), all pretended apprehensions
• for the public safety will be set down as croaking. But it
may be well to examine into this subject a little before we
come to this conclusion. It is the part of wisdom to nip an
evil in the bud, if we are satisfied that it exists. Let us
begin by asking the question, Does corruption exist in our
government? I answer, it does, and to a very great extent,
as I will proceed to prove. No great measure is ever pro
posed to Congress, in the passage of which individuals are
interested, that there is not a powerful lobby influence set to
work to carry it ; and by various modes of indirection this
influence is all-powerful. This is an interference with the
just legislation of the country. It is a planting of the seeds
of corruption.
But this is a very small matter. The great evil lies in
the operation of political parties. Each in turn, as it is
successful, turns out its opponents, and appoints its friends,
not according to merit, but according to his political influence.
The best trained officers, whose experience is invaluable to
the people, are turned out, and others substituted for them,
who are entirely unqualified, under the plea that it is just
that there should be rotation in office. If. so, justice would
require that all the people should have their turn ; and to
give each man one term during his lifetime would require
that the tenure should be reduced to about a week, and there
would be a continual coming in and going out. Can it be
said that this is a wise basis for a government to be framed
upon? But I will be answered, "This is carrying the thing
to extremes. No one ever thought of such a thing." Then
the term does not express the doctrine. Rotation means
every man in turn. Yet the partisans mean that it shall

298 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
only apply to the " elect," not to the mass of the people.
But if the people understood it, they would not submit to it
a moment. I was cognizant of the acts of one of those elect
once in Europe. A commissioner (homme de place), a man
who acts as pilot and city historian to strangers, asked me,
in Paris, if I would settle the account of one of our public
functionaries, who had forgotten to pay his bill ! And this
functionary was seen drunk and staggering in the streets.
He went to Berlin, where he was seen by an, acquaintance of
mine, who found him in a very ill-humor because the Prus
sians did not speak English, and he did not understand the
court language of Europe. He was there also intoxicated ;
and being asked by this gentleman what he intended to do
in Berlin, he answered profanely, " I intend to talk English,
by G — d." " Do," said the gentleman. " Stick to that,
and you will get on finely." This was not a solitary appoint
ment. There were many such. Now of what use were they
to our country? The object of a functionary is to repre
sent our government at foreign courts, to guard our interests,
extend our commerce, and engender good feelings towards
our country. Could such a man do -this ? Could the ap
pointing power have believed he could do it? No. Then why
was he appointed ? Answer : Because he had been a brawl
ing politician, and it was necessary to reward him. For
tunate for our country it would have been if, after he had
received the outfit, he had been dismissed, paid the year's
salary, and bid to go his way, and save his country the dis
grace of attempting to represent her at a foreign court.
Compare our early representatives, Franklin, Jefferson,
Adams, with such a man as this, and what an awful falling
off is there ! Is this not evidence of corruption of the most
dangerous kind ? Although this is a strong case, it is, ne
vertheless, a type. of the effect of party struggles, and of the
necessity for rewarding partisans for partisan services. This
thing will not grow better until its cause is removed. The

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 299
whole doctrine of rotation in office is ridiculous. No man
has a right to office but from his merit. The offices were
created not to be filled by partisans, but by men most compe
tent to do the people's work; and the longer they are in, the
more perfect becomes their knowledge of their duties, and
the more valuable their services to the country. This doc
trine of rotation in office is gotten up to reward partisans ;
and it is a well-known fact that, on the eve of every Presi
dential election, there is a systematic levy made upon all the
officers in our custom-houses, of a certain percentage of their
wages, to raise money to retain their party in power ; and if
the party is retained, any officer who has refused to furnish
his quota to the corruption fund is turned out of office.
Now, imagine a poor honest man, with a large family de
pendent upon his salary for support, being offered the alter
native of losing it, or of doing what his conscience abhors !
Better far were it for the people if Congress would appro
priate one million of dollars, to be termed the Corruption
Fund, to be paid over to the successful party, or rather the
party in power, to be used to keep itself there, provided at
this expense we could obtain absolution for our public officers
from molestation by either party, and general appointments
according to merit.
The present system is but legal robbery. A man must
be rewarded for his partisan services, but the party has no
money to reward him with, except that which attaches to
office; the party to be rewarded must be appointed to an
office for which he is entirely incompetent, in order that he
may get the salary ; and the interests of his country, to the
amount of millions, must be put under his charge, and those
millions put in jeopardy, or sacrificed, in order that the salary
of a few thousands may be paid to this partisan.
This, too, is but one branch of the evil. When two parties
are arrayed against each other, with the spoils of office in
view as the reward of success, one must condemn the mea-

300 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
sures of the other, be they good or bad. Thus, if one hap.
pen to adopt a policy calculated, generally, to advance the
nation's interests, the other assails it ; if successful, puts it
down and adopts an opposite one, however injurious to the
country. But, nevertheless, the country prospers. We
have no standing armies to maintain, no public debt to weigh
us down, no church tithes to pay to a government religion.
No landlord and tenant system. None of the expenses of a
royal establishment. No taxes to government except what
every man willingly pays in the shape of impost duties. No
tax-gatherers to annoy us. A rich country, cheap lands,
extensive commerce. Why, you cannot burden- such a coun
try, so that it will not prosper ; especially with millions of
gold coming from California annually to pay off foreign
balances, created by the excess of our imports over our
exports. Again, an advantage which we have over most other coun
tries, I might say all except England, is the unrestrained
range of genius. And of England we have the advantage
here, because, in England, patronage is in some measure
essential to the success of almost anything.
If I am told that the same is the case here, I reply, not
to the same extent. And what may not the mind of man
accomplish when not only free to exercise its own powers,
but to obtain all the lights which can be shed by others? I
answer, any end of which the human intellect is capable.
Hence, most of the grand discoveries of the age have been
of American invention ; and, hence, they are most perfect
in whatever calls for the display of genius without expe
rience. And, when time and circumstances give experience,
then will we excel in all.
But notwithstanding our unlimited resources for prosperity
may enable us to flourish under the most ill-advised legisla
tion, yet with judicious legislation how different would our
condition be ! Some of our errors I have heretofore pointed

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 301
out. Many others I could, but it would delay me too long
in coming to my object, which is to offer a means to remove
the poison of corruption, which, like the dry-rot, is now at
tacking the heart of our government.
A plan for this purpose I once submitted to a distinguished
Senator in Congress, who, being pleased with it, said he
wouldoffer a resolution in the Senate, proposing a change
in the Constitution of the United States to embrace it. But
some time afterwards he wrote me that, after conferring with
members, he was sorry to say that an opinion prevailed that
no amendment to the Federal Constitution would ever be
made henceforth.
Now, if this be so, it is a melancholy circumstance, for it
must be evident that no human wisdom could, at the first
effort, embrace perfection in framing a government like ours,
without any model to go by, except that of the little Swiss
Republic, as a skeleton plan. In considering the Federal
Constitution as framed, the wonder is, not that it should have
a fault, but that it should have so few. See a country rising
suddenly into existence, larger than all Europe, and possessed
by less than four millions of people, who undertake to frame
a government which shall admit of unlimited extension, and
capable of embracing under its care hundreds of millions of
people; is it a wonder that time should show some flaws?
Is it not a wonder, on the contrary, that time should not
have shown more ? And as shown, and clearly made evident,
is it not the part of wisdom to correct them ? I know that
it is right we should have great reverence for the work of
our forefathers, and only undertake to change it upon the
clearest evidence that it is faulty, and that the change will
correct the fault, and cannot by possibility lead us into
greater evil. The mode prescribed for making any changes
in our Constitution is a perfect safeguard against the adoption
of any unwise amendment, for it must be so evidently desir
able in the first place as to obtain a majority of two-thirds of
26

302 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
the votes of Congress to propose it to the States, and then
the votes of two-thirds of the States before it can be passed.
This insures such a thorough sifting by the States, of all the
merits of the proposed change, that it is very certain not to
pass unless it has merit. But, should it pass and be found
not to work well, it could be easily repealed, unless of a cha
racter to enlist patronage to retain it. Such is not the cha
racter of the proposed amendment. On the contrary, it
proposes taking patronage from the government; and here
lies the difficulty of having the amendment proposed. Those
in power must have a pure patriotism indeed to propose clip
ping their own wings for their country's good. Such things
might have been looked for among our revolutionary fathers,
but hardly now without a condition which should leave the
incumbents in the full possession of their power as long as
they were likely to hold it. This would, probably, not ex--
tend beyond the year 1860. The leading and influential
members will probably, by that time, be too old to hope for
much from the patronage of the government, and would be
glad, as they descended into the grave, to know that the
canker-worm which was gnawing upon the vitals of their
country was about to be rooted out. Indeed there are few
of them, who, if they believed there was any real danger,
would not yield their private interests for their country's
good; but it is wonderful how men's private interests darken
their perceptions of any evil to their country from gratifying
them. Not being satisfied to let this matter rest, notwithstanding
the opinion expressed by the first friend to whom I submitted
it, which was done three years ago, I, last year, submitted it
to Mr. Clay, and received the following answer : —
Ashland, 13th Nov. 1851.
Dear Sir : I received your two favors, with the essay
which you have prepared on the subject of an amendment of

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 303
the Constitution of the United States. I will take it with
me to Washington, and give it a consideration corresponding
with the importance of the object, and my high respect for
you. But I can hardly hold out the expectation, with any
certainty of my moving in the matter, owing to the state of
my health. It has been delicate throughout the present
summer, and, although somewhat improved, remains in such
a state as to have made me seriously hesitate about returning
to Washington. Unless it should improve much- more, I
shall be unfit for much labor.
With great respect, I am
Your friend and ob't serv't, H. CLAY.
R  T  , Esq.
But the Almighty has been pleased to take from his coun
try this able leader, whose indorsement of any plan would
have given confidence to it. I fondly hoped for his opinion,
but disease took possession of him, and he never had it in
his power to give it. I have concluded, therefore, to record
the plan in my memoirs, from which it can be taken if
deemed of any value. It is as follows : —
A Proposition to alter the Constitution of the United States,
by creating a Fourth Estate, to le denominated the Na
tional Council.
Sec. 1. To be composed of one-third the number of mem
bers that there are electors of President and Vice-President
of the United States, so as to give one member to the small
est State, and be distributed among the States in the same
proportions as the electors are. When the electors to which
each State is entitled are divided by three, the overplus
shall be made into one aggregate list, and numbered from
the top downward. Numbers corresponding to those shall
be .placed in a box, and one drawn out, the State repre-

304 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
senting which, shall be entitled to a Councilman, as shall
those States which represent each third number therefrom;
Sec. 2. The term of service to be five years after the first
term, but one-fifth to go out annually, and their vacancies to
be filled as created.
Sec. 3. To be elected as Senators are, by the several
States. Sec. 4. No member to be eligible to any office, in the
gift of the government, under two years after he has ceased
to be a Councilman.
Sec. 5. This Council shall assemble annually at the seat
of government, ten days before the meeting of. Congress,
and shall be organized on the plan of the Congressional
House of Representatives, with all its rules and regulations,
except that the Speaker shall be denominated President; but
all the other needful officers shall be the same, and with
similar allowances for incidental expenses.
Sec. 6. When once organized, the same officers to con
tinue in office until others are appointed, so that there shall
be no interregnum, but new elections will be held each year.
Sec. 7. The salaries of the members shall be each one-fifth
that of the President of the United States, and mileage
of members of Congress, payable by the Treasurer of the
United States to the order of the President of the Council,
countersigned by the clerk, in favor of the respective mem
bers. Sec. 8. The sessions of. the Council shall continue during
the sessions of Congress, and as much longer as the business
before them may require; provided, however, they shall not
be required to sit over eight months in the year, unless Con
gress continues longer in session.
Sec. 9. All members, Ex-Presidents excepted, shall be
charged with their absent time one two-hundredth part of
their annual salary per day.
Sec. 10. All Ex-Presidents shall be ex-officio members of

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 305
this Council for life, and no deduction shall be made from
their salaries for lost time.
Sec. 11. Congress may, for distinguished services, annu
ally appoint one person a member of this Council, until the
number reaches ten; may fill vacancies occurring in this
number from time to time ; and may remove such appointees
at pleasure for cause shown.
Sec. 12. The several States may remove their appointees
at pleasure, by the vote of a majority of both Houses on
joint ballot. Powers and Duties of the National Council.
Sec 13. This Council shall have the power, which the
President now has, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, of appointing all the heads of departments, as
now constituted — to wit : The Secretary of State, Secretary
of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy,
Secretary of the Interior, Postmaster-General, and Attorney-
General; as well as the heads of any other departments
which may be hereafter created.
Sec. 14. All officers of the government shall be classed
under one of the aforesaid departments as now existing, or
under others as they may be hereafter created ; and each
head of department, when appointed, shall have power, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make all
appointments to fill the offices appertaining to his depart
ment, and without consultation with, or influence from the
President. Sec. 15. If any head of department, on coming into office
for the first time, shall deem it advisable not to reappoint the
incumbents, but to fill the offices with new appointees, he
shall give his reasons in writing to 4he officers removed, if
they require it ; and shall not appoint any of his own kin
dred, nor the kindred of any Councilman, in either case
nearer than cousins. But after the offices are filled the first
26*

306 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
time, under this amendment, then the incumbents can only
be removed by the President, or by impeachment, but the
heads of department will be reappointed at the coming in of
each new administration.
Sec. 16. The President alone shall have power to remove
from office after the first appointment, as aforesaid, and no
person so removed shall be reappointed while that President
is in office. His' power shall extend to the removal of the
heads of departments, as well as all their subordinate officers;
but whenever he shall do so, he shall furnish the removed
officer with his reasons in writing therefor, if by such officer
he shall be required so to do; and in case the President shall
undertake to remove more than one incumbent successively
from any one office, the National Council shall have power to
veto such removal, if they think proper, by resolution of a
majority of their body, disapproving of said removal; and,
provided that any head of department, who may be removed
by the President, may appeal to the Council, and if two-
thirds of that body sustain his appeal, he shall be reinstated.
Sec. 17. Although the President shall have power to re
move such officers, the Council, or heads of department, as
hereinbefore provided, shall, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, fill the vacancies, the power of appoint
ment by the President ceasing henceforth.
Sec. 18. Besides the foregoing powers, the National Coun
cil shall have authority to decide all questions between con
testing candidates for seats in Congress, either in the House
of Representatives or the Senate; and if a question of ex
pulsion shall be made in either House of Congress, it shall
be tried and decided in the National Council.
Sec. 19. Should either House of Congress fail to organize
within ten days of the commencement of the session, the
National Council shall appoint the necessary officers, and
cause a temporary organization, which shall continue until
the same can be permanently done by the Houses themselves;

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LLFE. 307
and after such temporary organization, it shall not be lawful
for either House to spend more than one day in each week
in endeavoring to form a permanent organization.
Sec. 20. Should Congress at any time rise without pass
ing the necessary appropriation bills for the support of go
vernment, the National Council shall have power to continue
in force the bills of the previous year, until Congress shall
act upon the subject and pass other bills.
Sec. 21. The National Council shall have power to settle
all disputes and questions of jurisdiction which may arise
between the several departments of the government, be
tween two or more States, and between the States and the
Federal Government.
Sec. 22. The National Council shall investigate and ad
judicate all claims against Congress, or the General Govern
ment ; and its decision shall be final and conclusive.
Sec. 23. Congress may, by resolution, refer any matter
to this Council for investigation and adjudication, or report,
by bill or otherwise; and it shall be the duty of the Council
to adjudicate, or report, in conformity to the resolutions of
Congress. Sec. 24. . Congress may, if it deems proper, at any time,
ask the opinion of this Council upon any subject; and it
shall be given accordingly.
Sec. 25. It shall not be lawful for the President, or any
other person or persons, to communicate or talk with any
member or members of this Council, or with any of the heads
of departments, in regard to their appointments, nor to this
Council in regard to any matter which may be before them, or
may come up for their deliberation, except by written commu
nication addressed to the Council in session ; and the President,
or any other person offending against this prohibition, or any
member of the Council, or heads of department, allowing
it, shall be fined in the penalty of one hundred dollars :
one-half payable to the informer, and the other half to the

308 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
government for each and every such offence. And it shall
be lawful for any one suspecting such prohibited conversa
tion or communication to call upon any member of the
Council or head of department, to testify in regard to the
same, before any court of law ; provided, however, his testi
mony shall not implicate himself, and provided, neverthe
less, the Council may invite information, as may the heads
of department, in which case there will be no penalty in
curred. Now let us consider the character of this Council, and its
adaptation to the ends for which it is designed : —
Sec. 1. This plan of representation is as unobjectionable
as that of electors of President and Vice-President of the
United States.
Sec. 2. Term of service five years, changing one-fifth an
nually. This is to avoid such a change as would interfere
with the business.
Sec. 3. Mode of election as unexceptionable as that of
Senators. Sec. 4. To prevent a wish, by their official acts, to elec
tioneer for any other office.
Sec. 5. Meeting ten days in advance of Congress, de
signed to have business in preparation for Congress.
Sec. 6. To avoid such difficulties as occurred in Congress
in 1849-50.
Sec. 7. That, in case, from change in the value of money,
it shall be deemed proper to change the President's salary,
it may also, carry the same change with the Council, and not
leave the Council in any way dependent on Congress.
Sec. 8. No remark needed.
Sec. 9. Ditto.
Sec. 10. Our Presidents, when they leave office, generally
do so poor ; it is right to provide an asylum for them.
Sec. 11. To enable Congress to reward merit.
Sec. 12. To insure that the Councilmen do not forget

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 309
that they are representatives of the States, and are bound to
look to their interests.
Sec. 13. This strikes at the root of corruption, and re
moves the cause, which, is patronage. When the appointing
power no longer remains with the President, and he can no
longer reward his partisans, there will be no motive but pure
patriotism for adhering to any man. " Measures, not men" —
Mr. Blonroe's motto — will then be acted on.
But, I may be asked, if you deprive the President of the
power of appointment, do you not also deprive him of the
commanding authority necessary to an energetic administra
tion of the government? I answer, no ; and refer to the com
manders of our army and navy as evidence that I am right.
When a post-captain goes on board of a ship to which he has
been newly appointed, his first step is to " feel his ship," as
the term is. He calls all his officers and men to quarters, and
gives out his commands, sees that they are properly obeyed,
and gives the necessary instructions for the correction of any
errors which he may discover. When he has done this, he
feels that he is at home on his ship, and any breach of dis
cipline is punished by bringing the offender to a court-
martial, and dismissing him if found guilty. This was
found sufficient to preserve the best discipline among the
officers; and neither in the army nor navy has it ever been
found that there was any want of efficiency because the
eommanders had not the appointment of their subordinates.
Why should it be more so with the President? He is not
under the necessity of calling a court-martial. If one of
the officers of government is found wanting in his implicit
obedience to the President's will, the President's orders will,
at once, dismiss him. He has not only the command and
authority of a naval commander, but is absolute in his com
mand as to all subordinate officers. He needs no interven
ing court-martial ; his word is sufficient. He has all the
power which he now has, except that of appointment; and

310 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
a good President is very much annoyed by this power; he
would rather be without it. To be sure, as to the heads of
department, who may be removed, they have the right to
appeal to the Council, and, if two-thirds believe he has been
improperly removed, he will be reinstated. This is deemed
necessary to prevent removals by the President in conse
quence of a non-conformity to his will in regard to subordi
nate appointments which the President might take occasion
to have indirectly made known to the heads of department.
But the power of the President to remove will always in
sure from the heads of department a respectful deference to
his wishes; nevertheless, they will be left measurably in
dependent, enough so not to be used by the President for
any corrupt purpose.
Now let us imagine a man wishing office under govern
ment, and willing to lend himself to the election of any
presidential candidate to obtain it; also, presume such can
didate willing to bargain for his official influence to bestow
it — what are his chances of reward ? He devotes himself
heart and soul to the election, and now comes forward for
his office. How will the President go about to obtain it?
He dare not speak to any Secretary on the subject; and he
must displace some body to make a vacancy. Then he has
to give his reasons in writing for this displacement. He
might have none. But, suppose he had, and creates a va
cancy. The head of department to which it belonged could
not be approached by him on the subject of filling it; and, if
it could be done by indirection, which would be very diffi
cult without incurring the penalties of the law, the Secretary
might not be willing to lend himself as a tool. Taking the
thing altogether, it might be set down as an absolutely
impracticable task for the President to accomplish; and,
certainly, no sane man would exert himself, with a view to
reward, when the attaining of it was so extremely doubtful,
if not impossible. But, of what avail would be the influ-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 311
ence of a few, if by great pains they could be rewarded ?
Less than rewards for thousands would be of no avail. It
may be therefore set down as a settled matter that we have
got clear of the patronage of the President.
Now, like the dent in a turtle's egg, this power of patron
age, if driven from one point, will show itself in another.
You cannot annihilate it ; and the question now is, Have we
lessened the evil by removing the power from the President
to the Council ? Let us examine this question. Here are
some seven heads of department, to be appointed by one
hundred Councilmen. Suppose a sufficient influence could
swerve those Councilmen from their duty; where is this in
fluence to come from ? The salary attached to the office of
Councilman makes it more desirable than any in the gift,
even of themselves, and none could come from any other
source; but they are prohibited from holding any office
under the government until they have for two years ceased
to be Councilmen ; therefore they have no inducement, on
their own account, to act corruptly. But suppose they would
do it for their friends, with a view that the Secretaries should
appoint their own relatives to office? This, by the terms of
this amendment, is prohibited to nearer relatives than cou
sins; and it is hardly probable that the Council could be so
corrupt as to bargain for the benefit of cousins, even if there
were no legal penalty against conversing on the subject.
So that branch of the subject may be considered at rest.
Suppose, however, their strong political prejudices should
incline them only to appoint partisans; and those, with an
understanding that they, in turn, should appoint partisans
under them ? By the terms of this amendment, the subor
dinate appointees hold over after their first appointment, and
can only be removed by the President for cause shown. This
could not be done to any extent; indeed, so small would be
the hope of reward that it would enlist no partisans. And
could the Council be induced to swerve' from integrity for

312 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
the sake of benefiting friends with the offices which they had
the power to fill, there would be but one for each fifteen of
them, and the one-fifteenth of a chance for serving a friend
would hardly suffice as an equivalent for their integrity,
especially as they might themselves be removed for it by
their respective States. Upon the whole, there would be no
sufficient inducement to go astray.
But now the Secretaries and Postmaster-General might
use their patronage for party purposes. To what end?
There could be no commitment by them to partisans, he-
cause it would be impossible for them to know that they
would be appointed; and they could only fill such vacancies
as the President might create for good cause. Again, having
the filling of the offices in their respective departments, they
would be more responsible than now for their good conduct.
They would appoint none except for their integrity, capacity,
and honesty; and brawling, purchasable politicians are not
of this sort.
But suppose the checks are not perfect, though I believe
they are, are they not more so than no checks at all? Now
the empire is, in a measure, set up for sale by the Prastorian
Guards, and no condition of things could well be worse.
Sec. 14. Included in Sec. 13.
Sec. 15. No comment needed.
Sec. 16. This supposes a case where the President might.
be contumacious, and determined to force the head of de
partment to fill the 'office to suit him, and is intended to
provide against it.
Sec. 17. No comment needed.
Sec. 18. A very important duty. Contests for seats in
Congress, when party feeling runs high, are very apt to re
sult in favor of the strongest political party, without regard
to justice, and ought to be decided by some other tribunal
than Congress. Questions of expulsion, for the same reason,
should be settled by another tribunal.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 313
Sec. 19. This would have obviated the alarming condition
of things existing in 1849 and 1850, prior to the Compro
mise, and would prevent a recurrence.
Sec. 20. This has been several times very near occurring,
and should be provided against. Such a tribunal is wanting.
Sec. 21. Some of the States, and among the rest Virginia,
are not satisfied that the Supreme Court should "settle such
questions, and want a State-rights tribunal, which this is.
Sec. 22. This would annually save the government mil
lions, and leave Congress half its time for legislation which
is now engaged in investigating claims.
Sec. 23. This would enlighten Congress very much, and
relieve it of a vast amount of drudgery. It would enable
Congress to embrace subjects of great importance, which it
now has not time to reach, in regard to the promotion of
agriculture, the sciences, railroad to California, etc.
Sec. 24. Necessary to avoid intrigue.
Some may object to the expense of this tribunal. This
I think it hardly worth replying to, for, besides the fact that
in guarding the government against fraud, it would save
more than its cost, its general tendency to banish corrup
tion gives it a value not to be measured by dollars and
cents. *
Should it have the effect of banishing corruption, then
political contests will assume a healthy character. Parties
there always will be, and for the good of the country ought
to be; but when plunder is no longer the object, the contest
will be based on principle, and their efforts will be for the
good of the country.
In regard to the chances for good appointments, relatively,
by the Council and the President, we have seen that, by the
President, they are not good, for the reasons named, and
could not be worse by the Council. But the Council is com
posed of men from every State in the UniA), and its mem
bers would be apt to know of all the talent in the country,
27

314 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
wherever it might exist. Their chance to make good ap
pointments, compared with that of the President, would be
in proportion to the greater range of their information.
New, what would be the objection to this alteration ? The
plan thrown out is only a general one, subject to amend
ment before it is adopted ; and, doubtless, in its details sus
ceptible of great improvement. But, in attempting to im
prove it, let us beware lest we injure it, and fail in some of
its essential objects. The inhibition to all communication
by the Council or heads of department with others in regard
to appointments may seem to cut them off from important
sources of information, but they are only prohibited from
having private conversations; they may call to their aid
openly any persons they may wish to consult, or ask in
formation in writing.
The quiet which this change would give to the country,
the rest from political struggle, would be productive in many
ways of infinite good.
It would be apparent, then, to the patriot philosopher,
that there was an inducement for his labor. He would think
and write for his country, because her ears would be open.
The clouds, which now obscure truth, would vanish. Party
drill would not direct the understandings of men, nor shut
out light. Now, of what avail would it be to offer to the
consideration of Congress the most manifestly beneficial
measures for the country ? If from the minority, it would
not be listened to; if from the majority, it would perhaps be
laid over for the more important matter of President-making.
Look back for ten years, and point out any one great public
measure, which has not been passed with a view to political
effect, except the Compromise measures.
It may be objected that the high salaries of the Council-
men would attract all tho talent of the country, and leave not
enough to conduct with advantage the legislation of Congress.
I answer this objection thus : It is deemed necessary to

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 315
make the office of Councilman one of such honor and profit,
that there would be no inducement on the part of its mem
bers to intrigue for any other. As to its attracting the ta
lent of the country, that, I admit, it would do; but, when in
full operation, and the political atmosphere became purified
by its operations, then would the virtuous latent talent of the
country begin to show itself. Induc^nent for corrupt intrigue
oeing banished, the mass of the population could not be
moved to support any man except from merit. Now, in
order to obtain votes, offices are promised to prominent men
in case of the success of a certain party. This produces a
violent effort to get in the men who will make those pro
mises. Men of real worth and integrity will not do it;
hence they, except perhaps in a small proportion of cases,
are not elected — but they who will bid for the votes are.
Banish this corrupting influence, and the latter class will
soon be banished from Congress, and their places be filled
by men of worth and talent. And instead of that paucity
of talent which seems now to prevail thrwighout the country,
a rich harvest would come forth, which now shrinks back
from public life. As before said, the mass of intelligence in
our country is greater than it ever was — though there are
fewer brilliant stars seen in the political firmament. The
reason is obvious. No true greatness can exist without virtue,
and virtue will not generally seek employment under a cor
rupt, government. I do not say such is universally the
case. I know many worthy instances to the contrary,
where the parties have worth and weight of character suffi
cient to carry them in, despite of all the intrigues against
them. But their honesty and virtue are very great impedi
ments to their advancement.
There is a species of corruption prevalent at Washington,
which may seem beyond the reach of the proposed remedy.
This is the influence exercised by what are termed borers

316 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
upon Congress. Those are lobby members, who give fine
dinners and suppers — and, as some assert, go further, to carry
their private claims, and even the general measures of Con
gress. The reference to this Council for decision of all
claims against the government would cut off the first class.
Congress would then cease to have the adjudication of such.
But many are interest%d in public measures, which thev
would incur great expense to carry. It has been recently
stated, by the London Standard, at present the ministerial
organ of the British government, as a fact well known in
England, that eighty thousand pounds sterling ($400,000)
had been forwarded from that country, and expended in
Washington, to aid in passing the tariff act of 1846. The
United States Gazette says : " The time has been when such
a discovery would have lashed the country into indignant
rage ; it now excites a smile — and is forgotten." Only think
of the daring impudence of a foreign country — to send four
hundred thousand dollars into ours, to corrupt its rulers
and control its policy, to suit its own purposes ! The only
mode of reaching such an evil, which I can think of, is to
purify the political atmosphere, as I think will be done by
the proposed amendment, and bring into power men who
could not be approached on such a subject. And such men
too would devise means for the punishment of those detected
in such a purpose, as would effectually guard against it,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 317

CHAPTER LVIII.
" chImeing down"— coal adventures continued.
Well, I must now doff the Statesman, and return again
to the man of business — rather a shock 1 fear to the reader,
for we have a natural aversion to descending. This, however,
is unavoidable from the character of these memoirs. BIy
own history is a mere incident — a vine pole — to sustain
foliage and flowers of much more importance. My purpose
is not to write the history of my life for the value or inte
rest alone that there is in it, but for the lesson it contains
for the reader ; and hence, whatever is suggested as I pro
gress, which I think may be of value, or teach a moral, I
stop by the way-side, to philosophize and talk about. This
may relate to the value of time, of money, how to cure a
scolding wife, or correct the corruptions of a government; it
matters not what may be the subject, if the events which I
am relating suggest it, there I take hold of it, and run it out
as long as I .think there is interest or value in doing so.
Hence there will often be found very abrupt changes, and
such as may seem in bad taste ; but, if the reader will bear
with it until he gets through, I venture to say, when he
takes a retrospect, he will find he has been entrapped into
reading some dry disquisitions, which he would otherwise
have passed over, but which, upon reading, he will see it was
important he should understand, and be very glad that he
has been so cheated. It is not the events of private life
alone which I propose to scan, but to correct whatever
abuses I may think exist in our government, or whatever
errors there may be in its policy, according to my concep-
27*

318 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
tion ; and, although I shall undertake no regular disquisition
on this subject, I shall here and there, as occasion offers,
venture to give my views en passant.
To return then to my coal adventures. Things were now
going on swimmingly, and the prospect of a brilliant fortune
lay before me. Never were my spirits so buoyant ,tmd tri
umphant. The whole city was beginning to u^ goal, al
though by the cart-load it did not count much in compari-
son-with what the tow-boats would take. Judging by the
consumption of the two that were now using it, they would
consume on an average four hundred barrels each per day,
which would be two hundred dollars for each boat, or six
teen'- hundred dollars per day for all the boats if they used
it-^-pf which we would make not less than three hundred
clear, %r one hundred thousand per annum, if we had no
competition, of which there then seemed no immediate pros
pect. '-,
But the planters' demand and the city demand would pro
bably equal, all the competition we had any right to fear;
therefore the next year was full of hope, and even this pro
mised a rich reward. But how vain are all human calcula
tions ! The occurring of a frost to destroy the sugar-cane,
when we thought we had that market sure, was a most ex
traordinary event. But now came another still more un-
looked for. The "Shark," on her last trip from the Balize,
took out her grates for burning coal, and replaced those for
burning wood ; the captain saying the coal fires were so hot
that they burnt out his boilers. I endeavored to reason
with him against it; assuring him that it must have been
the collection of sediment in his boilers — as boilers could
not burn from any heat with water in contact with the in
side. But this was an attack upon the engineer. It was
his duty to see that the boilers were kept clean, and to get
clear of the charge upon the coal, it must be put on the
engineer. This the engineer would not allow, of course, and

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 319
hence the use of coal must be abandoned by the " Shark."
This precluded all chance of bringing the other boats into
the use of it when their wood contracts should end. The
" Livingston" was an old boat, with cylinder boilers, and was
near being laid up because she was ceasing to make money,
when she took to the use of coal, and if she could not use it
she could not run at all. We, therefore, retained her cus
tom as a matter of necessity. But we had renewed opera
tions at Bonharbor on a very large scale, and were then
shipping at the rate of a boat-load per day. The expense
was enormous, and without a full demand for the coal could
not be borne. I was now receiving twice as much as I had
a demand for, and il^became necessary to find storage for it;
shelter from the sun and rain, which not only turned it into
slack, but caused a great hazard of spontaneous combustion.
My father had. once a ve*ry large body of coal destroyed by
spontaneous combustion. I became daily more and more
alarmed for fear ours would take fire; so I proceeded to erect a
very large shelter to cover it, out of the planks of old boats
which I had broken up : and to cap the climax, the city council
were proceeding to take measures to stop the burning of coal
in the cotton-presses, upon the ground that the smoke was a
nuisance. I could sell no more to the cotton-presses. The
fates seemed against us. I wrote back now to stop opera
tions again, but before it could be done ninety-seven boat
loads in all had been shipped this season. After remaining
until July, and the yellow fever was beginning to make its
appearance, I made a sweeping sale of the coal on hand at
twenty cents per barrel. After winding up with our com
mission-merchant, it seemed probable that we would fall in
his debt some seven thousand dollars when his acceptances
for us all became due; so I gave him our acceptances for two
thousand and five thousand dollars at four months, but with
blank dates to be filled up when he found it necessary to use
them, at which time we were to be notified of the fact.

320 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
I now took my departure for home, very much dispirited
at the result of the season's operations; for we were not only
short the said $7000, but also all the resources which we
could raise at home. It was a most disastrous year's work.
But, on taking a calm review, while I saw an extraordinary
combination of events against us, the old adage, that it is a
long lane which has no turn, seemed to apply in our case;
and I was not disposed to abandon the effort. It was not
very probable that there would occur another frost to destroy
the sugar-cane, and, if not, we would have the market of the
planters. The investigations of science could be made to
reach the difficulty about burning out the boilers, and all
could perhaps be put right again. Blefscd is he who holds
out to the end, thought I; so we picked our flints, and deter
mined to try again. This difficulty about the boilers, I
thought, could surely be removed, "as could the nonsensical
notion of the council about the smoke being a nuisance to
the city ; and now to my imagination the sky seemed bright
ening again. But our resources at home were lamentably
low, and it was with great difficulty we could raise the
means to prepare for another year's work. We went on,
however, to exercise our financial skill, and use our credit to
the best advantage.

CHAPTER LIX.
GLOOM HANGS OVER US — WRECKERS APPEAR —
DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP.
An idea had gotten out that we had sustained immense
losses, and all who had means in our hands became alarmed.
The pressure came in from all quarters, and we were sorely
beset. I received, by the hands of Richard Anderson, a let-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 321
ter from his father, who lived on the borders of Blead and
Breckenridge Counties, about fifty miles distant, saying that
B. H  and G. P  were there, and that II  had
induced P  to revoke my power of attorney in regard to
the 32,400 acre tract, and record the revocation in Hardins
burg. On reading it, I remarked, " And still the vultures come ;
they think they already scent my dead carcass in the breeze,
and hasten to feed upon it." I ordered my horse, and after
a little while was on my way to Captain A  's.
The captain was a man of great integrity of character;
despised treachery and meanness of all kinds; was himself a
faithful friend and agent. Never was a man more disap
pointed than H  was in supposing he would get the
captain to join in a conspiracy against me. I asked his
son, who was a true " chip, of the old block," to^nform me
what had passed. He answered that H  had come to
his father's with P  , and told his father that I wasftn
P  's debt, and had received large sums of money from
the purchasers of the 32,400 acre tract; that it was reported
I was broken, or would be ; and that P  , for his own
safety, had deemed it advisable to revoke my power- of
attorney, and appoint him (H  ) agent in my stead;
that P  wished him, Captain A  , to join in the
agency with H-  , who, never doubting Captain A  's
willingness to join in ruining a friend, said that I had never
paid P-  but $1100. Captain A  remained silent,
but proceeded to his desk, brought forth a map of the sur
vey laid off into lots, and laid it out before P  . " Here,
Blr. P  ," said Captain A  , "is a map of your land;
those lots painted yellow are what have been sold ; very little
of the money has been collected; all of which has passed
through my hands. The surveyor's bills and other expenses
have been great, besides over $1300 in taxes, and if Blr.
T  has paid you $1100, the survey must be in debt to

322 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
him." This was perfectly astounding to P  , who had
been led to believe that I had received a vast amount of
money. Captain A  , turning to II  , said, "No, Mr.
H  , I will not join or have anything to do with you in
this dirty business. What assurance, sir, could I have that
you would not serve me as you have Mr. T  ? I shall,
sir, immediately send to inform him of what has been done,
and I guarantee he will be here as quick as his horse can
bring him."
This produced great consternation, and P  saw at
once that he had done wrong, in disgust quit the whole
business, and posted off home by way of Louisville. H 
also returned home. On my arrival, both were gone. It
was night, and my horse required rest. In the morning,
I determined to set out for Louisville. Before I got off, I
received g letter from home inclosing a bank notice of a
draft given to B  , of New Orleans, due in five days.
Tfcis was one of those given to meet a problematical balance,
and which, when used, was to be dated so as to give us four
months' notice, and we were to have immediate advice of it.
But we had had no notice. Our credit, however, had not
been yet injured in Louisville. I proceeded on there in
hopes of finding P  , who had, however, taken a steam
boat for Virginia. While in Louisville, I made a negotia
tion to meet said draft, and wrote to H  that I should
meet him at Hardinsburg Court, when he must be prepared
to make good his charges against me, or abide the conse
quences. I returned home, had P  's account made out,
showing that he was in debt to me instead of my being in
debt to him ; met H  at Hardinsburg, and demanded a
meeting before mutual friends. Joseph Allen, the clerk,
Judge Huston, John S. Chapman, and several others were
present. Upon exhibiting my account, and asking H 
what he had to say, a scene occurred which cannot be de
tailed here. Suffice it to say, all present were satisfied with

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 323
me and my conduct. As soon as possible, I proceeded to
Virginia to meet P  . I exhibited my accounts, and
demanded a settlement. P  , I presume, is a brave man;
I saw nothing to the contrary. But he was sensible that he
had been awfully misled by H  ,,and had done me injus
tice. Not being prepared to admit or deny my account, he
proposed submitting it to his friend, Walter ^unn, in Ken
tucky, and to any one that I would name. It was, accord
ingly, so submitted, and P  's arbitrator said that my
yielding up the trade I had made with, Blason, which I was
not authorized to make, and which, therefore, should have
been placed to my own account, but which, turning out to be
a very profitable arrangement, I had from a sense of deli
cacy put to the credit of the survey, was a rare instance of
faithful agency — such as he had never been able to obtain.
Upon examining my accounts, he promptly allowed me the
balance I claimed. Thus I was released from this trouble
some business; and I think it afterwards proved almost a
total loss to P  .
The history of this case shows the advantage of a man's
acting with great promptitude and determination when un
justly assailed. Repel the assault, and "carry the war into
Africa immediately." Thereby you become, instead of the
assailed, the assailing party. Bly experience through life
has satisfied me of the value of this rule. I had now tri
umphantly vindicated myself, and felt satisfied; whereas, the
least " shaking in the wind," or hesitation, would have
proved most disastrous. This H  was at the time my
lawyer, which made his treachery doubly disgraceful. Al
though at first very much excited against P  , reflection
satisfied me that he was not to blame. Having his fears
excited by H  , his first course was very natural. But,
when he found his error, he should have come to see me,
and have corrected it.
Soon after the $2000 draft, came the other for $5000.

324 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
This, B  went to Louisville, and made a negotiation to
meet. We were now, for the time being, free again; and
proceeded with our arrangements for tho next year's busi
ness. But we had to work with a heavy load upon us, and
under great difficulties, for our losses, the previous year, had
left us little more than our credit to go upon. Nevertheless,
I felt a great hope that success yet awaited us, dark as mat
ters then were. We accordingly proceeded vigorously to
work for the new campaign, and shipped a large quantity of
coal ; I proceeded to New Orleans to dispose of it, with a
confidence that no frost would occur this year, and that
science would repair the injury, supposed to have been done
to the business, by the alleged burning out of the "Shark's"
boilers. But the finger of fate seemed against the business.
The planters did not buy coal, and the ships objected to the
use of it on account of the smoke, so that the tow-boats
would not use it. The- result was another losing year.
I still had -confidence, to . use a western expression, that
"there was money in the business;'' but it would require
the closest and most vigilant attention at home and abroad.
We had, during the year, sold a portion of our interest to a
gentleman who was to be connected with us next- year, and
who, having come out, was living at B  's. I returned;
B  and myself dissolved partnership ; he and the other
party rented the mines, and carried on the business another
year, but with a similar result. This gentleman complain
ing that our dissolution had injured him, he was released
from half his contract. B-  and myself now found all
the partnership resources sunk by our losses, leaving a large
debt for me to pay, over and above. All the partnership
property was valued, and I agreed to take it at B  s
valuation — setting forth debts due by the firm, which I was
to pay as an equivalent. But, after all the resources of the
firm were exhausted, still a large amount remained due,
which absorbed all my private commissions and resources,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 325
and left me nothing but the said property, encumbered with
an original debt for most of its cost, and the debt which I
had assumed for the firm.
John Jacob Astor, as I have once hereinbefore said, re
marked, that it took harder work to make the first thousand
dollars, than it did one hundred thousand afterwards. And
now, but for being reduced to begin without this first thou
sand dollars, I would have been inclined to yield everything
to be free; but that could not be done, so I determined to
begin anew, and try what virtue there was in acting under
the motto " never to give up the ship."

CHAPTER LX.
AN OFFER TO ENGAGE IN BUSINESS IN WASHINGTON CITY.
At this time, T. G-  , who had made a large fortune,
sent me an offer to join him in business, as he understood
B— — and myself had dissolved; proposing, if I would
settle in Washington, to guarantee me five thousand dollars
per annum, and my family expenses, but that I should have
half the profits, be they what they might, and he believed
they would go to ten thousand dollars.
Now, could I have been clear of all debt, and have yielded
up all my property, I would willingly have done it to have
accepted this offer; but I could not. And had I gone to
Washington, encumbered as I was, I should have had our
debts to follow me, and no certain sale of my property in
Kentucky. But I concluded to go on to see about it, and
wrote to R  to meet me there to settle up accounts.
98

326 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER LXI.
PURCHASE OF D. R  'S ESTATE.
One of the representatives, who was also executor, met
me and Judge B  , who was another executor, and a
member of Congress. I presented my accounts and closed,
and requested them to appoint another agent, as I had de
termined to come to Washington to live. R  proposed
to sell out to me. I informed him, if I purchased, it must
be at a price to justify my giving up the offer I had. The
end was, I bargained for the whole estate on long credits, and
returned to Kentucky.
I had now temporarily a respite, for I could, by sales of
the purchased property, raise means to stay our creditors.
My plan was, whenever I got any money, to pay off a part
of every pressing debt, thus showing that I had them in
view, and would pay as fast as I could. This, in a measure,
prevented suits, but not altogether. Some could not wait,
and some were not disposed to do so ; for they could see no
reason why a man who had so much property should not at
once sell it off and pay his debts, not reflecting that I could
not sell, except as I got offers, and that in a wild country,
however much you may be disposed to make sacrifices to
meet your engagements, you cannot do it. A tract of land
worth ten thousand dollars may be sold at auction and not
bring one thousand. Again, if I sacrificed the property I
purchased, at a ruinous rate, I would have no means left to
pay for this property. These considerations made it, in my
eyes, seem morally wrong to make such a sacrifice; while,
at the same time, to owe debts and hold property seemed

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 327
equally wrong. My utmost efforts were used to make sales;
but in a new country you cannot, as aforesaid, force sales;
you must await the gradual demand. My position was ex
tremely painful. I felt conscious that I would condemn
another man, in any apparent condition, who did not pay to
the last dollar; and yet if I paid to the last dollar, by sacri
ficing my property for what it would bring, I should leave
a number unpaid, and my family in hopeless poverty. I
should then be cursed by those who were left hopeless, as
much as I was now blamed by those who were»only deferred.
I regretted that I had not accepted the offer made me, and
gone to Washington under all the disadvantages, for there
I would have been able to calculate on a certain amount
periodically, which, by being used to pay my debts, would
have stayed our creditors, whereas I could not now count
upon any certain income; it must all depend upon my sales,
and they upon the whims of purchasers. I was extremely
unhappy. It was one of those cases in which fortitude was
of little use. My own feelings were what I had to contend
with. I was not satisfied with not paying off my debts,
although, if I determined to do so at any sacrifice, I must
still leave many unpaid.
After fully weighing the whole matter, I determined to
pursue the course which my judgment told me was right,
and trust to the future to repair all the injury which my
credit might in the mean time sustain.
I had had a claim put into my hands, against the general
government, which the owner of had for a long time tried
in vain to obtain. Bly usual success in such matters induced
him to apply to me. The claim had been rejected on grounds
technical; while, in my judgment,- it ought to have been
allowed; being substantially such as had been allowed,
though literally differing. I wrote a letter to a gentleman
in Washington, setting forth the nature of the claim, in a
plain and simple manner, with its justice as evident as I

328 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
could make it appear. It was a case for the decision of the
Secretary of the Treasury. I asked him to take my letter
to the Secretary, and urge what additional arguments might
suggest themselves to him. He did so, the claim was allowed,
and soon checks came on of about ten thousand dollars for
my client's portion, and three thousand for mine. This
three thousand, by being judiciously parcelled out and paid,
helped me very much.
My late partner, B  , was now appointed Clerk of the
Chancery Court, in Louisville, and not being willing that a
matter of dollars and cents should interrupt the good feel
ings which ought to exist between us, I wrote to him, agree
ing to assume the payment of all the debts of the firm my
self, taking the property of the firm, and releasing him.
I made a barter of some property which I had for eigh
teen hundred acres of land on Green River, and sold this to
a gentleman who had become possessed of two of my bonds
to R  , and with this sale and other means paid them off.
I purchased half of a coal-mine at Cannelton, in Indiana, for
$5600, paying down $600, and renting my interest, so that
it paid the remaining instalments; but afterwards I enabled
the owner of the other half to sell it for more than he could
have otherwise got for the whole. Among the various pur
chases I made was one of a tract of land in contest with
General Taylor, late President of the United States. This I
recovered. But a short time previously, I had discovered
an irregularity in the authentication of Taylor's deed, upon
which his title depended. It was sold for nine thousand
dollars. This and my other operations went far towards
paying off my main debts, except those to R  .
I now sold another tract for five thousand, and made nu
merous sales of smaller amount, which still helped to lighten
my load. I was continually buying and selling; my minute
acquaintance with the country enabled me to make great
bargains, and by so dealing I was enabled to pay off debts

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 329
faster than I could have done to have let them alone, and
paid out what little money I had, for my credit was good,
and often I could buy without money. As an instance, I
will relate a case : I met, during a winter at Frankfort, with
Gen. L. T. Dade, of Virginia, going down to settle near
Paducah. I proposed to him to settle in Daviess, and buy
a tract of land of Mr. W  , of 1600 acres, a very fine
tract. Gen. D  said he only wanted 500 acres. I told
him Mr. W  would probably sell 500, and I went to see
him. He said he would only sell the whole. His price
was six dollars per acre. I asked him what time he would
give. He replied, " If you will take it, you shall have it at
six annual instalments with interest." I told him I would
take it, and a deed and bonds were drawn accordingly. I
now told Gen. D  he could have 500 acres on the same
terms. He agreed to go and see it. A Mr. G  , a man
of wealth, proposed to take half the balance — in other words,
td go in with me jointly. I agreed to it, my main object
being to get Gen. D  as a settler. Still I saw there was
a speculation in the property, but I was not certain that I
could realize upon it in time to meet the payments, and
while R  's debt was not yet paid off, I was willing to
avoid any heavy responsibilities which I was not sure would
pay. On Gen. D  's seeing the property, he wanted half;
but G  would not agree to it without an advance of $2 66
per acre, which Gen. D—  paid. And now G  offered
me one thousand dollars profit for my whole interest, which
I agreed to take. Thus, by an effort to befriend a man, I
made $1000, and got a citizen, which was my main object,
who afterwards aided a good deal- in populating the county.
I have perhaps been a little tedious in thus detailing those
trades, but it is done to show the commencement of the second
epoch in my history, and how I rose after falling the first
time. Those are but samples; a vast number of such from
time to time occurred. 28*

330 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER LXII.
OFFER FOR CONGRESS — BARGAIN WITH T. G  FOR A
TEXAS ADVENTURE— A HORRID BEAR STORY — MEXICAN
RECORDS; BEST MODE EXTANT — CONTRAST WITH THE
ENGLISH.
In 1835, Mr. T  , having been a candidate for Con
gress against the Hon. A. G. H  , withdrew, and I took
his place. H  had for a long time represented the dis
trict, and beaten all his opponents. I felt, however, an
inclination to measure swords with him, and became a can
didate. At the same time, Mr. R  , of Muhlenburg, also
a Whig, became a candidate. We had a meeting, and settled
the matter by his withdrawing. The incidents of an elec
tioneering campaign in Kentucky are so amusing that I
should like to introduce some of them here; but my pub
lisher informs me that I have already carried the work to
too great a size for ready sale, so that I must now close it as
soon as I can, and with only notice of prominent events. I
learned by becoming a candidate much which I was ignorant
of before. To many I became endeared for life by their
warm and zealous efforts for me; and justice to the magna
nimity of T  , with whom I had fought a duel, requires
me to say that he was among my warmest friends. But of
my own politics I received a very lukewarm support from
some in other counties, who, for reasons of their own, pre
ferred the defeat of their party to my election. I, conse
quently, lost the election by one hundred and fifty votes out
of eight thousand — with, however, a very evident demon
stration that I could carry it the next time if I offered.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 331
H  was considered at tho head of the democratic party
in Kentucky, and was a very imposing speaker, with an
electioneering tact which few men possessed.
Some of my friends, in a public meeting after the election,
nominated me as a candidate for the next race; H 
resigned. But in consequence of R  's handsome con-
duet towards me, I now thought it due to him to offer him '
the field, which, though he had not yet agreed to take, I ex
pected he would, and so I declined the nomination. R 
offered without an opponent, and served one term ; when my
brother succeeded him, and served three, after which his
own business required his withdrawal.
Soon after the election was over, T. G  , of Richmond,
arrived at my house, and proposed to me some joint Texas
speculations — the revolution having then broken out in
Texas. The suggestion struck my fancy, and terms were
soon agreed upon ; he agreeing to furnish the money if I
would lay it out. He took my family to Virginia, and I
proceeded to New Orleans. Stopping at Natchez, on my
way down, I witnessed a most horrible scene. I lodged
upon the second floor of the hotel ; my room opening upon
a gallery on the inner court or yard. I heard suddenly a
terrific scream from a child, and immediately one still more
so from a woman. Running out, I beheld two enormous
bears chained together, one of which had the child down, and
the mother on the back of the bear trying to get it off.
There was no weapon in my room but a shovel. • I picked it
up, ran down with all speed, and struck the bear across the
eyes with the edge of it. This made him loosen his hold of
the child with his teeth for a moment ; I now dealt him as
heavy a blow across the nose as I could, and but for his
being unwilling to loosen his hold upon the child, he would
have sprung at me ; but I noticed he was chained to the
other bear, and on his first movement towards me, I should
have sprung out of his way. I continued to belabor him

332 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
with the shovel to keep him from biting the child, which
was bleeding, however, from the wounds already inflicted;
but although he seemed annoyed by my blows, he would not
release the child, and the poor mother, with the most frantic
fearlessness, was all the time endeavoring to extricate it from
his grasp. That the other bear did not take hold of her,
• and tear her to pieces, was a wonder. Presently, however,
a gentleman came running out with a pistol, placed the muz
zle near the bear's ear, and lodged the contents in his head.
The bear fell, and the mother recovered her child ; but it
was mortally wounded. The. bear had inserted its teeth in
the child's back to a mortal depth, and it died that evening.
The wailings of the mother all night right under my room
were truly, distressing.
These two bears had been brought in by a countryman to
sell to the hotel-keeper, and left loose in the yard while he
went into the house to make a bargain. While so left, see
ing the child in the yard, they ran after and caught it — a
piece of carelessness on the part of the owner which was
unpardonable. While stopping here, I met a Texan having for sale land-
claims to the amount of about three hundred thousand acres,
These he proposed to sell to me at very low rates. They
were grants of a " league and labor" in each patent, com
prising about four thousand five hundred acres. Upon ex
amining them, they seemed to me a good purchase, provided
the lands were equal to description, being upon and about
Lake Cadoe. I agreed I would-go and examine them, and
inquire into the titles, and, if satisfied with regard to both, I
would take them. I accordingly proceeded to Natchitoches,
bought me a horse, proceeded to Fort Jessup, where I found
a -young officer, a relative, who accompanied me, and we also
fell in with Col. H  , of Louisville, an old acquaintance,
having in company with him a friend of his from Maryland.
We went on to Nacogdoches, where the land-office was kept,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 333
and here I procured a copy of the Mexican land-laws printed
in English, and proceeded to study them. I found that the
Governments of Coahuila and Texas, being combined, were
authorized to issue grants anywhere not within twenty leagues
of a foreign State. The design of the Mexican Government
was to preserve an unsettled belt twenty leagues wide be
tween themselves and their neighbors. The grants, how
ever, which I came to examine into were within this belt,
and, consequently, void. A brother of the gentleman whom
I had seen in Natchez and his partner resided in Nacogdo
ches, and I had a letter to him. I asked him, in regard to
this matter, what explanation there was of it. He seemed
struck with it as a new idea; but at last remarked, "Oh!
that is a restriction which has been deemed needless, and is
disregarded." "But," said I, "the authority to issue the
grant is the law. That law does not give the authority to
go within this boundary, and if this law has not been
changed the grant is without authority." A good many
others were with us, and so anxious to deal in those claims
that they did it, my objection to the contrary notwith
standing; and I believe all have lost them. I wished,
also, to examine their records to see if there was any
mode of ascertaining whether the land offered had been
sold, or mortgaged to any one else. Here I found the
Spanish system a beautiful one — one which our legislators
might adopt to advantage. When a grant is issued by the
government, a duplicate is kept and lodged in the record-
office; both copies are numbered with the same number.
When the grantee sells, he makes the transfer on the original
grant, and this transfer must be copied on the duplicate
which is lodged in the record-office before it is good. 'If part
of a tract is sold, the original grant is surrendered, and two
new ones obtained for the two parts, or three, or four, as the
case may be ; and the same rule is observed throughout, so
that there is no possibility of a man's selling the same land

334 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
twice, or mortgaging the title without its being made to
appear. There is no record-book ; the records are kept in
bundles and numbered, so that, when a man comes into the
office with his deed, the clerk, by examining the number,
can find the duplicate in the office in a moment. While in
Glasgow, in 1849, I was one evening walking home with 'a
gentleman, who, pointing to a lot, said : " There is a late
purchase of mine, which cost me £7000 besides the transfer."
"Besides the transfer?" said I, being somewhat surprised
that he should name an item which, in the United States, •
would not amount to more than five dollars. " What is the
cost of ^transfer ?" " £300," he replied, " or near $1500."
" Why, for what is this ? not the mere writing of a deed ?"
" Oh, no !" he answered ; " but for the searches and investi
gations necessary to ascertain that there has been no other
transfer of the title." In Great Britain, they have not, or
had not some years ago, any record of titles; It may be
possibly changed of late. Only see here what a tax there
is on every transfer of titles. Why is this? It cannot be
that they cannot devise a better plan. But a better plan
would not suit the lawyers.
This Mexican plan would cut off all this expense. The
usual plan in the United States of recording all deeds and
mortgages enables a man, if he will search every court of
record where it would be legal to record the deed, to come
at the condition of the title. But it requires a vast amount
of labor. In Kentucky, a late law requires that to each
recorded deed a wide margin shall be left, and, whenever a
transfer is recorded, reference shall be had to the original
title, and the transfer noted in the margin with a reference
to the page of record. This, if the clerks do their duty, is
a valuable improvement on the old plan. Yet a clerk may
be negligent ; you never feel perfectly assured that he has
not been so. But in the Mexican plan there can be no mis
take, and it is consequently the best.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 335
Referring again to the English plan, I had occasion, while
in England, to note the fact that Jaw, with everything apper
taining to it, is more expensive by tenfold than in this coun
try, and is purposely kept so by the lawyers.
The aristocracy of that country are generally understood
to be its oppressors. Not so. The lawyers and the courts
are. They claim that justice is more certain there than in
any other country. So it may be when you reach it. But
it is an exemplification of the fable of the fox dividing the
cheese between the monkey and the cat. The fox keeps
biting alternately one piece and the other in order to have
them exactly even, until, when he has justly balanced them,
very little is left for either.

CHAPTER LXIII.
TEXAN LOAN — ADVENTURES IN TEXAS.
Having satisfied myself that the titles to the land I came
to examine were not good, I returned to Natchez and an
nulled my contract.
I now proceeded to New Orleans, where I found the Texan
commissioners, Blessrs. Austin, Archer, and Wharton, en
deavoring to raise a loan to aid in carrying on the war. But
no one would listen to them, because they came from no
accredited government. Dr. Archer was an old acquaintance
of mine, and getting into conversation with him I was in
duced to believe some advantageous arrangement could be
made, and named the subject to Mr. T- D. C  , of Cin
cinnati, and together we prepared the plan of a loan for two
hundred thousand dollars, bearing eight per cent, per annum
interest, but redeemable in land at fifty cents per acre, in

336 THE PILOT of human life.
sections of six hundred and forty acres, with priority of loca
tion. This plan was submitted to the commissioners, and
accepted by them ; ten per cent, to be paid in on subscribing,
and the balance at the option of the subscribers on the rati
fication of the conditions by the Convention. I took half of
the whole loan, C  forty thousand dollars, and the balance
was taken in smaller parcels. Colonel W. F. G  , one
of the subscribers, went off to Washington, in Texas, where
the convention was in session, to get the arrangement ratified.
I remained a while longer in New Orleans, and while there
a gentleman proposed a joint speculation with me; he to
furnish forty thousand dollars, and I to do the business. I
agreed, and in about two weeks we made ten thousand dol
lars ; I one-half. I now went on to Washington, in Texas,.
also. On my road there, I met with an appeal written from
St. Antonio, by Captain Travis, who was then besieged in
the Alamo by Santa Anna, which was one of the most thril
ling I ever read. He stated that he had but one hundred
and sixty men, and was besieged by several thousand ; that
he would fight as long as he could, but that he must neces
sarily be conquered if not soon relieved ; that they were
not afraid to die for their country if necessary, but implored
aid. On the road to Washington, passed within five miles of a
camp of Indians, said to be hostile.
On arriving at Washington, Dr. N  and others in
company, I found Colonel G  very despondent about the
loan. He said he had no hope of getting it ratified. That,
I said, was bad news. "However, colonel," said I, "men
with halters about their necks are not in a humor to talk
about loans, and their ratification will be of very little avail
to us if they are conquered. Let us, therefore, first render
them what aid we can by clerking for them, while they are
framing their constitution ; and when that is done, and they
have an organized government, it will be then time enough

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIBE. 337
to talk about the loan." I was introduced to most of the
members of the Convention, and, among the rest, to General
Rusk, who seemed to be a leading member. I remarked to
him that Colonel G  and myself had a heavy stake de
pendent on the success of Texas, and, in clerking or any
other way, if we could render them any aid, we would be glad
to do it. He said we could aid them very much, and the
proceedings of the Convention during the day were brought
to us to copy at night, which work we regularly executed.
The crowd was so great in Washington, and the accommo
dation so small, that I had to find lodging on a cot in a room
filled with Blexican prisoners; not a very comfortable place,
as may be imagined, and rendered still less so by an event
which will be presently mentioned.
Various efforts were made in the Convention to have some
means taken to relieve Travis. It was even proposed that
they should adjourn, and all go to his rescue ; but that was
voted dawn as a hopeless measure. At last news came that
they were all massacred; Mrs. Travis and a negro servant
being the only two who escaped alive. The siege was with
stood for an uncommon length of time, considering the dis
parity of forces engaged. But Travis's men were a choice
set; the famous David Crocket was among the number; and
every rifle shot brought its man. Santa Anna finally saw
that his men were fast diminishing by the valor and deadly
shots of this handful of men, while he was making no sen
sible , impression on them; for, according to report, he had,
since the commencement of the siege, lost eleven hundred
men, and they were said to be well provided in the Alamo
with provisions. Ammunition was running short. But
Santa Anna probably did not know that. He now divided
his army into three reliefs, and determined to keep up a con
tinual fire upon the fort night and day. The force of Travis
was barely sufficient to man the fort; he could not divide it;
and, consequently, could give them no relief.
90

338 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
After the assault had continued several days and nights,
Travis's men became so exhausted and worn down — and
probably his ammunition was giving out; — that the feeble
resistance encouraged Santa Anna to attempt to storm the
fort. So he mustered a force for the forlorn hope, ordered
them forward, placed behind them a larger force with fixed
bayonets to drive them in, and leave them no retreat. They,
therefore, crowded into the fort, and it was a death-struggle,
hand to hand, between perhaps one hundred men on one side,
and two thousand on the other. Of course such a struggle
could not last long. Every Texan, except Mrs. Travis and
her servant, was massacred. Mrs. Travis was respected.
This news threw a gloom over the Convention and every
body. A braver and more valiant band never faced an
enemy. Now the Blexicans might be expected upon Wash
ington at any time, and the constitution was not yet half
finished. It is singular that no videts or spies were kept
out beyond the distance of a few miles to give warning of
their coming. A strange apathy was prevalent throughout
Texas as to danger from the Mexicans. To take reasonable
precautions to guard against danger seemed to be construed
into timidity. Had Santa Anna possessed one particle of
enterprise, he might with the greatest ease have captured the
whole Convention and all the attendants upon it. They went
on with their work deliberately until they finished it, although
there were almost nightly alarms of the Mexicans' approach.
One night, as in a dream, I heard a voice calling me, but I
was so sound asleep that I could not wake. The door was
barred so that no one could get in. Presently there was a
light rapping on the side of the bouse, and a voice in a
smothered tone called to me, " Col. T  , Col. T  , in
the name of God, wake up, and come to the door!" I now
awoke, and unbarred the door, and found Dr. N  there.
"Dress," said he, "as quick as you can, and come out.
"What's the matter?'' I replied. " Come out," said he,

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 339
"and I will tell you; don't ask me before you come out."
I hunted up my clothes, put them on as soon as I could, and
went out. I found the whole town, including the Conven
tion, in the streets. "What means this?" I asked. "The
Mexicans are upon us," replied a citizen. " Where ?" said
I. " Two of our spies have come in, reporting the appear
ance of two Mexican spies about two miles off. The army
is doubtless close at hand." Our party proposed that we
should cross the river. On the other bank was a swamp,
and to stay a night in it would be as dangerous as to en
counter the Mexicans. This objection I named, and that it
would never do for us to go while others remained. " I can
swim," I remarked, " and if the Mexicans come, and there
is no help for it, I will plunge into the river, and swim .over,
but I had rather wait until we have some certain evidence of
their coming."
After waiting several hours, and they did not make their
appearance, I retired to my room, and lay down . upon my
cot with my clothes on, designing to keep awake, and listen
for " coming events." But I fell asleep, and did not awake
until next morning. The succeeding night, while the Con
vention was yet in session, a member rose, and moved for
an inquiry into a conspiracy, the character of which it was
horrible to contemplate, the knowledge of which had just
reached him; and, if true, no time should be lost in taking
the conspirators into custody, for the danger was immediate.
It contemplated the massacre of all the Mexican prisoners
then in their possession, which would entail everlasting dis
grace upon the country.
A terrible sensation was produced by this announcement,
with seconds to the motion from every quarter of the
house. A member of the Convention rose, and acknowledged that
he was at the head of the conspiracy, which he intended to

340 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
carry out to avenge the massacre of Travis and his men, hut
that he would abandon it.
What a condition of things ! Had this conspiracy not
been discovered, as the massacre was to have taken place at
night, I imagined, as I was sleeping among the prisoners, I
would have shared their fate.
When the constitution was framed, the Blexicans not
having made their appearance, Col. Rusk (now Gen. Rusk,
of the United States Senate) came to me, and said, "Well,
Col. T  , you and Col. G  have labored for us faith
fully, and we feel inclined to do what we can for you about
this loan." "If agreeable, colonel," said I, "I would like
to address your Convention on the subject."
" Very well," he remarked ; he would, in the morning, offer
a resolution granting me leave; which being done, I ad
dressed them, stating that I understood discontent existed,
which I wished to avoid ; that, on the appearance of the
commissioners in New Orleans to obtain a loan, the idea was
considered preposterous by most prudent men. "A few of us,
however, with a deep sympathy for a young and gallant peo
ple, unrestrained by considerations of caution and prudence,
which perhaps should have been the part of wisdom, believed
that Texas, would succeed in her struggle, and so believing,
doubted not we should get paid. We were asked, where
was the government from which those commissioners came
accredited ? We were told there was none ! We answered,
we cared not. Where there was the high-toned chivalry
which could induce some twenty thousand citizens to en
counter a nation of eight millions of people who had enticed
the Texans to settle that country under the constitution of
1824, and afterwards withdrawn it from them, leaving them
then not freemen, but the subjects of a despotism, thereby
forcing them to leave the country if they were unwilling to
submit to such a government ; — I say, when we saw this
evidence of their bravery, we could not doubt that all the

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 341
usual accompaniments of such qualities existed, and that
when their government was framed they would ratify the
arrangement. I have steadily adhered to this opinion, and
am still confident in it. If I err, it is in violation of the
general rules which govern human character. But it is to
our interest that you should be satisfied. I ask you to look
to the circumstances under which we made the loan, and do
us the justice which you may think our confidence in you
merits. If you think the terms we obtained of you are hard,
I ask of you to authorize and direct your executive to give
us lands at the prices, and upon terms that we could obtain
them from individuals at, whenever circumstances may en
able them to close the contract. This you cannot consider
hard, because if we had our money we could make purchases
on those terms."
The vote was taken, the proposition agreed to without a
dissenting voice, and a resolution of the Convention was en
tered up accordingly, as will be seen by reference to its pro
ceedings. The Convention now proceeded to close their session, but
were not a little hurried in it by a report that the Mexicans
were near. The President and his cabinet, with myself,
Colonel G  , Dr. N  , and others, took our departure
for Harrisburg, the balance of the members to their homes
or the army.
On our way we were accompanied by the servant of Cap
tain Travis, before mentioned. Anxious to get the particulars
of the massacre, I endeavored to get into conversation with
him. But so stupefied was he by what he had witnessed,
so absorbed in his melancholy at the loss of his master and
all his friends, that he only answered in the shortest way
such questions as I asked him, from which I chiefly gained
the information I have heretofore related.
Whether it was on this journey or before that we heard
of the capture of Fanning and his brigade, I do not recollect.
29*

342 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
He was on his march towards Goliad with four hundred
men, when suddenly, in a sort of basin, he was surrounded
by two thousand Blexican cavalry, and ordered to surrender.
Two thousand Blexican infantry he would have encountered
without hesitation ; but his men were chiefly armed with rifles
without bayonets, and he was unprepared to resist an attack
of horse. After some negotiation, and a solemn stipulation
for the safety of his men, he surrendered. They were
marched to and kept, I think, at Labodeyear, generally pro
nounced Labordee. Here they were kept half starved for a
long time, until so wasted and worn down that they were
supposed to be incapable of any effective resistance.
They were one morning marched out in single file, a file
of infantry at the side of each man, and after getting to a
certain point were halted, and each file, with the muzzle of
his gun to his victim's breast, fired and killed almost every
man. Nevertheless, some two or three escaped to tell the
tale. After two days' travel we reached Harrisburg, a little vil
lage on Buffalo Bayou.
In about a week, the army of Santa Anna reached Fort
Bend, on the Brazos, about thirty miles from Harrisburg.
General Houston was on this side of the Brazos, about thirty
miles from Santa Anna, and also about thirty miles from
Harrisburg ; the three points forming an equilateral triangle.
The President and cabinet were in daily session upon the
affairs of the State, and, as I was deeply interested in all they
did, I often was allowed to be present at their conferences,
and advised freely with the members separately. Bly attend
ance was only to await their leisure to act upon my business.
The usual apathy in regard to danger from the Mexicans
also prevailed here, although they had evidence at the Alamo
and Labordee that the Mexicans made an indiscriminate
slaughter of their foes. Here we remained over a week,
within One day's march of the Mexicans, and, as far as I

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 343
knew, no videts ¦ or guards out further than a mile or two.
I never went to bed but with an apprehension that we would
be attacked before day. Apprehension, perhaps, is not the
right word to express my meaning, for I had caught the
usual apathy prevalent in the country; and, although it
seemed reasonable that such a thing might occur at any time,
yet I, like the balance, had become careless about it. Santa
Anna and Houston seemed to stand eyeing each other like
two game-cocks, neither willing to make the first flutter.
Often, when I would be sitting out in the common upon a
log, and a distant rolling of smothered thunder would come
from towards Fort Bend, I would imagine it the artillery of
the two armies.
At last General Rusk said to me that the cabinet wished
to settle this loan business with me, and asked what terms
we could agree on. I asked him what was the current price
of lands ; at what price could they be bought. Everybody
nearly was now running away from the Mexicans, leaving
their lands, and were offering them freely at twelve and a
half cents per acre. "Ah !" said the colonel, "that won't
do." " I do not ask it," said I, "although it is very evident,
if we had our money, that we could buy at those rates. But
I am willing to pay double." Now few persons are willing
to take into consideration " altered cases." Had General
Houston encountered Santa Anna and whipped him, and in
consequence land had risen to a dollar or two dollars per
acre, I would, by the terms of my accepted offer to the
Convention, have been compelled to allow those prices. But
when, on the other hand, Santa Anna is driving everything
before him, and land falls to twelve and a half cents per acre,
the case is altered, the sacrifice is too great, the contract can
not be complied with. But I proposed to allow double the
current prices, and give twenty-five cents. "Well," said
Colonel Rusk, " is there no way to compromise this matter?

344 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
What will you relinquish your contract for ? Say you take
land at fifty cents per acre for what you have paid in, and
let go the balance." I replied I would take 135,000 acres.
This was objected to as being unreasonable. But, on dis
cussing the subject, and my showing the advantages which
the contract gave me — being clearly more than double my
demand, and which I could not be deprived of without a
flagrant breach of faith on the part of Texas — my proposi
tion was agreed to. But it was afterwards — as will be seen
— after having been solemnly signed by the. President and
every member of his cabinet, finally repudiated.

CHAPTER LXIV.
APPOINTED GENERAL AGENT FOR TEXAS — EMPOWERED TO
PROCURE A WAR LOCOMOTIVE.
Colonel Rusk remarked that the cabinet were desirous
not to disagree with me, for they were anxious to get me to
act as their general agent in the United States, and asked
me to make my terms as reasonable as I could afford. I
answered that, if I lowered them beyond this mark, I should
think I was taking less than in justice I was entitled to.
After a day or two, we closed a compromise on these terms,
and I was appointed general agent in the United States for
Texas, with power to appoint four secretaries to reside in
different parts of the Union, and also with power to appoint
all local agents.
This arrangement gave great credit to Texas ; so much
so that I purchased a cargo of provisions, then lying in Gal
veston Bay, for a very moderate advance on cost, payable by

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 345
an order on the treasury out of any moneys coming into it.
And, indeed, for those orders I could buy anything at par.
By the terms of the compromise the form of the scrip, which
was to b'e issued as soon as it could be printed and signed, was
laid down. The President asked me if I could not raise them
two thousand dollars. I replied, I had it not with me, but if
he would issue me the scrip for that amount, with authority
to locate it, I had a friend present from whom I could get it.
He accordingly issued it, and I went down with Dr. N  ,
from whom I got the money, and located one section on Galves
ton Island, where the city of Galveston now stands. I made
the survey with a pocket compass, prepared the field notes,
and got Dr. N  to go with them to Harrisburg to get
the grant signed, while I remained at Lynchburg, opposite
San Jacinto. But, on his way, the road touched upon a
bend of the bayou, the only point where it did touch it, and
at this point he saw the smoke of a steamboat coming down.
He awaited its approach, and found the cabinet all on board.
In anticipation of the coming of the Mexicans, this steamer
had been kept with steam up always ready to move at a
moment's warning ; and, finally, some of the advanced spies
of the Blexicans were seen on the tongue of land in the forks
of the bayou, just at Harrisburg. Then the cabinet, in no
small hurry, made their escape on the boat. Had Dr. N 
not met it just where he did, he would have gone on to Har
risburg, and fallen into the hands of the Blexicans. On their
arrival, by the request of the President, I proceeded on to
the United States to commence my functions and forward on
supplies. I will here name a machine which I suggested, and ob
tained authority from the executive to have constructed in
the United States. It was a steam war locomotive. The
prairies of Texas are generally very level, and in summer
very hard. A locomotive could be constructed to run upon

346 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
them with great facility. The plan was to have the wheels
about ten feet high, and to run about twelve feet apart, with
a light frame of iron rods on the outside within which to set
bales of cotton; this frame reaching down near' to the
ground to protect the locomotive against the balls of the
enemy. The hinder axle was to be pivoted into a coupling
so as to be steered by a rudder or steering-wheel. The
engine upon a substantial framework resting chiefly on the
axle of the fore-wheels, but enough of it below not to make
the centre of gravity go- above the axle. Room sufficient to
be left aft for the hind-wheels to turn with facility, and to
contain some twenty men. The steersmen (two) to stand in
front behind cotton bales, with loopholes to look through,
and by means of a wheel and rope to guide the car. This
car to act as a moving fort, to be drawn by horses when not
used in battle, and only to be used on a level firm prairie, to
which the Texan army could retreat whenever overpowered ;
and this locomotive using rosin and tar, with a little coal or
wood for fuel, of which it could carry enough for an hour's
operation, would now be let loose upon the enemy, and run
over his army. Had not the war terminated as soon as it did,
this experiment would have been tried.
It would take but a few hours to throw up a semicircular
breastwork behind, which it could be protected from the
cannon balls of the enemy while at rest, and when in motion
it would be a rare accident if one would hit it ; and, if it did,
the encasement of cotton would probably protect it.
Dr. N  and myself now took our departure for the
Sabine, our direction being chiefly by the points of the com
pass, there being then few paths, hardly any roads ; we car
ried our provisions in our saddle-bags, and slept out in the
prairie under a tree. The day was cloudy ; we had to guess
at our direction as best we could. The next morning was
the same, and after travelling about ten miles we saw a
house. We concluded we would go there and get our break-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 347
fast. On arriving there, we found ourselves upon a road,
and inquired where we were, when we learned we were within
ten miles of Lynchburg, the point we started from the day
before, having travelled thirty miles, and gained ten.
While eating breakfast, I sat with my face to the open
door, looking towards tb 3 San Jacinto, and saw, at a distance,
some horsemen coming towards us in great haste. I was the
only one who saw them, and doubted whether they might
not be Mexicans, but concluded to say nothing until I could
distinguish. Presently, however, I discovered the American
hat — as contradistinguished from the low-crowned Mexican ;
soon Colonel T  and some friends rode up, and told us
that the Mexicans were at San Jacinto, were crossing their
cavalry over the river, and would soon be scouring the
country on this side. We did not tarry much longer for our
breakfast, but saddled our horses with all convenient speed,
and proceeded on the road to the forks of the Trinity, only
a few hours' ride. Here I learned there was a great crowd
collected, waiting to cross, and expressed my belief to Colonel
T  that we could not get over. "Oh yes, sir," said he;
"I own the ferry-boat; there will be no difficulty." "That is
of little consequence," I replied. " When men's lives are in
danger, they have no regard for the rights of property."
And so we found it. Colonel T — — was of as little conse
quence as any other man. Upon being informed that the
Mexicans were crossing the San Jacinto, it created a terrible
panic. I asked for the people to be called together. There
were several hundred, with wagons, carryalls, and all sorts
of vehicles. I proposed that those should be drawn round
in a circle to make a breastwork of to keep off the cavalry
— that the company be organized, and a commander be ap
pointed. But each was for getting away — none cared about
organizing. " Sauve qui pent !" was the watchword. In
the course of the evening, Colonel T  managed to get
our party over.

348 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
We travelled on until we came to a house, which seemed
to be full of men. "There," said a Texan, who was of our
party, "are a gang of Tories; those fellows will join the
Blexicans, if they have a chance. They are determined to do
anything to save their property." "How do you know?"
I asked. " Oh," said he, " we have all such duly reported
to us. Now," he continued, " we must lodge to-night under
the 'lone tree;' we will not take that direction, but travel
square off from it, until we get out of sight of those fellows,
because, if the Mexicans cross the Trinity, and reach here
to-night, those fellows will put them on our track." So we
travelled on at right angles to the course we intended to
take, until it became too dark for us to be seen from said
house, and then we changed our course for the " lone tree,''
about five miles off. The " lone tree" is the only oue in its
neighborhood for a great distance, and hence its name. Our
saddles formed our pillows, together with our saddle-bags;
our saddle-blankets our beds, and our cloaks our covering.
We kindled a little fire, and made a hearty supper of some
biscuits and bacon which we had prepared.

CHAPTER LXV.
AN AWKWARD QUANDARY  BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO— IN
TERVIEW WITH SANTA ANNA AND ALMONTE — MEET TWO
MEN WHO ESCAPED FROM FANNING' S MASSACRE.
The next morning we proceeded on towards the Natchez,
at the great crossing, and about ten o'clock met a company
of horsemen, coming in great haste from towards that point.
We asked them why they were in such- a hurry. They an
swered that "the country between the Natchez and the Sa-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 349
bine was filled with Mexicans and Indians, destroying every
thing, and putting to the sword all who came in their way."
"Well," we remarked, "they would not better themselves
much by the course they were going, for we were endeavor
ing to escape from the Mexicans who were behind us."
Having possessed ourselves of each other's information, we
held a council of war as to what we should do. ' One who
pretended to be well acquainted with the country proposed
that we should head the Natchez, a distance, as he proposed
to go, of about four hundred miles out of our way, thereby
crossing in the rear of the Blexicans and Indians. I replied,
I would rather go for the sea-coast, and trust to finding some
vessels, or some means of crossing Sabine Bay, and, all agree
ing with me, we struck off for the mouth of the Natchez,
where, to my surprise and pleasure, I found an old neighbor
of mine from Kentucky, the owner of the property. Of
course, I fared as well as he could -make me; but there were
about six hundred people congregated here, with but one
boat to take them off, and no place to land them within ten
miles — all the lands between the Natchez and Sabine being
swamp. This boat carried twenty at a time, and made one
trip a day. It did not lessen the number ; more arrived than
departed. There was here, however, a post and rail lot,
which could be made a safeguard against the attack of ca
valry ; they had a two-pounder cannon, and the women cut
up their flannel petticoats to make cartridge covers, while
the men busied themselves in moulding rifle bullets to make
cartridges of — putting about one hundred bullets in a car
tridge. This would have been a destructive little gun, had
there been occasion to use it. Blany thrilling scenes oc
curred here during the few days that I stayed; but I am ad
monished that this memoir is already too long — I cannot
relate them. About the third day after my arrival, news
came that Houston had had a battle with Santa Anna at
San Jacinto, and killed or taken prisoners his whole army.
30

350 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
Knowing now that things would assume a new face, I
determined to return for new instructions, and was soon on
my way back.
General Houston was an old acquaintance, and I met him
with a great deal of pleasure. He was flat on his back from a
wound which he had received. I went out on the battle-field
to see the scene of the fight. The Mexicans who were killed
lay still unburied, about six hundred in number. No buz
zards were about, and not much smell, which I thought
strange. But this climate is not so putrefying as ours.
I was introduced to Santa Anna and Colonel Almonte,
both prisoners. Santa Anna is a small man — would pro
bably weigh one hundred and forty pounds ; of pale com
plexion; self-possessed, and, I would judge, not wanting in
courage. Colonel Almonte is a well-educated, well-bred gen
tleman, but seems to be half Indian. The battle-cry at San
Jacinto was, "Remember the Alamo !" "Remember Labor
dee !" and the poor Mexicans, as they were about to be cut
down, would raise their hands, and cry out, "Me no Alamo!
Ble no Labordee !"
Santa Anna had been so unchecked in his course until
now, that he seemed to have no apprehension of the result:
The first day that Houston encamped before him he had
but half his army with him, presuming that Houston had
taken the road for the Sabine? and Gen. Cos, the commander
of the other portion, did not arrive until the next day, when
the battle occurred. Houston being asked by Santa Anna
why he did not attack him on the first day, as he would
have had but half the force to encounter, Houston answered,
"he did not wish to make two bites of a cherry."
Col. Rusk, then acting as Secretary at War, deserved more
credit for the part he took in this battle than he has re
ceived ; and is, in fact, a greater man than the world gives
him credit for being.
Gen. Quitman (then Captain) arrived with a company

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 351
while I was at San Jacinto. There was great indignation
felt against Santa Anna for the affairs of the Alamo and
Labordee, and it was_difficult to save his life. But Houston
and Rusk were opposed to executing him, and Gen. Quit
man and myself did what little we could to sustain them by
arguing that he could be executed at any time, and he was
a good trump to hold in any negotiation. Col. Wall, one
of Santa Anna's officers (some called him Ball), came in
with a flag of truce to see Santa Anna while I was at San
Jacinto. He was, I think, a Frenchman — a large, strongly-
built, bold, determined-looking man. Standing with Cos
upon a little platform projecting from the second story of
a small . house, in which Cos was confined, and looking
around upon the handful of tents which covered the Texans :
"Where," said he to Cos, "are the men who conquered
you ?", "Here they are," said Cos. " What ! Not these?"
said Wall. "Yes," rejoined Cos. "Then," said Wall,
"you were all a d — d set of cowards." "If you think you
can do better/' said Cos, " come and try it, and" * * *
* * * # # # * ^he sentence will be remembered
by those who were present, but cannot be finished here.
I now was prepared to proceed to New Orleans, and the
President came to me to say that great excitement had been
created in consequence of his having issued to me the grant
for a section of land on Galveston Island, and he wished
to see if it oould not on some terms be annulled. I replied
that I had assigned half of it to Dr. N  , who had gone
with it to the United States. The President seemed uneasy,
and said he only wanted it suspended temporarily, until
things became more calm and settled, and that he would then
reissue it. This I thought a timid dodging of responsibility;
but, as he very earnestly urged it, I gave him my obligation
to suspend the grant for the present, upon condition that it
should be reissued hereafter without injury to my rights.
This the President used to allay excitement for the" time

352 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
being, and a sale was afterwards made, by the Government
of Texas, of a league of land covering the very ground
which had been sold to me. This was to me very extraordi
nary, because it was evident the government had no right
to sell it. This was done some time after I had left Texas.
I took a steamboat now to go to the mouth of the Brazos,
to get passage to New Orleans. On the same boat was Col.
Almonte, going down to Galveston. We had become well
acquainted, and I said to him on the passage : " Colonel, I
have a curiosity to ask you a question, but fear it may be
considered unkind, and perhaps impertinent ; I do not ask it
with any other view than simply to gain information:. Were
you surprised by Houston ? or how else are we to account
for the result of this battle ?" " No, sir," he replied, " we
were not surprised in the ordinary sense of the word; we
were not taken unawares, but-we were surprised at the mode
of attack. We had no expectation that Houston would
attempt to storm our camp; we presumed he would fight in
the ordinary way ; we expected a regular battle, within good
musket-shot ; but when his men had discharged their loads,
they did not stop to reload (they were then very near our
little bush breastwork), but clubbed their guns and mounted
our works. Our men had fired, and had not time to reload.
Your men were stronger than ours, and in a hand-to-hand
fight we could do-nothing. Your men, too, were armed with
bowie-knives, and when in close contact, where the musket
was useless, the knife was used with deadly effect. Besides
which," he continued, "your men came on with a reck
lessness of consequences which we had been unused to ; the
same mode of attack upon a European army would have'
resulted in the same way." (Here he was mistaken, however;
European bayonets could not have been penetrated in, this
way.) "Again," said he, "you have different men for
soldiers; you had hardly a man in the ranks of your army
that we would not consider capable of making an officer in

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 353
ours. You Americans, too, do not value life; it seems to
count nothing in the chances of a battle."
From  I went up the Brazos to Columbia, no
vessel being ready to sail, and from Columbia I went out to
a Mr. Bells, on Caney Creek. On my way there, I saw on
the road-side a very genteel-looking young man, whose
clothes seemed threadbare and tattered, his shoes worn out,
and withal he was the most woe- worn, sad, melancholy-look
ing young man that I had ever seen. He was sitting on .a
log, and I thought it possible he might be some deranged
body. I asked Mr. Bell if he knew who he was. He replied
" that he was J o^"-,' a son of Governor DU-'J , of Florida.
He is one of two or three only who escaped from Fanning's
massacre." I asked Mr. Bell to send for him, and introduce
me to him, which he did. I told him I was an old acquaint
ance of his father's, was going directly to New Orleans, and, if
he was willing, would take him with me. He assented with
out any apparent feeling, went with me to the boat at Co
lumbia, and, as general agent for Texas, I gave him an order
on one of the stores in Columbia for what he needed. I
think, however, he only got a pair of shoes. My orders were
received as readily as the cash. His sensibilities seemed all
petrified. He had witnessed the massacre of his brother and
four hundred of his companions, as before related, and, like
the servant of Travis, his feelings seemed all deadened by
the recollection of the Scene. He was not at all disposed
to talk, or tell of his adventures, but by repeated question
ings I extracted the main points of his adventure. They
were truly thrilling; but I am warned by my publisher to
close, as I am already beyond the limits assigned me, so
cannot relate them. While sitting in the cahin, there came
in at the door another young man, about in the same con
dition. When D  saw him, his eyes brightened, as did
this young man's, and they sprang into each other's arms.
" Why, John !" said the new-comer — " Why, John I" replied
30*

354 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
D  . It was John H-  , of Pennsylvania, who had
escaped from the massacre with D  . They had travelled
together for a time, but, being pursued by the Mexicans,
they separated, and each supposed the other had been killed,
until they met here. I must relate one of H  's adven
tures, as much pressed as I am for room : From one of the
deserted houses at which they stopped in the course of their
escape, H  was followed by a large black dog. When
pursued by the Mexicans, in order to escape from them he
plunged into an extensive cypress pond, which proved to be
deep, and he swam for his life to get out of sight — but re
joicing in its being- so deep that the Blexicans could not fol
low him. When he had gone far enough in among the
cypress trees not to be seen from the shore, finding a cypress-
knee projecting out of the water, he hung upon it to rest
himself. The black dog had followed him, and when he
stopped the dog kept swimming round and round him, hav
ing no place to rest upon, when all of a sudden he was
seized by something in the water which jerked him under,
H  had no doubt this was an alligator, with which all the
large ponds in that country abound, and he now felt that
he had an enemy to dread in the water as dangerous as the
Mexicans, and as- soon as night began to throw her mantle
over nature, he swam ashore, and pursued his course, guided
by the stars, until he reached the steamboat at Columbia.
I gave him a similar order to that which I had given D  ,
and proposed to bring him on also, all at the expense of the
Texan Government.
We descended to  , and there took passage on
a schooner bound for New Orleans, commanded by Captain,
afterwards Commodore, Bloor, on . board of which was the
suicide I have heretofore named — an intimate friend, and
an old neighbor of Governor D  , who seemed to have
known John from his birth, and to have the feeling of a
brother for him. He now took especial charge of him-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 355
But D  relapsed into his torpid state again very soon,
and so continued until he reached New Orleans, where we
parted, and I doubt whether he is now aware that he ever
saw me. H  had lost no relatives, and was more cheer
ful. He has once since called to see me, as I understand,
but I was not at home.

CHAPTER LXVI.
I NOW UNDERTAKE MY DUTIES AS GENERAL AGENT FOR
TEXAS.
Upon receiving my appointment, I was apprised that the
Executive believed that the resident agent in New Orleans
should be removed, and this very unpleasant duty I ex
pected to have to perform. But, upon examining into his
accounts, I could see nothing to justify discontent. He
seemed not only to have been faithful, but to have allowed
his devotion to Texas to carry him to an imprudent extent
in advancing for her, and I so wrote the President.
I now prepared a check-book for the use of the govern
ment, or whoever was authorized to draw money from the
treasury, with one-half the page margin, upon which was to
be entered every order given upon the treasury, and for what
purpose, with number, date, and amount ; the assets in the
treasury being entered on the other side. If this book had
been properly used, deducting the orders from the assets at
the bottom of every page, and carrying the balance forward,
the condition of the treasury would have always appeared ;
and a similar book, printed with the bonds of the govern
ment, having a similar margin, would have shown every bond
issued, for what amount, how much it realized, and how

356 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
much was deposited in the treasury — thus showing at a
glance the total indebtedness of Texas, and the amount in
her treasury.
I now sold of my Texas contract twenty thousand acres of
the scrip which the government had contracted -to issue to
me, my obligation being given that the same should be de
livered within twelve months, for which I received a check
on the Canal Bank for ten thousand dollars. I had sent on
the form of scrip printed, as agreed upon in our contract,
exactly, letter for letter, and soon expected to receive it
signed. The whole amount due me under this arrangement
would have sold for about thirty-eight thousand dollars, if I
had sold the balance at the same rate, whieh there would
have been no difficulty in doing, could I have obtained the
scrip. Finding no means at the disposal of Texas in New Orleans,
and some very much wanting, I deposited half of what I had
received with the resident agent for her use, to be reimbursed
out of the first assets coming into my hands, an abundance
of which, I had no doubt, could be created out of the re
sources which I expected would be put at my disposal.
Texas was now one of the richest States on the Continent,
if she would properly husband her resources; and, as I ex
pected the sales of her land-scrip would be made under my
agency, it was my intention to have such method observed
in doing it as I hoped would soon provide all the means she
needed. Our scrip, however, was first to be sent to us; but,
in lieu of the scrip bargained for, a form came which was
in no way conformable to contract. The loan-holders met
to consider it, determined that it was not the form bargained
for, and they would not receive it.
In the mean time, being accidentally at a broker's one day,
I there saw a parcel of Texas scrip being made out to be
sold by another agent, one whom the government wished
me to appoint when the former incumbent was removed, as

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 357
they expected would be the case; but I gave my reasons for
not removing the one, nor appointing the other. This letter
of mine was subsequently published by the agent they wished
me to discharge, when he was afterwards removed and the
other put in his place.
Viewing the sending of this scrip to. another agent as a
violation of good faith — because I understood all the trans
actions of this kind were to pass through my hands ; but, if
not a violation of good faith, at least an evidence of a want
of confidence — I so informed the President of Texas, and
made known to him that a proper respect for myself would
forbid my holding the office of general agent under such
circumstances, and that he must appoint another by the 1st
July, then thirty days off, until which time I would serve,
and no longer. I now went to the agent with whom I had
deposited the $5000, and withdrew $4000 of it, the balance
having been mostly spent.
The 1st of July arrived, and the scrip had not come.
Previously, however, Col. Menard, representing the com
pany which had purchased the league of land around my
Galveston location, came over, and upon conferring with me,
and seeing the nature of my claim, he agreed we should
amalgamate, make a joint-stock company of it, and sell out.
This was ultimately done, T. Green, Wm. R. Johnson, and
Levy Jones being appointed trustees; my interest, with those
claiming under me, being two hundred thousand dollars, or
one-fifth of the whole. Dr. N  and his copartners own
ing half my grant; T. Green and myself the other, less 5
per cent, to Col. Grey.
Sales were subsequently rendered me to the amount of
one million four hundred thousand dollars, for only a part
of the property. Some shares were sold in the United
States, and the money received at the rate of fifteen hundred
dollars per share, being 50 per cent, on the original valuation.
Could I have realized mine at this rate, my whole adven-

358 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
ture, presuming Texas had complied with her land-contract,
would have been over ninety thousand dollars; and when I
left New Orleans I presumed she would.

CHAPTER LXVII.
THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE AGAIN.
My prospects now seemed so good that I ventured to pur
chase a tract of land along-side of Bonharbor, which I
wanted in order to command the whole coal-field there.
For this I gave twenty thousand dollars, and cramped my
self to make the first payment, confident that I would
soon be in ample resources, and easy again. But in this
I was mistaken. Fortune was not yet tired of her pranks
with me. Before I go further, I will stop to narrate two
little incidents, each, however, then so common as perhaps
to be hardly worth a place here. About eleven o'clock, one
night, while in bed in my hotel, in New Orleans, I heard a
hurried rushing through the passage under me of some per
sons who entered a room just below, in which a boarder was
asleep. He, frightened, bounced out of bed, crying, " What's
the matter?" The intruders answered, " Get out from here,
d — n you, if you don't want to fight." The boarder, see
ing from their frantic manner that something desperate was
on foot, jumped out into the passage in his night-clothes, and
the intruders shut the door and locked it. Presently, some
police-officers made their appearance, and after a short par
ley with the intruders, got them to surrender, and took them
to jail. It seems they were two sons of planters on the
coast, who had come to New Orleans for a frolic, armed with
bowie-knives, which had cost them a good deal, and which

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 359
they could not afford to keep idle. So one of them managed
to get into a quarrel with the barkeeper of the hotel, and
without any provocation killed him. He was afterwards
tried, and cleared of course, for no man is hung in New
Orleans who has plenty of money.
The other incident was: Having taken passage on the
steamboat " Levant," a new and very strong one, she started
on her voyage in the night, and just above New Orleans ran
into another loaded with cotton, and so damaged her that
she sank, but not before the " Levant" towed her ashore.
The engineer did not stop her engine, or let off the steam
by the safety-valve, so that, while sinking, her engines were
still going, and thus continued, even until they were under
water, and the effect of their working under such circum
stances seemed to me like the strangling of some great beast
who was making a death-struggle for breath.
Despite of all my efforts, I could not obtain my scrip from
Texas within the limit of my contract with the purchaser of
the twenty thousand acres, and had now to return him his
ten thousand dollars, with 8 per cent, interest.
The United States Bank had just gone out of existence,
and a heavy moneyed crisis was overhanging the country,
which became, a year or two after, the most severe which we
have ever experienced.
It was not an easy matter then to raise eleven or twelve
thousand dollars. Double the sum could have been more
easily raised at any other time. Besides which, my pay
ments for the purchase of Ross's estate were now bearing
hard upon me, as well as the balance of the purchase-money
for the land I had bought for twenty thousand dollars, on
which I had paid five thousand dollars, making, in all, some
thirty-five or forty thousand dollars. All my efforts to obtain
a share of my dividends from Galveston were fruitless. On
sending an agent, many years afterwards, to inquire into the
matter, he informed me that payment had been made, not in

360 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
money, but by sinking-stock at from one thousand to two
thousand dollars per share, the latter being five hundred dol
lars higher than the stock ever reached. Not being where
I could sell my stock, and my agent in Virginia not being
willing to sell at the apparent sacrifice then necessary, he
held on, and finally I sold all to about ten shares (except
four, which had been previously sold at fifteen hundred dol
lars per share) for one hundred and fifty dollars per share;
and also except six shares, which I exchanged for a tract of
two thousand acres of land on the Ohio River. By collect
ing the six thousand dollars, and making otherwise a great
effort, I managed to pay off the ten thousand dollars and
interest. I now determined to offer a heavy premium to get
clear of the twenty thousand dollars purchase, upon which I
had paid five thousand dollars. For that purpose, I appointed
a friend to confer with my creditor, and the best terms he
could obtain was the forfeit of the five thousand dollars paid,
and the payment of seven thousand dollars more, upon time,
with interest. At this time, there was such a stringency in
the money-market that nothing would sell. I could not
force off the estate I had bought, even for the balance, after
deducting the twelve thousand dollars. So I concluded it
was best to accede to it. I had now this seven thousand
dollars, and the debt to Ross, about twelve thousand dollars,
unpaid, to carry, besides many smaller debts, which I had
postponed paying when I went to Texas, and which I now
could not pay.

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 361

CHAPTER LXVIII.
DEATH OF MY CHILDREN — EFFECT UPON MY WIFE.
At this time, I lost one of my children, which caused my
wife great distress. My own sorrows I forgot in hers. Soon
after a second, then a third, then a fourth, all within the
course of a few years; my wife being almost distracted with
grief, and becoming a mere skeleton. I was so affected with
my concern for her that I was paralyzed as far as misfortune
could paralyze me. I could hardly leave my house an hour
without fear of some dreadful event. Creditors made no
allowances. I was sued, and my property sold at dreadful
sacrifices, but I could- not help it. My wife's health trou
bled me more than anything. I could attend to nothing else.
With land in almost every part of the State, amounting to
over one hundred thousand acres — two tracts among which I
afterwards sold, one for fifty-five thousand, the other for
thirty-five thousand dollars ; another for twelve, and a fourth
for six thousand dollars — I have been in want of ten dollars,
and would have esteemed it a special favor if some man would
have loaned it to me. This is the necessary consequence of
living near, or having to depend upon, a small country town
for your financial arrangements. Your own world is within
yourself. You can obtain no help elsewhere.
The. community saw the apparent pressure upon me, and
although they knew my resources were very great, they did
not know how far my debts might swallow them all up.
My credit was doubtful; and I would ask no man to lend
me. I had money due me in the County of Hancock, as
well as some land which persons were anxious to buy, and I
31

362 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
must have money. I could not live without it. I went there
to sell and collect.
On the second night, a messenger came for me, with
information that my daughter Florence was dying with the
croup. I hastened home, and found her in the agonies of (
death ; the doctor by, but unable to do anything. I sug
gested to him to open her windpipe by cutting from the out
side, and to pui, in a quill, but he thought it would be use
less. I had a strong notion to do it myself, but if useless I
could not bear to cut my poor child. I named this subse
quently to an eminent physician in Philadelphia, who said
that, if I had done so, I might very possibly have saved my
child's life.
She died, however, and my wife's grief may be imagined.
A chronic melancholy now settled upon her. She took no
interest in anything, and I very much feared she would lose
her senses. Something I saw must be done to arouse her
from this condition, and I determined to awaken her fears
for my own health ; so I took my penknife, and stuck it into
my gums, from which a streaLa of blood came forth. I ran
to the back door, and let it bleed upon the steps. One of
the servants seeing me came running from the kitchen very
much frightened, and asked what was the matter. I told
her not to talk so loud, she would frighten her mistress.
Still the blood ran very freely, and the girl ran up to inform
my wife, who came down in very great alarm, and sent for
the doctor. She inquired what was the matter; I told her I
hoped nothing serious, that it would soon be over. She
asked if I was bleeding at the lungs. I told her I hoped
not. Presently the doctor came, by which time the bleeding
had nearly ceased. The doctor was evidently alarmed, and
commenced asking me questions. I asked to go to bed, feel
ing weak, as 1 pretended. I was taken to my chamber, and
asked my wife and all others to leave the room, which they

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 363
did; my wife evidently believing that I had something dread
ful to communicate, which I did not wish her to hear.
When they were out, I asked the doctor to open the door,
and see that there were no listeners. He did so, and said
there were none. "Doctor," said I, "I have found my wife
sinking into such a settled melancholy from the loss of her
children that I am afraid she will lose her senses unless I
can arouse her from it. I have concluded to awaken her
concern for myself in order to effect my object. I must get
you to join me in the pious fraud. I believe it is necessary
to save her life." "Blost surely," he replied, "I will do it."
"Then you will understand this bleeding is caused by my
sticking my knife into my gums ; but you must treat me as
if it were a bleeding at the lungs, and caused by my deep
anxiety for the health of my wife. Send one of tho servants
to the apothecary's for such medicine as you would require
if it were an actual bleeding at the lungs." He did so, and
left me; telling my wife to have me kept as quiet as pos
sible. She asked him if it was a bleeding at the lungs.
He replied it was, but not of the usual kind ; that my
lungs were not weak, and I would recover from it with pro
per care; that my affection proceeded from long-continued
deep anxiety of mind, from which it was important to relieve
me if possible; therefore, that nothing must be told me
which would excite my concern, but everything to cheer me.
When the messenger, came with the medicine, he pretended
to mix some, but gave me only a little water, charging me
to be as quiet as possible for an hour, and then I might get
up. When he was gone, my wife came to my bedside, took
me by the hand, and said, " Mr. T  , this is a visitation
upon me for not being resigned to the will of God. I have
mourned the loss of my children as if he had not a right to
take them. And now he warns me, if I do not quit my
rebellious course, he will take my husband, too. I will try
to do better; I will try to be resigned ; you must not grieve

304 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
any more for me." I feigned for a week to be feeble ; lay
down upon the bed whenever I was in the house ; kept her
anxiety alive ; and had the doctor occasionally to see me, who
assured my wife that I was doing very well, and would soon
be in as good health as ever, with no danger constitutionally,
if I could be kept cheerful ; but to let my mind, if possible,
be clear of disturbance or concern. Never did any one try
harder than she did to seem cheerful, and to amuse me, but
it required a great effort. She would in my absence indulge
in proportion as she would restrain herself when I was pre
sent, but her grief now found vent in tears. I would often
come upon her unexpectedly, and find her wiping her eyes.
This was a good sign ; there is not much danger from grief
when the affected person can shed tears. Tears draw off
grief. Her thoughts now took a religious turn. The Bible
was her constant companion; but she complained to me that
she feared she could not obtain religion; that her prayers
seemed fruitless. She thought, perhaps, if she would join
the church, so as to have a more free communion with its
members, it might aid her; and under my advice she did so.
I took her to Louisville, where, among some intimate ac
quaintances, she was cheered, and improved a good deal.
But on returning home, she began to relapse, and I was
under the necessity of having another attack, which alarmed
her very much ; and, eventually, with a similar good effect.
I believed that, if I could keep her anxieties awake for me
long enough, she would begin to forget her own sorrows.
To this end, it would be necessary for me to be always with
her ; allow her no opportunity to indulge her melancholy ;
but while at home I could not do this. So long as I was
out of bed, some matter of business would call me off. So
I went to the Tar Springs with her. But as here I would
be out among my acquaintances, and she had none, she stayed
much in her cottage alone, and was again sinking back. I
concluded to arouse her; and told her I would walk out one

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 365
night for half an hour. I found an empty cottage, and lay
down upon a bed. Here I lay an hour, when my wife sent
our servant to inquire for me. The servant returned, saying
no one had seen me. She believed I had had another attack,
and had fallen somewhere unseen. She mourned and lamented
aloud; so much so as to draw all the company to her, and
set them hunting over the premises for me with their lamps.
I pretended to be awaked by the noise, and came out, say
ing, I had lain down and inadvertently gone to sleep. We
returned home, and, to keep with her, it was necessary to
travel, for, as before said, I could not do it at home. So I
ordered our driver to have the carriage ready next day ; told
my wife that important business called me to Butler County,
and she must go with me. Accordingly she packed up and
we started. My design was to stop at the houses, which,
from appearance, would afford the worst accommodations,
with a view to engage my wife's mind with existing troubles
to expel the effects of the past. But it seemed to me the
worse the house looked the better was the accommodation.
If there was but one bed in the house, it would be newly
sheeted and given up to us,, and the occupants would seek
some other lodging. Their nicest milk and butter, light hot
biscuits, ham, eggs, and chickens, with hot coffee, would
come on, which, after a fatiguing day's ride, would be very
much relished. Indeed, taking the appetite for the season
ing, no hotel in New York or Philadelphia can furnish such
a supper as one will get by stopping at any country house
on the road-side in Kentucky, where they do not keep tavern.
If you stop at a house where they pretend to take in travel
lers, they will probably aim to give you a risen loaf, which
is, however, as heavy as lead ; butter, which having been
bought is stale and dirty;- coffee not cleared, &c. I would
advise any city man, who wants really to enjoy good eating,
to 'take a travel in the wildest parts of Virginia and Ken-
31*

366 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
tucky, and never stop at a tavern or house of public enter
tainment. When we were ready to start in the morning, I would ask
for my bill. "Nothing!" would be the reply; "we charge
nothing." I would insist on paying, but to no effect. This,
however, was not always the case. Sometimes they would
take pay, but they were very moderate. The kindness of
these people is very great. There is nothing which they
will not do to administer to your comfort if they happen to
take a fancy to you, which they are very apt to do if you
are affable and kind to them, put on no airs, and pretend to
no superiority. If you do, they are apt to make you feel the
evil of it, as I heard a man relate a case of a dandyish pre
tender. The host was asked who he was, and replied,
" Oh, some ten cent piece trying to pass himself off for a
ninepence." The kindness of these people had the effect which I hoped
real hardship would have on my wife. It enlisted her in
terest for, and made her talk with them. They believe that
all misfortunes are visitations of God for an object, and they
bow in resignation to them. Their resignation is remarkable,
and my wife, after stopping at one of those houses where
there was a very motherly old lady who showed her much
kindness and talked to her about her troubles, said to me
when we departed next day : " Mr. T  , this class of peo
ple are the chosen of God. That old lady has given me more
consolation, administered to me more comfort, than all the
learned men I have met with. She is a true and sincere
Christian, and believes as implicitly in the guardian care of
Christ as any son does in that of his father. She has almost
made me ashamed of my want of fortitude, and sensible that
I am acting in a rebellious spirit. I told her how you were
affected, and the cause of it. And she said 'Yes, and he will
go next; the Almighty will not have his will resisted with
impunity. At first he visits us with misfortunes to humble

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 367
our hearts to fit us for heaven, for he chasteneth whom he
loveth. But if, instead of becoming humbled, we prove ob
stinate, then he gets angry and brings misfortune down
heavily upon us until he breaks our rebellious spirit ; then,
when humbled, if we ask for mercy through Christ, he inter
cedes for us and obtains us forgiveness.' Oh, I would give
the world if I had that woman's religious faith ! Nothing
would to me then seem a misfortune." " Well," I replied,
" you will have it. No one can so sincerely desire it as you
do without obtaining it." " Oh," she rejoined, " I do most
earnestly desire it, and I am determined I will repine no
more. I see it is wrong. I know it is wrong. Do you
think, if I won't grieve any more, you will get well ?" " Yes,
my dear wife," I replied, " I feel almost well now at seeing
you so improved." " Oh, then, from this time I am a changed
woman," she continued, and so she was. She seemed to shake
off the past, finally got into good spirits, and was cheerful
again. This state of things lasted about two years, during
which period I could attend to no business, and everything
went wrong with me. I became reckless, and my creditors
concluded I was going to ruin. They sued me from all
quarters, and sold my property, until nearly every lot I had
in Owensboro' was gone, and I owned more than half the
vacant property in the town. But, thanks to the merciful
laws of Kentucky, they require property, when sold under
execution, to be valued ; and, if it does not bring two-thirds
of its value, it may be redeemed in twelve months by paying
ten per cent, per annum interest on the amount of sale. It
fortunately happened that the year had not run out. I went
to my desk, took out $1800 worth of notes, and carried them
to a Mr. S  , who was a sort of banker, in other words,
shaver; asked him to discount them for me, which he did
by paying me $1200 for them. With this I redeemed
the lots which had been sold. But S  had bought my
notes to an amount exceeding $4000, to pay which I sold

368 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
him a tract of 300 acres of land, with liberty to redeem it
in two years. This Mr. S  was a most singular man.
At the very time he would shave me at the rate of thirty-
three and a third. per cent, on other men's notes, he would
lend me money at six per cent, if I would promise to pay
him on a certain day. I sometimes could not know that I
could return it on any certain day, but believed I could.
" That won't do," he would say ; " if I let it go at six per
cent., I must know that I will get it on a certain day ; then I
can make my own moneyed arrangements to suit; but, if I
am disappointed, I must disappoint others, and that won't do,
you know." And sometimes, when it would be impossible
to foresee that I could return the money by a given day, I
would have to furnish other men's notes, and be shaved at
the rate of from twenty to twenty-five, and thirty-three per
cent. The reason was he kept his money always moving in
this way, and, rather than let it lie idle, he would lend it at
six per cent., provided he could command it again when he
needed it. He had confidence that I would not violate a
promise, and would always lend me if I would promise to
return it on a day he would name. He would also indorse
for me, at bank, without any consideration. But when I
had a note to shave, he would cut me to the bone. He was
a strange compound of generosity and closeness. He was
very fond of telling of an occurrence between us many years
before. Calling to me in the street, he said : " Mr. T  ,
look here. In that settlement of ours, I cheated myself out
of a dollar." I was passing rapidly on, but, turning my
head as I walked forward, replied : " Keep it, keep it ; you
are fairly entitled to it ; you have cheated one of the sharpest
fellows in the country ; you have done what no other man
could do." He was willing to take the rebuke for the com
pliment to his sagacity which it contained.
My wife's health being now improved, I found myself
more at liberty, with much need for the energetic employ-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 369
ment of all my powers. I owned a large quantity of the
most valuable property in the county, which I had in vain
endeavored to sell. 1 had advertised in Louisville, but the
stringency existing in the money-market had reduced every
thing to the lowest mark, and the sales of my town lots was
evidence of the sacrifice I might expect if I forced a sale at
auction; for these lots which I redeemed had not sold for
one-tenth part of what I afterwards sold some of them at,
and some property which I bought in, and which had been
sold for debts due to me, went at a similar sacrifice, although
I never sued where I thought there was a probability "of my
obtaining payment ultimately without it.
At the very time that my family were in their deepest
afflictions, and when every one was suing me, I had almost
as much due to me as I owed; but my mind was not in a
condition to prepare for bringing suits, and, if it had been, I
felt so keenly the pressure on myself by being sued that I
could not bear to sue others. During that time I would
willingly have surrendered to trustees all I was worth —
which would have paid my debts ten times over — if I could
have found men to act, and if they could have sold so as to
relieve me. But neither could be done. In a frantic mood,
one day, I remarked to a gentleman that I would sell any
thing I had, for almost any price. " What," said I, " will
you give me for such a piece of property 1" (town lots.)
''I will give you," said he, " one hundred dollars per acre."
The boundary included twenty-four half-acre town lots. I
told him I did not sell town lots by the acre. Some time
after this, again expressing my anxiety to sell — " Oh," said
he, "you don't want to sell; did I not offer you one hun
dred dollars per acre for such a boundary 1" " Yes," I
remarked; "I did not want to sell quite so bad as to take
that price." I afterwards sold a portion of the same pro
perty, so that one acre realized me all which he offered for
the twelve. While a man is in debt, and the public expect

370 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
his property to be sacrificed, he cannot sell; all expect to
get better bargains from the sheriff than he will give. They
stand by like wreckers, awaiting the stranding of the ship,
when they will pick up the cargo. Under these circum
stances, I sold Haphazard at a subsequent period for thirteen
thousand dollars, one thousand acres of the best land in the
county, on the Ohio River, one and a half miles from Owens
boro', with a very large dwelling-house, the portico to which
cost seven hundred dollars, and the mere buildings on which
were worth more than half the money. In one month after
buying it, the owner would not have taken thirty thousand
dollars for it, and I was considered an inconsiderate, impe?
tuous man for making such a sale. A gentleman in my
company one day said, laughingly, " When you take it into
your head that you must have money, you will have it
at any sacrifice" — and instanced the sale of Haphazard.
" That," said I, " is the idea entertained by those not cog
nizant of the circumstances." I had offered Haphazard for
a long time at twenty thousand dollars — I could not get it.
I tried to sell for less, but no offer could be had better than
the one I took ; and now all are surprised that I should
have taken it. So goes the world. If a man owes a debt,
and does not pay it, he is of course blamed; but if he
make a ruinous sacrifice — why,% he is a booby. The only
plan to avoid such strictures is to keep out of debt. This
sale, however, was made some time after the period to
which I have brought up my memoirs.
In 1842, the tariff was raised; an energetic impulse was
immediately given to the manufacturing business. I owned
the Bonharbor coal-mines, and two thousand acres of land,
beginning about two miles below Owensboro', possessing
great advantages for manufacturing. I was anxious to
enlist some one to engage with me in establishing a small
woollen factory, for jeans and linseys, and for this purpose
sent on a proposition eastward. It happened that such an

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 371
establishment had been sold out, and the machinery pur
chased by a gentleman who believed it was of the best kind ;
and he agreed to furnish the machinery, if I would furnish
the engine and building. The bargain was closed. With
town lots, and land, I could buy lumber and obtain labor,
when I could not sell them for money. I had an engine,
and soon I had the building ready, which was filled with
the machinery that had been forwarded from the east. We
commenced operations under the management of a man
who was sent out by my eastern partner. But, after running
some time, he failed to make the turn-out he had promised,
and we parted. I now proceeded to the residence of one
in whom I had great confidence, and engaged him to take
charge of the factory. On his arrival, and examining the
machinery, he said it was behind the times, would not do at
all, and he would not undertake with it. I asked him what
changes would be needed. He said about two thousand
dollars' worth would require to be changed. I wrote the
gentleman who had sent it that he must either provide
good machinery, or I would. I went to Louisville, made
arrangements to raise the two thousand dollars, and sent the
new manager to Philadelphia to obtain it. In the mean
time, I purchased out my partner.
On the arrival of the new machinery, everything went
well, and the new manager undertook to furnish all the
labor against capital and the establishment, and to divide
profits. Now we moved on swimmingly. Our goods were
the best in market, and were sought for by all who saw
them. But we had no cotton-machinery to manufacture our
warps, and were compelled to have those made in Lexington,
paying twenty cents per pound for them, when, if we had
had the machinery, we could have manufactured them for
fifteen. This would not do. I must have the cotton-
machinery. In the mean time, I had been using every effort
' to attract the custom of steamboats for my coal, and with

372 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
success. We were selling a good deal, and things wore a
cheerful and promising aspect.
About this time, a Blr. B  , of Henderson, and several
lawyers, who were attending court at Owensboro', went to
Bonharbor to see my establishment. I -at the same time
had sent them an invitation to spend the evening with me.
When they came, they told me they had been down and were
very much pleased.- B  said he could not see what was
to prevent my making a fortune. I answered, nothing but
one to make it with; that I was too much cramped for mo
ney. B  was a man of great resources, and from this
commenced a negotiation which resulted in a sale of half the
property. The conditions were that he was to pay me fifty-
five thousand dollars, within a fraction, to be laid out in
improvements on the property; putting thereby this sum
against the property, although I considered it worth twice
as much. But I wished to be out of debt at any sacrifice.
I told B  that I must withdraw fifteen thousand dollars
to pay my debts. To this he objected, as less than fifty-five
thousand dollars would not do for our purposes, and he pro
posed lending me for five years the extra fifteen thousand
dollars, to which I agreed, and so we closed the contract; he
giving me his acceptances for seventy thousand dollars,
which I placed in the several banks at Louisville for collec
tion. I now proceeded to "clear the decks," in sailors'
phrase, of all my debts, but found I had under-estimated
them a little, and a small amount remained, which, under
the circumstances, it was more difficult to manage, as I was
now apparently full of money. However, I got on now
very well.
Here it is-necessary to stop, or else go on to fill another vol
ume. That cannot be done for the present, and so I will
here close my memoirs, having carried them to the making
and losing of a fortune, and the making of another; for,
besides Bonharbor, I owned a vast amount of property in

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 373
the State in various portions of it, which I had been unable
to sell, having, subsequently to the time I am now writing of,
sold what lay in one county for thirty-five thousand dollars,
and having an indefinite amount elsewhere, at least sufficient
to realize my proposition, but which it is unnecessary to
name.

32

374 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

REVIEW.

I desire now to take a short review, marking the epochs
in my history, and the causes of the great events of my
life. It will be seen that, so long as I kept my affairs within
my own control, so that my own ^ye could be upon what I
was doing, I went on regularly upward until my income
reached seven or eight thousand dollars per annum. But so
soon as our business expanded until it became necessary to
employ agents,' although well planned, and upon a basis
which in all human probability promised success, it then
commenced losing, and so continued until a greater portion
of what had been previously made was sunk. This was the
legitimate consequence of causes which operate alike under
almost all circumstances, and similar results may ,be ex
pected from similar causes wherever they exist.
The next step was the coal business. Here the loss was
not attributable to any cause but an act of Providence. No
prudence, no human foresight could have prevented it. We
made an experimental shipment of coal, which turned out
well. Our commission-merchant informed us that, if we
could afford to sell coal for fifty cents per barrel, he could
11 all that we could send. Facts otherwise corroborated
is merchant's statement, for coal at fifty cents did not cost
two-thirds as much as wood, and why should the planters
not save on^-third of the cost of their fuel? The conclu
sion was clear that we must make money in proportion to
the coal which we would send down. We of course bent all

the pilot of human life. 375
our energies to send what we could. But an event occurred
to blast our prospects as unexpected as would have been an
earthquake to sink all our coal-mines : to wit, a frost which
destroyed the sugar-cane after it had ripened — what had not
occurred before for twenty years, and which, I believe, has
never occurred since.
When, however, by great efforts the evil caused by this
misfortune seemed to be remedied by finding a market
among the tow-boats, and we again renewed our shipments,
a belief that the heat of the coal caused the boilers to burn
out induced the tow-boats to abandon it ; and here was a
second great disaster, which almost prostrated us, and which
it was beyond the power of man to foresee.
Determined to die with our colors flying, however; believ
ing that we could not fear another frost ; and that the idea
of burning out the boilers would be deemed nonsensical by
next season, we made another struggle, and shipped a con
siderable quantity.
But the planters would not buy, and captains of ships
would not employ the tow-boats which burned coal because
the smoke blackened their sails. We were now effectually
done for, and dissolved partnership.
After this, I went to my original business, and rapidly
recovered the ground I had lost; but the proceeds had to
go to pay dues on my own and the firm's lands, three-fourths
the cost of which remained unpaid — the firm's being half of
what I held; my interest being three-fourths, and B  's
one-fourth — and also on other debts of the firm, which I had
undertaken to pay, which was a load that I could hardly
stagger under; for I could sell nothing to lighten it except
at such sacrifices as would have been ruinous. But ulti
mately I began to emerge, and with most of the property
which I had started with.
Now came my adventure to Texas, with an apparent profit
of over ninety thousand dollars, which induced me to make

376 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
a purchase amounting to twenty thousand; and the Govern
ment of Texas, failing to carry out its contract, now again
involved me in embarrassments which it took a long time
to recover from. By my Galveston speculation I nominally
made something. But, taking the whole adventure, and all
its consequences, it would have been far better for me if I
had never seen Texas. Had I not been embarrassed so as
to tie me at home, but had gone East at the time that Gal
veston stock was ranging so high, and sold out, I might
probably have realized fifty thousand dollars by it. But I
could not go. T. G  , I think, must have realized that
amount from my operations for him, which was pretty well,
upon an outlay of some ten or twelve thousand dollars.
Republics are said to be ungrateful. Ours has certainly
not been so. But as it regards Texas, no man, in her early
history, did more for her than I did. I subscribed half the
first loan, and more than any one else of the second, which
served to give her credit, and was the cause of her obtaining
subsequent loans, which she probably could not otherwise
have done. She repudiated the terms of the loan compro
mise, refusing to issue scrip in conformity to it, and thereby
forced me, under most disastrous circumstances, to reimburse
money which I had sold a part of it for, and to sell out my
interest in the balance for what I could get.
The pretext, I understand, was, that I had deserted them
as their general agent. How much justice there was in this
may be seen from the fact that I was authorized to live in
Kentucky, and to employ four secretaries, at a salary of one
thousand dollars each, one in New Orleans, and three in the
Eastern cities. My own salary was not fixed, but I under
stood that it was to be liberal. What object now could I
have had in deserting them, except for very strong provoca
tion ? None. And had not ordinary self-respect rendered
it necessary, I should have taken great pride in serving her;
and had my plans, as laid down and sent to her govern-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 377
ment, been observed in regard to her finances, she would
ljave avoided the confusion which resulted in countless loss
to her.
I do not blame the people of Texas ; but there were those
whose interest it was to get me out of the way ; they caused
the government to do an act which was disrespectful to me,
and, had I borne with it, others would have followed, until,
if I had been tame enough to submit to them, I would have
been unceremoniously removed. That plea was made be
cause there was no better.
By a long struggle, however, I recovered, and ultimately
reached a point of independence, nominally ; but with my
moneyed means pledged for a new enterprise, the history of
which will be given at a future day, together with the ba
lance of my history to the present time, including adven
tures in Europe during the revolutionary struggles there,
with many interesting and thrilling incidents.
From what the young reader has seen in these memoirs, he
will learn, so far as money -making is concerned, not to leave
a business which is doing well for one which holds out a pro
mise of doing better; for, however brilliant the prospect may
be, and certain the apparent result, yet our coal adventures
prove that uncertainty attends all human projects.
He will find, again, that to become pecuniarily embar
rassed is one of the greatest bars to his success. He is then
travelling on the road of life up to his knees in mire. I
had ample evidence of this in my father's history, and there
was nothing which I was more firmly resolved upon, in my
outset in life, than to avoid the same error ; but accidental
circumstances placed me in a position where, before I was
aware of it, I found myself embarrassed, and then, from
time to time, I had to make further adventures in order to
get out, which prolonged this embarrassment for a great pe
riod, entailing upon me mortifications which no ultimate suc
cess could compensate for. A man may have, at a very low
32*

378 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
valuation, one hundred thousand dollars' worth of land, in a
thinly settled part of Kentucky, and if he owes ten tho»,
sand dollars of debt, which presses him, he cannot pay it,
unless accident throws purchasers in his way; and if it is
known that he is pressed for money, the less is his chance
to sell, because those who have money wait with a hope of
buying under the sheriff's hammer. At one period of my
history, while trying to sell a certain piece of property
which I offered very low, one gentleman proposed to another
to join and buy it, as it was certainly a very great bargain;
to which the other answered, " So it is; but let us hold off a
while, and we will get it on still better terms, for T  will
be compelled to sell it." The other fearing, however, that be
fore T  was compelled to sell some one else might buy, and
hearing that, in the face of T  'a reputed embarrassment,
he had purchased another piece of property, concluded there
must be some mistake about it, he purchased the property
on his own account, and was immediately offered largely more
for it. The other was not only greatly disappointed, but,
from particular circumstances, it was so desirable to him,
that, had I not been compelled to sell, as he supposed, and
had he not believed the sheriff would do the work for me, he
would have given almost any price sooner than have lost it.
I doubt not he has since seen many an hour of painful re
gret at his folly, and I can but wish him the good fortune to
have those pains piled upon him mountain high. Like the
Romans, when besieged, although in a starving condition,
they threw some stale bread over the battlements to deceive
their enemies, so I, to produce an effect, and because I got
it on long time, at a very low price, purchased the aforesaid
property at the period of my greatest embarrassment, and
it had the desired effect.
Persons are apt to fret at what they consider a course of
oppression by those who have money. I never do so.
Every man's money is his own. He has a right to use it

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 379
as he pleases ; and to expect him to use it in any way but
¦$pr his own advantage is to expect unreasonable things of
human nature. But, when he sets his trap for his fellow-
man, and gets caught in it himself, there is no very great
harm in our being delighted at it ; and, should it ever be the
fate of such a man to be overtaken by misfortune, he ought
not to be surprised if we do not cry ourselves to death through
sympathy for him, nor lend him a helping hand to get out.
He who stands ready to prey upon the world must not from
that world expect anything but the deepest gratification at
all the misfortunes which may overtake hiin. While he has
money, this world will be obsequious to him. But let him
beware of wanting it; then he sinks as with a millstone
around his neck. Whereas, he who has pursued a different
course through life, and been kind to others, will find this
kindness returned to him with interest; and if a few vultures
await his demise with impatience, to prey upon his carcase,
and some would begin before the breath is out of his body,
saying to the- poor fellow, who cries, " Wait, I am not dead
yet," in the language of the Irish cartman, who was hurry
ing" a cholera subject, among others, into his cart, to bury
him, " An' faith, you needn't be so over-particular about a
few moments." Yet the mass are not of this kind. The
mass of human nature have a sympathetic feeling for those
who are kind. While I have felt the hand of the oppressor
most sorely in my misfortunes, I have also had cause of gra
titude for the friendly feeling of others, with the consolation
now that I hope I am beyond the reach of misfortune, of
not being soured against the world, and with only a feeling
of compassion towards those who would have crushed me if
they could, and thereby have made money out of me; sav
ing and excepting, however, one single case, where I confess
my ordinary charity fails me, and which shall be the subject
of an especial notice at a future time.

380 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.

CHAPTER LXIX.
CHANGE OF SUBJECT — A RESPITE RECOMMENDED.
Now, reader, rest a while; take up your hat, walk out,
take the cool air, and prepare your mind for an odd transi
tion from a matter of feeling to one for deep thought. Of
the reader who has accompanied me thus far, I now ask it
as a favor to hold out to the end. "And why as a favor?"
the reader may ask. I answer, because the subject I wish
considered is presumed to have been exhausted, to be thread
bare, worn out; and the mind, after reading lighter matter,
will turn with loathing from the dry disquisition of such a
subject as free trade and protection. The very heading of
the chapter is enough to make the reader throw down the
book, and cry mercy. But, stop ! Do not decide too
hastily. I ask him to make an experiment — to read a few
pages, and if he does not find his interest growing as he
progresses, then I am content that he shall drop the book.
And let him drop it where he may, I venture to say, he
will not consider his time lost. The arguments contained
therein are chiefly the result of actual experience, and of
facts noted at home and abroad. There is information and
interest in the facts, if they contain no argument. And to
divest the subject of the dryness presumed to be unavoid
ably incident to it, I have adopted the analytical process,
whereby one aspect of the subject is discussed at a time,
thereby not overloading the mind with the necessity for any
effort to comprehend it ; the dialogue style saving- the
reader that trouble. This, I apprehend, is the only mode
by which the young reader can be made clearly to compre-

THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 381
hend a subject upon which the ablest politicians and the
soundest thinkers have differed. But where truth exists,
ft can be found by the sincere and candid investigator. A
man who reads as a partisan, to find a flaw in all arguments
against his party, and who will admit no fair deductions ex
cept such as favor his wishes, had as well not read at all,
for he can learn nothing by reading. But the candid inves
tigator, if not convinced, will at least, I opine, find that
whieh will set him to thinking. This subject is so exten
sive in its range, that an ingenious speaker on either side
can find_ matter enough to sustain him, and bewilder any
but a logical thinker on the other side. Truth, therefore,
is only to be found by taking one branch of the subject at a
time, and discussing that until it is exhausted — then a
second, and so on. If, in this way, justice be done to both
sides, and an equal amount of talent be enlisted, the result
will be very apt to show where the truth lies. But can any
man who has a leaning to one side of any question do full
justice to the other, in such a discussion ? I think it very
doubtful. I can only say that I have collected with great
care all the arguments which I have ever heard used in
favor of free trade. If I have omitted any, I will undertake
to answer such as any standard respectable journal in our
country may think worthy a place in its columns, and which
journal containing it may be sent me, post-paid, to Owens
boro, Kentucky. This will be a means of eliciting truth,
whether it shall turn out to be on one side or the other;
and if, in my effort to convince others, I shall fail, but be
convinced myself, I promise candidly to acknowledge it. It
is a subject which vitally concerns the welfare of the nation,
and the community at large should understand it. By this
means they may be made to do so.
Having, in the previous part of this journal, touched
upon other measures of national policy, that of free trade
and protection seemed of right to demand a place with

382 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.
them for the benefit of the young politician, who will here
find it discussed under all the aspects in which the author
has seen it presented ; and if the reader will master what is
here given, he will understand the subject at least as well
as the author, and without fatigue of mind to comprehend it.

OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD.

THE RELATIVE ADVANTAGES OF THE FREE TRADE AND
PROTECTIVE SYSTEMS ANALYTICALLY DISCUSSED, IN A
DIALOGUE BETWEEN FREE TRADER AND PROTECTIONIST.
Position I. Credit for the existing prosperity of the country
attributed to free trade.
F. — Well, friend P., I see, from the last quarter's return
of imports collected, that our treasury is in an overflowing
condition — never was it more flourishing. Commerce and
agriculture, too, seem to be equally thriving. Labor is bear
ing a fine price, property rising in value. Never have I
known our country in a more prosperous condition, and this
too under our free trade policy, which you protectionists so
much condemn.
P. — I am glad, friend F., that you seem in a humor for
talking on this subject, and as, to you, all signs seem to sus
tain the policy of free trade, you will no doubt be willing to
enter calmly and dispassionately into a consideration of that
policy. I profess to desire that policy which is for our coun
try's good — I believe you do. Suppose now we agree to
take up this subject with a view to ascertain the truth, and
not with a view to mere controversy ; let us endeavor, as far
as our natures will admit of it, to be candid, magnanimously
on each side admit our errors if satisfied of them, and give
full credit to each other's arguments.

384 our country's good.
F. — Agreed ! I know the power of party feeling, and how
prone we are, in listening to the arguments of opponents, to
seek merely to controvert, and not for the truth. But your
tone and manner indicate a sincere desire for learning the
truth, and I assure you I am in search of it, and although
sincerely of opinion that free trade is the policy of wisdom
and of justice, and that any trammelling of the intercourse
between nations by what you call protection is not only a
narrow and unjust policy, but it is in part taxing one por
tion of our people for the benefit of another — an offensive
policy which I do not think the enlightened people of the
United States ever will submit to — a policy which, in our
age of progress, will soon be looked back upon as monstrous,
and the wonder will be that enlightened men ever could
have been found to favor it ; nevertheless, I am disposed
to give full credit to your patriotism and sincerity, and I
will most willingly hear all you have to say in its favor, and
promise to give full credit to any argument you may bring
forward. So let us hear what you have to say.
P. — To begin, and follow you backwards, I would say —
If you are disposed to settle the question by the names of
enlightened men who have favored the two policies, I think
I can outweigh you. From Washington down to Andrew
Jackson, every President has warmly recommended the pro
tection of home industry, the fostering of domestic manufac
tures, and if any one of our Presidents has been preeminently
marked for emphatically recommending it more than any
other, it has been General Jackson.
But of the men now on the political theatre, Clay, Web
ster, Fillmore, Corwin, Clayton, &c, where do you find their
equals on your side who sustain free trade against protection ?
And, sir, take any State in the Union, except South Carolina,
and I think, if you will be candid, you will allow the weight
of talent is against you. But this is not argument — I only
say so much in reply to your remark about the opinions of

our country's good. 385
enlightened men. I will now return and follow you from
the beginning through.

II. The tendency of free trade to extend the demand for '
our products.
The present condition of our country furnishes, I admit,
an argument apparently in your favor, because it is by the
fruit that we should judge the tree, and there certainly is at
this time a great appearance of prosperity ; and I am willing
to give the credit to free trade, unless I can show that it
belongs to other causes. In 1847-8, the famine in Ireland
and short crop in England, there being no redundancy in
Europe, gave an immense demand for our breadstuffs, and
caused a great influx of capital upon us. This raised the
price of all agricultural products, and so completely drained
us that the succeeding crops have not yet brought down the
prices again to their usual mark. This is, too, in some de
gree, owing to the settlement of California, which has aided
in giving a market for our breadstuffs. Another reason is
that the temporary prosperity caused by the events named
has given a renewed impulse to railroad improvements, draw
ing off hands from being producers of breadstuffs, and by
their consumption furnishing a market. Another cause, the
high price of breadstuffs, drew off labor from the culture of
tobacco, and by causing a short crop produced a high price
in that article, which in turn caused a withdrawal of labor
from breadstuffs, and tended to keep them up. These are
the causes which give us an apparent temporary prosperity,
indeed a real prosperity, except so far as it is being marred
by the effects of free trade.
But that the free trade system has no agency in pro
ducing it, I can plainly show. If the free trade system has
had any agency in producing it, it must be because that
system has so far extended our foreign demand for the pro-
33

386 our country's good.
ducts of our country as to have given increased demand for
home labor, and have returned a corresponding reward in
money. Now is such the fact? So far from it that,
although England during the last year has imported of grain
of all kinds about seventy-two millions of bushels, only
about six and a half millions went from the United States,
being not half a bushel each for every farmer in our coun
try. Is a market for half a bushel each to our farmers a
sufficient boon for destroying our own manufactories ? Let
us see what is the actual gain. Suppose the grain which
was exported brought 20 cents per bushel more than that
which was not; after deducting all charges, this would be a
gain of ten cents to every farmer, as compensation to him
for breaking down his manufactories at home. Would you
call this an equivalent for throwing hundreds of thousands
of men and women out of employment, and for giving up
our market for manufactures to England, to which our own
manufacturers ought to be entitled ?
F. — But you take our export of breadstuffs only; there is
our cotton, tobacco, and other products, altogether reaching
perhaps to one hundred and fifty millions of dollars.
P. — I take breadstuffs only, because that class of exports
and provisions are alone affected by the free trade system;
all other demands wore the same heretofore as now, and are
taxed in the same way — I mean essentially. Tobacco is
taxed about seventy-two cents per pound now, and was
taxed no more heretofore. Cotton is not taxed, and has
not been for a long time — not since the competition of our
own manufacturers, produced by home protection, became
so close that the English government saw that every weight
carried by their manufacturing interest must be thrown off
to give their manufacturers an advantage over ours. To
this protection is the cotton-planter indebted for the repeal
of the tax on cotton in England ; and to the same protec
tion continued to 1846 are our agriculturists indebted for

our country's good. 387
the repeal of the corn and navigation laws, because every
year our manufacturers were trenching upon the custom of
theirs. F. — Do I understand you then to say that the heavier
we tax England, the more we incline her to take the tax
from us ?
P. — Not the more we incline her, but the more we force
her. As to any inclination of England to favor us, or to
do anything except for her own interest, in her intercourse
with us, he must be green indeed who can believe it. The
United States furnish a better market for England than any
other country on earth — almost equal to all her other mar
kets. And she would make us believe that of late she has
imbibed a great love for us ; but it is the love which the
wolf has for the lamb. It is mathematically demonstrable
that the repeal of the tax on cotton, as well as of the corn
and navigation laws, has been forced on England by the
protection which we gave to our own manufacturers. Let
England sufficiently prostrate them, and she can then rein
state her corn-laws and cotton tax.
F. — You tell me we only exported last year to England
six and a half millions of bushels of grain. Why, are you
not mistaken, when you say she imported seventy-two mil
lions? P. — I have not seen an official report on the subject, and
I venture the statement upon the authority of the news
papers, but I presume it to be correct, as I know France,
the countries on the Baltic, the Blediterranean, and the
Black Sea, can undersell us; and, unless in case of short
crops in Europe, we can have no reliance on supplying
England with breadstuffs. And in fact, of average years,
England can nearly supply herself, and wants very little
from abroad.
F. — According to your view, then, the repeal of the corn-
laws of England was of no advantage to us.

388 our country's good.
P. — About the same advantage which a man's corn-crib
is to his hogs, where he can afford but a nubbin a day to
each, barely enough to keep life in them, but enough to
keep them always squealing about the pen; whereas, if they
had not this nubbin to hope for, they would go into the
woods, rely on themselves, and get fat upon roots and the
mast. In a word, the repeal of the English corn-laws has
held out a false hope to us, which never has, and never can
be realized, because, if there is any demand to supply; the
inhabitants of the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Sea
countries are nearer than we are, can sooner meet the de
mand, and can do it cheaper. The repeal of the corn-laws
is of no value to us whatever. If I could have my way, I
would prefer that they should be re-enacted to-morrow, as
then we would not be deceived by a shadow as now, where
¦ there is no good really resulting.
F. — But are you not mistaken about those people being
able to undersell us in England, we having so boundless an
extent of fertile country, and land so cheap — whereas their
country is represented to be very poor, and the land very
high. Labor is cheap, to be sure ; but does that balance
our greater fertility of soil, and cheapness of land ?
P. — There is no arguing against facts. You may find
reasons why it ought not to be so, but they fail against
facts; it is so beyond all doubt. In 1849, 1 crossed the
German Ocean, from Edinburgh to Hamburg, with a Scotch
merchant, going there to buy wheat. On the day after his
arrival, he informed me he had purchased a cargo, of first
quality, to be shipped from Blemmel to Glasgow, at a cost of
twenty-nine shillings sterling per quarter of eight bushels,
being about eighty cents per bushel. At the same time
wheat was worth more than this price in New York. Labor
and living are very cheap in those grain-furnishing coun
tries, and overbalance our cheaper and richer land. Of
this you may form some idea from the following fact : I met

our country's good. 389
in Prussia with a very intelligent American officer who had
been sent to Sweden to examine the various specimens of
iron there, with a view to obtain the best for making artil
lery. He told me that he had obtained very good board in
the interior of Sweden, I think, for one dollar and a half
per week. If board can be had, which an American officer
would call good, for one dollar and a half per week, what
ought to be the cost of a common laborer's fare? And
what then the wages when those laborers hardly ever use
meat at all, but live on potatoes and other vegetables ? It
is true, the country, taking the whole continent, is naturally
very poor — it is, two-thirds of it, based on a bed of gravel ;
but it is so highly manured, and so minutely cultivated,
that, poor as it is naturally, it produces more than our rich
land on an average.
III. The beneficial effects of free trade on commerce.
F. — Then you would give up the foreign market for our
breadstuffs, and destroy our commerce? What would be
come of our commerce, if we were to have this trade cut off?
P. — Whatever commerce we have now, we had before the
repeal of the corn-laws; and the same we would have, very
nearly, if they were re-enacted. But what does it amount
to? All the ships necessary to transport six and a half mil
lions of bushels of grain, if our ships did it at all, and made
six trips a year, it would not give employment to one hun
dred ships. But it is not to be presumed, if the corn-laws
were reinstated, that it would destroy all this commerce.
England requires a certain amount of food, whether her
corn-laws exist or not. It is true that the cheaper food is,
the more of it will be consumed ; but the facts, as at present
existing, show that any such increase inures very little to
our benefit, and if half were left, it would only throw fifty
ships out of employment, and these would find more than an
33*

390 OUR country's good.
equivalent business in transporting breadstuffs and pro
visions from New Orleans to the manufacturing States,
provided our manufactures were to receive the protection
necessary to put them all in full operation again. Give such
protection, and I would not exchange then the market,
which would be created for the agriculturist' by the little
State of Rhode Island, for all the demand of Great Britain
which we can supply.
F. — I confess I cannot see how you can make that out.
P. — Thus : there are probably fifty thousand manufac
turers in Rhode Island, when their factories are all in opera
tion. These will consume in bread ten bushels of grain each
per annum ; they will consume half a pound of meat per day
(1 lb. is the estimate in the West), say 200 lbs. in Rhode
Island per annum. The estimate is that it takes 10 bushels
of grain to make 100 lbs. of meat; so that in meat each
hand would consume 20 bushels grain, and in bread 10
bushels, making 30, or one million five hundred thousand
bushels which they would require. Now, stop one-half of
the factories, as I presume is now very nearly the case. You
turn 25,000 manufacturers in Rhode Island into agricultu
rists; these will, on an average, each produce 200 bushels
of grain (in the West, 800 is common); here would be five
millions of bushels produced, which, if the manufacturers
had other employment, would not be, and is a market to that
extent lost to the agriculturist elsewhere, besides what the
producers consume, which, added to said 5,000,000, make
6,500,000, equal to the whole English demand. But Rhode
Island has not one-tenth of all the manufacturers of the
United States. And then bear in mind, if you stop the fac
tories, you stop the miners who supply them with fuel, and
in the iron region the ore-diggers, and various dependents
of all kinds, ramified beyond the conception of almost any
man. It would be very safe to say that, by a proper protec
tion, we should create a market ten times as great as that

our country's good. 391
estimated for Rhode Island, and ten times that we have now
with England for breadstuffs. And we would not lose the
market which we have with England, for it is dire necessity
which has made her repeal her corn-laws; it was necessary
to sustain her manufacturers. And while, by protecting our
own manufacturers, we should make a home market equal to
ten times that which we find in England, we should be no
worse off in regard to that market.
IV. The injustice of taxing the balance of the community
to sustain the manufacturer, as exemplified by Mr. Mc-
Duffie's Forty-Bale Speech.
F. — I think you largely overestimate the market to be
created by our manufacturers, even if protected to the utmost
extent of their wishes. But does not this word protection
carry injustice on its very face? What does it mean but
that the balance of the community shall submit to be taxed
by the manufacturers, in order to enable those manufacturers
to sustain a competition with foreigners, which they cannot
do without this tax. Now is there not something unreason
able in the very nature of the demand ? I think, when we
have already submitted to this tax beyond the necessity of
the revenue for twenty or thirty years, to help those manu
facturers along, if they cannot now stand alone, they ought
to fall. I think Mr. McDuffie, of South Carolina, in his
speech, known as the Forty-Bale Speech, most triumphantly
exposed the operation of the tariff, and I do not think any
man has ever, to my satisfaction, answered that speech.
P. — I forget the grounds he took in that speech.
F. — Why they were — ^that, if we levied a tax on the con
sumer to sustain the manufacturer, it is no better than to
put your hands into the pocket of the consumer, and rob
him rf this tax to pay it to the manufacturer. And he il
lustrated it thus : Suppose A ships forty bales of cotton to

392 our country's good.
England, and lays out the proceeds in goods, which he
brings back, and the government charges one-fourth of
those goods, or 25 per cent., tariff — is the government not
taking one-fourth of his cotton from him, or ten bales, to
put in the pockets of the manufacturer, in order to enable
him to compete with the English manufacturers?
P. — The advantage your party have of "ours in the argu
ment on this question is that all your positions are super
ficially plausible, and admit of being so imposingly presented
that the delusion is very strong, and taken in without an
effort of the mind — whereas the refutation requires a power
of thought, which every man is not capable of —
F. — A generous admission. Be assured the stronger the
truth, the more easily it .is seen; and where an effort of the
mind is necessary to controvert apparent Tacts, it is strong
evidence that the apparent facts are true facts.
P. — Yes, I recollect an old gentleman whose son; after
returning from college, undertook to refute the old man's
previously fixed notion that the sun revolved around the
earth, and to prove to him that the earth revolved around
the sun once a year, and turned round upon its own axis
every twenty-four hours. The old man jumped up out of
his chair, seized his cane, and would have laid it well upon
his son's back if he had not escaped, the old man crying out
to him — "And this is the college nonsense you have been
learning, is it? Don't I see the sun rise every morning,
pass over my head, and set at night ? and don't I see every
thing standing as straight up on the earth at night as in the
day ? and would not everything tumble off if the earth were
to turn round ? This is the nonsense I have been paying
my money for you to learn, is it?" Now, the old man's
notions were certainly more palpably comprehensible than his
son's — and took much less thought ; but you will not con
tend, therefore, that they were the most correct; and yet I

our country's good. 393
think I can show that the old man was as near right as Blr.
McDuffie. There is a certain revenue required by our government
for its support. This must be raised by a tariff on goods
imported, or by a direct tax. As every man voluntarily pays
his part of the tax who buys the goods, as the tariff has to
be added to the price paid in England for the goods, this is
found more agreeable and simple than to send the tax-gatherer
into every man's house.. Now, when Mr. McDuffie sold his
forty bales, and bought goods with the proceeds, say $2000
worth, on his arrival in the United States he had to pay
$500 duty. This he added to the price of the goods, making
the amount $2500, for which with charges and profits he
sold them, and he did not lose a dollar; all that he could
complain of was the tariff which he had to pay on so much
of the goods as he used himself, and he had no right to com
plain of this, unless in this way he paid more than he would
have, had to pay by direct taxation for the support of govern
ment. If more revenue was raised by the tariff than was
necessary for the support of government, then of the excess
he had a right to complain, and of no more. Now let us
suppose that twenty per cent, would suffice for the support
of government, but that thirty would be required to give
sufficient protection to our manufacturers. In this case, Mr.
BlcDuffie would be aggrieved ten per cent, unless he was
otherwise benefited to a greater amount. To determine this,
I will endeavor to make out an account current. We will
suppose Blr. McDuffie a planter, raising 500 bales of 500 lbs.
each, and working one hundred hands; and that, in his
family, he consumes annually $3000 worth of foreign goods.
By his view he pays an unjust tax of ten per cent., or $300
per annum. But by paying this tax he keeps all our facto
ries going, and keeps in employment, at least, two hundred
thousand manufacturers, say one-third of all who would other
wise be thrown out, and have to engage in agriculture.

394 our country's good.
These 200,000 men would on an average in the West, where
they probably would go, raise 500 bushels of grain each,
besides what they would consume. This would be one hun
dred millions of bushels. Besides which, they are now sup
porting themselves, and are not customers as before to the
farmer; giving a demand for thirty bushels each, or six
millions of bushels, equal to the market, within a fraction,
which we now find with England ; besides the one hundred
millions to spare, which must find a market somewhere.
Where will you find it? It comes in at any rate to compete
with the general surplus, causes a glut, and brings down the
whole produce of the country in price. But say one-third of
those manufacturers only would engage in the cultivation of
the soil, which would suffice for the effect I claim as to the
products ; all must eat. The consequence will be that the
labor employed in raising breadstuffs will seek other employ
ment, and much of it go to raising cotton ; when down
comes the price of cotton. Now, to be exceedingly reason
able, I will presume a very small effect ; say that the bring
ing of this labor from manufacturing into agriculture will
cause only a decline of half a cent per pound. I really be
lieve it would be two cents per pound, but say half a cent.
This is two dollars and a half per bale, or $1250 which he
loses by failing to protect the manufacturers, while to protect
them it only cost $300, leaving a clear balance against him
of $950. And this is on the supposition that the tariff is
all added to the price of the goods, and is so much lost to
the consumer. But experience proves such not to be the
fact. When a tariff is laid, the increased price in the goods
is, perhaps, half the amount of increased tariff for the first
year. But every year this price diminishes, and in a few
years the goods so tariffed become cheaper than before the
tariff was laid. This is the result of the competition created
by protection. I do not venture this as a mere opinion ; it
is history ; the archives of our country will prove it to be the

our country's good. 395
fact. And I venture to say that, but for the home compe
tition created by the fostering of our own manufacturers, we
would at this time be paying to England, for everything
we get of her, a price much greater than we are paying,
which would equal double the tariff our manufacturers ask
for.

V. The justice of the ad valorem 'principle discussed.
F. — What do they ask for — what tariff will satisfy them ?
P. — They ask an increase which would not be felt; the
nation in twelve months could find everything as cheap as it
is now. They ask only fair play in their own market. They
want a small addition ; but they more need guarding against
fraud than they do an increase of the tariff. The ad valo
rem system of levying duty seems to be equitable, but it is
not so. It is a system which generates corruption to an
enormous extent, because the invoice of the importer is, in
general, the guide as to value. It is so invariably, unless
the appraisers are able to detect fraud, and it is not once in
twenty times that the appraiser is so accurate a judge as to
know the value, and the invoice has to be taken as the guide.
This invoice is made out at from 33^ per cent, to fifty per
cent, under the actual cost of the goods to enter them by,
and a different invoice is sent to sell by. That the importer
has to swear to the invoice amounts to nothing. If our
own citizens are too scrupulous to perjure themselves, there
are foreign tools enough who will do it. Our own citizens
generally will not ; hence most of the foreign goods are now
sent by the foreign manufacturers to resident agents here,
whose scruples are not in their way. These agents have
now almost monopolized the importing business, driving our
own honest merchants out of it. I went in April, 1849, to
England, in the " Canada," with one hundred and sixty-three
passengers, of which number about one hundred were resi-

396 our country's good.
dent agents in New York of foreign manufacturers, and I
recollect of but one single native American importing mer
chant among the passengers.
These agents, who make fraudulent entries of their goods,
can afford to sell them to our own merchants cheaper than
they can import them : " We are thus not only cheated out
of our revenue, but have a set of foreign factors to displace
our own honest merchants; not only taking the bread from
our manufacturers, but from our honest merchants too. This
is abominable !"
F. — Well, what remedy would you propose ?
P. — I would agree upon an ad valorem duty, as a basis
for a specific duty. Fix any duty deemed reasonable by
existing values ; then by those values fix a specific duty on
every species of goods. So many cents per square yard
upon cottons, woollens, silks, etc., of certain weights and fine
ness, etc. ; so much on pig-iron, bar-iron, railroad-iron, etc.
— then there will be but little room for fraud, and then the
home manufacturer will have a fair chance, but not under
the present system. Some difficulty will exist in fixing a
specific duty by the ad valorem principle.* You must range
everything, into classes, and, in doing so, the ad valorem
principle will, necessarily, in some degree, be varied from;
but the variance will be occasional only, whereas by the ad
valorem plan there is fraud throughout. The bribery offered
for perjury by the ad valorem system is enough to banish
everything like morality or honesty from the importing
* There is such a, similarity between the ground taken by Mr.
Fillmore in his messages of 1851 and 1852, and those taken here, as
probably to induce the belief that one was taken from the other.
But those views were published in the St. Louis Journal of Decem
ber, 1851. Of course, they could not have been taken from Mr. Fill
more's message, and, of course, he could have had no access to this
communication.

our country's good. 397
merchant. It is bad policy ; it is introducing the dry-rot of
corruption into all the transactions of the country.
VI. The- wisdom of free trade evidenced by the absence of
aU restrictions to commerce among the States of our Union,
and their great prosperity.
F. — There is one view of this question which I have never
seen answered, and which is an argument of facts against
theory. The several States of this Union enjoy free trade
among each other, and they are all prosperous and happy.
If the principle be good at all, it would hold good among
those States. Now, do you contend that those States would
be more prosperous or happy, by the introduction of impe
diments to free trade among them ?
P. — The manufacturers of our country give to our agri
culturists the entire supplying of their wants ; they are of
the same family, and their dealings are necessary for each
other's benefit, except where foreigners can undersell them.
This cannot be done in the heavy products of the soil,
though it can in manufactures. The object of protection is
to foster manufactures, so as to give our agriculturists a
market at home, which shall be all their own, and to save
us from being drained of our money by foreign countries.
This is, from our geographical position, as far as it concerns
the feeding of our manufacturers, a necessary consequence,
and protection is therefore needless. But, while we buy a
great amount of manufacture^ from England, she buys nine-
tenths of her provisions from the continent of Europe. The
cases are not at all parallel.
VII. Mr. Walker's estimates of the effect of free trade.
F. — You seem to have made this subject a study; I con
fess I am not prepared to meet all your arguments, but I
34

398 our country's good.
will hunt up Mr. Walker's report, and it perhaps will furnish
me with answers. There is no subject where more can be
said on both sides than this one on the tariff.
P. — As to Mr. Walker, if we are to estimate him by the
truth of his prognostics in regard to the effect of his policy on
our exports, I should suppose his authority would be of little
weight. Such was his sanguine view of the effects of reduc
ing the tariff in 1846, that he estimated our exports in con
sequence thereof as follows, viz.: for 1848, $222,289,352;
1849, $329,959,993 ; 1850, $488,445,046. Whereas our
actual exports were for those several years $132,934,121;
$132,666,955; $134,900,565. In 1847, they were more, on
account of the famine in Ireland; but for the last three years,
notwithstanding the high price of cotton, there has been no
material increase, but, on the contrary, as compared with
our population, a falling off. Of what value then are the
estimates of a man who shows himself so utterly ignorant
of the effects of his own policy upon the trade of our country?
I admit there is much to be said on both sides; but there
are some self-evident propositions, which, I think you will
admit, are conclusive in favor of such a tariff as will main
tain our home manufacturers in fair competition with the
foreign. 1. As the object of free trade is to find a market for
our produce where we obtain our supplies ; if we can make
that market at home, there is no reason why we should not
obtain our supplies at home, if to be had on as advantageous
terms as abroad. I think I have heretofore shown that a
reasonable specific tariff will enable us to do this.
2. By making a market at home, which we do by with
drawing a portion of our redundant farming population from
that pursuit, and putting them to manufacturing, we create
a market which is all our own, the supplying of which be
longs to ourselves, and where foreigners cannot interfere
with us. But, while our consumption of near two hundred

our country's good. 399
millions of foreign goods gives England the means of buy
ing seventy odd millions of dollars' worth of breadstuffs,
we only get the supplying of six millions five hundred
thousand dollars' worth of this. Encourage our own manu
facturers, and they will furnish a corresponding market to
you for breadstuffs, which will be all our own, and not
six millions and five hundred thousand dollars of it.
3. Accidental circumstances will occasionally give us a
high price abroad for our breadstuffs. This stimulates us
to extravagance that year, and the habit then acquired is
continued, so that we consume a vast amount of foreign
goods over what our exports will pay for, as this year this
excess is, I see, estimated to amount to over thirty millions
of dollars; and thus, periodically, about every twelve or
fifteen years, we have a crash, which spreads ruin over our
whole country. If we dealt at home, this could not happen,
for, however extravagant an individual might be, his money
being spent at home remains in the country, and no such^
crash could occur. He may fail, but his failure does not
affect the country.
4. Home manufactures give employment to a vast amount
of labor which otherwise would be idle, as to women and
children, and their earnings add vastly to the national
wealth.* * In illustration of this fact, I will relate an incident of travel.
Many years since, travelling in the County of Henderson in the
State of Kentucky, I stayed all night near a place called " Harp's
Head," from the sticking of a, robber's head upon a pole at the
forks of a road there, after the robber had been shot. My host
was a Mr. M  . Here I saw all his children at night picking
cotton from the seed, except one, who was spinning on the spin
ning-wheel. This was- a primitive condition of things, which I had
not seen since I was a child. Upon inquiry, I found that each had
picked about two ounces of cotton each night; this made about
three-fourths of a pound per week; cotton being eight cents per

400 our country's good.
These four classes of facts you cannot deny. But you are
tired of the subject, no doubt, and we will drop it. I go
to-morrow to ¦  County; if you are not engaged, I have
a spare seat in my buggy; the journey will be a pleasant
one, and I think you will be gratified by the trip; will
you go?
F. — Yes, with pleasure.
VIII. The effect of free trade upon the undeveloped re
sources of our country.
Next Day. — Scene in the wilderness in  county,
a few miles from the ohio.
F. — What have you here — iron ore ?
P. — Yes, we will alight, and examine, it. About a month
pound, this would have been one cent per night, had the raising
of the cotton cost nothing. The spinning met with about an equal
jeward. To me it seemed an utter waste of labor, and I so stated
™o Mr. M  , telling him that he could for one cent buy all the
cotton which any of his family could pick of an evening. " Per
haps you may," he replied ; " that, however, is not my way of
calculating. I need so many yards of cotton for my family — my
boys can raise this cotton — my daughters can spin and weave it,
and I do not feel the cost. I raise my own cows," continued Mr.
M  , " and tan their hides for leather — and my boys make our
Bhoes ; my sheep furnish wool, which my family card, spin, and
weave into cloth, and make into clothes, and they knit our socks
and stockings; and 'our hats and bonnets too we could make, but
as yet do not. Now, stranger," continued the old man, "when
a man can make all he wants at home, and has something to spare
to sell, I guess he is doing pretty well. I have money lent out to
many of my neighbors, who think I am a fool for my way of get
ting along — and may-be I am ; but. I want all my children to be
fools like me, and make all at home they can ; then they will be
always independent, and can hold up their heads against the
world." Now, thought I, here is a case, an extreme one to be
sure, as strongly illustrative of the real policy of a government to
arrive at national wealth as can be given.

our country's GOOD. 401
ago, I got a neighbor to come with me here and bring a boy
of fifteen years of age, who from eleven o'clock until an
hour by sun dug up this ore, estimated to be at least two
tons. It is very rich and pure; has been analyzed, and
reported to yield sixty-five per cent, of iron. The regular
vein is two feet thick, and over it is ball ore, about six
inches thick. I am satisfied, from the work of this boy, that
an able grown man could dig five tons in a day.
F.— Why, it ought to be exceedingly valuable. Why do
you not have it worked ?
P. — I will answer you that query on our return home.
Let us now continue our ride (entering the buggy and
driving on). Observe, now, as we go along, you will see
this ore on all the hills over which we pass.
' F, — Yes, I see; from the signs I would judge there was
a great quantity here. But what is this in the hill-side
here? A coal-bank? (Driving up to it.)
. P. — Now get down, and let us go in and examine it
(alighting). ' F. — Gods ! What a sight — what splendid coal ! You
seem just to have opened it. Why do you not work it ?
And is it through all those surrounding hills ?
P. — Yes, sir. And here in this valley, of about fifty
acres, you might set fifty foundries, factories, or establish
ments of any kind, for working which coal is required, and
they would have a never-ending supply of coal.
i^.-^-Well, is this coal, and the iron ore you showed me
also, not each very valuable ? How far are they apart ?
P. — About two miles; but they may possibly be found
together in some of those hills. As to their value, I cannot
speak, except by reference to such property which I have
seen in Scotland. Near Glasgow, a nobleman owns an iron
ore-bank, from which he allows three large iron furnaces to
supply themselves at two shillings and sixpence per ton.
I estimate that the vein of iron which I showed you will
34*

402 our country's good.
yield one ton and a half to the square yard, which, at the
price aforesaid, would be about eighty cents per square yard,
or four thousand dollars per acre. I was at the Monkwear-
mouth coal-mines in England, from which they raised coal
eighteen hundred feet, from a vein only six inches thicker
than this. That land could not be purchased for, a thousand
pounds an acre ($5000). I was at coal-mines in Saxony,
at Zwacow, where the vein was very thick, where a sale had
been made but a short time before at fifty-four thousand
dollars per acre.
F. — Well, but this ought to be valuable here; is it not?
P. — On the Ohio, a few miles from us, some small sales
have been made, equalling about sixteen hundred dollars
per acre, for supplying steamboats. But I have seen one
single iron establishment in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which
consumed more coal than all the steamboats use from this
yard just named, which is about one thousand bushels daily.
And the Monkwearmouth coal-pits deliver about twenty-five
thousand bushels per day from a depth of eighteen hundred
feet. Here our railroads run into the pit, and the cars are
loaded by the men who dig the coal. Let iron establish
ments, to a sufficient extent, or cotton factories, be erected,
and, in comparison with the demand for them, the steamboat
demand would hardly be worth noticing.
F. — Why are they not established ?
P. — I will explain as we return. Now, besides iron and
coal, there is here potter's clay for making earthenware, fire
clay, the best building rock, and every material which manu
facturers can ask, all standing idle. But it is getting late.
Let us return to our lodging-house, on our way home, and
we will talk about this matter.
F. — You told me you had seen railroad iron on its way to
Pittsburg, to be laid on the railroads there, which was im
ported from England. How is it possible that they can bring
railroad iron 3000 miles across the Qcean, thence 2000

our country's good. 403
miles up the Mississippi and Ohio, paying freights, charges,
duties, and insurance, and undersell such advantages as you
have here ?
P. — That is a very natural question, and it was to make
you ask that question that I was induced to ask you to take
this ride with me. And I will endeavor to answer it.
The requisites for manufacturing to advantage are : —
1st. A market. 2d. Material. 3d. Capital. 4th. Labor.
5th. Cheap living. 6th. Experience. — The first we have
at our doors ; the second and fifth also. The third we have
not> The fourth will always follow the balance, because, if
we had it not at home, it would take but twenty days to get
ifc from abroad ; but we have it in abundance at home. The
sixth is the result of time, and naturally follows upon a con
tinuance of the other five in uninterrupted combination for
a long period. Capital, of all the ingredients, is the most
essential for success; to be sure, capital is of no use without
the balance. But the balance are of no use without capital.
Capital is the substratum. Now where does capital come
from ? It is in the hands of men noted generally for their
caution, and who only let it go for investment where expe
rience shows it is sure to return a certain percentage annu
ally. It will not do to tell such men, when a depression
occurs in the market which cuts off dividends — " Oh, this is
but temporary ; have patience, and in a year or two there
will be a reaction, when you will more than regain all that
you are now losing." This is all nonsense to them. They
want their dividends, and if they do not get them regularly,
they will sell out their stock, and thus they add to the very
evil they complain of. In England the judicious manage
thus : A joint-stock company is created. By the best cal
culations its dividends will be 7 J per cent., but capitalists
are satisfied with 5. If 7| are made, 2£ are laid by as a
safety-fund, and invested in government stocks, and 5 are
divided. While things move smoothly, the 7$ continue to

404 our country's good.
be made, and the safety-fund rapidly increases. But in time
markets become depressed, and the business is unprofitable,
yields nothing. But the dividends continue regularly the
same to the shareholders, who are paid their five per cent.
out of the safety-fund, and, unless the low prices continue an
unusual time, this safety-fund suffices to bridge over them,
and the capitalist rests content to continue his funds in the
investment. .
There seldom happens in England one of those explosions
so common with us every twelve or fifteen years, when our
imports have for a period of years so far overbalanced our
exports that the difference has to be sent off in specie, finally
producing such a collapse as to ruin almost the whole coun
try. No such can occur in England, being the chief manu
facturer for the balance of the world; the balance of the
world, who do not protect sufficiently their own manufac
turers, are tributary to her, and her capital is always on the
increase. But her raifroad manias do sometimes bring her
into difficulties. In 1849, an explosion of this kind occurred.
A man by the name of Hudson, who obtained the name of
Railroad King from the influence which he had obtained,
had years before got the control of some important railroad
which was profitable, and paid ten per cent. He urged that
its extension would add to its profit, and he would guarantee
ten per cent, as far as he was allowed to extend it. He was
accordingly empowered to do so, and invited capital on those
terms. It came in to any required extent, and the roads
were extended accordingly, and an extravagance of expendi-'
ture indulged in, until finally they would not pay ten per
cent. To declare this fact would have blown up Hudson.
So he determined to continue declaring the ten per cent., and
paid it out of the capital stock, hoping for an improvement,
But this improvement did not come, and, finally, the whole
affair necessarily became exposed; but not before Hudson,

our country's good. 405
by his apparent extraordinary talent for making railroads
yield good dividends, had obtained the control of almost
every railroad in England. And, consequently, when the
crash came, it showed the bankruptcy of almost every road
under his control. Great, of course, were the confusion and
temporary distress created. But the indebtedness was from
one resident to another, not to foreigners ; there was none
the less money in the country. It had only changed hands,
and the same was there to give a new impulse to business in
a new form. The sufferers sunk under the waters, a bubble
or two showed where they had gone down ; but the general
prosperity floated on, there was no less depth of water. But
with us, when such an event happens, the water has been
evaporated, the channel has become dry, and we are left
upon sand-bars to await the coming wet season. This is a
condition to which we are now fast verging, and to which no
prudent government would ever subject the country, for
nothing is easier than to avoid it.
F. — But if the substratum of manufacturing is capital,
and we have it not, would we not be legislating in vain to
force a system upon our country which it had no foundation
for, and consequently was not prepared for ?
P. — I would make a foundation, sir. If the nature of
the ground is too sandy or boggy to be built on without aid,
I would drive down piles, until I made a solid foundation.
If you have a city lot, favorably situated for commerce, and
of great value for warehouses, but which is marshy, and not
suitable for building on, will you therefore abandon it, when
an outlay of ten thousand dollars will make a foundation,
and build a warehouse which would be worth fifty thousand
dollars ? The capital can be created, sir, very easily. Give
a wise protection to our manufactures, such as we have here
tofore had, but make the duties specific, so as to avoid fraud.
Give some assurance that this protection will be permanent,
and you will find that capital will go rapidly into manufac-

406 OUR country's good.
turing, and the millions which we annually send abroad will
stay at home. Only think. In England, the very ore
which you have just seen would bring four thousand dollars
per acre, at the rates I have named, to be manufactured into
iron to send across the ocean, and two thousand miles up
stream to sell to us, when we too ship them bread and meat
to feed the manufacturers on. While this ore, and the coal
close by it, lie measurably valueless, when all that is needed
to make it worth as much as it is in Scotland is to pass
such laws as to induce the same capitalists who manufacture
it there to send that capital and the hands who make it
there across the ocean, and make it here. It would take
them but twenty days to come, and the workmen would not
lose their knowledge by crossing the ocean. The mere
passage of a wise law will accomplish all this. Yes, sir !
The American people, if they could obtain such a law on no
other terms, would find it a cheap purchase to give five
hundred millions of dollars for it; that would be but thirty
millions per annum, and we are now annually going in debt
over this amount, which in that event would be saved.
There is no fiction in this. It is all plain, palpable matter-
of-fact. F. — Provided we are willing to tax ourselves sufficiently
to do it.
P. — Well, let us see what this tax would amount to. I
will take yourself, for instance. What would be your part
of this tax? Of the suit you wear, what is the cost of what
is imported ?
i?1.— Why, my coat about $30, pants $10, vest $5. The
balance, I presume, was made at home. t)h! my cloak
$40, which I have not on.
P. — Very well, $45, and you do not wear out on an ave
rage over one suit a year. The cloak on an average will
last four years. So add $10, making $55. Say the re
quired duty, to support government, which you now pay, is

our country's good. 407
twentyper cent. ; ten more is all we ask; this would be
$5 50. Now, sir, would you grudge $5 50 per annum to
see such a change created as would be by a wiser tariff,
which should -start up factories in all our coal-fields, and
bring, all our iron ore into value ? With the same capital
invested here, there is no reason why our coal and iron ore
should not be worth as much as it is in England. And it
is the coal and iron ore of England which is the basis of her
wealth and power. We have ten times as much as she has,
and by a policy similar to that which has given her this
power and wealth, we could in time overtop her tenfold in
both. But as it is, we are mere hewers of wood and drawers
of water for her. All the wealth of California, which right
fully ought to be ours, and ought to be spent at home,
among our own manufacturers, who can as well supply their
wants as England, only comes among us for a day, then to
be shipped off to that country, for which our commercial
cities are mere agencies, collecting and sending to that
country all our wealth as fast as we accumulate it.
Oh, it is too bad, too bad ! And all because our citizens,
taking you as a sample, are unwilling to pay $5 50 per
annum to prevent it. Yes, if a missionary to the Hindoos,
to the Sandwich Islands, to any foreign land, asks you for
$5 50, to aid in his mission, your purse is open to him. If
some straggling foreigner, pretending to have been ship
wrecked, asks you for $5 50, you are ready to give it to
him. But if you are pointed to magnificent founderies,
furnaces, cotton-factories, all standing still, and going to ruin,
and, thousands and tens of thousands of your own fellow-
citizens thrown out of employment thereby; if it is made
apparent to you that the yielding of this $5 50 per annum
will aggrandize your country, make her independent, pros
perous, and powerful; all this is nothing in the scale against
the $5 50. For all sorts of outlandish purposes, your pocket

408 our country's good.
is open, but you have no bowels of compassion for your own
country. This $5 50, too, is allowing the heaviest tax you claim.
I say, even for the first year, it would be but the half, and
in a year or two after, nothing. And then what benefits
arise ! Let one of those manufacturing establishments arise
where they may, they make a market for all the neighbor
hood. Your corn, your hay, pork, butter, eggs, chickens,
hire for your hands, wagons and teams, all at good prices,
making the whole country cheerful and happy. Are those
considerations — is your interest in them, not worth $5 50
per year, even if it were to be all lost, and no other advan
tage to arise ?
F. — Why, I think you're losing that calm mood with
which you set out, and which you promised to preserve in
order to a dispassionate discussion of this subject, with a
view to elicit truth. Declamation, you know, is not argu
ment. It is the judgment, and not the feelings, which we
are now appealing to,
P. — Perhaps I am more excited by the subject than I
ought to be; but, really, it is hard, when I see, as I believe,
such a magnificent promise for our country by very reason
able protection to home industry on the one hand, and ruin
so inevitable on the other; and the first to be obtained at
so small a temporary sacrifice — indeed, no sacrifice at all; it
is bard, I say, not to be excited. But I will try to avoid it,
because I wish you to have all the advantage of your coolest
judgment in the discussion of this subject. For, I see, you
are so fixed in your opinions that proof, strong as Holy
Writ, will be required to shake- them; nor do I wish to shake
them, except by evidence too powerful to be withstood. I
desire you to bring forward every possible objection to pro
tection, and every argument in favor of free trade. I am
myself convinced that protection is for our advantage. If
you can show me that it is not, I wish you to do so, promis-

our country's good. 409
ing you, most faithfully, that no prejudice or pride of opinion
shall interpose to prevent my seeing and acknowledging the
truth of any fact which you give me evidence of. All I ask
is similar magnanimity on your part.
- F.- — If I could be satisfied that this inequality in trade
between England and ourselves was really as you say, and
that it was to continue, I am ready to admit I would not be
satisfied with it. But you admit you do not speak from
official information, but from newspaper report. Now, Mr.
Webster makes the imports of 1850 about $178,000,000,
and exports about $152,000,000. There is but a difference
of $26,000,000 — not a matter to be scared about.
P. — Mr. Webster, I presume, includes, in our exports, spe
cie, which has gone out to the amount of about $20,000,000
for the last half year. If as much the previous half year,
which I do not recollect, there would be a total of excess
of imports over exports of about $66,000,000, leaving out
specie. It is more probable Mr. Webster speaks, as I am
sure he does, of the trade of last year. My remarks apply
to the estimate for this year.
F. — But you are taking the wrong road. We came in
the other fork.
P. — It is but a little out of the way to go by a Mr.
K  's, whose family I wish you to see. This man is rather
delicate for out-door work ; his wife quite a neat, tidy wo
man, and he has four very pretty daughters and a son.
Until three years ago, he was exceedingly poor, could hardly
feed and clothe his family decently until the erection of the
cotton-factory which I will show you to-morrow. He there
got employment for himself and all his family. He got
four dollars per week, his son and daughters each two dollars
at the starts Soon he was found so handy as a folder that
his wages were raised to six dollars per week. His sons'
were increased, as pressmen, to four dollars, and his daugh
ters became expert weavers, and made three dollars per week.
35

410 our country's good.
Here wer^ tw'enty'-two dollars per week for the family, and
a cottage found them. The old lady did the cooking, house
work, etc., the girls at night did their washing, and the son,
then, cut up the wood. But here is the house. We will
call for a drink of water. " Good-morning, Mr. K  . All
well?" "Yes, tolerably. Will you not get down ?" "No,
I thank you; we want a drink of your fine water. (The
son goes for it.) Well, how do you get on nowadays?"
"Oh, poor enough. 'Tis mighty hard making a living out
of the ground for a large family, and four of 'em grown
daughters^ who can't help any. When will the factory start
again ?" " I cannot tell. English goods are now selling so
low in our market that they have stopped about one-third of
all our factories, and I cannot tell when we can start again."
" Well, I am mighty sorry, for there have been hard times
with us since the factory stopped. But why can't we make
goods as cheap as the English? It seems to me we ought
to do it."
P.^We could with a little protection. But it requires a
little — and this gentleman's part of the tax would be five
dollars and fifty cents, which he says he is not willing to
pay to keep up this establishment. " Why," said one of the
pretty girls, " my good sir, do agree to it, and I will pay
your part of the tax; 'twill only take two weeks of my
wages." F. — My dear Miss, if it depended on me, you should have
the protection to-morrow; but I am only one out of a million.
"Oh!" exclaimed the old lady; "well, sir, we will all give
a month's wages." "Yes," said another pretty daughter,
" two months, three months, and, if all will do so, as I reckon
they will, we can make up the tax ourselves."
F. — Come, P  , it's time we were getting home; let's
drive on.
P. — Good-by, Mr. K  . I am sorry we cannot stay
longer.

OUR country's good. 411
F. — Confound you, P  ! This is taking foul hold.
P. — I wanted .to show you, by the change in fortunes of
this amiable family, by the stopping of the  factory,
the amount of distress caused thereby to all the operatives
thrown out of employment. And I ask you now, in candor,
does this offer no argument in favor of protecting our home
industry ?
F. — Yes, sir.. All your arguments put together were not
half so strong as that of those pretty girls. Curse their
little hearts, to talk to me about paying my part of the tax !
P. — Now, sir, reflect ! By a protection which, to you, at
the highest figures you claim yourself, would only be five
dollars and fifty cents to you, you would give prosperity and
happiness to hundreds of thousands of your own countrymen
and women such as you have just seen. By refusing it,
you leave them in poverty, and transfer that help to English
operatives. But while, for the sake of argument, I admit
that you will pay five dollars and fifty cents tax, which is
not the fact, I show conclusively, as in the McDuffie case,
that, by paying five dollars and fifty cents out of one pocket,
you cause over twenty dollars to be put into the other — yes,
sir, and most sincerely do I believe, one hundred dollars —
if you are engaged in any sort of enterprise, or have any
interest in the general prosperity of the country.
IX. Effects of free trade on the value of land.
F.— There is a fine flock of sheep. Does your country
suit sheep ?
P.— Yes, very well. But the uncertainty of demand for
wool has caused farmers to devote themselves otherwise. I
see in Michigan they estimate their flocks at a million and a
half, and in Ohio at six millions, and gradually the business
will become a large one. Why should it not ? In England,
they raise great flocks upon land which costs £100, or $500

412 our country's oood.
per acre. Why can we not raise them here on land which
can be had for one-fiftieth part of that sum ? And why
should not this wool be manufactured at home ? Take all
the expense of sending it to a foreign market, and bringing
back the goods which it makes, the charges will amount on
an average to a quarter of a dollar per sheep, over what they
would be if manufactured at home, saving freights, commis
sions, profits, insurance, drayage, storage, &c, saying no
thing of the import duty. This ought to go into the 'pocket
of the farmer. And if one acre of land will sustain ten
sheep, here is a loss of $2 50 per acre, so appropriated,
equivalent to the interest on $40, which sum per acre is
thus lost, so far as the land is appropriated to sheep raising.
F. — Oh, nonsense ! $40, indeed !
P.— All the measure of value, which we have for anything,
is the income which it will bring ; that which will bring $6
is worth $100, and that which will bring $2 50 is worth $40.
If any man will cause an acre of my land to yield me $2 50
more than it did before, he has, therefore, increased its value
$40. Give us a tariff, sir, and this wool will find a market
at home, and this $2 50 per acre per annum be saved, be
sides the increased wealth resulting from the increased value
given to the wool by being manufactured. My knowledge
in regard to this increased value of wool is limited, but of
cotton I know that, taking the article of sheetings and
shirtings, the increased value is about two and a half for
one; take finer fabrics, and the increase is in proportion.
One hundred hands will, of the former, manufacture five
bales a day, or fifteen hundred per annum. It will take
three hundred hands to grow the same cotton. Now, our
cotton exports are estimated at $70,000,000 per annum.
Manufacture it, and the same would be worth in coarse goods
$175,000,000. And less than half the additional number
of hands required to grow it. will give one hundred "and fifty
per cent, of additional value to it by manufacturing it.

our country's good. 413
F. — And why is not this sufficient inducement without
a tariff, or any increase, to cause our manufactories to
flourish ?
P. — Because capital and skill are requisite to aid in manu
facturing, which cannot be obtained without permanent and
ample protection. Give this protection, and you bring the
capital and skill ; with sufficient inducement, it remains ; and
when fixed and disciplined, it then becomes profitable, and
then competition brings down the price of goods ; but with
an unstable policy, no matter what may seem to be the in
ducement, capital will not be attracted, for five per cent, cer
tain, is better than ten per cent, uncertain. A specific duty
is certain, but an ad valorem is uncertain, the latter being
as variant as the conscience of importers. The time will
come, at some future day, when the political philosopher,
looking back and seeing that America produced three-fourths
of all the cotton of all the world, and nearly all that is good ;
that she had food at her doors, which she shipped abroad to
feed the manufacturers of this cotton, when the same mouths
could have been brought to the cotton and the food, to con
sume both by a wise policy, saving two freights across the
ocean, and commission and profits indefinite, this philosopher
will ask, How was this? what kind of men could have
governed America to have suffered such a state of things ?
But the men who did it will not be there to answer; or else,
perhaps, unable to bear the shame of so apparent a folly,
they might feel inclined to adopt Lord Castlereagh's plan,
when the simple view by Bonaparte of the folly of his adminis
tration made it so manifest that, from remorse and mortifica
tion, he cut his throat.
We have the materials, and the labor, to make everything
we want. Making all w ¦¦¦ want, we must be always in a
prosperous condition, cheerful and happy. Our gold would
remain among us. Our cotton crop and tobacco, to the
amount of seventy millions, would be adding to our wealth

414 our country's good.
instead of to the wealth of England. We would have a
coasting trade and home commerce greater, in extent infi
nitely, than all our foreign commerce. Railroads and im
provements of all kinds would go rapidly forward, our lands
would rise in value, and our produce would all find a ready
and rich market at home. But this would not cut off our
foreign commerce. Other countries must and will have our
cotton and tobacco; but, if we favor home industry and give
it the preference over the foreign, instead of our picking the
crumbs from foreign tables, they must be. satisfied with the
crumbs from ours. We ask of our government only rea
sonable protection; but let that be specific, specific, specific.
And then no country on earth can vie with us. If we want
evidence of the beneficial effects of protection, look to the
result of the tariffs of 1832 and 1842. A prosperity imme
diately followed as manifest and palpable as that change
which is produced by a rich coat of manure upon a worn-out
farm. To the farmer, we would say : —
In what manner have your interests been advanced by the
free trade policy ? By it Mr. Walker told you, and he is the
great free trade apostle, that your exports would be rapid
ly increased annually, until, in 1850, they would reach
$488,000,000: Has such been the fact ? Most certainly it
has not. On the contrary, in proportion to population, from
1848 inclusive, to the present time, our exports have been
diminishing. Last year, instead of $488,000,000, they
amounted to only a little over $134,000,000. You have
then gained nothing by reducing the tariff in 1846.
The cotton-planter we would ask — what have you gained ?
You have, by shutting up numerous manufactories, turned
at least two hundred thousand manufacturers and their de
pendents into agriculturists, and thereby thrown more com
petition against yourselves, lowering thereby the price of
your cotton in consequence of over-production.

our country's good. 415
To the common laborer we would say — what have you
gained? By stopping the factories, iron furnaces, and other
establishments, you are thrown out of employment, and the
bread taken from your families.
Of our country we would ask — what has been gained by
repealing the tariff of 1842, and establishing that of 1846?
We would answer — you have " gained a loss" of sixty mil
lions of dollars per annum. You have been feeding foreign
ers with the bread which of right ought to belong to our
own countrymen.
As before said, and it cannot be too often repeated, we
have given up a certain home market, created by our manu
facturers, with the calculation that we would thereby create
a greater foreign market for our agricultural products. But
in the latter we have been deceived. Our foreign demand
has not increased. We have taken foreign manufactures to
an immense - amount, calculating that to a corresponding
amount would be the demand for our products. But in
this we have been deceived; for foreigners have supplied
the manufacturers with food, who have taken our home
market for manufactures. While this home market has
been forfeited, we have thrown more producers into compe
tition with the farmer and planter, and by a double process
been guilty of a suicidal policy.

THE END.

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & GO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
NOTICES AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
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The Publishers select the following from the testimonials they have received
as to the value of the work:
We, the subscribers, having examined the Comprehensive Commentary, issued from the press of
Messrs. L„ G. ot Co., and highly approving its character, would cheerfully and confidently recom
mend it as containing more matter and more advantages than any other with which we are ¦
acquainted ; and considering the erpense incurred, and the excellent manner of its mechanical
execution, we bebeve it to be one of the cheapest works ever issued from the press. We hope the
publishers wdl be sustained by a liberal patronage, in their expensive and useful undertaking. We
should be pleased to learn that every family in the United States had procured a copy.
B. B. W1SN ER, D. D., Secretary of Am. Board of Com. for For. Missions.
WM. COGSWELL. D. D,, " " Education Society.
JOHN CODMAN, D. D., Pastor of Congregational Church, Dorchester. « -
Rev. HUBBARD W1NSLOW, " " Bowdoin street, Dorcheittl.
Rev. SEWALL HARDING, Pastor of T. C. Church, Waltham.
Rev. J. H. FAIRCHI LD, Pastor of Congregational Church, South Boston.
GARDINER SPRING, D. D., Pastor of Presbyterian Church, New York city.
CYRUS MASON, D. D., - ..... ,
THOS. M'AULEY, D. D., " " " " ¦
JOHN WOODBRIDGE, D. D.. " " " urn
THOS. DEWITT, D. D., • " Dutch Ref. "
E. W. BALDWIN, D. D., " " "
Rev. J. M. M-KREBS, « Presbyterian - " A
Rev. ERSKINE MASON, " " • "
Rev. J. S. SPENCER, " Brooklyn.
EZRA STILES ELY, D. D., Stated Clerk of Gen. Assent, of Presbyterian Church.
JOHN M'DOWELL, D. D., Permanent " -
JOHN BRECKENRIDGE, Coiresponding Secretary of Assembly's Board of Education.
SAMUEL B. WYLIE, D. D., Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
N. LORD, D. D., President of Dartmouth College.
JOSHUA BATES, D. D„ President of Middlebury College.
H. HUMPHREY, D-D., " Amherst College.
E. D. GRIFFIN, D. l>., " Wilhamstown College.
. J. WHEELER, D. D., " University of Vermont, at Burlington.
J. M. MATTHEWS, D. D., - New York City University.
GEORGE E. PIERCE, D. D., " Western Reserve College, Ohio.
Rev. Dr. BROWN, " Jefferson College, Penn.
LEONARD WOODS, D. D., Professor of Theology, Andover Seminary.
THOS. H. SKINNER, D. D., " Sac. Rhet. »
Rev. RALPH EMERSON, " Eccl. Hist.
Rev. JOEL PARKER, Pastor of Presbyterian Church, New Orleans.
JOEL HA WES, D. D-, " Congregational Church, Hartford, Conn.
N. S. S. BEAMAN, D. D., " Presbyterian Church, Troy, N. Y.
MARK TUCKER, D. D., •= - « "
Rev. E. N. KIRK, " " Albany, N. Y.
Rev. E. B. EDWARDS, Editor of Quarterly Observer.
Rev. STEPHEN MASON, Pastor First Congregational Church, Nantucket.
Rev. ORIN FOWLER, " « ' "Fall River.
GEORGE W. BETHUNE, D. D., Pastor of the First Reformed Dutch Church, Phdaila.
Rev. LYMAN BEECHER, D. D., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rev. C. D. MALLORY, Pastor Baptist Church, Augusta, Ga.
Rev. S. M. NOEL, * Frankfort, Ky.
From the Professors at Princeton TheolOffical Seminary.
The Comprehensive Commentary contains the whole of Henry's Exposition in a condensed form
Scott's Practical Observations and Marginal References, and a large number of very valuable philo
logical and critical notes, selected from various authors. The work appears to be executed wild
judgment, fidelity, and care ; and will furnish a rich treasnre of scriptural knowledge to the
Biblical student, and to the teachers of Sabbath-Schools and Bible Classes. A. ALEXANDER, D D.
SAMUEL MILLER, D. D
CHARLES HODGE. D D

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
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The value of a Concordance is now generally understood ; and those who have used one, con
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BIBLIOTHECA BIBLICA,
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invaluable help to every reader of the Bible." HENRY MORRIS,
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ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS LANDSCAPE ENGRAVINGS,
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Edited by Rev. Georoe Bush,
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This volume is not designed, to take the place of Commentaries, but is a distinct department of biblical
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'Holy Bible. THE ENGRAVINGS
In this volume, it is believed, will form no small part of its attractions. No pains have been spared
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cannot be urged against the pictorial illustrations of this volume. Here the fine arts are made
subservient to utility, the landscape views being, without an exception, matter-of-fact views of places
mentioned in Scripture, as they appear at the present day; thus in many instances exhibiting, in the
most forcible manner, to the eve, the strict and literal fulfilment of the remarkable prophecies; "the
present ruined and desolate condition of the cities of Babylon, Nineveh, Selah, &c, and the coun
tries of Edom and Egypt, u re astomslung examples, and so completely exemplify, in the most
minute particulars, every thing which was foretold of them in th» height of their prosperity, that
no better description can now tte given of tliem than a simple quotation from a chapter and versa
of the Bible written nearly two or three thuusaud years ago " The publishers are enabled to select
from several collections lately published in London, the proprietor of one of which says that "seve
ral distinguished travellers have afforded him the use of nearly Three Hundred Onamal Sketches"
of Scripture places, made upon the spot. "The land of Palestine, it is well known, abounds in
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majestic ruins of Tadruor and Baalliec "
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LIPPINCOTT'S EDITION "OF
BAGSTER'S COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE.
In order to develops the peculiar nature of the Comprehensive Bible, it will only be necessury
to embrace its more prominent features.
1st. The SACRED TEXT is that of the Authorized Version, and is printed from the edition cor
rected and improved by Dr. Blaney, wluch, from its accuracy, is considered the standard edition.
2d. The VARIOUS READINGS are faithfully printed from the edition of Dr. Blaney, inclusive
of the translation of the proper names, without the additiun or diminution of one.
3d. In the CHRONOLOGY, great care has been taken to fix the dato of the particular transac
tions, which has seldom been done with any degree of exactness in any former edition of the Bible.
4th. The NOTES are exclusively philological and explanatory, and are not tinctured with senti
ments of. any sect or party. They are selected from the most eminent Biblical critics and com
mentators. It is hoped that this edition of the Holy Bible will be found to contain the essence of Biblical
research and criticism, that lies dispersed through an immense number of volumes.
Such is the nature and design of this edition of the Sacred Volume, which, from the various
objects-it embraces, the freedom of its pages from all sectarian peculiarities, and the beauty, plain-
aess, and correctness of the typography, that it cannot fail of proving acceptable and useful to
Christians of every denomination.
In addition to the usual references to parallel passages, which are quite full and numerous, the
student has all the marginal readings, together with a rich selection of Philological, Cnticat, Histo
rical, Geographical, and other valuable notes and remarks, which explain and illustrate the sacred
text. Besides the general introduction, containing valuable essays on the genuineness, authenticity,
and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and other topics of interest, there are introductory and con
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Arranged at the top of each page is the period in which the prominent events of sacred history
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At the close is inserted a Chronological Index of the Bible, according to the computation of Arch
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Mr. Greenfield, the editor of this work, and for some time previous to his death the superintend
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found erudition."

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PROPER LESSONS.
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In neat plain binding.from 50 cents to 81 00.— In roan, imitation gilt edge, 75 cents to 81 50.— In
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gilt ornaments, 83 00 to 87 00.
THE BIBLE AND PRAYER-BOOK,
In one neat and portable' volume.
32mo., in neat plain binding, from 75 cents to 81 00. — In imitation Turkey, 81 00 to 81 50. —In
Turkey, super extra, 81 50 to 82 50.
18mo, in large type, plain, 81 75 to 82 50. — In imitation, 81 00 to 81 75.— In Turkey, super
extra, 81 75 to 83 00. Also, with clasps, velvet, &.c. <fcc.
The Errors of Modern Infidelity Illustrated and Refuted.
B"5T S. M. SCHMTJCKER, A. IW.
in one volume, 12mo. j cloth. Just published.
™vCd,lowi?lo the tribunal of human reason, for condemnation aud annihilation.-^. Spectator

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S P OBLIGATIONS.
Clrrgi] of Sltnmca:
CONSISTING OF
ANECDOTES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE CHARACTER OF MINISTERS OF RELI
GION IN THE UNITED STATES,
BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D.,
Editor of "The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller," "Robert Hall," Sec.
" This very interesting and instructive co'.lcr.tion of pleasing and solemn remembrances of many
pious men, illustrates the character of the day in which they lived, aud defines the men more
clearly than very elaborate essays." — Baltimore American.
u We regard the collection as highly interesting, and judiciously made."— Presbyterian.
JOSEPHUS'S (FLAVIUS) WORKS,
FAMILY EDITION.
BY THE LATE WILLIAM WHISTON, A. 1YL
FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION, COMPLETE.
One volume, beautifully illustrated with Steel Plates, and the only readable edition
published in this country.
As a matter of course, every family in our co'.uitry has a copy of the Holy Bible ; and as the pre
sumption is that the greater portion often consult its pages, we take the liberty of saying to all those
that do, that the perusal of the writings of Josephus will be found very interesting and instructive.
All those who wish to possess a beautiful and correct copy of this valuable work, would do well
to purchase this edition. It is for sale at all the principal bookstores in the United States, and by
country merchants generally in the Southern and Western States.
Also, the above work in two volumes.
BUKDER'S VILLAGE SERMONS;
Or, 101 Plain and Short Discourses on the Principal Doctrines of the Gospel.
INTENDED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES, SUNDAY-SCHOOLS, OR COMPANIES ASSEM
BLED FOR RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN COUNTRY VILLAGES.
BT GEORGE BURDER.
To which Is added to each' Sermon, a Short Prayer, with some General Prayers for Families,
Schools, 6ic, at the end of the work.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO.
These sermons, which are characterized by a beautiful simplicity, the entire absence of contro
versy, and a true evangelical spint, have gone through many and large editions, and been translated
into several of the continental languages. " They have also been the honoured means not only of
converting many individuals, but also of introducing the Gospel into districts, and even into parish
churches, where before it was comparatively unknown."
" This work fully deserves the immortality it has attained.**
This is a fine library edition of this invaluable work ; and when we say that it should be found in
the possession of every family, we only reiterate the sentiments and sincere wishes of ail who take
a deep interest in the eternal welfare of mankind.

FAMILY PRAYERS AND HYMNS,
ADAPTED TO FAMILY WORSHIP,
AND
TABLES FOR THE REGULAR READING OF THE SCRIPTURES.
By Rev. S. C. "Winchester, A. M.,
Late Pastor of the Sixth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia; and the Presbyterian Church *
Natchez, Miss.
One volume, 12mo.

LIPPINCOTT, ORAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
SPLENDID LIBRARY EDITIONS.

ILLUSTRATED STANDARD POETS.
ELEGANTLY PRINTED, ON FINK PAPER, AND UNIFORM IN SIZE AND
STSTLE.'

"Pxe following Editions of Standard British l'oots are illustrated with numerous Sieel
Engravings, and may be had in all varieties of binding.
BYRON'S WORKS.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO.
INCLUDING ALL HIS SUPPRESSED AND ATTRIBUTED POEAIS ; WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL
ENGRAVINGS.
This edition has been carefully compared with the recent London edition of Mr. Murray, and
made complete by the addition of more than fifty pages of poems heretofore unpublished in Eng
land. Among these there are a nunibecthat have never appeared in any American edition ; and
the publishers believe they are warranted in saying that this is the most complete edition of Lord
Byron's Poetical Works ever published in the United States.

i ^Qtftml Wmh of 3Jb. Jtonam
Complete in one volumeroctavo; with seven beautiful Engravings.
This is a new and complete edition, with a splendid engraved likeness of Mrs. Hemans, on steel,
and contains all the Poems in the last London and American editions. With a Critical Preface by
Mr. Thatcher, of Boston.
"As no work in the English language can be commended with more confidence, it will argue bad
taste in a female in this country to be without a complete edition of the writings of one who was
an honour to her sex and to humanity, and whose productions, from first to last, contain no syllable
calculated to call a blush to the cheek of modesty and virtue. There is, moreover, in Mrs. Hemans's
poetry, a moral purity and a religious feeling which commend it, in an especial manner, to.the dis
criminating reader. No parent or guardian will be under the necessity^of imposing restrictions
with regard to the free perusal of every production emanating from this gifted woman. There
breathes throughout the whole a most eminent exemption from impropriety of thought or diction ;
and there is at times a pensiveness of tone, a winning sadness in her more serious compositions,
which tells of a soul which has been lifted from the contemplation of terrestrial things, to divine
somnninings with beings of a purer world."

MILTON, YOUNG, GRAY, BEATTIE, AND COLLINS'S
POETICAL WORKS.
COMPLETE IN ONE TOLTJME, OCTAVO.
WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS.

Cnmptt rait -df jutnuran'a *$xm unit initial Wmfa.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO.
aictuding two hundred and fifty Letters, and sundry Poems of Cowper, never before published in
this country ; and of Thomson a new and interesting Memoir, and upwards of twenty
new Poems, for the first time printed from his own Manuscripts, taken from
a late Edition of the Aldine Poets, now publishing in London.
WITH SEVEN BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS,
The distinguished Professor Silliman, speaking of this edition, observes : " I am as much gratified
by the elegance and fine taste of your edition, as by the noble tribute of genius and moral excel
lence which theae delightful authors have left for all future generations ; and Cowper, espuwally,
is not less conspicuous as atrue Christian, moralist and teacher, than as a poet of great puwer and
exquisite taste." 9

liUfl'liNUUXX, UlVAiUISU 8. \^U. H Jf umilUATUUXB.
THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROGERS, CAMPBELL, MONTGOMERY,
LAMB, AND KIRKE WHITE.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO.
WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS,
The beauty, correctness, and convenience of-this favourite edition of these standard authors are
so well known, that it is scarcely necessary to add a word in its favour. It is only necessary to say,
that the publishers have now issued an illustrated edition^ which greatly enhances its former value.
The engravjngs are excellent and well selected. It is the best library edition extant.

CRABBE, HEBER, AND POLLOK'S POETICAL WORKS.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO.
WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS.
A writer in the Boston Traveller holds the following language with reference to these valuable
editions : —
*' Mr. Editor : — I wish, without any idea of puffing, lb say a word or two upon the 'Library of
English Poels' that is now published at Philadelphia, by Lippincott, Grambo & Co. It is certainly,
taking into consideration the elegant manner in which it is printed, and the reasonable price at
which it is afforded to purchasers, the best editionrof the modern British Poets that has ever been
published in this country. Each volume is an octavo of about 500 pages, double columns, stereo
typed, and accompanied with fine engravings and biographical sketches ; and most of them are
reprinted from Galignani's French edition. As to its value, we need only mention that it contains
the entire works of Montgomery, Gray, Benttie, Collins, Byron, Cowper, Thomson, Mdton, Voung,
Rogers, Campbell, Lamb, Hemans, Heber, Kirke White, Crabbe, the Miscellaneous Works of Gold
smith, and other masters of the lyre. The publishers are doing a great service by their publication,
and their volumes are almost in as great demand as the fashionable novels of the day; and they
deserve to be so : for they are certainly printed in a style superior to that in which we have before
had the "works of the English Poets."
No library can be considered complete without a copy of the above beautiful and cheap editions
nf the English Poets ; and persons ordering all or any of them, will please say Lippincott, Grambo
k. Co.'s illustrated editions.

A COMPLETE
liftiortarij of ^otttral denotations:
COMPRISING THE MOST EXCELLENT AND APPROPRIATE PASSAGES IN
THE OLD BRITISH POETS; WITH CHOICE AND COPIOUS SELEC
TIONS FROM THE BEST MODERN BRITISH AND
AMERICAN POETS.
EDITED BY, SARAH JOSEFHA HALE.
As nightingales do upon glow-worms feed.
So poets live upon the living light
Of Nature and of Beauty. Bailey's Festus.
Beautifully illustrated with Engravings. In one super-royal octavo volume, in various
bindings.
The publishers extract, from the many highly complimentary notices of the above valuable and
beautiful work, the following:
" We have at last a volume of Poetical Quotations worthy of the name. It contains nearly six
hundred octavo pages, carefully and tastefully selected from all the home and foreign authors of
celebrity. It is invaluable to a writer, while to the ordinary reader it presents every subject at a
glance." — Godey's Lady's Book.
" The plan or idea of Mrs. Hate's work is felicitous. It is one for which her fine taste, her orderly
liabits of mind, and her long occupation with literature, hus given her peculiar facilities ; and tho
roughly has she accomplished her task in the work before us." — Sartam's Magazine.
"It is a choice collection of poetical extracts from every English and American author worth
|j«rus)ngf from the days of Chaucer to the present time." -Washington Union.
"There is nothing negative about this work; it is positively good." — Evening Bulletin.
10

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
THE DIAMOND EDITION OF BYRON.
THE POETICAL WORKS OF LORD BYRON,
WITH A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.
COMPLETE IN ONE NEAT DUODECIMO VOLUME, WITH STEEL PLATES.
The type of this edition is so perfect, and it is printed with so much care, on fine white paper,
that it can be read with as much ease as most of the larger editions. This work is to be had U
plain and superb binding, making a beautiful volume for n gift.
" The Poetical Works of Lord Byron, complete in one volume : published by L., G. & Co., Phda-
delphia We hazard nothing in saying that, take it altogether, this is the most elegant work ever
issued from the American press
"'In a single volume, not larger than an ordinary duodecimo, the publishers have embraced the
whole of Lord Byron's Poems, usually printed in ten or twelve volumes; and, what is more remark
able, have done it with a type' so cleur aud distinct, that, notwithstanding its necessarily small size,
it may be read with the utmost facility, even by failing eyes. The book is stereotyped ; and never
have we seen a finei* specimen of that art. Everything about it is prrfect — the paper, the print
ing, the binding, all correspond with each other; and it is embellished with two fine engravings,
well worthy the companionship m which they are placed.
" 'This will make a beautiful Christmas present.
" We extract the above from Godey's Lady's Book. The notice itself, we are given to understand.
is written by Mrs. Hale.
" We have to add our commendation in favour of this beautiful volume, a copy of which has
been sent us by the publishers. The admn ers of the noble bard will feel obliged to the enterprise
winch has prompted the publishers to dare a competition with the numerous editions of his works
already in circulation ; and we shall be surprised if this convenient travelling edition^does not in a
great degree supersede the use of the large octavo works, which have little advantage in size ana
openness of type, and are much inferior in the qualities of portabdity and lightness." — Intelligencer.

THE DIAMOND EDITION OF MOORE.
(CORRESPONDING WITH BYRON.)
THE POETICAL W0RKs"0F THOMAS MOORE,
COLLECTED BY HIMSELF.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.
Tms work is published uniform with Byron, from the last London edition, and is the most com
plete printed in the country.

THE DIAMOND EDITION OF SHAKSPEARE,
(complete in one volume,)
RTCLTJUIWG A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.
UNIFORM WITH BYRON AND MOORE.
THE ABOVE WORKS CAN BE HAD IN SEVERAL VARIETIES OP BINDING.
GOLDSMITH'S ANIMATED NATURE.
IN TWO VOLUMES, OCTAVO.
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH 385 PLATES.
CONTAINING A HISTORY OF THE EARTH, ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND FISHES; FORMING
THE MOST COMPLETE NATURAL HISTORY EVER PUBLISHED.
This is a work that should be in the library of every family, having beeo written by one of the
moBt talented authors in the English language.
" Goldsmith can never be made obsolete while delicate genius, exquisite feeling, fine invention,
'he most harmonious metre, and the happiest diction, are at all valued."

BIGLAND'S NATURAL HISTORY
Oi Animals, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects. Illustrated with numerous and beautiful Engra.
ings. By IOHN BIGLAND, author of a " View of the World," "letters on
Universal History," ttc. Complete in 1 vol., 12ojo
11

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.
THE POWER AND PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE UNITED STATES; Its Power and Progress.
BY GUILLAtTME TELL POUSSIN,
LATE MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE TO THE UNITED STATES.
FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE THIRD PARIS EDITION.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY EDMOND L. DU BARRY, M. D„
SURGEON U. S. NAVY.
In one large octavo volume.
SCHOOLCRAFT'S GREAT NATIONAL WORK ON THE INDIAN TRIBES OF'
THE UNITED STATES,
•WITH BEAUTIFUL AND ACCURATE COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS.

HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION
RESPECTING' THE
HISTORY, CONDITION AND PROSPECTS
OF THE
InMart €x\bts nHlu EwlUh §>UUl
COLLECTED AND PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE BUREAU OP INDIAN
AFFAIRS, PER ACT OF MARCH 3, 1847,
BIT HEHH? a. SCHOOLCBAPT, LL.D.
ILLUSTRATED BY S. EASTMAN, Capt. 'U. S. A.
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OP CONGRESS. .
THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S CALENDAR,
ADAPTED TO THE CLIMATE AND SEASONS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Containing a complete account of all the work necessary to be done in the Kitchen Garden , Fruit
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and Forcing Frames, for every month in the year ; with ample Practical Directions for performing
the same.
Also, general as well as minute instructions for laying out or erecting each and every of the abovo
departments, according to modern taste and the most approved plans j the Ornamental Planting of
Pleasure Grounds, in the ancient and modern style; the cultivation of Thorn Quicks, and other
plants suitable for Live Hedges, with the best methods of making them, &c. To which are annexe
catalogues of Kitchen Garden Plants and Herbs; Aromatic, Pot, and Sweet Herbs; Medicinal
Plants, and the most important Grapes, -ix., used in rural economy; with the soil best adapted <o
their cultivation. Together with a copious Index to the body of the work.
BY BERNARD M'MAHON.
Tenth Edition, greatly improved. In one volume, octavo,
THE USEFUL AND THE BEAUTIFUL;
OR, DOMESTIC AND MORAL DUTIES NECESSARY TO SOCIAL HAPPINESS,
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED.
16mo. square cloth. Price 50 and 75 cents.
12

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THE FARMER'S AND PLANTER'S ENCYCLOP/EDIA.
ilftfsxmfi trait $lrato'0 (fnqtlnpaMa nf flttritl Mutts.
BY CUTHBERT W. JOHNSON.
ADAPTED TO THE UNITED STATES BY GOUVERNEUR EMERSON.
Illustrated by seventeen beautiful Engravings of Cattle, Horses, Sheep, the varieties of Wheat,
Barley, Oats, Grasses, the Weeds of Agriculture, &c. ; besides numerous Engrav
ings on wood of the most Important implements of Agriculture, <fca
This standard work contains the latest and best information upon all subjects connected with
fanning, and appertaining to the country ; treating of the great crops of grain, hay, cotton, hemp,
tobacco, rice, sugar, inc. <fcc. ; of horses and mules ; of cattle, with minute particulars relating to
cheese and butter-making ; of fowls, including a description of capon-making, with drawings of the
instruments employed ; of bees, and the Russian and other systems of managing bees and c«m-
itructing hives. Long articles on the uses and preparation of bones, lime, guano, and all sorts of
animal, mineral, and vegetable substances employed as manures. Descriptions of the most approved
ploughs, harrows, threshers, and every other agricultural machine and implement ; of fruit and
shade trees, forest trees, and shrubs ; of weeds, and all kinds of flies, and destructive worms and
insects, and the best means of getting rid of them; together with a thousand other matters relating
to rural life, about which information is so constantly desired by all residents of the country.
IN ONE LARGE OCTAVO VOLUME.
MASON'S FARRIER-FARMERS' EDITION.
Price, 62 cents.

THE PRACTICAL FARRIERi FOR FARMERS:
COMPRISING A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NOBLE AND USEFUL ANIMAL, ,
THE HORSE;
WITH MODES OF MANAGEMENT IN ALL CASES, AND TREATMENT IN DISEASE.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
A PRIZE ESSAY ON MULES • AND AN APPENDIX,
Obtaining Recipes for Diseases of Horses, Oxen, Cows, Calves, Sheep, Dogs, Swine, &c. Ste.
BIT IIICHA&D ISASON, Xffl. D.,
Formerly of Surry County, Virginia.
In one volume, 12mo.; bound in cloth, gilt.
MASON'S FARRIER AND STUD-BOOK-NEW EDITION.
THE GENTLEMAN'S NEW POCKET FARRIER:
COMPRISING A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NOBLE AND USEFUL ANIMAL,
THE HORSE;
WITH MODES OP MANAGEMENT IN ALL CASES, AND TREATMENT IN DISEASE.
BY BICHABD HIASOIT, M.S.,
formerly of Surry County, Virginia.
*> which is added, A PRIZE ESSAY ON MULES; and AN APPENDIX, containing Recipes to,
Diseases of Horses, Oxen, Cows, Calves, Sheep, Dogs, Swine, &c. &o. ; with Annals
of the Turf, American Stud-Book, Rules for Training, Racing, ias
WITH A SUPPLEMENT,
Comprising an Essay on Domestic Animals, especially the Horse ; with Remarks on Treatment anu
•reeding ; together with Trotting and Racing Tables, sho« ing the best time on record at on»
two, three and four mile heats ; Pedigrees of Winning Horses, since 1839, and of the moat
celebrated Stallions and Mares ; with usefal Calving and Lambing Tables. By
J. S. SKINNER, Editor now of the Farmer's Library, New York, Ix. to
B 13

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PCBLICATIONS.
HINDS'S FARRIERY AND STUD-BOOK-NEW EDITION.
FARMERY,
TAUGHT ON A NEW AND EASY PLAN:
BEING
I €twtim u % DisriiES niA irritate nf t{p Ira;
*ilh Instructions to the Shoeing Smith, Farrier, and Groom ; preceded by a Popular Description 01
'be Animal Functions in Health, and how these are to be restored when disordered.
BY JOHN HINDS, VETERINARY SURGEON.
With considerable Additions and Improvements, particularly adapted to this country,
BY THOMAS M. SMITH.
Veterinary Surgeon, and Member of the London Veterinary Medical Society.
WITH A SUPPLEMENT, BY J. S. SKINNER.
The publishers lutve received numerous flattering notices of the great practical value of these
works. The distinguished editor of the American Farmer, speaking of them, observes:— "We
cannot too highly recommend these books, and therefore advise every owner of a horse to obtain
them." "There are receipts in those books that show how Founder may be cured, and the traveller pur
sue his journey the next day, by giving a tablespoonful of alum. This was got from Dr. P. Thornton.
ofMontpelier, Rappahannock county, Virginia, as founded on his own observation in several cases."
" The constant demand for Mason's and Hinds's Farrier has induced the publishers, Messrs. Lip
pincott, Grambo &, Co., to pat forth new editions, with a 'Supplement' of 100 pages, by J. S. Skinner,
Esq. We should have sought to render an acceptable service to our agricultural readers, by giving
a chapter from the Supplement, 'On the Relations between Man and the Domestic Animals, espe
cially the Horse, and the Obligations they impose ;' or the one on ' The Form of Animals ;' but that
either one of them would overrun the space here allotted to such subjects."
" lists of Medicines, and other articles which ought to be at hand ahout every training and livery
¦table, and every Farmer's and Breeder's establishment, will be found in these valuable works."

TO CARPENTERS AND .MECHANICS.
Just Published.

A NEW AND IMPROVED EDITION OP
THE CARPENTEB'S NEW GUIDE,
BEING) A COMPLETE BOOK OF LINES FOB
AEPENTHU ACTD JOIMEBY;
Treating fully on Practical Geometry, SamVs Brick and Plaster Groins, Niches of every description.
Sky-lights, Lines for Roofs and Domes ; with a great variety of Designs for Roots,
Trussed Girders, Floors, Domes, 3ndges, <tc., Angle Bars for Shop
Fronts, Ac, and Raking Mouldings.
ALSO,
Additional Plans for various Stair-Cases, with the Lines for producing the Face and Falling Mould*
never before published, and greatly superior to those erven in a former editionof thin work.
BY WILLIAM JOHNSON, ARCHITECT,
OF PHILADELPHIA
To* woole founded on, true Geometrical Principles ; the Theory and Practice well explained and
rally exemplified, on eighty-three copper plates, including some Observations and Calculations on
-be Strength of Timber BY PETER NICHOLSON.
AOtoor -j i "The Carpenter and Joiner's Assistant," "The Student's instructor im Che tfiw
Orders," <kc
Thirteenth Edition. Orw volume, 4to., well bound.
14

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

A DICTIONARY OF SELECT AND POPULAR QUOTATIONS,
WHICH ARE IN DAILY USE.
TAKEN FROM THE LATIN, FRENCH, GREEK, SPANISH AND ITALIAN LANGUAGES.
Together with a copious Collection of Law Maxims and Law Terms, translated into
English, with Illustrations, Historical and Idiomatic.
NEW AMERICAN EDITION, CORRECTED, WITH ADDITIONS.
One volume, 12mo.
This volume comprises a copious collection of legal and other terms which are in common use,
With English translations and historical illustrations; and we should judge its author had surely
een to a great " Feast of Languages," and stole all the scraps. A work of this character should
have an extensive sale, as it entirely obviates a serious difficulty in which most readers are involved
by the frequent occurrence of Latin, Greek, and French passages, which we suppose are introduced
by authors for a mere show of learning— a difficulty very perplexing to readers m general. This
"Dictionary of Quotations," concerning which too much cannot be said in its favour, effectually
removes the difficulty, and gives the reader an advantage over the author ; for we believe a majority
are themselves ignorant of the meaning of the terms they employ. Very few truly learned authors
will insult their readers by introducing Latin or French quotations in their writings, when " plain
English" will do as well ; but we will not enlarge on this point.
If the book is useful to those unacquainted with other languages, it is no less valuable to the
classically educated as a book of reference , and answers all the purposes of a Lexicon — indeed , on
many accounts, it is better. It saves the trouble of tumbling over the larger volumes, to which
every one, and especially those engaged in the legal profession, are verv often subjected. It should
have a place in every library in the country.
RUSCHENBERGER'S NATURAL HISTORY1,
COMPLETE, WITH NEW GLOSSARY.

t (BUmtnU of Natural Ibfa.rt],
EMBRACING ZOOLOGY, BOTANY AND GEOLOGY:
FOR SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND FAMILIES.
BY W. S. W. BUSOHSNBEBeSB, Iffi. D.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
WITH NEARLY ONE THOUSAND ILLUSTRATIONS, AND A COPIOUS GLOSS AMY.
VoL I, contains Vertebrate Animals. Vol. II. contains Intervertebrals Animals, Botany, and Geology.
A .Beautiful and Valuable Presentation Book.

THE POET'S OFFERING.
EDITED BY MRS. HALE.
With a Portrait of the Editress, a Splendid Illuminated Title-Page, and Twelve Beautiful Engrav
ings by Sartain. Bound in rich Turkey Morocco, and Extra Oloth, Gilt Edge. )*,
To those who wish to make a present that will never lose its value, this will be found the moat
fcsirable Gift-Book ever published.
"We commend it to all who desire to present a friend with a volume not only very beautiful, but
of solid intrinsic value,"— Washington union.
"A perfect treasury of the thoughts and fancies of the best English and American Poets. The
paper and printing are beautiful, and the binding rich, elegant, and substantial ; the most sensible
and attractive of all the elegant gift-books we have seen." — Evening Bulletin.
" The publishers deserve the thanks of the public for so happy a thought, so well executed. The
engravings are by the best artists, and the other portions of the work correspond in elegance." —
Public Ledger.
"There is no book of selections so diversified and appropriate within our knowledge."— PennsylVn.
' It is one of the most valuable as well as elegant books ever published in this country."— Oodey"*
lady's Book.
" K is the most beautiful and the most useful offering ever bestowed on the public. No mdividanl
of Literary taste will venture to be without it."— The City Item
15

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS.

THE YOUNG DOMINICAN;
OR, THE MYSTERIES OF THE INQUISITION,
AND OTHER SECRET SOCIETIES OF SPAIN.
BY M. V. DE FEKEAL.
WITH HISTORICAL NOTES, BY M, MANUEL DE CUENDIAS
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.
ILLUSTRATED WITH TWENTY SPLENDID ENGRAVINGS BY FRENCH ARTISTS
One volume, octavo.
SAY'S POLITICAL ECONOMY.
A TREATISE ON POLITICAL ECONOMY;
Or, The Production, Distribution and Consumption of Wealth.
BTT TBAN BAPTISTS SAV.
FIFTH AMERICAN EDITION, WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES,
BY C. C. BIDDLE, Esq.
In one volume, octavo.
It would be beneficial to our country if all those who are aspiring to office, were required by their
constituents to be familiar with the pages of Say.
The distinguished biographer of the author.in noticing this work, observes: "Happily for science
he commenced that study which forms the basis of his admirable Treatise on Political Economy; a
work which not only improved under his hand with every successive edition, but lias been translated
mto most of the European langu;iges."
The Editor of the North American Review, speaking of Say, observes, that "he is the most
popular, and perhaps the most able writer on Political Economy, since the tune of Smith."
LAURENCE STERNE'S WORKS,
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